Ellipsoidal bounds for static response of framed structures against interactive uncertainties

This paper presents an optimization-based method for computing a minimal bounding ellipsoid that contains the set of static responses of an uncertain braced frame. Based on a non-stochastic modeling of uncertainty, we assume that the parameters both of brace stiffnesses and external forces are uncertain but bounded. A brace member represents the sum of the stiffness of the actual brace and the contributions of some non-structural elements, and hence we assume that the axial stiffness of each brace is uncertain. By using the S-lemma, we formulate a semidefinite programming (SDP) problem which provides an outer approximation of the minimal bounding ellipsoid. The minimum bounding ellipsoids are computed for a braced frame under several uncertain circumstances.