An alternative stochastic sensitivity analysis method for RBDO.

A new method, which is an alternative to the score function method, is developed. Unlike the score function from the literature, this proposed method uses the derivatives of response function incorporating with Kernel Density Estimation for stochastic design sensitivity analysis. Two analytical examples are used to demonstrate effectiveness and robustness of the proposed stochastic sensitivity analysis method. The sensitivity analysis method is then applied to solve two reliability-based design optimization examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]