Risk mitigation decisions for civil infrastructure exposed to rare natural and manmade hazards are often impacted by risk aversion, a behavioral phenomenon in which the decision maker's perception and judgment of risk are systematically distorted, resulting in decisions that might be viewed as excessively conservative when compared to those from a traditional minimum expected cost analysis. This study addresses how decisions regarding structural safety are affected by the attitudes of the decision-maker toward risk using decision models, such as cumulative prospect theory, that allow risk-averse behaviors to be modeled quantitatively. Perspectives on the general characteristics of risk-aversion are first drawn from risk pricing techniques in the insurance industry. These perspectives are then refined for structural engineering applications by investigations of decisions involving seismic retrofit of unreinforced masonry structures in San Francisco, CA and aseismic design of a steel moment frame in Vancouver, BC. Risk attitudes when confronting extreme wind hazards are also assessed using a decision by the North and South Carolina Code Councils to waive a provision in the International Residential Code that would have required additional windborne debris protection in residential construction. An examination of risk attitudes toward competing natural hazards is then introduced by comparing decisions related to wind and seismic effects in areas where both hazards may be significant. These investigations have led to tentative conclusions regarding the role of risk aversion in the assurance of structural safety and in code-related decisions and suggest avenues for future study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/44803 |
| Date | 21 June 2012 |
| Creators | Cha, Eun Jeong |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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