Structural reliability analysis with imprecise random and interval fields

This paper investigates the issue of reliability assessment for engineering structures involving mixture of stochastic and non-stochastic uncertain parameters through the Finite Element Method (FEM). Non-deterministic system inputs modelled by both imprecise random and interval fields have been incorporated, so the applicability of the structural reliability analysis scheme can be further promoted to satisfy the intricate demand of modern engineering application. The concept of robust structural reliability profile for systems involving hybrid uncertainties is discussed, and then a new computational scheme, namely the unified interval stochastic reliability sampling (UISRS) approach, is proposed for assessing the safety of engineering structures. The proposed method provides a robust semi-sampling scheme for assessing the safety of engineering structures involving multiple imprecise random fields with various distribution types and interval fields simultaneously. Various aspects of structural reliability analysis with multiple imprecise random and interval fields are explored, and some theoretically instructive remarks are also reported herein. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.