• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.273-285
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• 2012

Structural reanalysis is frequently used to reduce the computational cost during the process of design or optimization. The supports can be regarded as the design variables in various types of structural optimization problems. The location, number, and type of supports may be varied in order to yield a more effective design. The paper is focused on structural static reanalysis problem with added supports where some node displacements along axes of the global coordinate system are specified. A new approach is proposed and exact solutions can be provided by the approach. Thus, it belongs to the direct reanalysis methods. The information from the initial analysis has been fully exploited. Numerical examples show that the exact results can be achieved and the computational time can be significantly reduced by the proposed method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제75권4호
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• pp.477-485
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• 2020

Finite element (FE) model based structural damage detection (SDD) methods play vital roles in effectively locating and quantifying structural damages. Among these methods, structural model updating should be conducted before SDD to obtain benchmark models of real structures. However, the characteristics of updating parameters are not reasonably considered in existing studies. Inspired by the l_∞ norm regularization, a novel anti-sparse representation method is proposed for structural model updating in this study. Based on sensitivity analysis, both frequencies and mode shapes are used to define an objective function at first. Then, by adding l_∞ norm penalty, an optimization problem is established for structural model updating. As a result, the optimization problem can be solved by the fast iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm (FISTA). Moreover, comparative studies with classical regularization strategy, i.e. the l₂ norm regularization method, are conducted as well. To intuitively illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a 2-DOF spring-mass model is taken as an example in numerical simulations. The updating results show that the proposed method has a good robustness to measurement noises. Finally, to further verify the applicability of the proposed method, a six-storey aluminum alloy frame is designed and fabricated in laboratory. The added mass on each storey is taken as updating parameter. The updating results provide a good agreement with the true values, which indicates that the proposed method can effectively update the model parameters with a high accuracy.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.297-319
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• 2018

In this paper, the vibro-acoustic behaviors of vibrational cylindrical shells are investigated by using structural intensity approach. The reducing interior noise method for vibrating cylindrical shells is proposed by altering and redistributing the structural intensity through changing the damping property of the structure. The concept of proposed novel method is based on the properties of structural intensity distribution on cylindrical shells under different load and damping conditions, which can reflects power flow in the structures. In the study, the modal formulas of structural intensity are developed for the steady state vibration of cylindrical shell structures. The detailed formulas of structural intensity are derived by substituting modal quantities, in which the effect of main parameters such as weight coefficients and distribution functions on structure intensity are analyzed and discussed. Numerical simulations are first carried out based on the structural intensity analytical solutions of modal formulas. Through simulating the coupling vibration and acoustical radiation problems of cylindrical shell, the relationship between vibro-acoustic and structural intensity distribution is derived. We find that for cylindrical shell, by properly arranging damping conditions, the structural intensity can be efficiently changed and further the noise property can be improved. The proposed methodology has important implications and potential applications in the vibration and noise control of fuselage structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제33권6호
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• pp.785-788
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• 2009

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.1-20
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• 2009

The present contribution addresses uncertainty quantification and uncertainty propagation in structural mechanics using stochastic analysis. Presently available procedures to describe uncertainties in load and resistance within a suitable mathematical framework are shortly addressed. Monte Carlo methods are proposed for studying the variability in the structural properties and for their propagation to the response. The general applicability and versatility of Monte Carlo Simulation is demonstrated in the context with computational models that have been developed for deterministic structural analysis. After discussing Direct Monte Carlo Simulation for the assessment of the response variability, some recently developed advanced Monte Carlo methods applied for reliability assessment are described, such as Importance Sampling for linear uncertain structures subjected to Gaussian loading, Line Sampling in linear dynamics and Subset simulation. The numerical example demonstrates the applicability of Line Sampling to general linear uncertain FE systems under Gaussian distributed excitation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제18권6호
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• pp.791-806
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• 2004

