Reliability Assessment of Steel Structure Subjected ‎to Blast Loading Using Monte Carlo Sampling

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In recent years, the occurrence of accidental or deliberate explosions has prompted engineers to consider the effect of explosive blast load on the overall performance of structures. Normally, residential structures are designed to resist conventional design loads such as gravitational, earthquakes, wind, and snow. In this research, a steel structure with a lateral load-bearing system of steel plate shear wall has been subjected to explosive blast load. Uncertainty in structural components as well as blast loading can lead to an incorrect and erroneous estimate of the structural response to blast. This study investigates the reliability of a steel structure under blast load, taking into account the uncertainty in the distance between the blast charge and the structure, the weight of the blast charge, the wall plate thickness, the yield stress of the wall plate, the yield stress of the beam and column of the structure. The probability of failure is then obtained by modeling the structure in OpenSees software and generating 1700 samples using Monte Carlo sampling method. Results indicated that the probability of failure of the mentioned system under the blast load is 55% and the most effective parameter is web plate thickness.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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Volume 3, Issue 2
April 2027
Pages 131-143
  • Receive Date: 29 April 2026
  • Revise Date: 04 June 2026
  • Accept Date: 07 August 2026
  • First Publish Date: 28 August 2026