• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1121-1137
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• 2015

High powered computers and engineering computer systems allow designers to routinely simulate complex physical phenomena. The presented work deals with the analysis of two finite element method optimization techniques (First Order Method-FOM and Subproblem Approximation Method-SAM) implemented in the individual Design Optimization module in the Ansys software to analyze the behavior of real problems. A design optimization is a difficult mathematical process, intended to find the minimum or maximum of an objective function, which is mostly based on iterative procedure. Using optimization techniques in engineering designs requires detailed knowledge of the analyzed problem but also an ability to select the appropriate optimization method. The methods embedded in advanced computer software are based on different optimization techniques and their efficiency is significantly influenced by the specific character of a problem. The efficiency, robustness and accuracy of the methods are studied through strictly convex two-dimensional optimization problem, which is represented by volume minimization of two bars' plane frame structure subjected to maximal vertical displacement limit. Advantages and disadvantages of the methods are described and some practical tips provided which could be beneficial in any efficient engineering design by using an optimization method.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.315-326
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• 2023

The design principles and implementation of rebar lap splice in architectural structures are governed by building regulations. Nevertheless, the minimization of rebar-cutting waste (RCW) is often impeded by the mandatory requirements pertaining to the rebar lapping zone as prescribed in design codes. In real-world construction scenarios, compliance with these rules often falls short due to hurdles concerning productivity, quality, safety, time, and cost. This discrepancy between code stipulations and on-the-ground construction practices necessitates an academic exploration. The goal of this research was to delve into the effect of rebar lap splice placement on the robustness and constructability of building edifices. The study initially took on a review of the computation of rebar lapping length and the rules revolving around the lapping zone. Following this, a structural robustness and constructability examination was undertaken, focusing on adherence to the lap splice zone. The interpretations and deductions of the research led to the following insights: (1) the efficacy of rebar lap splice is not solely contingent on the moment, and (2) the implementation of rebar lap splice beyond the specified zone can match the structural integrity and robustness of those confined within the designated area. As a result, the constraints on the rebar lapping zone ought to be revisited and possibly relaxed. The conclusions drawn from this research are anticipated to reconcile the disconnect between building codes and practical construction conditions, furnishing invaluable academic substantiation to further the endeavor of achieving near-zero RCW.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.349-358
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• 1997

The present paper describes an investigation into the application of the genetic algorithm (GA) in the optimum design of composite laminated structure. Stochastic processes generate an initial population of designs and then apply principles of natural selection/survival of the fittest to improve the designs. The five test functions are used to verify the robustness and reliability of the GA, and as a numerical example, minimum weight of a cantilever composite laminated beam with a mix of continuous, integer and discrete design variables is obtained by using the GA with exterior penalty function method. The design problem has constraints on strength, displacements, and natural frequencies, and is formulated to a multidimensional nonlinear form. From the results, it is found that the GA search technique is very effective to find the good optimum solution as well as has higher robustness.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.537-564
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• 2015

Excessive motions in buildings cause occupants to become uncomfortable and nervous. This is particularly detrimental to the tenants and ultimately the owner of the building, with respect to financial considerations. Serviceability issues, such as excessive accelerations and inter-story drifts, are more prevalent today due to advancements in the structural systems, strength of materials, and design practices. These factors allow buildings to be taller, lighter, and more flexible, thereby exacerbating the impact of dynamic responses. There is a growing need for innovative and effective techniques to reduce the serviceability responses of these tall buildings. The current study considers a case study of a real building to show the effectiveness and robustness of the TLD in reducing the coupled lateral-torsional motion of this high-rise building under wind loading. Three unique multi-modal TLD systems are designed specifically to mitigate the torsional response of the building. A procedure is developed to analyze a structure-TLD system using High Frequency Force Balance (HFFB) test data from the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory (BLWTL) at the University of Western Ontario. The effectiveness of the unique TLD systems is investigated. In addition, a parametric study is conducted to determine the robustness of the systems in reducing the serviceability responses. Three practical parameters are varied to investigate the robustness of the TLD system: the height of water inside the tanks, the amplitude modification factor, and the structural modal frequencies.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1991.10a
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• pp.75-80
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• 1991

