• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.149-165
• /
• 1997

A dynamic time-history analysis of the coupled internals and core in the vertical direction is performed as a part of the fuel assembly qualification program. To reflect the interaction between the fuel rods and grid cage, friction element is developed and is implemented. Also derived here is a method to calculate a hydraulic force on the reactor internals due to pipe break. Peak responses are obtained for the excitations induced from earthquake and pipe break. The dynamic responses such as fuel assembly axial forces and lift-off characteristics are investigated.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.3 no.3_4
• /
• pp.457-471
• /
• 2012

Current code procedures for stress and stability analysis of new and existing concrete-gravity dams are primarily based on conventional methods of analysis. Such methods can be applied in a straightforward manner but there has been evidence that they may be inaccurate or, possibly, not conservative. This paper presents finite element modeling and analysis procedures and makes recommendations for local failure criteria at the dam-rock interface aimed at predicting more accurately the behavior of dams under hydraulic and anchoring loads.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.267-277
• /
• 2018

Numerical simulations are performed of a long flexible cylinder undergoing vortex-induced vibration at a Reynolds number of 500. The cylinder is pinned at both ends, having an aspect ratio of 100 (cylinder length to cylinder diameter) and a mass ratio of 4.2 (structural mass to displaced fluid mass). Temporal and spatial information on the cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) vibrations is extracted. High modal vibrations up to the $6^{th}$ in the CF direction and the $11^{th}$ in the IL direction are observed. Both the CF and IL vibrations feature a multi-mode mixed pattern. Mode competition is observed. The $2^{nd}$ mode with a low frequency dominates the IL vibration and its existence is attributed to a wave group propagating back and forth along the span. Distributions of fluid force coefficients are correlated to those of the CF and IL vibrations along the span. Histograms of the x'-y motion phase difference are evaluated from the total simulation time and a complete vibration cycle representing the standing or travelling wave pattern. Correlations between the phase difference and the vibrations are discussed. Vortex structures behind the cylinder show an interwoven near-wake pattern when the standing wave pattern dominates, but an oblique near-wake pattern when the travelling wave pattern prevails.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.327-345
• /
• 2014

This paper presents a composite control strategy for the active suppression of vibration due to the unknown disturbances, such as external excitation, harmonic effects and control spillover, as well as high-frequency accelerometer measurement noise in the all-clamped stiffened plate. The proposed composite control action based on the modal approach, consists of two contributions including feedback part and feedforward part. The feedback part is the well-known PID controller, which is widely used to increase the structure damping and improve its dynamic performance close to the resonance frequencies. In order to get better performance for vibration suppression, the weight matrixes is optimized by chaos sequence. Then an improved disturbance observer (IDOB) as the feedforward compensation part is developed to enhance the vibration suppression performance of PID under various disturbances and uncertainties. The proposed IDOB can simultaneously estimate the various disturbances dynamically as well as measurement noise acting on the system and suppress them by feedforward compensation design. A rigorous analysis is also given to show why the IDOB can effectively suppress the unknown disturbances and measurement noise. In order to verify the proposed composite control algorithm (IDOB-PID), the dSPACE real-time simulation platform is used and an experimental platform for the all-clamped stiffened plate active vibration control system is set up. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness, practicality and strong anti-disturbances ability of the proposed control strategy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.45 no.5
• /
• pp.595-611
• /
• 2013

This paper aims to compare three collocation point methods associated with the odd order stochastic response surface method (SRSM) in a systematical and quantitative way. The SRSM with the Hermite polynomial chaos is briefly introduced first. Then, three collocation point methods, namely the point method, the root method and the without origin method underlying the odd order SRSMs are highlighted. Three examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the three methods. The results indicate that the condition that the Hermite polynomial information matrix evaluated at the collocation points has a full rank should be satisfied to yield reliability results with a sufficient accuracy. The point method and the without origin method are much more efficient than the root method, especially for the reliability problems involving a large number of random variables or requiring complex finite element analysis. The without origin method can also produce sufficiently accurate reliability results in comparison with the point and root methods. Therefore, the origin often used as a collocation point is not absolutely necessary. The odd order SRSMs with the point method and the without origin method are recommended for the reliability analysis due to their computational accuracy and efficiency. The order of SRSM has a significant influence on the results associated with the three collocation point methods. For normal random variables, the SRSM with an order equaling or exceeding the order of a performance function can produce reliability results with a sufficient accuracy. The order of SRSM should significantly exceed the order of the performance function involving strongly non-normal random variables.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.61 no.4
• /
• pp.497-510
• /
• 2017

A framed structure may be composed of two sub-structures, which are linked by a hinged joint. One sub-structure is the primary system and the other is the secondary system. The primary system, which is subjected to the periodic external load, can give rise to an auto-parametric resonance of the second system. Considering the geometric-stiffness effect produced by the axially internal force, the element equation of motion is derived by the extended Hamilton's principle. The element equations are then assembled into the global non-homogeneous Mathieu-Hill equations. The Newmark's method is introduced to solve the time-history responses of the non-homogeneous Mathieu-Hill equations. The energy-growth exponent/coefficient (EGE/EGC) and a finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FLE) are proposed for determining the auto-parametric instability boundaries of the structural system. The auto-parametric instabilities are numerically analyzed for the two frames. The influence of relative stiffness between the primary and secondary systems on the auto-parametric instability boundaries is investigated. A phenomenon of the "auto-parametric internal resonance" (the auto-parametric resonance of the second system induced by a normal resonance of the primary system) is predicted through the two numerical examples. The risk of auto-parametric internal resonance is emphasized. An auto-parametric resonance experiment of a ${\Gamma}$-shaped frame is conducted for verifying the theoretical predictions and present calculation method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.9-17
• /
• 2018

