Analyzing the Form-Finding of a Large-Span Transversely Stiffened Suspended Cable System: A Method Considering Construction Processes

The precise control of the shape of transversely stiffened suspended cable systems is crucial. However, existing form-finding methods primarily rely on iterative calculations that treat loads as fixed known conditions. These methods are inefficient and fail to accurately control shape results. In this study, we propose a form-finding method that analyzes the load response of models under different sag and stress levels, taking into account the construction process. To analyze the system, a structural finite element model was established in ANSYS, and geometric nonlinear analysis was conducted using the Newton-Raphson method. The form-finding analysis results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves precise control of shape, with a maximum shape error ranging from 0.33% to 0.98%. Furthermore, the relationships between loads and tension forces are influenced by the deformed shape of the structures, exhibiting significant geometric nonlinear characteristics. Meanwhile, the load response analysis reveals that the stress level of the self-equilibrium state in the transversely stiffened suspended cable system is primarily governed by strength criteria, while shape is predominantly controlled by stiffness criteria. Importantly, by simulating the initial tensioning process as an initial condition, this method solves for a counterweight that satisfies the requirements and achieves a self-equilibrium state with the desired shape. The shape of the self-equilibrium state is precisely controlled by simulating the construction process. Overall, this work presents a new method for analyzing the form-finding process of large-span transversely stiffened suspended cable system, considering the construction process which was often overlooked in previous studies.

Assessment of the stiffened panel performance in the OTEC seawater tank design:Parametric study and sensitivity analysis

Ocean thermal energy conversion(OTEC)is a process of generating electricity by exploiting the temperature difference between warm surface seawater and cold deep seawater.Due to the high static and dynamic pressures that are caused by seawater circulation,the stiffened panel that constitutes a seawater tank may undergo a reduction in ultimate strength.The current paper investigates the design of stiffening systems for OTEC seawater tanks by examining the effects of stiffening parameters such as stiffener sizes and span-over-bay ratio for the applied combined loadings of lateral and transverse pressure by fluid motion and axial compression due to global bending moment.The ultimate strength calculation was conducted by using the non-linear finite element method via the commercial software known as ABAQUS.The stress and deformation distribution due to pressure loads was computed in the first step and then brought to the second step,in which the axial compression was applied.The effects of pressure on the ultimate strength of the stiffener were investigated for representative stiffened panels,and the significance of the stiffener parameters was assessed by using the sensitivity analysis method.As a result,the ultimate strength was reduced by approximately 1.5%for the span-over-bay ratio of 3 and by 7%for the span-over-bay ratio of 6.

Explicit Topology Optimization Design of Stiffened Plate Structures Based on the Moving Morphable Component(MMC)Method

This paper proposes an explicit method for topology optimization of stiffened plate structures.The present work is devoted to simultaneously optimizing stiffeners’shape,size and layout by seeking the optimal geometry parameters of a series of moving morphable components(MMC).The stiffeners with straight skeletons and the stiffeners with curved skeletons are considered to enhance the modeling and optimization capability of the current approach.All the stiffeners are represented under the Lagrangian-description framework in a fully explicit way,and the adaptive ground structure method,as well as dynamically updated plate/shell elements,is used to obtain optimized designs with more accurate analysis results.Compared with existing works,the proposed approach provides an explicit description of the structure.Thus,a stiffened plate structure with clear stiffener distribution and smooth geometric boundary can be obtained.Several numerical examples provided,including straight and curved stiffeners,hierarchical stiffeners,and a stiffened plate with a cutout,validate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach.

