Reliability analysis of space exploration truss support structures

摘要

An adaptive reliability estimation technique for three-dimensional trusses used in space exploration applications is proposed. Both component-level and system-level reliability issues are addressed. For individual member-level performance criteria, efficient analytical methods are implemented for reliability estimation. Multiple potential failure paths are considered for system-level performance, and a hybrid adaptive sampling technique is proposed by combining the best features of analytical and sampling methods. A significant failure path is enumerated using analytical reliability estimation and branch and bound search. An adaptive importance sampling method is used to identify other significant failure paths. The proposed methodology is illustrated for application to a simplified solar array support truss, using a commercial finite element code. References: 24