A global procedure for the time-dependent reliability assessment of crane structural members

• A procedure is proposed for the fatigue reliability assessment of steel structures.
• The approach is based on the stress–strength interference method.
• A parametric strength law is calibrated using experimental data and FE results.
• Construction site recordings are used to assess parametric stress distributions.
• The procedure effectiveness is demonstrated on a jib member case study.

This paper aims at developing a probabilistic fatigue assessment procedure for crane structural members, using a structural reliability method, namely the stress–strength interference method. A crane member strength law is found by fitting fatigue life distribution parameters using finite element results and experimental data. The stress model is developed by using on-site data to determine probabilistic parametric distributions defining crane member loading. The efficiency of the proposed stress–strength interference method for tower crane member reliability assessment in fatigue is demonstrated on a jib chord member connection.