Topology Optimization of Stiffener Layout Design for Box Type Load-Bearing Component under Thermo-Mechanical Coupling

The structure optimization design under thermo-mechanical coupling is a difficult problem in the topology optimization field.An adaptive growth algorithm has become a more effective approach for structural topology optimization.This paper proposed a topology optimization method by an adaptive growth algorithm for the stiffener layout design of box type load-bearing components under thermo-mechanical coupling.Based on the stiffness diffusion theory,both the load stiffness matrix and the heat conduction stiffness matrix of the stiffener are spread at the same time to make sure the stiffener grows freely and obtain an optimal stiffener layout design.Meanwhile,the objectives of optimization are the minimization of strain energy and thermal compliance of the whole structure,and thermo-mechanical coupling is considered.Numerical studies for square shells clearly show the effectiveness of the proposed method for stiffener layout optimization under thermo-mechanical coupling.Finally,the method is applied to optimize the stiffener layout of box type load-bearing component of themachining center.The optimization results show that both the structural deformation and temperature of the load-bearing component with the growth stiffener layout,which are optimized by the adaptive growth algorithm,are less than the stiffener layout of shape‘#’stiffener layout.It provides a new solution approach for stiffener layout optimization design of box type load-bearing components under thermo-mechanical coupling.

Dynamic thermo-mechanical responses of road-soft ground system under vehicle load and daily temperature variation

A complete road-soft ground model is established in this paper to study the dynamic responses caused by vehicle loads and/or daily temperature variation.A dynamic thermo-elastic model is applied to capturing the behavior of the rigid pavement,the base course,and the subgrade,while the soft ground is characterized using a dynamic thermo-poroelastic model.Solutions to the road-soft ground system are derived in the Laplace-Hankel transform domain.The time domain solutions are obtained using an integration approach.The temperature,thermal stress,pore water pressure,and displacement responses caused by the vehicle load and the daily temperature variation are presented.Results show that obvious temperature change mainly exists within 0.3 m of the road when subjected to the daily temperature variation,whereas the stress responses can still be found in deeper places because of the thermal swelling/shrinkage deformation within the upper road structures.Moreover,it is important to consider the coupling effects of the vehicle load and the daily temperature variation when calculating the dynamic responses inside the road-soft ground system.

Shear behavior of intact granite under thermo-mechanical coupling and three-dimensional morphology of shear-formed fractures

The shear failure of intact rock under thermo-mechanical(TM)coupling conditions is common,such as in enhanced geothermal mining and deep mine construction.Under the effect of a continuous engineering disturbance,shear-formed fractures are prone to secondary instability,posing a severe threat to deep engineering.Although numerous studies regarding three-dimensional(3D)morphologies of fracture surfaces have been conducted,the understanding of shear-formed fractures under TM coupling conditions is limited.In this study,direct shear tests of intact granite under various TM coupling conditions were conducted,followed by 3D laser scanning tests of shear-formed fractures.Test results demonstrated that the peak shear strength of intact granite is positively correlated with the normal stress,whereas it is negatively correlated with the temperature.The internal friction angle and cohesion of intact granite significantly decrease with an increase in the temperature.The anisotropy,roughness value,and height of the asperities on the fracture surfaces are reduced as the normal stress increases,whereas their variation trends are the opposite as the temperature increases.The macroscopic failure mode of intact granite under TM coupling conditions is dominated by mixed tensileeshear and shear failures.As the normal stress increases,intragranular fractures are developed ranging from a local to a global distribution,and the macroscopic failure mode of intact granite changes from mixed tensileeshear to shear failure.Finally,3D morphological characteristics of the asperities on the shear-formed fracture surfaces were analyzed,and a quadrangular pyramid conceptual model representing these asperities was proposed and sufficiently verified.

