Effects of bottom bracings on torsional dynamic characteristics of horizontally curved twin I-girder bridges with different curvatures

Curved twin I-girder bridges (CTIGBs) have low torsional stiffness that makes them vulnerable to dynamic loads. This study investigates the effects of bottom bracings on the torsional dynamic characteristics of CTIGBs. Five types of bottom bracings are designed to investigate their effects on the dynamic characteristics of CTIGBs with different curvatures under free and forced vibrations. To perform numerical investigations, three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) bridge and vehicle models are established using commercial ANSYS code, and then a vehicle-bridge interaction analysis approach is proposed. Road roughness profiles generated from power spectral density and cross spectral functions are also taken into account in the analyses. The numerical results show that torsional frequencies increase significantly after providing bottom bracings, and the increasing rate depends on the type of bottom bracings and their locations of installation. Bottom bracings can act as load transmitting members from one main girder to the others. Large negative bearing forces that have occurred in bridges with small radii of curvatures can be remarkably reduced by providing bottom bracing systems. It is found that the performances of several bottom bracing systems are effective in improving the torsional dynamic characteristics of the bridges in this study.

Effect of Rolling Parameters on Plate Curvature during Snake Rolling

In order to predict the plate curvature during snake rolling, FE model was constructed based on plane strain assumption. The accuracy of the FE model was verified by the comparison between the plate curvature conducted by FE model and experiment respectively. By using FE model, the effect of offset distance, speed ratio, reduction, roll radius and initial plate thickness on the plate curvature during snake rolling was investigated. The experimental results show that, a proper offsetting distance can efficiently decrease plate curvature, however an excessive offsetting distance will increase plate curvature. A larger speed ratio, reduction will cause a large plate curvature, however a larger roll radius has effect to reduce plate curvature. Plate which undergoes a larger reduction and plate with a larger initial thickness always need a larger offset distance to keep the plate the minimum plate curvature, but for a larger roll radius a smaller offset distance is needed.

Effect of key factors on cold orbital forging of a spur bevel gear

Cold orbital forging is an advanced spur bevel gear forming technology. Generally, the spur bevel gear in the cold orbital forging process is formed by two steps: the preforming step and the final step. Due to the great importance of the final step to gear forming and its complication with interactive factors, this work aims at examining the influence of key factors on the final step in cold orbital forging of a spur bevel gear. Using the finite element(FE) method and control variate method, the influence rules of four key factors, rotation velocity of the upper tool, n, feeding velocity of the lower tool, v, tilted angle of the upper tool, γ, friction factor between the tools and the billet, m, on the geometry and the deformation inhomogeneity of the cold orbital forged gear are thoroughly clarified. The research results show that the flash becomes more homogeneous with increasing v, increasing m, decreasing n or decreasing γ. And the deformation of the gear becomes more homogeneous with increasing v, decreasing n or decreasing γ. Finally, a corresponding experiment is conducted, which verifies the accuracy of FE simulation conclusions.

Vacancies and Antisites in B2 FeAl and DO_3 Fe_3Al with a Modified Analytic EAM Model

A simple modified analytic EAM model for bcc Fe and fcc Al was used to calculate the lattice constant and elastic constants of B2 FeAl and DO3 Fe3Al alloys. The formation energies of vacancy and antisite were also calculated. The present calculations are in agreement with the experimental data and the theoretical results obtained by other authors.

Metal and Ligand Control on Structure and Functions of Ni(Fe)ARD:Role of Supramolecular Structures

Role of Ni(Fe)-macrostructures due to H-bonds in mechanisms of Ni(Fe)ARD action in methionine salvage pathway is discussed.The AFM method was used to research the possibility of the formation of stable supramolecular nanostructures based on Ni(Fe)ARD model systems{Ni(acac)_(2)+L^(2)+Tyr}(L^(2)=NMP(NMP=N-Methyl-2-pirrolidone)),His(His=L-Histidine),Tyr(Tyr=L-Tyrosine)---with the assistance of intermolecular H-bonds.In the course of scanning of investigated samples,it has been found that the structures based on model systems are fixed on a surface strongly enough due to H-bonding.The self-assembly-driven growth of the supramolecular structures on modified Silicone surface based on researched complexes,due to H-bonds and perhaps the other non-covalent interactions was observed.

