scholarly journals SIMPLIFIED MODELLING OF NOVEL NON-WELDED JOINTS FOR MODULAR STEEL BUILDINGS

Prefabricated modular steel (PFMS) construction is a more efficient and safe method of constructing a high-quality building with less waste material and labour dependency than traditional steel construction. It is indeed critical to have a precise and valuable intermodular joining system that allows for efficient load transfer, safe handling, and optimal use of modular units' strength. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop joints using tension bolts and solid tenons welded into the gusset plate (GP). These joints ensured rigid and secure connectivity in both horizontal and vertical directions for the modular units. Using the three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) analysis software ABAQUS, the study investigated the nonlinear lateral structural performance of the joint and two-storey modular steel building (MSB). The solid element FE models of joints were then simplified by introducing connectors and beam elements to enhance computational efficiency. Numerous parameters indicated that column tenons were important in determining the joint's structural performance. Moreover, with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.025, the developed connectors and beam element models accurately predicted the structural behaviour of the joints. As a result of their simplification, these joints demonstrated effective load distribution, seismic performance, and ductility while reducing computational time, effort, and complexity. The validity of the FE analysis was then determined by comparing the results to the thirteen joint bending tests performed in the reference.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Tian ◽  
Xiaowei Wu ◽  
Yu Zheng ◽  
Yinfei Du ◽  
Xiankai Quan

In order to extend the understanding of structural performance of a T-rib glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) plate-concrete composite bridge deck, four GFRP plate-concrete composite bridge decks were tested, which consist of cast-in-place concrete sitting on a GFRP plate with T-ribs. Subsequently, a mixed-dimensional finite element (FE) analysis model was proposed to simulate the behavior of the test models. The test and simulation results showed that the composite specimens had an excellent interface bonding performance between GFRP plate and concrete throughout flexural response until specimens failure occurred. The failure mode of those composite specimens was shear failure in concrete structures. It was found that the interface roughness of the GFRP plate could not affect the ultimate bearing capacity and stiffness of composite specimens significantly. However, the height of concrete structures had a strong effect on those structural behaviors. In addition, the longitudinal compressive reinforcing CFRP rebars had a little influence on ultimate bearing capacity of composite specimens, while it had a significant influence on ductility of composite specimens. The mixed-dimensional FE analysis model can accurately simulate the local complex stress state of GFRP plates, ultimate loads, stiffness, and midspan deflections and simultaneously can significantly reduce computational time. Therefore, mixed-dimensional FE analysis can provide a suitable solution to simulate the structural performance of T-rib GFRP plate-concrete composite bridge decks.


Author(s):  
N J J Verdonschot ◽  
R Huiskes ◽  
M A R Freeman

To investigate the accuracy of finite element (FE) models for pre-clinical testing of unbonded hip prostheses, relative to aspects of load transfer and micromobility, two previously published laboratory experiments were simulated, using three-dimensional FE models. It was found for the load-transfer analyses that the experiment and the FE study revealed results that were very similar. The trends in the mobility experiments were also reproduced in the FE simulations, although quantitative differences were found. It is concluded that FE analysis can effectively be used for design evaluation of hip prostheses before prototypes are made.


Author(s):  
Takahiro Sato ◽  
Kota Watanabe ◽  
Hajime Igarashi

Purpose – Three-dimensional (3D) mesh generation for shape optimizations needs long computational time. This makes it difficult to perform 3D shape optimizations. The purpose of this paper is to present a new meshing method with light computational cost for 3D shape optimizations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a new meshing method on the basis of nonconforming voxel finite element method. The 3D mesh generation is performed with light computational cost keeping the computational accuracy. Findings – It is shown that the computational cost for 3D mesh generation can be reduced without deteriorating numerical accuracy in the FE analysis. It is reported the performance of the present method. Originality/value – The validity of the nonconforming voxel elements is tested to apply it to the optimization of 3D optimizations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 723 ◽  
pp. 245-257
Author(s):  
How Bing Sii ◽  
Gary W. Chai ◽  
Rudi van Staden ◽  
Hong Guan

Concrete pavements are usually selected by pavement engineers for roads subjected to heavy traffic loading and feature high maintenance and construction costs. As such, the structural behaviour of concrete pavements with doweled joints is evaluated herein using Finite Element Method. The pavement system is modelled using three-dimensional brick elements and five loading cases are applied to replicate realistic vehicular loadings approaching and leaving the joint. The structural behaviour of the pavement at the doweled joint is investigated for: (1) pavement with and without voids, and (2) different dowel bar spacing. The amount of load transfer was obtained from the shear force in the beam elements that simulate dowels. Results show that the voids underneath the joint causes an increase in the vertical displacement of the concrete slab and vertical stress at concrete/dowel bar interface which may result in crushing of the concrete and dowel loosening. Wider dowel spacings result in increased shear forces and the size of the region containing engaged dowels does not change significantly with dowel spacing, only effecting the distribution of shear forces. The study shows that the dowel bars perform effectively as a load transfer device in the concrete pavement system even under severe conditions.


