ABSTRACT
In structural design the concept of robust structures, or damage-tolerant structures, is often an issue of controversy, since there are no well established and generally accepted criteria for a consistent definition and a quantitative measure of structural robustness. Moreover, robustness evaluations are usually related to damage suddenly provoked by accidental actions, like explosion or impacts. However, damage could also arise slowly in time from aging of structures, as induced for example by environmental aggressive agents. In this context, it is therefore of great interest to develop suitable life-cycle measures of structural robustness with respect to a progressive deterioration of the structural performance.
