Definitions of Resistance and Deformation Capacity for Non-Sway Steel and Composite Structures

Resistance, stiffness and deformation capacity are three characteristics describing the behaviour of (statically loaded) structures. The stiffness relates mostly to the serviceability of the structure. The resistance and deformation capacity relate to the safety of the structure. Nowadays, the safety of structures is checked explicitly with help of probabilistic methods. Studies using these methods focus very much on the resistance (strength and stability) of structures. Normally the objective of such studies is the probabilistic assessment of partial safety factors for design standards. The item discussed in this paper is the definition of deformation capacity from the viewpoint of structural reliability. This definition cannot be seen independently from the definition of resistance. This paper presents the results of a deterministic parametric study on the definitions of resistance and deformation capacity. The structural system under consideration is a steel-concrete beam with two joints connecting the beam to a rigid core. The work presented in this paper should be seen as a step towards an understanding of the reliability of structures in relation to deformation capacity. The next step of this study will be a parameter study based on a reliability approach'). The objective of this work is to assess influencing parameters of the effect of deformation capacity on the reliability of structures. This study is carried out at Eindhoven University of Technology.Civil Engineering and Geoscience