GEOMETRICALLY NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT MODEL OF SPATIAL THIN-WALLED BEAMS WITH GENERAL OPEN CROSS SECTION

Based on the theory of Timoshenko and thin-walled beams, a new finite element model of spatial thin-walled beams with general open cross sections is presented in the paper, in which several factors are included such as lateral shear deformation, warp generated by nonuni- form torsion and second-order shear stress, coupling of flexure and torsion, and large displacement with small strain. With an additional internal node in the element, the element stiffness matrix is deduced by incremental virtual work in updated Lagrangian （UL） formulation. Numerical examples demonstrate that the presented model well describes the geometrically nonlinear property of spatial thin-walled beams.

Modeling and Free Vibration Behavior of Rotating Composite Thin-walled Closed-section Beams with SMA Fibers

Smart structure with active materials embedded in a rotating composite thin-walled beam is a class of typical structure which is using in study of vibration control of helicopter blades and wind turbine blades. The dynamic behavior investigation of these structures has significance in theory and practice. However, so far dynamic study on the above-mentioned structures is limited only the rotating composite beams with piezoelectric actuation. The free vibration of the rotating composite thin-walled beams with shape memory alloy（SMA） fiber actuation is studied. SMA fiber actuators are embedded into the walls of the composite beam. The equations of motion are derived based on Hamilton＇s principle and the asymptotically correct constitutive relation of single-cell cross-section accounting for SMA fiber actuation. The partial differential equations of motion are reduced to the ordinary differential equations of motion by using the Galerkin＇s method. The formulation for free vibration analysis includes anisotropy, pitch and precone angle, centrifugal force and SMA actuation effect. Numerical results of natural frequency are obtained for two configuration composite beams. It is shown that natural frequencies of the composite thin-walled beam decrease as SMA fiber volume and initial strain increase and the decrease in natural frequency becomes more significant as SMA fiber volume increases. The actuation performance of SMA fibers is found to be closely related to the rotational speeds and ply-angle. In addition, the effect of the pitch angle appears to be more significant for the lower-bending mode ones. Finally, in all cases, the precone angle appears to have marginal effect on free vibration frequencies. The developed model can be capable of describing natural vibration behaviors of rotating composite thin-walled beam with active SMA fiber actuation. The present work extends the previous analysis done for modeling passive rotating composite thin-walled beam.

Nonlinear Free Vibration Analysis of Thin-walled Curved Beam with Non-symmetric Open Cross Section

A finite element formulation was presented for the nonlinear free vibration of thin-walled curved beams with non-symmetric open across section. The kinetic and potential energies were derived by the virtual principle. The energy function includes the effect of fiexural-torsional coupling, the torsion warping and the shear centre location. For finite element analysis, cubic polynomials were utilized as the shape functions of the two nodal thin-walled curved elements. Each node possesses seven degrees freedom including the warping degree of freedom. The nonlinear eigenvalue problem was solved by the direct iteration technique. The results are compared with those for straight beams as available in the literature. The results for nonlinear free vibration analysis of curved beams for various radii and subtended angle are presented.

A new finite element of spatial thin-walled beams

Based on the theories of Timoshenko＇s beams and Vlasov＇s thin-walled members, a new spatial thin-walled beam element with an interior node is developed. By independently interpolating bending angles and warp, factors such as transverse shear deformation, torsional shear deformation and their Coupling, coupling of flexure and torsion, and second shear stress are considered. According to the generalized variational theory of Hellinger-Reissner, the element stiffness matrix is derived. Examples show that the developed model is accurate and can be applied in the finite element analysis of thinwalled structures.

Elastic buckling analysis and optimization of thin-walled bamboo-like pipe beam subjected to pure bending

In this paper,a stiffening design imitating the bamboo node is proposed for weight reduction of the long composite pipe beam subjected to bending load.The distribution of bamboo nodes can efficiently suppress the ovalization of the section,thus significantly improving the bending resistance of the bamboo.Based on this principle,ring stiffeners are proposed to be fixed to the pipe beam,making the long beam equivalent to the combination of a series of short pipes that suffered less section ovalization.A database of the optimal laminate orientations for different normalized lengths is obtained through optimizations,where the discreteness of the ply count is considered.Based on this database,weight optimizations are conducted,and the optimal designs of beams with and without stiffeners are obtained and compared.The comparison results show that the proposed bamboo-like stiffened beam not only regains a near-linear load–displacement relationship,but also reduces the weight by up to 16%under the same buckling load.In addition,it is found that for the pipe beams with radius-to-thickness ratios of more than 18,increasing the radius leads to a decrease in elastic buckling resistance when the weight remains a constant,which is opposite to the design for strength and stiffness.The model and database developed in this paper can provide a reference for weight reduction design and weight estimation for composite pipe beams.

