• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.587-614
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• 2014

In recent years the interest in online monitoring of lightweight structures with ultrasonic guided waves is steadily growing. Especially the aircraft industry is a driving force in the development of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. In order to optimally design SHM systems powerful and efficient numerical simulation tools to predict the behaviour of ultrasonic elastic waves in thin-walled structures are required. It has been shown that in real industrial applications, such as airplane wings or fuselages, conventional linear and quadratic pure displacement finite elements commonly used to model ultrasonic elastic waves quickly reach their limits. The required mesh density, to obtain good quality solutions, results in enormous computational costs when solving the wave propagation problem in the time domain. To resolve this problem different possibilities are available. Analytical methods and higher order finite element method approaches (HO-FEM), like p-FEM, spectral elements, spectral analysis and isogeometric analysis, are among them. Although analytical approaches offer fast and accurate results, they are limited to rather simple geometries. On the other hand, the application of higher order finite element schemes is a computationally demanding task. The drawbacks of both methods can be circumvented if regions of complex geometry are modelled using a HO-FEM approach while the response of the remaining structure is computed utilizing an analytical approach. The objective of the paper is to present an efficient method to couple different HO-FEM schemes with an analytical description of an undisturbed region. Using this hybrid formulation the numerical effort can be drastically reduced. The functionality of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by studying the propagation of ultrasonic guided waves in plates, excited by a piezoelectric patch actuator. The actuator is modelled utilizing higher order coupled field finite elements, whereas the homogenous, isotropic plate is described analytically. The results of this "semi-analytical" approach highlight the opportunities to reduce the numerical effort if closed-form solutions are partially available.

• Journal of applied mathematics & informatics
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• v.31 no.1_2
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• pp.165-177
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• 2013

In this paper, we apply Homotopy perturbation transform method (HPTM) for solving singular fourth order parabolic partial differential equations with variable coefficients. This method is the combination of the Laplace transform method and Homotopy perturbation method. The nonlinear terms can be easily handled by the use of He's polynomials. The aim of using the Laplace transform is to overcome the deficiency that is mainly caused by unsatisfied conditions in other semi-analytical methods such as Homotopy perturbation method (HPM), Variational iteration method (VIM) and Adomain Decomposition method (ADM). The proposed scheme finds the solutions without any discretization or restrictive assumptions and avoids the round-off errors. The comparison shows a precise agreement between the results and introduces this method as an applicable one which it needs fewer computations and is much easier and more convenient than others, so it can be widely used in engineering too.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.6
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• pp.14-26
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• 1998

This paper deals with approximate analytical solutions for the two-region one-dimensional model describing the charging process of stratified thermal storage tanks at variable inlet temperature with momentum-induced mixing. An arbitrarily increasing inlet temperature is decomposed into inherent step changes and intervals of continuous change. Each continuous interval is approximated as a finite number of piecewise linear functions, which admits an analytical solution for perfectly mixed region. Using the Laplace transform, the temperature profiles in plug flow region with both the semi-infinite and adiabatic ends are successfully derived in terms of well-defined functions. The effect of end condition on the solution proves to be negligible under the practical operating conditions. For a Quadratic variation of inlet temperature, the approximate solution employing a moderate number of pieces agrees excellently with the exact solution.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.409-413
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• 2018

In this paper, He's Variational Approach (VA) is used to solve high nonlinear vibration equations. The proposed approach leads us to high accurate solution compared with other numerical methods. It has been established that this method works very well for whole range of initial amplitudes. The method is sufficient for both linear and nonlinear engineering problems. The accuracy of this method is shown graphically and the results tabulated and results compared with numerical solutions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.363-380
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• 2018

This paper presented an integral design procedure for demountable bolted composite frames with semi-rigid joints. Moment-rotation relationships of beam-to-column joints were predicted with analytical models aiming to provide accurate and reliable analytical solutions. Among this, initial stiffness of beam-to-column joints was derived on the basis of Timoshenko's plate theory, and moment capacity was derived in accordance with Eurocodes. The predictions were validated with relevant test results prior to further applications. Frame analysis was conducted by using Abaqus software with material and geometrical nonlinearity considered. Variable lateral loads incorporating wind actions and earthquake actions in accordance with Australian Standards were adopted to evaluate the flexural behaviour of the composite frames. Strength and serviceability limit state criteria were utilized to verify configurations of designed models. A wide range of frames with the varied number of storeys and bays were thereafter programmed to ascertain bending moment envelopes under various load combinations. The analytical results suggest that the proposed approach is capable of predicting the moment-rotation performance of the semi-rigid joints reasonably well. Outcomes of the frame analysis indicate that the load combination with dead loads and live loads only leads to maximum sagging and hogging moment magnitudes in beams. As for lateral loads, wind actions are more crucial to dominate the design of the demountable composite frames than earthquake actions. No hogging moment reversal is expected in the composite beams given that the frames are designed properly. The proposed analysis procedure is demonstrated to be a simple and efficient method, which can be applied into engineering practice.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1469-1476
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• 2003

