• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 1995

Since structural systems may fail in any one of several failure modes, computation of system reliability is always difficult. A method using numerical quadrature for computing structural system reliability with either one or more than one failure mode is presented in this paper. Statistically correlated safety margin equations are transformed into a group of uncorrelated variables and the joint density function of these uncorrelated variables can be generated by using the Maximum Entropy Method. Structural system reliability is then obtained by integrating the joint density function with the transformed safety domain enclosed within a set of linear equations. The Gaussian numerical integration method is introduced in order to improve computational accuracy. This method can be used to evaluate structural system reliability for Gaussian or non-Gaussian variables with either linear or nonlinear safety boundaries. It is also valid for implicit safety margins such as computer programs. Both the theory and the examples show that this method is simple in concept and easy to implement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.277-290
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• 2016

This paper investigates the ground vibration induced by high-speed trains moving on multi-span continuous bridges. The dynamic impact factor of multi-span continuous bridges under trainloads was first determined in the parametric study, which shows that the dynamic impact factor will be large when the first bridge vertical natural frequency is equal to the trainload dominant frequencies, nV/D, where n is a positive integer, V is the train speed, and D is the train carriage interval. In addition, more continuous spans will produce smaller dynamic impact factors at this resonance condition. Based on the results of three-dimensional finite element analyses using the soil-structure interaction for realistic high-speed railway bridges, we suggest that the bridge span be set at 1.4 to 1.5 times the carriage interval for simply supported bridges. If not, the use of four or more-than-four-span continuous bridges is suggested to reduce the train-induced vibration. This study also indicates that the vibration in the train is major generated from the rail irregularities and that from the bridge deformation is not dominant.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.641-659
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• 2016

This paper deals with the pure bending of incompressible elastic perfectly plastic two-layer sheets under plane strain conditions at large strains. Each layer is classified by its yield stress, shear modulus of elasticity and its initial percentage thickness in relation to the whole sheet. The solution found is semi-analytic. In particular, a numerical technique is only necessary to solve transcendental equations. The general solution is cumbersome because different analytic expressions for the radial and circumferential stresses should be adopted in different regions of the whole sheet. In particular, there are several alternative ways a plastic region (or plastic regions) can propagate. However, for any given set of material and process parameters the solution to the problem consists of a sequence of rather simple analytic expressions connected by transcendental equations. The general solution is illustrated by a simple example.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.689-703
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• 2011

A new perturbation method is introduced to study the undamped free vibration of a non-prismatic Timoshenko beam for its natural frequencies and vibration modes. For simplicity, the natural modes of vibration of its corresponding prismatic Euler-Bernoulli beam with the same length and boundary conditions are used as Ritz base functions with necessary modifications to account for shear strain in the Timoshenko beam. The new method can transform two coupled partial differential equations governing the transverse vibration of the non-prismatic Timoshenko beam into a set of nonlinear algebraic equations. It significantly simplifies the solution process and is applicable to non-prismatic beams with various boundary conditions. Three examples indicated that the new method is more accurate than the previous perturbation methods. It successfully takes into account the effect of shear deformation of Timoshenko beams particularly at the free end of cantilever structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.549-561
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• 2010

In this paper, free vibration analyses of a parallel placed twin pipe system simulated by simply supported-simply supported and fixed-fixed Euler-Bernoulli beams resting on Winkler elastic soil are presented. The motion of the system is described by a homogenous set of two partial differential equations, which is solved by a simulation method called the Differential Transform Method (DTM). Free vibrations of an elastically connected twin pipe system are realized by synchronous and asynchronous deflections. The results of the presented theoretical analyses for simply supported Euler-Bernoulli beams are compared with existing ones in open literature and very good agreement is demonstrated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.593-616
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• 2010

The seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns is a significant issue because the interaction of flexural ductility and shear capacity of such columns with varied amounts of lateral reinforcement is not well established. Several relationships between flexural ductility and shear capacity have been proposed by various researchers in the past. In this paper, a parametric study on RC bridge columns is conducted using a nonlinear finite element program, "Simulation of Concrete Structures (SCS)", developed at the University of Houston. SCS has been previously used to predict the seismic behavior of such columns. The predicted results were compared with the test results obtained from experiments available in literature. Based on the results of the parametric study performed in this paper, a set of new relationships between flexural ductility and shear capacity of RC columns is proposed for seismic design.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.407-421
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• 2009

The present paper addresses the optimal design of composite laminates with the aim of minimizing free-edge delamination stresses. A technique involving the application of particle swarm optimization (PSO) integrated with FEM was developed for the optimization. Optimization was also conducted with the zero-order method (ZOM) included in ANSYS. The semi-analytical method, which provides an approximation of the interlaminar normal stress of laminates under in-plane load, was used to partially validate the optimization results. It was found that optimal results based on ZOM are sensitive to the starting design points, and an unsuitable initial design set will lead to a result far from global solution. By contrast, the proposed method can find the global optimal solution regardless of initial designs, and the solutions were better than those obtained by ZOM in all the cases investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.383-392
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• 2009

The static and dynamic analyses of simply supported beams are studied by using the U-transformation method and the finite difference method. When the beam is divided into the mesh of equal elements, the mesh may be treated as a periodic structure. After an equivalent cyclic periodic system is established, the difference governing equation for such an equivalent system can be uncoupled by applying the U-transformation. Therefore, a set of single-degree-of-freedom equations is formed. These equations can be used to obtain exact analytical solutions of the deflections, bending moments, buckling loads, natural frequencies and dynamic responses of the beam subjected to particular loads or excitations. When the number of elements approaches to infinity, the exact error expression and the exact convergence rates of the difference solutions are obtained. These exact results cannot be easily derived if other methods are used instead.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.151-164
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• 1999

The large deflection theory of the Mindlin plate and Galerkin's method are employed to examine the static responses of a plate produced by the weight of the plate, and the dynamic responses of the plate caused by the coupling effect of these static responses with a set of moving forces. Results obtained by the large deflection theory are compared with those by the small deflection theory. The results indicate that the effect of weight of the plate increases the modal frequencies of the structure. The deviations of dynamic transverse deflection and of dynamic bending moment produced by a moving concentrated force between the two theories are significant for a thin plate with a large area. Both dynamic transverse deflection and dynamic bending moment obtained by the Mindlin plate theory are greater than those by the classical plate.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.65-89
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• 2016

This paper presents the development of methodologies using Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) for cracked unstiffened and concentric stiffened panels subjected to constant amplitude tensile fatigue loading. XFEM formulations such as level set representation of crack, element stiffness matrix formulation and numerical integration are presented and implemented in MATLAB software. Stiffeners of the stiffened panels are modelled using truss elements such that nodes of the panel and nodes of the stiffener coincide. Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) is computed from the solutions of XFEM using domain form of interaction integral. Paris's crack growth law is used to compute the number of fatigue cycles up to failure. Numerical investigations are carried out to model the crack growth, estimate the remaining life and generate damage tolerant curves. From the studies, it is observed that (i) there is a considerable increase in fatigue life of stiffened panels compared to unstiffened panels and (ii) as the external applied stress is decreasing number of fatigue life cycles taken by the component is increasing.