A dual-layer dimension-wise fuzzy finite element method for structural analysis with epistemic uncertainties

Epistemic uncertainty propagation is gaining momentum but remains a great challenge in the numerical analysis of a mechanical system. A dual-layer dimension-wise analysis procedure for the fuzzy finite element method is proposed. The core algorithm layer is to identify the minimal and maximal (min/max) points of each slice of the response surface at the zero-cut. The data processing layer aims to filtrate the min/max points of each response slice at each nonzero-cut. Subsequently, the min/max input vectors at any alpha-cut are dimension-wisely assembled. And the response interval at alpha-cut is calculated by deterministic finite element analysis at the min/max input vectors. Finally, the fuzzy description of the system response is recomposed. Two examples are investigated to verify both the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.