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the robustness of p-version model with hierarchic intergrals of Legendre shape functions in various applications including plane stress/strain, axisymmetric and shell problems. The most important symptoms of accuracy failure in modern finite elements are spurious mechanisms and a phenomenon known as locking which are exhibited for incompressible materials and irregular shapes which contain aspect ratios(R/t, a/b), tapered ratio(d/b), and skewness. The condition numbers and energy norms are used to estimate numerical errors, convergence characteristics and algorithmic efficiencies for verifying the aforementioned symptoms of accuracy failure. Numerical results from p-version models are compared wi th those from NASTRAN, SAP90, and Cheung's hybrid elements.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1823-1833
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• 2006

An immune algorithm is a kind of evolutional computation strategies, which is developed in the basis of a real immune mechanism in the human body. Recently, scientific or engineering applications using this scheme are remarkably increased due to its significant ability in terms of adaptation and robustness for external disturbances. Particularly, this algorithm is efficient to search optimal parameters against complicated dynamic systems with uncertainty and perturbation. In this paper, we investigate an immune algorithm embedded Proportional Integral Derivate (called I-PID) control, in which an optimal parameter vector of the controller is determined offline by using a cell-mediated immune response of the immunized mechanism. For evaluation, we apply the proposed control to mitigation of vibrations for nonlinear structural systems, cased by external environment load such as winds and earthquakes. Comparing to traditional controls under same simulation scenarios, we demonstrate the innovation control is superior especially in robustness aspect.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.649-670
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• 2013

It is known that a base-isolated building exhibits a large response to a long-duration, long-period wave and an inter-connected system without base-isolation shows a large response to a pulse-type wave. To compensate for each deficiency, a new hybrid passive control system is investigated in which a base-isolated building is connected to another building (free wall) with oil dampers. It is demonstrated that the present hybrid passive control system is effective both for pulse-type ground motions and long-duration and long-period ground motions and has high redundancy and robustness for a broad range of disturbances.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.108-116
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• 2017

In this study, the prototype structure of seismically designed steel moment frame was analyzed statically and dynamically in order to demonstrate the applicability of energy-based approximate analysis with the dynamic effect of sudden column loss in the evaluation of the collapse resistance and a method for assessing the sensitivity to progressive collapse was proposed. For the purpose of comparing the structural behavior of buildings with different structural systems, the sensitivity of the structure to the sudden removal of vertical members can be used as a significant measure. The energy-based approximate analysis prediction for the prototype structure considered in the study showed good agreement with the dynamic analysis result. In the sensitivity evaluation, the structural robustness index that indicates the ability of a structure to resist collapse induced by abnormal loads was used. It was confirmed that the proposed methods can be used conveniently and rationally in progressive collapse analysis and design.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.621-642
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• 2011

Passive tuned mass dampers (TMDs) efficiently suppress vibrations induced by quasi-stationary dynamic inputs, such as winds, sea waves or traffic loads, but may prove of little use against pulse-like excitations, such as near-field (NF) ground motions. The extent of such impairment is however controversial, partly due to the different evaluation criteria adopted within the literature, partly to the limited number of seismic records used in most investigations. In this study, three classical techniques and two new variants for designing a TMD on an SDOF structure are tested under 338 NF records from the PEER NGA database, including 156 records with forward-directivity features. Percentile response reduction spectra are introduced to statistically assess TMD performance, and TMD robustness is verified through Monte Carlo simulations. The methodology is extended to a variety of MDOF bending-type and shear-type frames, and simulated on a case study building structure recently constructed in Central Italy.Results offer an interesting insight into the performance of TMDs against NF earthquakes, ultimately showing that, if properly designed and sufficiently massive, TMDs are effective and robust even in the face of pulse-like ground motions. The two newly proposed design techniques are shown to generally outperform the classical ones.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1080-1099
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• 2019

A better tradeoff between robustness and invisibility will be realized by using the just noticeable (JND) model into the quantization-based watermarking scheme. The JND model is usually used to describe the perception characteristics of human visual systems (HVS). According to the research of cognitive science, HVS can adaptively extract the structure features of an image. However, the existing JND models in the watermarking scheme do not consider the structure features. Therefore, a novel JND model is proposed, which includes three aspects: contrast sensitivity function, luminance adaptation, and contrast masking (CM). In this model, the CM effect is modeled by analyzing the direction features and texture complexity, which meets the human visual perception characteristics and matches well with the spread transform dither modulation (STDM) watermarking framework by employing a new method to measure edge intensity. Compared with the other existing JND models, the proposed JND model based on structural regularity is more efficient and applicable in the STDM watermarking scheme. In terms of the experimental results, the proposed scheme performs better than the other watermarking scheme based on the existing JND models.