A STUDY ON RELIABILITY OF BUILDINGS DESIGNED BY CURRENT BUILDING CODE : Load models for use in ultimate and serviceability limit states design [III]

Abstract

In the previous papers, a probabilistic method to determine two classes of load models for use in safety and functionality limit state design based on the order statistics of basic variates was presented and the probabilistic characteristics of two classes of natural hazard models were discussed. Using the two classes of load models, this paper discusses the reliability of buildings designed by the current building code. Numerical examples show that the reliability of a building differs from site to site and load combinations, and that the reliability can be more consistent using probability-based limit state design.