• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.503-519
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• 2015

This paper presents an optimization process using Genetic Algorithm (GA) for minimum weight by selecting suitable standard sections from a specified list taken from American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). The stress constraints obeying AISC-LRFD (American Institute of Steel Construction-Load and Resistance Factor Design), lateral displacement constraints being the top and inter-storey drift, mid-span deflection constraints for the beams and geometric constraints are considered for optimum design by using GA that mimics biological processes. Optimum designs for three different space frames taken from the literature are carried out first without considering concrete slab effects in finite element analyses for the constraints above and the results are compared with the ones available in literature. The same optimization procedures are then repeated for the case of space frames with composite (steel and concrete) beams. A program is coded in MATLAB for the optimization processes. Results obtained in the study showed that consideration of the contribution of the concrete on the behavior of the floor beams results with less steel weight and ends up with more economical designs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.95-110
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• 2010

Two-dimensional elastic contact problems, including normal, tangential, and rolling contacts, are treated with the finite element method in this study. Stress boundary conditions and kinematic conditions are transformed into multiple point constraints for nodal displacements in the finite element method. Upon imposing these constraints into the finite element system equations, the calculated nodal stresses and nodal displacements satisfy stress and displacement contact conditions exactly. Frictional and frictionless contacts between elastically identical as well as elastically dissimilar materials are treated in this study. The contact lengths, sizes of slip and stick regions, the normal and the shear stresses can be found.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.473-489
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• 2002

A static linear programming formulation for minimum weight design of frames that is based on a matrix displacement method is presented in this paper. According to elementary theory of plasticity, minimum weight design of frames can be carried out by using only the equilibrium equations, because the system is statically determinate when at an incipient collapse state. In the present formulation, a statically determinate released frame is defined by introducing hinges into the real frame and the bending moments in yield constraints are expressed in terms of unit hinge rotations and the external loads respectively, by utilizing the matrix displacement method. Conventional Simplex algorithm with some modifications is utilized for the solution of linear programming problem. As the formulation is based on matrix displacement method, it may be easily adopted to the weight optimization of frames with displacement and deformation limitations. Four illustrative examples are also given for comparing the results to those obtained in previous studies.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.943-960
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• 2014

A visually servoed paired structured light system (ViSP) was recently proposed as a novel estimation method of the 6-DOF (Degree-Of-Freedom) relative displacement in civil structures. In order to apply the ViSP to massive structures, multiple ViSP modules should be installed in a cascaded manner. In this configuration, the estimation errors are propagated through the ViSP modules. In order to resolve this problem, a displacement estimation error back-propagation (DEEP) method was proposed. However, the DEEP method has some disadvantages: the displacement range of each ViSP module must be constrained and displacement errors are corrected sequentially, and thus the entire estimation errors are not considered concurrently. To address this problem, a pose-graph optimized displacement estimation (PODE) method is proposed in this paper. The PODE method is based on a graph-based optimization technique that considers entire errors at the same time. Moreover, this method does not require any constraints on the movement of the ViSP modules. Simulations and experiments are conducted to validate the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the PODE method reduces the propagation errors in comparison with a previous work.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.297-320
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• 2005

In recent years the pure displacement formulation for plate elements has not been as popular as other formulations. We revisit the pure displacement formulation for shear-deformable plate elements and propose a family of N-node, displacement-compatible, fully-integrated, pure-displacement, triangular, Mindlin plate elements, MIN-N. The development has been motivated by the relative simplicity of the pure displacement formulation and by the success of the existing 3-node plate element, MIN3. The formulation of MIN3 is generalized to obtain the MIN-N family, which possesses complete, fully compatible kinematic fields, in which the interpolation functions for transverse displacement are one degree higher than those for rotations. General element-level formulas for the thin-limit Kirchhoff constraints are developed. The 6-node, 18 degree-of-freedom element MIN6, with cubic displacement and quadratic rotations, is implemented and tested extensively. Numerical results show that MIN6 exhibits good performance for both static and dynamic analyses in the linear, elastic regime. The results illustrate that the fully-integrated MIN6 element has excellent performance in the thin limit, even for coarse meshes, and that it does not require shear relaxation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.759-777
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• 2013

