Multi-objective optimization of membrane structures based on Pareto Genetic Algorithm

A multi-objective optimization method based on Pareto Genetic Algorithm is presented for shape design of membrane structures from a structural view point.Several non-dimensional variables are defined as optimization variables,which are decision factors of shapes of membrane structures.Three objectives are proposed including maximization of stiffness,maximum uniformity of stress and minimum reaction under external loads.Pareto Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm is introduced to solve the Pareto solutions.Consequently,the dependence of the optimality upon the optimization variables is derived to provide guidelines on how to determine design parameters.Moreover,several examples illustrate the proposed methods and applications.The study shows that the multi-objective optimization method in this paper is feasible and efficient for membrane structures;the research on Pareto solutions can provide explicit and useful guidelines for shape design of membrane structures.

Analysis of tensioned membrane structures considering cable sliding

In routine design of tensioned membrane structures, the membrane is generally modeled using space membrane elements and the cables by space cable elements, with no sliding allowed between the membrane and the cables. On the other hand, large deflections are expected and sliding between the membrane and the cables is inevitable. In the present paper, the general finite element code ABAQUS was employed to investigate the influence of cable sliding on membrane surface on the structural behavior. Three analysis models were devised to fulfill this purpose: (1) The membrane element shares nodes with the cable element; (2) The cable can slide on the membrane surface freely (without friction) and (3) The cable can slide on the membrane surface, but with friction between the cable and the membrane. The sliding problem is modeled using a surface - based contact algorithm. The results from three analysis models are compared, showing that cable sliding has only little influence on the structure shape and on the stress distributions in the membrane. The main influence of cable sliding may be its effect on the dynamic behavior of tensioned membrane structures.

Wind-induced response analysis of conical membrane structures

Conical membrane structures are a typical form of tensile membrane structures. In the past, most studies focused on the static performance, but few on dynamic performance. In this paper, systematic parameter analysis of wind-induced response of conical membrane structures has been performed with nonlinear random simulation method in a time domain, by considering some parameters, such as span, rise-span ratio, prestress of membrane, and characteristic of the approaching wind flow. Moreover, formulas of the dynamic coefficient and nonlinear adjustment factor are advised, which can be conveniently used in wind-resistant design of conical membrane structures.

Smooth cutting pattern generation technique for membrane structures using geodesic line on subplane and spline interpolation

Practical techniques for smooth geodesic patterning of membrane structures were investigated.For the geodesic search,adjustment of the subplane of the extracted elements series was proposed,and various spline approximation methods were used to flatten the strip for the generation of a smooth pattern.This search approach is very simple,and the geodesic line could be easily attained by the proposed method without the need for a difficult computation method.Smooth cutting patterning can also be generated by spline approximation without the noise in discrete nodal information.Additionally,the geodesic cutting pattern saved about 21%of the required area for the catenary model due to the reduction of the curvature of the planar pattern seam line.

Deployment Characteristics of Braid Coated Bi-Convex Tape and Bi-SMA Convex Tape Booms for Deployable Membrane Structures

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate and investigate the concepts of new deployable boom systems, which consist of the BCON （braid coated bi-convex tape） boom and the SMA-BCON （braid coated bi-shape memory alloy convex tape） boom. Both booms are developed for the deployable membrane structures such as solar sails, thin membrane solar array panels, deorbit mechanisms for small satellites and reflectors of space solar power satellite, etc. BCON booms can store around polygonal or cylindrical center hub, and the booms can deploy by the stepwise manner by releasing a constraint mechanism which pins the boons into two or three points for the total length. SMA-BCON booms are mainly developed for a square center body systems, and SMA is adapted on the bent po^nts of the booms where stored around each edge of the center hub. Through the deployment experiments of both booms, the stepwise deployment behavior and its tendency are obtained. The design concept of BCON boom and SMA-BCON hnnm i~ demonstrated through this study.

