Estimating Design Loads with Environmental Contour Approach Using Copulas for an Offshore Jacket Platform

Jacket-type offshore platforms are widely used for oil, gas field, and energy development in shallow water. The design of a jacket structure is highly dependent on target environmental variables. This study focuses on a strategy to estimate design loads for offshore jacket structures based on an environmental contour approach. In addition to the popular conditional distribution model, various classes of bivariate copulas are adopted to construct joint distributions of environmental variables. Analytical formulations of environmental contours based on various models are presented and discussed in this study. The design loads are examined by dynamic response analysis of jacket platform. Results suggest that the conditional model is not recommended for use in estimating design loads in sampling locations due to poor fitting results. Independent copula produces conservative design loads and the extreme response obtained using the conditional model are smaller than those determined by copulas. The suitability of a model for contour construction varies with the origin of wave data. This study provides a reference for the design load estimation of jacket structures and offers an alternative procedure to determine the design criteria for offshore structures.

Estimating Design Loads for Floating Structures Using Environmental Contours

Nonlinear time-domain simulations are often used to predict the structural response at the design stage to ensure the acceptable operation and/or survival of floating structures under extreme conditions.An environmental contour(EC)is commonly employed to identify critical sea states that serve as the input for numerical simulations to assess the safety and performance of marine structures.In many studies,marginal and conditional distributions are defined to construct bivariate joint probability distributions for variables,such as significant wave height and zero-crossing period.Then,ECs can be constructed using the inverse first-order reliability method(IFORM).This study adopts alternative models to describe the generalized dependence structure between environmental variables using copulas and discusses the Nataf transformation as a special case.ECs are constructed using measured wave data from moored buoys.Derived design loads are applied on a semisubmersible platform to assess possible differences.In addition,a linear interpolation scheme is utilized to establish a parametric model using short-term extreme tension distribution parameters and wave data,and the long-term tension response is estimated using Monte Carlo simulation.A 3D IFORM-based approach,in which the short-term extreme response that is ignored in the EC approach is used as the third variable,is proposed to help establish accurate design loads with increased accuracy.Results offer a clear illustration of the extreme responses of floating structures based on different models.

Load optimal design for a primary test stand facility based on a zero-dimensional load model

In order to couple the numerical simulation of a primary test stand driver with an optimal load design, a zero- dimensional wire array load model is designed based on the Saturn load model using PSPICE, which is an upgraded version of the Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis （SPICE） designed by the ORCAD Corporation to perform circuit simulations. This paper calculates different load parameters and discusses factors influencing the driving current curve. With appropriate driving current curves chosen, further magneto-hydrodynamic calculations are carried out and discussed to provide the best results for experiments. The suggested optimal load parameters play an important role in experimental load design.

The Development of Highly Loaded Turbine Rotating Blades by Using 3D Optimization Design Method of Turbomachinery Blades Based on Artificial Neural Network & Genetic Algorithm

In order to improve turbine internal efficiency and lower manufacturing cost, a new highly loaded rotating blade has been developed. The 3D optimization design method based on artificial neural network and genetic algorithm is adopted to construct the blade shape. The blade is stacked by the center of gravity in radial direction with five sections. For each blade section, independent suction and pressure sides are constructed from the camber line using Bezier curves. Three-dimensional flow analysis is carried out to verify the performance of the new blade. It is found that the new blade has improved the blade performance by 0.5%. Consequently, it is verified that the new blade is effective to improve the turbine internal efficiency and to lower the turbine weight and manufacturing cost by reducing the blade number by about 15%.

Topology optimization of 3D structures with design-dependent loads

Topology optimization of continuum structures with design-dependent loads has long been a challenge. In this paper, the topology optimization of 3D structures subjected to design-dependent loads is investigated. A boundary search scheme is proposed for 3D problems, by means of which the load surface can be identified effectively and efficiently, and the difficulties arising in other approaches can be overcome. The load surfaces are made up of the boundaries of finite elements and the loads can be directly applied to corresponding element nodes, which leads to great convenience in the application of this method. Finally, the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method is validated by several numerical examples.

Optimum Environmental Load Design Criterion for Marine Structures Based on Investment and Benefit Analysis

Marine structures operating in natural ocean environment are subjected to various stochastic loads. For design of the marine structures, the most important task is to determine environmental load design criterion. This paper presents a method to determine the optimum environmental load design criterion for marine structures. This method is based on the investment and benefit analysis and it can reach the design purpose of decreasing total costs during the service life of the structures and increasing economic benefits.