Finite Element Simulation of Temperature Variations in Concrete Bridge Girders

The internal temperature of cast-in-place concrete bridges undergoes strong variations during the construction as a result of environmental factors.In order to determine precisely such variations,the present study relies on the finite element method,used to model the bridge box girder section and simulate the internal temperature distribution during construction.The numerical results display good agreement with measured temperature values.It is shown that when the external temperature is higher,and the internal and external temperature difference is relatively small,the deviation of the fitting line from existing specifications(Chinese specification,American specification,New Zealand specification)is relatively large and vice versa.

Moment tensor and stress inversion solutions of acoustic emissions during compression and tensile fracturing in crystalline rocks

We investigate the accuracy and robustness of moment tensor(MT)and stress inversion solutions derived from acoustic emissions(AEs)during the laboratory fracturing of prismatic Barre granite specimens.Pre-cut flaws in the specimens introduce a complex stress field,resulting in a spatial and temporal variation of focal mechanisms.Specifically,we consider two experimental setups:(1)where the rock is loaded in compression to generate primarily shear-type fractures and(2)where the material is loaded in indirect tension to generate predominantly tensile-type fractures.In each test,we first decompose AE moment tensors into double-couple(DC)and non-DC terms and then derive unambiguous normal and slip vectors using k-means clustering and an unstructured damped stress inversion algorithm.We explore temporal and spatial distributions of DC and non-DC events at different loading levels.The majority of the DC and the tensile non-DC events cluster around the pre-cut flaws,where macro-cracks later develop.Results of stress inversion are verified against the stress field from finite element(FE)modeling.A good agreement is found between the experimentally derived and numerically simulated stress orientations.To the best of the authors’knowledge,this work presents the first case where stress inversion methodologies are validated by numerical simulations at laboratory scale and under highly heterogeneous stress distributions.

Springback prediction of TC4 titanium alloy V-bending under hot stamping condition

In this paper,the springback of TC4 titanium alloy under hot stamping condition was studied by means of experiment and numerical analysis.Firstly,an analytical model was established to predict the V-shaped springback angleΔαunder the stretch-bending conditions.The model took into account of blank holder force,friction,property of the material,thickness of the sheet and the neutral layer shift.Then,the influence of several process parameters on springback was studied by experiment and finite element simulation using a V-shaped stamping tool.In the hot stamping tests,the titanium alloy sheet fractured seriously at room temperature.The titanium alloy has good formability when the initial temperature of the sheet is 750–900°C.However,the springback angle of formed parts is large and decreases with increasing temperature.The springback angleΔαdecreased by 50%from 0.5°to 0.25°,and the angleΔβdecreased by 46.7%from 1.5°to 0.8°when the initial temperature of sheet increased from 750°C to 900°C.The springback angle of titanium alloy sheet increases gradually with the increase of the punch radius,because of the increase of elastic recovery,the complex distribution of stress,the length of forming region and the decreasing degree of stress.Compared with the simulation results,the analytical model can better predict the springback angleΔα.

Virtual Reconstruction of Long Bone Fracture in Car-to-pedestrian Collisions Using Multi-body System and Finite Element Method

