• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.567-576
• /
• 2017

Design of piezoelectric energy harvester for a wide operating frequency range is a challenging problem and is currently being investigated by many researchers. Widening the operating frequency is required, as the energy is harvested from ambient source of vibration which consists of spectrum of frequency. This paper presents a new technique to increase the operating frequency range which is achieved by designing a harvester featured by a propped cantilever beam with variable over hang length. The proposed piezoelectric energy harvester is modeled analytically using Euler Bernoulli beam theory and the effectiveness of the harvester is demonstrated through experimentation. The results from analytical model and from experimentation reveal that the proposed energy harvester generates an open circuit output voltage ranging from 36.43 V to 11.94 V for the frequency range of 27.24 Hz to 48.47 Hz. The proposed harvester produces continuously varying output voltage and power in the broadened operating frequency range.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.37-60
• /
• 2008

Structural health monitoring of existing infrastructure is currently an important field of research, where elaborate experimental programs and advanced analytical methods are used in identifying the current state of health of critical and important structures. The paper outlines two methods of system identification of beam-like reinforced concrete structures representing bridges, through static measurements, in a distributed damage scenario. The first one is similar to the stiffness method, re-cast and the second one to flexibility method. A least square error (LSE) based solution method is used for the estimation of flexural rigidities and damages of simply supported, cantilever and propped cantilever beam from the measured deformation values. The performance of both methods in the presence of measurement errors is demonstrated. An experiment on an un-symmetrically damaged simply supported reinforced concrete beam is used to validate the developed method. A method for damage prognosis is demonstrated using a generalized, indeterminate, propped cantilever beam.

• Computational Structural Engineering
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.109-118
• /
• 1992

Lateral bracing has long been used in design practice to enhance the carrying capacity of the lateral buckling of the beam. Many factors, critically important to lateral bracing performance, do not appear in design formulas. Some of these factors are discussed in this study for the application to short I - beams under repeated loadings through parametric studies with an analytical model : the brace location along the length of the beam, the height of the bracing above the shear center of the beam, and the strength and stiffness of the brace. The parametric studies are carried out using a propped cantilever arrangement, and also using a geometrically (fully) nonlinear beam model for the brace as well as the beam to capture the system buckling. An idealized bracing system is configured to restrain lateral motion, but not rotation. A multiaxial cyclic plasticity model is also implemented to better represent cyclic metal plasticity in conjunction with a consistent return mapping algorithm.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.49-59
• /
• 1996

This paper considers large deflection problem of a simply supported beam with variable are length subjected to a point load. The beam has one of its ends hinged and at a fixed distance from this end propped by a frictionless support over which the beam can slide freely. This highly nonlinear flexural problem is solved by elliptic-integral method and shooting-optimization technique, thereby providing independent checks on the new solutions. Because the beam can slide freely over the frictionless support, there is a maximum or critical load which the beam can carry and it is dependent on the position of the load. Interestingly, two possible equilibrium configurations can be obtained for a given load magnitude which is less than the critical value. The maximum arc-length was found to be equal to about 2.19 times the fixed distance between the supports and this value is independent of the load position.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.259-279
• /
• 1999

Model tests on propped retaining walls were performed for the investigation of wall displacement, distribution of earth pressure, surface settlement and underground movement at various excavation stage in sand. The result of model tests on the trough of surface settlement showed considerable difference depending on the characteristic of wall stiffness, wall friction and soil condition. The location of maximum underground movement were found to be at range of 0.15H to 0. 1H(H: Final excavation depth). Effect of arching by the redistribution of earth pressure were closely related to the stiffness of wall as well as the soil condition. The wall displacement and earth pressure distribution were simulated by elasto - plastic beam analysis program and finite element method with GDHM model respectively. The result of elasto-plastic analysis showed some discrepancy on the wall displacement and earth pressure, but result of underground movement by FEM with various wall stiffness were in good agreement with the model tests.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.169-184
• /
• 2003

This paper presents a generic modelling of composite steel-concrete beams with elastic shear connection. It builds on the well-known seminal technique of Newmark, Siess and Viest, in order to formulate the partial interaction formulation for solution under a variety of end conditions, and lends itself well for modification to enable direct quantification of effects such as shrinkage, creep, and limited shear connection slip capacity. This application is possible because the governing differential equations are set up and solved in a fashion whereby inclusion of the kinematic and static end conditions merely requires a statement of the appropriate constants of integration that are generated in the solution of the linear differential equations. The method is applied in the paper for the solution of the well-studied behaviour of simply supported beams with partial interaction, as well as to provide solutions for a beam encastr$\acute{e}$ at its ends, and for a propped cantilever.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.505-518
• /
• 2000

A major cause of premature debonding of tension face plates is shear peeling (Jones et al. 1988, Swamy et al. 1989, Ziraba et al. 1994, Zhang et al. 1995), that is debonding at the plate ends that is associated with the formation of shear diagonal cracks that are caused by the action of vertical shear forces. It is shown in this paper how side plated beams are less prone to shear peeling than tension face plated beams, as the side plate automatically increases the resistance of the reinforced concrete beam to shear peeling. Tests are used to determine the increase in the shear peeling resistance that the side plates provide, and also the effect of vertical shear forces on the pure flexural peeling strength that was determined in the companion paper. Design rules are then developed to prevent premature debonding of the plate ends due to peeling and they are applied to the strengthening and stiffening of continuous reinforced concrete beams. It is shown how these design rules for side plated beams can be adapted to allow for propped and unpropped construction and the time effects of creep and shrinkage, and how side plates can be used in conjunction with tension face plates.