Search results for "Structural engineering"
showing 10 items of 1998 documents
Project duration evaluated using affine arithmetic
2016
A civil engineering work can be performed by organizing the available resources (manpower, equipment and materials) in many different ways. Each different configuration results in a realization time and a cost that a building company has to bear. To produce reliable duration forecasts and money savings, it is essential to take into account all the uncertainties involved in the project operations. Generally, since it is impractical to process numerous uncertain variables - also undefined from a statistical point of view -, traditional probabilistic methods involve application difficulties for complex environments such as construction sites. To properly handle this issue, the authors propose …
α-stable distributions for better performance of ACO in detecting damage on not well spaced frequency systems
2014
Abstract In this paper, the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm is modified through α -stable Levy variables and applied to the identification of incipient damage in structural components. The main feature of the proposed optimization is an improved ability, which derives from the heavy tails of the stable random variable, to escape from local minima. This aspect is relevant since the objective function used for damage detection may have many local minima which render very challenging the search of the global minimum corresponding to the damage parameter. As the optimization is performed on the structural response and does not require the extraction of modal components, the method is pa…
Stochastic analysis of external and parametric dynamical systems under sub-Gaussian Levy white-noise
2008
In this study stochastic analysis of non-linear dynamical systems under α-stable, multiplicative white noise has been conducted. The analysis has dealt with a special class of α-stable stochastic processes namely sub-Gaussian white noises. In this setting the governing equation either of the probability density function or of the characteristic function of the dynamical response may be obtained considering the dynamical system forced by a Gaussian white noise with an uncertain factor with α/2- stable distribution. This consideration yields the probability density function or the characteristic function of the response by means of a simple integral involving the probability density function …
Evaluation of the shakedown limit load multiplier for stochastic seismic actions
2017
A new approach for the evaluation of the shakedown limit load multiplier for structures subjected to a combination of quasi-statically variable loads and seismic actions is presented. The common case of frame structures constituted by elastic perfectly plastic material is considered. The acting load history during the lifetime of the structure will be defined as a suitable combination of never ending quasi-statical loads, variable within an appropriate given domain, and stochastic seismic actions occurring for limited time interval. The proposed approach utilizes the Monte Carlo method in order to generate a suitable large number of seismic acceleration histories and the corresponding shake…
Design of sheet stamping operations to control springback and thinning: a multi-objective stochastic optimization approach
2010
Abstract The aim of this paper is to develop a design tool for stamping processes, which is able to deal with the scattering of the final part quality due to the inner variability of such operations. Such variability is one of the main drawbacks for a robust process design. It results in a scattering of the most significant process results and depends on several parameters. The so called noise factors greatly influence final result variability, which often means rejecting parts and anyway achieving final properties different from the specified ones. The process investigated in the paper is an S-shaped U-channel stamping operation carried out on a lightweight aluminum alloy of automotive int…
Non-linear optimization of track layouts in loop-sorting-systems
2013
Optimization used for enhancing geometric structures iswell known. Applying obstacles to the shape optimization problemis on the other hand not very common. It requires a fast contact search algorithmand an exact continuous formulation to solve the problem robustly. This paper focuses on combining shape optimization problemswith collision avoidance constraints by which a collision detection algorithmis presented. The presentedmethod is tested against the commercial loop-sorting-system used for sorting of medium sized items. The objective is to minimize price and footprint of the system whilemaintaining its functionality. Contact constraints are in this context important to include as variou…
A NEW PROGRESSIVE DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR COMPLEX SHEET METAL STAMPING OPERATIONS: COUPLING SPATIALLY DIFFERENTIATED RESTRAINING FORCES APPROACH AND M…
2010
The growing interest in sheet metal stamping processes, particularly in the automotive industry has led to three main issues in this field:*request of very complex shapes; *growing interest in springback control; *solution of multi-objective problems. These issues make a sheet metal stamping processes design very difficult and proper design methodologies to reduce times and costs are highly required. In this paper, a computer aided approach aiming to satisfy the mentioned issues is proposed. In particular, a progressive design approach based on the integration between numerical simulations, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Pareto optimal solutions search techniques was applied in orde…
Limit Analysis of Structures with Stochastic Strength Variations∗
1972
Abstract On the basis of a probabilistic fomulation of the fundamental theorems of “limit analysis,” a procedure is developed which allows, with a very limited amount of computing work, the determination of a domain containing the probability distribution curve of the collapse load factor of any structure that satisfies the usual conditions for validity of the limit analysis, but has randomly distributed limit strengths. Further improvements of the bounds thus obtained can be achieved by the equivalent of either the equilibrium or the kinematic methods of limit analysis.
Stochastic dynamics of linear elastic trusses in presence of structural uncertainties (virtual distortion approach)
2004
Structures involving uncertainties in material and/or in geometrical parameters are referred to as uncertain structures. Reliability analysis of such structures strongly depends on variation of parameters and probabilistic approach is often used to characterize structural uncertainties. In this paper dynamic analysis of linearly elastic system in presence of random parameter variations will be performed. In detail parameter fluctuations have been considered as inelastic, stress and parameter dependent superimposed strains. Analysis is then carried out via superposition principle accounting for response to external agencies and parameter dependent strains. Proposed method yields asymptotic s…
Approximate survival probability determination of hysteretic systems with fractional derivative elements
2018
Abstract A Galerkin scheme-based approach is developed for determining the survival probability and first-passage probability of a randomly excited hysteretic systems endowed with fractional derivative elements. Specifically, by employing a combination of statistical linearization and of stochastic averaging, the amplitude of the system response is modeled as one-dimensional Markovian Process. In this manner the corresponding backward Kolmogorov equation which governs the evolution of the survival probability of the system is determined. An approximate solution of this equation is sought by employing a Galerkin scheme in which a convenient set of confluent hypergeometric functions is used a…