Experimental study on interaction between membrane structures and wind environment

The interaction between membrane structures and their environment can be either static or dynamic. Static interaction refers to interaction with static air, while dynamic interaction refers to wind and its effects. They can be evaluated by two parameters, added mass and radiation/aerodynamic damping, which are experimentally investigated in this study. The study includes the effects of both the static and dynamic interaction on structural dynamic characteristics, and the relationship between the interaction parameters and the covered area of a membrane structure for the static interaction and the relationship between the interaction parameters and wind direction and speed for the dynamic interaction. Experimental data show that the dynamic interaction is strongly correlated with the structural modes, i.e., the interaction of the symmetric modes is much larger than the anti-synmletric modes; and the influence of the dynamic interaction is significant in wind-induced response analysis and cannot be ignored. In addition, it is concluded that the structural natural frequency is remarkably decreased by this interaction, and the frequency band is significantly broadened.

Loading and wrinkling analysis of membrane structures

Loading analysis,as one of the most crucial procedures in the assessment of safety of the membrane structures,is to check the adequacy of structural stiffness and the extent of membrane stress and deformation,thus ensuring the structural stability and avoiding the wrinkling of membrane structures.In this paper,the analysis procedures are presented and the wrinkling of membrane structure,representing a major behavioral performance of the structure,is included with the modified constitutive relationship method.As for the judgment of the membrane wrinkling,the principal stress-strain criteria are incorporated.Thereafter,an integrated algorithm is developed,in which the Newton-Raphson method and updated Lagrange formulation are adopted.With the proposed algorithm,two fabric roof structures are analyzed.Results show that the presented method is feasible and reliable.

Second Shape Finding Analysis of Membrane Structures

A second shape finding method was developed to improve the nonlinear finite element based shape finding method. The curved shape is obtained by raising the control points above the projection plane. The convergence was improved using pseudo material properties to get a preliminary shape, and then using the real properties to get the final shape. A large number of examples were analyzed to verify the validity and practicality of this method. The results show that the final curved surface after the second shape finding process is always quite similar to the first one. Moreover, the curved surface obtained after the second shape finding process is accurate and will be realized in real materials.

Dynamic Response of Tensile Membrane Structure under Coupling Effect of Wind and Rain

Because of the small stiffness and high flexibility, the tension membrane structure is easy to relax and damage or even destroy under the action of external load, which leads to the occurrence of engineering accidents. In this paper, the damped nonlinear vibration of tensioned membrane structure under the coupling action of wind and rain is approximately solved, considering the geometric nonlinearity of membrane surface deformation and the influence of air damping. Applying von Karman’s large deflection theory and D’Alembert’s principle, the governing equations are established for an analytical solution, and the experimental results are compared with the analytical results. The feasibility of this method is verified, which provides some theoretical reference for practical membrane structure engineering design and maintenance.

OPTIMUM CUTTING ANALYSIS METHOD OF MEMBRANE STRUCTURE

By the optimum theory, a new cutting analytical method of the membrane structure is developed. The B-spline curve is applied to make smooth the boundary of the membrane strip. By this method, the cutting accuracy is improved. Finally, a cutting analysis example of a tension membrane structure is given.

Method to analyze wrinkled membranes with zero shear modulus and equivalent stiffness

To solve the problems of divergence,low accuracy and project application of membrane wrinkling analysis,an analysis method of zero shear modulus and equivalent stiffness was proposed.This method is an improvement to the previous method (Method I) of local coordinate transposition and stiffness equivalence.The new method is derived and the feasibility is theoretically proved.A small-scale membrane structure is analyzed by the two methods,and the results show that the computational efficiency of the new method (Method II) is approximately 23 times that of Method I.When Method II is applied to a large-scale membrane stadium structure,it is found that this new method can quickly make the second principal stress of one way wrinkled elements zero,and make the two principal stresses of two-way wrinkled elements zero as well.It could attain the correct load responses right after the appearance of wrinkled elements,which indicates that Method II can be applied to wrinkling analysis of large-scale membrane structures.

