• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1151-1172
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• 2014

This paper presents a user programmable computational/control platform developed to conduct real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS). The architecture of this platform is based on the integration of a real-time controller and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).This not only enables the user to apply user-defined control laws to control the experimental substructures, but also provides ample computational resources to run the integration algorithm and analytical substructure state determination in real-time. In this platform the need for SCRAMNet as the communication device between real-time and servo-control workstations has been eliminated which was a critical component in several former RTHS platforms. The accuracy of the servo-hydraulic actuator displacement control, where the control tasks get executed on the FPGA was verified using single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) and 2 degrees-of-freedom (2DOF) experimental substructures. Finally, the functionality of the proposed system as a robust and reliable RTHS platform for performance evaluation of structural systems was validated by conducting real-time hybrid simulation of a three story nonlinear structure with SDOF and 2DOF experimental substructures. Also, tracking indicators were employed to assess the accuracy of the results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.259-274
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• 2003

In this paper, a novel numerical solution technique, the differential cubature method is employed to study the buckling problems of thick plates with arbitrary quadrilateral planforms and non-uniform boundary constraints based on the first order shear deformation theory. By using this method, the governing differential equations at each discrete point are transformed into sets of linear homogeneous algebraic equations. Boundary conditions are implemented through discrete grid points by constraining displacements, bending moments and rotations of the plate. Detailed formulation and implementation of this method are presented. The buckling parameters are calculated through solving a standard eigenvalue problem by subspace iterative method. Convergence and comparison studies are carried out to verify the reliability and accuracy of the numerical solutions. The applicability, efficiency, and simplicity of the present method are demonstrated through solving several sample plate buckling problems with various mixed boundary constraints. It is shown that the differential cubature method yields comparable numerical solutions with 2.77-times less degrees of freedom than the differential quadrature element method and 2-times less degrees of freedom than the energy method. Due to the lack of published solutions for buckling of thick rectangular plates with mixed edge conditions, the present solutions may serve as benchmark values for further studies in the future.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.657-678
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• 2018

Sandwich structures are well known for their use in aircraft, naval and automobile industries due to their high strength resistance with light weight and high energy absorption capability. Sandwich beams with soft core are very common and simple structures that are employed in day to day general use appliances. Modeling and analysis of sandwich structures is not straight forward due to the interactions between core and face sheets. In this paper, formulation of Super Convergent finite elements for analysis of the sandwich beams with soft core based on Euler Bernoulli beam theory are presented. Two elements, Eul4d with 4 degrees of freedom assuming rigid core in transverse direction and Eul10d with 10 degrees of freedom assuming the flexible core were developed are presented. The formulation considers the top, bottom face sheets and core as separate entities and are coupled by beam kinematics. The performance of these elements are validated by results available in the published literature. Number of studies are performed using the formulated elements in static, free vibration and wave propagation analysis involving various boundary and loading conditions. The paper highlights the advantages of the elements developed over the traditional elements for modeling of sandwich beams and, in particular wave propagation analysis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.235-256
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• 2005

The non-linear behaviour of electrorheological (ER) and magnetorheological (MR) dampers makes it difficult to design effective control strategies, and as a consequence a wide range of control systems have been proposed in the literature. These previous studies have not always compared the performance to equivalent passive systems, alternative control designs, or idealised active systems. As a result it is often impossible to compare the performance of different smart damper control strategies. This article provides some insight into the relative performance of two MR damper control strategies: on/off control and feedback linearisation. The performance of both strategies is benchmarked against ideal passive, semi-active and fully active damping. The study relies upon a previously developed model of an MR damper, which in this work is validated experimentally under closed-loop conditions with a broadband mechanical excitation. Two vibration isolation case studies are investigated: a single-degree-of-freedom mass-isolator, and a two-degree-of-freedom system that represents a vehicle suspension system. In both cases, a variety of broadband mechanical excitations are used and the results analysed in the frequency domain. It is shown that although on/off control is more straightforward to implement, its performance is worse than the feedback linearisation strategy, and can be extremely sensitive to the excitation conditions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.21-36
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• 2023

Structural vibrations generated by earthquakes and wind loads can be controlled by varying the structural parameters such as mass, stiffness, damping ratio, and geometry and providing a certain amount of passive or active reaction forces. A Double-Tuned Mass Dampers (DTMDs) system, which is simple and more effective than the conventional single tuned mass damper (TMD) system for vibration mitigation is presented. Two TMDs tuned to the first two natural frequencies were used to control vibrations. Experimental investigations were carried out on a three degrees-of-freedom frame model to investigate the effectiveness of DTMDs systems in controlling displacements, accelerations, and base shear. Numerical models were developed and validated against the experimental results. The validation showed a good match between the experimental and numerical results. The validated model was employed to investigate the behavior of a five degrees-of-freedom shear building structure, wherein mass dampers with different mass ratios were considered. The effectiveness of the DTMDs system was investigated for harmonic, seismic, and white noise base excitations. The proposed system was capable of significantly reducing the story displacements, accelerations, and base shears at the first and second natural frequencies, as compared to conventional single TMD.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.53-67
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• 2013

In this paper we apply Monte Carlo Filter to identifying dynamic parameters of structural systems and improve the efficiency of this algorithm. The algorithms using Monte Carlo Filter so far has not been practical to apply to structural identification for large scale structural systems because computation time increases exponentially as the degrees of freedom of the system increase. To overcome this problem, we developed a method being able to reduce number of particles which express possible structural response state vector. In MCF there are two steps which are the prediction and filtering processes. The idea is very simple. The prediction process remains intact but the filtering process is conducted at each node of structural system in the proposed method. We named this algorithm as relaxation Monte Carlo Filter (RMCF) and demonstrate its efficiency to identify large degree of freedom systems. Moreover to increase searching field and speed up convergence time of structural parameters we proposed an algorithm combining the Genetic Algorithm with RMCF and named GARMCF. Using shaking table test data of a model structure we also demonstrate the efficiency of proposed algorithm.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.481-500
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• 2017