Mechanical behavior of sandstone during post-peak cyclic loading and unloading under hydromechanical coupling

This paper investigates mechanical behaviours of sandstone during post-peak cyclic loading and unloading subjected to hydromechanical coupling effect, confirming the peak and residual strengths reduction laws of sandstone with water pressure, and revealing the influence of water pressure on the upper limit stress and deformation characteristics of sandstone during post-peak cyclic loading and unloading.Regarding the rock strength, the experimental study confirms that the peak strength σ_(p) and residual strength σ_(r) decrease as water pressure P increases. Especially, the normalized strength parameters σ_(p)/σ_(pk) and σ_(r)/σ_(re) was negatively and linearly correlated with the P/σ_(3). Moreover, the Hoek-Brown strength criterion can be applied to describe the relationship between effective peak strength and effective confining stress. During post-peak cyclic loading and unloading, both the upper limit stress σ_(p(i)) and crack damage threshold stress σ_(cd(i)) of each cycle tend to decrease with the increasing cycle number. A hysteresis loop exists among the loading and unloading stress–strain curves, indicating the unloading deformation modulus E_(unload) is larger than the loading deformation modulus E_(load). Based on experimental results,a post-peak strength prediction model related to water pressure and plastic shear strain is established.

Stress Path Analysis of Deep-Sea Sediments Under the Compression-Shear Coupling Load of Crawler Collectors

The mechanical properties of deep-sea sediments during the driving process of crawler collectors are essential factors in the design of mining systems.In this study,a crawler load is divided into a normal compression load and a horizontal shear load.Then,the internal stress state of sedimentary soil is examined through a theoretical calculation and finite element numerical simulation.Finally,the driving of crawlers is simulated by changing the relative spatial position between the load and stress unit,obtaining the stress path of the soil unit.Based on the calculation results,the effect of the horizontal shear load on the soil stress response is analyzed at different depths,and the spatial variation law of the soil stress path is examined.The results demonstrate that the horizontal shear load has a significant effect on the rotation of the principal stress,and the reverse rotation of the principal stress axis becomes obvious with the increase in the burial depth.The stress path curve of the soil is different at various depths.The spatial variation rule of the stress path of the shallow soil is complex,whereas the stress path curve of the deep soil tends to shrink as the depth increases.The stress path of the corresponding depth should be selected according to the actual research purpose and applied to the laboratory test.

Multiscale Nonlinear Thermo-Mechanical Coupling Analysis of Composite Structures with Quasi-Periodic Properties

This paper reports a multiscale analysis method to predict the thermomechanical coupling performance of composite structures with quasi-periodic properties.In these material structures,the configurations are periodic,and the material coefficients are quasi-periodic,i.e.,they depend not only on the microscale information but also on the macro location.Also,a mutual interaction between displacement and temperature fields is considered in the problem,which is our particular interest in this study.The multiscale asymptotic expansions of the temperature and displacement fields are constructed and associated error estimation in nearly pointwise sense is presented.Then,a finite element-difference algorithm based on the multiscale analysis method is brought forward in detail.Finally,some numerical examples are given.And the numerical results show that the multiscale method presented in this paper is effective and reliable to study the nonlinear thermo-mechanical coupling problem of composite structures with quasiperiodic properties.

Formation Mechanism in Alloy Steel Rolling Process Using Thermo-mechanical Coupling Method

Based on the theory of elastic-plastic finite element method, the high-speed hot continuous rolling process of a billet is simulated and analyzed in vertical and horizontal passes. The billet is dragged into the passes by contact friction force between the billet and rollers. The rollers and billet are represented by respectively rigid and deformable bodies, and three-dimensional models are developed for the billet and rollers. The distribution of deformation field, effective strain, rolling force and temperature field are accurately calculated for the whole rolling process （including unstable and stable stages）. In addition, the rolling pressure on the width symmetry center is compared with that in the in-situ experimental measurements. It is revealed that various heat exchange phenomena among the billet, rollers and surroundings can result in unbalanced temperature distribution on the cross section. Rolling force and strain can change significantly when the billet is moved towards or away from the roller gap, and keep almost invariable in the stable stage. It is expected that the simulation results would be useful for practical manufacture and provide the theoretical foundation for improvement of process planning and optimization of process parameters.

