• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.3
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• pp.283-290
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• 2019

In global competition manufacturing companies have to produce modern, new constructions from advanced materials in order to increase competitiveness. The aim of my research was to develop a new composite cellular plate structure, which can be primarily used for structural elements of road, rail, water and air transport vehicles (e.g. vehicle bodies, ship floors). The new structure is novel and innovative, because all materials of the components of the newly developed structure are composites (laminated Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) deck plates with pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) stiffeners), furthermore combines the characteristics of sandwich and cellular plate structures. The material of the structure is much more advantageous than traditional steel materials, due mainly to its low density, resulting in weight savings, causing lower fuel consumption and less environmental damage. In the study the optimal construction of a given geometry of a structural element of a road truck trailer body was defined by single- and multi-objective optimization (minimal cost and weight). During the single-objective optimization the Flexible Tolerance Optimization method, while during the multi-objective optimization the Particle Swarm Optimization method were used. Seven design constraints were considered: maximum deflection of the structure, buckling of the composite plates, buckling of the stiffeners, stress in the composite plates, stress in the stiffeners, eigenfrequency of the structure, size constraint for design variables. It was confirmed that the developed structure can be used principally as structural elements of transport vehicles and unit load devices (containers) and can be applied also in building construction.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.529-541
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• 2017

In the present study, vibration analysis of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FGCNTRC) plate moving in two directions is investigated. Various types of shear deformation theories are utilized to obtain more accurate and simplest theory. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are selected as a reinforcement of composite face sheets inside Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) matrix. Moreover, different kinds of distributions of CNTs are considered. Based on extended rule of mixture, the structural properties of composite face sheets are considered. Motion equations are obtained by Hamilton's principle and solved analytically. Influences of various parameters such as moving speed in x and y directions, volume fraction and distribution of CNTs, orthotropic viscoelastic surrounding medium, thickness and aspect ratio of composite plate on the vibration characteristics of moving system are discussed in details. The results indicated that thenatural frequency or stability of FGCNTRC plate is strongly dependent on axially moving speed. Moreover, a better configuration of the nanotube embedded in plate can be used to increase the critical speed, as a result, the stability is improved. The results of this investigation can be used in design and manufacturing of marine vessels and aircrafts.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.213-232
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• 2018

First time, an exact solution for free vibration of the Levy-type rectangular laminated plate is developed considering the most efficient Zig-Zag theory (ZIGT) and third order theory (TOT). The plate is subjected to hard simply supported boundary condition (Levy-type) along x axis. Using the equilibrium equations and the plate constitutive relations, a set of 12 m first order differential homogenous equations are obtained, containing displacements and stress resultant as primary variables. The natural frequencies of a single-layer isotropic, multi-layer composites and sandwich plates are tabulated for three values of length-to-thickness ratio (S) and five set of boundary conditions and further assessed by comparing with existing literature and recently developed 3D EKM (extended Kantorovich method) solution. It is found that for the symmetric composite plate, TOT produces better results than ZIGT. For antisymmetric and sandwich plates, ZIGT predicts the frequency for different boundary conditions within 3% error with respect to 3D elasticity solution while TOT gives 10% error. But, ZIGT gives better predictions than the TOT concerning the displacement and stress variables.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.31-52
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• 2020

This paper investigates the size dependent effect on the vibration analysis of a porous nanocomposite viscoelastic plate reinforced by functionally graded-single walled carbon nanotubes (FG-SWCNTs) by considering nonlocal strain gradient theory. Therefore, using energy method and Hamilton's principle, the equations of motion are derived. In this article, the effects of nonlocal parameter, aspect ratio, strain gradient parameter, volume fraction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), damping coefficient, porosity coefficient, and temperature change on the natural frequency are perused. The innovation of this paper is to compare the effectiveness of each mentioned parameters individually on the free vibrations of this plate and to represent the appropriate value for each parameter to achieve an ideal nanocomposite plate that minimizes vibration. The results are verified with those referenced in the paper. The results illustrate that the effect of damping coefficient on the increase of natural frequency is significantly higher than the other parameters effect, and the effects of the strain gradient parameter and nonlocal parameter on the natural frequency increase are less than damping coefficient effect, respectively. Furthermore, the results indicate that the natural frequency decreases with a rise in the nonlocal parameter, aspect ratio and temperature change. Also, the natural frequency increases with a rise in the strain gradient parameter and CNTs volume fraction. This study can be used for optimizing the industrial and medical designs, such as automotive industry, aerospace engineering and water purification system, by considering ideal properties for the nanocomposite plate.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.311-324
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• 2018

This work examines vibration and bending response of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plates resting on the Pasternak elastic foundation. Four types of distributions of uni-axially aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes are considered to reinforce the plates. Analytical solutions determined from mathematical formulation based on hyperbolic shear deformation plate theory are presented in this study. An accuracy of the proposed theory is validated numerically by comparing the obtained results with some available ones in the literature. Various considerable parameters of carbon nanotube volume fraction, spring constant factors, plate thickness and aspect ratios, etc. are considered in the present investigation. According to the numerical examples, it is revealed that the vertical displacement of the plates is found to diminish as the increase of foundation parameters; while, the natural frequency increase as the increment of the parameters for every type of plate.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.595-610
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• 2019

