Reliability Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Slabs Subjected to Blast Loads and their Economic Assessment

Despite a large number of studies carried out in the last decades to analyze and design of infrastructures such as buildings and bridges subjected to blast loading, a few are recorded in literature accounting for the uncertainties inherently existing in these loading systems. Since in all terrorist activities, proportional to targeting situations, human willing plays an important role to make an explosion to occur, the quantity of the resulting loads is therefore expected to vary significantly. The question which is always asked regarding these sort of structures is, thus, how safe they are. In order to address such a question, it appears there is no way unless using methods of probabilistic risk assessments. Based on these methods, including all uncertainties existing in loadings (and also, generally, in structural strengthening parameters) the probability of failure is estimated. Furthermore, taking all costs due to failure consequences into account, the amount of the so-called risk is evaluated for the structure under investigation. In this paper, in addition to discussing the structural slab reliability analysis, in detail, and proposing an appropriate formulation to perform it, an economic analysis is also carried out based on which the structural life-cycle costs are finally estimated. These costs may then be used as an appropriate tool to help authorities to choose the best option among different options which might be available.