• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.1
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• pp.85-94
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• 2023

In the present work, thermal buckling and post-buckling behaviors of imperfect graphene platelet reinforced metal foams (GPRMFs) doubly curved shells are examined. Material properties of GPRMFs doubly curved shells are presumed to be the function of the thickness. Reddy' shell theory incorporating geometric nonlinearity is utilized to derive the governing equations. Various types of the graphene platelets (GPLs) distribution patterns and doubly curved shell types are taken into account. The nonlinear equations are discretized for the case of simply supported boundary conditions. The thermal post-buckling response are presented to analyze the effects of GPLs distribution patterns, initial geometric imperfection, GPLs weight fraction, porosity coefficient, porosity distribution forms, doubly curved shell types. The results show that these factors have significant effects on the thermal post-buckling problems.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.283-289
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• 2021

This paper derives numerically the buckling Knockdown factors using two different initial imperfection models, such as geometric and loading imperfection models, to investigate the unstiffened composite cylinder with an ellipse pre-buckling deformation pattern. Single Perturbation Load Approach (SPLA) is applied to represent the geometric initial imperfection of a thin-walled composite cylinder; while Single Boundary Perturbation Approach (SBPA) is used to represent the geometric and loading imperfections simultaneously. The buckling Knockdown factor derived using SPLA is higher than NASA's buckling design criteria by approximately 84%, and lower than buckling test result by 9%. The buckling Knockdown factor using SBPA is higher than NASA's buckling design criteria by about 75%, and 14% lower than the buckling test result. Therefore, it is shown that the buckling Knockdown factors derived in this study can provide a lightweight design compared to the previous buckling design criteria while they give reasonably a conservative design compared to the buckling test for both the initial imperfection models.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.319-332
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• 2018

This paper investigates the free vibration of geometrically imperfect functionally graded car-bon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) beams that are integrated with two sur-face-bonded piezoelectric layers and subjected to a combined action of a uniform temperature rise, a constant actuator voltage and an in-plane force. The material properties of FG-CNTRCs are assumed to be temperature-dependent and vary continuously across the thick-ness. A generic imperfection function is employed to simulate various possible imperfections with different shapes and locations in the beam. The governing equations that account for the influence of initial geometric imperfection are derived based on the first-order shear deformation theory. The postbuckling configurations of FG-CNTRC hybrid beams are determined by the differential quadrature method combined with the modified Newton-Raphson technique, after which the fundamental frequencies of hybrid beams in the postbuckled state are obtained by a standard eigenvalue algorithm. The effects of CNT distribution pattern and volume fraction, geometric imperfection, thermo-electro-mechanical load, as well as boundary condition are examined in detail through parametric studies. The results show that the fundamental frequency of an imperfect beam is higher than that of its perfect counterpart. The influence of geometric imperfection tends to be much more pronounced around the critical buckling temperature.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.541-552
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• 1997

In this paper the ultimate strength of the R/C cooling towers, which have initial imperfection and pre-cracked elements, is analyzed. The initial geometric imperfections arise from the unavoidable inaccuracies under the construction and the pre-cracks are assumed to be produced by the temperature stress gradients or cyclic loading under wind pressure and/or earthquake load. Both effects are strongly influenced on the strength of the R/C cooling tower shell structures. The reinforcing ratio is also the important factor to evaluate the ultimate strength of the R/C cooling tower shells. However we could not analyze these structures experimentally because of their large, analyses are the powerful schemes to evaluate the safety and reliability of these structures. The analyzed model is Port Gibson cooling tower shell. In the numerical analysis the geometric and material nonlinearities are taken into account.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.133-146
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• 2017

This study aimed to investigate the effect of initial member length an imperfection in the load carrying capacity of double-layer domes space structures. First, for the member length imperfection of each member, a random number is generated from a normal distribution. Thereupon, the amount of the imperfection randomly varies from one member to another. Afterwards, based on the Push Down analysis, the collapse behavior and the ultimate capacity of the considered structure is determined using nonlinear analysis performed by the OpenSees software and this procedure is repeated numerous times by Monte Carlo simulation method. Finally, the reliability of structures is determined. The results show that the collapse behavior of double-layer domes space structures is highly sensitive to the random distribution of initial imperfections.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.5
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• pp.557-568
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• 2018

An investigation is made in the present work on the post-buckling and geometrically nonlinear behaviors of moderately thick perfect and imperfect rectangular plates made-up of functionally graded materials. Spectral collocation approach based on Legendre basis functions is developed to analyze the functionally graded plates while they are subjected to end-shortening strain. The material properties in this study are varied through the thickness according to the simple power law distribution. The fundamental equations for moderately thick rectangular plates are derived using first order shear deformation plate theory and taking into account both geometric nonlinearity and initial geometric imperfections. In the current study, the domain of interest is discretized with Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto nodes. The equilibrium equations will be obtained by discretizing the Von-Karman's equilibrium equations and also boundary conditions with finite Legendre basis functions that are substituted into the displacement fields. Due to effect of geometric nonlinearity, the final set of equilibrium equations is nonlinear and therefore the quadratic extrapolation technique is used to solve them. Since the number of equations in this approach will always be more than the number of unknown coefficients, the least squares technique will be used. Finally, the effects of boundary conditions, initial geometric imperfection and material properties are investigated and discussed to demonstrate the validity and capability of proposed method.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.407-415
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• 1999

