• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.23-32
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• 2005

An experimental control system is proposed for the attitude control of a simplified 2-DOF helicopter model. The main rotor is a rigid one, and the fuselage is simply supported by a fixed hinge point where the longitudinal motion is decoupled from the lateral one since the translations and the rolling rotation are completely removed. The yaw trim of the helicopter is performed with a tail rotor, by which the azimuthal attitude can be adjusted on the rotatable post in the yaw direction. The robust sliding mode control tracking a given attitude angle is proposed based on the flight dynamics. A pitch damper is inserted for the control of pitching angle while the compensator to reaction torque is used for the control of azimuth angle. Several parameters of the system are selected through experiments. The results shows that the proposed control method effectively counteracts nonlinear perturbations such as main rotor disturbance, undesirable chattering, and high frequency dynamics.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.611-628
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• 2022

Energy-dissipative rocking (EDR) columns are a class of seismic mitigation device capable of dissipating seismic energy and preventing weak-story failure of moment resisting frames (MRFs). An EDR consists of two hinge-supported steel columns interconnected by steel dampers along its height. Under earthquakes, the input seismic energy can be dissipated by plastic energy of the steel dampers in the EDR column. However, the unrecoverable plastic deformation of steel dampers generally results in residual drifts in the structural system. This paper presents a proof-of-concept study on an innovative device, namely self-centring energy-dissipative rocking (SC-EDR) column, aiming at enabling self-centring capability of the EDR column by installing a set of shape memory alloy (SMA) tension braces. The working mechanism of the SC-EDR column is presented in detail, and the feasibility of the new device is carefully examined via experimental and numerical studies considering the parameters of the SMA bar diameter and the steel damper plate thickness. The seismic responses including load carrying capacities, stress distributions, base rocking behaviour, source of residual deformation, and energy dissipation are discussed in detail. A rational combination of the steel damper and the SMA tension braces can achieve excellent energy dissipation and self-centring performance.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.415-426
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• 2017

Traditional experimental verification for nonlinear system identification often faces the problem of experiment model repeatability. In our research, a steel frame experimental model is developed to imitate the behavior of a single story steel frame under horizontal excitation. Two adjustable rotational dampers are used to simulate the plastic hinge effect of the damaged beam-column joint. This model is suggested as a benchmark model for nonlinear dynamics study. Since the nonlinear form provided by the damper is unknown, a Morlet wavelet based method is introduced to identify the mathematical model of this structure under different damping cases. After the model identification, earthquake excitation tests are carried out to verify the generality of the identified model. The results show the extensive applicability and effectiveness of the identification method.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.66-71
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to assess the criteria on a floor hinge and door closer for the optimum design of the access door of a smoke control room. The door opening force due to differential pressure is 60.75 N, 40.5 N, 32.91 N and 12.66 N when the differential pressure is 60 Pa, 40 Pa, 32.5 Pa and 12.5 Pa, respectively. The door opening force of the floor hinge and door closer to which the criteria of KS F 2806 are applied is 27.5 N, 40 N, 75 N, 100 N and 125 N for the Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 class floor hinges and door closers, respectively. This study compared the differential pressure and opening force limits of floor hinges and door closers with the values specified in NFSC 501A and found that they exceeded the criteria specified in NFSC 501A. Therefore, it is necessary to reflect the differential pressure and smoke control wind speeds as well as the opening forces specified in NFSC 501A on the design of floor hinges and door closers. The installation conditions of floor hinges and door closers of access doors differ depending on the type and name of a smoke control damper. This study found that Nos. 1, 2 and 3 floor hinges and door closers could be installed for access doors with low differential pressure and that Nos. 1 and 2 floor hinges and door closers could be installed for access doors with normal differential pressure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.565-579
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• 2022

This study investigated the yielding capacity and performance of seismic dampers constructed with steel ring plates using numerical and analytical approaches. This study aims to provide an analytical relationship for estimating the yielding capacity and initial stiffness of steel ring dampers. Using plastic analysis and considering the mechanism of plastic hinge formation, a relation has been obtained for estimating the yielding capacity of steel ring dampers. Extensive parametric studies have been carried out using a nonlinear finite element method to examine the accuracy of the obtained analytical relationships. The parametric studies include investigating the influence of the length, thickness, and diameter of the ring of steel ring dampers. To this end, comprehensive verification studies are performed by comparing the numerical predictions with several reported experimental results to demonstrate the numerical method's reliability and accuracy. Comparison is made between the hysteresis curves, and failure modes predicted numerically or obtained/observed experimentally. Good agreement is observed between the numerical simulations and the analytical predictions for the yielding force and initial stiffness. The difference between the numerical models' ultimate tensile and compressive capacities was observed that average of about 22%, which stems from the performance of the ring-dampers in the tensile and compression zones. The results show that the steel ring-dampers are exhibited high energy dissipation capacity and ductility. The ductility parameters for steel ring-damper between values were 7.5 to 4.1.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.75-92
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• 2016

The design of a semi-active (SA) control system addressed to mitigate wind induced structural demand to high wind turbine towers is discussed herein. Actually, the remarkable growth in height of wind turbines in the last decades, for a higher production of electricity, makes this issue pressing than ever. The main objective is limiting bending moment demand by relaxing the base restraint, without increasing the top displacement, so reducing the incidence of harmful "p-delta" effects. A variable restraint at the base, able to modify in real time its mechanical properties according to the instantaneous response of the tower, is proposed. It is made of a smooth hinge with additional elastic stiffness and variable damping respectively given by springs and SA magnetorheological (MR) dampers installed in parallel. The idea has been physically realized at the Denmark Technical University where a 1/20 scale model of a real, one hundred meters tall wind turbine has been assumed as case study for shaking table tests. A special control algorithm has been purposely designed to drive MR dampers. Starting from the results of preliminary laboratory tests, a finite element model of such structure has been calibrated so as to develop several numerical simulations addressed to calibrate the controller, i.e., to achieve as much as possible different, even conflicting, structural goals. The results are definitely encouraging, since the best configuration of the controller leaded to about 80% of reduction of base stress, as well as to about 30% of reduction of top displacement in respect to the fixed base case.