Optimization of shallow arches against instability using sensitivity derivatives

In this paper, the problem of optimization of shallow frame structures, which involves coupling of axial and bending responses, is discussed. A shallow arch of given shape and given weight is optimized such that its limit point load is maximized. The crosssectional area, A(x), and the moment of inertia, I(x), of the arch obey the relationship I(x) = [A(x)]ⁿ, where N = 1, 2, 3 and is a specified constant. Analysis of the arch for its limit point calculation involves a geometric nonlinear analysis which is performed using a co-rotational formulation.

The optimization is carried out using a second-order projected Langragian algorithm, and the sensitivity derivatives of the critical load parameter with respect to the areas of the finite elements of the arch are calculated using implicit differentiation. Results are presented for an arch of a specified rise to span under two different loadings, and the limitations of the approach for the intermediate rise arches are addressed.     

Uniform shallow arches of minimum weight and minimum maximum deflection

The present paper serves several purposes. Besides presenting closed-form solutions to the problems in the title, it serves to illustrate the deduction of existence and nonexistence of solutions in this context, to point out some of the more or less known inadequacies of these design criteria and, finally, to provide the basis for a comparison with the natural structural shapes of shallow arches presented in another reference. The minimum weight and minimum maximum deflection criteria both yield, as one possible optimal design, an arch on the verge of failure. This is consequence of the fully-stressed design aspects of these criteria which, in this case, correspond to the maximum possible axial load. However, meaningful results are obtained for a prescribed axial load in the minimum weight problem and for a given weight in the minimum of the maximum deflection problem.     

Instability of optimal equilibria in the minimum mass design of uniform shallow arches

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the minimum mass design of arbitrarily loaded uniform shallow arches are derived. The problem is posed as an optimal control problem with mass as the criterion, initial curvature and axial load as design variables, and with the differential equations of axial and transverse equilibrium of the arch as side conditions. Thus, an optimal equilibrium is associated with each optimal design, and the stability of these equilibria becomes an integral part of the problem solution. As an example, the design process is carried out for the sinusoidally loaded hinged-hinged arch with a fixed span. It turns out that, depending on the given load amplitude, the optimal equilibrium can be unstable, stable after snap-through, and nonunique with one equilibrium unstable and the other stable after snap-through, at the design load of the arch. In addition, a necessary condition for a local minimum is the same as the usual critical point condition in stability analysis, thus assuring the instability of the arch at the optimum. A brief survey of earlier work on the optimal design of arches and curved beams is also included.     

Mathematical justification of a one-dimensional model for general elastic shallow arches

We present a bending model for a shallow arch, namely the type of curved rod where the curvature is of the order of the diameter of the cross section. The model is deduced in a rigorous mathematical way from classical tridimensional linear elasticity theory via asymptotic techniques, by taking the limit on a suitable re-scaled formulation of that problem as the diameter of the cross section tends to zero. This model is valid for general cases of applied forces and material, and it allows us to calculate displacements, axial stresses, bending moments and shear forces. The equations present a more general form than in the classical Bernoulli–Navier bending theory for straight slender rods, so that flexures and extensions are proved to be coupled in the most general case. © 1998 by B. G. Teubner Stuttgart–John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Buckling of clamped circular arches subjected to a point load

Summary This note presents the critical values of the downward point load applied at the crown of clamped circular arches with inextensible centroidal line. The calculations are based on the Euler theory of the initially curved elastica undergoing large deflections. In contrast to the two-highed circular arches the buckling is not always of the sidesway type; for most practical dimensions of the clamped arch the instability is characterized by snap-through.

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Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe der nichtlinearen Eulerschen Theorie wird die Stabilität des beidseitig eingespannten und durch eine mittige Einzelkraft belasteten Kreisbogenträgers untersucht. Man nimmt dabei an, der Bogen sei genügend schlandk und die Dehnung der Stabachse vernachlässigbar klein. Im Gegensatz zum Zweigelenkbogen zeigt sich die Instabilität des steilen, eingespannten Bogenträgers eher in einem Durchschlagen als im seitlichen Ausweichen.