Analysis and design of axially loaded piles in rock

Despite significant advancements in in situ test techniques,construction practices,understanding of rock joint and rock mass behaviours,and numerical analysis methods,the design of bored concrete cast-insitu piles in rock is still largely based on the assessment of bearing capacity.However,for many of the rock conditions encountered,the bearing capacity of piles is a nebulous concept and a figment of the designer’s imagination.Even if it can be reasonably quantified,it has little,if any,significance to the performance of a pile in rock.The load carrying capacity of even low strength rock(in most situations)is far in excess of the strength of the structure(for example,a building column)transmitting the load.Unsatisfactory performance of a pile in rock is usually a displacement issue and is a function of rock mass stiffness rather than rock mass strength.In addition,poor pile performance is much more likely to result from poor construction practices than excessive displacement of the rock mass.Exceptions occur for footings that are undermined,or where unfavourable structure in the rock allows movement towards a free surface to occur.Standards,codes of practices,reference books and other sources of design information should focus foundation design in rock on displacement rather than strength performance.Ground investigations should measure rock mass stiffness and defect properties,as well as intact rock strength.This paper summarises the fundamental concepts relating to performance of piles in rock and provides a basis for displacement focused design of piles in rock.It also presents comments relating to how piles are modelled in widely used commercial finite element software for soil-structure interaction analysis,within the context of the back-analysis of a pile load test,and proposes recommendations for pile analysis and design.

Lightweight Design of Automobile Drive Shaft Based on the Characteristics of Low Amplitude Load Strengthening

There are two kinds of internationally recognized approaches in terms of lightweight design.One is based on fatigue accumulated damage theory to achieve better reliability by optimal structural design; another is to use high performance lightweight materials.The former method takes very few considerations on the structural strengthening effects caused by the massive small loads in service.In order to ensure safety,the design is usually conservative,but the strength potential of the component is not fully exerted.In the latter method,cost is the biggest obstacle to lightweight materials in automotive applications.For the purpose of light weighting design on a fuel cell vehicle,the new design method is applied on drive shafts.The method is based on the low amplitude load strengthening characteristics of the material,and allows the stress,corresponding to test load,to enter into the strengthened range of the material.Under this condition,the light weighting design should assure that the reliability of the shaft is not impaired,even maximizes the strength potential of machine part in order to achieve the weight reduction and eventually to reduce the cost.At last,the feasibility of the design is verified by means of strength analysis and modal analysis based on the CAD model of light weighted shaft.The design applies to the load case of half shaft in independent axle,also provides technological reference for the structural lightweight design of vehicles and other machineries.

Modular Combination Design of Mine Rescue Capsule Based on Load Simulation

Mine rescue capsule is a typical emergency equipment in a coal mine.It provides a safe and confined space for miners when mining disasters occurred.The length of the passenger survival cell is suitable to be adjusted with several predefined modular cells according to various numbers of passengers.Aiming at the shortage of guidance rules for the modular combination design of mine rescue capsule,the configuration situations of survival cells are experimented with static and impact load analysis in ANSYS Workbench.The length range of a single cell,the combination schemes of miner survival section,and the effectiveness proof of assembled rescue capsules were solved sequentially by simulated load analysis on constructed structural models.The modular combination rules of the survival section are developed for variant passenger number ranging from 8 to 20.It also provides a reference for the optimal selection of rescue capsules with the same capacity.The proposed modular rules are effective for the rapid configuration design for mine rescue capsule driven by the number of passengers.

Design and Performance Evaluation of a Sustained Load Dual Grip Creep Testing Machine

The design and performance evaluation of a sustained load creep testing machine was undertaken in this research. The design was motivated by the need to make locally available, a cost effective, technically efficient, and easily operated creep testing facility;for creep behaviour studies of materials. Design drawings and purchase of materials and components for the design were undertaken after thorough evaluation of the following design and materials selection criteria: design principle and theory, local availability of raw materials and components required for the design, material properties, cost of materials and design, ease of utilization and maintenance, and basis of testing and data capture. The machine casing and frame, heating chamber (consisting of the furnace and a dual specimen mounting stage), load lever and hanger system, and the electro-technical components;were fabricated and coupled following the produced design specifications. The machine was tested and its performance was assessed using its heating efficiency, repeatability and reproducibity of experimental test results, maintainability and cost-effectiveness as criteria. It was observed from repeat tests that the machine has the capacity of generating reliable data for computing creep strain-time results. The efficiency and temperature regulating capacity of the heating unit of the machine were also observed to be very satisfactory. The cost of the design was about 112,000 Naira ($700.00) which is cheaper in comparison to similar commercial creep testing machines from abroad. The machine was also found not to pose maintenance or repairs challenges.

