Dynamic stiffness method for circular stochastic Timoshenko beams: Response variability and reliability analyses

The problem of characterizing response variability and assessing reliability of vibrating skeletal structures made up of randomly inhomogeneous, curved/straight Timoshenko beams is considered. The excitation is taken to be random in nature. A frequency-domain stochastic finite element method is developed in terms of dynamic stiffness coefficients of the constituent stochastic beam elements. The displacement fields are discretized by using frequency- and damping-dependent shape functions. Questions related to discretizing the inherently non-Gaussian random fields that characterize beam elastic, mass and damping properties are considered. Analytical methods, combined analytical and simulation-based methods, direct Monte Carlo simulations and simulation procedures that employ importance sampling strategies are brought to bear on analyzing dynamic response variability and assessment of reliability. Satisfactory performance of approximate solution procedures outlined in the study is demonstrated using limited Monte Carlo simulations. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.