• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.5
• /
• pp.1712-1725
• /
• 2022

For improving the seismic performance of the nuclear power plant (NPP) piping system, attempts have been made to apply a dynamic absorber (DA). However, the current piping DA design method is limited because it cannot provide the globally optimum values for the target design seismic loading. Therefore, this study proposes a seismic time history analysis-based DA optimal design method for piping. To this end, the Kriging approach is introduced to reduce the numerical cost required for seismic time history analyses. The appropriate design of the experiment method is used to increase the efficiency in securing response data. A gradient-based method is used to efficiently deal with the multi-dimensional unconstrained optimization problem of the DA optimal design. As a result, the proposed method showed an excellent response reduction effect in several responses compared to other optimal design methods. The proposed method showed that the average response reduction rate was about 9% less at the maximum acceleration, about 5% less at the maximum value of the response spectrum, about 9% less at the maximum relative displacement, and about 4% less at the maximum combined stress compared to existing optimal design methods. Therefore, the proposed method enables an effective optimal DA design method for mitigating seismic response in NPP piping in the future.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.36 no.7
• /
• pp.805-811
• /
• 2012

The reliability based design optimization (RBDO) approach requires high computing cost to consider uncertainties. In order to reduce the design cost, the single loop single vector (SLSV) approach has been developed for RBDO. This method can reduce the cost in calculating deign sensitivity by elimination of the nested optimization process. However, this process causes the increment of the instability or inaccuracy of the method according to the problem characteristics. Therefore, the method may not give accurate solution or the robustness of the solution is not guaranteed. Especially, when the function is concave, the process frequently diverges. In this research, the concept of the conjugate gradient method for unconstrained optimization is utilized to develop a new single loop single vector method. The conjugate gradient is calculated with gradient directions at the most probable points (MPP) of previous cycles. Mathematical examples are solved for the verification of the proposed method. The numeri cal performances of the obtained results are compared to those of other RBDO methods. The SLSV approach using conjugate gradient is not greatly influenced by the problem characteristics and improves its convergence capability.

• Bulletin of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.39-45
• /
• 1989

Many mechanical systems including ships and/or offshore structures have poor dynamic response characteristics such as undesirable natural frequencies and undesirable mode shapes. It is mandatory to redesign the structure. In this paper a procedure for the dynamic redesign of an undamped structural system is presented. The method which uses a penalty function with a penalty term containing error in equilibrium for a given vibration mode may have a shortcoming. This method includes unconstrained eigenvector degrees of freedom as unknowns. In the work developed here, only constrained mode shape changes are used in the solution procedure, resulting in a reduction of the unnecessary calculations. Among the set of equations which characterizes the redesign of the structural systems, the under constrained problem is discussed here and formulated as an optimization problem, with an optimal criterion such as minimum change or minimum structural weight of the system. Four simple numerical applications illustrate the efficiency of the method. The method can be applied to the vibration problems of ships and/or offshore structures with an implementation of the commercial FE codes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.35 no.8
• /
• pp.921-931
• /
• 2011

This paper presents a data-fitting technique in which a B-spline hypervolume is used to approximate a given data set of scattered data samples. We describe the implementation of the data structure of a B-spline hypervolume, and we measure its memory size to show that the representation is compact. The proposed technique includes two algorithms. One is for the determination of the knot vectors of a B-spline hypervolume. The other is for the control points, which are determined by solving a linear least-squares minimization problem where the solution is independent of the data-set complexity. The proposed approach is demonstrated with various data-set configurations to reveal its performance in terms of approximation accuracy, memory use, and running time. In addition, we compare our approach with existing methods and present unconstrained optimization examples to show the potential for various applications.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.71 no.6
• /
• pp.603-625
• /
• 2019