Lower limb injures are frequently observed in passenger car traffic accidents.Previous studies of the injuries focus on long bone fractures by using either cadaver component tests or simulations of the long bone kinematics,which lack in-depth study on the fractures in stress analysis.This paper aims to investigate lower limb impact biomechanics in real-world car to pedestrian accidents and to predict fractures of long bones in term of stress parameter for femur,tibia,and fibula.For the above purposes,a 3D finite element(FE) model of human body lower limb(HBM-LL) is developed based on human anatomy.The model consists of the pelvis,femur,tibia,fibula,patella,foot bones,primary tendons,knee joint capsule,meniscus,and ligaments.The FE model is validated by comparing the results from a lateral impact between simulations and tests with cadaver lower limb specimens.Two real-world accidents are selected from an in-depth accident database with detailed information about the accident scene,car impact speed,damage to the car,and pedestrian injuries.Multi-body system(MBS) models are used to reconstruct the kinematics of the pedestrians in the two accidents and the impact conditions are calculated for initial impact velocity and orientations of the car and pedestrian during the collision.The FE model is used to perform injury reconstructions and predict the fractures by using physical parameters,such as von Mises stress of long bones.The calculated failure level of the long bones is correlated with the injury outcomes observed from the two accident cases.The reconstruction result shows that the HBM-LL FE model has acceptable biofidelity and can be applied to predict the risk of long bone fractures.This study provides an efficient methodology to investigate the long bone fracture suffered from vehicle traffic collisions.

Numerical analyses of pile performance in laterally spreading frozen ground crust overlying liquefiable soils

Lateral spread of frozen ground crust over liquefied soil has caused extensive bridge foundation damage in the past winter earthquakes.A shake table experiment was conducted to investigate the performance of a model pile in this scenario and revealed unique pile failure mechanisms.The modelling results provided valuable data for validating numerical models.This paper presents analyses and results of this experiment using two numerical modeling approaches： solid-fluid coupled finite element（FE） modeling and the beam-on-nonlinear-Winkler-foundation（BNWF） method.A FE model was constructed based on the experiment configuration and subjected to earthquake loading.Soil and pile response results were presented and compared with experimental results to validate this model.The BNWF method was used to predict the pile response and failure mechanism.A p-y curve was presented for modelling the frozen ground crust with the free-field displacement from the experiment as loading.Pile responses were presented and compared with those of the experiment and FE model.It was concluded that the coupled FE model was effective in predicting formation of three plastic hinges at ground surface,ground crust-liquefiable soil interface and within the medium dense sand layer,while the BNWF method was only able to predict the latter two.

Numerical Modeling of Neotectonic Movements and State of Stresses in the Central Seismic Gap Region,Garhwal Himalaya

This paper presents finite element modeling （FEM） to simulate the present-day stress field and crustal deformation using NE-SW structural section in the central Seismic Gap region of the Garhwal Himalaya. Our study deals with the effect of geometrical characteristics and rock layer parameters on the upper crust. Modeling results show that two types of tectonic regimes developed in the central Seismic Gap region： the geotectonics of the northern part has been controlled by regional compression, whereas southern part is characterized by regional extension. Correspondingly, thrust faults are induced in the northern part and normal faults are extensively developed in the southern front. Those evidences noticeably indicate that the compressive tectonic environment of the Himalaya becomes change into the extensional tectonic regime in its front. The computed shear stress accumulation along the northern fiat of Main Himalayan Thrust （MHT） implies that considerable amount of interseismic stress is building up along the MHT system in the Himalaya, which ultimately release through the possible future great Himalayan earthquake （M 〉 8）. The comparison between our modeled stress field, faulting pattern and horizontal shortening rate with the distribution of the microseismic events, focal mechanism solutions, active faulting and GPS data in the central Seismic Gap region shows good agreement.

Numerical failure analysis of a continuous reinforced concrete bridge under strong earthquakes using multi-scale models

Previous failure analyses of bridges typically focus on substructure failure or superstructure failure separately. However, in an actual bridge, the seismic induced substructure failure and superstructure failure may influence each other. Moreover, previous studies typically use simplified models to analyze the bridge failure; however, there are inherent defects in the calculation accuracy compared with using a detailed three-dimensional （3D） finite element （FE） model. Conversely, a detailed 3D FE model requires more computational costs, and a proper erosion criterion of the 3D elements is necessary. In this paper, a multi-scale FE model, including a corresponding erosion criterion, is proposed and validated that can significantly reduce computational costs with high precision by modelling a pseudo-dynamic test of an reinforced concrete （RC） pier. Numerical simulations of the seismic failures of a continuous RC bridge based on the multi-scale FE modeling method using LS-DYNA are performed. The nonlinear properties of the bridge, various connection strengths and bidirectional excitations are considered. The numerical results demonstrate that the failure of the connections will induce large pounding responses of the girders. The nonlinear deformation of the piers will aggravate the pounding damages. Furthermore, bidirectional earthquakes will induce eccentric poundingsto the girders and different failure modes to the adjacent piers.

