• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.327-334
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• 2018

In the steel structures design, beam-to-column connections are usually considered either rigid or pinned, while their actual behavior lies between these two ideal cases. This consideration has a major influence on the results of the local and the global behavior of steel structures. This influence is noticed in the case of a static analysis, and has an important effect in the case of a dynamic analysis. In fact, pinned and rigid nodes can be considered as two specific cases of a semi-rigid behavior. To study the efficiency of the classification adopted in Eurocode 3, a numerical simulation of semi-rigid nodes has been carried out using the software ANSYS. In the aim to validate this simulation, the numerical results are compared to those of an analytical approach. After that, the validated numerical simulation has been used, to evaluate the efficiency of the classification adopted by the Eurocode 3, regarding semi-rigid connections. Finally, a new method is proposed to define a more accurate evaluation about semi-rigid connections.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2002

A semi-analytical model based on exact numerical analysis of the 2DEG channel in pseudo-morphic HEMT (PMHEMT) is presented. The exactness of the model stems from solving both Schrodinger's wave equation and Poisson's equation simultaneously and self-consistently. The analytical modeling of the device terminal characteristics in relation to the charge control model has allowed a best fit with the geometrical and structural parameters of the device. The numerically obtained data for the charge control of the channel are best fitted to analytical expressions which render the problem analytical. The obtained good agreement between experimental and modeled current/voltage characteristics and small signal parameters has confirmed the validity of the model over a wide range of biasing voltages. The model has been used to compare both the performance and characteristics of a PMHEMT with a competetive HEMT. The comparison between the two devices has been made in terms of 2DEG density, transfer characteristics, transconductance, gate capacitance and unity current gain cut-off frequency. The results show that PMHEMT outperforms the conventional HEMT in all considered parameters.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.587-614
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• 2014

In recent years the interest in online monitoring of lightweight structures with ultrasonic guided waves is steadily growing. Especially the aircraft industry is a driving force in the development of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. In order to optimally design SHM systems powerful and efficient numerical simulation tools to predict the behaviour of ultrasonic elastic waves in thin-walled structures are required. It has been shown that in real industrial applications, such as airplane wings or fuselages, conventional linear and quadratic pure displacement finite elements commonly used to model ultrasonic elastic waves quickly reach their limits. The required mesh density, to obtain good quality solutions, results in enormous computational costs when solving the wave propagation problem in the time domain. To resolve this problem different possibilities are available. Analytical methods and higher order finite element method approaches (HO-FEM), like p-FEM, spectral elements, spectral analysis and isogeometric analysis, are among them. Although analytical approaches offer fast and accurate results, they are limited to rather simple geometries. On the other hand, the application of higher order finite element schemes is a computationally demanding task. The drawbacks of both methods can be circumvented if regions of complex geometry are modelled using a HO-FEM approach while the response of the remaining structure is computed utilizing an analytical approach. The objective of the paper is to present an efficient method to couple different HO-FEM schemes with an analytical description of an undisturbed region. Using this hybrid formulation the numerical effort can be drastically reduced. The functionality of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by studying the propagation of ultrasonic guided waves in plates, excited by a piezoelectric patch actuator. The actuator is modelled utilizing higher order coupled field finite elements, whereas the homogenous, isotropic plate is described analytically. The results of this "semi-analytical" approach highlight the opportunities to reduce the numerical effort if closed-form solutions are partially available.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.243-257
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• 2017

In this paper, free vibration of functionally graded (FG) size-dependent nanobeams is studied within the framework of nonlocal Timoshenko beam model. It is assumed that material properties of the FG nanobeam, vary continuously through the thickness according to a power-law form. The small scale effect is taken into consideration based on nonlocal elasticity theory of Eringen. The non-classical governing differential equations of motion are derived through Hamilton's principle and they are solved utilizing both Navier-based analytical method and an efficient and semi-analytical technique called differential transformation method (DTM). Various types of boundary conditions such as simply-supported, clamped-clamped, clamped-simply and clamped-free are assumed for edge supports. The good agreement between the presented DTM and analytical results of this article and those available in the literature validated the presented approach. It is demonstrated that the DTM has high precision and computational efficiency in the vibration analysis of FG nanobeams. The obtained results show the significance of the material graduation, nonlocal effect, slenderness ratio and boundary conditions on the vibration characteristics of FG nanobeams.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.355-361
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• 2018

