The study of structural reliability is related to the assessment the probability of limit state violations in a structural system. Once the designer defines the relevant limits of the structural system, the safety level of these limits must be evaluated. A reliability study of hot-rolled I beams in a flexure limited state, designed in accordance with Brazilian Code NBR 8800 (1986) and draft of new NBR 8800 (2003) was done by the First Order Reliability Method (FORM). Variations of the reliability index (beta) versus slenderness are plotted, and finally a methodology to obtain uniform reliability in a limited-state domain by adopting correction procedures for the strength factor is presented.
Steel beams; structural reliability; FORM
