Numerical analysis of cracked inelastic shells with large displacements or mixed mode loading

The trend in higher utilization of structural materials leads to a need for accurate numerical tools for reliable predictions of structural response. In some instances both material and geometrical nonlinearities are allowed for, typically in assessments of structural collapse or residual strength in damaged conditions. Dynamically loaded structures are prone to fatigue cracking; this has to be accounted for when computing nonlinear structural response. The present study addresses the performance of cracked inelastic shells with out-of-plane displacement not negligible compared to shell thickness. This situation leads to membrane force effects in the shell. Hence, a cracked part of the shell will be subjected to a nonproportional history of bending moment and membrane force, and e.g. fracture mechanics parameters (J-integral ) are affected. A Mindlin shell finite element based nonlinear program is developed and utilized herein. The cracked parts are accounted for by means of inelastic line spring elements. These elements also account for possible mode II deformations.     

Transition from progressive buckling to global bending of circular shells under axial impact––Part II: Theoretical analysis

This is the second paper of a two-part paper investigating the complex phenomenon of the dynamic transition from progressive buckling to global bending collapse of a long circular cylindrical shell subjected to an axial impact. The paper focuses on the theoretical analysis of the phenomenon. The two-phase concept for the deformation of ‘Type II’ structures is employed to explore the influence of the loading parameters and the material and geometrical characteristics of a shell on the critical length that marks the transition between the two collapse modes. Simple models for the initial compressive phase in the case of global bending and for the development of a single axisymmetric wrinkle in a circular shell, are used to analyse some numerical results presented in Part I of this study [International Journal of Solids and Structures 41 (2004) 1565].     

一种特殊梯度分布的功能梯度圆柱壳的二维分析

功能梯度材料是一种新型材料,其结构分析已成为当今力学研究的热点。本文对一种特殊梯度分布的功能梯度材料圆柱壳进行了二维精确分析。从弹性力学平面应变问题的基本方程出发,引入应力函数,导出功能梯度材料圆柱壳受静载作用下的控制微分方程。假设材料的杨氏模量沿半径方向呈幂函数分布,泊松比为常数,利用分离变量法,导出了简支边界情况下功能梯度圆柱壳的精确解。通过算例分析了不同梯度变化时,功能梯度圆柱壳内的应力和位移变化规律。计算结果表明不同梯度分布的圆柱壳结构中的应力、位移沿厚度方向的变化规律是不同的,有时甚至差别很大。因此对于材料性质梯度变化的功能梯度材料圆柱壳,必须针对其自身特点,建立相应的理论分析模型。     

任意边界条件下环肋圆柱壳振动特性的建模与求解

边界条件对环肋圆柱壳的振动特性有重要影响。基于能量法,把环肋看作离散模型,构建了任意边界条件下加环肋圆柱壳的动力学模型。采用一种改进的傅里叶级数作为位移容许函数,通过瑞利里兹程序求解结构的拉格朗日方程,得到环肋圆柱壳的振动模态和频响特性。通过与实验和有限元(FEM)方法的计算结果进行对比,验证了论文方法的准确性,在此基础上分析了环肋偏心方式、截面尺寸、位置分布和边界弹簧刚度等参数对环肋圆柱壳振动特性的影响。     

基于泰勒级数展开的区间反演方法

实际结构或构件的几何与材料参数总包含不确定性,在对结构计算模型进行精确分析时,有时需要对参数不确定性进行量化。本文提出了一种用于区间参数识别的反演方法,即基于泰勒级数展开式分别建立参数与响应的区间中值、区间半径的对应函数关系,并通过构建两个反演问题来分步识别参数区间中值和半径,以避免区间扩张现象和简化优化反演过程。通过数值质-弹系统初步验证了方法的可行性,然后基于一组钢板的动测数据,识别了钢板的几何及材料特性参数的区间范围。研究结果表明,本文方法具有良好的区间反演精度,能有效地避免区间扩张现象,可以用于实际工程区间问题的求解。     

On the effect of corrosion defects on the collapse pressure of pipelines

The loss of metal in a pipeline due to corrosion usually results in localized pits with various depths and irregular shapes on its external and internal surfaces. The effect of corrosion defects on the collapse pressure of offshore pipelines was studied through the combination of small-scale experiments with nonlinear numerical analyses based on the finite element method. After calibrated based on the experimental results, the model was used to determine the collapse pressure as a function of material and geometric parameters of different pipes and defects. An extensive parametric study using 2-D and 3-D numerical models was carried out encompassing different defect geometries and their interaction with pipe ovalization.     

