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Structural Engineering and Mechanics Volume 28, Number 3, February20 2008 , pages 263-280 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2008.28.3.263 |
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Cubic normal distribution and its significance in structural reliability |
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Yan-Gang Zhao and Zhao-Hui Lu
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| Abstract | ||
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Information on the distribution of the basic random variable is essential for the accurate analysis of structural reliability. The usual method for determining the distributions is to fit a candidate distribution to the histogram of available statistical data of the variable and perform approximate goodness-of-fit tests. Generally, such candidate distribution would have parameters that may be evaluated from the statistical moments of the statistical data. In the present paper, a cubic normal distribution, whose parameters are determined using the first four moments of available sample data, is investigated. A parameter table based on the first four moments, which simplifies parameter estimation, is given. The simplicity, generality, flexibility and advantages of this distribution in statistical data analysis and its significance in structural reliability evaluation are discussed. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate these advantages. | ||
| Key Words | ||
| structural reliability; probability distributions; statistical moments; data fitting, fourthmoment reliability index. | ||
| Address | ||
| Yan-Gang Zhao and Zhao-Hui Lu: Dept. of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8555, Japan | ||