Probabilistic Reliability Assessment of Industrial Heritage Bridges

Abstract

Prof., involved in reliability analyses and risk assessments of structures. Summary Methods for reliability assessment of bridges registered as industrial heritage are developed taking into account principles of EN 1990, ISO 13822 and ISO 2394. A proposed probabilistic procedure allows for consideration of new information obtained from inspections or monitoring and satisfactory past performance. Application of general principles is illustrated in the assessment of a reinforced concrete road bridge. The study reveals that reliability assessment of bridges registered as industrial heritage can be based on probabilistic methods. Modelling of degradation processes seems to be a key issue of the reliability analysis.

Reliability Approaches Affecting the Sustainability of Concrete Structures

“…The verification considering the partial factors recommended in Eurocodes [35] revealed that actual resistance is 10% lower than that that required to comply with design requirements (common situation of existing bridges designed according to past standards). This leads to BMSP = 0 (SL = 0%, high EI new ).…”

“…Reliability assessment should verify whether or not the bridge can remain in service for the next 25 years; considering a target reliability index of 3.1. The reliability assessment of the slab was analysed [35]-the main outcomes of this analysis are applied in the following sustainability assessment. The focus is on ULS.…”

“…The probabilistic analysis was then conducted [35], considering uncertainties in material and geometrical properties and permanent load effects reduced by tests and measurements. Variations of the reliability index with a reference period (time since assessment) is shown in Figure 3.…”

“…It appears that the sustainability indicator is significantly dependent on the accepted target reliability. When a lower target reliability is adopted for the existing bridge [35], the remaining service life exceeds 60 years, and BMSP further increases to about 2.4 BMSP ref .…”

Reliability of existing reinforced concrete slabs exposed to punching shear

“…An important step in any reliability analysis is the specification of probabilistic models for the basic variables. The probabilistic models of resistance parameters and actions are based on the JCSS Probabilistic Model Code [13], following here simplifications adopted in [7,8] to provide generic models. The models are normalised by characteristic values of the basic variables (Table 1).…”