A Quick and Practical Approach for Concept-design of Submerged Thin-walled Stiffened Cylinders

Goal based and limit state design is nowadays a well-established approach in many engineering fields.Ship construction rules started introducing such concepts since early 2000.However,classification societies’rules do not provide hints on how to verify limit states and to determine the structural layout of submerged thin-walled stiffened cylinders,whose most prominent examples are submarines.Rather,they generally offer guidance and prescriptive formulations to assess shell plating and stiffening members.Such marine structures are studied,designed and built up to carry payloads below the sea surface.In the concept-design stage,the maximum operating depth is the governing hull scantling parameter.Main dimensions are determined based on the analysis of operational requirements.This study proposes a practical conceptdesign approach for conceptual submarine design,aimed at obtaining hull structures that maximize the payload capacity in terms of available internal volume by suitably adjusting structural layout and stiffening members’scantling,duly accounting for robustness and construction constraints as well as practical fabrication issues.The proposed scantling process highlights that there is no need of complex algorithms if sound engineering judgment is applied in setting down rationally the hull scantling problem.A systematic approach based on a computer-coded procedure developed on purpose was effectively implemented and satisfactorily applied in design practice.

Large Deflection Dynamic Response Analysis of Flexible Hull Beams by the Multibody System Method

In this paper the large deflection dynamic problems of Euler beams are investigated. The vibration control equations are derived based on the multibody system method. A numerical procedure for solving the resulting differential algebraic equations is presented on the basis of the Newmark direct integration method combined with the Newton-Raphson iterative method. The sub beams are treated as small deformation in the convected coordinate systems, which can greatly simplify the deformation description. The rigid motions of the sub beams are taken into account through the motions of the convected coordinate systems. Numerical ex- amples are carried out, where results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A nonlinear explicit dynamic GBT formulation for modeling impact response of thin-walled steel members

A nonlinear explicit dynamic finite element formulation based on the generalized beam theory(GBT)is proposed and developed to simulate the dynamic responses of prismatic thin-walled steel members under transverse impulsive loads.Considering the rate strengthening and thermal softening effects on member impact behavior,a modified Cowper-Symonds model for constructional steels is utilized.The element displacement field is built upon the superposition of GBT cross-section deformation modes,so arbitrary deformations such as cross-section distortions,local buckling and warping shear can all be involved by the proposed model.The amplitude function of each cross-section deformation mode is approximated by the cubic non-uniform B-spline basis functions.The Kirchhoff s thin-plate assumption is utilized in the construction of the bending related displacements.The Green-Lagrange strain tensor and the second Piola-Kirchhoff(PK2)stress tensor are employed to measure deformations and stresses at any material point,where stresses are assumed to be in plane-stress state.In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed GBT model,three numerical cases involving impulsive loading of the thin-walled parts are given.The GBT results are compared with those of the Ls-Dyna shell finite element.It is shown that the proposed model and the shell finite element analysis has equivalent accuracy in displacement and stress.Moreover,the proposed model is much more computationally efficient and structurally clearer than the shell finite elements.

基于准静态法的船体梁极限强度试验设计方法

为了应对采用传统试验法求解船体梁极限强度问题时存在的成本较高的情况,有必要在开展试验之前进行预设计。针对船体梁极限强度试验预设计问题,采用四点弯曲理论对船体梁极限强度开展试验设计,给出具体的试验工装设计方案和加载方案,并采用准静态法分析该方案在中拱状态下的极限强度。将采用该方法所得计算结果与理想状态下的数值计算结果相对比对比,结果发现误差仅为0.08%,表明该试验设计方案可靠、可行。研究结果可为船体梁极限强度试验的开展提供参考。

Application of stiffness matrix of a beam element considering section distortion effect

According to the stationary principle of potential energy and the generalized coordinate method, a stiffness matrix of a beam element considering distortion effects is derived. Using the stiffness matrix of the beam element, a finite element program for computing thin-walled box steel beams is developed. And the program can take the section distortion and warping effects into account. The influences of diaphragm spacing on the mechanical behavior of thin-walled box beams are analyzed by the program. The numerical analysis shows that setting diaphragms have the greatest influence on the distortion normal stress, while there is very little influence on the bending normal stress. Only when the distance of adjacent diaphragms decreases to a certain value, will the distortion normal stress in the thin-walled box beam obviously reduce under the distortion load. Finally, a distortion-warping coefficient γ is introduced for simplifying the calculation of the longitudinal normal stress of thin-walled box beams. When the ratio of diaphragms adjacent space L to the maximum section dimension H is less than 2, the distortion-warping coefficient γ tends to one, which means that the distortion normal stress of the thin-walled box beam tends to zero, and the effect of the section distortion can be ignored.

