Load Combinations for the Evaluation of Redundancy in Steel Bridges

Over the past decade, there has been considerable interest in the development of quantitative analytical procedures to determine if a primary steel tension member (PSTM) is a fracture critical member (FCM). Traditionally, this designation has most often been arbitrarily determined based simply on the bridge geometry, for example, the number of girders in the cross section, rather than an evaluation of the bridge in the faulted state. Clearly, such a redundancy evaluation must address the loading scenarios concurrent with failure of the PSTM, the likelihood of the member failure, the acceptable probability of load exceeding resistance in the faulted state, and the application of vehicular live load models. This research was conducted to develop a load model and load combinations that are specific to evaluating the performance of a bridge in the event a steel member was to fracture. Specifically, two load combinations were developed to evaluate the strength of a steel bridge, one for the event in which the failure of a PSTM occurs, and another for a post-failure service period. The development adhered to the reliability-based principles and procedures applied in the calculation of load combinations currently used in bridge engineering to facilitate direct implementation and to ensure consistency with current steel bridge design and evaluation procedures contained in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications.

Vertical Nonlinear Temperature Gradient and Temperature Load Mode of Ballastless Track in China

In the process of heat exchange with the external environment, the internal temperature of ballastless track structure presents a nonlinear distribution. The vertical temperature gradient will cause repeated warping and deformation of track slab, resulting in mortar layer separation, which will affect driving comfort and track durability. The traditional temperature field analysis method of concrete structure based on thermodynamics has the disadvantages of too many assumptions, difficult parameter selection and too much calculation of energy consumption. In this paper, based on the finite element software ANSYS, the heat exchange was transformed into the boundary condition of heat flux, which was applied to the thermodynamic analysis model to study the nonlinear temperature distribution law of ballastless track. The accuracy of the analysis method was verified by the measured data. On this basis, the regional distribution law of temperature gradient of ballastless track under different geographical coordinates and climatic conditions was studied. By adding a regional adjustment coefficient, the vertical temperature load model of ballastless track suitable for typical areas in China was proposed. The proposed temperature load model makes up for the lack of refinement of climate division and temperature load model in relevant specifications, and has strong engineering application and popularization value.

J Predictions for Defective Pipe Elbows via the Reference Stress Method

In R6, the J-based failure assessment diagram (FAD) method is used in the fracture assessment, and is underpinned by the reference stress J scheme. Therefore, an assessment using the R6 FAD method is equivalent to a J prediction using the reference stress method. In this paper, the effect of global and local limit load solutions for defective elbows on the reference stress and hence the J predictions is investigated using published three dimensional elastic-plastic finite element (FE) J results, in order to create guidance for users to follow when performing structural integrity assessments of defective elbows using the R6 procedure. The results show that using the global limit load solutions recommended in this paper can lead to good and reasonably conservative J predictions. However, the availability of global limit load solutions is very limited. The results also show that using the local limit load evaluated from the local limit load model recommended in this paper can lead to conservative J predictions for most of the cases considered.

Development and application of measurement data pre-processing tools for parameter identification considering q-axis voltage

At present, when model parameter identification is carried out, measurement data from phase measurement units or fault recorders are generally used directly. These two types of devices can directly provide the fundamental positive sequence quantities required for parameter identification, but cannot output the dq components. If these measurement data can be fully utilized for parameter identification, it is very beneficial to improve the model accuracy. In this paper, according to the engineering needs of load model parameter identification, the extraction method and variation law of dq components are studied, and the data pre-processing tool is developed and put into use.

A simple polymerization control method for the air conditioning cluster

Taking the air conditioner cluster as the object, under the condition of individual perception and controllable state of the air conditioner, the cluster state is given a considerable and controllable function. In the analysis of the load model of a single air conditioner, considering the comfort of indoor temperature, the characteristics of on and off are given, that is, the cycle of on time and off time; on this basis, the air conditioning clusters are divided according to the same or similar switching cycles, thereby forming a switching strategy of series and parallel groups to achieve load balance. In the on state, if the adjustment of the power of the air conditioner itself is not considered, a simple aggregation control method is given. The analysis of numerical examples shows that this method is simple and reliable.