The inverse pseudo excitation method is used in the identification of random loadings. For structures subjected to stationary random excitations, the power spectral density matrices of such loadings are identified experimentally. The identification is based on the measured acceleration responses and the structural frequency response functions. Numerical simulation is used in the optimal selection of sensor locations. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the loading identification experiments of three structural models, two uniform steel cantilever beams and a four-story plastic glass frame, subjected to uncorrelated or partially correlated random excitations. The identified loadings agree quite well with actual excitations. It is proved that the proposed method is quite accurate and efficient in addition to its ability to alleviate the ill conditioning of the structural frequency response functions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.99-110
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• 2017

Service life assessments which do not include the synergy between mechanical and environmental loading are neglecting a factor that can have a significant impact on structural safety and durability assessment. The degradation of concrete structure is a result of the combined effect of environmental and mechanical factors. In order to make service life design realistic it is necessary to consider both of these factors acting simultaneously. This paper deals with the advanced modelling of concrete carbonation and chloride ingress into concrete using stochastic 1D and 2D models. Widely accepted models incorporated into the new fib Model Code 2010 are extended to include factors that reflect the coupled effects of mechanical and environmental loads on the durability and reliability of reinforced concrete structures. An example of cooling tower degradation by carbonation and an example of a bended reinforced concrete beam kept for several years in salt fog are numerically studied to show the capability of the stochastic approach. The modelled degradation measures are compared with experimental results, leading to good agreement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.393-417
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• 2015

In this paper an 8-node quadrilateral assumed stress hybrid Mindlin plate element with $39{\beta}$ is presented. The formulation is based on complementary energy principle. The proposed element is free of shear locking and is capable of passing all the patch tests, especially the non-zero constant shear enhanced patch test. To accomplish this purpose, special attention is devoted to selecting boundary displacement interpolation and stress approximation in domain. The arbitrary order Timoshenko beam function is successfully used to derive the boundary displacement interpolation. According to the equilibrium equations, an appropriate stress approximation is rationally derived. Particularly, in order to improve element's accuracy, the assumed stress field is derived by employing $39{\beta}$ rather than conventional $21{\beta}$. The resulting element can be adopted to analyze both moderately thick and thin plates, and the convergence for the very thin case can be ensured theoretically. Excellent element performance is demonstrated by a wide of experimental evaluations.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.9-20
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• 2019

Living beings are formed of advanced biological and mechanical systems which exist for millions of years. It is known that various animals and insects right from small ants to huge whales have different weight carrying capacities, which is generally expressed as a ratio of their own bodyweights i.e., Strength to Bodyweight Ratio (SBR). The puzzle is that when a rhinoceros beetle (scientific name: Dynastinae) can carry 850 times its own bodyweight, why a man cannot accomplish the same feat. There are intrinsic biological and mechanical reasons related to their capacities, as per biomechanics. Yet, there are underlining principles of engineering and structural mechanics which tend to solve this puzzle. The paper attempts to give a plausible answer for this puzzle through structural mechanics and experimental modeling techniques. It is based on the fact that smaller an animal or creature, it has larger value of weight lifting by self-weight ratio. The simple example of steel prism model discussed in this paper, show that smaller the physical model size, larger is its SBR value. To normalize this, the basic length of the model need to be considered and when multiplied with SBR, a constant is arrived. Hence, the aim of the research presented is to derive this constant on a pan-living being spectrum through size/scaling effect.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.715-728
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• 2022

Closed steel supports of different shapes are used in mining and underground constructions. The supports are prefabricated from rolled, usually robust, steel profiles. The load carrying capacity of a support is considerably influenced by the active loading and passive forces. The passive forces are induced by interactions between the support and the surrounding rock mass. The analysis herein comprises three parts: The first part consists of structural geometry processing. The second part involves finding the numerical solution of a statically indeterminate structure for a specified load. The third part is calculation of the load carrying capacity and the components of internal forces and deformations. For this, the force method and numerical integration are used. The Winkler model is applied when the support interacts with the surrounding environment. The load carrying capacity is limited by the slip resistance of the connected parts and it is limited by reaching the ultimate state of the profile. This paper serves as a comprehensive reference for the determination of the load carrying capacity of closed steel supports and includes stepwise derivations of the governing formulas.