A novel three-degree-of-freedom (DOF) forced vibration system has been developed for identification of aeroelastic (self-excited) load parameters used in time-domain response analysis of wind-excited flexible structures. This system is capable of forcing sinusoidal motions on a section model of a structure that is used in wind tunnel aeroelastic studies along all three degrees of freedom - along-wind, cross-wind, and torsional - simultaneously or in any combination thereof. It utilizes three linear actuators to force vibrations at a consistent frequency but varying amplitudes between the three. This system was designed to identify all the parameters, namely, aeroelastic- damping and stiffness that appear in self-excited (motion-dependent) load formulation either in time-domain (rational functions) or frequency-domain (flutter derivatives). Relatively large displacements (at low frequencies) can be generated by the system, if required. Results from three experiments, airfoil, streamlined bridge deck and a bluff-shaped bridge deck, are presented to demonstrate the functionality and robustness of the system and its applicability to multiple cross-section types. The system will allow routine identification of aeroelastic parameters through wind tunnel tests that can be used to predict response of flexible structures in extreme and transient wind conditions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.713-735
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• 2005

Due to the complexity of mathematical expressions, the literature concerning the free vibration analysis of plates carrying multiple three-degree-of-freedom (dof) spring-mass systems is rare. In this paper, the three degrees of freedom (dof's) for a spring-mass system refer to the translational motion of its lumped mass in the vertical ($\bar{z}$) direction and the two pitching motions of its lumped mass about the two horizontal ($\bar{x}$ and $\bar{y}$) axes. The basic concept of this paper is to replace each three-dof spring-mass system by a set of equivalent springs, so that the free vibration characteristics of a rectangular plate carrying any number of three-dof spring-mass systems can be obtained from those of the same plate supported by the same number of sets of equivalent springs. Since the three dof's of the lumped mass for each three-dof spring-mass system are eliminated to yield a set of equivalent springs, the total dof of the entire vibrating system is not affected by the total number of the spring-mass systems attached to the rectangular plate. However, this is not true in the conventional finite element method (FEM), where the total dof of the entire vibrating system increases three if one more three-dof spring-mass system is attached to the rectangular plate. Hence, the computer storage memory required by using the presented equivalent spring method (ESM) is less than that required by the conventional FEM, and the more the total number of the three-dof spring-mass systems attached to the plate, the more the advantage of the ESM. In addition, since manufacturing a spring with the specified stiffness is much easier than making a three-dof spring-mass system with the specified spring constants and mass magnitude, the presented theory of replacing a three-dof spring-mass system by a set of equivalent springs will be also significant from this viewpoint.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.327-342
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• 2014

The tension leg platform (TLP) is one of the compliant structures which are generally used for deep water oil exploration. With respect to the horizontal degrees of freedom, it behaves like a floating structure moored by vertical tethers which are pretension due to the excess buoyancy of the platform, whereas with respect to the vertical degrees of freedom, it is stiff and resembles a fixed structure and is not allowed to float freely. In the current study, a numerical study for square TLP using modified Morison equation was carried out in the time domain with water particle kinematics using Airy's linear wave theory to investigate the effect of changing the tether tension force on the stiffness matrix of TLP's, the dynamic behavior of TLP's; and on the fatigue stresses in the cables. The effect was investigated for different parameters of the hydrodynamic forces such as wave periods, and wave heights. The numerical study takes into consideration the effect of coupling between various degrees of freedom. The stiffness of the TLP was derived from a combination of hydrostatic restoring forces and restoring forces due to cables. Nonlinear equation was solved using Newmark's beta integration method. Only uni-directional waves in the surge direction was considered in the analysis. It was found that for short wave periods (i.e., 10 sec.), the surge response consisted of small amplitude oscillations about a displaced position that is significantly dependent on tether tension force, wave height; whereas for longer wave periods, the surge response showed high amplitude oscillations that is significantly dependent on wave height, and that special attention should be given to tethers fatigue because of their high tensile static and dynamic stress.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.165-178
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• 2016

The goal of energy-based seismic design is to obtain a structural design with a higher energy dissipation capacity than the energy dissipation demands incurred under earthquake motions. Accurate estimation of the story hysteretic energy demand of a multi-story structure is the key to meeting this goal. Based on the assumption of a mode-equivalent single-degree-of-freedom system, the energy equilibrium relationship of a multi-story structure under seismic action is transformed into that of a multi-mode analysis of several single degree-of-freedom systems. A simplified equation for the estimation of the story seismic hysteretic energy demand was then derived according to the story shear force and deformation of multi-story buildings, and the deformation and energy relationships between the mode-equivalent single-degree-of-freedom system and the original structure. Sites were categorized into three types based on soil hardness, namely, hard soil, intermediate hard (soft) soil, and soft soil. For each site type, a 5-story and 10-story reinforced concrete frame structure were designed and employed as calculation examples. Fifty-six earthquake acceleration records were used as horizontal excitations to validate the accuracy of the proposed method. The results verify the following. (1) The distribution of seismic hysteretic energy along the stories demonstrate a degree of regularity. (2) For the low rise buildings, use of only the first mode shape provides reasonably accurate results, whereas, for the medium or high rise buildings, several mode shapes should be included and superposed to achieve high precision. (3) The estimated hysteretic energy distribution of bottom stories tends to be underestimated, which should be modified in actual applications.