Study of safety factors and non-probabilistic reliability measures of structures

The safety factors,the non-probabilistic reliability measures and their interrelations are investigated,when interval variables are utilized to describe the uncertain parameters of structures.First,three kinds of safety factors named central,non-probabilistic and interval factors are discussed.Then a comparison between two kinds of non-probabilistic reliability measures,which are reliability index and set-theoretic reliability measure,is made.Finally,the functions of the safety factors and the non-probabilistic reliability measures are established.The results extend the non-probabilistic design theory of structures.