基于动刚度法的水面船舶桨-轴-船体耦合系统

为分析在低频段内船体两侧螺旋桨激励相位差对船体振动的影响,基于动刚度法建立水面船舶桨-轴-船体耦合系统的横向振动3梁耦合模型。将动刚度法的计算结果与有限元法进行对比,表明动刚度法具有良好的精度。分析桨-轴-船体耦合系统的垂向固有振动特性。在低频段内该系统主要表现为船体梁的振动,推进轴系对船体梁的固有特性影响较小。对左右双桨分别施加不同相位差的单位垂向简谐力,计算由各轴承位置输入至船体梁的功率流。结果表明,双桨激励相位差的增大会使输入至船体梁的功率流变小。因此,在对桨-轴-船体耦合系统的横向振动控制方面,应重点关注双桨激励相位差较大时的工况。

一种封闭式扭力梁异响问题的诊断与排除

在汽车底盘零部件轻量化设计过程中,封闭式扭力梁得到了越来越广泛的应用,在封闭式扭力梁降低产品重量、提升产品性能的同时,异响问题也随之而来。本文以某封闭式扭力梁为例,通过台架验证、CAE仿真分析,对封闭梁异响问题的来源、规避等问题进行验证。验证结果表明,规避封闭梁异响问题,设计上从横梁内外层之间的摩擦方向进行考虑,比如横梁内外层之间保证零间隙、横梁两端打凸包;工艺上可考虑横梁内腔注油等。

Finite difference modeling of sinking stage curved beam based on revised Vlasov equations

For the static analysis of the sinking stage curved beam, a finite difference model was presented based on the proposed revised Vlasov equations. First, revised Vlasov equations for thin-walled curved beams with closed sections were deduced considering the shear strain on the mid-surface of the cross-section. Then, the finite difference formulation of revised Vlasov equations was implemented with the parabolic interpolation based on Taylor series. At last, the finite difference model was built by substituting geometry and boundary conditions of the sinking stage curved beam into the finite difference formulation. The validity of present work is confirmed by the published literature and ANSYS simulation results. It can be concluded that revised Vlasov equations are more accurate than the original one in the analysis of thin-walled beams with closed sections, and that present finite difference model is applicable in the evaluation of the sinking stage curved beam.

A new beam element for analyzing geometrical and physical nonlinearity

Based on Timoshenko＇s beam theory and Vlasov＇s thin-walled member theory, a new model of spatial thin-walled beam element is developed for analyzing geometrical and physical nonlinearity, which incorporates an interior node and independent interpolations of bending angles and warp and takes diversified factors into consideration, such as traverse shear deformation, torsional shear deformation and their coupling, coupling of flexure and torsion, and the second shear stress. The geometrical nonlinear strain is formulated in updated Lagarange （UL） and the corresponding stiffness matrix is derived. The perfectly plastic model is used to account for physical nonlinearity, and the yield rule of von Mises and incremental relationship of Prandtle-Reuss are adopted. Elastoplastic stiffness matrix is obtained by numerical integration based on the finite segment method, and a finite element program is compiled. Numerical examples manifest that the proposed model is accurate and feasible in the analysis of thin-walled structures.

Shear deformable finite beam elements for composite box beams

The shear deformable thin-walled composite beams with closed cross-sections have been developed for coupled flexural, torsional, and buckling analyses. A theoretical model applicable to the thin-walled laminated composite box beams is presented by taking into account all the structural couplings coming from the material anisotropy and the shear deformation effects. The current composite beam includes the transverse shear and the restrained warping induced shear deformation by using the first-order shear deformation beam theory. Seven governing equations are derived for the coupled axial-flexural-torsional-shearing buckling based on the principle of minimum total potential energy. Based on the present analytical model, three different types of finite composite beam elements, namely, linear, quadratic and cubic elements are developed to analyze the flexural, torsional, and buckling problems. In order to demonstrate the accuracy and superiority of the beam theory and the finite beam elements developed by this study,numerical solutions are presented and compared with the results obtained by other researchers and the detailed threedimensional analysis results using the shell elements of ABAQUS. Especially, the influences of the modulus ratio and the simplified assumptions in stress-strain relations on the deflection, twisting angle, and critical buckling loads of composite box beams are investigated.

