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Abstract
This study examines the influences of the design parameters on the behavior of the truss structure. The deformation representing the service limit state of the structures is taken as a representative behavior. Based on the finite difference technique, the uncertain variables set is first generated, then the behaviors are evaluated for each sampling. The sensitivity factors of each variable are assessed by the ratio between variations of the behaviors and those of the variable. The investigation reveals that the elastic modulus and section areas of the chord members significantly contribute to the safe side of the structure, meanwhile the load applied to the middle nodes of the truss show the most critical factors causing deformations. Particularly, it is also observed that variations in the properties of the brace members do not cause considerable effects on the deformation behavior of the truss. That means the uncertainties in the brace bars can be neglected in reliability analysis for reducing the dimension of the problem. This statement is confirmed by comparing the reliability indexes obtained from two Monte Carlo simulations that compare two schemes with or without consideration of uncertainties in brace members.