• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제48권1호
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• pp.73-88
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• 2023

This paper presents a novel implicit level set method for topology optimization of functionally graded (FG) structures with pre-existing discontinuities (pre-cracks) using radial basis functions (RBF). The mathematical formulation of the optimization problem is developed by incorporating RBF-based nodal densities as design variables and minimizing compliance as the objective function. To accurately capture crack-tip behavior, crack-tip enrichment functions are introduced, and an eXtended Finite Element Method (X-FEM) is employed for analyzing the mechanical response of FG structures with strong discontinuities. The enforcement of boundary conditions is achieved using the Hamilton-Jacobi method. The study provides detailed mathematical expressions for topology optimization of systems with defects using FG materials. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of the proposed methodology.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제50권2호
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• pp.135-148
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• 2024

This paper analytically investigates the free vibration analysis of functionally graded-carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) plates by dynamic stiffness method (DSM). The properties of CNTRC are determined with the extended rule of mixture. The governing differential equations of motion based on the first-order shear deformation theory of CNTRC plate are derived using Hamilton's principle. The FG-CNTRC plates are studied for a uniform and two different distributions of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The accuracy and performance of the DSM are compared with the results obtained from closed closed-form and semi-analytical solution methods in previous studies. In this study, the effects of boundary condition, distribution type of CNTs, plate aspect ratio, plate length to thickness ratio, and different values of CNTs volume fraction on the natural frequencies of the FG-CNTRC plates are investigated. Finally, various natural frequencies of the plates in different conditions are provided as a benchmark for comparing the accuracy and precision of the other analytical and numerical methods.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제51권2호
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• pp.203-223
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• 2024

This study shows functionally graded material structural topology optimization under buckling constraints. The SIMP (Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization) material model is used and a method of moving asymptotes is also employed to update topology design variables. In this study, the quadrilateral element is applied to compute buckling load factors. Instead of artificial density properties, functionally graded materials are newly assigned to distribute optimal topology materials depending on the buckling load factors in a given design domain. Buckling load factor formulations are derived and confirmed by the resistance of functionally graded material properties. However, buckling constraints for functionally graded material topology optimization have not been dealt with in single material. Therefore, this study aims to find the minimum compliance topology optimization and the buckling load factor in designing the structures under buckling constraints and generate the functionally graded material distribution with asymmetric stiffness properties that minimize the compliance. Numerical examples verify the superiority and reliability of the present method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.537-550
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• 2019

Korea and Japan have done a lot of research on composite girders with corrugated steel webs and built many bridges with corrugated steel webs due to the significant advantages of this type of bridges. Considering the demanding on the calculation method of such types of bridges and lack of relevant reinforcement design method, this paper proposes the spatial grid analysis theory and tensile stress region method. First, the accuracy and applicability of spatial grid model in analyzing composite girders with corrugated steel webs was validated by the comparison with models using shell and solid elements. Then, in a real engineering practice, the reinforcement designs from tensile stress region method based on spatial grid model, design empirical method and specification method are compared. The results show that the tensile stress region reinforcement design method can realize the inplane and out-of-plane reinforcement design in the top and bottom slabs in bridges with corrugated steel webs. The economy and precision of reinforcement design using the tensile stress region method is emphasized. Therefore, the tensile stress region reinforcement design method based on the spatial grid model can provide a new direction for the refined design of composite box girder with corrugated steel webs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.453-461
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• 2018

In this paper, nonlinear vibrations of the unsymmetrical laminated composite beam (LCB) on a nonlinear elastic foundation are studied. The governing equation of the problem is derived by using Galerkin method. Two different end conditions are considered: the simple-simple and the clamped-clamped one. The Hamiltonian Approach (HA) method is adopted and applied for solving of the equation of motion. The advantage of the suggested method is that it does not need any linearization of the problem and the obtained approximate solution has a high accuracy. The method is used for frequency calculation. The frequency of the nonlinear system is compared with the frequency of the linear system. The influence of the parameters of the foundation nonlinearity on the frequency of vibration is considered. The differential equation of vibration is solved also numerically. The analytical and numerical results are compared and is concluded that the difference is negligible. In the paper the new method for error estimation of the analytical solution in comparison to the exact one is developed. The method is based on comparison of the calculation energy and the exact energy of the system. For certain numerical data the accuracy of the approximate frequency of vibration is determined by applying of the suggested method of error estimation. Finally, it has been indicated that the proposed Hamiltonian Approach gives enough accurate result.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제28권6호
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• pp.655-670
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• 2018

