• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.123-140
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• 2003

The importance of the research on moment-resistant properties of unstiffened tubular joints and the research background are introduced. The performed experimental research on the bending rigidity and capacity of the joints is reported. The emphasis is put on the discussion of the flexural behavior of the joints including sets of geometrical parameters of the joints and several loading combinations. Procedures and results of loading tests on four full size joints in planar KK and X configuration are described in details at first. Mechanical models are proposed to analyze the joint specimens. Three-dimensional nonlinear FE models are established and verified with the experimental results. By comparing the experimental data with the results of the analysis, it is reported reasonable to carry out the structural analysis under the assumption that the joint is fully rigidly connected, and their bending capacities can assure the strength of the members connected under certain limitation. Furthermore, a parametric formula for inplane bengding rigidity of T and Y type tubular joints is proposed on the basis of FE calculation and regression analysis. Compared with test results, it is shown that the parametric formula developed in this paper has good applicability.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.925-946
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• 2015

This paper presents a new cost-effective hybrid GFRP-Concrete deck system that the GFRP panel serves as both tensile reinforcement and stay-in-place form. In order to understand the fatigue behavior of such hybrid deck, fatigue test on a full-scale specimen under sagging moment was conducted, and a series of static tests were also carried out after certain repeated loading cycles. The fatigue test results indicated that such hybrid deck has a good fatigue performance even after 3.1 million repeated loading cycles. A three-dimensional finite element model of the hybrid deck was established based on experimental work. The results from finite element analyses are in good agreement with those from the tests. In addition, flexural fatigue analysis considering the reduction in flexural stiffness and modulus under cyclic loading was carried out. The predicted flexural strength agreed well with the analytical strength from finite element simulation, and the calculated fatigue failure cycle was consistent with the result based on related S-N curve and finite element analyses. However, the flexural fatigue analytical results tended to be conservative compared to the tested results in safety side. The presented overall investigation may provide reference for the design and construction of such hybrid deck system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.461-481
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• 2016

The research described in this paper investigates the seismic behaviour of lightly reinforced concrete (RC) bearing sandwich panels, heavily conditioned by shear deformation. A numerical model has been prepared, within an open source finite element (FE) platform, to simulate the experimental response of this emerging structural system, whose squat-type geometry affects performance and failure mode. Calibration of this equivalent mechanical model, consisting of a group of regularly spaced vertical elements in combination with a layer of nonlinear springs, which represent the cyclic behaviour of concrete and steel, has been conducted by means of a series of pseudo-static cyclic tests performed on single full-scale prototypes with or without openings. Both cantilevered and fixed-end shear walls have been analyzed. After validation, this numerical procedure, including cyclic-related mechanisms, such as buckling and subsequent slippage of reinforcing re-bars, as well as concrete crushing at the base of the wall, has been used to assess the capacity of two- and three-dimensional low- to mid-rise box-type buildings and, hence, to estimate their strength reduction factors, on the basis of conventional pushover analyses.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제24권5호
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• pp.603-613
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• 2017

In this research, the free vibration response of laminated composite plates is investigated using a novel and simple higher order shear deformation plate theory. The model considers a non-linear distribution of the transverse shear strains, and verifies the zero traction boundary conditions on the surfaces of the plate without introducing shear correction coefficient. The developed kinematic uses undetermined integral terms with only four unknowns. Equations of motion are obtained from the Hamilton's principle and the Navier method is used to determine the closed-form solutions of antisymmetric cross-ply and angle-ply laminates. Numerical examples studied using the present formulation is compared with three-dimensional elasticity solutions and those calculated using the first-order and the other higher-order theories. It can be concluded that the present model is not only accurate but also efficient and simple in studying the free vibration response of laminated composite plates.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제28권6호
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• pp.735-748
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• 2018

In this study, the semi-analytical finite strip method is adopted to examine the free vibration of cylindrical shells made up of functionally graded material. The properties of functionally graded shells are assumed to be temperature-dependent and vary continuously in the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fraction of ceramic and metal. The material properties of the shells and stiffeners are assumed to be continuously graded in the thickness direction. Theoretical formulations based on the smeared stiffeners technique and the classical shell theory with first-order shear deformation theory which accounts for through thickness shear flexibility are employed. The finite strip method is applied to five different shell theories, namely, Donnell, Reissner, Sanders, Novozhilov, and Teng. The approximate procedure is compared favorably with three-dimensional finite elements. Finally, a detailed numerical study is carried out to bring out the effects of power-law index of the functional graded material, stiffeners, and geometry of the shells on the difference between various shell theories. Finally, the importance of choosing the shell theory in simulating the functionally graded cylindrical shells is addressed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.1193-1214
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• 2016

