An efficient 3D stochastic finite element method

Real life structural systems are characterized by their inherent or externally induced uncertainties in the design parameters. This study proposes a stochastic finite element tool efficient to take account of these uncertainties. Here uncertain structural parameter is modeled as homogeneous Gaussian stochastic field and commonly used two-dimensional (2D) local averaging technique is extended and generalized for 3D random field. This is followed by Cholesky decomposition of respective covariance matrix for digital simulation. By expanding uncertain stiffness matrix about its reference value, the Neumann expansion method is introduced blended with direct Monte Carlo simulation. This approach involves decomposition of stiffness matrix only once for the entire simulated structure. Thus substantial saving of CPU time and also the scope of tackling several stochastic fields simultaneously are the basic advantages of the proposed algorithm. Accuracy and efficiency of this method with reference to example problem is also studied here and numerical results validate its superiority over direct simulation method or first-order perturbation approach. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.