• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.395-406
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• 2018

This paper proposes a linear damping model of tire-soil system using semi-empirical method. A test rig was designed and developed to measure the vertical equivalent linear damping ratio of tire only and tire-soil system using Free-Vibration Logarithmic Decay Method. The test was performed with two kinds of tractor tires using a combination of five inflation pressure levels, two soil depths and four soil moisture contents in the paddy soil. The results revealed that the linear damping ratio of tires increased with decreasing tire inflation pressure; the linear damping ratio of tire-soil system also increased with decreasing tire inflation pressure and increased with the increasing soil depth (observed at 80 and 120 mm). It also increased with a relative increase of soil moisture contents (observed at 37.9%, 48.8%, 66.7% and 77.4%). The results also indicated that the damping ratio of tire-soil system was higher than that of tire only. A linear damping model of tire-soil system is proposed as a damping model in parallel which is established based on experimental results and vibration theory. This model will have a great significance in study of tractor vibration.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.61-82
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• 2007

This paper presents a novel finite element (FE) model for analyzing coupled flutter of long-span bridges using the commercial FE package ANSYS. This model utilizes a specific user-defined element Matrix27 in ANSYS to model the aeroelastic forces acting on the bridge, wherein the stiffness and damping matrices are expressed in terms of the reduced wind velocity and flutter derivatives. Making use of this FE model, damped complex eigenvalue analysis is carried out to determine the complex eigenvalues, of which the real part is the logarithm decay rate and the imaginary part is the damped vibration frequency. The condition for onset of flutter instability becomes that, at a certain wind velocity, the structural system incorporating fictitious Matrix27 elements has a complex eigenvalue with zero or near-zero real part, with the imaginary part of this eigenvalue being the flutter frequency. Case studies are provided to validate the developed procedure as well as to demonstrate the flutter analysis of cable-supported bridges using ANSYS. The proposed method enables the bridge designers and engineering practitioners to analyze flutter instability by using the commercial FE package ANSYS.