A coupled method, that combines the Ritz method and the finite element (FE) method, is proposed to solve the vibration problem of rectangular thin and thick plates with general boundary conditions. The eigenvalue partial differential equation(s) of the plate is (are) first reduced to a set of eigenvalue ordinary differential equations by the application of the Ritz method. The resulting eigenvalue differential equations are then reduced to an eigenvalue algebraic equation system using the finite element method. The natural boundary conditions of the plate problem including the free edge and free corner boundary conditions are also implemented in a simple and accurate manner. Various boundary conditions including simply supported, clamped and free boundary conditions are considered. Comparisons with existing numerical and analytical solutions show that the proposed mixed method can produce highly accurate results for the problems considered using a small number of Ritz terms and finite elements. The proposed mixed Ritz-FE formulation is also compared with the mixed FE-Ritz formulation which has been recently proposed by the present author and his co-author. It is found that the proposed mixed Ritz-FE formulation is more efficient than the mixed FE-Ritz formulation for free vibration analysis of rectangular plates with Levy-type boundary conditions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.509-516
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• 2018

The differential quadrature (DQ) and teaching-learning based optimization (TLBO) methods are coupled to introduce a hybrid numerical method for maximizing fundamental natural frequency of laminated composite skew plates. The fiber(s) orientations are selected as design variable(s). The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is used to obtain the governing equations of the plate. The equations of motion and the related boundary conditions are discretized in space domain by employing the DQ method. The discretized equations are transferred from the time domain into the frequency domain to obtain the fundamental natural frequency. Then, the DQ solution is coupled with the TLBO method to find the maximum frequency of the plate and its related optimum stacking sequences of the laminate. Convergence and applicability of the proposed method are shown and the optimum fundamental frequency parameter of the plates with different skew angle, boundary conditions, number of layers and aspect ratio are obtained. The obtained results can be used as a benchmark for further studies.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.57-70
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• 2016

The predominant type of buckling that I-steel concrete composite beams experience in the negative moment area is distortional buckling. The key factors that affect distortional buckling are the torsional and lateral restraints by the bottom flange. This study thoroughly investigates the equivalent lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange of an I-steel concrete composite beam under negative moments. The results show a coupling effect between the applied forces and the lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange. A formula is proposed to calculate the critical buckling stress of the I-steel concrete composite beams under negative moments by considering the lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange. The proposed method is shown to better predict the critical bending moment of the I-steel composite beams. This article introduces an improved method to calculate the elastic foundation beams, which takes into account the lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange and considers the coupling effect between them. The results show a close match in results from the calculation method proposed in this paper and the ANSYS finite element method, which validates the proposed calculation method. The proposed calculation method provides a theoretical basis for further research on distortional buckling and the ultimate resistance of I-steel concrete composite beams under a variable axial force.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.23-32
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• 2022

In this paper, a nonlinear numerical method to solve the large deflection problem is introduced. And the non-dimensional load-deflection behavior of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) plates is parametrically investigated. The large deflection problem is formulated according to the von Kármán nonlinear theory and the (1,1,0)^* hierarchical model, and it is approximated by 2-D natural element method (NEM). The shear locking phenomenon is suppressed by the selectively reduced integration method. The nonlinear matrix equations are solved by combining the incremental loading scheme and the Newton-Raphson iteration method. The proposed method is validated from the benchmark experiments, where the propose method shows an excellent agreement with the reference methods. The nonlinear behavior of FG-CNTRC plates is evaluated in terms of the non-dimensional load-deflection curve, and it is parametrically investigated with respect to the existence/non-existence and gradient pattern of CNTs, the width-to-thickness and aspect ratios of plates and the type of boundary conditions. The non-dimensional central deflection is significantly reduced when CNTs and added, and it decreases with the volume fraction of CNTs. But, it shows a uniform increase in proportion to the width-to-thickness and aspect ratios. Both the gradient pattern of CNTs and the type of boundary conditions do also show the remarkable effects.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.117-133
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• 2014

Natural vibration of truss cable structures is analyzed based upon the general structural analysis software ANSYS, energy variational method and Rayleigh method, the calculated results of three methods are compared, from which the characteristics of free-vibration are obtained. Moreover, vertical seismic response analysis of truss cable structures is carried out via time-history method. Introducing three natural earthquake waves calculated the results including time-history curve of vertical maximal displacement, time-history curve of maximal internal force. Variation curve of maximal displacement of node along span, and variation curve of maximal internal force of member along span are presented. The results show the formulas of frequencies for truss cable structures obtained by energy variational method are of high accuracy. Furthermore, the maximal displacement and the maximal internal force occur near the 1/5 span point. These provide convenient and simple design method for practical engineering.