In this paper, the 3D stress state and inter-laminar stresses in a rotating thin laminated cylinder shell are studied. The thickness of the cylinder is supposed to be thin and it is made of laminated composite material and can have general layer stacking. The governing equations of the cylindrical shell are obtained by employing the Layerwise theory (LWT). The effect of rotation is considered as rotational body force which is induced due to the rotation of the cylinder about its axis. The Layerwise theory (LWT), is used to discrete the partial differential equations of the problem to ordinary ones, in terms of the displacements of the mathematical layers. By applying the Free boundary conditions the solution of the governing equations is completed and the stress state, the inter-laminar stresses, and the edge effect in the rotating cylindrical shells are investigated in the numerical results. To verify the results, LWT solution is compared with the results of the FEM solution and good agreements are achieved. The inter-laminar normal and shear stresses in rotating cylinder are studied and effects of layer stacking and angular velocity is investigated in the numerical results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.567-587
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• 2016

The present investigation is to study the plane wave propagation and reflection of plane waves in a homogeneous transversely isotropic magnetothermoelastic medium with two temperature and rotation in the context of GN Type-II and Type-III (1993) theory of thermoelasticity. It is found that, for two dimensional assumed model, there exist three types of coupled longitudinal waves, namely quasi-longitudinal wave (QL), quasi-transverse wave (QTS) and quasi-thermal waves (QT). The different characteristics of waves like phase velocity, attenuation coefficients, specific loss and penetration depth are computed numerically and depicted graphically. The phenomenon of reflection coefficients due to quasi-waves at a plane stress free with thermally insulated boundary is investigated. The ratios of the linear algebraic equations. These amplitude ratios are used further to calculate the shares of different scattered waves in the energy of incident wave. The modulus of the amplitude and energy ratios with the angle of incidence are computed for a particular numerical model. The conservation of energy at the free surface is verified. The effect of energy dissipation and two temperatures on the energy ratios are depicted graphically and discussed. Some special cases of interest are also discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.289-303
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• 2015

This study presents a strategy so-called Subspace Search Mechanism (SSM) for reducing the computational time for convergence of population based metaheusristic algorithms. The selected metaheuristic for this study is the Cuckoo Search algorithm (CS) dealing with size optimization of trusses. The complexity of structural optimization problems can be partially due to the presence of high-dimensional design variables. SSM approach aims to reduce dimension of the problem. Design variables are categorized to predefined groups (subspaces). SSM focuses on the multiple use of the metaheuristic at hand for each subspace. Optimizer updates the design variables for each subspace independently. Updating rules require candidate designs evaluation. Each candidate design is the assemblage of responsible set of design variables that define the subspace of interest. SSM is incorporated to the Cuckoo Search algorithm for size optimizing of three small, moderate and large space trusses. Optimization results indicate that SSM enables the CS to work with less number of population (42%), as a result reducing the time of convergence, in exchange for some accuracy (1.5%). It is shown that the loss of accuracy can be lessened with increasing the order of complexity. This suggests its applicability to other algorithms and other complex finite element-based engineering design problems.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.127-139
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• 2017

In this paper, an exact analytical solution for simply supported sandwich plate which considers the permeation effect of adhesives is presented. The permeation layer is described as functionally graded material (FGM), the elastic modulus of which is assumed to be graded along the thickness following the exponential law. Based on the exact three-dimensional (3-D) elasticity theory, the solution of stresses and displacements for each layer is derived. By means of the recursive matrix method, the solution can be efficiently obtained for plates with many layers. The present solution obtained can be used as a benchmark to access other simplified solutions. The comparison study indicates that the finite element (FE) solution is close to the present one when the FGM layer in the FE model is divided into a series of homogeneous layers. However, the present method is more efficient than the FE method, with which the mesh division and computation are time-consuming. Moreover, the solution based on Kirchhoff-Love plate theory is greatly different from the present solution for thick plates. The influence of the thickness of the permeation layer on the stress and displacement fields of the sandwich plate is discussed in detail. It is indicated that the permeation layer can effectively relieve the discontinuity stress at the interface.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권6호
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• pp.603-615
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• 2019

In the present work, free vibration of beams made of imperfect functionally graded materials (FGMs) including porosities is investigated. Because of faults during process of manufacture, micro voids or porosities may arise in the FGMs, and this situation causes imperfection in the structure. Therefore, material properties of the beams are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness direction according to the volume fraction of constituents described with the modified rule of mixture including porosity volume fraction which covers two types of porosity distribution over the cross section, i.e., even and uneven distributions. The governing equations of power law FGM (P-FGM) and sigmoid law FGM (S-FGM) beams are derived within the frame works of classical beam theory (CBT) and first order shear deformation beam theory (FSDBT). The resulting equations are solved using separation of variables technique and assuming FG beams are simply supported at both ends. To validate the results numerous comparisons are carried out with available results of open literature. The effects of types of volume fraction function, beam theory and porosity volume fraction, as well as the variations of volume fraction index, span to depth ratio and porosity volume fraction, on the first three non-dimensional frequencies are examined in detail.