• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2014

Buckling and vibration characteristics of circular laminated plates under in-plane edge loads and resting on Winkler-type foundation are solved by the Ritz method. Inclusive numerical data are presented for the first three eigen-frequencies as a function of in-plane load for different classical edge conditions. Moreover, the effects of fiber orientation on the natural frequencies and critical buckling loads of laminated angle-ply plates with stacking sequence of $[({\beta}/-{\beta}/{\beta}/-{\beta})]_s$, are studied. Also, selected deformation mode shapes are illustrated. The correctness of results is established using finite element software as well as by comparison with the existing results in the literature.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.313-326
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• 2017

Based on the reliability theory and limit analysis method, the roof stability of a shallow tunnel is investigated under the condition of surface settlement. Nonlinear Hoek-Brown failure criterion is adopted in the present analysis. With the consideration of surface settlement, the internal energy and external work are calculated. Equating the rate of energy dissipation to the external rate of work, the expression of support pressure is derived. With the help of variational approach, a performance function is proposed to reliability analysis. Improved response surface method is used to calculate the Hasofer-Lind reliability index and the failure probability. In order to assess the validity of the present results, Monte-Carlo simulation is performed to examine the correctness. Sensitivity analysis is used to estimate the influence of different variables on reliability index. Among random variables, the unit weight significantly affects the reliability index. It is found that the greater coefficient of variation of variables lead to the higher failure probability. On the basis of the discussions, the reliability-based design is achieved to calculate the required tunnel support pressure under different situations when the target reliability index is obtained.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.225-232
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• 2022

In this paper, the physical neutral surface concept is applied to study the wave propagation of functionally graded (FG) circular plate, the wave equation is derived by Hamiltonian variational principle and the first-order shear deformation plate model. Then, we convert the equations to dimensionless equations. The exact solution of wave propagation problem is obtained by Laplace integral transformation, the first order Hankel integral transformation and the zero order Hankel integral transformation. The results obtained by the current model are very close to those obtained in the existing literature, which indicates the correctness and reliability of this study. Moreover, the effects of the functionally graded index parameters and pore volume fraction on the wave propagation are also discussed in detail.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.261-281
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• 2011

A new method of formulation of a class of elements that are immune to mesh distortion effects is proposed here. The simple three-noded bar element with an offset of the internal node from the element center is employed here to demonstrate the method and the principles on which it is founded upon. Using the function space approach, the modified formulation is shown here to be superior to the conventional isoparametric version of the element since it satisfies the completeness requirement as the metric formulation, and yet it is in agreement with the best-fit paradigm in both the metric and the parametric domains. Furthermore, the element error is limited to only those that are permissible by the classical projection theorem of strains and stresses. Unlike its conventional counterpart, the modified element is thus not prone to any errors from mesh distortion. The element formulation is symmetric and thus satisfies the requirement of the conservative nature of problems associated with all self-adjoint differential operators. The present paper indicates that a proper mapping set for distortion immune elements constitutes geometric and displacement interpolations through parametric and metric shape functions respectively, with the metric components in the displacement/strain replaced by the equivalent geometric interpolation in parametric co-ordinates.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.6
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• pp.615-626
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• 2019

The 3-noded metric Timoshenko beam element with an offset of the internal node from the element centre is used here to demonstrate the best-fit paradigm using function space formulation under locking and mesh distortion. The best-fit paradigm follows from the projection theorem describing finite element analysis which shows that the stresses computed by the displacement finite element procedure are the best approximation of the true stresses at an element level as well as global level. In this paper, closed form best-fit solutions are arrived for the 3-noded Timoshenko beam element through function space formulation by combining field consistency requirements and distortion effects for the element modelled in metric Cartesian coordinates. It is demonstrated through projection theorems how lock-free best-fit solutions are arrived even under mesh distortion by using a consistent definition for the shear strain field. It is shown how the field consistency enforced finite element solution differ from the best-fit solution by an extraneous response resulting from an additional spurious force vector. However, it can be observed that when the extraneous forces vanish fortuitously, the field consistent solution coincides with the best-fit strain solution.