Nonlinear MDOF System Survival Probability Determination Subject to Evolutionary Stochastic Excitation

An approximate technique for assessing the reliability of nonlinear multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) systems subject to a non-stationary stochastic excitation vector is developed. The proposed technique can be construed as a two-stage approach. First, relying on statistical linearization and utilizing a dimension reduction approach the nonlinear n-degree-of-freedom system is decoupled and cast into (n) effective single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) linear time-variant (LTV) oscillators. Second, utilizing the effective SDOF LTV oscillator time-varying stiffness and damping elements in conjunction with a stochastic averaging treatment of the problem, the MDOF system survival probability and first-passage PDF are determined. Overall, the developed technique appears to be efficient and versatile since it can handle readily, at a low computational cost, a wide range of nonlinear/hysteretic behaviors as well as various stochastic excitation forms, even of the fully non-stationary in time and frequency kind. A 3-DOF system exhibiting hysteresis following the Bouc-Wen model is included in the numerical examples section. Comparisons with pertinent Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate the accuracy of the technique.