Size dependent response of large shell elements under in-plane tensile loading

Large-scale thin-walled structures with a low weight-to-stiffness ratio provide the means for cost and energy efficiency in structural design. However, the design of such structures for crash and impact resistance requires reliable FE simulations. Large shell elements are used in those simulations. Simulations require the knowledge of the true stress–strain response of the material until fracture initiation. Because of the size effects, local material relation determined with experiments is not applicable to large shell elements. Therefore, a numerical method is outlined to determine the effect of element size on the macroscopic response of large structural shell elements until fracture initiation. Macroscopic response is determined by introducing averaging unit into the numerical model over which volume averaged equivalent stress and plastic strain are evaluated. Three different stress states are considered in this investigation: uniaxial, plane strain and equi-biaxial tension. The results demonstrate that fracture strain is highly sensitive to size effects in uniaxial tension whereas in plane strain or equi-biaxial tension size effects are much weaker. In uniaxial and plane strain tension the fracture strain for large shell elements approaches the Swift diffuse necking condition.     

Parameters identification of cable stayed footbridges using Bayesian inference

Numerical modeling of actual structural systems is a very complex task mainly due to the lack of complete knowledge on the involved parameters. Simplified assumptions on the uncertain geometry, material properties and boundary conditions make the numerical model response differ from the actual structural response. Improvements of the finite element (FE) models to obtain accurate response predictions can be achieved by vibration based FE model updating which uses experimental measures to minimize the differences between the numerical and experimental modal features (i.e. natural frequencies and mode shapes). Within this context, probabilistic model updating procedures based on the Bayes’ theorem were recently proposed in the literature in order to take into account the uncertainties affecting the structural parameters and their influence on the structural response. In this paper, a novel framework to efficiently estimate the posterior marginal PDF of the selected model parameters is proposed. First, the main dynamic parameters to be used for model updating are identified by ambient vibration tests on an actual structural system. Second, a first numerical FE model is developed to perform initial sensitivity analysis. Third, a surrogate model based on polynomial chaos is calibrated on the initial FE model to significantly reduce computational costs. Finally, the posterior marginal PDFs of the chosen model parameters are estimated. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated using a FE numerical model describing a curved cable-stayed footbridge located in Terni (Umbria Region, Central Italy).

     

基于等几何分析的结构优化设计研究进展

结构等几何分析是计算固体力学领域一种新兴的数值方法,致力于将CAD（计算机辅助设计）和CAE（计算机辅助工程）纳入到统一的数学表达框架。等几何分析紧密联系几何信息,采用相同的数学表达将几何精确建模、结构分析和设计过程结合,为结构优化设计提供了新的选择和机会。相比基于有限元的结构优化方法,等几何优化设计方法可在一定程度上提高结构优化的精度、效率和便利性。本文针对具有代表性的结构等几何优化设计,包括形状优化、尺寸优化和拓扑优化等问题,系统梳理和综述了主要的等几何优化方法及其在结构优化设计中的应用。比较分析和评述了结构等几何优化设计方法的算法特点及计算优势与劣势,探讨了基于等几何分析的结构优化研究的前沿问题,并展望了未来的发展方向,包括：基于复杂剪裁CAD几何的高效等几何分析与优化设计、基于实体几何构造的结构等几何分析和优化设计、等几何分析与其他力学分析方法结合的结构优化、基于等几何分析的壳体优化设计、基于等几何分析的材料和结构一体化优化设计以及考虑不确定性的结构等几何优化设计等。     