Impact of cooling rate on mechanical properties and failure mechanism of sandstone under thermal-mechanical coupling effect

High geo-temperature is one of the inevitable geological disasters in deep engineering such as resource extraction,space development,and energy utilization.One of the key issues is to understand the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of high-temperature rock disturbed by low-temperature airflow after excavation.Therefore,.the experimental and numerical investigation were carried out to study the impact of cooling rate on mechanical properties and failure mechanism of high temperature sandstone.First,uniaxial compression experiments of high temperature sandstone at different real-time cooling rates were carried out to study the mechanical properties and failure modes.The experimental results indicate that the cooling rate has a significant effect on the mechanical properties and failure modes of sandstone.The peak strain,peak stress,and elastic modulus decrease with an increase in cooling rate,and the fragmentation degree after failure increases gradually.Moreover,the equivalent numerical model of heterogeneous sandstone was established using particle flow code(PFC)to reveal the failure mechanism.The results indicate that the sandstone is dominated by intragrain failure in the cooling stage,the number of microcracks is exponentially related to the cooling rate,and the higher the cooling rate,the more cracks are concentrated in the exterior region.Under axial loading,the tensile stress is mostly distributed along the radial direction,and the damage in the cooling stage is mostly due to the fracture of the radial bond.In addition,axial loading,temperature gradient and thermal stress mismatch between adjacent minerals are the main reasons for the damage of sandstone in the cooling stage.Moreover,the excessive temperature gradient in the exterior region of the sandstone is the main reason for the damage concentration in this region.

A rigid-flexible coupling finite element model of coupler for analyzing train instability behavior during collision

Rail vehicles generate huge longitudinal impact loads in collisions.If unreasonable matching exists between the compressive strength of the intermediate coupler and the structural strength of the car body,the risk of car body structure damage and train derailment will increase.Herein,a four-stage rigid-flexible coupling finite element model of the coupler is established considering the coupler buckling load.The influence of the coupler buckling load on the train longitudinal-vertical-hori-zontal buckling behavior was studied,and the mechanism of the train horizontal buckling instability in train collisions was revealed.Analysis results show that an intermediate coupler should be designed to ensure that the actual buckling load is less than the compressive load when the car body structure begins to deform plastically.The actual buckling load of the coupler and the asymmetry of the structural strength of the car body in the lateral direction are two important influencing factors for the lateral buckling of a train collision.If the strength of the two sides of the car body structure in the lateral direction is asymmetrical,the deformation on the weaker side will be larger,and the end of the car body will begin to deflect under the action of the coupler force,which in turn causes the train to undergo sawtooth buckling.

Spudcan Penetration Simulation Using the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Method with Thermo-Mechanical Coupled Analysis

A novel modeling technique based on the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian(CEL) method is provided to solve the geotechnical problems with large deformations. The technique is intended to solve the update problem of soil mechanical properties during spudcan penetration in normally consolidated clay soil. In the CEL model, the normal method of assigning an increasing shear strength profile with depth(NA) is defective due to its Eulerian framework. In this paper, a new technique is proposed to update soil material properties by introducing thermo-mechanical coupled analysis(TMCA) to the CEL models. During establishment of the CEL models, the optimal penetration velocity and minimum mesh size are determined through parametric studies. Reasonability and accuracy are then verified through comparison of the preliminary results with the soil flow configuration and penetration resistance(Fv) of a centrifuge test, and the results of the proposed method are compared with those of the remeshing and interpolation technique with small strain(RITSS) method. To achieve a CEL model with satisfactory accuracy, the NA and TMCA methods implemented in the CEL models and the RITSS method are first adopted in weightless soil. Comparison of the findings with those obtained in previous studies shows that the TMCA method can update material properties and predict Fv. The TMCA method is then applied to soils with self-weight and different shear strength profiles. Results show that the proposed method is capable of accurately modeling the large deformation problem of spudcan penetration in non-homogeneous clay.

