Determination of bounds on failure probability in the presence of hybrid uncertainties

A fundamental component of safety assessment is the appropriate representation and incorporation of uncertainty. A procedure for handling hybrid uncertainties in stochastic mechanics problems is presented. The procedure can be used for determining the bounds on failure probability for cases where failure probability is a monotonic function of the fuzzy variables. The procedure is illustrated through an example problem of safety assessment of a nuclear power plant piping component against stress corrosion cracking, considering the stochastic evolution of stress corrosion cracks with time. It is found that the bounds obtained enclose the values of failure probability obtained from probabilistic analyses.