Statistical analysis of design safety of load combination for railway bridge

Abstract

In this paper, the safety of a design obtained by applying the load combination of the limit state design method for railway bridges is analyzed by applying the statistical method. The statistical characteristics are obtained from measured data and simulation of the design items such as the live load, section strength, load and resistance factor. The live load effect, obtained by the statistical estimation, is compared with that of the design load model; the member strength, obtained statistically, is compared with the nominal strength; and the statistical distribution of the design safety, obtained by applying the load and resistance factor, is presented. The reliability index, which expresses the design safety numerically as a statistical and probabilistic concept, is calculated and shows a value over the target reliability index. When considering only the strength limit state, there is a possibility to reduce the live load or live load factor or to increase the resistance factor. © 2018 The Korean Society for Railway. All rights reserved.