Reliability assessment for serviceability limit states of stiffened deep cement mixing column-supported embankments

The reliability and deterministic analyses of wood-cored stiffened deep cement mixing and deep cement mixing column-supported embankments(referred to as WSCSE and DCSE,respectively)considering serviceability limit state requirements are presented in this paper.Random field theory was used to simulate the spatial variability of soil
cement mixing(SCM)material in which the adaptive Kriging Monte Carlo simulation was adopted to estimate the failure probability of a column
supported embankment(CSE)system.A new method for stochastically generating random values of unconfined compressive strength(qu)and the ratio(Ru)between the undrained elastic modulus and qu of SCM material based on statistical correlation data is proposed.Reliability performance of CSEs concerning changes in the mean(μ),coefficient of variation(CoV),and vertical spatial correlation length(θv)of qu and Ru are presented and discussed.The obtained results indicate that WSCSE can provide a significantly higher reliability level and can tolerate more SCM material spatial variability than DCSE.Some performance of DCSE and WSCSE,which can be considered satisfactory in a deterministic framework,cannot guarantee an acceptable reliability level from a probabilistic viewpoint.This highlights the importance and necessity of employing reliability analyses for the design of CSEs.Moreover,consideration of only μ and CoV of qu seems to be sufficient for reliability analysis of WSCSE while for DCSE,uncertainties regarding the Ru(i.e.both μ and CoV)and θv of qu cannot be ignored.

Protective performance of shear stiffening gel-modified foam against ballistic impact:Experimental and numerical study

As one of the most widely used personal protective equipment(PPE),body armors play an important role in protecting the human body from the high-velocity impact of bullets or projectiles.The body torso and critical organs of the wear may suffer severe behind-armor blunt trauma(BABT)even though the impactor is stopped by the body armor.A type of novel composite material through incorporating shear stiffening gel(STG)into ethylene-vinyl acetate(EVA)foam is developed and used as buffer layers to reduce BABT.In this paper,the protective performance of body armors composed of fabric bulletproof layers and a buffer layer made of foam material is investigated both experimentally and numerically.The effectiveness of STG-modified EVA in damage relief is verified by ballistic tests.In parallel with the experimental study,numerical simulations are conducted by LS-DYNA®to investigate the dynamic response of each component and capture the key mechanical parameters,which are hardly obtained from field tests.To fully describe the material behavior under the transient impact,the selected constitutive models take the failure and strain rate effect into consideration.A good agreement between the experimental observations and numerical results is achieved to prove the validity of the modelling method.The tests and simulations show that the impact-induced deformation on the human body is significantly reduced by using STG-modified EVA as the buffering material.The improvement of protective performance is attributed to better dynamic properties and more outstanding energy absorption capability of the composite foam.

Buckling Optimization of Curved Grid Stiffeners through the Level Set Based Density Method

Stiffened structures have great potential for improvingmechanical performance,and the study of their stability is of great interest.In this paper,the optimization of the critical buckling load factor for curved grid stiffeners is solved by using the level set based density method,where the shape and cross section(including thickness and width)of the stiffeners can be optimized simultaneously.The grid stiffeners are a combination ofmany single stiffenerswhich are projected by the corresponding level set functions.The thickness and width of each stiffener are designed to be independent variables in the projection applied to each level set function.Besides,the path of each single stiffener is described by the zero iso-contour of the level set function.All the single stiffeners are combined together by using the p-norm method to obtain the stiffener grid.The proposed method is validated by several numerical examples to optimize the critical buckling load factor.

Stiffened状态方程下γ-model方法跟踪二维多介质流动

在 Stiffened状态方程下 ,运用 Level-set方程跟踪界面运动变化 ,把界面捕捉的等效方程、Level-set函数和欧拉方程组耦合 ,求解包含比热比和材料参数的耦合形式的流体力学方程组。计算方法采用二阶精度 Wave-propagation算法 ,通过对气体 -液体两种流体的一维 Riemann问题、激波和气泡相互作用以及气液两种流体Richtmyer-Meshkov界面不稳定性问题进行数值模拟 ,抑制了不同介质界面两侧的非物理振荡。

