A new modified stochastic linearization technique to analyze structures with nonlinear fluid viscous dampers

2021 ◽  
pp. 107754632110195
Author(s):  
Ghasem Asadpour ◽  
Payam Asadi ◽  
Iman Hajirasouliha

Nonlinear viscous dampers can efficiently improve the seismic performance of structures by dissipating large amounts of earthquake-induced energy. In common practice, the spectral analysis of structures with nonlinear viscous dampers is generally conducted based on an estimated equivalent damping ratio. To this end, the stochastic linearization technique can be used as an effective probabilistic approach to take into account the evolutionary characteristics of the input earthquake excitation. This study aims to present optimal non-Gaussian probability density functions to improve the accuracy of the stochastic linearization technique for nonlinear viscous dampers in both firm and soft soil-based structures. It is shown that by using the optimum probability density functions, the computational error of the stochastic linearization technique for a single-degree-of-freedom structure under simulated ground motions, with a range of peak ground accelerations between 0.1 and 0.6 g, is reduced by up to 70%. The efficiency of the proposed probability density functions is then demonstrated for multi-degree-of-freedom structures, by estimating the roof displacements of a six-story steel frame with nonlinear viscous dampers under a set of natural ground motions using different linearization methods. The comparison of the stochastic linearization technique estimated responses with the exact values confirms that using the proposed probability density functions leads to considerably lower errors in both firm and soft soil-based structures compared with the other linearization techniques.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2307
Author(s):  
J. Javier Gorgoso-Varela ◽  
Rafael Alonso Ponce ◽  
Francisco Rodríguez-Puerta

The diameter distributions of trees in 50 temporary sample plots (TSPs) established in Pinus halepensis Mill. stands were recovered from LiDAR metrics by using six probability density functions (PDFs): the Weibull (2P and 3P), Johnson’s SB, beta, generalized beta and gamma-2P functions. The parameters were recovered from the first and the second moments of the distributions (mean and variance, respectively) by using parameter recovery models (PRM). Linear models were used to predict both moments from LiDAR data. In recovering the functions, the location parameters of the distributions were predetermined as the minimum diameter inventoried, and scale parameters were established as the maximum diameters predicted from LiDAR metrics. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) statistic (Dn), number of acceptances by the KS test, the Cramér von Misses (W2) statistic, bias and mean square error (MSE) were used to evaluate the goodness of fits. The fits for the six recovered functions were compared with the fits to all measured data from 58 TSPs (LiDAR metrics could only be extracted from 50 of the plots). In the fitting phase, the location parameters were fixed at a suitable value determined according to the forestry literature (0.75·dmin). The linear models used to recover the two moments of the distributions and the maximum diameters determined from LiDAR data were accurate, with R2 values of 0.750, 0.724 and 0.873 for dg, dmed and dmax. Reasonable results were obtained with all six recovered functions. The goodness-of-fit statistics indicated that the beta function was the most accurate, followed by the generalized beta function. The Weibull-3P function provided the poorest fits and the Weibull-2P and Johnson’s SB also yielded poor fits to the data.


2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (2) ◽  
pp. 1768-1784
Author(s):  
Yue Hu ◽  
A Lazarian

ABSTRACT The velocity gradients technique (VGT) and the probability density functions (PDFs) of mass density are tools to study turbulence, magnetic fields, and self-gravity in molecular clouds. However, self-absorption can significantly make the observed intensity different from the column density structures. In this work, we study the effects of self-absorption on the VGT and the intensity PDFs utilizing three synthetic emission lines of CO isotopologues 12CO (1–0), 13CO (1–0), and C18O (1–0). We confirm that the performance of VGT is insensitive to the radiative transfer effect. We numerically show the possibility of constructing 3D magnetic fields tomography through VGT. We find that the intensity PDFs change their shape from the pure lognormal to a distribution that exhibits a power-law tail depending on the optical depth for supersonic turbulence. We conclude the change of CO isotopologues’ intensity PDFs can be independent of self-gravity, which makes the intensity PDFs less reliable in identifying gravitational collapsing regions. We compute the intensity PDFs for a star-forming region NGC 1333 and find the change of intensity PDFs in observation agrees with our numerical results. The synergy of VGT and the column density PDFs confirms that the self-gravitating gas occupies a large volume in NGC 1333.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh Dang ◽  
Stefan Lienhard ◽  
Duygu Ceylan ◽  
Boris Neubert ◽  
Peter Wonka ◽  
...  

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 322
Author(s):  
Evelina Volpe ◽  
Luca Ciabatta ◽  
Diana Salciarini ◽  
Stefania Camici ◽  
Elisabetta Cattoni ◽  
...  

The development of forecasting models for the evaluation of potential slope instability after rainfall events represents an important issue for the scientific community. This topic has received considerable impetus due to the climate change effect on territories, as several studies demonstrate that an increase in global warming can significantly influence the landslide activity and stability conditions of natural and artificial slopes. A consolidated approach in evaluating rainfall-induced landslide hazard is based on the integration of rainfall forecasts and physically based (PB) predictive models through deterministic laws. However, considering the complex nature of the processes and the high variability of the random quantities involved, probabilistic approaches are recommended in order to obtain reliable predictions. A crucial aspect of the stochastic approach is represented by the definition of appropriate probability density functions (pdfs) to model the uncertainty of the input variables as this may have an important effect on the evaluation of the probability of failure (PoF). The role of the pdf definition on reliability analysis is discussed through a comparison of PoF maps generated using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations performed over a study area located in the Umbria region of central Italy. The study revealed that the use of uniform pdfs for the random input variables, often considered when a detailed geotechnical characterization for the soil is not available, could be inappropriate.


1994 ◽  
Vol 05 (02) ◽  
pp. 313-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHARLES H. ANDERSON

This paper explores some basic representational and implementation issues arising from the premise that cortical circuits operate on probability density functions to reason about analog quantities. Some insight is provided into why neurobiological systems can appear messy, while at the same time provide a rich and robust computational environment.


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