Structural Reliability Analysis Using Legendre Orthogonal Neural Network Method

In order to predict the failure probability of a complicated structure, the structural responses usually need to be estimated by a numerical analysis such as finite element method. The response surface method could be used to reduce the computational effort required for reliability analysis when the performance functions are implicit. However the conventional response surface method is time-consuming or cumbersome if the number of random variables is large. This paper presents a Legendre orthogonal neural network (LONN)-based response surface method to predict the reliability of a structure. In this method, the relationship between the random variables and structural responses is established by a LONN model. Then the LONN model is connected to a reliability method, i.e. first-order reliability methods (FORM) to predict the failure probability of the structure. Numerical example has shown that the proposed approach is applicable to structural reliability analysis involving implicit performance functions.