Optimum design of hierarchical stiffened shells for low imperfection sensitivity

A concept of hierarchical stiffened shell is proposed in this study, aiming at reducing the imperfection sen- sitivity without adding additional weight. Hierarchical stiffened shell is composed of major stiffeners and minor stiff- eners, and the minor stiffeners are generally distributed between adjacent major stiffeners. For various types of geo- metric imperfections, e.g., eigenmode-shape imperfections, hierarchical stiffened shell shows significantly low imper- fection sensitivity compared to traditional stiffened shell. Furthermore, a surrogate-based optimization framework is proposed to search for the hierarchical optimum design. Then, two optimum designs based on two different opti- mization objectives （including the critical buckling load and the weighted sum of collapse loads of geometrically imperfect shells with small- and large-amplitude imperfections） are compared and discussed in detail. The illustrative example demonstrates the inherent superiority of hierarchical stiffened shells in resisting imperfections and the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Moreover, the decrease of imperfection sensitivity can finally be converted into a decrease of structural weight, which is particularly important in the development of large-diameter launch vehicles.

A study of the perforation of stiffened plates by rigid projectiles

In the present paper, a four-stage perforation model that accurately predicts the residual velocity is developed by adopting an energy method. The four stages are plug formation, dishing formation, petal formation and projectile exit. In addition, some important experimental results are presented and analyzed to validate the present perforation model. In the experiments, high speed camera system is used to record the perforation process. Observations on target damage and measurements of initial velocities and residual velocities with the aid of the system are presented. Numerical simulations are carried out for projectiles against single and layered plates adopted in the experiments. The perforation process is studied and the deformation and failure modes are obtained. The predictions of numerical simulations and analytical model are found in reasonably good agreement with those of experiments, and can be used to predict the ballistic limit and residual velocity of stiffened plates perforated by rigid projectiles.

Vibration and Acoustic Radiation from Orthogonally Stiffened Infinite Circular Cylindrical Shells in Water

Based on the motion differential equations of vibration and acoustic coupling system for thin elastic shells with ribs, by means of the Fourier integral transformation and the Fourier inverse transformation, as well as the stationary phase method, an analytic solution, which has satisfying computational effectiveness and precision, is derived for the solution to the vibration and acoustic radiation from a submerged stiffened infinite circular cylinder with both ring and axial ribs. It is easy to analyze the effect of stiffening supports in the acoustic radiation field by use of the formulas obtained by the presented method and corresponding numerical computation. It is shown that the axial-stiffeners can improve the mechanical and acoustical characteristics. Moreover, the present method can be used to study the acoustic radiation mechanism of the type of structure.

Field testing of stiffened deep cement mixing piles under lateral cyclic loading

Construction of seaside and underground wall bracing often uses stiffened deep cement mixed columns （SDCM）. This research investigates methods used to improve the level of bearing capacity of these SDCM when subjected to cyclic lateral loading via various types of stiffer cores. Eight piles, two deep cement mixed piles and six stiffened deep cement mixing piles with three different types of cores, H shape cross section prestressed concrete, steel pipe, and H-beam steel, were embedded though soft clay into medium-hard clay on site in Thailand. Cyclic horizontal loading was gradually applied until pile failure and the hysteresis loops of lateral load vs. lateral deformation were recorded. The lateral carrying capacities of the SDCM piles with an H-beam steel core increased by 3-4 times that of the DCM piles. This field research clearly shows that using H-beam steel as a stiffer core for SDCM piles is the best method to improve its lateral carrying capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity.

