• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제88권3호
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• pp.273-285
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• 2023

This study examines how the interaction between soil and a wind turbine's supporting system affects the optimal design. The supporting system resting on an elastic soil foundation consists of a steel conical tower and a concrete circular raft foundation, and it is subjected to wind loads. The material cost of the supporting system is aimed to be minimized employing various metaheuristic optimization algorithms including teaching-learning based optimization (TLBO). To include the influence of the soil in the optimization process, modified Vlasov and Gazetas elastic soil models are integrated into the optimization algorithms using the application programing interface (API) feature of the structural analysis program providing two-way data flow. As far as the optimal designs are considered, the best minimum cost design is achieved for the TLBO algorithm, and the modified Vlasov model makes the design economical compared with the simple Gazetas and infinitely rigid soil models. Especially, the optimum design dimensions of the raft foundation extremely reduce when the Vlasov realistic soil reactions are included in the optimum analysis. Additionally, as the designated design wind speed is decreased, the beneficial impact of soil interaction on the optimum material cost diminishes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제57권6호
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• pp.969-988
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• 2016

Vibration analysis of the beams on elastic foundation has gained the great interest of many researchers. In the literature, there are many studies that focus on the free vibration analysis of the beams on one or two parameter elastic foundations. On the other hand, there are no sufficient studies especially focus on the comparison of dynamic response including the bending moment and shear force of the beams resting on Winkler and two parameter foundations. In this study, dynamic response of the axially loaded Timoshenko beams resting on modified Vlasov type elastic soil was investigated by using the separation of variables method. Governing equations were obtained by assuming that the material had linear elastic behaviour and mass of the beam was distributed along its length. Numerical analysis were provided and presented in figures to find out the differences between the modified Vlasov model and conventional Winkler type foundation. Furthermore, the effect of shear deformation of elastic soil on the dynamic response of the beam was investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제64권1호
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• pp.23-31
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• 2017

In the study, dynamic behavior of laminated orthotropic beams on elastic foundation is investigated. Consistent model presented here combines the finite element solution of the system with SAP2000 software and the calculation of soil parameters with MATLAB software using Modified Vlasov Model type elastic foundation. For this purpose, a computing tool is coded in MATLAB which employs Open Application Programming Interface (OAPI) feature of SAP2000 to provide two-way data flow during execution. Firstly, an example is taken from the literature to demonstrate the accuracy of the consistent FEM-Vlasov Model. Subsequently, the effects of boundary conditions, subsoil depth, elasticity modulus of subsoil, slenderness ratio, velocity of moving load and lamination scheme on the behavior of laminated orthotropic beams on elastic foundation are investigated on a new numerical example. It can be concluded that it is really convenient to use OAPI feature of SAP2000 to model this complex behavior of laminated orthotropic beams on elastic foundation under moving load.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.617-633
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• 2016

In this paper, the analysis of hyperbolic cooling tower on elastic subsoil exposed to unsymmetrical wind loading is presented. Modified Vlasov foundation model is used to determine the soil parameters as a function of vertical deformation profile within subsoil. The iterative parameter updating procedure involves the use of Open Application Programming Interface (OAPI) feature of SAP2000 to provide two way data flow during execution. A computing tool coded in MATLAB employing OAPI is used to perform the analysis of hyperbolic cooling tower with supporting columns over a hollow annular raft founded on elastic subsoil. The analysis of such complex soil-structure system is investigated under self-weight and unsymmetrical wind load. The response of the cooling tower on elastic subsoil is compared with that of a tower that its supporting raft foundation is treated as fixed at the base. The results show that the effect of subsoil on the behavior of cooling tower is considerable at the top and bottom of the wall as well as supporting columns and raft foundation. The application of a full-size cooling tower has demonstrated that the procedure is simple, fast and can easily be implemented in practice.