Sensitivity method for extreme-based engineering problems

Sensitivity method for extreme-based engineering problems

Nogal Macho, M. (TU Delft Integral Design and Management)
Nogal, A. (King’s College London)

2021

Engineering models are becoming increasingly complex, involving a larger number of variables. As a result, engineers struggle to deeply understand the models and therefore validate and properly use them. Sensitivity analyses (SA) are usually conducted to help with this task. Nonetheless, the knowledge and computational efforts required to conduct SA increases with the complexity of the model. This paper presents a conceptually simple method to conduct the SA of extreme-based engineering problems, that is, those problems whose outcome of interest is their maximum or minimum values. This type of problems is of relevance for reliability-based design. The method requires to iteratively maximize or minimize the model by fixing one input factor at each time. Then, the variation of the optimal surface is evaluated. The method permits the visualization and measure of the input factors’ influence on the extreme model response, with no need of defining the probability distribution of the input factors. Both the easiness of application and interpretation, along with a low computational cost for problems dealing with extreme values, make the proposed method very convenient to practitioners.

Global methods
Importance measure
Local methods
Optimization
Reliability analysis
Visualization

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:58649d04-58df-457f-adba-7f272ac7931d

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2021.107997

0951-8320

Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 216

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 M. Nogal Macho, A. Nogal