• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.109-123
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• 2023

Headed studs welded to steel beams and embedded within the concrete of deck slabs are vital components of modern composite floor systems, where safety and economy depend on the accurate predictions of the stud shear resistance. The multitude of existing deck profiles and the complex behavior of studs in deck slab ribs makes developing accurate and reliable mechanical or empirical design models challenging. The paper addresses this issue by presenting a machine learning (ML) model developed from the natural gradient boosting (NGBoost) algorithm capable of producing probabilistic predictions and a database of 464 push-out tests, which is considerably larger than the databases used for developing existing design models. The proposed model outperforms models based on other ML algorithms and existing descriptive equations, including those in EC4 and AISC 360, while offering probabilistic predictions unavailable from other models and producing higher shear resistances for many cases. The present study also showed that the stud shear resistance is insensitive to the concrete elastic modulus, stud welding type, location of slab reinforcement, and other parameters considered important by existing models. The NGBoost model was interpreted by evaluating the feature importance and dependence determined with the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method. The model was calibrated via reliability analyses in accordance with the Eurocodes to ensure that its predictions meet the required reliability level and facilitate its use in design. An interactive open-source web application was created and deployed to the cloud to allow for convenient and rapid stud shear resistance predictions with the developed model.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.419-437
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• 2023

This paper presents the study of the effects of rigid-body motion simultaneously with the presence of the effects of temporal variation due to the existence of morphing speed on the aeroelastic stability of the two-stage telescopic wings, and hence this is the main novelty of this study. To this aim, Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is used to model the bending-torsional dynamics of the wing. The aerodynamic loads on the wing in an incompressible flow regime are determined by using Peters' unsteady aerodynamic model. The governing aeroelastic equations are discretized employing a finite element method based on the beam-rod model. The effects of rigid-body motion on the length-based stability of the wing are determined by checking the eigenvalues of system. The obtained results are compared with those available in the literature, and a good agreement is observed. Furthermore, the effects of different parameters of rigid-body such as the mass, radius of gyration, fuselage center of gravity distance from wing elastic axis on the aeroelastic stability are discussed. It is found that some parameters can cause unpredictable changes in the critical length and frequency. Also, paying attention to the fuselage parameters and how they affect stability is very important and will play a significant role in the design.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.637-646
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• 2023

At present, the research on wave propagation in graphene platelet reinforced composite plates focuses on the propagation behavior of bulk waves, in which the effect of boundary condition is ignored, there is no literature report on propagation behaviors of guided waves in graphene platelet reinforced metal foams (GPLRMF) plates. In fact, wave propagation is affected by boundary conditions, so it is necessary to study the propagation characteristics of guided waves. The aim of this paper is to solve this problem. The effective performance of the material was calculated using the mixing law. Equations of motion of GPLRMF plate is derived by using Hamilton's principle. Then, the eigenvalue method is used to obtain the expressions of bending wave, shear wave and longitudinal wave, and the degradation verification is carried out. Finally, the effects of graphene platelets (GPLs) volume fraction, elastic foundation, porosity coefficient, GPLs distribution types and porosity distribution types on the dispersion relations are studied. We find that these factors play an important role in the propagation characteristics and phase velocity of guided waves.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2024

In this paper, the modified couple stress theory (MCST) and first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) are employed to investigate the free vibration and bending analyses of a three-layered micro-shell sandwiched by piezoelectric layers subjected to an applied voltage and reinforced graphene nanoplatelets (GPLs) under external and internal pressure. The micro-shell is resting on an elastic foundation modeled as Pasternak model. The mixture's rule and Halpin-Tsai model are utilized to compute the effective mechanical properties. By applying Hamilton's principle, the motion equations and associated boundary conditions are derived. Static/ dynamic results are obtained using Navier's method. The results are validated with the previously published works. The numerical results are presented to study and discuss the influences of various parameters on the natural frequencies and deflection of the micro-shell, such as applied voltage, thickness of the piezoelectric layer to radius, length to radius ratio, volume fraction and various distribution pattern of the GPLs, thickness-to-length scale parameter, and foundation coefficients for the both external and internal pressure. The main novelty of this work is simultaneous effect of graphene nanoplatelets as reinforcement and piezoelectric layers on the bending and vibration characteristics of the sandwich micro shell.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.445-458
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• 2024

The objective of this paper is to present free vibration and static stability analyses of rotating composite beams reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under uniform thermal loads. Beam structural equations and CNT-reinforced composite (CNTRC) beam formulations are derived based on Timoshenko beam theory (TBT). The temperature-dependent properties of the beam material, such as the elastic modulus, shear modulus, and material density, are assumed to vary over the thickness according to the rule of mixture. The beam material is modeled as a mixture of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in an isotropic matrix. The SWCNTs are aligned and distributed in the isotropic matrix with different patterns of reinforcement, namely the UD (uniform), FG-O, FG-V, FG- Λ and FG-X distributions, where FG-V and FG- Λ are asymmetric patterns. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effects of several essential parameters, including the rotational speed, hub radius, effective material properties, slenderness ratio, boundary conditions, thermal force, and moments due to temperature variation. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents the first attempt at the finite element modeling of rotating CNTRC Timoshenko beams under a thermal environment. The results are presented in tables and figures for both symmetric and asymmetric distribution patterns, and can be used as benchmarks for further validation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.601-617
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• 2024