This paper deals with the static and dynamic behavior of Functionally Graded Carbon Nanotubes (FG-CNT)-reinforced porous sandwich (PMPV) polymer plate. The model of nanocomposite plate is investigated within the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). Two types of porous sandwich plates are supposed (sandwich with face sheets reinforced / homogeneous core and sandwich with homogeneous face sheets / reinforced core). Functionally graded Carbon Nanotubes (FG-CNT) and uniformly Carbon Nanotubes (UD-CNT) distributions of face sheets or core porous plates with uniaxially aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes are considered. The governing equations are derived by using Hamilton's principle. The solution for bending and vibration of such type's porous plates are obtained. The detailed mathematical derivations are provided and the solutions are compared to some cases in the literature. The effect of the several parameters of reinforced sandwich porous plates such as aspect ratios, volume fraction, types of reinforcement, number of modes and thickness of plate on the bending and vibration analyses are studied and discussed. On the question of porosity, this study found that there is a great influence of their variation on the static and vibration of porous sandwich plate.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.83-103
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• 2018

In this paper, the problem of interfacial stresses in damaged reinforced concrete beams strengthened with bonded prestressed functionally graded material plate and subjected to a uniformly distributed load, arbitrarily positioned single point load, or two symmetric point loads is developed using linear elastic theory. The adopted model takes into account the adherend shear deformations by assuming a linear shear stress through the depth of the damaged RC beam. This solution is intended for application to beams made of all kinds of materials bonded with a thin FGM plate. The results show that there exists a high concentration of both shear and normal stress at the ends of the functionally graded material plate, which might result in premature failure of the strengthening scheme at these locations. Finally, numerical comparisons between the existing solutions and the present new solution enable a clear appreciation of the effects of various parameters of the beams on the distributions of the interfacial stresses.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2018

Multi-storey precast concrete skeletal structures are assembled from individual prefabricated components which are erected on-site using various types of connections. In the current design of these structures, beam-to-column connections are assumed to be pin jointed. Welded plate beam to-column connections have been used in the precast concrete industry for many years. They have many advantages over other jointing methods in component production, quality control, transportation and assembly. However, there is at present limited information concerning their detailed structural behaviour under bending and shear loadings. The experimental work has involved the determination of moment-rotation relationships for semi-rigid precast concrete connections in full scale connection tests. The study reported in this paper was undertaken to clarify the behaviour of such connections under symmetrical vertical loadings. A series of full-scale tests was performed on sample column for which the column geometry and weld arrangements conformed with successful commercial practice. Proprietary hollow core slabs were tied to the beams by tensile reinforcing bars, which also provide the in-plane continuity across the connections. The strength of the connections in the double sided tests was at least 0.84 times the predicted moment of resistance of the composite beam and slab. The secant stiffness of the connections ranged from 0.7 to 3.9 times the flexural stiffness of the attached beam. When the connections were tested without the floor slabs and tie steel, the reduced strength and stiffness were approximately a third and half respectively. This remarkable contribution of the floor strength and stiffness to the flexural capacity of the joint is currently neglected in the design process for precast concrete frames. In general, the double sided connections were found to be more suited to a semi-rigid design approach than the single sided ones. The behaviour of double sided welded plate connection test results are presented in this paper. The behaviour of single sided welded plate connection test results is the subject of another paper.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.29-44
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• 2018

In this paper, a closed-form rigorous solution for interfacial shear stress in simply supported beams strengthened with bonded prestressed E-FGM plates and subjected to an arbitrarily positioned single point load, or two symmetric point loads is developed using linear elastic theory. This improved solution is intended for application to beams made of all kinds of materials bonded with a thin plate, while all existing solutions have been developed focusing on the strengthening of reinforced concrete beams, which allowed the omission of certain terms. The theoretical predictions are compared with other existing solutions. Finally, numerical results from the present analysis are presented to study the effects of various parameters of the beams on the distributions of the interfacial shear stresses. The results of this study indicated that the E-FGM plate strengthening systems are effective in enhancing flexural behavior of the strengthened RC beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.867-882
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• 2012

Analytical (Rayleigh-Ritz method) and numerical studies are carried out and buckling interaction curves are developed for simply supported plates of varying aspect ratios ranging from 1 to 5, under the combined action of in-plane shear and tension. A multi-step buckling procedure is employed in the Finite Element (FE) model instead of a regular single step analysis in view of obtaining the buckling load under the combined forces. Both the analytical (classical) and FE studies confirm the delayed shear buckling characteristics of thin plate under the combined action of shear and tension. The interaction curves are found to be linear and are found to vary with plate aspect ratio. The interaction curve developed using Rayleigh-Ritz method is found to deviate in an increasing trend from that of validated FE model as plate aspect ratio is increased beyond value of 1. It is found that the observed deviation is due to the insufficient number of terms that is been considered in the assumed deflection function of Rayleigh-Ritz method and a convergence study is suggested as a solution.