• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.237-247
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• 2023

Fourier series-based models in the time domain are frequently established to represent individual bouncing loads, which neglects the stochastic property of human bouncing activity. A power spectral density (PSD) model in the frequency domain for individual bouncing loads is developed herein. An experiment was conducted on individual bouncing loads, resulting in 957 records linked to form long samples to achieve a fine frequency resolution. The Welch method was applied to the linked samples to obtain the experimental PSD, which was normalized by the bouncing frequency and the harmonic order. The energy, energy distribution center, and energy distribution shape of the experimental PSD were investigated to establish the PSD model. The proposed model was used to analyze structural vibration responses using stochastic vibration theory, which was verified via field measurements. It is believed that this framework can evaluate the vibration capacity of structures excited by bouncing crowds, such as concert halls and grandstands.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.239-260
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• 2014

Non-stationary random vibration of linear structures with uncertain parameters is investigated in this paper. A time-domain explicit formulation method is first presented for dynamic response analysis of deterministic structures subjected to non-stationary random excitations. The method is then employed to predict the random responses of a structure with given values of structural parameters, which are used to fit the conditional expectations of responses with relation to the structural random parameters by the response surface technique. Based on the total expectation theorem, the known conditional expectations are averaged to yield the random responses of stochastic structures as the total expectations. A numerical example involving a frame structure is investigated to illustrate the effectiveness of the present approach by comparison with the power spectrum method and the Monte Carlo simulation method. The proposed method is also applied to non-stationary random seismic analysis of a practical arch bridge with structural uncertainties, indicating the feasibility of the present approach for analysis of complex structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.835-845
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• 2012

This paper focuses on the stochastic response analysis of industrial masonry chimneys to surface blast-induced random ground motions by using a three dimensional finite element model. Underground blasts induce ground shocks on nearby structures. Depending on the distance between the explosion centre and the structure, masonry structures will be subjected to ground motions due to the surface explosions. Blast-induced random ground motions can be defined in terms of the power spectral density function and applied to each support point of the 3D finite element model of the industrial masonry system. In this paper, mainly a parametric study is conducted to estimate the effect of the blast-induced ground motions on the stochastic response of a chimney type masonry structure. With this purpose, different values of charge weight and distance from the charge centre are considered for the analyses of the chimney. The results of the study underline the remarkable effect of the surface blast-induced ground motions on the stochastic behaviour of industrial masonry type chimneys.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.41-64
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• 2014

The main objective of this article is the exploitation of a stochastic hybrid mesh-free method based on stochastic generalized finite difference (SGFD), Newmark finite difference (NFD) methods and Monte Carlo simulation for thermoelastic wave propagation and coupled thermoelasticity analysis based on GN theory (without energy dissipation). A thick hollow cylinder with Gaussian uncertainty in mechanical properties is considered as an analyzed domain for the problem. The effects of uncertainty in mechanical properties with various coefficients of variations on thermo-elastic wave propagation are studied in details. Also, the time histories and distribution on thickness of cylinder of maximum, mean and variance values of temperature and radial displacement are studied for various coefficients of variations (COVs).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.21-37
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• 2007

In this study a stochastic approach for linear viscous dampers design adopted for seismic protection of buildings is developed. Devices optimal placement into the main structure and their mechanical parameters are attained by means of a reliability-based optimum design criterion, in which an objective function (O.F.) is minimized, subject to a stochastic constraint. The seismic input is modelled by a non stationary modulated Kanai Tajimi filtered stochastic process. Building is represented by means of a plane shear type frame model. The selected criterion for the optimization searches the minimum of the O.F., here assumed to be the cost of the seismic protection, i.e., assumed proportional to the sum of added dampings of each device. The stochastic constraint limits a suitable approximated measure of the structure failure probability, here associated to the maximum interstorey drift crossing over a given threshold limit, related, according with modern Technical Codes, to the required damage control.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.525-540
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• 2014

