At present naval ship structures are designed according to deterministic criteria. These criteria sometimes lead to overdesign or, in some cases, to unconservative design, because they do not account for some critical factors such as uncertainties in analysis, strength, and loads. This is particularly true for the design of advanced unconventional hullforms, for which such factors are very important. The objectives of this project are to demonstrate how to assess the structural reliability of existing naval ships, and to quantify the effect of design changes on the reliability of these ships. This will be accomplished by adapting and combining procedures for structural analysis of ships, and methods for reliability assessment. This project will lay the foundation for developing and applying rational, reliability-based criteria for improved structural design of naval ships. These criteria will be suitable for design of both conventional and advanced ship hulls and they will provide safe and efficient designs with consistent safety levels.