Shape design of the reinforcement for bending load-carrying capacity of under-matched butt joint under four-point bending load

To improve the bending load-carrying capacity （ BLCC） of under-matched butt joint under four-point bending load in the elastic stage, the shape design of the reinforcement is studied based on the theoretics of mechanics of materials. The concept, criterion, realization condition and design proposal of equal bending load-carrying capacity （EBLCC） are put forward. The theoretical analysis results have been verified by the finite element method. The simulation results are coincident basically with the ones of theoretical analysis. The research results show that the shape design of the reinforcement of EBLCC can improve BLCC of under-matched butt joint and the unilateral-side type reinforcement can replace double-side symmetry

Design of Non-contact On-load Automatic Regulating Voltage Transformer

At present, an automatic-mechanic contact tap-changer is widely used in power system, but it can not frequently operate. In addition, arc will occur when the switch changes. In order to solve these two problems, this paper presented an automatic on-load voltage-regulating distributing transformer which employed non-contact solid-state relay as tap-changer, and mainly introduced its structure, basic principal, design method of each key link and experimental results. Laboratory simulation experiments informed that the scheme was feasible. It was a smooth and effective experiment device, which was practical in application.

落石被动柔性防护网非线性静力设计方法及验证

被动柔性防护网是一种常见的落石灾害防治措施。针对当前落石被动柔性防护网尚无适用的工程化设计方法的现状,以非线性计算过程中结构内能与设计防护能级相等作为加载完成的判别准则,建立了落石被动柔性防护网的非线性静力设计方法。基于LS-DYNA对250~5000 kJ共8种常用能级的被动柔性防护网开展非线性动力分析,明确了冲击力的分布范围及相对大小,形成了适用于不同能级落石被动柔性防护网非线性静力设计的荷载模式。为了有效模拟被动柔性防护网特殊的受力特征,开发了由索单元与受拉弹簧单元组成的非线性耗能单元用于耗能器模拟,开发了内部由多段索单元组成的滑移索单元用于滑移边界以及网环单元模拟。基于对网片冲击试验的反演和3500 kJ被动柔性防护网的设计及足尺冲击试验检验,验证了所提出的落石被动柔性防护网非线性静力设计方法的有效性。

考虑腐蚀和液舱晃荡影响的养殖水舱结构响应计算

The environment and structure of the tanks used in aquaculture vessels are remarkably different from those of ordinary ships,and the resulting problem of structural strength is related to breeding safety.In this study,a model of aquaculture tank corrosion was constructed by using the multiphysical field coupling analysis software COMSOL Multiphysics,and wave and sloshing loads were calculated on the basis of potential flow theory and computational fluid dynamics.The influence of different calculation methods for corrosion allowance and sloshing load on the structural responses of aquaculture tanks was analyzed.Through our calculations,we found that the corrosion of aquaculture tanks is different from that of ordinary ships.The corrosion allowance in Rules for the Classification of Sea-going Steel Ships is small,and the influence of the aquaculture environment on corrosion can be ignored.Compared with the method set in the relevant rules,our proposed coupling direct calculation method for the structural response calculation of aquaculture tanks can better combine the specific environment of aquaculture tanks and provide more accurate calculations.

基于热平衡法生成同时发生设计日的方法研究

提出了基于热平衡法生成同时发生设计日的方法.首先基于热平衡法计算某城市的历年逐时动态冷负荷,以历年平均不保证50 h为依据确定理论设计负荷,采用综合聚类法挑选同时发生设计日.用热平衡法计算同时发生设计日、传统设计日的峰值负荷,确定为同时发生设计负荷和传统设计负荷.分别对比了哈尔滨、北京、长沙和广州样本房间的同时发生设计负荷、传统设计负荷与理论设计负荷的差异率.结果显示,各城市同时发生设计负荷与理论设计负荷的差异率偏差范围都远小于传统设计负荷与理论设计负荷的差异率.说明依据同时发生设计日的气象参数进行空调系统设计负荷计算是更加合理、准确的,基于热平衡法可以准确生成适合工程应用的同时发生设计日.

