• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 1992

This paper provides an overview of system analysis of immunology. The theoretical research in this area is aimed at an understanding of the precise manner by which the immune system controls Infec pious diseases, cancer, and AIDS. This can provide a systematic plan for immunological experimentation by means of an integrated program of immune system analysis, mathematical modeling and computer simulation. Biochemical reactions and cellular fission are naturally modeled as nonlinear dynamical processes to synthesize the human immune system! as well as the complete organism it is intended to protect. A foundation for the control of tumors is presented, based upon the formulation of a realistic, knowledge based mathematical model of the interaction between tumor cells and the immune system. Ordinary bilinear differential equations which are coupled by such nonlinear term as saturation are derived from the basic physical phenomena of cellular and molecular conservation. The parametric control variables relevant to the latest experimental data are also considered. The model consists of 12 states, each composed of first-order, nonlinear differential equations based on cellular kinetics and each of which can be modeled bilinearly. Finally, tumor control as an application of immunotherapy is analyzed from the basis established.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.111-121
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• 2018

It has been argued that fracture energy of composite laminates depends on their thickness and number of layers. In this paper a modified direct energy balance approach (DEBA) has been developed to evaluate the mode-II shear fracture energy for E-glass/Epoxy laminates from finite element model at an arbitrary thickness. This approach considers friction and damage/plasticity deformations using cohesive zone modeling (CZM) and nonlinear finite element modeling. The presence of compressive stress and resulting friction was argued to be a possible cause for the thickness dependency of fracture energy. In the finite element modeling, CZM formulation has been developed with bilinear cohesive constitutive law combined with friction consideration. Also ply element have been developed with shear plastic damage model. Modified direct energy balance approach has been proposed for estimation of mode-II shear fracture energy. Experiments were performed on laminates of glass epoxy specimens for characterization of material parameters and determination of mode-II fracture energies for different thicknesses. Effect of laminate thickness on fracture energy of transverse crack tension (TCT) and end notched flexure (ENF) specimens has been numerically studied and comparison with experimental results has been made. It is shown that the developed numerical approach is capable of estimating increase in fracture energy due to size effect.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.85-101
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• 1994

A family of variational principles governing the dynamics of laminated plate has been derived using a variationally consistent shear deformable discrete laminated plate theory with particular reference to finite element procedures. The theoretical basis for the derivation is Sandhu's generalized procedure for the variational formulation of linear coupled boundary value problem. As the bilinear mapping to write the operator matrix of the field equations in self-adjoint form, convolution product was employed. Boundary conditions, initial conditions and probable internal discontinuity were explicitly included in the governing functionals. Some interesting extensions and specializations of the general variational principle were presented, which can provide many different finite element formulations for the problem.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.413-434
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• 2012

This paper presents a displacement-based seismic design method with damage control, in which the targets for the considered performance level are set as displacements and a damage distribution is proposed by the designer. The method is based on concepts of basic structural dynamics and of a reference single degree of freedom system associated to the fundamental mode with a bilinear behaviour. Based on the characteristics of this behaviour curve and on the requirements of modal spectral analysis, the stiffness and strength of the structural elements of the structure satisfying the target design displacement are calculated. The formulation of this method is presented together with the formulations of two other existing methods currently considered of practical interest. To illustrate the application of the proposed method, 5 reinforced concrete plane frames: 8, 17 and 25 storey regular, and 8 and 12 storey irregular in elevation. All frames are designed for a seismic demand defined by single earthquake record in order to compare the performances and damage distributions used as design targets with the corresponding results of the nonlinear step by step analyses of the designed structures subjected to the same seismic demand. The performances and damage distributions calculated with these analyses show a good agreement with those postulated as targets.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.8 no.1 s.27
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• pp.139-152
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• 2006

Many experimental and numerical approaches have been developed to evaluate paving materials and to predict pavement response and distress. Micromechanical simulation modeling is a technology that can reduce the number of physical tests required in material formulation and design and that can provide more details, e.g., the internal stress and strain state, and energy evolution and dissipation in simulated specimens with realistic microstructural features. A clustered distinct element modeling (DEM) approach was implemented In the two-dimensional particle flow software package (PFC-2D) to study the complex behavior observed in asphalt mixture fracturing. The relationship between continuous and discontinuous material properties was defined based on the potential energy approach. The theoretical relationship was validated with the uniform axial compression and cantilever beam model using two-dimensional plane strain and plane stress models. A bilinear cohesive displacement-softening model was implemented as an intrinsic interface and applied for both homogeneous and heterogeneous fracture modeling in order to simulate behavior in the fracture process zone and to simulate crack propagation. A disk-shaped compact tension test (DC(T)) with heterogeneous microstructure was simulated and compared with the experimental fracture test results to study Mode I fracture. The realistic arbitrary crack propagation including crack deflection, microcracking, crack face sliding, crack branching, and crack tip blunting could be represented in the fracture models. This micromechanical modeling approach represents the early developmental stages towards a 'virtual asphalt laboratory,' where simulations of laboratory tests and eventually field response and distress predictions can be made to enhance our understanding of pavement distress mechanisms, such its thermal fracture, reflective cracking, and fatigue crack growth.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.39-63
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• 2011