FORMATION AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF POLYETHYLENE MICROPOROUS MEMBRANES THROUGH THERMALLY INDUCED PHASE SEPARATION

Microporous membranes of low-high density polyethylene and their blends were prepared bythermally-induced phase separation of polymer/long-aliphatic chain alcohol (diluent) mixtures.The microstructures of this particular membrane, which depends on the diluent properties,polymer concentration and cooling rate, were observed by scanning electron microscopy.'Beehive-type,'leafy-like, and lacy porous structure morphologies can be formed,depending onthe blend composition and phase separation conditions, which were discussed by the polymer anddiluent crystallization processes.

Experiment and evaluation of wrinkling strain in a corner tensioned square membrane

Prediction of wrinkling characteristics is strongly correlated with the strain perpendicular to wrinkling direc- tion. In this paper, the strain field of wrinkled membrane is tested by VIC-3D system based on the digital image correlation technique. Experimental results are validated by the tension wrinkling simulation. The experimental strain perpendicular to wrinkling direction is analyzed in depth. The wrinkling strain of a square wrinkled membrane under corner tension is extracted from experimental strain perpendicular to wrinkling direction. A quantitative characterization format of the experimental wrinkling strain is proposed. A modified prediction method of wrinkling amplitude is presented based on the experimental wrinkling strain. The re- sults show that the precision of modified prediction model has improved 13.2% compared with the classical prediction model. The results reveal that the modified model can give an accurate prediction of the wrinkling amplitude.

A study on wrinkling characteristics and dynamic mechanical behavior of membrane

An eigenvalue method considering the membrane vibration of wrinkling out-of-plane deformation is introduced, and the stress distributing rule in membrane wrinkled area is analyzed. A dynamic analytical model of rectangular shear wrinkled membrane and its numerical analysis approach are also developed. Results indicate that the stress in wrinkled area is not uniform, i.e. it is larger in wrinkling wave peaks along wrinkles and two ends of wrinkle in vertical direction. Vibration modes of wrinkled membrane are strongly correlated with the wrinkling configurations. The rigidity is larger due to the heavier stress in the part of wrinkling wave peaks. Therefore, wave peaks are always located at the node lines of vibration mode. The vibration frequency obviously increases with the vibration of wave peaks.

Effects of Irradiation on the Structure-activity Relationship of Konjac Glucomannan Molecular Chain Membrane

To know the effects of irradiation on the konjac glucomannan （KGM） molecular chain membrane, KGM membrane solution was treated with the irradiation dose of 0-20 kGy in this study, and the structure and properties of KGM membrane were analyzed with Infrared spectrum, Raman spectrum, X-ray, SEM scanning and so on. The results revealed that the effects of different irradiation doses on the KGM molecular chain structure were different. Higher irradiation dose （20 kGy） resulted in partial damage against KGM membrane crystal structure, and there was no obvious change for the amorphous structure; with membrane property test, the tensile strength of KGM membrane gradually increased with the increase of irradiation dose and its elongation at break reduced, but these changes were not significant, WVP value reduced; with SEM, the membrane surface treated with irradiation was smoother even than the membrane without treatment. In addition, when increasing the irradiation dose, membrane surface became more even, and arrangement was more orderly and compact. KGM membrane nrooerties, and it is an ideal Irradiation modification could effectively improve the modification method.

Wrinkle-crease interaction behavior simulation of a rectangular membrane under shearing

Wrinkling analysis of a rectangular membrane with a single crease under shearing is performed to understand the wrinkle-crease interaction behaviors. The crease is considered by introducing the residual stresses from creasing and the effective modulus into the baseline configuration with assumed circular cross-sectional crease geometry. The wrinkling analysis of the creased membrane is then performed by using the direct perturb-force （DP） simulation technique which is based on our modified displacement components （MDC） method. Results reveal that the crease may influence the stress transfer path in the membrane and further change the wrinkling direction. The crease appears to improve the bending stiffness of the membrane which has an effective resistance on the wrinkling evolution. The effects of the crease orientation on wrinkle-crease interaction are studied toward the end of this paper. The results show that the wrinkling amplitude, wavelength, and direction increase as the crease orientation increases, and the wrinkling number decreases with the increasing crease orientation. These results will be of great benefit to the analysis and the control of the wrinkles in the membrane structures.

