A comparative study on eight approXimation methods of structural reliability derived from the basic HLRF method

Structural reliability analysis is a powerful tool for evaluation of safety in structures. In such analyses, reliability index or probability of failure is computed through different approaches. Approximation methods provide an applicable approach by making balance between the accuracy and efficiency. HLRF method is one basic method in this category based on which various methods have been developed. In this paper, eight approximation methods, on the basis of HLRF, are investigated and compared with each other for their accuracy and efficiency. The results of this comparison could be considered a guide by which one can get a better understanding for the future application of the reliability methods and for choosing a method in a problem. Twenty-five mathematical and structural problems of the literature are brought here as benchmark problems. Implementation of the methods in the various problems with explicit and implicit limit state functions, and with different types of nonlinearity, clarifies the general performance of each method. Comparison of the results is represented through tables and figures to show which methods work more accurately and efficiently.

Keywords:

Structural reliability , ApproXimation method , First-order reliability method (FORM) , Reliability indeX