复杂受荷下盾构隧道原型结构试验平台的研发与实证

盾构隧道结构在全寿命周期中往往将面临诸多复杂荷载状态,如注浆、偏载、偏转等非对称偏不利工况。为验证结构在这些复杂荷载状态下的适用性,探究结构力学性能,开展足尺原型结构试验研究往往是最为直接而有效的手段。既有原型试验主要关注隧道结构在简单对称荷载条件下的力学性能,鲜有关注复杂非对称荷载状态。为拓展原型试验的适用范围,提出了适用于不同断面盾构隧道结构的原型试验平台和用于模拟复杂荷载状态的试验荷载设计方法。该方法适用于任意加载点布置和液压站分组的试验系统,可对注浆、偏载、偏转等复杂荷载状态下结构响应进行精确模拟。通过类矩形盾构隧道、双圆隧道和圆形隧道的偏载原型结构试验研究,验证了试验平台和试验荷载设计方法的适用性。进一步针对试验关键参数的分析表明,控制目标权重系数的调整能有效满足不同的试验模拟要求;基于试验荷载设计方法优化的迭代算法能有效考虑计算模型或边界支承条件的非线性;环箍钢绞线和千斤顶的组合加载模式能将拟合误差水平降低至千斤顶加载模式的1/5,但需要删去部分加载点使试验荷载合理且适用;对于越复杂的结构和荷载,精确模拟结构状态需要的试验系统独立荷载组数越高,对试验平台的要求也越高。

Optimal Design of Deforming Regulation for Compact Continuous Rolling Mill with Balanced Load

If the draught of each mill stand is limited by forced bite condition for compact continuous mill,the rolling load difference between one mill stand and another is very big.If deforming regulation of relative load for each mill stand is approximate to the same,the productive capacity of compact continuous mill can be brought into full play,and also the safety running and the smooth rolling of mill can be ensured.

国内外建筑围护结构风荷载规范对比研究

针对围护结构设计风荷载,分析了如下风荷载规范中的相关规定:中国GB 50009—2012、中国JGJ/T 481—2019、美国ASCE/SEI 7⁃16、日本AIJ⁃2015、澳大利亚/新西兰AS/NZS 1170.2:2021、欧洲BS EN 1991⁃1⁃4:2005、加拿大NBCC 2015。分析结果表明,国内外围护结构风荷载规范的理论基础主要包括准定常理论和风压极值理论,均将设计风荷载表示成设计风速与设计风压系数的乘积;设计风速的确定需要考虑地貌、局部地形、季节、风向、相邻建筑干扰等因素的影响,各国规范对这些因素考虑的详尽程度不一;设计风压系数则需要考虑来流湍流和特征湍流共同作用下风压的时间随机性和空间分布不均匀性、不同方向来流时建筑表面风压的差异性、建筑表面风压相关性等因素,各国规范均通过风压分区和面积折减较好地考虑了这些因素,不同之处在于不同规范所涵盖的建筑体型、考虑建筑几何参数影响的风压分区结果及面积折减的特征有所区别。

Optimal seismic design of reinforced concrete structures under timehistory earthquake loads using an intelligent hybrid algorithm

A reliable seismic-resistant design of structures is achieved in accordance with the seismic design codes by designing structures under seven or more pairs of earthquake records. Based on the recommendations of seismic design codes, the average time-history responses （ATHR） of structure is required. This paper focuses on the optimal seismic design of reinforced concrete （RC） structures against ten earthquake records using a hybrid of particle swarm optimization algorithm and an intelligent regression model （IRM）. In order to reduce the computational time of optimization procedure due to the computational efforts of time-history analyses, IRM is proposed to accurately predict ATHR of structures. The proposed IRM consists of the combination of the subtractive algorithm （SA）, K-means clustering approach and wavelet weighted least squares support vector machine （WWLS-SVM）. To predict ATHR of structures, first, the input-output samples of structures are classified by SA and K-means clustering approach. Then, WWLS-SVM is trained with few samples and high accuracy for each cluster. 9- and 18-storey RC frames are designed optimally to illustrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed IRM. The numerical results demonstrate the efficiency and computational advantages of IRM for optimal design of structures subjected to time-history earthquake loads.

长条形件杂货集装箱化的智慧分拣系统设计与管理研究

以具备标准化运输的长条形件杂货为研究对象,参考标准40英尺集装箱以及现有件杂货装卸设备的尺寸结构,设计从存储到装卸分拣的智能设备和一体化系统。通过数值计算、应用CAD构图和三维模型对智慧分拣系统进行结构分析,并配合作业流程标准化设计,提出可适用于长条形件杂货集装箱化的智慧分拣系统实现方案。仿真模拟的结果表明,长条形件杂货集装箱化后箱体立体化堆叠效果可将土地利用率提高1.6~2.4倍,构建的智慧分拣系统能够减少5倍的人力需求并提高近2.4倍的装卸效率。智慧分拣系统的设计打破人工作业能力限制,满足高峰生产作业时段对效率的需求,也为件杂货智慧港口的发展提供了参考方向。