• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.75-92
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• 2016

The design of a semi-active (SA) control system addressed to mitigate wind induced structural demand to high wind turbine towers is discussed herein. Actually, the remarkable growth in height of wind turbines in the last decades, for a higher production of electricity, makes this issue pressing than ever. The main objective is limiting bending moment demand by relaxing the base restraint, without increasing the top displacement, so reducing the incidence of harmful "p-delta" effects. A variable restraint at the base, able to modify in real time its mechanical properties according to the instantaneous response of the tower, is proposed. It is made of a smooth hinge with additional elastic stiffness and variable damping respectively given by springs and SA magnetorheological (MR) dampers installed in parallel. The idea has been physically realized at the Denmark Technical University where a 1/20 scale model of a real, one hundred meters tall wind turbine has been assumed as case study for shaking table tests. A special control algorithm has been purposely designed to drive MR dampers. Starting from the results of preliminary laboratory tests, a finite element model of such structure has been calibrated so as to develop several numerical simulations addressed to calibrate the controller, i.e., to achieve as much as possible different, even conflicting, structural goals. The results are definitely encouraging, since the best configuration of the controller leaded to about 80% of reduction of base stress, as well as to about 30% of reduction of top displacement in respect to the fixed base case.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.665-682
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• 2015

Structural identification or St-Id is 'the parametric correlation of structural response characteristics predicted by a mathematical model with analogous characteristics derived from experimental measurements'. This paper describes a St-Id exercise on Humber Bridge that adopted a novel two-stage approach to first calibrate and then validate a mathematical model. This model was then used to predict effects of wind and temperature loads on global static deformation that would be practically impossible to observe. The first stage of the process was an ambient vibration survey in 2008 that used operational modal analysis to estimate a set of modes classified as vertical, torsional or lateral. In the more recent second stage a finite element model (FEM) was developed with an appropriate level of refinement to provide a corresponding set of modal properties. A series of manual adjustments to modal parameters such as cable tension and bearing stiffness resulted in a FEM that produced excellent correspondence for vertical and torsional modes, along with correspondence for the lower frequency lateral modes. In the third stage traffic, wind and temperature data along with deformation measurements from a sparse structural health monitoring system installed in 2011 were compared with equivalent predictions from the partially validated FEM. The match of static response between FEM and SHM data proved good enough for the FEM to be used to predict the un-measurable global deformed shape of the bridge due to vehicle and temperature effects but the FEM had limited capability to reproduce static effects of wind. In addition the FEM was used to show internal forces due to a heavy vehicle to to estimate the worst-case bearing movements under extreme combinations of wind, traffic and temperature loads. The paper shows that in this case, but with limitations, such a two-stage FEM calibration/validation process can be an effective tool for performance prognosis.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.449-464
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• 2023

Advanced nonlinear effective stress constitutive models are started to be frequently used in one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) site response analysis for assessment of porewater generation and liquefaction potential in soft soil deposits. The emphasis of this research is on the assessment of the implementation of this category of models at the element stage. Initially, the performance of a coupled porewater pressure (PWP) and constitutive models were evaluated employing a catalogue of 40 unidirectional cyclic simple shear tests with a variety of relative densities between 35% and 80% and effective vertical stresses between 40 and 80 kPa. The authors evaluated three coupled constitutive models (PDMY02, PM4SAND and PDMY03) using cyclic direct simple shear tests and for decide input parameters used in the model, procedures are recommended. The ability of the coupled model to capture dilation as strength is valuable because the studied models reasonably capture the cyclic performance noted in the experiments and should be utilized to conduct effective stress-based 1D and 2D site response analysis. Sandy soils may become softer and liquefy during earthquakes as a result of pore-water pressure (PWP) development, which may have an impact on seismic design and site response. The tested constitutive models are mathematically coupled with a cyclic strain-based PWP generation model and can capture small-strain stiffness and large-strain shear strength. Results show that there are minor discrepancies between measured and computed excess PWP ratios, indicating that the tested constitutive models provide reasonable estimations of PWP increase during cyclic shear (r_u) and the banana shape is reproduced in a proper way indicating that dilation and shear- strain behavior is well captured by the models.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.303-312
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• 2008

Multi-axial compression tests have been frequently adopted for the evaluation of material properties of rock cores and rock fracture model tests. Special care has to be applied on the boundary condition between the specimen and loading platen to draw the precise test results of the multi-axial compression tests. With the use of dry steel platen, the stress rotation will occur, due to the frictional restraint from the boundary between the specimen and loading platen. The restraint will deviate the expected test results under the conditions of the given external pressures. Various methods have been applied to reduce the side restraint along the specimen/loading platen interface. The steel brush type loading platen is one example of the attempts. In this paper, a new type of loading platen is introduced to overcome the limitation caused by the use of the brush type loading platen, which requires some internal space for the installation of the brushes. The new type of loading platen, roller supported steel piston type loading platen. is constituted of shot steel pistons which have sufficient stiffness to deliver the external pressure and the shaft type roller installed at the rear of the pistons. The pistons are designed to follow the local deformation of the specimens. In this paper, structural details of the loading platen are presented and frictional and biaxial compression tests results are shown to verify the required functions of the loading platen. Furthermore, calibration process is followed by a comparison between the test results and numerical analyses.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

In the seismic design of structures, seismic forces are calculated based on structural models and analysis. In order to accurately address the dynamic characteristics of the actual structure in the structural model, calibration based on actual measurements is required. In this study, a 4-story frame test specimen was manufactured to simulate frame building, accelerometers were attached at each floor, and 1-axis shaking table test was performed. The natural period of the specimen was similar to that of the actual 4 story frame building, and the columns were designed to behave with double-curvature having the infinite stiffness of the horizontal members. To investigate the effects seismic waves characteristics, historical and artificial excitations with various frequencies and acceleration magnitudes were applied. The natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes were obtained using frequency response functions obtained from dynamic response signals, and the mode vector deviations according to the input seismic waves were verified using the Mode assurance criterion (MAC). In addition, the damping ratios obtained from the vibration tests were applied to the structural model, and the method with refined dynamic characteristics was validated by comparing the analysis results with the experimental data.