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In engineering, a factor of safety (FoS) or safety factor (SF) expresses how much stronger a system is than it needs to be for an intended load.Safety factors are often calculated using detailed analysis because comprehensive testing is impractical on many projects, such as bridges and buildings, but the structure's ability to carry a load must be determined to a reasonable accuracy.
The output of the analysis is a factor of safety, defined as the ratio of the shear strength (or, alternatively, an equivalent measure of shear resistance or capacity) to the shear stress (or other equivalent measure) required for equilibrium. If the value of factor of safety is less than 1.0, the slope is unstable.
The analysis is used during the design phase to identify process engineering hazards together with risk mitigation measures. The methodology is described in the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 14C Analysis, Design, Installation, and Testing of Basic Surface Safety Systems for Offshore Production Platforms.
The safety factor applied to the load will typically ensure that in 95% of times the actual load will be smaller than the design load, while the factor applied to the strength ensures that 95% of times the actual strength will be higher than the design strength. The safety factors for material strength vary depending on the material and the use ...
The analysis allows for a rational method of defining the material strength and results in a value less than, for example, 99.99% of the values from samples tested. By that method, in a sense, a separate factor of safety has been applied over and above the design factor of safety applied to a particular design that uses said material.
Permissible stress design is a design philosophy used by mechanical engineers and civil engineers. The civil designer ensures that the stresses developed in a structure due to service loads do not exceed the elastic limit. This limit is usually determined by ensuring that stresses remain within the limits through the use of factors of safety.
Values of the global or local safety factors close to 1 (typically comprised between 1 and 1.3, depending on regulations) indicate marginally stable slopes that require attention, monitoring and/or an engineering intervention (slope stabilization) to increase the safety factor and reduce the probability of a slope movement.
A foundation is a connecting link between the structure proper and the ground which supports it. The bearing strength characteristics of foundation soil are major design criterion for civil engineering structures. In nontechnical engineering, bearing capacity is the capacity of soil to support the loads applied to the ground.