Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/T03369/01
Title:	Safety-Based Optimal Design in Structural Dynamics
Principal Investigator:	Adhikari, Professor S
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Aerospace Engineering
Organisation:	University of Bristol
Scheme:	Advanced Fellowship (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 September 2004	Ends:	31 March 2007	Value (£):	205,251
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Design Engineering Structural Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Aerospace, Defence and Marine Transport Systems and Vehicles
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 14 Apr 2004 Engineering Fellowships Interview Panel 2004 Deferred 16 Mar 2004 Engineering Fellowships Sift Panel 2004 Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
For optimal design of engineering structures it is important to consider uncertainties in specifying system parameters, boundary conditions and applied loading. In safety-based optimal design the effect of uncertainties are explicitly considered at the design stage, which is not the case in conventional design methods. Failure to consider uncertainty can lead to unreliable, uneconomical and even unsafe products, proving costly to the industries, and indeed to the economy in general. This proposal outlines a five-year work-programme aimed at the development of safety-based optimal design tools for engineering structures subjected to a wide range of dynamic loading. The methods available to handle uncertainties in structural dynamics can be broadly divided into two groups: (a) the methods applicable for low-frequency vibration (e.g., Finite Element (FE) method) and (b) methods applicable for high-frequency vibration (e.g., Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA)). The developments of these two groups of methods have tended to take place independently with little overlap between them. Up until now there is no method suitable for mid-frequency vibration, which is important in many application areas, for example, in aerospace and automotive industries. The proposed research will bridge this gap by going from the 'low-frequency end' to the 'high-frequency end' and the new methods will be integrated with the optimal design process. The overall outcome of the project will be numerically and experimentally validated unified design tools that can be used to optimally design dynamic engineering structures meeting a priori prescribed safety targets. Proposed work would also integrate the newly developed tools with existing industry standard design tools (commercial FE software) so that it can be incorporated easily within the existing design facilities without significant additional investments. The benefits of probabilistic design methods are yet to be fully appreciated in many industrial sectors and the success of the proposed project will be a motivation to move away from the paradigm of traditional safety factor based design philosophy.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.bris.ac.uk