Imprecise probability analysis of steel structures subject to atmospheric corrosion

Evaluating the behaviour of deteriorating steel structures is complicated by the inherent uncertainties in the corrosion process. Theoretically, these uncertainties can be modeled using a probabilistic approach. However, there are practical difficulties in identifying the probabilistic model for the deterioration process as the actual corrosion data are rather limited. Also, the dependencies between different random variables are often vaguely known and, thus, not included in the modeling. This paper proposes a probabilistic analysis framework for modeling the atmospheric corrosion of steel structures with incomplete information. The framework is based on the theory of imprecise probability and copula. Two examples are presented to illustrate the methodology. The role of epistemic uncertainties on structural reliability is investigated through the examples.