There are two kinds of instability phenomena for shell-type structures which are snap-through and bifurcation buckling. These are very sensitive according to the shape characteristics including rise-span ratio and especially shape initial imperfection. In this study, the equilibrium path of shallow sinusoidal arches supported by hinges at both ends is investigated to grasp the instability behavior of shell-type structures with initial imperfection. The Galerkin method is used to get the nonlinear discretized equation of governing differential equation considering geometric nonlinearity of arches and the perturbation method is also used to transform the nonlinear equation to incremental form.

• Proceeding of KASS Symposium
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.191-204
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• 2006

This paper investigate the optimum thickness distribution of plate structure with different essential boundary conditions in the fundamental natural frequency maximization problem. In this study, the fundamental natural frequency is considered as the objective function to be maximized and the initial volume of structures is used as the constraint function. The computer-aided geometric design (CAGD) such as Coon's patch representation is used to represent the thickness distribution of plates. A reliable degenerated shell finite element is adopted calculate the accurate fundamental natural frequency of the plates. Robust optimization algorithms implemented in the optimizer DoT are adopted to search optimum thickness values during the optimization iteration. Finally, the optimum thickness distribution with respect to different boundary condition

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.705-720
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• 2024

Analyzing the collapse behavior of thin-walled steel structures holds significant importance in ensuring their safety and longevity. Geometric imperfections present on the surface of metal materials can diminish both the durability and mechanical integrity of steel shells. These imperfections, encompassing local geometric irregularities and deformations such as holes, cavities, notches, and cracks localized in specific regions of the shell surface, play a pivotal role in the assessment. They can induce stress concentration within the structure, thereby influencing its susceptibility to buckling. The intricate relationship between the buckling behavior of these structures and such imperfections is multifaceted, contingent upon a variety of factors. The buckling analysis of thin-walled steel shell structures, similar to other steel structures, commonly involves the determination of crucial material properties, including elastic modulus, shear modulus, tensile strength, and fracture toughness. An established method involves the emulation of distributed geometric imperfections, utilizing real test specimen data as a basis. This approach allows for the accurate representation and assessment of the diversity and distribution of imperfections encountered in real-world scenarios. Utilizing defect data obtained from actual test samples enhances the model's realism and applicability. The sizes and configurations of these defects are employed as inputs in the modeling process, aiding in the prediction of structural behavior. It's worth noting that there is a dearth of experimental studies addressing the influence of geometric defects on the buckling behavior of cylindrical steel shells. In this particular study, samples featuring geometric imperfections were subjected to experimental buckling tests. These same samples were also modeled using Finite Element Analysis (FEM), with results corroborating the experimental findings. Furthermore, the initial geometrical imperfections were measured using digital image correlation (DIC) techniques. In this way, the response of the test specimens can be estimated accurately by applying the initial imperfections to FE models. After validation of the test results with FEA, a numerical parametric study was conducted to develop more generalized design recommendations for the stainless-steel shell structures with the initial geometric imperfection. While the load-carrying capacity of samples with perfect surfaces was up to 140 kN, the load-carrying capacity of samples with 4 mm defects was around 130 kN. Likewise, while the load carrying capacity of samples with 10 mm defects was around 125 kN, the load carrying capacity of samples with 14 mm defects was measured around 120 kN.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.81-93
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• 2023

Due to the unclear mechanism of the influence of temperature on the resonance problem of doubly curved shells, this article aims to explore this issue. When the ambient temperature rises, the composite structure will expand. If the thermal effects are considered, the resonance response will become more complex. In the design of structure, thermal effect is inevitable. Therefore, it is of significance to study the resonant behavior of doubly curved shell structures in thermal environment. In view of this, this paper extends the previous work (She and Ding 2023) to the case of the nonlinear principal resonance behavior of graphene platelet reinforced metal foams (GPLRMFs) doubly curved shells in thermal environment. The effect of uniform temperature field is taken into consideration in the constitutive equation, and the nonlinear motion control equation considering temperature effect is derived. The modified Lindstedt Poincare (MLP) method is used to obtain the resonance response of doubly curved shells. Finally, we study the effects of temperature changes, shell types, material parameters, initial geometric imperfection and prestress on the forced vibration behaviors. It can be found that, as the temperature goes up, the resonance position can be advanced.