Novel reliability-based optimization method for thermal structure with hybrid random, interval and fuzzy parameters

In this paper, novel reliability-based optimization model and method are proposed for thermal structure design with random, interval and fuzzy uncertainties in material properties, external loads and boundary conditions. Random variables are used to quantify the probabilistic uncertainty with sufficient sample data; whereas, interval variables and fuzzy variables are adopted to model the non-probabilistic uncertainty associated with objective limited information and subjective expert opinions, respectively. Using the interval ranking strategy, the level-cut limit state function is precisely quantified to represent the safety state. The eventual safety possibility is derived based on multiple integral, where the cut levels of different fuzzy variables are considered to be independent. Then a hybrid reliability-based optimization model is established with considerable computational cost caused by three-layer nested loop. To improve the computational efficiency, a subinterval vertex method is presented to replace the inner-loop and middle-loop. Comparing numerical results with traditional reliability model, a mono-objective example and a multi objective example are provided to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed method for hybrid reliability analysis and optimization in practical engineering. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.