Uncertainty in Engineering
Lecture Notes
The calendar section shows when each of these topics was discussed in class.
NOTES |
TOPICS |
1 |
Events and their probability (PDF) |
2 |
Random variables: discrete distributions (PDF) |
3 |
Random variables: continuous distributions (PDF) |
4 |
Random vectors (PDF) |
5 |
Functions of random variables and vectors (PDF) |
6 |
Second-moment characterization of random variables and vectors; second-moment (SM) and first-order second-moment (FOSM) propagation of uncertainty (PDF) |
7 |
Conditional second-moment analysis (PDF) |
8 |
Selected distribution models (PDF) |
9 |
Point and interval estimation of distribution parameters (PDF) |
Application Examples
The application examples in this section provide worked examples on several topics and supplement the lecture notes.
EXAMPLES |
TITLES |
TOPICS |
1 |
Reliability of systems with various element configurations (PDF) |
Probability of combinations of events; binomial and Poisson distributions |
2 |
Evaluation of natural and man-made risks (PDF) |
Total probability theorem |
3 |
Extra-terrestrial life and the design of experiments (PDF) |
Bayes' theorem |
4 |
Earthquake prediction from imperfect premonitory signs (PDF) |
Bayes' theorem (cont.) |
5 |
Is the series of rainy/non-rainy days a Bernoulli trial sequence? (PDF) |
Bernoulli trial sequence and dependence in binary time series |
6 |
Are the sequences of bus and earthquake arrivals Poisson? (PDF) |
Exponential and Poisson distributions |
7 |
Distribution mixtures (PDF) |
Distribution mixtures |
8 |
Old better than new, new better than old... (PDF) |
Hazard function |
9 |
Relation between storm duration and precipitation intensity (PDF) |
Joint, marginal and conditional distributions |
10 |
Reliability of a building under extreme wind loads: choosing the design wind speed (PDF) |
Independent random variables |
11 |
Distribution of the maximum of independent identically-distributed variables (PDF) |
Functions of several random variables |
12 |
Distribution of waves and wave loads in a random sea (PDF) |
Functions of random variables and reliability analysis |
13 |
Design load factors for structural columns (PDF) |
Propagation of uncertainty through linear formulas: second-moment analysis |
14 |
Probabilistic analysis of foundation settlement (PDF) |
FOSM analysis for functions of many variables |
15 |
Uncertainty updating using noisy observations (PDF) |
Conditional second-moment analysis |
16 |
Prediction of daily temperatures using several past observations (PDF) |
Conditional second moment analysis with vectors |
17 |
Sums of iid random variables (PDF) |
Sums of iid random variables |
18 |
Designing the checkout system of a supermarket (PDF) |
Stochastic system; Monte Carlo simulation |
19 |
Comparison of estimators for the upper limit of the uniform distribution (PDF) |
Parameter estimation |
Assignments
ASSIGNMENTS |
Homework 1 (PDF) |
Homework 2 (PDF) |
Homework 3 (PDF) |
Homework 4 (PDF) |
Homework 5 (PDF) |
Homework 6 (PDF) |
Homework 7 (PDF) |
Homework 8 (PDF) |
Homework 9 (PDF) |
Homework 10 (PDF) |
Exams
The five short quizzes and the final exam from the class are presented here.
EXAMS |
Mini-quiz 1 (PDF) |
Mini-quiz 2 (PDF) |
Mini-quiz 3 (PDF) |
Mini-quiz 4 (PDF) |
Mini-quiz 5 (PDF) |
Final exam (PDF) |