Feasibility of developing composite action between concrete and cold-formed steel beam

Cold-formed steel structures are steel structure products constructed from sheets or coils using cold rolling, press brake or bending brake method. These structures are extensively employed in building construction industry due to their light mass, ductility by economic cold forming operations, favorable strength-to-mass ratio and other factors. The utilization of cold formed steel sections with concrete as composite can hugely reduce the construction cost. However, the use of cold formed steel members in composite concrete beams has been very limited. A comprehensive review of developments in composite beam with cold formed steel sections was introduced. It was revealed that employing cold-formed steel channel section to replace reinforcement bars in conventional reinforced concrete beam results in a significant cost reduction without reducing strength capacity. The use of composite beam consisting of cold-formed steel open or close box and filled concrete could also reduce construction cost. Lighter composite girder for bridges with cold-formed steel of U section was introduced. Moreover, types of shear connectors to provide composite action between cold-formed steel beam and concrete slab were presented. However, further studies to investigate the effects of metal decking on the behavior of composite beam with cold-formed steel section and introduction of ductile shear connectors were recommended.

CFRP修复的FPSO点蚀船体梁极限强度分析

采用非线性有限元法对中拱和中垂工况条件下碳纤维增强聚合物(Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer,CFRP)修复的浮式生产储卸油装置(Floating Production Storage and Offloading,FPSO)点蚀船体梁极限强度进行仿真分析。对比FPSO的完整船体梁、点蚀船体梁和CFRP修复的点蚀船体梁的中拱极限弯矩和中垂极限弯矩,分析CFRP对FPSO点蚀船体梁的修复效果,并分析胶层失效规律。结果表明,CFRP可为船舶的高效修复提供一种新的方式。

Restrained torsion of open thin-walled beams including shear deformation effects

A first-order torsion theory based on Vlasov theory has been developed to investigate the restrained torsion of open thin-walled beams. The total rotation of the cross section is divided into a free warping rotation and a restrained shear rotation. In first-order torsion theory, St. Venant torque is only related to the free warping rotation and the expression of St. Venant torque is derived by using a semi-inverse method. The relationship between the warping torque and the restrained shear rotation is established by using an energy method. The torsion shear coefficient is then obtained. On the basis of the torsion equilibrium, the governing differential equation of the restrained torsion is derived and the corresponding initial method is given to solve the equation. The relationship between total rotation and flee warping rotation is obtained. A parameter λ, which is associated with the stiffness property of a cross section and the beam length, is introduced to determine the condition, under which the St. Venant constant is negligible. Consequently a simplified theory is derived. Numerical examples are illustrated to validate the current approach and the results of the current theory are compared with those of some other available methods. The results of comparison show that the current theory provides more accurate results, In the example of a channel-shaped cantilever beam, the applicability of the simplified theory is determined by the parameter study of λ.

A geometrical and physical nonlinear finite element model for spatial thin-walled beams with arbitrary section

Based on the theories of Bernoulli-Euler beams and Vlasov's thin-walled members,a new geometrical and physical nonlinear beam element model is developed by applying an interior node in the element and independent interpolations on bending angles and warp,in which factors such as traverse shear deformation,torsional shear deformation and their coupling,coupling of flexure and torsion,and second shear stress are all considered.Thereafter,geometrical nonlinear strain in total Lagarange(TL) and the corresponding stiffness matrix are formulated.Ideal plastic model is applied to physical nonlinearity to comply with the yield rule of Von Mises and incremental relationship of Prandtle-Reuss.Elastoplastic stiffness matrix is derived by numerical integration on the basis of the finite segment method.Examples show that the developed model is feasible in analysis of thin-walled structures with high accuracy.

Unveiling the Mechanism Behind the Asymmetric Bending Compliance of Thin-Walled U-Shaped Strips:A Study Inspired by Plant Leaves

Inspired by the shape of some plant leaves,we find that the thin-walled U-shaped strips exhibit different compliances under bending with opposite orientations.The asymmetric bending compliance is attributed to the buckling of sidewalls of strips caused by the bending-induced compression.Integrating the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory with the Kirchhoff-Love thin plate theory,a theoretical model is derived for the in-depth understanding of the sidewall buckling.For pure bending,the critical moment applied to the strip for the sidewall buckling is found to be insensitive to the height,width and length of strip,which is the result of the compromise between the opposite geometric effects on the buckling behavior of sidewalls and the characteristics of cross sections.Then the critical moment can be approximated as a linear function of flexural rigidity DEt^(3)/12(1-ν^(2)),where t is the wall thickness of strip,E is Young’s modulus,and v is Poisson’s ratio.These predictions by our model agree well with the results obtained by finite element analysis.We also investigate the buckling behavior of sidewalls for bending under transverse loads,considering the loading conditions of concentrated force and distributed force.Our study unveils the mechanism behind the asymmetric bending compliance of thin-walled U-shaped strips.These results would offer convenient guidance for the promising engineering applications related to this structure,such as the design of soft robots with enhanced locomotion performance.