• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.311-330
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• 2007

Model-based predictions of structural behavior are negatively affected by uncertainties of various type and in various stages of the structural analysis. The present paper focusses on dynamic analysis and addresses the effects of uncertainties concerning material and geometric parameters, mainly in the context of modal analysis of large-scale structures. Given the large number of uncertain parameters arising in this case, highly scalable simulation-based methods are adopted, which can deal with possibly thousands of uncertain parameters. In order to solve the reliability problem, i.e., the estimation of very small exceedance probabilities, an advanced simulation method called Line Sampling is used. In combination with an efficient algorithm for the estimation of the most important uncertain parameters, the method provides good estimates of the failure probability and enables one to quantify the error in the estimate. Another aspect here considered is the uncertainty quantification for closely-spaced eigenfrequencies. The solution here adopted represents each eigenfrequency as a weighted superposition of the full set of eigenfrequencies. In a case study performed with the FE model of a satellite it is shown that the effects of uncertain parameters can be very different in magnitude, depending on the considered response quantity. In particular, the uncertainty in the quantities of interest (eigenfrequencies) turns out to be mainly caused by very few of the uncertain parameters, which results in sharp estimates of the failure probabilities at low computational cost.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.19-35
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• 2010

This paper proposes a hybrid heuristic and criteria-based method of optimum design which combines the advantages of both the iterated simulated annealing (SA) algorithm and the rigorously derived optimality criteria (OC) for structural optimum design of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings under multi-load cases based on the current Chinese design codes. The entire optimum design procedure is divided into two parts: strength optimum design and stiffness optimum design. A modified SA with the strategy of adaptive feasible region is proposed to perform the discrete optimization of RC frame structures under the strength constraints. The optimum stiffness design is conducted using OC method with the optimum results of strength optimum design as the lower bounds of member size. The proposed method is integrated into the commercial software packages for building structural design, SATWE, and for finite element analysis, ANSYS, for practical applications. Finally, two practical frame-shear-wall structures (15-story and 30-story) are optimized to illustrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed optimum design method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제46권5호
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• pp.735-753
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• 2013

The wind load is always the dominant load of cooling tower due to its large size, complex geometry and thin-wall structure. At present, when computing the wind-induced response of the large-scale cooling tower, the wind pressure distribution is obtained based on code regulations, wind tunnel test or computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis, and then is imposed on the tower structure. However, such method fails to consider the change of the wind load with the deformation of cooling tower, which may result in error of the wind load. In this paper, the analysis of the large cooling tower based on the iterative method for wind pressure is studied, in which the advantages of CFD and finite element method (FEM) are combined in order to improve the accuracy. The comparative study of the results obtained from the code regulations and iterative method is conducted. The results show that with the increase of the mean wind speed, the difference between the methods becomes bigger. On the other hand, based on the design of experiment (DOE), an approximate model is built for the optimal design of the large-scale cooling tower by a two-level optimization strategy, which makes use of code-based design method and the proposed iterative method. The results of the numerical example demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제71권4호
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• pp.391-405
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• 2019

Compared to the ambient vibration test mainly identifying the structural modal parameters, such as frequency, damping and mode shapes, the impact testing, which benefits from measuring both impacting forces and structural responses, has the merit to identify not only the structural modal parameters but also more detailed structural parameters, in particular flexibility. However, in traditional impact tests, an impacting hammer or artificial excitation device is employed, which restricts the efficiency of tests on various bridge structures. To resolve this problem, we propose a new method whereby a moving vehicle is taken as a continuous exciter and develop a corresponding flexibility identification theory, in which the continuous wheel forces induced by the moving vehicle is considered as structural input and the acceleration response of the bridge as the output, thus a structural flexibility matrix can be identified and then structural deflections of the bridge under arbitrary static loads can be predicted. The proposed method is more convenient, time-saving and cost-effective compared with traditional impact tests. However, because the proposed test produces a spatially continuous force while classical impact forces are spatially discrete, a new flexibility identification theory is required, and a novel structural identification method involving with equivalent load distribution, the enhanced Frequency Response Function (eFRFs) construction and modal scaling factor identification is proposed to make use of the continuous excitation force to identify the basic modal parameters as well as the structural flexibility. Laboratory and numerical examples are given, which validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Furthermore, parametric analysis including road roughness, vehicle speed, vehicle weight, vehicle's stiffness and damping are conducted and the results obtained demonstrate that the developed method has strong robustness except that the relative error increases with the increase of measurement noise.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.135-146
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• 2010

