• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.6
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• pp.735-745
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• 2018

The Big Bang-Big Crunch (BB-BC) algorithm is an effective global optimization technique of swarm intelligence with drawbacks of being easily trapped in local optimal results and of converging slowly. To overcome these shortages, an improved BB-BC algorithm (IBB-BC) is proposed in this paper with taking some measures, such as altering the reduced form of exploding radius and generating multiple mass centers. The accuracy and efficiency of IBB-BC is examined by different types of benchmark test functions. The IBB-BC is utilized for damage detection of a simply supported beam and the European Space Agency structure with an objective function established by structural frequency and modal data. Two damage scenarios are considered: damage only existed in stiffness and damage existed in both stiffness and mass. IBB-BC is also validated by an existing experimental study. Results demonstrated that IBB-BC is not trapped into local optimal results and is able to detect structural damages precisely even under measurement noise.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.531-540
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• 2020

The whirl and generated forces of rotating cylinders with different diameters placed in still water and in flow are studied experimentally. For the rotating cylinders in still water, the Same Frequency Whirl (SFW) and Different Frequency Whirl (DFW) have been identified and illustrated. The corresponding SFW and DFW areas are divided. The Root Mean Square (RMS) values of the generated force coefficient dramatically increase in the defined ranges of Resonance I and Resonance II. For the rotating cylinders in flow, the hydrodynamics, SFW and DFW are illustrated. The hydrodynamic, SFW and DFW areas are divided. The RMS values of the generated forces in the range of Resonance II are much smaller than those in still water due to the generated lift forces. The discussion suggests that the frequency of the DFW may equal multiple times or one-multiple times that of the rotating frequency: the whirl direction of the DFW with multiple times the frequency of the rotating frequency is the same as the rotating direction. The whirl direction of the DFW with one-multiple times frequency of the rotating frequency is opposite to the rotating direction.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.717-737
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• 2021

A theoretical energy-based model to capture the mechanical response of thick woven composite laminates, which are used in such applications as maritime or aerospace, to high-velocity impact was developed. The dependences of the impact phenomenon on material and geometrical parameters were analysed making use of the Vaschy-Buckingham Theorem to provide a non-dimensional framework. The model was divided in three different stages splitting the physical interpretation of the perforation process: a first where different dissipative mechanisms such as compression or shear plugging were considered, a second where a transference of linear momentum was assumed and a third where only friction took place. The model was validated against experimental data along with a 3D finite element model. The numerical simulations were used to validate some of the new hypotheses assumed in the theoretical model to provide a more accurate explanation of the phenomena taking place during a high-velocity impact.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.317-330
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• 2021

This paper reports the results of advanced data analysis involving artificial neural networks for the prediction of the unconfined compressive strength of granite using only two non-destructive test indexes. A data-independent site-independent unbiased database comprising 182 datasets from non-destructive tests reported in the literature was compiled and used to train and develop artificial neural networks for the prediction of the unconfined compressive strength of granite. The results show that the optimum artificial network developed in this research predicts the unconfined compressive strength of weak to very strong granites (20.3-198.15 MPa) with less than ±20% deviation from the experimental data for 70% of the specimen and significantly outperforms a number of available models available in the literature. The results also raise interesting questions with regards to the suitability of the Pearson correlation coefficient in assessing the prediction accuracy of models.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.285-293
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• 2022

Lumped damage mechanics (LDM) is a recent nonlinear theory with several applications to civil engineering structures, such as reinforced concrete and steel buildings. LDM apply key concepts of classic fracture and damage mechanics on plastic hinges. Therefore, the lumped damage models are quite successful in reproduce actual structural behaviour using concepts well-known by engineers in practice, such as ultimate moment and first cracking moment of reinforced concrete elements. So far, lumped damage models are based in the strain energy equivalence hypothesis, which is one of the fictitious states where the intact material behaviour depends on a damage variable. However, there are other possibilities, such as the energy equivalence hypothesis. Such possibilities should be explored, in order to pursue unique advantages as well as extend the LDM framework. Therewith, a lumped damage model based on the energy equivalence hypothesis is proposed in this paper. The proposed model was idealised for reinforced concrete structures, where a damage variable accounts for concrete cracking and the plastic rotation represents reinforcement yielding. The obtained results show that the proposed model is quite accurate compared to experimental responses.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.2
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• pp.227-238
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• 2024

