• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.655-674
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• 2015

In this paper, a new and simplified method is presented in which the natural frequencies of the uniform and non-uniform beams are calculated through simple mathematical relationships. The various vibration problems such as: Rayleigh beam under variable axial force, axial vibration of a bar with and without end discrete spring, torsional vibration of a bar with an attached mass moment of inertia, flexural vibration of the beam with laterally distributed elastic springs and also flexural vibration of the beam with effects of viscose damping are investigated. The governing differential equations are first obtained and then; according to a harmonic vibration, are converted into single variable equations in terms of location. Through repetitive integrations, the governing equations are converted into weak form integral equations. The mode shape functions of the vibration are approximated using a power series. Substitution of the power series into the integral equations results in a system of linear algebraic equations. The natural frequencies are determined by calculation of a non-trivial solution for system of equations. The efficiency and convergence rate of the current approach are investigated through comparison of the numerical results obtained with those obtained from other published references and results of available finite element software.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.1067-1087
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• 2016

In this paper, a decoupled proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control approach for seismic control of smart structures is presented. First, the state space equation of a structure is transformed into modal coordinates and parameters of the modal PID control are separately designed in a reduced modal space. Then, the feedback gain matrix of the controller is obtained based on the contribution of modal responses to the structural responses. The performance of the controller is investigated to adjust control force of piezoelectric friction dampers (PFDs) in a benchmark base isolated building. In order to tune the modal feedback gain of the controller, a suitable trade-off among the conflicting objectives, i.e., the reduction of maximum modal base displacement and the maximum modal floor acceleration of the smart base isolated structure, as well as the maximum modal control force, is created using a multi-objective cuckoo search (MOCS) algorithm. In terms of reduction of maximum base displacement and story acceleration, numerical simulations show that the proposed method performs better than other reported controllers in the literature. Moreover, simulation results show that the PFDs are able to efficiently dissipate the input excitation energy and reduce the damage energy of the structure. Overall, the proposed control strategy provides a simple strategy to tune the control forces and reduces the number of sensors of the control system to the number of controlled stories.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.283-293
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• 2017

The main contribution of the present paper is to propose an intelligent fuzzy inference system approach for modeling the debonding strength of masonry elements retrofitted with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP). To achieve this, the hybrid of meta-heuristic optimization methods and adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is implemented. In this study, particle swarm optimization with passive congregation (PSOPC) and real coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) are used to determine the best parameters of ANFIS from which better bond strength models in terms of modeling accuracy can be generated. To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed PSOPC-ANFIS and RCGA-ANFIS approaches, the numerical results are compared based on a database from laboratory testing results of 109 sub-assemblages. The statistical evaluation results demonstrate that PSOPC-ANFIS in comparison with ANFIS-RCGA considerably enhances the accuracy of the ANFIS approach. Furthermore, the comparison between the proposed approaches and other soft computing methods indicate that the approaches can effectively predict the debonding strength and that their modeling results outperform those based on the other methods.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.659-669
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• 2018

The Dynamic equations in the polar coordinates are drawn out using the MLPG method for the non-symmetric FG cylindrical shell. To simulate the mechanical properties of FGM, the nonlinear volume fractions for radial direction are used. The shape function applied in this paper is a form of the radial basis functions, by using this function all the requirements for an effective and suitable shape function are established. Hence in this study, the multiquadrics (MQ) radial basis functions are exploited as the shape function governing the problem. The MLPG method is combined with the the Newmark time approximation scheme to solve dynamic equations in the time domain. The obtained results by the MLPG method to be verified are compared with the analytical solution and the FEM. The obtained results through the MLPG method show a good agreement in comparison to other results and the MLPG method has high accuracy for dynamic analysis of the non-symmetric FG cylindrical shell. To demonstrate the capability of the present method to dynamic analysis of the non-symmetric FG cylindrical shell, it is analyzed dynamically with different volume fraction exponents under harmonic and rectangular shock loading. The present method shows high accuracy, efficiency and capability to dynamic analysis of the non-symmetric FG cylindrical shell with nonlinear grading patterns.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.111-120
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• 2018

This paper presents a new and simple solution for determining the natural frequencies of framed tube combined with shear-walls and tube-in-tube systems. The novelty of the presented approach is based on the bending moment function approximation instead of the mode shape function approximation. This novelty makes the presented solution very simpler and very shorter in the mathematical calculations process. The shear stiffness, flexural stiffness and mass per unit length of the structure are variable along the height. The effect of the structure weight on its natural frequencies is considered using a variable axial force. The effects of shear lag phenomena has been investigated on the natural frequencies of the structure. The whole structure is modeled by an equivalent non-prismatic shear-flexural cantilever beam under variable axial forces. The governing differential equation of motion is converted into a system of linear algebraic equations and the natural frequencies are calculated by determining a non-trivial solution for the system of equations. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified through several numerical examples and the results are compared with the literature.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2017

