Due to the substantial role of bridges in transportation networks and in accordance with the limited funding for bridge management, remediation strategies have to be prioritised. A conservative bridge assessment will ...Due to the substantial role of bridges in transportation networks and in accordance with the limited funding for bridge management, remediation strategies have to be prioritised. A conservative bridge assessment will result in unnecessary actions, such as costly bridge strengthening or repairs. On the other hand, any bridge maintenance negligence and delayed actions may lead to heavy future costs or degraded assets. The accuracy of decisions developed by any manager or bridge engineer relies on the accuracy of the bridge condition assessment which emanates from visual inspection. Many bridge rating systems are based on a very subjective procedure and are associated with uncertainty and personal bias. The developing condition rating method described herein is an important step in adding more holism and objectivity to the current approaches. Structural importance and material vulnerability are the two main factors that should be considered in the evaluation of element structural index and the causal factor as the representative of age, environment, road class and inspection is implemented as a coefficient to the OSCI (overall structural condition index). The AHP (analytical hierarchy process) has been applied to evaluate the priority vector of the causal parameters.展开更多
A new full time-domain nonlinear coupled method has been established and then applied to predict the responses of a Truss Spar in irregular wave. For the coupled analysis, a second-order time-domain approach is develo...A new full time-domain nonlinear coupled method has been established and then applied to predict the responses of a Truss Spar in irregular wave. For the coupled analysis, a second-order time-domain approach is developed to calculate the wave forces, and a finite element model based on rod theory is established in three dimensions in a global coordinate system. In nu- merical implementation, the higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) is employed to solve the velocity potential, and the 4th-order Adams-Bashforth-Moultn scheme is used to update the second-order wave surface. In deriving convergent solu- tions, the hull displacements and mooring tensions are kept consistent at the fairlead and the motion equations of platform and mooring-lines/risers are solved simultaneously using Newmark-fl integration scheme including Newton-Raphson iteration. Both the coupled quasi-static analysis and the coupled dynamic analysis are performed. The numerical simulation results are also compared with the model test results, and they coincide very well as a whole. The slow-drift responses can be clearly ob- served in the time histories of displacements and mooring tensions. Some important characteristics of the coupled responses are concluded.展开更多
文摘Due to the substantial role of bridges in transportation networks and in accordance with the limited funding for bridge management, remediation strategies have to be prioritised. A conservative bridge assessment will result in unnecessary actions, such as costly bridge strengthening or repairs. On the other hand, any bridge maintenance negligence and delayed actions may lead to heavy future costs or degraded assets. The accuracy of decisions developed by any manager or bridge engineer relies on the accuracy of the bridge condition assessment which emanates from visual inspection. Many bridge rating systems are based on a very subjective procedure and are associated with uncertainty and personal bias. The developing condition rating method described herein is an important step in adding more holism and objectivity to the current approaches. Structural importance and material vulnerability are the two main factors that should be considered in the evaluation of element structural index and the causal factor as the representative of age, environment, road class and inspection is implemented as a coefficient to the OSCI (overall structural condition index). The AHP (analytical hierarchy process) has been applied to evaluate the priority vector of the causal parameters.
基金supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2006AA09A109-3)the Important National Science&Technology Specific Projects(Grant No.2008ZX05026-06-02)
文摘A new full time-domain nonlinear coupled method has been established and then applied to predict the responses of a Truss Spar in irregular wave. For the coupled analysis, a second-order time-domain approach is developed to calculate the wave forces, and a finite element model based on rod theory is established in three dimensions in a global coordinate system. In nu- merical implementation, the higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) is employed to solve the velocity potential, and the 4th-order Adams-Bashforth-Moultn scheme is used to update the second-order wave surface. In deriving convergent solu- tions, the hull displacements and mooring tensions are kept consistent at the fairlead and the motion equations of platform and mooring-lines/risers are solved simultaneously using Newmark-fl integration scheme including Newton-Raphson iteration. Both the coupled quasi-static analysis and the coupled dynamic analysis are performed. The numerical simulation results are also compared with the model test results, and they coincide very well as a whole. The slow-drift responses can be clearly ob- served in the time histories of displacements and mooring tensions. Some important characteristics of the coupled responses are concluded.