An Efficient Method for Local Buckling Analysis of Stiffened Panels

The local buckling of stiffened panels is one of possible failure modes and concerned by engineers in the preliminary design of lightweight structures. In practice,a simplified model,i.e.,a rectangular plate with elastically restrained along its unloaded edges,is established and the Ritz method is usually employed for solutions. To use the Ritz method,however,the loaded edges of the plate are usually assumed to be simply supported. An empirical correction factor has to be used to account for clamped loaded edges. Here,a simple and efficient method,called the quadrature element method(QEM),is presented for obtaining accurate buckling behavior of rectangular plates with any combinations of boundary conditions, including the elastically restrained conditions. Different from the conventional high order finite element method(FEM),non-uniformly distributed nodes are used,and thus the method can achieve an exponential rate of convergence. Formulations are worked out in detail. A computer program is developed. Improvement of solution accuracy can be easily achieved by changing the number of element nodes in the computer program. Several numerical examples are given. Results are compared with either existing solutions or finite element data for verifications. It is shown that high solution accuracy is achieved. In addition,the proposed method and developed computer program can allow quick analysis of local buckling of stiffened panels and thus is suitable for optimization routines in the preliminary design stage.

Formulation of Reduction Rate for Ultimate Compressive Strength of Stiffened Panel Induced by Opening

The main objective of this study is to numerically investigate the characteristics of ultimate compressive strength of stiffened panels with opening and also to fit the design-oriented formulae. For this purpose, three series of well executed experimental data on longitudinally stiffened steel plates with and without opening subjected to the uniform axial in-pane load which is carried out to study the buckling and post-buckling up to the final failure are chosen. Also, a nonlinear finite element method capable of efficiently analyzing the large elasto-plastic deflection behavior of stiffened panels is developed and used for simulation. The feasibility of the present simulation process is confirmed by a good agreement with the experimental results. More case studies are developed employing the simulation process to analyze the influence of various design variables on the reduction rate of ultimate strength of stiffened panel induced by opening. Based on the computed results, two design formulae are fitted and the accuracy of design formulae is studied. Furthermore, the viability of the design formulae for practical engineering is proved.

Seismic performance of recycled concrete-filled square steel tube columns

An experimental study on the seismic performance of recycled concrete-filled square steel tube （RCFST） columns is carried out. Six specimens were designed and tested under constant axial compression and cyclic lateral loading. Two parameters, replacement percentage of recycled coarse aggregate （RCA） and axial compression level, were considered in the test. Based on the experimental data, the hysteretic loops, skeleton curves, ductility, energy dissipation capacity and stiffness degradation of RCFST columns were analyzed. The test results indicate that the failure modes of RCFST columns are the local buckling of the steel tube at the bottom of the columns, and the hysteretic loops are full and their shapes are similar to normal CFST columns. Furthermore, the ductility coefficient of all specimens are close to 3.0, and the equivalent viscous damping coefficient corresponding to the ultimate lateral load ranges from 0.323 to 0.360, which demonstrates that RCFST columns exhibit remarkable seismic performance.

Axial Bearing Capacity of Short FRP Confined Concrete-filled Steel Tubular Columns

The bearing capacity of FRP confined concrete-filled steel tubular （FRP-CFST） columns under axial compression was investigated. This new type of composite column is a concrete-filled steel tube （CFST） confined with fiber-reinforced polymer （FRP） wraps. Totally 11 short column specimens were tested to failure under axial compression. The influences of the type and quantity of FRP, the thickness of steel tube and the concrete strength were studied. It was found that the bearing capacity of short FRP-CFST column was much higher than that of comparable CFST column. Furthermore, the formulas for calculating the bearing capacity of the FRP-CFST columns are proposed. The analytical calculated results agree well with the experimental results.

Strength Reliability Analysis of Stiffened Cylindrical Shells Considering Failure Correlation

The stiffened cylindrical shell is commonly used for the pressure hull of submersibles and the legs of offshore platforms. There are various failure modes because of uncertainty with the structural size and material properties, uncertainty of the calculation model and machining errors. Correlations among failure modes must be considered with the structural reliability of stiffened cylindrical shells. However, the traditional method cannot consider the correlations effectively. The aim of this study is to present a method of reliability analysis for stiffened cylindrical shells which considers the correlations among failure modes. Firstly, the joint failure probability calculation formula of two related failure modes is derived through use of the 2D joint probability density function. Secondly, the full probability formula of the tandem structural system is given with consideration to the correlations among failure modes. At last, the accuracy of the system reliability calculation is verified through use of the Monte Carlo simulation. Result of the analysis shows the failure probability of stiffened cylindrical shells can be gained through adding the failure probability of each mode.