BRAIN INJURY BIOMECHANICS IN REAL WORLD VEHICLE ACCIDENT USING MATHEMATICAL MODELS

This paper aims at investigating brain injury mechanisms and predicting head injuries in real world accidents. For this purpose, a 3D human head finite element model （HBM-head） was developed based on head-brain anatomy. The HBM head model was validated with two experimental tests. Then the head finite element（FE） model and a multi-body system （MBS） model were used to carry out reconstructions of real world vehicle-pedestrian accidents and brain injuries. The MBS models were used for calculating the head impact conditions in vehicle impacts. The HBM-head model was used for calculating the injury related physical parameters, such as intracranial pressure, stress, and strain. The calculated intracranial pressure and strain distribution were correlated with the injury outcomes observed from accidents. It is shown that this model can predict the intracranial biomechanical response and calculate the injury related physical parameters. The head FE model has good biofidelity and will be a valuable tool for the study of injury mechanisms and the tolerance level of the brain.

Numerical analysis of stress distribution in the upper arm tissues under an inflatable cuff：Implications for noninvasive blood pressure measurement

An inflatable cuff wrapped around the upper arm is widely used in noninvasive blood pressure measurement.However, the mechanical interaction between cuff and arm tissues, a factor that potentially affects the accuracy of noninvasive blood pressure measurement, remains rarely addressed. In the present study, finite element（FE） models were constructed to quantify intra-arm stresses generated by cuff compression, aiming to provide some theoretical evidence for identifying factors of importance for blood pressure measurement or explaining clinical observations. Obtained results showed that the simulated tissue stresses were highly sensitive to the distribution of cuff pressure on the arm surface and the contact condition between muscle and bone. In contrast, the magnitude of cuff pressure and small variations in elastic properties of arm soft tissues had little influence on the efficiency of pressure transmission in arm tissues. In particular, it was found that a thickened subcutaneous fat layer in obese subjects significantly reduced the effective pressure transmitted to the brachial artery, which may explain why blood pressure overestimation occurs more frequently in obese subjects in noninvasive blood pressure measurement.

Design of the Composite Steel-Glass Beams with Semi-Rigid Polymer Adhesive Joint

New and high transparent structural element, steel-glass composite beam was developed in respect to fabrication, static-structural and architectural criteria and consists of steel flanges and glass web assembled together by semi-rigid polymer adhesive, which is the key element of whole composite system. These beams can be used mainly as members of high transparent roof or floor structure as well as stiffening fins for large area glass facades. This paper deals with experimental research performed at CTU （Czech Technical University） Prague, which started by adhesive selection and initial material tests by ISO527, continued via small-scale steel-glass connection tests and graduated by full-scale tests of hybrid beams with the span of 4 m. Generalized results of these experiments, analytical and numerical studies serve as device, how to accurately predict the behavior of the beam, describe the stress distribution along the cross section and safely and economically design such a kind of structure with semi-rigid shear connection, made by polymer adhesive.

Dependence of Softness on Fabric Surface Quality and Compressibility

The term ＂softness＂ is loosely used to describe the physical as well as sensory attributes of fabric and other textiles, and several psychophysicai evaluation methods as well as its predicting equations exist. However, the information for physiological mechanism of fabric softness is lack. To explain the blomechauical and the potential neurophysiologicai phecnomenon for exploring fabric softness, accompanying to the procedures in manual exploration for softness and the anatomical multllayor structures of human finer, a contact finite dement （FE） model between finger and fabric is made to conduct an active contact analysis. In present FE model, the effect of surface friction index, compression modulus, Poisson＇s ratio of fabric on softness dlscrimination is Investigated. The interests are in the contributlons of these fabric property variables to contact area, Interracial friction shear stress and contact pressure distributions, which arc significant cognitive variables or stimulus parameters in peripheral neural levels. The mechanistic data for fabric specimens indicates that the basis for the perception of softness of flexible and bulk fabric is likely on the spatial variation of pressure on the skin （or, equivalently the skin displacement and its derivatives） resulting from surface friction phenomenon and compression property of fabric. In present model, however, the effect of Poisson＇s ratio on the total force exerted by fingertip is not significant statistically. Therefore, compression modulus of fabric is, not the only underlying physical variable accounting for peripheral neural response, and also the surface friction phenomenon plays an important role in feeltouch softness of fabric, i.e. the compressibility and surface properties of fabric arc the necessary physical variables involved for the haptic rendering of its softness.

