• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.121-133
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• 1995

It is well known that two-dimensional simplified third-order theories satisfy the layer interface continuity of transverse shear strains, thus these theories violate the continuity of transverse shear stresses when two consecutive layers differ either in fibre orientation or material. The third-order theories considered herein involve four/or five dependent unknowns in the displacement field and satisfy the condition of vanishing of transverse shear stresses at the bounding planes of the plate. The objective of this investigation is to examine (i) the flexural response prediction accuracy of these third-order theories compared to exact elasticity solution (ii) the effect of layer interface continuity conditions on the flexural response. To investigate the effect of layer interface continuity conditions, three-dimensional elasticity solutions are developed by enforcing the continuity of different combinations of transverse stresses and/or strains at the layer interfaces. Three dimensional twenty node solid finite element (having three translational displacements as degrees of freedom) without the imposition of any of the conditions on the transverse stresses and strains is also employed for the flexural analysis of the laminated plates for the purposes of comparison with the above theories. These shear deformation theories and elasticity approaches in terms of accuracy, adequacy and applicability are examined through extensive numerical examples.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.149-158
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• 2021

In this research paper, the free vibrational response of laminated composite plates is investigated using a non-polynomial refined shear deformation theory (NP-RSDT). The most interesting feature of this theory is the parabolic distribution of transverse shear deformations while ensuring the conditions of nullity of shear stresses at the free surfaces of the plate without requiring the Shear correction factor "Ks". A fourth-nodded isoparametric element with four degrees of freedom per node is employed for laminated composite plates. The numerical analysis of simply supported square anti-symmetric cross-ply and angle-ply laminated plate is carried out using a special discretization based on four-node finite element method which four degrees of freedom per node. Several numerical results are presented to show the effect of the coupling parameters of the plate such as the modulus ratios, the thickness ratio and the plate layers number on adimensional eigen frequencies. All numerical results presented using the current finite element method (FEM) is presented in 3D curve form.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.143-156
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• 2008

Elliptical tubes may buckle in an elastic local buckling failure mode under uniform compression. Previous analyses of the local buckling of these members have assumed that the cross-section is hollow, but it is well-known that the local buckling capacity of thin-walled closed sections may be increased by filling them with a rigid medium such as concrete. In many applications, the medium many not necessarily be rigid, and the infill can be considered to be an elastic material which interacts with the buckling of the elliptical tube that surrounds it. This paper uses an energy-based technique to model the buckling of a thin-walled elliptical tube containing an elastic infill, which elucidates the physics of the buckling phenomenon from an engineering mechanics basis, in deference to a less generic finite element approach to the buckling problem. It makes use of the observation that the local buckling in an elliptical tube is localised with respect to the contour of the ellipse in its cross-section, with the localisation being at the region of lowest curvature. The formulation in the paper is algebraic and it leads to solutions that can be determined by implementing simple numerical solution techniques. A further extension of this formulation to a stiffness approach with multiple degrees of buckling freedom is described, and it is shown that using the simple one degree of freedom representation is sufficiently accurate for determining the elastic local buckling coefficient.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.115-124
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• 2017

In this paper, a different technique to predict the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on seismic response of building systems is investigated. The technique use a machine learning algorithm called Support Vector Regression (SVR) with technical and analytical results as input features. Normally, the effects of SSI on seismic response of existing building systems can be identified by different types of large data sets. Therefore, predicting and estimating the seismic response of building is a difficult task. It is possible to approximate a real valued function of the seismic response and make accurate investing choices regarding the design of building system and reduce the risk involved, by giving the right experimental and/or numerical data to a machine learning regression, such as SVR. The seismic response of both single-degree-of-freedom system and six-storey RC frame which can be represent of a broad range of existing structures, is estimated using proposed SVR model, while allowing flexibility of the soil-foundation system and SSI effects. The seismic response of both single-degree-of-freedom system and six-storey RC frame which can be represent of a broad range of existing structures, is estimated using proposed SVR model, while allowing flexibility of the soil-foundation system and SSI effects. The results show that the performance of the technique can be predicted by reducing the number of real data input features. Further, performance enhancement was achieved by optimizing the RBF kernel and SVR parameters through grid search.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.141-154
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• 2006

Recently, the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) has gained considerable attention as a novel technique of signal processing, which shows promise for the system identification and damage detection of structures. This study investigates the effectiveness and accuracy of the HHT method for the system identification and damage detection of structures through a series of experiments. A multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) structural model has been constructed with modular members, and the columns of the model can be replaced or removed to simulate damages at different locations with different severities. The measured response data of the structure due to an impulse loading is first decomposed into modal responses using the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) approach with a band-pass filter technique. Then, the Hilbert transform is subsequently applied to each modal response to obtain the instantaneous amplitude and phase angle time histories. A linear least-square fit procedure is used to identify the natural frequencies and damping ratios from the instantaneous amplitude and phase angle for each modal response. When the responses at all degrees of freedom are measured, the mode shape and the physical mass, damping and stiffness matrices of the structure can be determined. Based on a comparison of the stiffness of each story unit prior to and after the damage, the damage locations and severities can be identified. Experimental results demonstrate that the HHT method yields quite accurate results for engineering applications, providing a promising tool for structural health monitoring.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.523-536
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• 2015