This paper presents the perspective of the Structural Mechanics program of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) on the damage assessment of structures for the period 2006-2009 when the author was serving as Program Manager at AFOSR. It is found that damage assessment of structures plays a very important role in assuring the safety and operational readiness of US Air Force fleet. The current fleet has many aging aircraft, which poses a considerable challenge for the operators and maintainers. The nondestructive evaluation technology is rather mature and able to detect damage with considerable reliability during the periodic maintenance inspections. The emerging structural health monitoring methodology has great potential, because it will use on-board damage detection sensors and systems, will be able to offer on-demand structural health bulletins. Considerable fundamental and applied research is still needed to enable the development, implementation, and dissemination of structural health monitoring technology.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제7권5호
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• pp.349-363
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• 2011

To assess the performance of a structure requires the measurement of global and relative displacements at critical points across the structure. They should be obtained in real time and in all weather condition. A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) could satisfy the last two requirements. The American Global Position System (GPS) provides long term acquisitions with sampling rates sufficient to track the displacement of long period structures. The accuracy is of the order of sub-centimetres. The steel building which hosts the authors' laboratory is the reference case-study within this paper. First a comparison of data collected by GPS sensor units with data recorded by tri-axial accelerometers is carried out when dynamic vibrations are induced in the structure by movements of the internal bridge-crane. The elaborations from the GPS position readings are then compared with the results obtained by a Finite Element (FE) numerical simulation. The purposes are: i) to realize a refinement of the structural parameters which characterize the building and ii) to outline a suitable way for processing GPS data toward structural monitoring.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.133-154
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• 2012

In this paper a bridge flutter prediction is performed by using advanced numerical simulation. Two novel approaches were developed simultaneously by utilizing the ANSYS v12.1 commercial software package. The first one is a fluid-structure interaction simulation involving the three-dimensional elastic motion of a bridge deck and the fluid flow around it. The second one is an updated forced oscillation technique based on the dynamic mode shapes of the bridge. An aeroelastic wind tunnel model was constructed in order to validate the numerical results. Good agreement between the numerical results and the measurements proves the applicability of the novel methods in bridge flutter assessment.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.159-171
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• 2014

Real-time near and far-field monitoring of concrete structural components gives enough information on the time and condition at which damage occurs, thereby facilitating damage detection while in the same time evaluate the cause of the damage. This paper experimentally investigates an integrated monitoring technique for near and far-field damage detection in concrete structures based on simultaneous use of electromechanical admittance technique in combination with guided wave propagation. The proposed sensing system does not measure the electromechanical admittance itself but detect time variations in output voltages of the response signal obtained across the electrodes of piezoelectric transducers bonded on surfaces of concrete structures. The damage identification is based on the spectral estimation MUSIC algorithm. Experimental results show the efficiency and performance of the proposed measuring technique.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.517-539
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• 2006

Friction problems involving rubber components are frequently encountered in industrial applications. Their treatment within the framework of numerical simulations by means of the Finite Element Method (FEM) is the main issue of this paper. Special emphasis is placed on the choice of a suitable material model and the formulation of a contact model specially designed for the particular characteristics of rubber friction. A coupled thermomechanical approach allows for consideration of the influence of temperature on the frictional behavior. The developed tools are implemented in the commercial FE code ABAQUS. They are validated taking the sliding motion of a rubber tread block as example. Such simulations are frequently encountered in tire design and development. The simulations are carried out with different formulations for the material and the frictional behavior. Comparison of the obtained results with experimental observations enables to judge the suitability of the applied formulations on a structural scale.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.491-506
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• 2001

In this paper, a new three-dimensional piezoelectric thin shell element containing an integrated distributed piezoelectric sensor and actuator is proposed. The distributed piezoelectric sensor layer monitors the structural shape deformation due to the direct effect and the distributed actuator layer suppresses the deflection via the converse piezoelectric effect. A finite element formulation is presented for static response of laminated shell with piezoelectric sensors/actuators. An eight-node and forty-DOF shell element is built. The performance of the shell elements is improved by reduced integration technique. The static shape control of structure is derived. The shell element is verified by calculating piezoelectric polymeric PVDF bimorph beam. The results agreed with those obtained by theoretical analysis, Tzou and Tseng (1990) and Hwang and Park (1993) fairly well. At last, the static shape control of a paraboloidal antenna is presented.