Time-Dependent Reliability Theory and Its Applications (Woodhead Publishing Series in Civil and Structural Engineering)

With increasing enforcement of performance-based codes and standards, the need becomes stronger to have methods of predicting service life available for design and asset management, including underpinning theories for these methods. Time-Dependent Reliability Theory and Its Applications introduces the theory of time-dependent reliability and presents methods to determine the reliability of structures over the life span of their services. It contains state-of-the-art solutions to the first passage probability derived from the theory of stochastic processes with different types of probability distribution functions, including Gaussian and non-Gaussian distributions, and stationary and non-stationary processes. The book provides various methods to determine the probability of failure over time considering different failure modes, and a methodology to predict the service life of structures. It also covers the applications of time-dependent reliability to prediction of service life and development of risk cost-optimized maintenance strategy for existing structures. This new book is for those who wants to know how to predict the service life of a structure (buildings, bridges, aircraft structures, etc.) and how to develop risk cost optimized maintenance strategy for these structures. Review Introduces the theory of time-dependent reliability to predict the service life of a structure About the Author Chun-Qing Li is a Professor of Civil Engineering at RMIT University. His core research expertise is time-dependent reliability theory and its application to service life prediction of deteriorating materials and structures. His research areas include risk and reliability analysis of engineering works, steel corrosion and its effects on mechanical property and structural behaviour, corrosion of buried metal pipes, mixed mode fracture failure and fracture toughness, methodology of whole life design and assessment of civil infrastructure, stochastic modelling of loading and structural resistance. Wei Yang works in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning in University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.