Robustness of structural systems – a new focus for the joint committee on structural safety (JCSS

ABSTRACT: The importance of robustness as a property of structural systems has been recognised following several structural failures, such as that at Ronan Point in 1968, where the consequences were deemed unacceptable relative to the initiating damage. A variety of research efforts in the past decades have attempted to quantify aspects of robustness such as redundancy and identify design principles that can improve robustness. This paper outlines the progress of recent work by the Joint Committee on Structural Safety (JCSS) to develop comprehensive guidance on assessing and providing robustness in structural systems. Guidance is provided regarding the assessment of robustness in a framework that considers potential hazards to the system, vulnerability of system components, and failure consequences. Several proposed methods for quantifying robustness are reviewed, and guidelines for robust design will be proposed. The document adopts a probabilistic risk assessment framework and includes guidance for decision-making related to robustness.