Interaction between snap-through and Eulerian instability in shallow structures

The multifold nature of structural instability problems necessitates a number of different kinds of analytical and numerical approaches. Furthermore, instability collapses of large-span roof sensitized the global community to reduce the effects of geometrical imperfections, then some limiting recommendations have been recently proposed. This study provides new insights into the interaction between the two different categories of structural instability and, for the first time, a unified theoretical evaluation of the critical load due to interaction is proposed. The snap-through phenomenon of 2D Von Mises arches was investigated by an incremental-displacement nonlinear analysis. At the same time, the equilibrium paths were considered in relation to the Eulerian buckling loads for the same structural systems. For each structural scheme the effect of the two governing parameters was investigated: slenderness and shallowness ratios. For these purposes, several original theoretical and numerical snap-through versus buckling interaction curves were obtained. These curves provide indications about the prevailing collapse mechanism with regards to the geometric configuration of the structure. Consequently, this innovative method is able to predict the actual instability of a wide range of mechanical systems. With this approach, it is possible also to establish the connection between the magnitude of structural imperfections (defects) and instability behavior. The proposed procedure is able to provide the effective critical load given by the interaction effect and to correlate the instability behavior to the maximum tolerable imperfection sizes.     

带有沙漏控制的相对自由度壳元非线性动力分析

针对八节点相对自由度壳单元，给出了单元内坐标和位移的插值公式，利用HuWashinzu变分原理，基于拟应变法，在大变形情况下推导了拟应变的表达式，构造了带有沙漏控制的动力问题的有限元求解格式。通过算例表明该文提出的基于相对自由度壳元的沙漏控制算法能够很好地解决非线性动力问题，可改善计算精度和计算效率。     

短柱型复合材料加筋壁板轴向压缩破坏分析方法研究

复合材料加筋结构可作为航空结构中的承力部件,其损伤与破坏对航空器的结构安全和服役性能至关重要．本文通过试验和数值仿真手段研究了短柱型复合材料结构压缩失效机理和极限承载力．通过短柱型单加筋板的轴向压缩破坏试验,分析梳理出界面脱粘和材料压溃两种典型失效形式;分别建立加筋板壳单元模型和实体单元模型,引入内聚力模型和Hashin 准则描述界面脱粘效应与材料破坏,结果表明壳单元模型配合内聚力模型和Hashin 准则可以有效地预测加筋板的极限承载力．分别讨论了加筋板长度、筋条高度、筋条/蒙皮刚度比等参数对加筋板的屈曲承载力的影响,为短柱型复合材料加筋壁板压缩损伤与破坏预测分析提供有益的参考．     

基于开放式结构有限元系统 SiPESC.FEMS平板壳单元研发

基于开放式结构有限元系统SiPESC.FEMS的单元计算模块的设计模式,研发设计一种通用的平板壳单元计算框架。考虑板壳单元的组合关系和程序编制过程中的重用性及灵活性等特点,采用了软件设计中的构造器(Builder)模式实现不同的组合单元。本框架具有很好的通用性和可扩展性,为有限元程序研发提供了一个新的方式;同时,系统能够处理复杂荷载和边界条件,并可灵活实现不同类型单元的组合分析。本文利用此方法构造五种平板壳单元,通过数值算例分析对比讨论其性能,为选取合适的平板壳单元类型进行结构数值分析提供参考。     

Compatible model for herringbone bond masonry: Linear elastic homogenization,failure surfaces and structural implementation