Assessment of Seismic Damage in Nativity Church in Bethlehem Using Pushover Analysis

This study focuses on advanced finite element(FE)analyses on The Church of Nativity located in Bethlehem(Palestine),one of the most historic structures in the world.To ensure the model quality,a 3D FE model was created using two types of typical commercial software,DIANA FEA and SAP2000.From analyses,one of the expected behaviors for this kind of masonry structure“low modal period”was found.The seismic behavior of the church was studied using pushover analyses,which were conducted using DIANA FEA.The first unidirectional mass proportional load pattern was created in both directions,X-direction as a longitudinal direction and Y-direction as the transversal direction.An incremental iterative procedure was used with monotonically increasing horizontal loads,using constant gravity loads.The results showed that the transversal direction is the most vulnerable and the damage concentrates at the main lateral(longitudinal)walls,mainly at the south and north alignment walls,and also at the vaults and at the connections of the vaults to the apse.Crack width was at the upper limit in the in-plane direction(X-direction).While,in Y-direction,it exceeded the limits of IBC code in width and length with a maximum width of 13.7 mm.A more accurate nonlinear dynamic analysis is recommended in the near future,which takes into account the material nonlinearity for more reasonable seismic behavior simulation.

A Model to Describe the Fracture of Porous Polygranular Graphite Subject to Neutron Damage and Radiolytic Oxidation

Two linked models have been developed to explore the relationship between the amount of porosity arising in service from both radiolytic oxidation and fast neutron damage that influences both the strength and the force-displacement(load-displacement)behaviour and crack propagation in pile grade A graphite used as a nuclear reactor moderator material.Firstly models of the microstructure of the porous graphite for both unirradiated and irradiated graphite are created.These form the input for the second stage,simulating fracture in lattice-type finite element models,which predicts force(load)-displacement and crack propagation paths.Microstructures comprising aligned filler particles,typical of needle coke,in a porous matrix have been explored.The purpose was to isolate the contributions of filler particles and porosity to fracture strength and crack paths and consider their implications for the overall failure of reactor core graphite.

Investigation on the Cause of Excessive Vibration of an Offshore Platform

An offshore platform of jacket type in Bohai Bay vibrated excessively under design environmental conditions, which had affected the normal operation of the platform. In order to mitigate the vibration of the platform, it is essentially important to explore the cause of the vibration. So the objective of this study is to investigate the cause of the excessive vibration. In this paper, dynamic characteristics of the offshore platform is analyzed by numerical simulation using finite element (FE) modeling. For further verifying the numerical results, model experiment is conducted. Numerical and experimental results demonstrate that there is relative movement and impact between the piles and the jacket, i.e. the piles and the jacket didnt connect well to an entity. It is this cause that the stiffness of the platform decreases and the impact between piles and the jacket legs induces excessive vibration. And also the grouting measure is advised to reduce the vibration of the offshore platform according to the analysis results.

Fracture analysis of cracked metallic plate repaired with adhesive bonding composite patch

Fatigue crack growth test of cracked metallic plate repaired with adhesive bonding composite patch was conducted to study the fracture behavior of crack patching. The failure mode was that crack grows along with adhesive debonding. The crack length and debonding area were measured at different numbers of cycles. The nonlinear three- dimensional(3D)finite element(FE)model considering adhesive debonding and crack growth simultaneously was developed. The experimental and analytical results were in good agreement with each other.