Effect of contact thermal resistance on temperature distributions of concrete-filled steel tubes in fire

To predicate the temperature distribution of concrete-filled steel tubes(CFSTs) being exposure to fire,a finite element analysis model was developed using a finite element package,ANSYS.A suggested value of contact thermal resistance was therefore proposed with the supporting of massive numbers of collected test data.Parametric analysis was conducted subsequently towards the cross-sectional temperature distribution of CFST columns in four-side fire,in which the exposure time,width of the cross section,steel ratio were taken into account with considering contact thermal resistance.It was found that contact thermal resistance has little effect on the overall temperature regulation with the exposure time,the width of cross-section or the change of steel ratio.However,great temperature dropping at the concrete adjacent to the contact interface,and gentle temperature increase at steel tube,exist if considering contact thermal resistance.The results of the study are expected to provide theoretical basis for the fire resistance behavior and design of the CFST columns being exposure to fire.

Seismic Behavior of Diaphragm-Through Connections of Concrete-Filled Square Steel Tubular Columns and H-Shaped Steel Beams

Based on the introductions of a type of diaphragm-through connection between concrete-filled square steel tubular columns (CFSSTCs) and H-shaped steel beams,a finite element model of the connection is developed and used to investigate the seismic behavior of the connection.The results of the finite element model are validated by a set of cyclic loading tests.The cyclic loading tests and the finite element analyses indicate that the failure mode of the suggested connections is plastic hinge at the beam with inelastic rotation angle exceeding 0.04 rad.The suggested connections have sufficient strength,plastic deformation and energy dissipation capacity to be used in composite moment frames as beam-to-column rigid connections.

Dynamic Response of Stiffened Plates with Holes Subjected to Shock Waves and Fragments

The power field of shock waves and fragments is analyzed and set up, and the damage modes of stiffened plates are put forward. According to the structural characters of the stiffened plates investigated and the properties of the shock waves and fragments, the experiments on the shock waves acting on the stiffened plates (penetrated and non-penetrated by fragments) are mainly conducted. The dynamic response rules of stiffened plates with holes under shock waves and fragments loading are obtained. The results show that the penetration of fragments into stiffened plates hardly affects their deformation produced by shock waves..

Buckling and large deflection behaviors of radially functionally graded ring-stiffened circular plates with various boundary conditions

The buckling and large deflection behaviors of axis-symmetric radially functionally graded （RFG） ring-stiffened circular plates are investigated by the dynamic relaxation （DR） method combined with the finite difference discretization technique. The material properties of the constituent components of the RFG plate are assumed to vary continuously according to the Mori-Tanalka distribution along the radial direction. The nonlinear governing equations are obtained in the incremental form based on the firstorder shear deformation plate theory （FSDT） and the von Karman relations for large deflection. In the buckling analysis, an external in-plane load is applied to the plate in- crementally so that, in each load-step, the incremental form of the governing equations can be solved by a numerical code prepared based on the DR method. After converging the DR code in the first increment, the latter load-step is added to the previous one, and the program is repeated again. The critical buckling load is determined from the compressive load-displacement curve obtained by solving the incremental form of the governing equations. Based on the present incremental form of formulation, a bending analysis can also be conducted if the whole load is applied simultaneously. Finally, a detailed parametric study is carried out to investigate the influences of various boundary conditions, grading indices, thickness-to-radius ratios, stiffener＇s positions and depths on the critical buckling load, and displacements and stresses resulted from the bending analysis. It is observed that the effect of the stiffener on the results is much greater in the functionally graded plate with higher material grading indices. The results also reveal that, by increasing the depth of the stiffer, the values of ascending the critical buckling load are approximately identical for both simply supported and clamped boundary conditions.