In this paper, nonlinear vibration of Euler-Bernoulli beams resting on linear elastic foundation is studied. It has been tried to prepare a semi-analytical solution for whole domain of vibration. Only one iteration lead us to high accurate solution. The effects of linear elastic foundation on the response of the beam vibration are considered and studied. The effects of important parameters on the ratio of nonlinear to linear frequency of the system are studied. The results are compared with numerical solution using Runge-Kutta $4^{th}$ technique. It has been shown that the Max-Min approach can be easily extended in nonlinear partial differential equations.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.138-144
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• 2012

In this paper, a semi-analytical approach is proposed for DSF(Decode and Selective Forward)-Relay MC-CDMA(MultiCarrier-Code Division Multiple Access) systems over multipath Rayleigh fading channels. Considering BER(bit error rate) performance and complexity, the MMSE-C(Minimum Mean squared Error-per subCarrier) is used as the combining method for MC-CDMA systems. At first, the analytical method based on error-events at relay nodes for DSF-Relay schemes is utilized in order to derive the averaged BER. Then, the averaged BER is expressed as the form considering possible all error-events. Also, proposed semi-analytical expressions have been verified by comparing with simulation results. Finally, it is verified that the derived analytical expressions can be a frame work to cover different multipath Rayleigh fading channel conditions and to measure the upper performance for DSF-Relay MC-CDMA systems.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.379-399
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• 2013

In practice, analysis of laterally loaded piles is carried out using beams on non-linear Winkler springs model (often known as p-y method) due to its simplicity, low computational cost and the ability to model layered soils. In this approach, soil-pile interaction along the depth is characterized by a set of discrete non-linear springs represented by p-y curves where p is the pressure on the soil that causes a relative deformation of y. p-y curves are usually constructed based on semi-empirical correlations. In order to construct API/DNV proposed p-y curve for clay, one needs two values from the monotonic stress-strain test results i.e., undrained strength ($s_u$) and the strain at 50% yield stress (${\varepsilon}_{50}$). This approach may ignore various features for a particular soil which may lead to un-conservative or over-conservative design as not all the data points in the stress-strain relation are used. However, with the increasing ability to simulate soil-structure interaction problems using highly developed computers, the trend has shifted towards a more theoretically sound basis. In this paper, principles of Mobilized Strength Design (MSD) concept is used to construct a continuous p-y curves from experimentally obtained stress-strain relationship of the soil. In the method, the stress-strain graph is scaled by two coefficient $N_C$ (for stress) and $M_C$ (for strain) to obtain the p-y curves. $M_C$ and $N_C$ are derived based on Semi-Analytical Finite Element approach exploiting the axial symmetry where a pile is modelled as a series of embedded discs. An example is considered to show the application of the methodology.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.355-366
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• 1997

This paper presents a comprehensive analytical approach for determining key maneuver parameters associated with the acquisition and maintenance of the ground track for a low-earth orbit. A livearized model relating changes in the drift rate of the ground track directly to changes in the orbital semi-major axis is also developed. The effect of terrestrial atmospheric drag on the semi-major axis is also explored, being quantified through an analytical expression for the decay rate as a function of density. The non-singular Lagrange planetary equations, further simplified for nearly circular orbits, provide the desired relationships between the corrective in-plane impulsive velocity increments and the corresponding effects on the orbit elements. The resulting solution strategy offers excellent insight into the dynamics affecting the timing, magnitude, and frequency of these maneuvers. Simulations are executed for the ground track acquisition and maintenance maneuver as a pre-flight planning and analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.533-550
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• 1999

Optimal design of raft-pile foundations is examined by combining finite element technique and the optimization approach. The piles and soil medium are modeled by three dimensional solid elements while the raft is modelled by shell elements. Drucker-Prager criterion is adopted for the soil medium while the raft and the piles are assumed to be linear elastic. For the optimization process, the approximate semi-analytical method is used for calculating constraint sensitivities and a constraint approximation method which is a combination of the extended Bi-point approximation and Lagrangian polynomial approximation is used for predicting the behaviour of the constraints. The objective function of the problem is the volume of materials of the foundation while the design variables are raft thickness, pile length and pile spacing. The generalized reduced gradient algorithm is chosen for solving the optimization process. It is demonstrated that the method proposed in this study is promising for obtaining optimal design of raft-pile foundations without carrying out a large number of analyses. The results are also compared with those obtained from the previous study in which linear analysis was carried out.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2003

In this work, a closed-form analysis is performed for the structural response of coupled composite blades with multi-cell sections. The analytical model includes the effects of shell wall thickness, transverse shear, torsion warping and constrained warping. The mixed beam approach based on Reissner's semi-complementary energy functional is used to derive the beam force-displacement relations. The theory is validated against experimental test data and other analytical results for coupled composite beams and blades with single-cell box-sections and two-cell airfoils. Correlation of the present method with experimental results and detailed finite element results is found to be very good.