Sparse regularization methods have proven effective in addressing the ill-posed equations encountered in moving force identification (MFI). However, the complexity of vehicle loads is often ignored in existing studies aiming at enhancing MFI accuracy. To tackle this issue, a double 𝑙₁ regularization method is proposed for MFI based on a response spectrum-based weighted dictionary in this study. Firstly, the relationship between vehicle-induced responses and moving vehicle loads (MVL) is established. The structural responses are then expanded in the frequency domain to obtain the prior knowledge related to MVL and to further construct a response spectrum-based weighted dictionary for MFI with a higher accuracy. Secondly, with the utilization of this weighted dictionary, a double 𝑙₁ regularization framework is presented for identifying the static and dynamic components of MVL by the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) method successively. To assess the performance of the proposed method, two different types of MVL, such as composed of trigonometric functions and driven from a 1/4 bridge-vehicle model, are adopted to conduct numerical simulations. Furthermore, a series of MFI experimental verifications are carried out in laboratory. The results shows that the proposed method's higher accuracy and strong robustness to noises compared with other traditional regularization methods.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.21 no.2 s.75
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• pp.60-66
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• 2007

The first Korean cold room facility for ice mechanics experiments was assembled in 2004. Since then, the $4m{\times}6m$ cold room facility has been used, extensively under various environmental and loading conditions. After reviewing published references on cold room testing methods and also by trial and error, the standard procedures for testing and preparing laboratory ice material were established for the measurement of basic ice properties. In this paper, laboratory experimental techniques with the cold room facility and standard procedures established for ice material properties are introduced. Test specimens include laboratory-grown fresh water ice and frozen soils. Tests are carried out for unconfined compressive strength. Preparation and dimension of the specimen are the most important issues arising in cold room tests. The details of specimen preparation, testing procedure and strength test results are also discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.709-729
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• 2004

This paper presents numerical and experimental investigations on damage detection of mono-coupled multistory buildings using natural frequency as only diagnostic parameter. Frequency equation of a mono-coupled multistory building is first derived using the transfer matrix method. Closed-form sensitivity equation is established to relate the relative change in the stiffness of each story to the relative changes in the natural frequencies of the building. Damage detection is then performed using the sensitivity equation with its special features and minimizing the norm of an objective function with an inequality constraint. Numerical and experimental investigations are finally conducted on a mono-coupled 3-story building model as an application of the proposed algorithm, in which the influence of modeling error on the degree of accuracy of damage detection is discussed. A mono-coupled 10-story building is further used to examine the capability of the proposed algorithm against measurement noise and incomplete measured natural frequencies. The results obtained demonstrate that changes in story stiffness can be satisfactorily detected, located, and quantified if all sensitive natural frequencies to damaged stories are available. The proposed damage detection algorithm is not sensitive to measurement noise and modeling error.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.45-58
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• 2013

In structural reliability analysis, the response surface method is a powerful method to evaluate the probability of failure. However, the location of experimental points used to form a response surface function must be selected in a judicious way. It is necessary for the highly nonlinear limit state functions to consider the design point and the nonlinear trend of the limit state, because both of them influence the probability of failure. In this paper, in order to approximate the actual limit state more accurately, experimental points are selected close to the design point and the actual limit state, and consider the nonlinear trend of the limit state. Linear, quadratic and cubic polynomials without mixed terms are utilized to approximate the actual limit state. The direct Monte Carlo simulation on the approximated limit state is carried out to determine the probability of failure. Four examples are given to demonstrate the efficiency and the accuracy of the proposed method for both numerical and implicit limit states.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.377-398
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• 2019

Behavior of RC beam-column joint is very complex as the composite material behaves differently in elastic and inelastic range. The approaches generally used for predicting joint shear strength are either based on theoretical, strut-and-tie or empirical methods. These approaches are incapable of predicting the accurate response of the joint for entire range of loading. In the present study a new generalized RC beam-column joint shear strength model based on hybrid approach i.e. combined strut-and-tie and empirical approach has been proposed. The contribution of governing parameters affecting the joint shear strength under compression has been derived from compressive strut approach whereas; the governing parameters active under tension has been extracted from empirical approach. The proposed model is applicable for various conditions such as, joints reinforced either with or without shear reinforcement, joints with wide beam or wide column, joints with transverse beams and slab, joints reinforced with X-bars, different anchorage of beam bar, and column subjected to various axial loading conditions. The joint shear strength prediction of the proposed model has been compared with 435 experimental results and with eleven popular models from literature. In comparison to other eleven models the prediction of the proposed model is found closest to the experimental results. Moreover, from statistical analysis of the results, the proposed model has the least coefficient of variation. The proposed model is simple in application and can be effectively used by designers.