This paper provides plastic limit load solutions of cylinders with circumferential part-through surface cracks under combined axial tension, internal pressure and global bending. Such solutions are developed based on detailed three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) limit analyses using elastic-perfectly-plastic material behaviour, together with analytical solutions based on equilibrium stress fields. For the crack location, both external and internal cracks are considered. Furthermore, in terms of the crack shape, both semi-elliptical and constant-depth surface cracks are considered. The resulting limit load solutions are given in a closed form, and thus can be easily used in practical situations. Being based on detailed 3-D FE limit analysis, the present solutions are believed to most reliable, and thus to be valuable information for integrity assessment of piping.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.99-118
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• 2002

The scaled-boundary finite element method is a novel semi-analytical technique, combining the advantages of the finite element and the boundary element methods with unique properties of its own. The method works by weakening the governing differential equations in one coordinate direction through the introduction of shape functions, then solving the weakened equations analytically in the other (radial) coordinate direction. These coordinate directions are defined by the geometry of the domain and a scaling centre. This paper presents a general development of the scaled boundary finite-element method for two-dimensional problems where two boundaries of the solution domain are similar. Unlike three-dimensional and axisymmetric problems of the same type, the use of logarithmic solutions of the weakened differential equations is found to be necessary. The accuracy and efficiency of the procedure is demonstrated through two examples. The first of these examples uses the standard finite element method to provide a comparable solution, while the second combines both solution techniques in a single analysis. One significant application of the new technique is the generation of transition super-elements requiring few degrees of freedom that can connect two regions of vastly different levels of discretisation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.221-238
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• 2008

Numerical solution to buckling analysis of beams and columns are obtained by the method of differential quadrature (DQ) and harmonic differential quadrature (HDQ) for various support conditions considering the variation of flexural rigidity. The solution technique is applied to find the buckling load of fully or partially embedded columns such as piles. A simple semi- inverse method of DQ or HDQ is proposed for determining the flexural rigidities at various sections of non-prismatic column ( pile) partially and fully embedded given the buckling load, buckled shape and sub-grade reaction of the soil. The obtained results are compared with the existing solutions available from other numerical methods and analytical results. In addition, this paper also uses a recently developed technique, known as the differential transformation (DT) to determine the critical buckling load of fully or partially supported heavy prismatic piles as well as fully supported non-prismatic piles. In solving the problem, governing differential equation is converted to algebraic equations using differential transformation methods (DT) which must be solved together with applied boundary conditions. The symbolic programming package, Mathematica is ideally suitable to solve such recursive equations by considering fairly large number of terms.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.839-856
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• 2013

Metallic annular discs with their outer boundary fully constrained are studied with newly derived semi-analytical solutions for the effects of thickness variations under thermal loading and unloading. The plane stress and axisymmetric assumptions were adopted, and the thickness of the disk depends on the radius hyperbolically with an exponent n. Furthermore, it is assumed that the stress state is two dimensional and temperature is uniform in the domain. The solutions include the elastic, elastic-plastic and plastic-collapse behavior, depending on the values of temperature. The von Mises type yield criterion is adopted in this work. The material properties, Young's modulus, yield stress and thermal expansion coefficient, are assumed temperature dependent, while the Poisson's ratio is assumed to be temperature independent. It is found that for any n values, if the normalized hole radius a greater than 0.6, the normalized temperature difference between the elastically reversible temperature and plastic collapse temperature is a monotonically decreasing function of inner radius. For small holes, the n values have strong effects on the normalized temperature difference. Furthermore, it is shown that thickness variations may have stronger effects on the strain distributions when temperature-dependent material properties are considered.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 1997

This paper presents an approximate analytical solution to a two-region one-dimensional model for the charging process of stratified thermal storage tanks with variable inlet temperature in the presence of momentum-induced mixing. Based on the superposition principle, an arbitrary-varying inlet temperature is decomposed into inherent discontinuous steps and continuous intervals approximated as a finite number of piecewise linear functions. This approximation allows the temperature of the upper perfectly-mixed layer to be expressed in terms of constant, linear and exponential functions with respect to time. Applying the Laplace transform technique to the model equation for the lower thermocline layer subject to each of three representative interfacial conditions yields compact-form solutions, a linear combination of which constitutes the final temperature profile. A systematic method for deriving solutions to the plug-flow problem having polynomial-type boundary conditions is also established. The effect of adiabatic exit boundary on solution behaviors proves to be negligible under the actual working conditions, which justifies the assumption of semi-infinite domain introduced in the solution procedure. Finally, the approximate solution is validated by comparing it with an exact solution obtained for a specific variation of inlet temperature. Excellent agreements between them suffice to show the necessity and utility of this work.