scholarly journals A principle of virtual power-based beam model reveals discontinuities in elastic support as potential sources of stress peaks in tramway rails

2020 ◽  
Vol 231 (11) ◽  
pp. 4641-4663
Author(s):  
Patricia Kuttke ◽  
Christian Hellmich ◽  
Stefan Scheiner

Abstract This paper addresses the question to which extent the stiffness of an elastic foundation in general, and of a discontinuity occurring in the foundation in particular, affects the stresses to which a beam resting on such a foundation is exposed to. This is particularly relevant for tramway rails, where foundation discontinuities may be generated in the course of maintenance works. In the presented work, the underlying mathematical framework was derived based on the principle of virtual power, using a suitable virtual velocity field and a foundation-related traction force vector as input quantities. The resulting mathematical expressions for the virtual powers performed by the internal and external forces were approximated based on Finite Element discretizations, and eventually solved correspondingly, in the format of sequential Finite Element analyses. Numerical studies, performed on a tramway rail-shaped beam, have confirmed that foundation discontinuities indeed induce substantial increases in the stress tensor components, when moving from regions of a high-stiffness foundation to regions of a low-stiffness foundation; as it may occur if specific sections of the tramway network get renewed.

2021 ◽  
pp. 107754632110267
Author(s):  
Jiandong Huang ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Jia Zhang ◽  
Yuantian Sun ◽  
Jiaolong Ren

The dynamic analysis has been successfully used to predict the pavement response based on the finite element modeling, during which the stiffness and mass matrices have been established well, whereas the method to determine the damping matrix based on Rayleigh damping is still under development. This article presents a novel method to determine the two parameters of the Rayleigh damping for dynamic modeling in pavement engineering. Based on the idealized shear beam model, a more reasonable method to calculate natural frequencies of different layers is proposed, by which the global damping matrix of the road pavement can be assembled. The least squares method is simplified and used to calculate the frequency-independent damping. The best-fit Rayleigh damping is obtained by only determining the natural frequencies of the two modal. Finite element model and in-situ field test subjected by the same falling weight deflectometer pulse loads are performed to validate the accuracy of this method. Good agreements are noted between simulation and field in-situ results demonstrating that this method can provide a more accurate approach for future finite element modeling and back-calculation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 01003
Author(s):  
Pavel Radchenko ◽  
Stanislav Batuev ◽  
Andrey Radchenko

The paper presents results of applying approach to simulation of contact surfaces fracture under high velocity interaction of solid bodies. The algorithm of erosion -the algorithm of elements removing, of new surface building and of mass distribution after elements fracture at contact boundaries is consider. The results of coordinated experimental and numerical studies of fracture of materials under impact are given. Authors own finite element computer software program EFES, allowing to simulate a three-dimensional setting behavior of complex structures under dynamic loads, has been used for the calculations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
pp. 1750023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia-Chun Chen ◽  
Zhen-Hu Li ◽  
Francis T. K. Au ◽  
Rui-Juan Jiang

Prestressed concrete bridges with corrugated steel webs have emerged as a new form of steel-concrete composite bridges with remarkable advantages compared with the traditional ones. However, the assumption that plane sections remain plane may no longer be valid for such bridges due to the different behavior of the constituents. The sandwich beam theory is extended to predict the flexural vibration behavior of this type of bridges considering the presence of diaphragms, external prestressing tendons and interaction between the web shear deformation and flange local bending. To this end, a [Formula: see text] beam finite element is formulated. The proposed theory and finite element model are verified both numerically and experimentally. A comparison between the analyses based on the sandwich beam model and on the classical Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko models reveals the following findings. First of all, the extended sandwich beam model is applicable to the flexural vibration analysis of the bridges considered. By letting [Formula: see text] denote the square root of the ratio of equivalent shear rigidity to the flange local flexural rigidity, and L the span length, the combined parameter [Formula: see text] appears to be more suitable for considering the diaphragm effect and the interaction between the shear deformation and flange local bending. The diaphragms have significant effect on the flexural natural frequencies and mode shapes only when the [Formula: see text] value of the bridge falls below a certain limit. For a bridge with an [Formula: see text] value over a certain limit, the flexural natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained from the sandwich beam model and the classical Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko models tend to be the same. In such cases, either of the classical beam theories may be used.


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