• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.429-443
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• 2018

Fatigue is a principal failure mode for steel structures, and it is still less understood than any other modes of failure. Fatigue life estimation of metal bridges is a major issue for making cost effective decisions on the rehabilitation or replacement of existing infrastructure. The fatigue design procedures given by the standard codes are either empirical or based on nominal stress approach. Since the fatigue life estimation through field measurements is difficult and costly, more researches are needed to develop promising techniques in the fatigue analysis of bridges through Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This paper aims to develop a methodology for the Fatigue life estimation of railway steel bridge using FEA. The guidelines of IIW-1823-07 were used in the development of the methodology. The Finite Element (FE) package ANSYS and the programming software MATLAB were used to implement this methodology on an Indian Railway Standard (IRS) welded plate girder bridge. The results obtained were compared with results from published literature and found satisfactory.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.171-182
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• 2008

In this paper, a methodology for the estimation of masonry elasticity and shear moduli is presented, for linear elasticity considerations. The methodology is based on the assumption that for a "periodic" masonry wall, which is formed by the repetition of a basic unit containing blocks and mortar, the mechanical characteristics of the unit are representative of the characteristics of the entire wall. For their calculation, the finite element analysis method is used. A micro-model with finite elements simulating separately the blocks and the mortar is developed. An equivalent finite element model, using an homogenous material is also developed and assuming equivalence of strains for the two models, the homogenous material properties are estimated. The efficiency of the method and its applicability limits are investigated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2009

T-splines are recently proposed geometric modeling tools. A T-spline surface is a NURBS surface with T-junctions and is defined by a control grid called T-mesh. Local refinement can be performed very easily for T-splines while it is limited for B-splines or NURBS. Using T-splines, patches with unmatched boundaries can be combined easily without special technique. In this study, the analysis methodology using T-splines is proposed. In this methodology, T-splines are used both for description of geometries and for approximation of solution spaces. Two-dimensional linear elastic and dynamic problems will be solved by employing the proposed T-spline finite element method, and the effectiveness of the current analysis methodology will be verified.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2005

The structural integrity of either a passenger car or a light truck is one of the basic requirements for a full vehicle engineering and development program. The results of the vehicle product performance are measured in terms of ride and handling, durability, Noise/Vibration/Harshness (NVH), crashworthiness, and occupant safety. The level of performance of a vehicle directly affects the marketability, profitability and, most importantly, the future of the automobile manufacturer. In this study, the Virtual Proving Ground (VPG) approach has been developed to simulate dynamic nonlinear events as applied to automotive ride & handling. The finite element analysis technique provides a unique method to create and analyze vehicle system models, capable of including vehicle suspensions, powertrains, and body structures in a single simulation. Through the development of this methodology, event-based simulations of vehicle performance over a given three-dimensional road surface can be performed. To verify the predicted dynamic results, a single lane change test was performed. The predicted results were compared with the experimental test results, and the feasibility of the integrated CAE analysis methodology was verified.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.164-169
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• 2006

A systematic methodology has been proposed to establish a reliable design of water pump system. A simplified steady-state dynamic model of water pump system has been developed to study the response of water pump system to the dynamic load mainly due to the run-out and unbalance. Design modifications are needed to strengthen the structural integrity of existing designs. Increasing the natural frequency of system is pursued to prevent a resonance from occurring in the engine excitation range. A computational reliability methodology combined with finite element analysis is used to identify the most significant factor affecting the system performance. This method considered influence of design control parameters for the performance of design. By including control factors to the system model in a systematic way, more reliable design is expected.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1995

This study presents a methodology for the system reliability analysis of cracked structures with random material properties, which are modeled as random fields, and crack geometry under random static loads. The finite element method provides the computational framework to obtain the stress intensity solutions, and the first-order reliability method provides the basis for modeling and analysis of uncertainties. The ultimate structural system reliability is effectively evaluated by the stable configuration approach. Numerical examples are given for the case of random fracture toughness and load.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.233-245
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• 2008

For historical masonry structures existing in the Mediterranean area, structural strengthening is of primary importance due to the continuous earthquake threat that is posed on them. Proper retrofitting of historical structures involves a thorough understanding of their structural pathology, before proceeding with any intervention measures. In this paper, a methodology is presented for the evaluation of the actual state of historical masonry structures, which can provide a useful tool for the seismic response assessment before and after the retrofitting. The methodology is mainly focused on the failure and vulnerability analysis of masonry structures using the finite element method. Using this methodology the retrofitting of historical structures with innovative techniques is investigated. The innovative technique presented here involves the exploitation of Shape Memory Alloy prestressed bars. This type of intervention is proposed because it ensures increased reversibility and minimization of interventions, in comparison with conventional retrofitting methods. In this paper, a case study is investigated for the demonstration of the proposed methodologies and techniques, which comprises a masonry Byzantine church and a masonry Cistern. Prestressed SMA alloy bars are placed into the load-bearing system of the structure. The seismic response of the non-retrofitted and the retrofitted finite element models are compared in terms of seismic energy dissipation and displacements diminution.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.284-292
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• 2000

Optimization of the process parameters is carried out for process design in sheet metal forming processes. The scheme incorporates with a rigid-plastic finite element method for the deformation analysis and response surface methodology for the optimum searching of process parameters. The algorithm developed is applied to design of the draw bead force and the die radius in deep drawing processes of rectangular cups. The present algorithm shows the capability of designing process parameters which enable the prevention of the weak part of fracture during processes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.14-20
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• 2008

Fatigue fracture of engine connecting-rod bolts is encountered frequently during the developement of high-speed engines. Only the engine dyno test is a currently reliable fatigue durability assessment method. It is because the available rig tests cannot mimic the engine running condition completely, and because the finite element analysis cannot provide realistic stresses near the bolt thread that is modeled as a cylinder. This paper introduces a methodology to assess the fatigue durability of the connecting-rod bolts using the finite element analysis. The methods to contruct the bolt model, to extract the critical bolt stresses for the fatigue analysis, and to obtain the bolt fatigue endurance limit experimentally are discussed. Reliability of the method is verified indirectly.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.754_755
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• 2009

This paper deals with the characteristics analysis & optimum design of Synchronous Reluctance Motor (SynRM) with anisotropy rotor using a coupled Finite Element Method (FEM) & Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The focus of this paper is the characteristics analysis & optimum design relative to the output power on the basis of rotor materials of a SynRM. The coupled Finite Elements Analysis (FEA) & Preisach model have been used to evaluate nonlinear solutions. Comparisons are given with characteristics of normal synchronous reluctance motor and those of anisotropy rotor SynRM (ANISO-SynRM), respectively. The feasibility of using RSM with FEM in practical engineering problem is investigated with computational examples and comparison between the fitted response and the results obtained from an analytical solution according to the design variables of rotor in anisotropy rotor SynRM.