A direct coupling analysis method and its application to the Scientific Research and Demonstration Platform

Design of a very large floating structure(VLFS)deployed near islands and reefs,different from those in the open sea,inevitably faces new technical challenges including numerical analysis methods.In this paper,a direct coupling analysis method(DCAM)has been established based on the Boussinesq equations and the three-dimensional hydroelasisity theory with Rankine source method to analyze the responses of a VLFS in shallow sea with complicated geographical environment.Model tests have been carried out to validate the DCAM.To further verify the numerical methods and investigate the performance of such a VLFS,a“Scientific Research and Demonstration Platform(SRDP)”was built and deployed in 2019 at the site about 1000 m off an island with water depth around 40m in South China Sea.It is a simplified small model of a two-module semi-submersible-type VLFS.The numerical simulation of its responses on severe waves with focus on motions and connector forces is conduct by DCAM,and compared with the on-site measurements.Good agreement has been achieved.This approves the DCAM as a feasible tool for design and safety assessment of a VLFS deployed near islands and reefs.

Dynamic thermo-mechanical coupled response of random particulate composites:A statistical two-scale method

This paper focuses on the dynamic thermo-mechanical coupled response of random particulate composite materials. Both the inertia term and coupling term are considered in the dynamic coupled problem. The formulation of the problem by a statistical second-order two-scale （SSOTS） analysis method and the algorithm procedure based on the finite-element difference method are presented. Numerical results of coupled cases are compared with those of uncoupled cases. It shows that the coupling effects on temperature, thermal flux, displacement, and stresses are very distinct, and the micro- characteristics of particles affect the coupling effect of the random composites. Furthermore, the coupling effect causes a lag in the variations of temperature, thermal flux, displacement, and stresses.

Application of semi-analytical finite element method coupled with infinite element for analysis of asphalt pavement structural response

A specific computational program SAFEM was developed based on semi-analytical finite element （FE） method for analysis of asphalt pavement structural responses under static loads. The reliability and efficiency of this FE program was proved by comparison with the general commercial FE software ABAQUS. In order to further reduce the computational time without decrease of the accuracy, the infinite element was added to this program. The results of the finite-infinite element coupling analysis were compared with those of finite element analysis derived from the verified FE program, The study shows that finite-infinite element coupling analysis has higher reliability and efficiency.

Numerical Analysis on the Influence of Thickness of Liquefiable Soil on Seismic Response of Underground Structure

Seismic response of underground structure in liquefiable soils was analyzed by means of fully coupled dynamic finite element method.The soils were simulated by a cyclic mobility constitutive model,which is developed at the base of modified Cam-Clay model with some concepts such as stress induced anisotropy,overconsolidation and structure.It is verified that the constitutive model can perfectly described the dynamic character of both liquefiable sand and non-liquefiable clay.Special emphasis was given for the influence of thickness of liquefiable soil on the seismic response.Results showed that soils at both sides of the structure flowed toward the bottom of the underground structure with the occurrence of liquefaction,which led to the uplift of structure.The uplift of underground structure increased with the increasing of thickness of liquefiable soils.