RISK BASED ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF STIFFENED PLATES

by Dwire, Heather B.

The traditional Risk Based Design (RBD) process involves designing a structure based on risk estimates obtained during several iterations of an optimization routine. This approach is computationally expensive for large-scale aircraft structural systems. The main objective of this research is to establish a RBD algorithm and produce RBD plots for stiffened plates. Basic steps to check functionality will be done by first analyzing a flat plate for which closed formed equations are available and then moving to more complex geometries like stiffened plates. Therefore, the concept of RBD plots that can be used for both structural sizing and risk assessment are introduced. RBD plots serve as a tool for failure probability assessment given geometry and applied load and can also be used to determine geometric constraints to be used in sizing given allowable failure probability. This approach transforms a reliability-based optimization problem into a deterministic optimization problem with geometric constraints.