Modal testing of an avlb bridge

Experimental Techniques -     

Seismic behavior of insulated hollow-brick cavity walls using quasi-static experimentation

This paper focuses on an experimental investigation of different types of insulated hollow-brick cavity walls, i.e., walls with a door opening, with a window opening and without any opening, characterized with different tie bar arrangements, subjected to slowly applied cyclic loads. The cracking and damage patterns, strength and stiffness degradation and deterioration, energy dissipation capacity and hysteretic feature are analyzed. Based on the experimental results, the formulae of calculation for the cracking load and the ultimate load of cavity wall are mathematically established. The evaluation equation of strength and stiffness degradation of walls is presented and its parameters are numerically given from regression results. The original characteristic curves of recovery force-displacement of actual specimens under cyclic loads are discussed, and then a standard recovery force-displacement model is suggested with convenient forms for implementation.     

武汉地区地震效应影响研究

虽然武汉市地震影响及地震危险性的水平较低 ,强震也不是武汉市工程地质环境的主要问题 ,但在城市生命线工程和高层超高层建筑方面必须考虑单体抗震设防。而且 ,随着武汉市城市建设的不断发展 ,地震效应影响逐渐成为武汉市工程地质环境评价的一个重要因子。文章在分析了武汉地区地震动衰减规律 ,进行了地震危险性评价 ,深入研究了各土层动力参数性质的基础上 ,指出武汉地区地震地面破坏主要存在砂土液化和软土震陷两种型式及各自可能的空间分布.     

PATH INTEGRAL SOLUTION OF NONLINEAR DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF STRUCTURE UNDER WIND EXCITATION

IntroductionThe dynamic behavior of the nonlinear structure under wind excitation has beenobserved very complicated.Taking guyed masts as an example,only a few collapsingaccidents occurred under extreme atmospheric conditions[1],many took place under mild…     

Diffuse mode bifurcation of soil causing convection-like shear investigated by group-theoretic image analysis

Diffuse mode bifurcation of soil under plane-strain compression test is shown, by means of an image analysis based on group-theoretic bifurcation theory, to trigger convection-like shear and to precede shear band formation. First digital photos of Toyoura sand specimens are processed by PIV (particle image velocimetry) to gather digitized images of deformation. Next bifurcation from a uniform state is detected by expanding these images into the double Fourier series and finding a predominant harmonic diffuse bifurcation mode based on that theory. This harmonic bifurcation mode, which is the mixture of a few harmonic functions, expresses complex convection-like shear. Last bifurcation from a non-uniform state is detected by decomposing each image into a few images with different symmetries to extract non-harmonic diffuse bifurcation modes. Diffuse modes of bifurcation, which hitherto were hidden behind predominant uniform compressive deformation, have thus been made transparent by virtue of the group-theoretic image analysis proposed. A possible course of deformation suggested herein is the evolution of diffuse mode bifurcation with a convection-like bifurcation mode breaking uniformity and symmetry, followed by the formation of shear bands through localization.     

Connection between static electromagnetoelasticity and anisotropic elasticity and its applications

Connection between electromagnetoelasticity and anisotropic elasticity is explored in the state space setting. In the absence of electric charges and currents, the basic equations of static electromagnetoelasticity are formulated into a state equation and an output equation, which bear a remarkable resemblance to the corresponding equations of elasticity. Accordingly, the solutions for various steady-state problems of electromagnetoelasticity can be determined in parallel to their elastic counterparts. For illustration, the generalized plane problems are treated within the context. Exact solutions for the electromagnetoelastic fields in a half-space subjected to line loads and in an infinite plate with an elliptic notch under extension are determined in a simple way.     

A simple BEM formulation for poroelasticity via particular integrals

A simple particular integral formulation is presented for poroelastic analysis. The elastostatics and steady-state potential flow equations are used as the complementary solution. A set of global shape functions is considered to approximate the pore pressure loading term in the poroelastic equation, the transient terms of pore pressure and displacements in the pore fluid flow equation to obtain the particular integrals for displacement, traction, pore pressure and flux.Numerical results for four plane problems of soil consolidation are given and compared with their analytical solutions to demonstrate the accuracy of the present formulation. Generally, agreement among all of those results is satisfactory if a few interior points are added to the usual boundary elements.     

Numerical Analysis of Structural Systems Subjected to Non-Gaussian Random Fields

This paper deals with the stochastic response of structures loaded by non-Gaussian random fields. A finite element model is used to describe a cantilever beam assuming both linear and non-linear behavior. The cross-correlated stochastic field is generated by a numerical procedure based on the translation processes theory. The marginal distribution of the load is assumed to be lognormal and the correlation structure is based on the second-order Markov process. The statistical analysis of the results highlights the effects of the involved non-linearity and non-Gaussianity properties on the structures response.     

An investigation of the stability in the large for an autonomous second-order two-degree-of-freedom system

An extension to an algorithm due to Simpson has been developed for the analysis of a second-order two-degree-of-freedom autonomous system. The form of equations considered arises from the study of mechanical systems with a single concentrated non-linearity and the method assumes a solution made up of harmonic terms whose amplitudes vary slowly in time. For a system possessing a stable equilibrium point and an unstable limit cycle arising from a subcritical Hopf bifurcation, the method has been applied to the problem of predicting the basin of attraction of the equilibrium point. The method reduces the problem from a search in four-dimensional phase space to a search for a boundary in a plane defined by amplitudes a₁ and a₂ in the assumed form of the solution. The method was applied to four weakly non-linear systems in which the non-linearity was due to either a linear spring with a small amount of cubic hardening or a linear spring with freeplay. Agreement was shown to be good in the cases considered. However, it would be expected that the method would not give such accurate results if the non-linear effect was more significant. This was illustrated for the case of the cubic hardening non-linearity.     

Experimental comparison of two laser-based velocimeters for flows with alluvial sand

 Nonintrusive measurements in a sediment-laden flow using two laser-based techniques, Discriminator Laser-Doppler Velocimetry (DLDV) and Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV), are compared. DLDV was previously developed at the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, while PTV was specially configured for this application. Mean and fluctuating velocity components for both flow fractions were simultaneously measured in a laboratory-scale, submerged water jet loaded with alluvial sand. This information cannot be obtained using existing measurement techniques. The jet Reynolds number was 6120, and the sediment sieve diameter ranged from 0.5 to 0.6 mm. Small mass loadings of sand with inertial time constant τ _p of 0.6 ms were examined. The configuration, operation, and results obtained using the DLDV and PTV are presented. For each technique, means to precisely distinguish between the light scattered by suspended sand and that originating from seed-particles following the water were implemented. The agreement in measurement for the two methods validates one another since they are based on completely different principles of operation. The capabilities of DLDV and PTV to reliably measure sand and water velocities in sediment-laden flows are further indicated by the agreement of the present findings with those obtained previously in similar studies. The comparison suggests that PTV, due to its whole field nature, could become a powerful tool for flow and particle-related diagnostics, yielding fundamental information in an area with a long history of conflicting experimental evidence. Received: 27 August 1996 / Accepted: 25 June 1997