Coupling Mechanism of Saturated Concrete Subjected to Simultaneous Fatigue Loading and Freeze-thaw Cycles

The coupling mechanism of saturated concrete subjected to simultaneous 4-point fatigue loading and freeze-thaw cycles was, for the first time, experimentally studied by strain technology. The coupling strain, temperature strain and fatigue strain of concrete specimens were measured at the same time from one sample with stain analysis method and the relationship among these three kinds of strains was studied by fitting data to present coupling mechanism at macro level. The results showed that there was no interaction between fatigue strain and temperature strain and the coupling strain could be written by linear superposition of temperature strain and fatigue strain.

Numerical modeling of coupled thermo-mechanical response of a rock pillar

Understanding the rock mass response to excavation and thermal loading and improving the capability of the numerical models for simulating the progressive failure process of brittle rocks are important for safety assessment and optimization design of nuclear waste repositories.The international cooperative DECOVALEX-2011 project provides a platform for development,validation and comparison of numerical models,in which the sp pillar stability experiment（APSE） was selected as the modeling target for Task B.This paper presents the modeling results of Wuhan University（WHU） team for stages 1 and 2 of Task B by using a coupled thermo-mechanical model within the framework of continuum mechanics.The rock mass response to excavation is modeled with linear elastic,elastoplastic and brittle-plastic models,while the response to heating is modeled with a coupled thermo-elastic model.The capabilities and limitations of the model for representation of the thermo-mechanical responses of the rock pillar are discussed by comparing the modeling results with experimental observations.The results may provide a helpful reference for the stability and safety assessment of the hard granite host rock in China＇s Beishan preselected area for high-level radioactive waste disposal.

Numerical study on coupled thermo-mechanical processes in sp Pillar Stability Experiment

This paper presents a study of the full three-dimensional thermo-mechanical （TM） behavior of rock pillar in,Aspo Pillar Stability Experiment （APSE） using a self-developed numerical code TM-EPCA3D. The transient thermal conduction function was descritized on space and time scales, and was solved by using cellular automaton （CA） method on space scale and finite difference method on time scale, respectively. The advantage of this approach is that no global, but local matrix is used so that it avoids the need to develop and solve large-scale linear equations and the complexity therein. A thermal conductivity versus stress function was proposed to reflect the effect of stress on thermal field. The temperature evolution and induced thermal stress in the pillar part during the heating and cooling processes were well simulated by the developed code. The factors that affect the modeling results were discussed. It is concluded that, the complex TM behavior of Aspo rock pillar is significantly influenced by the complex boundary and initial conditions.

Numerical modeling for the coupled thermo-mechanical processes and spalling phenomena in sp Pillar Stability Experiment (APSE)

In this paper, the coupled thermo-mechanical （TM） processes in the AEspoe Pillar Stability Experiment （APSE） carried out by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company （SKB） were simulated using both continuum and discontinuum based numerical methods. Two-dimensional （2D） and three- dimensional （3D） finite element method （FEM） and 2D distinct element method （DEM） with particles were used. The main objective for the large scale in situ experiment is to investigate the yielding strength of crystalline rock and the formation of the excavation disturbed/damaged zone （EDZ） during excavation of two boreholes, pressurizing of one of the boreholes and heating. For the DEM simulations, the heat flow algorithm was newly introduced into the original code. The calculated stress, displacement and temperature distributions were compared with the ones obtained from in situ measurements and FEM simulations. A parametric study for initial microcracks was also performed to reproduce the spalling phenomena observed in the APSE.

Constitutive model of rock under static-dynamic coupling loading and experimental investigation

The importance of study on constitutive model of statically loaded rock experiencing dynamic load is set forth, and the studying methods on dynamic constitutive model are classified according to the current studying status. By way of combining statistic damage model and viscoelastic model, uni-axial and multi-axial constitutive models of statically loaded rock experiencing dynamic load (static-dynamic coupling constitutive model) under intermediate strain rate are established. The verification experiment on 2D constitutive model under different static stress and dynamic stress with different frequencies is designed and performed. It is found that there is a good agreement between the experimental stress-strain curves and the theoretical stress-strain curves.

