• Wind and Structures
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.75-84
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• 2020

The aerostatic stability analysis of a long-span suspension bridge by the Element-free Galerkin (EFG) method is presented in this paper. Nonlinear effects due to wind structure interactions should be taken into account in determining the aerostatic behavior of long-span suspension bridges. The EFG method is applied to investigate torsional divergence of suspension bridges, based on both the three components of wind loads and nonlinearities of structural geometric. Since EFG methods, which are based on moving least-square (MLS) interpolation, require only nodal data, the description of the geometry of bridge structure and boundaries consist of defining a set of nodes. A numerical example involving the three-dimensional EFG model of a suspension bridge with a span length of 888m is presented to illustrate the performance and potential of this method. The results indicate that presented method can effectively be applied for modeling suspension bridge structure and the computed results obtained using present modeling strategy for nonlinear suspension bridge structure under wind flow are encouragingly acceptable.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.149-165
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• 2013

Tension leg platforms (TLP's) are highly nonlinear due to large structural displacements and fluid motion-structure interaction. Therefore, the nonlinear dynamic response of TLP's under hydrodynamic wave loading is necessary to determine their deformations and dynamic characteristics. In this paper, a numerical study using modified Morison Equation was carried out in the time domain to investigate the influence of nonlinearities due to hydrodynamic forces and the coupling effect between all degrees of freedom on the dynamic behavior of a TLP. The stiffness of the TLP was derived from a combination of hydrostatic restoring forces and restoring forces due to cables and the nonlinear equations of motion were solved utilizing Newmark's beta integration scheme. The effect of wave characteristics was considered.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제67권3호
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• pp.267-275
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• 2018

A numerical study of soil-foundation system under monotonic and cyclic pushover loading is conducted, taking into account both material and geometric nonlinearities. A complete and refined 3D finite element (FE) model, using contact condition and allowing separation between soil and foundation, is implemented and used in order to evaluate the nonlinear relationship between applied vertical forces and induced settlements. Based on the obtained curve, a simplified model is proposed, in which the soil inelasticity is satisfactorily represented by two vertical springs with trilinear behavior law, and the foundation uplifting is insured by gap elements. Results from modeling soil-foundation system supporting a bridge pier have shown that the simplified model is able to capture irreversible settlements induced by cyclic rocking, due to soil inelasticity and vertical loading, as well as large rotations due to foundation uplifting.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.1-16
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• 2016

Model Order Reduction (MOR) denotes the theory by which one tries to catch a model of order lower than that of the real model. This is conveniently pursued in view of the design of an efficient structural control scheme, just passive within this paper. When the nonlinear response of the reference structural system affects the nature of the reduced model, making it dependent on the visited subset of the input-output space, standard MOR techniques do not apply. The mathematical theory offers some specific alternatives, which however involve a degree of sophistication unjustified in the presence of a few localized nonlinearities. This paper suggests applying standard MOR to the linear parts of the structural system, the interface remaining the original unreduced nonlinear components. A case study focused on the effects of a helicopter land crash is used to exemplify the proposal.

• International Journal of Railway
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.109-116
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• 2014

For optimization of a low-noise track system, rail vibration and noise radiation needs to be investigated. The main influencing parameters for the noise radiation and the quantitative results of every track system can be obtained using a calculation model of generation and radiation of railway noise. This kind of model includes contact modeling and the calculation model of the dynamic properties of the wheel and the rail. This study used a nonlinear wheel/rail interaction model in the time domain to investigate the excitation of the rolling noise. Wheel/rail response is determined by time integrating Green's function of the rail together with force impulses from the wheel/rail contact. This model and the results of the study can be used for supporting calculation with the conventional model by an addition of the contributions due to nonlinearities to the roughness spectrum.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제36권4호
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• pp.421-445
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• 2010

In this paper the formulation of an efficient frame element applicable for nonlinear analysis of 3D reinforced concrete (RC) frames is outlined. Interaction between axial force and bending moment is considered by using the fibre element approach. Further, section warping, effect of normal and tangential forces on the torsional stiffness of section and second order geometrical nonlinearities are included in the model. The developed computer code is employed for nonlinear static analysis of RC sub-assemblages and a simple approach for extending the formulation to dynamic cases is presented. Dynamic progressive collapse assessment of RC space frames based on the alternate path method is undertaken and dynamic load factor (DLF) is estimated. Further, it is concluded that the torsional behaviour of reinforced concrete elements satisfying minimum standard requirements is not significant for the framed structures studied.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제49권6호
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• pp.687-703
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• 2014

