Abstract
Piezoelectric actuators have long been recognised for use in aerospace structures for control of structural shape. This paper looks at active control of the swept shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction using smart flap actuators. The actuators are manufactured by bonding piezoelectric material to an inert substrate to control the bleed/suction rate through a plenum chamber. The cavity provides communication of signals across the shock, allowing rapid thickening of the boundary layer approaching the shock, which splits into a series of weaker shocks forming a lambda shock foot, reducing wave drag. Active control allows optimum control of the interaction, as it would be capable of positioning the control region around the original shock position and unimorph tip deflection, hence mass transfer rates. The actuators are modelled using classical composite material mechanics theory, as well as a finite element-modelling program (ANSYS 5.7).
Key Words
piezoelectric material; finite element modelling, design, smart structures technology; shock wave/boundary layer interaction.
Address
School of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, University College, UNSW, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Abstract
The flutter and buckling analysis of a beam structure subjected to a static follower force is completely studied in the paper. The beam is fixed in the transverse direction and constrained by a rotational spring at one end, and by a translational spring and a rotational spring at the other end. The co-existence of flutter and buckling in this beam due to the presence of the follower force is an interesting and important phenomenon. The results from this theoretical analysis will be useful for the stability design of structures in engineering applications, such as the potential of flutter control of aircrafts by smart materials. The transition-curve surface for differentiating the two distinct instability regions of the beam is first obtained with respect to the variations of the stiffness of the springs at the two ends. Second, the capacity of the follower force is derived for flutter and buckling of the beam as a function of the stiffness of the springs by observing the variation of the first two frequencies obtained from dynamic analysis of the beam. The research in the paper may be used as a benchmark for the flutter and buckling analysis of beams.
Key Words
flutter analysis; buckling analysis; stability of structures; linearized approach, structural analysis; Euler-Bernoulli beam; follower force.
Address
Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2450, USA
Abstract
Laminated composite structures find wide range of applications in many branches of technology. They are much suited for weight sensitive structures (like aircraft) where thinner and lighter members made of advanced fiber reinforced composite materials are used. The orientations of fiber direction in layers and number of layers and the thickness of the layers as well as material of composites play a major role in determining the strength and stiffness. Thus the basic design problem is to determine the optimum stacking sequence in terms of laminate thickness, material and fiber orientation. In this paper, a new optimization technique called Cellular Automata (CA) has been combined with Genetic Algorithm (GA) to develop a different search and optimization algorithm, known as Cellular Genetic Algorithm (CGA), which considers the laminate thickness, angle of fiber orientation and the fiber material as discrete variables. This CGA has been successfully applied to obtain the optimal fiber orientation, thickness and material lay-up for multi-layered composite hybrid beams plates and shells subjected to static buckling and dynamic constraints.
Abstract
Since the conventional direct approaches are hard to be applied for damage diagnosis of complex large-scale structures, a two-step approach for diagnosing the joint damage of framed structures is presented in this paper by using artificial neural networks. The first step is to judge the damaged areas of a structure, which is divided into several sub-areas, using probabilistic neural networks with natural Frequencies Shift Ratio inputs. The next step is to diagnose the exact damage locations and extents by using the Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network with the second Element End Strain Mode of the damaged sub-area input. The results of numerical simulation show that the proposed approach could diagnose the joint damage of framed structures induced by earthquake action effectively and has reliable anti-jamming abilities.
Key Words
framed structures; joint damage; damage diagnosis; element end strain mode; artificial neural network.
Address
W. L. Qu and W. Chen College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology Wuhan 430070, P.R. China Y. Q. Xiao Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Abstract
In this paper, multi-story buildings with shear-wall structures and with narrow rectangular plane configuration are modeled as a multi-step flexural-shear plate with varying cross-section for buckling analysis. The governing differential equation of such a plate is established. Using appropriate transformations, the equation is reduced to analytically solvable equations by selecting suitable expressions of the distribution of stiffness. The exact solutions for buckling of such a one-step flexural-shear plate with variable stiffness are derived for several cases. A new exact approach that combines the transfer matrix method and closed from solution of one-step flexural-shear plate with continuously varying stiffness is presented for stability analysis of multi-step non-uniform flexural-shear plate. A numerical example shows that the present methods are easy to implement and efficient.
Key Words
buckling; plates; tall buildings.
Address
Department of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, P.R. of China Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong
Abstract
This paper presents the lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) of beams or girders with continuous lateral support at top flange. Traditional moment gradient factors (Cb) given by AISC in LRFD Specification for Structural Steel Buildings and by AASHTO in LRFD Bridge Design Specifications were reviewed. Finite-element method buckling analyses of doubly symmetric I-shaped beams with continuous top bracing were conducted to develop new moment gradient factors. A uniformly distributed load was applied at midheight and either or both end moments were applied at the ends of beams. The proposed solutions are simple and accurate for use by engineers to determine the LTB resistance of beams.
Key Words
lateral stability; stability analysis; buckling; beam; bracing.
Address
Department of Civil Engineering, 238 Harbert Engineering Center, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5337, USA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea
Abstract
The structural intensity fields of rectangular plates with single cutout and multiple cutouts are studied. The main objective is to examine the effect of the presence of cutouts on the flow pattern of vibrational energy from the source to the sink on a rectangular plate. The computation of the structural intensity is carried out using the finite element method. The magnitude of energy flow is significantly larger at the edges on the plate near the cutout boundary parallel to the energy flow. The effects of cutouts with different shape and size at different positions on structural intensity of a rectangular plate are presented and discussed. A case study on a plate with two cutouts is also presented.
Key Words
structural intensity; vibration; plates; energy flow.
Address
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576
