MODELING OF STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR OF AN INDUSTRIAL BUILDING WITH ACCOUNT FOR THE VARIATION OF RIGIDITY IN THE COURSE OF ITS OPERATION

The number of accidents at construction facilities has increased dramatically over the recent years. The engineering analysis of the reasons of accidents in the Russian Federation has revealed that the majority of accidents are caused by the loss of stability of specific structural elements, and a substantial reduction of the bearing capacity of structures. At the same time, no proper methodologies of processing and analyzing the results of inspections of structures, or methodologies of assessing the residual service life of structures are available, although advanced diagnostic tools are at hand. Therefore, advanced methods of accident risk analysis assume importance. A quantitative assessment of the risk exposure of buildings and structures at any stage (design, construction and operation) can only be made through the employment of probabilistic calculations, especially if extreme loads are in the focus. Probabilistic methods are more robust as they evaluate the safety as the possibility of failure. Parameters are treated as stochastic variables. Based on the research completed by the authors, a 3D computational model of a single-storey industrial building has been developed. The software programme developed by the authors is designated for the resolution of a wide range of problems of reliability, durability, stability and accident risk analysis in respect of buildings exposed to various internal and external loads. The software may be used to resolve both direct and inverse problems. This feature is highly relevant in assessing structural behaviour. Their structures may constitute defects that affect their rigidity, strength and stability. The behaviour pattern of a loaded structure may be identified by means of an experiment, and thereafter, its rigidity may be identified by resolving the inverse problem in order to assess the life span of the structure