     

Stochastic control of helicopter suspended load position

Modelling of the motion of a helicopter with a suspended load is described. The mathematical model takes into account stochastic disturbances acting on the load suspension point. The proposed approach allows solution of the problem of optimal control with minimization of oscillation and control power expenditure. The evolution of the system solution with time is investigated for various disturbance intensities. Computer calculation results are presented as a function of the suspension length and the intensity of stochastic disturbances.     

Exploration of the encased nanocomposites functionally graded porous arches: Nonlinear analysis and stability behavior

This paper explores the nonlinear stability mechanism of the functionally graded porous (FGP) arch reinforced by graphene nanocomposites. Both the pores and the nanocomposites are distributed symmetrically to the mid-surface of the arch but not uniformly in the cross-section so that the bending stiffness can be best improved. The arch is confined in an elastic medium with a radially-pointed concentrated load at the crown position. The confinement of the medium results in a symmetrical deformed shape of the arch, which can be described by an admissible displacement function. Associated with the thin-walled arch theory and the principle of minimum potential energy, analytical predictions are obtained to express the critical buckling load, as well as the hoop force and bending moment. Subsequently, a numerical model is developed to simulate the medium and the arch in ABAQUS software. By introducing the modified arc-length method, the equilibrium paths of the encased arch are traced. After comparison in terms of the critical buckling load and the equilibrium paths, it is found the numerical results are in good accordance with the analytical solutions. Finally, particular attention is paid to the parameters that may impact the buckling load, such as the porosity coefficient, the weight fraction, the central angle, the geometry of the Graphene platelets (GPLs) et al.     

The stability of the equilibrium position of scleronomous mechanical systems

The problem of the stability of the equilibrium position of a scleronomic mechanical system is considered. The comparison method enables this problem to be reduced to the problem of the stability of scalar differential equations. The stability conditions are found for certain types of scalar comparison equations (Sections 1–4), and the sufficient conditions for the stability of the equilibrium positions of various scleronomous mechanical systems are determined from these (Sections 5–9).     

Nonlinear in-plane buckling of fixed shallow functionally graded graphene reinforced composite arches subjected to mechanical and thermal loading

The nonlinear in-plane buckling analysis for fixed shallow functionally graded (FG) graphene reinforced composite arches which are subjected to uniform radial load and temperature field is presented in this paper. The arch is composed of multiple graphene platelet reinforced composite (GPLRC) layers with gradient changes of concentration of graphene platelets (GPLs) in each layer. The principle of virtual work, combined with the effective materials properties estimated by the Halpin-Tsai micromechanics model for GPLRC layer, is used to derive the nonlinear buckling equilibrium equations of the FG-GPLRC arch, and then the analytical solutions for the limit point and bifurcation buckling loads are obtained. Comprehensive parametric studies are conducted to explore the effects of various distribution patterns and geometries of GPL, temperature field and arch geometry on the nonlinear equilibrium path and buckling behavior of the composite arch. The influence of temperature on the geometric parameters which are defined as switches between limit point buckling, bifurcation buckling and no buckling are also discussed. It is found that a higher temperature field can increase the buckling loads of the FG-GPLRC arch but reduce the value of the minimum geometric parameters that switching the buckling modes. The results also show that even a small amount of GPLs filler content can increase the buckling loads of the FG-GPLRC arch considerably, and distributing more GPLs near the surface layers is the best pattern to enhance the buckling performances of FG-GPLRC arches.     

Uniform stability for the Timoshenko beam with tip load

In this paper we consider a hybrid elastic model consisting of a Timoshenko beam and a tip load at the free end of the beam. We show that uniform stabilization of the model which includes the rotary inertia of the tip load can be obtained when feedback boundary moment and force controls are applied at the point of contact between the beam and the tip load. However, in the presence of the load stabilization is “slower” and subject to a restriction on the boundary data at the free end of the beam.     

The action of an unsteady external load on a circular elastic plate floating on shallow water

A solution of the transient problem of the behaviour of a circular elastic plate floating on the free surface of a liquid under the action of an external load is constructed. It is assumed that the liquid is ideal and incompressible and that its depth is small compared with the radius of the plate. The compatible motion of the plate and the liquid is treated within the framework of linear theory. The flow of the liquid is assumed to be irrotational. The behaviour of the plate under different loads is investigated and it is shown that the bounded dimensions of the elastic plate have a substantial effect on its unsteady behaviour.     