A simplified kinematic procedure at a cell level is proposed to obtain in-plane elastic moduli and macroscopic masonry strength domains in the case of herringbone masonry. The model is constituted by two central bricks interacting with their neighbors by means of either elastic or rigid-plastic interfaces with friction, representing mortar joints. The herringbone pattern is geometrically described and the internal law of composition of the periodic cell is defined.A sub-class of possible elementary deformations is a-priori chosen to describe joints cracking under in-plane loads. Suitable internal macroscopic actions are applied on the Representative Element of Volume (REV) and the power expended within the 3D bricks assemblage is equated to that expended in the macroscopic 2D Cauchy continuum. The elastic and limit analysis problem at a cell level are solved by means of a quadratic and linear programming approach, respectively.To assess elastic results, a standard FEM homogenization is also performed and a sensitivity analysis regarding two different orientations of the pattern, the thickness of the mortar joints and the ratio between block and mortar Young moduli is conducted. In this way, the reliability of the numerical model is critically evaluated under service loads.When dealing with the limit analysis approach, several computations are performed investigating the role played by (1) the direction of the load with respect to herringbone bond orientation, (2) masonry texture and (3) mechanical properties adopted for joints.At a structural level, a FE homogenized limit analysis is performed on a masonry dome built in herringbone bond. In order to assess limit analysis results, additional non-linear FE analyses are performed, including a full 3D numerical expensive heterogeneous approach and models where masonry is substituted with an equivalent macroscopic material with orthotropic behavior and possible softening. Reliable predictions of collapse loads and failure mechanisms are obtained, meaning that the approach proposed may be used by practitioners for a fast evaluation of the effectiveness of herringbone bond orientation.     

Limit analysis of masonry vaults by means of curved shell finite elements and homogenization

The study of masonry vaults should take into account the essentials of the material “masonry” – i.e. heterogeneity, almost no resistance to tension combined with a good compressive strength and a high friction coefficient, as well as the overall importance of the geometry for achieving the equilibrium.In this paper, a new six-noded triangular curved element, specifically developed for the kinematic limit analysis of masonry shells, is presented. Plastic dissipation is allowed only at the interfaces (generalized cylindrical hinges) between adjoining elements for combined membrane actions, bending moment, torsion and out-of-plane shear, as it is required for the analysis of thick (Reissner–Mindlin) shells. An upper bound of the collapse load is so obtained, since, looking at the dual formulation, the admissibility of the stress state is imposed only at the element boundaries. Masonry strength domain at each interface between contiguous triangular elements is evaluated resorting to a suitable upper bound FE homogenization procedure. The model is assessed through several numerical simulations on a number of masonry shells experimentally tested until collapse. In particular, the dependence of the collapse multiplier on the mesh and on the material parameters (sensitivity analysis) is thoroughly discussed.     

Identification of multiple directional damages in a thin cylindrical shell

In this paper, a structural damage identification method (SDIM) is developed to identify the line crack-like directional damages generated within a cylindrical shell. First, the equations of motion for a damaged cylindrical shell are derived. Based on a theory of continuum damage mechanics, a small material volume containing a directional damage is represented by the effective orthotropic elastic stiffness, which is dependent of the size and the orientation of the damage with respect to the global coordinates. The present SDIM is then derived from the frequency response function (FRF) directly solved from the equations of motion of a damaged shell. In contrast with most existing SDIMs which require the modal parameters measured in both intact and damaged states, the present SDIM may require only the FRF-data measured at damaged state. By virtue of utilizing FRF-data, one may choose as many sets of excitation frequency and FRF measurement point as needed to acquire a sufficient number of equations for damage identification analysis. The numerically simulated damage identification tests are conducted to study the feasibility of the present SDIM.     

基于SVM回归的圆柱壳体抗脉冲强度预估模型

在小子样结构响应试验数据样本的基础上,利用支持向量机回归的方法模拟了圆柱壳体动态极限应变峰值同壳体几何尺寸和外加脉冲载荷大小的非线性函数关系,同时通过改进的模拟退火单纯形混合算法优化了支持向量机的性能参数,并将支持向量机回归分析的预测性能同BP人工神经网络方法做了比较,验证了具有优化性能参数组合的支持向量机在小样本条件下更好的预测和推广能力. 最后,从支持向量机回归模型导出了大尺寸圆柱壳体抗脉冲载荷的强度极限同自身几何尺寸的多元函数关系,从而为该类型壳体设备抗脉冲载荷的强度分析提供了一个可借鉴的预估模型. 研究结果表明了支持向量机在机械结构的强度预估和可靠性分析等力学领域具有广泛的应用前景.      

