Chapter1.

Introduction
1.1 background
Structural design of a building is the process of estimating the actions which the building
experiences and designing it to sustain the load in a way that is economical, durable and
functional throughout its life time. The actions considered should include impact, explosion and
human error in addition to the permanent load which is applied to it during its execution and use.
In the case of accidental situations such as fire the building must remain intact for the required
period of time to minimize loss of life.

The design process involves selection of suitable material and appropriate section of each
member so that the resistance is greater than the action applied to it. In addition to this, to
prevent or minimize potential damage to a building a structural designer might try to reduce or
avoid the hazard the building is subjected to and/or avoid structural systems that can collapse
without warning.

During the analysis, design and construction it is inevitable to find situations in which little is
known about and result in deviation from the perceived value. These ambiguities are called
uncertainties and should be considered during design.

1.1.1 Uncertainty
Uncertainty commonly exists in engineering applications especially in a design process.
Quantifying and managing uncertainty is often a core consideration during the design
stage. The main uncertainties occur in
 Load computation:- Load computation is subjected to different degree of uncertainty
depending on the load type. Dead load which is permanent has a small variation whereas
imposed load can vary from time to time. In some cases, there would be functional
changes which bring high variation in the imposed load. In the case of wind load and
earthquake load high degree of uncertainty arises due to natural randomness and the
uncertainty in the frequency of loading
 Material Property: During production materials used for construction can have
significantly lower strength than expected if no quality control measures are taken.
 Dimensions:- Deviation in dimensions on the floor plan and on the actual site conditions
can be expected during construction.
 Models:- the design of a building involves using models which are approximations and
idealizations of the actual condition. For instance, support conditions which are used for
design are idealizations considering that it is difficult to find an exact pin or fixed
connection in reality.
Accounting all the uncertainties is uneconomical and not realistic due to its random nature. Thus,
probabilistic approach is used to control these uncertainties by assigning a proper degree of
reliability.

In another way uncertainty can be separated into two categories: Aleatory, related to luck or
chance, and epistemic, related to knowledge. Aleatory means dependent on luck or chance. So,
aleatory uncertainty arises from randomness inherent in nature. Epistemic means dependent on
human knowledge. Thus, epistemic uncertainty is uncertainty that could, in theory, be reduced
by increasing the profession’s knowledge about the area of interest.

Causes of uncertainty

Uncertainty has a range of sources, the main sources are: time, statically limits, model limits,
randomness, and human error

 Time: There is uncertainty in predicting the future and uncertainty in knowing the past
 Statical limits: It is difficult to get enough data
 Model limits: The structural model used in the analysis and design leaves out or
simplifies many aspects of the structure, and it is possible that the model is not
conceptually correct
 Randomness: The structural properties (e.g., modulus of elasticity, concrete strength) are
not a single number but vary over some range. The properties are random variables
 Human error: It is possible that an error was made during the design or the construction

Uncertainty reduction

There are several ways that are used to reduce uncertainty even though it is difficult to avoid it.
Following are some of the ways to reduce uncertainty:

 Use load and resistance calculation techniques

 Use characteristic values (e.g., 5% exclusion values)
 Use prototypes where possible (reduces the impact of contingency
 Check designs and inspect construction (quality control reduces human error)
 Make appropriately conservative assumptions in analysis (in complex analyses, this
technique can sometimes be difficult, e.g., leaving out nonstructural elements is not always
conservative)
 Check complex analyses with more simple methods where possible (reduces model
uncertainty and human error)
 Use one’s experience
1.1.2 Reliability
Reliability can be defined as the ability of a structure to fulfill the specified requirements
for which it is designed for. According to ES-EN1990:2001 reliability can be achieved
by
  Designing according to Euro code 1990 to 1999
 Appropriate execution of design
 Quality management measures

The degree of reliability depends on various factors such as the functional use of the building
meaning important structures such as hospitals are given higher margin of safety compared with
structures like storages considering the severity of the damage. Mode of failure also plays an
important role in selecting the degree of reliability. For example, failure types which are brittle
and give no warning are given higher reliability than ductile failure modes. Design is an
optimization of cost and safety thus the expense should also be taken into consideration

The uncertainty which comes from the variation of the load and material can be accounted by
using representative value of actions and using factor of safety during design. Depending on the
design philosophy used in the code of standards the factor of safety can be applied on the actions
only, material only or both. Euro code uses Limit state design which uses partial safety factors
for both material and action.

1.1.3 Limit State design

Limit state is a condition of a structure beyond which it no longer fulfills the design criteria. The
resistance is compared with the action so that this limit state is not reached. Limit state design
can also be referred as load and resistance factor design since it applies factor of safety on the
characteristics value of actions and resistance to determine the design value.

1.1.3.1 Characteristic and design values

A. The determination of the characteristics value depends on the type of the load being
considered. Actions can be classified based on different factors such as variation with
time, origin, spatial variation…etc. Actions on a building