2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 210-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. L. Al-Qadi ◽  
M. A. Elseifi ◽  
P. J. Yoo ◽  
I. Janajreh

Abstract The objective of this study was to quantify pavement damage due to a conventional (385/65R22.5) and a new generation of wide-base (445/50R22.5) tires using three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) analysis. The investigated new generation of wide-base tires has wider treads and greater load-carrying capacity than the conventional wide-base tire. In addition, the contact patch is less sensitive to loading and is especially designed to operate at 690kPa inflation pressure at 121km/hr speed for full load of 151kN tandem axle. The developed FE models simulated the tread sizes and applicable contact pressure for each tread and utilized laboratory-measured pavement material properties. In addition, the models were calibrated and properly validated using field-measured stresses and strains. Comparison was established between the two wide-base tire types and the dual-tire assembly. Results indicated that the 445/50R22.5 wide-base tire would cause more fatigue damage, approximately the same rutting damage and less surface-initiated top-down cracking than the conventional dual-tire assembly. On the other hand, the conventional 385/65R22.5 wide-base tire, which was introduced more than two decades ago, caused the most damage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 270
Author(s):  
Adrian Doicu ◽  
Dmitry S. Efremenko ◽  
Thomas Trautmann

An algorithm for the retrieval of total column amount of trace gases in a multi-dimensional atmosphere is designed. The algorithm uses (i) certain differential radiance models with internal and external closures as inversion models, (ii) the iteratively regularized Gauss–Newton method as a regularization tool, and (iii) the spherical harmonics discrete ordinate method (SHDOM) as linearized radiative transfer model. For efficiency reasons, SHDOM is equipped with a spectral acceleration approach that combines the correlated k-distribution method with the principal component analysis. The algorithm is used to retrieve the total column amount of nitrogen for two- and three-dimensional cloudy scenes. Although for three-dimensional geometries, the computational time is high, the main concepts of the algorithm are correct and the retrieval results are accurate.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1622
Author(s):  
Wipawee Tepnatim ◽  
Witchuda Daud ◽  
Pitiya Kamonpatana

The microwave oven has become a standard appliance to reheat or cook meals in households and convenience stores. However, the main problem of microwave heating is the non-uniform temperature distribution, which may affect food quality and health safety. A three-dimensional mathematical model was developed to simulate the temperature distribution of four ready-to-eat sausages in a plastic package in a stationary versus a rotating microwave oven, and the model was validated experimentally. COMSOL software was applied to predict sausage temperatures at different orientations for the stationary microwave model, whereas COMSOL and COMSOL in combination with MATLAB software were used for a rotating microwave model. A sausage orientation at 135° with the waveguide was similar to that using the rotating microwave model regarding uniform thermal and electric field distributions. Both rotating models provided good agreement between the predicted and actual values and had greater precision than the stationary model. In addition, the computational time using COMSOL in combination with MATLAB was reduced by 60% compared to COMSOL alone. Consequently, the models could assist food producers and associations in designing packaging materials to prevent leakage of the packaging compound, developing new products and applications to improve product heating uniformity, and reducing the cost and time of the research and development stage.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 2939
Author(s):  
Yong Hong ◽  
Jin Liu ◽  
Zahid Jahangir ◽  
Sheng He ◽  
Qing Zhang

This paper provides an efficient way of addressing the problem of detecting or estimating the 6-Dimensional (6D) pose of objects from an RGB image. A quaternion is used to define an object′s three-dimensional pose, but the pose represented by q and the pose represented by -q are equivalent, and the L2 loss between them is very large. Therefore, we define a new quaternion pose loss function to solve this problem. Based on this, we designed a new convolutional neural network named Q-Net to estimate an object’s pose. Considering that the quaternion′s output is a unit vector, a normalization layer is added in Q-Net to hold the output of pose on a four-dimensional unit sphere. We propose a new algorithm, called the Bounding Box Equation, to obtain 3D translation quickly and effectively from 2D bounding boxes. The algorithm uses an entirely new way of assessing the 3D rotation (R) and 3D translation rotation (t) in only one RGB image. This method can upgrade any traditional 2D-box prediction algorithm to a 3D prediction model. We evaluated our model using the LineMod dataset, and experiments have shown that our methodology is more acceptable and efficient in terms of L2 loss and computational time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meibao Yao ◽  
Christoph H. Belke ◽  
Hutao Cui ◽  
Jamie Paik

Reconfigurability in versatile systems of modular robots is achieved by changing the morphology of the overall structure as well as by connecting and disconnecting modules. Recurrent connectivity changes can cause misalignment that leads to mechanical failure of the system. This paper presents a new approach to reconfiguration, inspired by the art of origami, that eliminates connectivity changes during transformation. Our method consists of an energy-optimal reconfiguration planner that generates an initial 2D assembly pattern and an actuation sequence of the modular units, both resulting in minimum energy consumption. The algorithmic framework includes two approaches, an automatic modeling algorithm as well as a heuristic algorithm. We further demonstrate the effectiveness of our method by applying the algorithms to Mori, a modular origami robot, in simulation. Our results show that the heuristic algorithm yields reconfiguration schemes with high quality, compared with the automatic modeling algorithm, simultaneously saving a considerable amount of computational time and effort.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document