Development of a Model for Assessing the Reliability of RC Beams Strengthened Under 50% of ULS Load Using Monte Carlo Simulation

This article presents a model for assessing the reliability of RC beams strengthened under load using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). To develop a model, the real-operating conditions of the considered members were simulated. The model takes into account such stochastic parameters: the strength of materials, external loads, geometric dimensions, and the current load level during strengthening and it was implemented by PTC Mathcad Prime 6.0.0.0 software package. The proposed model was tested on the experimental data from previous studies of strengthened in stretched zone RC beams. The reliability parameters for a row of samples were obtained – reliability index β and failure probability P(β). Analysis, which included an assessment of the effect of accepted input random variables on the above reliability parameters of structures was also made. After implementing the developed algorithm in the PTC Mathcad Prime environ-ment, the effect of input parameters on the reliability index and the failure probabil-ity of strengthened beams was analyzed. In addition, for increasing the accuracy of the assessment the failure probability and the reliability index, a proportional increase in the sample is advisable.