Design Capacity Determination Assisted by Testing Based on LRFD Method

摘要

In some special circumstances of structural design, adequate calculation models are not available in current specifications or they cannot be used directly for new materials or structural configurations. In these cases, tests of the prototype units may be accepted as an alternative to calculation. If this alternative procedure is adopted, corresponding requirements and evaluation of test results should apply. In this paper, a complete procedure of determining the design capacity of the test specimens based on statistical analysis and Load and resistance factor design (LRFD) method was presented: characteristic value of experimental resistance was obtained from the minimum value of test results, and the design value of experimental resistance was determined with proper resistance partial coefficient to achieve the level of reliability required for the relevant design situation. Finally, the preconditions and applications of this method were discussed. Keywords: testing; characteristic value; design value; probability; reliability analysis; LRFD