4 ms·
"""A non-empirical alternative to the factor of safety has been around since the 1940s, but still doesn’t have widespread adoption. I think the image below desc
by wiredfool 5y ago
"""A non-empirical alternative to the factor of safety has been around since the 1940s, but still doesn’t have widespread adoption. I think the image below describes the concept, called probabilistic design, best.
"""
This is _exactly_ LRFD (Load Factor Resistance Design) which has been in the Civil Engineering building codes since the mid 80's, and became common in use the 90's when I was an Engineer (in training).
(It's the difference between the older green book and the newer (at the time) silver steel design handbook)
It was absolutely drilled into us in school though, that Safety Factors and LRFD factors covered material and other uncertainty, they did not cover blunders.
- auxym 5y agoDid you do civil? I did mechanical and barely just heard of LRFD and probalistic design. Not very common in mechanical, maybe in aerospace.
- srer 5y agoA large concern in civil design loads is rain, wind and earthquakes. These are all probabilistic in nature, you do not generally seek to build something to be flood proof. You instead design it to survive perhaps a 1 in 100 year flood, or perhaps 1 in 1000 if it's important. There is a trade-off being constantly made, between the price of a project and the (estimated - of course) chance of it still being standing in a year.
- wiredfool 5y agoYep. I did Civil/Structural.