Wrinkling analysis of square space membrane structure under corner tension forces

An analytical approach based on the bifurcation theory is presented,in which the wrinkles are treated as the local buckling phenomena of the elastic thin plate with little bending stiffness.The average wrinkling wavelength was determined by incorporating the stress field and the out-of-plane force equilibrium condition of the wrinkled membrane.The wrinkling amplitude was then obtained by associating the characteristics of wrinkling texture with the obtained wrinkling wavelength.Results reveal that the wrinkled pattern exhibits a noticeable difference when the tension load is changed gradually,and two wrinkling styles are identified.The first style occurs for symmetric and moderately asymmetric loading,and it is characterized by small,radial corner wrinkles;the second style occurs for strongly asymmetric loading and is characterized by a deep,large diagonal wrinkle.The analytical predictions on the wrinkling characteristics and the developed rules are validated against wrinkling experimental observations.

STRUCTURE AND EXPRESSION OF EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS MEMBRANE ANTIGEN IN RECOMBINANT VACCINIA VIRUS

The Epstein-Barr virus membrane antigen was constructed and inserted into vaccinia virus, Tian-tan strain in order to study the effect of this virus on EB infection and tumorogenesis. The EBV-derived membrane antigen was expressed under the control of a 7.5 K promoter of vaccinia virus. The antibody against the membrane antigen of EB virus was produced on rabbits vaccinated with recombinant vaccinia virus.

Investigation on the Antitumor Activity of Organotin Compound

Changes in the surface structure of cell membrane and the contents of membrane pro- teins and nuclear DNA of human gastric cancer (BGC-823) cells treated with organotin compound (Et_2SnCl_2phen) were studied with a scanning electron microscope (SEM),a scanning tunneling,micro- scope (STM),and a cytofluorophotometer.It was found that Et_2SnCl_2Phen not only inhibited the cell growth but also remarkably changed the surface structure of the membrane of cancer cells.The surface of Et_2SnCl_2phen treated cancer cells was relatively smooth and showed fewer microvilli under SEM. STM images showed an uneven and loose distribution of the surface of the cell.In comparison with the untreated cancer cells,there was an evident decrease in the content of membrane proteins and nuclear DNA in Et_2SnCl_2phen treated cells.

Rigid-Membrane Method for Determining Stress Distribution of Membrane Structure Based on Laser Scanner System

The determination of stress distribution is important for the safe use of membrane structures in practical engineering,which is difficult to be obtained by existing measurement methods and analysis methods.This paper proposes a rigid-membrane method to determine the stress distribution of the membrane,which expands the stiffness of the membrane,applies the load of the membrane in equilibrium to the membrane shape of the equilibrium state,and performs nonlinear finite element analysis.The rigid-membrane method inversely acquires the stress distribution of the membrane based only on the shape and load distribution in equilibrium obtained from the numerical simulation of a membrane structure under water loads,and determines the modulus magnitude and mesh size required to rigidize the membrane.The accuracy of the rigid-membrane method is verified by the small differences between the stress distributions obtained from the proposed method and numerical simulations.The equilibrium membrane shape in the actual project can be scanned and reconstructed by the laser scanner system without any pre-processing,and the load is determined by the water level,internal pressure,etc.Based on the actual membrane shape and water load distribution,the rigid-membrane method determines the real stress distribution of the membrane in the test of flat membrane subjected to ponding water,which verifies that the rigid-membrane method is a practical method to determine the stress distribution only by the membrane shape and external load distribution.