• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.283-299
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• 2023

Structural stability of floating platforms has long since been a crucial issue in the field of marine engineering. Excessive motions would not only deteriorate the operating conditions but also seriously impact the safety, service life, and production efficiency. In recent decades, several control devices have been proposed to reduce unwanted motions, and an attractive one is the tuned heave plate (THP). However, the THP system may reduce or even lose its effectiveness when it is mistuned due to the shift of dominant wave frequency. In the present study, a novel adaptive tuned heave plate (ATHP) is proposed based on inerter by adjusting its inertance, which allows to overcome the limitation of the conventional THP and realize adaptations to the dominant wave frequencies in real time. Specifically, the analytical model of a representative semisubmersible platform (SSP) equipped with an ATHP is created, and the equations of motion are formulated accordingly. Two optimization strategies (i.e., J₁ and J₂ optimizations) are developed to determine the optimum design parameters of ATHP. The control effectiveness of the optimized ATHP is then examined in the frequency domain by comparing to those without control and controlled by the conventional THP. Moreover, parametric analyses are systematically performed to evaluate the influences of the pre-specified frequency ratio, damping ratio, heave plate sizes, peak periods and wave heights on the performance of ATHP. Furthermore, a Simulink model is also developed to examine the control performance of ATHP in the time domain. It is demonstrated that the proposed ATHP could adaptively adjust the optimum inertance-to-mass ratio by tracking the dominant wave frequencies in real time, and the proposed system shows better control performance than the conventional THP.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.221-232
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• 2008

This paper represents the final results of a research program sponsored by the European Commission through project WIND-CHIME ($\underline{W}$ide Range Non-$\underline{IN}$trusive $\underline{D}$evices toward $\underline{C}$onservation of $\underline{HI}$storical Monuments in the $\underline{ME}$diterranean Area), in which the possibility of using advanced seismic protection technologies to preserve historical monuments in the Mediterranean area is investigated. In the current research, the dynamic characteristics of two outstanding Mamluk-Style minarets, which similar minarets were reported to experience extensive damage during Dahshur 1992 earthquake, are investigated. The first minaret is the Qusun minaret (1337 A.D, 736 Hijri Date (H.D)) located in El-Suyuti cemetery on the southern side of the Salah El-Din citadel. The minaret is currently separated from the surrounding building and is directly resting on the ground (no vaults underneath). The total height of the minaret is 40.28 meters with a base rectangular shaft of about 5.42 ${\times}$ 5.20 m. The second minaret is the southern minaret of Al-Sultaniya (1340 A.D, 739 H.D). It is located about 30.0 meters from Qusun minaret, and it is now standing alone but it seems that it used to be attached to a huge unidentified structure. The style of the minaret and its size attribute it to the first half of the fourteenth century. The minaret total height is 36.69 meters and has a 4.48 ${\times}$ 4.48 m rectangular base. Field investigations were conducted to obtain: (a) geometrical description of the minarets, (b) material properties of the minarets' stones, and (c) soil conditions at the minarets' location. Ambient vibration tests were performed to determine the modal parameters of the minarets such as natural frequencies and mode shapes. A $1/16^{th}$ scale model of Qusun minaret was constructed at Cairo University Concrete Research Laboratory and tested under free vibration with and without SMA wire dampers. The contribution of SMA wire dampers to the structural damping coefficient was evaluated under different vertical loads and vibration amplitudes. Experimental results were used along with the field investigation data to develop a realistic 3-D finite element model that can be used for seismic risk evaluation of the minarets. Examining the updated finite element models under different seismic excitations indicated the vulnerability of such structures to earthquakes with medium to high a/v ratio. The use of SMA wire dampers was found feasible for reducing the seismic risk for this type of structures.