• Wind and Structures
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.175-186
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• 2018

With the continuous increase of span lengths, modern bridges are becoming much more flexible and more prone to flutter under wind excitations. A reasonable probabilistic flutter analysis of long-span bridges involving random and uncertain variables may have to be taken into consideration. This paper presents a method for estimating the reliability index and failure probability due to flutter, which considers the very important variables including the extreme wind velocity at bridge site, damping ratio, mathematical modeling, and flutter derivatives. The Aizhai Bridge in China is selected as an example to demonstrate the numerical procedure for the flutter reliability analysis. In the presented method, the joint probability density function of wind speed and wind direction at the deck level of the bridge is first established. Then, based on the fundamental theories of structural reliability, the reliability index and failure probability due to flutter of the Aizhai Bridge is investigated by applying the Monte Carlo method and the first order reliability method (FORM). The probabilistic flutter analysis can provide a guideline in the design of long-span bridges and the results show that the structural damping and flutter derivatives have significant effects on the flutter reliability, more accurate and reliable data of which is needed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.209-221
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• 2012

The flutter reliability analysis of long span bridges requires use of a software tool that predicts the uncertainty in a flutter response due to uncertainties in the model formulation and input parameters. Existing flutter analysis numerical codes are not capable of dealing with stochastic uncertainty in the analysis of long span bridges. The goal of the present work is to develop a software tool (FREASB) to enable designers to efficiently and accurately conduct flutter reliability analysis of long span bridges. The FREASB interfaces an open-source Matlab toolbox for structural reliability analysis (FERUM) with a typical deterministic flutter analysis code. The paper presents a brief introduction to the generalized first-order reliability method implemented in FREASB and key steps involved in coupling it with a typical deterministic flutter analysis code. A numerical example concerning flutter reliability analysis of a long span suspension bridge with a main span of 1385 m is presented to demonstrate the application and effectiveness of the methodology and the software.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.249-265
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• 2017

An efficient and accurate algorithm is proposed to estimate flutter safety factor of suspension bridges satisfying prescribed reliability levels. Uncertainties which arise from the basic wind speed at the bridge deck location, critical flutter velocity, the wind conversion factor from a scaled model to the prototype structure and the gust speed factor are incorporated. The proposed algorithm integrates the concepts of the inverse reliability method and the calculation method of the critical flutter velocity of suspension bridges. The unique feature of the proposed method is that it offers a tool for flutter safety assessment of suspension bridges, when the reliability level is specified as a target to be satisfied by the designer. Accuracy and efficiency of this method with reference to three example suspension bridges is studied and numerical results validate its superiority over conventional deterministic method. Finally, the effects of various parameters on the flutter safety factor of suspension bridges are also investigated.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.149-161
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• 2018

A reliability analysis method is proposed in this paper based on the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) principle in which constraints are specified in terms of the fractional moments instead of integer moments. Then a multiplicative dimensional reduction method (M-DRM) is introduced to compute the fractional moments. The method is applicable for both explicit and implicit limit state functions of complex structures. After two examples illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of this method in comparison to the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), the method is used to analyze the flutter reliability of suspension bridge. The results show that the empirical formula method in which the limit state function is explicitly represented as a function of variables is only a too conservative estimate for flutter reliability analysis but is not accurate adequately. So it is not suitable for reliability analysis of bridge flutter. The actual flutter reliability analysis should be conducted based on a finite element method in which limit state function is implicitly represented as a function of variables. The proposed M-DRM provide an alternate and efficient way to analyze a much more complicated flutter reliability of long span suspension bridge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.525-533
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• 2001

The wind resistant design of long-span bridges has urged a special attention to the prevention of the flutter occurrence Therefore calculation of flutter derivatives is indispensable to this prediction. A used system identification method must identify all the flutter derivatives from noisy experimental data In this paper MITD(Modified Ibrahim Tim Domain) method and AKF (Adaptive Kalman Filter) method are applied to extract flutter derivatives from section-model tests. The robustness and reliability of proposal SI methods under a high signal-to-noise ratio is demonstrated through numerical simulation for windtunnel test.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2013

Morphing aircraft capable of varying their wing form can operate efficiently at various flight conditions. However, radical morphing of the aircraft leads to increased structural complexities, resulting in occurrence of dynamic instabilities such as flutter, which can lead to catastrophic events. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to investigate and understand the changes in flutter characteristics of morphing wings, to ensure uncompromised safety and maximum reliability. In this paper, a study on the flutter characteristics of the folding wing type morphing concept is conducted, to examine the effect of changes in folding angles on the flutter speed and flutter frequency. The subsonic aerodynamic theory Doublet Lattice Method (DLM) and p-k method are used, to perform the flutter analysis in MSC.NASTRAN. The present baseline flutter characteristics correspond well with the results from previous study. Furthermore, enhancement of the flutter characteristics of an aluminum folding wing is proposed, by varying the outboard wing folding angle independently of the inboard wing folding angle. It is clearly found that the flutter characteristics are strongly influenced by changes in the inboard/outboard folding angles, and significant improvement in the flutter characteristics of a folding wing can be achieved, by varying its outboard wing folding angle.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2022

