Scribd
Upload
69 views

Assignment 3

This document contains 10 problems related to probability and statistics in civil engineering. The problems cover topics such as: determining the probability distribution of functions of random variables; calculating means, variances, and coefficients of variation of combinations of random variables; reliability calculations; and characterizing joint and conditional distributions.

Uploaded by

Arnav Choudhry
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
69 views

Assignment 3

This document contains 10 problems related to probability and statistics in civil engineering. The problems cover topics such as: determining the probability distribution of functions of random variables; calculating means, variances, and coefficients of variation of combinations of random variables; reliability calculations; and characterizing joint and conditional distributions.

Uploaded by

Arnav Choudhry
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

CE: 5730 PROBABILITY METHODS IN CIVIL ENGG.

ASSIGNMENT-3

Date: 14 February 2017 Submission Date: 18 February 2017

1. The strain energy in a linearly elastic bar subjected to force S is given by


L
U S2
2 AE
where L is the length of the bar, A is the cross sectional area of the bar and E is the modulus
of the elasticity of the elastic material. If S is a standard normal variate N (0, 1), determine
the density function of U.
2. In an idealized model of a one storey building, the total mass m is concentrated at the roof
level. When subjected to earthquake ground shaking, the building will vibrate about its
original (at rest) position, inducing velocity components X and Y of the mass, with a resultant

velocity Z X 2 Y 2 . If X and Y are, respectively, standard normal variates, that is, with
distribution N (0, 1), determine the probability distribution of the resultant kinetic energy of
the mass during an earthquake.
3. If X and Y are statistically independent normal variates with means and standard deviations
x, x and y, y respectively, then show that the distribution of Z=X+Y is also a Gaussian
distribution with mean z= x+ y and z2= x2+ y2.
4. The settlement of footing on sand may be estimated on the basis of the theory of elasticity
a follows:
PBI
S
M
where
S = footing settlement, in feet
P = average applied bearing pressure in tons per square foot (tsf)
B = smallest footing dimension, in feet
I = influence factor dependent on footing geometry, depth of embedment, and depth to hard
stratum
M = modulus of compressibility
Assume that P, B, I and M are independent log-normal variates with parameters p, B, I, M
and P, B, I, M respectively. The following values are given for the design of a particular
footing
Mean Coefficient of Variation
P (tsf) 1.0 0.10
B (tf) 6.0 0
I 0.6 0.10
M (tsf) 32.0 0.15
a. Determine the mean settlement of the footing and its coefficient of variation.
b. If the maximum allowable settlement is 2.5in., what is the reliability against
excessive settlement; that is, probability of no excessive settlement.
c. If the variability in M can be decreased by investing for better information, say
reducing the coefficient of variation to 5% at an expense of $100, would you spend
this money? Assume that the maximum exceedance of the maximum allowable
settlement would involve a damage cost of $50,000.
5. The lengths of two rods will be determined by two measurements with an unbiased
instrument that makes random error with mean 0 and standard deviation, in each
measurement. Compute the variance in the estimation of the lengths T1 and T2 by the
following methods:
a. The two rods are measured separately
b. The sum and difference of the lengths of the two rods are measured instead of the
individual lengths.
6. Consider a 5m high column supporting a load S, which is inclined at an angle from the
vertical. Here S and are random variables with respective means and standard deviations
S 100 Newtons S 20 Newtons

30 5
Determine the mean value and standard deviation of the maximum bending moment on the
column induced by the inclined load. Assume that S and and statistically independent.

7. The capital cost (in $1000) of a combined municipal activated sludge plant may be estimated
as follows:
S0 S
Cc 583Q 0.84 (110 37Q) (77 23Q)( S 1)
200 200
in which Q is the flow rate in million gallons per day (mgd); S0 is the biological
concentration of influent BOD (biological oxygen demand) in milligram per litre (mgl); SS
is the concentration of suspended solids (in mg/l). Suppose that a waste water treatment
plant is needed for the following conditions:
mean flow rate, Q = 5 mgd

mean BOD concentration, S 0 = 600 mg/l

mean concentration of suspended solids, S S = 200 mg/l


with coefficients of variation 30%, 20% and 15% respectively.
Determine the average capital cost of the plant, and corresponding standard deviation.
8. Let Y = aX + b. If X = N (, ), then find the values of a and b such that Y = N (0, 1).
9. Let Y = X2. Find and sketch the pdf of Y if X is a uniform r.v. over (-1, 2).
10. Consider two r.v.s X and Y with joint pdf pXY (x,y). Determine the pdf of Z=XY.

You might also like