Brazilian splitting tests, uniaxial compression tests and triaxial compression tests are carried out on the coal samples cored from Shanxi group $II_1$ coal seam of Jiaozuo coal mine, Henan province, China, to obtain their property parameters. Considering the bedding has notable effect on the property parameter of coal, the samples with different bedding angles are prepared. The effects of bedding on the anisotropic characteristics of the coal seam are investigated. A geological geomechanical model is built based on the geology characteristics of the Jiaozuo coal mine target reservoir to study the effects of bedding on the fracture propagations during hydraulic fracturing. The effects of injection pressure, well completion method, in-situ stress difference coefficient, and fracturing fluid displacement on the fracture propagations are investigated. Results show bedding has notable effects on the property parameters of coal, which is the key factor affecting the anisotropy of coal. The hydraulic cracks trends to bifurcate and swerve at the bedding due to its low strength. Induced fractures are produced easily at the locations around the bedding. The bedding is beneficial to form a complicated fracture network. Experimental and numerical simulations can help to understand the effects of bedding on hydraulic fracturing in coalbed methane reservoirs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.327-355
• /
• 2016

A new analytical derivation of the elastodynamic point load solutions for an isotropic multi-layered half-space is presented by means of the precise integration method (PIM) and the approach of dual vector. The time-harmonic external load is prescribed either on the external boundary or in the interior of the solid medium. Starting with the axisymmetric governing motion equations in a cylindrical coordinate system, a second order ordinary differential matrix equation can be gained by making use of the Hankel integral transform. Employing the technique of dual vector, the second order ordinary differential matrix equation can be simplified into a first-order one. The approach of PIM is implemented to obtain the solutions of the ordinary differential matrix equation in the Hankel integral transform domain. The PIM is a highly accurate algorithm to solve sets of first-order ordinary differential equations and any desired accuracy of the dynamic point load solutions can be achieved. The numerical simulation is based on algebraic matrix operation. As a result, the computational effort is reduced to a great extent and the computation is unconditionally stable. Selected numerical trials are given to validate the accuracy and applicability of the proposed approach. More examples are discussed to portray the dependence of the load-displacement response on the isotropic parameters of the multi-layered media, the depth of external load and the frequency of excitation.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.103-126
• /
• 2015

Thermal effects are significant loads for assessing concrete dam behaviour during operation. A new methodology to estimate thermal loads on concrete dams taking into account processes which were previously unconsidered, such as: the evaporative cooling, the night radiating cooling or the shades, has been recently reported. The application of this novel approach in combination with a three-dimensional finite element method to solve the heat diffusion equation led to a precise characterization of the thermal field inside the dam. However, that approach may be computationally expensive. This paper proposes the use of a new one-dimensional model based on an explicit finite difference scheme which is improved by means of the reported methodology for computing the heat fluxes through the dam faces. The improved model has been applied to a case study where observations from 21 concrete thermometers and data of climatic variables were available. The results are compared with those from: (a) the original one-dimensional finite difference model, (b) the Stucky-Derron classical one-dimensional analytical solution, and (c) a three-dimensional finite element method. The results of the improved model match well with the observed temperatures, in addition they are similar to those obtained with (c) except in the vicinity of the abutments, although this later is a considerably more complex methodology. The improved model have a better performance than the models (a) and (b), whose results present larger error and bias when compared with the recorded data.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.719-732
• /
• 2020

Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) which combines physical experiment with numerical simulation is an advanced method to investigate dynamic responses of structures subjected to earthquake excitation. The desired displacement computed from the numerical substructure is applied to the experimental substructure by a servo-hydraulic actuator in real time. However, the magnitude decay and phase delay resulted from the dynamics of the servo-hydraulic system affect the accuracy and stability of a RTHS. In this study, a robust stability analysis procedure for a general single-degree-of-freedom structure is proposed which considers the uncertainty of servo-hydraulic system dynamics. For discussion purposes, the experimental substructure is a portion of the entire structure in terms of a ratio of stiffness, mass, and damping, respectively. The dynamics of the servo-hydraulic system is represented by a multiplicative uncertainty model which is based on a nominal system and a weight function. The nominal system can be obtained by conducting system identification prior to the RTHS. A first-order weight function formulation is proposed which needs to cover the worst possible uncertainty envelope over the frequency range of interest. Then, the Nyquist plot of the perturbed system is adopted to determine the robust stability margin of the RTHS. In addition, three common delay compensation methods are applied to the RTHS loop to investigate the effect of delay compensation on the robust stability. Numerical simulation and experimental validation results indicate that the proposed procedure is able to obtain a robust stability margin in terms of mass, damping, and stiffness ratio which provides a simple and conservative approach to assess the stability of a RTHS before it is conducted.