In this research, the aeroelastic instability of a tail section manufactured from aluminum isotropic material with different shell thickness investigated. For this purpose, the two degrees of freedom flutter analytical approach are used, which is accompanied with simulation by finite element analysis. Using finite element analysis, the geometry parameters such as the center of mass, the aerodynamic center and the shear center are determined. Also, by simulation of finite element method, the bending and torsional stiffnesses for various thickness of the airfoil section are determined. Furthermore, using Lagrange's methods the equations of motion are derived and modal frequency and critical torsional/bending modes are discussed. The results show that with increasing the thickness of the isotropic airfoil section, the flutter and divergence speeds increased. Compared of the obtained results with other research, indicates a good agreement and reliability of this method.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.413-434
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• 2011

Without output covariance estimation, one reference-based Stochastic Subspace Technique (SST) for extracting modal parameters and flutter derivatives of bridge deck is developed and programmed. Compared with the covariance-driven SST and the oscillation signals incurred by oncoming or signature turbulence that adopted by previous investigators, the newly-presented identification scheme is less time-consuming in computation and a more desired accuracy should be contributed to high-quality free oscillated signals excited by specific initial displacement. The reliability and identification precision of this technique are confirmed by a numerical example. For the 3-DOF sectional models of Sutong Bridge deck (streamlined) and Suramadu Bridge deck (bluff) in wind tunnel tests, with different wind velocities, the lateral bending, vertical bending, torsional frequencies and damping ratios as well as 18 flutter derivatives are extracted by using SST. The flutter derivatives of two kinds of typical decks are compared with the pseudo-steady theoretical values, and the performance of $H_1{^*}$, $H_3{^*}$, $A_1{^*}$, $A_3{^*}$ is very stable and well-matched with each other, respectively. The lateral direct flutter derivatives $P_5{^*}$, $P_6{^*}$ are comparatively more accurate than other relevant lateral components. Experimental procedure seems to be more critical than identification technique for refining the estimation precision.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.661-665
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• 2000

A method of considering the fluid induced external force in structural dynamic analysis is presented in this study. The fluid induced pressure distribution around a structure in discrete number of orientation. and velocity is calculated by using a CFD code and tabulated as resultant forces and moments in a database. These forces and moments are interpolated and employed as external forces during the dynamic analysis of structure. The reliability and usefulness of the present method is validated by using a simple discrete system example through transient analysis. The flutter speed is obtained and compared to the analytical solution. Comparing to the method in which structural dynamic and fluid flow analyses are performed simultaneously, the present method is very efficient to save computational effort.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.125-168
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• 2015

Dynamic aeroelastic behavior of structurally nonlinear Joined Wings is presented. Three configurations, two characterized by a different location of the joint and one presenting a direct connection between the two wings (SensorCraft-like layout) are investigated. The snap-divergence is studied from a dynamic perspective in order to assess the real response of the configuration. The investigations also focus on the flutter occurrence (critical state) and postcritical phenomena. Limit Cycle Oscillations (LCOs) are observed, possibly followed by a loss of periodicity of the solution as speed is further increased. In some cases, it is also possible to ascertain the presence of period doubling (flip-) bifurcations. Differences between flutter (Hopf's bifurcation) speed evaluated with linear and nonlinear analyses are discussed in depth in order to understand if a linear (and thus computationally less intense) representation provides an acceptable estimate of the instability properties. Both frequency- and time-domain approaches are compared. Moreover, aerodynamic solvers based on the potential flow are critically examined. In particular, it is assessed in what measure more sophisticated aerodynamic and interface models impact the aeroelastic predictions. When the use of the tools gives different results, a physical interpretation of the leading mechanism generating the mismatch is provided. In particular, for PrandtlPlane-like configurations the aeroelastic response is very sensitive to the wake's shape. As a consequence, it is suggested that a more sophisticate modeling of the wake positively impacts the reliability of aerodynamic and aeroelastic analysis. For SensorCraft-like configurations some LCOs are characterized by a non-synchronous motion of the inner and outer portion of the lower wing: the wing's tip exhibits a small oscillation during the descending or ascending phase, whereas the mid-span station describes a sinusoidal-like trajectory in the time-domain.