2-D solution for free vibrations of parabolic shells using generalized differential quadrature method

The Generalized Differential Quadrature (GDQ) procedure is developed for the free vibration analysis of complete parabolic shells of revolution and parabolic shell panels. The First-order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT) is used to analyze the above moderately thick structural elements. The treatment is conducted within the theory of linear elasticity, when the material behaviour is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic. The governing equations of motion, written in terms of internal resultants, are expressed as functions of five kinematic parameters, by using the constitutive and kinematic relationships. The solution is given in terms of generalized displacement components of the points lying on the middle surface of the shell. The discretization of the system by means of the Differential Quadrature (DQ) technique leads to a standard linear eigenvalue problem, where two independent variables are involved. The results are obtained taking the meridional and circumferential co-ordinates into account, without using the Fourier modal expansion methodology. Several examples of parabolic shell elements are presented to illustrate the validity and the accuracy of GDQ method. Numerical solutions are compared with the ones obtained using commercial programs such as Abaqus, Ansys, Femap/Nastran, Straus, Pro/Mechanica. Very good agreement is observed. Furthermore, the convergence rate of natural frequencies is shown to be very fast and the stability of the numerical methodology is very good. The accuracy of the method is sensitive to the number of sampling points used, to their distribution and to the boundary conditions. Different typologies of non-uniform grid point distributions are considered. The effect of the distribution choice of sampling points on the accuracy of GDQ solution is investigated. New numerical results are presented.     

Wrinkling of tubes in bending from finite strain three-dimensional continuum theory

The problem of a tube under pure bending is first solved as a generalised plane strain problem. This then provides the prebifurcation solution, which is uniform along the length of the tube. The onset of wrinkling is then predicted by introducing buckling modes involving a sinusoidal variation of the displacements along the length of the tube. Both the prebuckling analysis and the bifurcation check require only a two-dimensional finite element discretisation of the cross-section with special elements. The formulation does not rely on any of the approximations of a shell theory, or small strains. The same elements can be used for pure bending and local buckling a prismatic beam of arbitrary cross-section. Here the flow theory of plasticity with isotropic hardening is used for the prebuckling solution, but the bifurcation check is based on the incremental moduli of a finite strain deformation theory of plasticity.For tubes under pure bending, the results for limit point collapse (due to ovalisation) and bifurcation buckling (wrinkling) are compared to existing analysis and test results, to see whether removing the approximations of a shell theory and small strains (used in the existing analyses) leads to a better prediction of the experimental results. The small strain analysis results depend on whether the true or nominal stress–strain curve is used. By comparing small and finite strain analysis results it is found that the small strain approximation is good if one uses (a) the nominal stress–strain curve in compression to predict bifurcation buckling (wrinkling), and (b) the true stress–strain curve to calculate the limit point collapse curvature.In regard to the shell theory approximations, it is found that the three-dimensional continuum theory predicts slightly shorter critical wrinkling wavelengths, especially for lower diameter-to-wall-thickness (D/t) ratios. However this difference is not sufficient to account for the significantly lower wavelengths observed in the tests.     

Refined Series Methodology for the Fully Coupled Thin-Walled Laminated Beams Considering Foundation Effects

The refined power series solutions are presented for the coupled static analysis of thin-walled laminated beams resting on elastic foundation. For this purpose, the elastic strain energy considering the material and structural coupling effects and the energy including the foundation effects are constructed. The equilibrium equations and the force-displacement relationships are derived from the extended Hamilton's principle, and the explicit expressions for displacement parameters are presented based on power series expansions of displacement components. Finally, the member stiffness matrix is determined by using the force-displacement relationships. For comparison, the finite element model based on the Hermite cubic interpolation polynomial is presented. In order to verify the accuracy and the superiority of the laminated beam element developed by this study, the numerical solutions are presented and compared with results obtained from the regular finite beam elements and the ABAQUS's shell elements. The influences of the fiber angle change and the boundary conditions on the coupled behavior of laminated beams with mono-symmetric I-sections are investigated.