A FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE PROBABILISTIC CREEP OF SOLIDS

We outline here a finite element technique for the creep of solids whose constitutive equation contains one or more random parameters. In contrast to other finite element techniques for the prediction of random structural response, the present method is based upon exact relations from the theory of probability. It yields, at a given value of time, the probability density function for the field variable of interest, e.g. stress or displacement components. The method is illustrated by a simple creeping beam problem, using a power-law creep constitutive equation. The calculated distributions are found to be highly skewed, and in excellent agreement with the results of Monte Carlo simulation.