This work aims to explore the static behaviour of a tapered functionally graded porous plate (FGPP) with even and uneven porosity distributions resting on two parametric elastic foundations. The plate under investigation is subjected to bi-sinusoidal loading and the edges of the plate are exposed to different combinations of edge restrictions. In order to examin the static behaviour, bending factors (BF) related to bending and normal stresses have been evaluated using classical plate theory. To achieve this, the governing equations have been derived employing the energy concept. And to solve it, the Rayleigh-Ritz method with an algebraic function has been utilised; it is simple, precise, and computationally intensive. After convergence and validation analyses, new findings are made available. The BF of the plate have been exhaustively examined to explain the influence of aspect ratios, material property index, porosity factor, taper factor, and Winkler and Pasternak stiffness. It is observed that the BF of an elastically supported FGPP are influenced by the index of material propery and the aspect ratio. Findings also indicate that the impact of porosity is more when it is spread evenly, as opposed to when it is unevenly distributed. Further, the deformed plate's structure is significantly influenced by the different thickness variations. Examination of bending characteristics of FGPP having different new cases of thickness variations with different types of porosity distribution under fifteen different mixed edge constraints is the prime novality of this work. Results presented are reliable enough to be taken into account for future studies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.5
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• pp.517-530
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• 2024

This paper presents a new four-unknown equivalent single layer (ESL) refined plate theory for the buckling analysis of functionally graded (FG) rectangular plates with all simply supported edges and subjected to in-plane mechanical loading conditions. The present model accounts for a parabolic variation of transverse shear stress over the thickness, and accommodates correctly the zero shear stress conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate. The material properties are supposed to vary smoothly in the thickness direction through the rules of mixture named power-law gradation. The governing equilibrium equations are formulated based on the total potential energy principle and solved for simply supported boundary conditions by implementing the Navier's method. A numerical result on elastic buckling using the current theory was computed and compared with those published in the literature to examine the accuracy of the proposed analytical solution. The effects of changing power-law exponent, aspect ratio, thickness ratio and modulus ratio on the critical buckling load of FG plates under different in-plane loading conditions are investigated in detail. Moreover, it was found that the geometric parameters and power-law exponent play significant influences on the buckling behavior of the FG plates.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.297-305
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• 2024

This study investigates the buckling behavior of CNTRC beams on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation, considering their stiffness. To achieve the highest accuracy, the shear stiffness is taken into account based on the Higher-order Shear Deformation Theory (HSDT). A novel exponential power-law distribution of the CNT volume fraction across the beam thickness is employed to model CNTRC beams. Various reinforcement patterns are incorporated into the polymer matrix, featuring single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) that are both aligned and distributed. The effective mechanical properties of the CNTRC beam are predicted using the rule of mixtures. Hamilton's principle is applied to derive the differential equations of motion. This theoretical framework enables the validation of the approach by comparing numerical simulation results with previous studies. The impact of the exponent order (n), CNT volume fraction, geometrical ratio, and Winkler-Pasternak parameters on buckling analysis is thoroughly presented and discussed. The results indicate that, among the different types of analyzed CNTRC beams, the X-Beam pattern demonstrates the highest buckling load capacity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.5
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• pp.527-538
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• 2024

The standard numerical approximation of structural displacement field leads to the thickness-wise transverse shear stress distributions which are quite different from the exact ones. To overcome this inherent problem, an effective and reliable post-processing method is presented based on the strain recovery and the stress equilibrium, particularly for functionally graded cylindrical and conical elastic panels. The present method is developed in the framework of locking-free 2-D natural element method. Through the recovery of displacement component-wise derivatives, the element-wise discontinuous in-plane strain distributions are enhanced to be globally continuous and smoothened. And, using the continuous in-plane strains, the troublesome poor transverse shear stress distributions are enhanced through the thickness-wise integration of static equilibrium equations. The validity of present post-processing method is verified through the comparison with the reference solutions. In addition, the comparative experiments are also performed to investigate the difference between the present method and other available post-processing methods. The numerical results confirm that the present method provides the accurate transverse shear stress distributions which are consistent with the reference solutions and much better than other available methods.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.657-662
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• 2024

In the present analysis, the buckling behavior of smart beams integrated into racket frames for enhancing player control was examined by numerical solutions and sinusoidal shear deformation theory. The smart beam under consideration is subjected to an external voltage in the thickness direction. The integration of this smart material into the structure of the racket should optimize performance, improving the racket's stability and responsiveness during play. In this, an accurate representation of complex shear effects is made by using a sinusoidal shear deformation theory, while the solution of the resulting governing equations is made by numerical methods. The critical buckling loads and the characteristics of deformation obtained through the analysis provide insight into some design parameters controlling and influencing stability. Obtained results are validated with other published works. The length and thickness of the beam, elastic medium, boundary condition, and influence of external voltages have been represented for buckling load in the structure. These results will help in designing smart racket frames using smart beams to provide more precision and control for the players in an intelligent way.