Reliability evaluation of 2D semi-rigid steel frames accounting for corrosion effects

Abstract

Nowadays, steel frames are widely used in civil and industrial engineering structures. The design process for steel frames with semi-rigid beam-column connections is an interesting topic for designers and researchers. However, the current design codes purely deal with the structural reliability at the pristine and the degradation of steel due to corrosion is not specified. This study proposes a procedure for evaluating the reliability of two-dimensional semi-rigid steel frames considering corrosion effects. A series of Monte Carlo simulations are performed to evaluate the reliability of the corroded steel structures. The random variables including corrosion phenomenon, semi-rigid connection, and applied load, are considered in the proposed method. The safety deterioration of the steel structures due to the corrosion phenomenon until 50 years is obtained. Additionally, the effects of input parameters, which are safety factors and coefficients of variation, on the reliability of structures are examined in the present study. Finally, a verification of this study and previous results is performed, highlighting the capability of the proposed method.

Keywords

• 2d steel frame
• semi-rigid connection
• corrosion effect
• reliability analysis