Traditional design approaches using safety factors are intended to account for uncertainties due to the lack of available data in engineering practice. However, the direct use of safety factor to represent uncertainties often causes conservative results, and it is not intuitive to describe the reliability of these structures through safety factor. To deal with the issue, this research revisits the initial consideration and intent of the safety factor for static strength and adjustment factor for fatigue design curve in the ASME code. Three conversion models applying to reactor pressure vessel (RPV) materials are proposed on basis of the stress–strength, load–life and strength–damage interference theories, which elaborate the relationship between safety/adjustment factors and structural reliability. The dispersion of strength and fatigue life is quantified, and then implemented to elaborate safety and adjustment factors with reliability respectively, which verifies the validity of safety assessment methods in the ASME code. Moreover, the safety/adjustment factor design under required reliability level is achieved, has the advantages of intuitiveness and convenience, which provides a reference for the reliability and safety design of RPV.

由于缺乏工程实践中的可用数据，使用安全系数的传统设计方法旨在解决不确定性。然而，直接用安全系数来表示不确定性往往会导致结果保守，通过安全系数来描述这些结构的可靠性并不直观。为了解决这个问题，本研究重新审视了 ASME 规范中静态强度安全系数和疲劳设计曲线调整系数的初步考虑和意图。基于应力-强度、载荷-寿命和强度-损伤干涉理论，提出了三种适用于反应堆压力容器（RPV）材料的转换模型，阐述了安全/调整因素与结构可靠性之间的关系。对强度和疲劳寿命的离散度进行量化，然后实施分别阐述安全和具有可靠性的调整因素，验证了ASME规范中安全评估方法的有效性。此外，实现了要求可靠性水平下的安全/调整系数设计，具有直观、方便的优点，为RPV的可靠性和安全性设计提供了参考。