• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.115-126
• /
• 1997

Importance sampling methods have been developed with the aim of reducing the computational costs inherent in Monte Carlo methods. This study proposes a new algorithm called the adaptive kernel method which combines and modifies some of the concepts from adaptive sampling and the simple kernel method to evaluate the structural reliability of time variant problems. The essence of the resulting algorithm is to select an appropriate starting point from which the importance sampling density can be generated efficiently. Numerical results show that the method is unbiased and substantially increases the efficiency over other methods.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.701-721
• /
• 2016

Base isolation is a well-established passive strategy for seismic response control of buildings. In this paper, an efficient framework is proposed for reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) of isolated buildings subjected to uncertain earthquakes. The framework uses reduced function evaluations method, as an efficient tool for structural reliability analysis, and an efficient optimization algorithm for optimal structural design. The probability of failure is calculated considering excessive base displacement, superstructure inter-storey drifts, member stress ratios and absolute accelerations of floors of the isolated building as failure events. The behavior of rubber bearing isolators is modeled using nonlinear hysteretic model and the variability of future earthquakes is modeled by applying a probabilistic approach. The effects of pulse component of stochastic near-fault ground motions, fixity-factor of semi-rigid beam-to-column connections, values of isolator parameters, earthquake magnitude and epicentral distance on the performance and safety of semi-rigidly connected base-isolated steel framed buildings are studied. Suitable RBDO examples are solved to illustrate the results of investigations.