Main cable configurations under final dead load and in the unloaded state and critical construction parameters (e.g. unstrained cable length, unstrained hanger lengths, and pre-offsets for tower saddles and splay saddles) are the core considerations in the design and construction control of a suspension bridge. For the purpose of accurate calculations, it is necessary to take into account the effects of cable strands over the anchor spans, arc-shaped saddle top, and tower top pre-uplift. In this paper, a method for calculating the cable configuration under final dead load over a main span, two side spans, and two anchor spans, coordinates of tangent points, and unstrained cable length are firstly developed using conditions for mechanical equilibrium and geometric relationships. Hanger tensile forces and unstrained hanger lengths are calculated by iteratively solving the equations governing hanger tensile forces and the cable configuration, which gives careful consideration to the effect of hanger weight. Next, equations for calculating the cable configuration in the unloaded state and pre-offsets of saddles are derived from the cable configuration under final dead load and the conditions for unstrained cable length to be conserved. The equations for the main span, two side spans and two anchor spans are then solved simultaneously. In the proposed methods, coupled nonlinear equations are solved by turning them into an unconstrained optimization problem, making the procedure simplified. The feasibility and validity of the proposed methods are demonstrated through a numerical example.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.73-84
• /
• 1993

In this research, configuration design optimization of plane truss structure has been tested by using decomposition technique. In the first level, the problem of transferring the nonlinear programming problem to linear programming problem has been effectively solved and the number of the structural analysis necessary for doing the sensitivity analysis can be decreased by developing stress constraint into member stress approximation according to the design space approach which has been proved to be efficient to the sensitivity analysis. And the weight function has been adopted as cost function in order to minimize structures. For the design constraint, allowable stress, buckling stress, displacement constraint under multi-condition and upper and lower constraints of the design variable are considered. In the second level, the nodal point coordinates of the truss structure are used as coordinating variable and the objective function has been taken as the weight function. By treating the nodal point coordinates as design variable, unconstrained optimal design problems are easy to solve. The decomposition method which optimize the section areas in the first level and optimize configuration variables in the second level was applied to the plane truss structures. The numerical comparisons with results which are obtained from numerical test for several truss structures with various shapes and any design criteria show that convergence rate is very fast regardless of constraint types and configuration of truss structures. And the optimal configuration of the truss structures obtained in this study is almost the identical one from other results. The total weight couldbe decreased by 5.4% - 15.4% when optimal configuration was accomplished, though there is some difference.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.39-55
• /
• 1992

In this research, a Three Level Decomposition technique has been developed for configuration design optimization of truss structures. In the first level, as design variables, behavior variables are used and the strain energy has been treated as the cost function to be maximized so that the truss structure can absorb maximum energy. For design constraint of the optimal design problem, allowable stress, buckling stress, and displacement under multi-loading conditions are considered. In the second level, design problem is formulated using the cross-sectional area as the design variable and the weight of the truss structure as the cost function. As for the design constraint, the equilibrium equation with the optimal displacement obtained in the first level is used. In the third level, the nodal point coordinates of the truss structure are used as coordinating variable and the weight has been taken as the cost function. An advantage of the Three Level Decomposition technique is that the first and second level design problems are simple because they are linear programming problems. Moreover, the method is efficient because it is not necessary to carry out time consuming structural analysis and techniques for sensitivity analysis during the design optimization process. By treating the nodal point coordinates as design variables, the third level becomes unconstrained optimal design problems which is easier to solve. Moreover, by using different convergence criteria at each level of design problem, improved convergence can be obtained. The proposed technique has been tested using four different truss structures to yield almost identical optimum designs in the literature with efficient convergence rate regardless of constraint types and configuration of truss structures.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.95-109
• /
• 1993

In this study, the optimal configuration of arch structure has been tested by a decomposition technique. The object of this study is to provide the method of optimizing the shapes of both two hinged and fixed arches. The problem of optimal configuration of arch structures includes the interaction formulas, the working stress, and the buckling stress constraints on the assumption that arch ribs can be approximated by a finite number of straight members. On the first level, buckling loads are calculated from the relation of the stiffness matrix and the geometric stiffness matrix by using Rayleigh-Ritz method, and the number of the structural analyses can be decreased by approximating member forces through sensitivity analysis using the design space approach. The objective function is formulated as the total weight of the structures, and the constraints are derived by including the working stress, the buckling stress, and the side limit. On the second level, the nodal point coordinates of the arch structures are used as design variables and the objective function has been taken as the weight function. By treating the nodal point coordinates as design variable, the problem of optimization can be reduced to unconstrained optimal design problem which is easy to solve. Numerical comparisons with results which are obtained from numerical tests for several arch structures with various shapes and constraints show that convergence rate is very fast regardless of constraint types and configuration of arch structures. And the optimal configuration or the arch structures obtained in this study is almost the identical one from other results. The total weight could be decreased by 17.7%-91.7% when an optimal configuration is accomplished.