Laser forming is an advanced process in sheet metal forming in which thermal stress originated from the laser heat source is used to shape the metal sheet. However, substantial waiting time is normally necessary for the workpiece to cool down between consecutive scans so that a steep temperature gradient can be reestablished in the next scan. In order to solve this drawback, laser bending characteristics are experimentally implemented in underwater condition. Laser forming effects under various conditions, including different laser power, scanning velocity, beam diameter, number of passes and material, are investigated. The results show that the underwater laser forming facilitates deliberate forming. The bending angle per respective laser scan is decreased with increasing the number of passes and scanning velocity.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.367-374
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• 2020

Concrete surfaces, industrial floors, sidewalks, roads and parking lots are typically subjected to abrasions. Many studies indicated that the abrasion resistance is directly related to the ultimate strength of the cured concrete. Chemical reactions, freeze-thaw cycles, and damages under abrasion are among many factors negatively affecting the concrete strength and durability. One of the major solutions to address the abrasive resistance of the concrete is to use fibers. Fibers are used in the concrete mix to improve the mechanical properties, strength and limit the crack propagations. In this study, implementation of the steel fibers in concrete to enhance the abrasive resistance of the concrete is investigated in details. The abrasive resistance of the concrete with and without steel fibers is studied with the sandblasting technique. For this purpose, different concrete samples are made with various hooked steel fiber ratios and investigated with the sandblasting method for two different strike angles. In total, 144 ASTM verified cube samples are investigated and it is shown that those samples with the highest steel fiber ratios have the highest abrasive resistance. In addition, the experiments determine that there is a meaningful correlation between the steel fiber percentage in the mix, strike angle and curing time which could be considered for improving structural behavior of the fiber-reinforced concrete.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.561-582
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• 2012

Despite popularity of FEM in analysis of static and dynamic structural problems and the routine applicability of FE softwares, analytical methods based on simple mathematical relations is still largely sought by many researchers and practicing engineers around the world. Development of such analytical methods for analysis of free vibration of non-prismatic beams is also of primary concern. In this paper a new and simple method is proposed for determination of vibration frequencies of non-prismatic beams under variable axial forces. The governing differential equation is first obtained and, according to a harmonic vibration, is converted into a single variable equation in terms of location. Through repetitive integrations, integral equation for the weak form of governing equation is derived. The integration constants are determined using the boundary conditions applied to the problem. The mode shape functions are approximated by a power series. Substitution of the power series into the integral equation transforms it into a system of linear algebraic equations. Natural frequencies are determined using a non-trivial solution for system of equations. Presented method is formulated for beams having various end conditions and is extended for determination of the buckling load of non-prismatic beams. The efficiency and convergence rate of the current approach are investigated through comparison of the numerical results obtained to those obtained using available finite element software.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.681-697
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• 2015

Iran as one of the countries located on the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt has recently experienced a few number of catastrophic earthquakes. A well-known index of how buildings are affected by earthquakes is through assessment of probable Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and structures' response spectra. In this research, active faults around Kerman and Birjand, two major cities in eastern parts of Iran, have been considered. Seismic catalogues are gathered to categorize effects of surrounding faults on seismicity of the region. These catalogues were further refined with respect to time and space based on Knopoff-Gardner algorithm in order to increase statistical independency of events. Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) has been estimated for each of cities regarding 50, 100, 200 and 500 years of structures' effective life-span. These results subsequently have been compared with Deterministic Seismic Hazard Analysis (DSHA). It has been observed that DSHA not necessarily suggests upper bound of PSHA results. Furthermore, based on spectral Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs), Uniform Hazard Spectra (UHS) and spectral acceleration were provided for 2% and 10% levels of probability of exceedance. The results show that increasing source-to-site distance leads to spectral acceleration reduction regarding each fault. In addition, the spectral acceleration rate of variation would increase if the source-to-site distance decreases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.2
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• pp.229-244
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• 2019

Weak form integral equations are developed to investigate the flapwise bending vibration of the rotating beams. Rayleigh and Eringen nonlocal elasticity theories are used to investigate the rotatory inertia and Size-dependency effects on the flapwise bending vibration of the rotating cantilever beams, respectively. Through repetitive integrations, the governing partial differential equations are converted into weak form integral equations. The novelty of the presented approach is the approximation of the mode shape function by a power series which converts the equations into solvable one. Substitution of the power series into weak form integral equations results in a system of linear algebraic equations. The natural frequencies are determined by calculation of the non-trivial solution for resulting system of equations. Accuracy of the proposed method is verified through several numerical examples, in which the influence of the geometry properties, rotatory inertia, rotational speed, taper ratio and size-dependency are investigated on the natural frequencies of the rotating beam. Application of the weak form integral equations has made the solution simpler and shorter in the mathematical process. Presented relations can be used to obtain a close-form solution for quick calculation of the first five natural frequencies of the beams with flapwise vibration and non-local effects. The analysis results are compared with those obtained from other available published references.