• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.191-210
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• 2012

The Force Density Method (FDM) is a well known and extremely versatile tool in form finding of cable nets. In its linear formulation such method makes it possible to find all the possible equilibrium configurations of a net of cables having a certain given connectivity and given boundary conditions on the nodes. Each singular configuration corresponds to an assumed force density distribution. Its improvement as Non-Linear Force Density Method (NLFDM) introduces the possibility of imposing assigned relative distances among the nodes, the tensile level in the elements and/or their initial undeformed length. In this paper an Extended Force Density Method (EFDM) is proposed, which makes it possible to set conditions in terms of given fixed nodal reactions or, in other words, to fix the positions of a certain number of nodes and, at the same time, to impose the intensity of the reaction force. Through such extension, the (EFDM) enables us to deal with form findings problems of cable nets subjected to given constraints and, in particular, with mixed structures, made of cables and struts. The efficiency and the robustness of method are assessed through comparisons with other form finding techniques in dealing with characteristic applications to the prestress design of cable systems. As a further extension, the EFDM is applied to structures having some parts not yet geometrically defined, as can happen in designing new creative forms.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.359-366
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• 2005

Most engineering optimization are based on numerical linear and nonlinear programming methods that require substantial gradient information and usually seek to improve the solution in the neighborhood of a starting point. These algorithm, however, reveal a limited approach to complicated real-world optimization problems. If there is more than one local optimum in the problem, the result may depend on the selection of an initial point, and the obtained optimal solution may not necessarily be the global optimum. This paper describes a new harmony search(HS) meta-heuristic algorithm-based approach for structural size optimization problems with continuous design variables. This recently developed HS algorithm is conceptualized using the musical process of searching for a perfect state of harmony. It uses a stochastic random search instead of a gradient search so that derivative information is unnecessary. Two classical space truss optimization problems are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the HS algorithm. The results indicate that the proposed approach is a powerful search and optimization technique that may yield better solutions to structural engineering problems than those obtained using current algorithms.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.351-358
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• 2005

Many methods have been developed and are in use for structural size optimization problems, In which the cross-sectional areas or sizing variables are usually assumed to be continuous. In most practical structural engineering design problems, however, the design variables are discrete. This paper proposes an efficient optimization method for structures with discrete-sized variables based on the harmony search (HS) meta-heuristic algorithm. The recently developed HS algorithm was conceptualized using the musical process of searching for a perfect state of harmony. It uses a stochastic random search instead of a gradient search so that derivative information is unnecessary In this paper, a discrete search strategy using the HS algorithm is presented in detail and its effectiveness and robustness, as compared to current discrete optimization methods, are demonstrated through a standard truss example. The numerical results reveal that the proposed method is a powerful search and design optimization tool for structures with discrete-sized members, and may yield better solutions than those obtained using current method.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.spc1
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• pp.388-394
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• 2005

Recently, the authors have developed a method for real-time dynamics of multibody systems, which combines a semi-recursive formulation to derive the equations of motion in dependent relative coordinates, along with an augmented Lagrangian technique to impose the loop closure conditions. The following numerical integration procedures, which can be grouped into the so-called structural integrators, were tested : trapezoidal rule, Newmark dissipative schemes, HHT rule, and the Generalized-${\alpha}$ family. It was shown that, for large multi body systems, Newmark dissipative was the best election since, provided that the adequate parameters were chosen, excellent behavior was achieved in terms of efficiency and robustness with acceptable levels of accuracy. In the present paper, the performance of the described method in combination with another group of integrators, the Implicit Runge-Kutta family (IRK), is analyzed. The purpose is to clarify which kind of IRK algorithms can be more suitable for real-time applications, and to see whether they can be competitive with the already tested structural family of integrators. The final objective of the work is to provide some practical criteria for those interested in achieving real-time performance for large and complex multibody systems.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2006

The optimal design of multiple tuned mass dampers (multiple TMD's) to suppress multi-mode structural response of beams and floor structures was investigated. A new method using a numerical optimizer, which can effectively handle a large number of design variables, was employed to search for both optimal placement and tuning of TMD's for these structures under wide-band loading. The first design problem considered was vibration control of a simple beam using 10 TMD's. The results confirmed that for structures with widelyspaced natural frequencies, multiple TMD's can be adequately designed by treating each structural vibration mode as an equivalent SDOF system. Next, the control of a beam structure with two closely-spaced natural frequencies was investigated. The results showed that the most effective multiple TMD's have their natural frequencies distributed over a range covering the two controlled structural frequencies and have low damping ratios. Moreover, a single TMD can also be made effective in controlling two modes with closely spaced frequencies by a newly identified control mechanism, but the effectiveness can be greatly impaired when the loading position changes. Finally, a realistic problem of a large floor structure with 5 closely spaced frequencies was presented. The acceleration responses at 5 positions on the floor excited by 3 wide-band forces were simultaneously suppressed using 10 TMD's. The obtained multiple TMD's were shown to be very effective and robust.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.209-221
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• 2019