This paper develops a new nonlinear model for active control of three-dimensional (3D) irregular building structures. Both geometrical and material nonlinearities with a neuro-controller training algorithm are applied to a multi-degree-of-freedom 3D system. Two dynamic assembling motions are considered simultaneously in the control model such as coupling between torsional and lateral responses of the structure and interaction between the structural system and the actuators. The proposed control system and training algorithm of the structural system are evaluated by simulating the responses of the structure under the El-Centro 1940 earthquake excitation. In the numerical example, the 3D three-story structure with linear and nonlinear stiffness is controlled by a trained neural network. The actuator dynamics, control time delay and incident angle of earthquake are also considered in the simulation. Results show that the proposed control algorithm for 3D buildings is effective in structural control.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제54권4호
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• pp.809-827
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• 2015

In this paper, seismic energy response of inelastic steel structures under earthquake excitations is investigated. For this purpose, a numerical procedure based on nonlinear dynamic analysis is developed by considering material, geometric and connection nonlinearities. Material nonlinearity is modeled by the inversion of Ramberg-Osgood equation. Nonlinearity caused by the interaction between the axial force and bending moment is also defined considering stability functions, while the geometric nonlinearity caused by axial forces is described using geometric stiffness matrix. Cyclic behaviour of steel connections is taken into account by employing independent hardening model. Dynamic equation of motion is solved by Newmark's constant acceleration method in the time history domain. Energy response analysis of space frames is performed by using this proposed numerical method. Finally, for the first time, the distribution of the different energy types versus time at the duration of the earthquake ground motion is obtained where in addition error analysis for the numerical solutions is carried out and plotted depending on the relative error calculated as a function of energy balance versus time.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제18권6호
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• pp.1169-1188
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• 2016

Real-time substructuring techniques are currently an advanced experimental method for testing large size specimens in the laboratory. In dynamic substructuring, the whole tested system is split into two linked parts, the part of particular interest or nonlinearity, which is tested physically, and the remanding part which is tested numerically. To achieve near-perfect synchronization of the interface response between the physical specimen and the numerical model, a good controller is needed to compensate for transfer system dynamics, nonlinearities, uncertainties and time-varying parameters within the physical substructures. This paper presents the substructuring approach and control performance of the linear and the adaptive controllers for testing the dynamic characteristics of soil-structure-interaction system (SSI). This is difficult to emulate as an entire system in the laboratory because of the size and power supply limitations of the experimental facilities. A modified linear substructuring controller (MLSC) is proposed to replace the linear substructuring controller (LSC).The MLSC doesn't require the accurate mathematical model of the physical structure that is required by the LSC. The effects of parameter identification errors of physical structure and the shaking table on the control performance of the MLSC are analysed. An adaptive controller was designed to compensate for the errors from the simplification of the physical model in the MLSC, and from parameter identification errors. Comparative simulation and experimental tests were then performed to evaluate the performance of the MLSC and the adaptive controller.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.35-48
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• 2001

The objective of this study is to investigate the stability behavior of steel cable-stayed bridges by comparing the buckling loads obtained by means of finite element methods with eigen-solver. In recent days, cable-stayed bridges dramatically attract engineers' attention due to their structural characteristics and aesthetics. They require a number of design parameters and present a high degree of static indetermination, especially for long span bridges. Cable-stayed bridges exhibit several nonlinear behaviors concurrently under normal design loads due to the individual nonlinearity of substructures such as the pylons, stay cables, and bridge deck, and their interactions. The geometric nonlinearities arise mainly from large displacements of cables. Strong axial and lateral forces acting on the bridge deck and pylons cause structural nonlinear behaviors. The interaction is among the substructures. In this paper, a typical three-span steel cable-stayed bridge with a variety of design parameters has been investigated. The numerical results indicate that the design parameters such as the ratio of $L_1/L$ and $I_p/I_b$ are important for the structural behavior, where $L_1$ is the main span length, L is the total span length of the bridge, $I_p$ is the moment of inertia of the pylon, and $I_b$ is the moment of inertia of the bridge deck. When the ratio $I_p/I_b$ increases, the critical load decreases due to the lack of interaction among substructures. Cable arrangements and the height of pylon are another important factors for this type of bridge in buckling analysis. According to numerical results, the bridges supported by a pylon with harp-type cable arrangement have higher critical loads than the bridges supported by a pylon with fan-type cable arrangement. On contrary, the shape of the pylon does not significantly affect the critical load of this type of bridge. All numerical results have been non-dimensionalized and presented in both tabular and graphical forms.