4. Conclusion and outlook

The preceding paragraphs have highlighted the value of the probabilistic approach to design, emphasizing that beyond the evaluation of a probability, importance factors provide essential elements for validating a design and for advancing the design of a mechanical system towards greater reliability and robustness.

Implementation on a simple illustration should not mask the limitations and difficulties, linked to assumptions on the one hand or to numerical implementation on the other:

• the mechanical model considered is that of a single component, but failure often results from several causes in a serial/parallel – pattern, in which case we speak of system reliability;

• the mechanical model is punctual, in space and time, whereas randomness is a function of time and space, so we speak...