The classical Kalman filter (KF) provides a practical and efficient way for state estimation. It is, however, not applicable when the external excitations applied to the structures are unknown. Moreover, it is known the classical KF is only suitable for linear systems and can't handle the nonlinear cases. The aim of this paper is to extend the classical KF approach to circumvent the aforementioned limitations for the joint estimation of structural states and the unknown inputs. On the basis of the scheme of the classical KF, analytical recursive solution of an improved KF approach is derived and presented. A revised form of observation equation is obtained basing on a projection matrix. The structural states and the unknown inputs are then simultaneously estimated with limited measurements in linear or nonlinear systems. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed approach is verified via a five-story shear building, a simply supported beam, and three sorts of nonlinear hysteretic structures. The shaking table tests of a five-story building structure are also employed for the validation of the robustness of the proposed approach. Numerical and experimental results show that the proposed approach can not only satisfactorily estimate structural states, but also identify unknown loadings with acceptable accuracy for both linear and nonlinear systems.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.61-73
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• 2023

In this article, a novel structural modal parameters identification methodology is developed to determine the natural frequencies and damping ratios of civil structures based on the symplectic geometry mode decomposition (SGMD) approach. The SGMD approach is a new decomposition algorithm that can decompose the complex response signals with better decomposition performance and robustness. The novel method firstly decomposes the measured structural vibration response signals into individual mode components using the SGMD approach. The natural excitation technique (NExT) method is then used to obtain the free vibration response of each individual mode component. Finally, modal natural frequencies and damping ratios are identified using the direct interpolating (DI) method and a curve fitting function. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated based on numerical simulation and field measurement. The structural modal parameters are identified utilizing the simulated non-stationary responses of a frame structure and the field measured non-stationary responses of a supertall building during a typhoon. The results demonstrate that the developed method can identify the natural frequencies and damping ratios of civil structures efficiently and accurately.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.227-241
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• 2024

Safety and structural integrity of civil structures, like bridges and buildings, can be substantially enhanced by employing appropriate structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques for timely diagnosis of incipient damages. The information gathered from health monitoring of important infrastructure helps in making informed decisions on their maintenance. This ensures smooth, uninterrupted operation of the civil infrastructure and also cuts down the overall maintenance cost. With an early warning system, SHM can protect human life during major structural failures. A real-time online damage localization technique is proposed using only the vibration measurements in this paper. The concept of the 'Degree of Scatter' (DoS) of the vibration measurements is used to generate a spatial profile, and fractal dimension theory is used for damage detection and localization in the proposed two-phase algorithm. Further, it ensures robustness against environmental and operational variability (EoV). The proposed method works only with output-only responses and does not require correlated finite element models. Investigations are carried out to test the presented algorithm, using the synthetic data generated from a simply supported beam, a 25-storey shear building model, and also experimental data obtained from the lab-level experiments on a steel I-beam and a ten-storey framed structure. The investigations suggest that the proposed damage localization algorithm is capable of isolating the influence of the confounding factors associated with EoV while detecting and localizing damage even with noisy measurements.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.311-323
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• 2023

Ever since ancient times, earthquakes have been a major threat to the civil infrastructures and the safety of human beings. The majority of casualties in earthquake disasters are caused by the damaged civil infrastructures but not by the earthquake itself. Therefore, the efficient and accurate post-earthquake assessment of the conditions of structural damage has been an urgent need for human society. Traditional ways for post-earthquake structural assessment rely heavily on field investigation by experienced experts, yet, it is inevitably subjective and inefficient. Structural response data are also applied to assess the damage; however, it requires mounted sensor networks in advance and it is not intuitional. As many types of damaged states of structures are visible, computer vision-based post-earthquake structural assessment has attracted great attention among the engineers and scholars. With the development of image acquisition sensors, computing resources and deep learning algorithms, deep learning-based post-earthquake structural assessment has gradually shown potential in dealing with image acquisition and processing tasks. This paper comprehensively reviews the state-of-the-art studies of deep learning-based post-earthquake structural assessment in recent years. The conventional way of image processing and machine learning-based structural assessment are presented briefly. The workflow of the methodology for computer vision and deep learning-based post-earthquake structural assessment was introduced. Then, applications of assessment for multiple civil infrastructures are presented in detail. Finally, the challenges of current studies are summarized for reference in future works to improve the efficiency, robustness and accuracy in this field.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.597-612
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• 2016

This paper presents an optimization process using Harmony Search Algorithm for minimum weight of steel space frames under earthquake effects according to Turkish Earthquake Code (2007) specifications. The optimum designs are carried out by selecting suitable sections from a specified list including W profiles taken from American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). The stress constraints obeying AISC-Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) specifications, lateral displacement constraints and geometric constraints are considered in the optimum designs. A computer program is coded in MATLAB for the purpose to incorporate with SAP2000 OAPI (Open Application Programming Interface) to perform structural analysis of the frames under earthquake loads. Three different steel space frames are carried out for four different seismic earthquake zones defined in Turkish Earthquake Code (2007). Results obtained from the examples show the applicability and robustness of the method.