The Lyapunov exponent and moment Lyapunov exponents of Hill's equation with frequency and damping coefficient fluctuated by correlated wideband random processes are studied in this paper. The method of stochastic averaging, both the first-order and the second-order, is applied. The averaged $It\hat{o}$ differential equation governing the pth norm is established and the pth moment Lyapunov exponents and Lyapunov exponent are then obtained. This method is applied to the study of the almost-sure and the moment stability of the stationary solution of the thin simply supported beam subjected to time-varying axial compressions and damping which are small intensity correlated stochastic excitations. The validity of the approximate results is checked by the numerical Monte Carlo simulation method for this stochastic system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.837-846
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• 2017

An accurate calculation of the stochastic wind field is the foundation for analyzing wind-induced structure response and reliability. In this research, the spatial correlation of structural wind field was considered based on the time domain method. A method for calculating the stochastic wind field based on cross stochastic Fourier spectrum was proposed. A flowchart of the proposed methodology is also presented in this study to represent the algorithm and workflow. Along with the analysis of regional wind speed distribution, the wind speed time history sample was calculated, and the efficiency can therefore be verified. Results show that the proposed method and programs could provide an efficient simulation for the wind-induced structure response analysis, and help determine the related parameters easily.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2022

In structural engineering, the material properties of the structures such as elastic modulus, shear modulus, density, and size may not be deterministic and may vary at different locations. The dynamic response analysis of such structures may need to consider these properties as stochastic. This paper introduces a stochastic finite element method (SFEM) approach to analyze moving loads problems. Firstly, Karhunen-Loéve expansion (KLE) is applied for expressing the stochastic field of material properties. Then the mathematical expression of the random field is substituted into the finite element model to formulate the corresponding random matrix. Finally, the statistical moment of the dynamic response is calculated by the point estimation method (PEM). The accuracy and efficiency of the dynamic response obtained from the KLE-PEM are demonstrated by the example of a moving load passing through a simply supported Euler-Bernoulli beam, in which the material properties (including elastic modulus and density) are considered as random fields. The results from the KLE-PEM are compared with those from the Monte Carlo simulation. The results demonstrate that the proposed method of KLE-PEM has high accuracy and efficiency. By using the proposed SFEM, the random vertical deflection of a high-speed railway (HSR) bridge is analyzed by considering the random fields of material properties under the moving load of a train.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.959-982
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• 2015

In this study, a non-stationary random earthquake Clough-Penzien model is used to describe earthquake ground motion. Using stochastic direct integration in combination with an equivalent linear method, a solution is established to describe the non-stationary response of lead-rubber bearing (LRB) system to a stochastic earthquake. Two parameters are used to develop an optimization method for bearing design: the post-yielding stiffness and the normalized yield strength of the isolation bearing. Using the minimization of the maximum energy response level of the upper structure subjected to an earthquake as an objective function, and with the constraints that the bearing failure probability is no more than 5% and the second shape factor of the bearing is less than 5, a calculation method for the two optimal design parameters is presented. In this optimization process, the radial basis function (RBF) response surface was applied, instead of the implicit objective function and constraints, and a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm was used to solve the optimization problems. By considering the uncertainties of the structural parameters and seismic ground motion input parameters for the optimization of the bearing design, convex set models (such as the interval model and ellipsoidal model) are used to describe the uncertainty parameters. Subsequently, the optimal bearing design parameters were expanded at their median values into first-order Taylor series expansions, and then, the Lagrange multipliers method was used to determine the upper and lower boundaries of the parameters. Moreover, using a calculation example, the impacts of site soil parameters, such as input peak ground acceleration, bearing diameter and rubber shore hardness on the optimization parameters, are investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.877-893
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• 2011

Response spectra of earthquake ground motions are important in the earthquake-resistant design and reliability analysis of structures. The formulation of the response spectrum in the frequency domain efficiently computes and evaluates the stochastic response spectrum. The frequency information of the excitation can be described using different functional forms. The shapes of the calculated response spectra of the excitation show strong magnitude and site dependency, but weak distance dependency. In this paper, to compare the effect of the earthquake ground motion variables, the contribution of these sources of variability to the response spectrum's uncertainty is calculated by using a stochastic analysis. The analytical results show that earthquake source factors and soil condition variables are the main sources of uncertainty in the response spectra, while path variables, such as distance, anelastic attenuation and upper crust attenuation, have relatively little effect. The presented formulation of dynamic structural response in frequency domain based only on the frequency information of the excitation can provide an important basis for the structural analysis in some location that lacks strong motion records.