In this paper, a topology optimization method based on the element independent nodal density (EIND) is developed for continuum solids with multiple load cases and multiple constraints. The optimization problem is formulated ad minimizing the volume subject to displacement constraints. Nodal densities of the finite element mesh are used a the design variable. The nodal densities are interpolated into any point in the design domain by the Shepard interpolation scheme and the Heaviside function. Without using additional constraints (such ad the filtering technique), mesh-independent, checkerboard-free, distinct optimal topology can be obtained. Adopting the rational approximation for material properties (RAMP), the topology optimization procedure is implemented using a solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method and a dual programming optimization algorithm. The computational efficiency is greatly improved by multithread parallel computing with OpenMP to run parallel programs for the shared-memory model of parallel computation. Finally, several examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed techniques.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제58권3호
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• pp.597-612
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• 2016

This paper presents an optimization process using Harmony Search Algorithm for minimum weight of steel space frames under earthquake effects according to Turkish Earthquake Code (2007) specifications. The optimum designs are carried out by selecting suitable sections from a specified list including W profiles taken from American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). The stress constraints obeying AISC-Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) specifications, lateral displacement constraints and geometric constraints are considered in the optimum designs. A computer program is coded in MATLAB for the purpose to incorporate with SAP2000 OAPI (Open Application Programming Interface) to perform structural analysis of the frames under earthquake loads. Three different steel space frames are carried out for four different seismic earthquake zones defined in Turkish Earthquake Code (2007). Results obtained from the examples show the applicability and robustness of the method.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제20권9호
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• pp.2800-2811
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• 1996

The deformation of a structure shall be called homologous, if a given geometrical relation holds, for a given number of structural points, before, during, and after the deformation. Some researchers have utilized the idea on structural design with finite element method. The approaches use the decomposition of the FEM equation or equality of eqality equations to obtain homologous deformation. However, weight reduction and response constraints such as stress, displacement or natural frequency cannot be considered by those theories. An optimization method solving the above problems is suggested to gain homologous deformation. Homology constraints can be considered under multiple loadindg conditions as well as a single loading condition. Homology index is defined for the multiple loading conditions Examples are solved to present the performances of the method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.299-313
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• 2015

In this paper, an optimization process using Genetic Algorithm (GA) that mimics biological processes is presented for optimum design of planar frames with semi-rigid connections by selecting suitable standard sections from a specified list taken from American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). The stress constraints as indicated in AISC-LRFD (American Institute of Steel Construction - Load and Resistance Factor Design), maximum lateral displacement constraints and geometric constraints are considered for optimum design. Two different planar frames with semi-rigid connections taken from the literature are carried out first without considering concrete slab effects in finite element analyses and the results are compared with the ones available in literature. The same optimization procedures are then repeated for full and semi rigid planar frames with composite (steel and concrete) beams. A program is developed in MATLAB for all optimization procedures. Results obtained from this study proved that consideration of the contribution of the concrete on the behavior of the floor beams provides lighter planar frames.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.157-179
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• 2013

We present an approach, based on the state dependent Riccati equation, for designing non-collocated seismic response control strategies for buildings accounting for physical constraints, with particular attention to force saturation. We consider both cases of active control using general actuators and semi-active control using magnetorheological dampers. The formulation includes multi control devices, acceleration feedback and time delay compensation. In the active case, the proposed approach is a generalization of the classic linear quadratic regulator, while, in the semi-active case, it represents a novel generalization of the well-established modified clipped optimal approach. As discussed in the paper, the main advantage of the proposed approach with respect to existing strategies is that it allows to naturally handle a broad class of non-linearities as well as different types of control constraints, not limited to force saturation but also including, for instance, displacement limitations. Numerical results on a typical building benchmark problem demonstrate that these additional features are achieved with essentially the same control effectiveness of existing saturation control strategies.