Dynamic thermo-mechanical coupled simulation of statistically inhomogeneous materials by statistical second-order two-scale method

In this paper,a statistical second-order twoscale（SSOTS） method is developed to simulate the dynamic thcrmo-mechanical performances of the statistically inhomogeneous materials.For this kind of composite material,the random distribution characteristics of particles,including the shape,size,orientation,spatial location,and volume fractions,are all considered.Firstly,the repre.sentation for the microscopic configuration of the statistically inhomogeneous materials is described.Secondly,the SSOTS formulation for the dynamic thermo-mechanical coupled problem is proposed in a constructive way,including the cell problems,effective thermal and mechanical parameters,homogenized problems,and the SSOTS formulas of the temperatures,displacements,heat flux densities and stresses.And then the algorithm procedure corresponding to the SSOTS method is brought forward.The numerical results obtained by using the SSOTS algorithm are compared with those by classical methods.In addition,the thermo-mechanical coupling effect is studied by comparing the results of coupled case with those of uncoupled case.It demonstrates that the coupling effect on the temperatures,heat flux densities,displacements,and stresses is very distinct.The results show that the SSOTS method is valid to predict the dynamic thermo-mechanical coupled performances of statistically inhomogeneous materials.

THE COUPLING IMPEDANCE OF VANE-LOADED TAPE HELIX SLOW-WAVE STRUCTURE

Based on the actual vane-loaded tape helix slow wave structure, a new theoretical analytic model for calculating coupling impedance is proposed by Chen Qingyou, et al.(1999)with calculated values of dispersion in good agreement with measured ones. In this paper, it is continued to use this model to calculate the coupling impedance of such a structure, and analyze the effects of the propagation power within vane gaps and the helix gap on the coupling impedance.As a result, the theoretical values are found to be in good agreement with the measured ones,with the maximum difference less than ±18%.

Numerical Simulation of Coupled Thermo-mechanical Behavior of a Cylinder Billet during Hot-forging Process

A finite volume method is applied to simulate a closed die hot forging process of a cylinder billet. Since variation and distribution of temperature play very important role in hot forging, the code involves a methodology of a coupled system of mechanical and thermal equations. The simulated results are compared with the experimental ones. The distribution of temperature in the billet obtained from the simulation is also discussed.

Coupling Singular Spectrum Analysis with Artificial Neural Network to Improve Accuracy of Sediment Load Prediction

Sediment load estimation is generally required for study and development of water resources system. In this regard, artificial neural network (ANN) is the most widely used modeling tool especially in data-constraint regions. This research attempts to combine SSA (singular spectrum analysis) with ANN, hereafter called SSA-ANN model, with expectation to improve the accuracy of sediment load predicted by the existing ANN approach. Two different catchments located in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) were selected for the study and the model performance was measured by several statistical indices. In comparing with ANN, the proposed SSA-ANN model shows its better performance repeatedly in both catchments. In validation stage, SSA-ANN is superior for larger Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency about 24% in Ban Nong Kiang catchment and 7% in Nam Mae Pun Luang catchment. Other statistical measures of SSA-ANN are better than those of ANN as well. This improvement reveals the importance of SSA which filters noise containing in the raw time series and transforms the original input data to be near normal distribution which is favorable to model simulation. This coupled model is also recommended for the prediction of other water resources variables because extra input data are not required. Only additional computation, time series decomposition, is needed. The proposed technique could be potentially used to minimize the costly operation of sediment measurement in the LMB which is relatively rich in hydrometeorological records.

Design and Coupled Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of Silicon Carbide Primary Mirror Assembly

Based on the principle that the thermal expansion coefficient of the support structure should match that of the mirror, three schemes of primary mirror assembly were designed. Of them, the first is fused silica mirror plus 4J32 flexible support plus ZTC4 support back plate, the second K9 mirror plus 4J45 flexible support plus ZTC4 support back plate, and the third SiC mirror plus SiC rigid support back plate. A coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of the three primary mirror assemblies was made with finite element method. The results show that the SiC assembly is the best of all schemes in terms of their combination properties due to its elimination of the thermal expansion mismatch between the materials. The analytical results on the cryogenic property of the SiC primary mirror assembly show a higher surface finish of the SiC mirror even under the cryogenic condition.