Referring to the formulation of physical stochastic optimal control of structures and the scheme of optimal polynomial control, a nonlinear stochastic optimal control strategy is developed for a class of structural systems with hysteretic behaviors in the present paper. This control strategy provides an amenable approach to the classical stochastic optimal control strategies, bypasses the dilemma involved in It$\hat{o}$-type stochastic differential equations and is applicable to the dynamical systems driven by practical non-stationary and non-white random excitations, such as earthquake ground motions, strong winds and sea waves. The newly developed generalized optimal control policy is integrated in the nonlinear stochastic optimal control scheme so as to logically distribute the controllers and design their parameters associated with control gains. For illustrative purposes, the stochastic optimal controls of two base-excited multi-degree-of-freedom structural systems with hysteretic behavior in Clough bilinear model and Bouc-Wen differential model, respectively, are investigated. Numerical results reveal that a linear control with the 1st-order controller suffices even for the hysteretic structural systems when a control criterion in exceedance probability performance function for designing the weighting matrices is employed. This is practically meaningful due to the nonlinear controllers which may be associated with dynamical instabilities being saved. It is also noted that using the generalized optimal control policy, the maximum control effectiveness with the few number of control devices can be achieved, allowing for a desirable structural performance. It is remarked, meanwhile, that the response process and energy-dissipation behavior of the hysteretic structures are controlled to a certain extent.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2020

For the large deformation of shear walls under vertical and horizontal loads, there are difficulties in obtaining accurate simulation results using the response analysis method, even with fine mesh elements. Furthermore, concrete material nonlinearity, stiffness degradation, concrete cracking and crushing, and steel bar damage may occur during the large deformation of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls. Matrix operations that are involved in nonlinear analysis using the traditional finite-element method (FEM) may also result in flaws, and may thus lead to serious errors. To solve these problems, a planar four-node element was developed based on vector mechanics. Owing to particle-based formulation along the path element, the method does not require repeated constructions of a global stiffness matrix for the nonlinear behavior of the structure. The nonlinear concrete constitutive model and bilinear steel material model are integrated with the developed element, to ensure that large deformation and damage behavior can be addressed. For verification, simulation analyses were performed to obtain experimental results on an RC shear wall subjected to a monotonically increasing lateral load with a constant vertical load. To appropriately evaluate the parameters, investigations were conducted on the loading speed, meshing dimension, and the damping factor, because vector mechanics is based on the equation of motion. The static problem was then verified to obtain a stable solution by employing a balanced equation of motion. Using the parameters obtained, the simulated pushover response, including the bearing capacity, deformation ability, curvature development, and energy dissipation, were found to be in accordance with the experimental observation. This study demonstrated the potential of the developed planar element for simulating the entire process of large deformation and damage behavior in RC shear walls.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.745-760
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• 2021

Dynamic buckling of structure is one of the failure modes that needs to be considered since it may result in catastrophic failure of the structure in a short period of time. For a thin fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) plate under compression, buckling is an inherent hazard which will be intensified by the existence of defects like holes, cracks, and delamination. On the other hand, the growth of the delamination is another prime concern for thin FRP plates. In the current paper, reinforcing the plates against buckling is realized by using SMA wires in the form of stitches. A numerical framework is proposed to simulate the dynamic instability emphasizing the effect of the SMA stitches in suppressing delamination growth. The suggested algorithm is more accurate than the other methods when considering the transformation point of the SMA wires and the modeling of the cohesive zone using simple and yet reliable technique. The computational design of the method by producing the line by line orders leads to a simple algorithm for simulating the super-elastic behavior. The Lagoudas constitutive model of the SMA material is implemented in the form of user material subroutines (VUMAT). The normal bilinear spring model is used to reproduce the cohesive zone behavior. The nonlinear finite element formulation is programmed into FORTRAN using the Newmark-beta numerical time-integration approach. The obtained results are compared with the results obtained by the finite element method using ABAQUS/Explicit solver. The obtained results by the proposed algorithm and those by ABAQUS are in good agreement.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1139-1146
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• 2012

An alternative approach for topology optimization of steady incompressible Navier-Stokes flow problems is presented by using P1 nonconforming finite elements. This study is the extended research of the earlier application of P1 nonconforming elements to topology optimization of Stokes problems. The advantages of the P1 nonconforming elements for topology optimization of incompressible materials based on locking-free property and linear shape functions are investigated if they are also valid in fluid equations with the inertia term. Compared with a mixed finite element formulation, the number of degrees of freedom of P1 nonconforming elements is reduced by using the discrete divergence-free property; the continuity equation of incompressible flow can be imposed by using the penalty method into the momentum equation. The effect of penalty parameters on the solution accuracy and proper bounds will be investigated. While nodes of most quadrilateral nonconforming elements are located at the midpoints of element edges and higher order shape functions are used, the present P1 nonconforming elements have P1, {1, x, y}, shape functions and vertex-wisely defined degrees of freedom. So its implentation is as simple as in the standard bilinear conforming elements. The effectiveness of the proposed formulation is verified by showing examples with various Reynolds numbers.