To study the vibration frequency of super high-rise buildings in the process of vortex induced vibration (VIV), wind tunnel tests of multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) aero-elastic models were carried out to measure the vibration frequency of the system directly. The effects of structural damping, wind field category, mass density, reduced wind velocity ($V_r$), as well as VIV displacement on the VIV frequency were investigated systematically. It was found that the frequency drift phenomenon cannot be ignored when the building is very high and flexible. When $V_r$ is less than 8, the drift magnitude of the frequency is typically positive. When $V_r$ is close to the critical wind velocity of resonance, the frequency drift magnitude becomes negative and reaches a minimum at the critical wind velocity. When $V_r$ is larger than12, the frequency drift magnitude almost maintains a stable value that is slightly smaller than the fundamental frequency of the aero-elastic model. Furthermore, the vibration frequency does not lock in the vortex shedding frequency completely, and it can even be significantly modified by the vortex shedding frequency when the reduced wind velocity is close to 10.5.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.263-273
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• 2020

The use of energy concepts in seismic analysis and design of structures requires the understanding of the input energy response of multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) systems subjected to strong ground motions. For design purposes and non-time consuming analysis, however, it would be beneficial to associate the input energy response of MDOF systems with those of single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems. In this paper, the theoretical formulation of energy input to MDOF systems is developed on the basis that only a particular portion of the total mass distributed among floor levels is effective in the nth-mode response. The input energy response histories of several reinforced concrete frames subjected to a set of eleven horizontal acceleration histories selected from actual recorded events and scaled in time domain are obtained. The contribution of the fundamental mode to the total input energy response of MDOF frames is demonstrated both graphically and numerically. The input energy of the fundamental mode is found to be a good indicator of the total energy input to two-dimensional regular MDOF structures. The numerical results computed by the proposed formulation are verified with relative input energy time histories directly computed from linear time history analysis. Finally, the elastic input energies are compared with those computed from time history analysis of nonlinear MDOF systems.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2017

Passive dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) are often used to suppress the excessive vibration of a large structure due to their simple construction and low maintenance cost compared to other vibration control techniques. A new type of passive DVA consists of two pendulums connected with spring and dashpot element is investigated. This research evaluated the performance of the DVA in reducing the vibration response of a two degree of freedom shear structure. A model for the two DOF vibration system with the absorber is developed. The nominal absorber parameters are calculated using a Genetic Algorithm(GA) procedure. A parametric study is performed to evaluate the effect of each absorber parameter on performance. The simulation results show that the optimum condition for the absorber frequencies and damping ratios is mainly affected by pendulum length, mass, and the damping coefficient of the pendulum's hinge joint. An experimental model validates the theoretical results. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed technique is able be used as an effective alternative solution for reducing the vibration response of a multi degree of freedom vibration system.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.897-911
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• 2015

This study presents a novel approach based on advancements in Evolutionary Computation for data-driven modeling of complex multi-dimensional memory-dependent systems. The investigated example is a benchmark coupled three-dimensional system that incorporates 6 Bouc-Wen elements, and is subjected to external excitations at three points. The proposed technique of this research adapts Genetic Programming for discovering the optimum structure of the differential equation of an auxiliary variable associated with every specific degree-of-freedom of this system that integrates the imposed effect of vibrations at all other degrees-of-freedom. After the termination of the first phase of the optimization process, a system of differential equations is formed that represent the multi-dimensional hysteretic system. Then, the parameters of this system of differential equations are optimized in the second phase using Genetic Algorithms to yield accurate response estimates globally, because the separately obtained differential equations are coupled essentially, and their true performance can be assessed only when the entire system of coupled differential equations is solved. The resultant model after the second phase of optimization is a low-order low-complexity surrogate computational model that represents the investigated three-dimensional memory-dependent system. Hence, this research presents a promising data-driven modeling technique for obtaining optimized representative models for multi-dimensional hysteretic systems that yield reasonably accurate results, and can be generalized to many problems, in various fields, ranging from engineering to economics as well as biology.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.531-546
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• 2014

In this paper the extension of a recently established energy-based pushover procedure in order to include the higher mode contributions to the seismic response of structures is presented and preliminary evaluated. The steps of the proposed methodology in its new formulation are quite similar to those of the well-known Modal Pushover Analysis. However, the determination of the properties of the 'modal' equivalent single-degree-of-freedom systems is achieved by a rationally founded energy-based concept. Firstly, the theoretical background and the assumptions of the proposed methodology are presented and briefly discussed. Secondly, the sequence of steps to be followed for its implementation along with the necessary equations is systematically presented. The accuracy of the methodology is evaluated by an extensive parametric study which shows that, in general, it provides better results compared to those produced by other similar procedures. In addition, the main shortcoming of the initial version of the methodology now seems to be mitigated to a large extent.