Showing papers in "Computers & Structures in 2011"

TL;DR: A recently developed metaheuristic optimization algorithm, the Firefly Algorithm, which mimics the social behavior of fireflies based on their flashing characteristics is used for solving mixed continuous/discrete structural optimization problems.

TL;DR: An active structure is an engineering structure containing sensors and actuators that, when active, modify the response of the structure to its environment as discussed by the authors, and it is a type of structural control that can be used in extreme environments (space, undersea, polar), contaminated contexts (nuclear, chemical, biological).

TL;DR: In this paper, a hybrid method combining artificial neural network (ANN) and simulated annealing (SA) is proposed to predict the peak time-domain characteristics of strong ground-motions utilizing a novel hybrid method coupling ANN and SA, called ANN/SA.

TL;DR: An overview on the development, characteristics and applications of different soft body impactor modeling methods by an extensive literature survey is given, which highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the most established techniques.

TL;DR: In this paper, a computational strategy is proposed for robust structural topology optimization in the presence of uncertainties with known second order statistics, which combines deterministic top-ology optimization techniques with a perturbation method for the quantification of uncertainties associated with structural stiffness, such as uncertain material properties and/or structure geometry.

TL;DR: In this article, nonlinear finite element models have been used to simulate the behavior of masonry-infilled reinforced concrete frames under cyclic lateral loading, including brittle shear failures of the concrete columns and damage of the infill walls.

TL;DR: In this article, two kinds of hybrid reliability models are constructed based on the reliability index approach (RIA) and the performance measurement approach (PMA), in which the reliable index interval and the target performance interval are employed to evaluate the reliability degree of an uncertain structure, respectively.

TL;DR: In this paper, a probabilistic framework is presented to assess the stability of unsaturated slope under rainfall and the effects of soil spatial variability on the probability of rainfall-induced slope failure (landslides) are investigated.

TL;DR: This work examines an implementation of time discretization that is designed with finite differences and shows that the biharmonic model produces the smoothest meshes but has increased computational cost compared to the other two approaches.

TL;DR: The approach takes advantage of the PSO ability to find global optimum in problems with complex design spaces while directly enforcing feasibility of constraints using an augmented Lagrange multiplier method to find better solutions for structural optimization tasks.

TL;DR: A design optimization method based on kriging surrogate models is proposed and applied to the shape optimization of an aeroengine turbine disc to improve the accuracy of surrogate models without significantly increasing computational cost.

TL;DR: In this paper, a two-stage particle swarm optimization was utilized to solve truss-structure optimization problem achieving minimum weight objective under stress, deflection, and kinematic stability constraints.

TL;DR: In this article, a mesh-free method for free vibration analysis of classical Kirchhoff's plates is proposed, where the deflection of plates is approximated by the moving Kriging interpolation method which possesses the Kronecker's delta property.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a numerical model for the dynamic loads on the ballast caused by trains passing a transition, which is validated with field data obtained from an extensive field survey conducted in two transition zones in the Netherlands.

TL;DR: In this article, a model for predicting axi-symmetric effects and two alternative formulations for predicting bending stresses in tensile armour layers of non-bonded flexible pipes were developed to comply with the framework of nonlinear finite element technology.

TL;DR: In this article, structural component models for the seismic assessment of masonry buildings using pushover analysis are presented and the implementation of a simple design tool based on structural components models is described in detail.

TL;DR: In this paper, a simple homogenized model for the non-linear and limit analysis of masonry walls in-plane loaded is presented, where a rectangular running bond elementary cell (RVE) is discretized by means of a few plane-stress three-noded triangular elements and interfaces.

TL;DR: In this paper, the results of numerical simulation of electron beam welding of tubes were presented, where the tubes were made of 30HGSA steel and the simulation aims at: analysis of the thermal field generated in welding process, determination of the heat-affected zone and residual stresses in the joint.

TL;DR: In this paper, the first-order, buckling and post-buckling behaviors of I-section beams made of GFRP pultruded profiles were investigated on small-scale (coupon) specimens, in order to determine the most relevant material mechanical properties.

TL;DR: In this article, a pure Lagrangian finite element method was applied to simulate nonlinear water waves due to landslides, of interest to ocean, coastal as well as to dam engineers.

TL;DR: In this article, a substructure-based finite element model updating technique is proposed, where a few eigenmodes of the independent substructures and their associated derivative matrices are assembled into a reduced eigenequation to recover the eigensolutions and eigenensitivities of the global structure.

TL;DR: A general framework of modeling the stochastic live load from traffic for a long-span bridge is developed and the cellular automaton (CA) traffic flow simulation technique is adopted to develop the analytical basis of the framework.

TL;DR: In this article, a numerical method for linear and nonlinear vibrations analysis of viscoelastic sandwich beams and plates is developed with finite element based solution, which couples the harmonic balance technique to complex mode Galerkin's procedure.

TL;DR: In this article, an extended finite element formulation (XFEM) combined with genetic algorithms (GAs) have been shown to be very effective in the detection of flaws in structures.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a new approach for damage detection in beam-like structures with small cracks, whose crack ratio [r=H"c/H] is less than 5%, without baseline modal parameters.

TL;DR: In this article, the stiffness elements for plates are developed using first order shear deformation theory to carry out exact free vibration analysis of plate assemblies, facilitated by the application of Hamiltonian mechanics and symbolic computation.

TL;DR: The proposed approach, based on a decoupling approach and sequential approximations, introduces an efficient means for estimating reliability sensitivity along with the application of a line search strategy and weighted approximation.

TL;DR: In this paper, the application of the bees algorithm (BA) to the problem of crack detection in beams is introduced, and a numerical as well as an experimental study is designed to predict a single open edge-crack in cantilever beams.

TL;DR: In this paper, an effective damage detection method for shear buildings is developed using the change(s) in the first mode shape slopes (CFMSS), and the magnitude of damages are quantified using the modified CFMSS values.

TL;DR: In this paper, a two-step homogenization approach for evaluating the elastic properties of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) unit cells is described. And the results, obtained using the presented algorithm, are in very good agreement with experimental results.