Reliability Analysis of Large Engineering Structures

This book presents a preliminary investigation into the response surface methodology (RSM) and its applications to engineering reliability analysis, with a focus on aircraft design. It addresses structural reliability issues and the computation problems in engineering reliability analysis involving finite element and Monte Carlo simulation techniques, and discusses both the accuracy and efficiency achieved with applications to real aircraft models. When analyzing the reliability of a very large, complex engineering structure with a number of random variables, response surface methods can be employed as an efficient tool to approximate unknown limit states that may otherwise require costly numerical solutions. The book is intended for researchers and postgraduate students in fields such as dynamics, aerospace technology, and astronautics.