Influence of thermal load on the characteristics of a flow with evaporation

The two-layer flows of a liquid and a gas in a horizontal channel are investigated under condition of given gas flow rate. Evaporation on the thermocapillary interface is taken into account. An exact solution is constructed of the Navier–Stokes equations in the Boussinesq approximation, taking into account the Dufour effect in the gas-vapor layer. Within the framework of linear theory, the stability of the obtained solutions and the characteristics of the arising perturbations are studied. The influence is considered of the thickness of the liquid layer and the magnitude of the longitudinal temperature gradient on the structure of the basic flow and perturbations.     

Strong stability of Nash equilibria in load balancing games

We study strong stability of Nash equilibria in load balancing games of m(m 2)identical servers,in which every job chooses one of the m servers and each job wishes to minimize its cost,given by the workload of the server it chooses.A Nash equilibrium(NE)is a strategy profile that is resilient to unilateral deviations.Finding an NE in such a game is simple.However,an NE assignment is not stable against coordinated deviations of several jobs,while a strong Nash equilibrium(SNE)is.We study how well an NE approximates an SNE.Given any job assignment in a load balancing game,the improvement ratio(IR)of a deviation of a job is defined as the ratio between the pre-and post-deviation costs.An NE is said to be aρ-approximate SNE(ρ1)if there is no coalition of jobs such that each job of the coalition will have an IR more thanρfrom coordinated deviations of the coalition.While it is already known that NEs are the same as SNEs in the 2-server load balancing game,we prove that,in the m-server load balancing game for any given m 3,any NE is a(5/4)-approximate SNE,which together with the lower bound already established in the literature yields a tight approximation bound.This closes the final gap in the literature on the study of approximation of general NEs to SNEs in load balancing games.To establish our upper bound,we make a novel use of a graph-theoretic tool.     

Influence of anti-diagonals on the asymptotic stability for linear differential systems

Sufficient conditions are given for asymptotic stability of the linear differential system x′  =  B(t)x with B(t) being a 2  ×  2 matrix. All components of B(t) are not assumed to be positive. The matrix B(t) is naturally divisible into a diagonal matrix D(t) and an anti-diagonal matrix A(t). Our concern is to clarify a positive effect of the anti-diagonal part A(t)x on the asymptotic stability for the system x′  =  B(t)x.     

Influence of anti-diagonals on the asymptotic stability for linear differential systems

Sufficient conditions are given for asymptotic stability of the linear differential system x′  =  B(t)x with B(t) being a 2  ×  2 matrix. All components of B(t) are not assumed to be positive. The matrix B(t) is naturally divisible into a diagonal matrix D(t) and an anti-diagonal matrix A(t). Our concern is to clarify a positive effect of the anti-diagonal part A(t)x on the asymptotic stability for the system x′  =  B(t)x.      

Stability of elastoplastic flat arches

The stability of flat arches with pinned and fixed ends under a uniformly distributed load is investigated on the assumption that the material obeys a linear hardening law and the geometric relations are nonlinear. The equations obtained are solved for a sinusoidal arch with a rectangular cross section using the Bubnov-Galerikn method and the method of elastic solutions. Equations are obtained for the load and deflection at which transition from the purely elastic to the elastoplastic state occurs.Tartu State University. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 887–896, September–October, 1968.     

Control of an elastic manipulator arm using load position and velocity feedback

The rotation of an elastic manipulator arm about one of its ends in the horizontal plane is investigated. A load is attached to the other end. The motion is effected by an electric motor. The control is constructed in the form of linear feedback on the position of the load, its velocity, and the angular velocity of the arm. The stability of the control process is investigated. It is shown that when there are no viscous damping forces proportional to the angular velocity of the arm, load position and velocity feedback leads to undamped oscillations of the system and the desired equilibrium position is not stabilized. Asymptotic stability domains in the feedback coefficient space when viscous damping is present are constructed. Comparison shows these domains to be smaller than corresponding domains for a completely rigid body.