PHOTOGRAMMETRY MEASUREMENTS OF INITIAL IMPERFECTIONS FOR THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH ASSESSMENT OF PLATES

The objective of the present study is to develop a new approach to model the initial geometrical imperfections of ship plates by using Photogrammetry. Based on images, Photogrammetry is able to take measurements of the distortions of plates and to catch the dominant surface shape, including the deformations of the edges. Having this data, it is possible to generate faithful models of plate surface based on third order polynomial functions. Finally, the maximum load- carrying capacity of the plates is analysed by performing a nonlinear finite element analysis using a commercial finite element code. Three un-stiffened and four stiffened plates have been modelled and analysed. For each plate, two initial imperfection models have been generated one, based on photogrammetric measurements and the other, based on the trigonometric Fourier functions. Both models are subjected to the same uniaxial compressive load and boundary conditions in order to study the ultimate strength.

Finite element modelling of rectangular concrete-filled steel tube stub columns incorporating high strength and ultra-high strength materials under concentric axial compression

This study presents a unified approach to simulate the behavior of rectangular concrete-filled steel stub columns incorporating high strength and ultra-high strength materials subjected to concentric axial compression. The finite element model is developed based on Abaqus software, which is capable of accounting for geometrical nonlinearity, material plasticity, and interaction between multi-physics. The proposed model incorporates the influences of residual stress for welded-box steel sections and initial imperfection. A novel stress-strain relation of confined concrete is proposed to account for the composite action, which might increase the strength and ductility of infilled concrete under multi-axial compressive conditions. Various verification examples are conducted with wide ranges of geometrical and material properties. The simulation results show that the proposed model can accurately predict the ultimate strength, load-deformation relations, and failure mode of the experimental specimens.

Buckling Mechanism of Offshore Pipelines: A State of the Art

The buckling analysis of an offshore pipeline refers to the analysis of temperature-induced uplift and lateral buckling of pipelines by analytical, numerical, and experimental means. Thus, the current study discusses different research performed on thermal pipe-buckling and the different factors affecting the pipeline’s buckling behaviour. The current study consists of the dependency of the pipe-buckling direction on the seabed features and burial condition; the pre-buckling and post-buckling load-displacement behaviour of the pipeline; the effect of soil weight, burial depth, axial resistance, imperfection amplitude, temperature difference, interface tensile capacity, and diameter-to-thickness ratio on the uplift and lateral resistance; and the failure mechanism of the pipeline. Moreover, the effect of external hydrostatic pressure, bending moment, initial imperfection, sectional rigidity, and diameter-to-thickness ratio of the pipeline on collapse load of the pipeline during buckling were also included in the study. This work highlights the existing knowledge on the topic along with the main findings performed up to recent research. In addition, the reference literature on the topic is given and analysed to contribute to a broad perspective on buckling analysis of offshore pipelines. This work provides a starting point to identify further innovation and development guidelines for professionals and researchers dealing with offshore pipelines, which are key infrastructures for numerous maritime applications.

Thermoelastic stability of thin CNT-reinforced composite cylindrical panels with elastically restrained edges under nonuniform in-plane temperature distribution

In order to fill the evident lack of investigations on nonlinear response of nanocomposite curved panels under nonuniform temperature, this paper aims to analyze the nonlinear thermoelastic stability of cylindrical panels made of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced composite, rested on elastic foundations and subjected to sinusoidal-type in-plane temperature distribution. Reinforcement is carried out through functional rules of CNT volume fraction. An extended rule of mixture is adopted to estimate the effective properties of CNT-reinforced composite. Governing equations are derived based on classical shell theory accounting for von Kármán–Donnell nonlinearity, initial imperfection, interactive pressure from elastic foundation, and preexisting lateral pressure. In addition, the elasticity of in-plane constraints of boundary edges is included. Approximate analytical solutions are assumed to satisfy simply supported boundary conditions and Galerkin procedure is adopted to derive nonlinear closed-form relation between thermal load and deflection. Parametric studies are carried out and interesting remarks are obtained. The present study finds that, unlike case of uniform temperature rise, thermal instability of cylindrical panels under sinusoidal temperature distribution still occurs even though all edges are movable and load carrying capacity is the weakest for an intermediate value of CNT volume fraction. Under sinusoidal temperature distribution, the cylindrical panel may be deflected at the onset of loading and, for the most part, has no longer bifurcation-type buckling response. Furthermore, small values of preexisting external pressure have beneficial influences on the stability of nanocomposite cylindrical panels under nonuniform thermal loads.

Determination of collapse moment of different angled pipe bends with initial geometric imperfection subjected to in-plane bending moments

From the recent literature, it is revealed that pipe bend geometry deviates from the circular cross-section due to pipe bending process for any bend angle, and this deviation in the cross-section is defined as the initial geometric imperfection. This paper focuses on the determination of collapse moment of different angled pipe bends incorporated with initial geometric imperfection subjected to in-plane closing and opening bending moments. The three-dimensional finite element analysis is accounted for geometric as well as material nonlinearities. Python scripting is implemented for modeling the pipe bends with initial geometry imperfection. The twice-elastic-slope method is adopted to determine the collapse moments. From the results, it is observed that initial imperfection has significant impact on the collapse moment of pipe bends. It can be concluded that the effect of initial imperfection decreases with the decrease in bend angle from 150∘ to 45∘. Based on the finite element results, a simple collapse moment equation is proposed to predict the collapse moment for more accurate cross-section of the different angled pipe bends.

Flexible bar compression test

The article considers experimental and theoretical research of longitudinal stability of a flexible steel bar design under axial compression. The bar is a flat thin-walled element, pivotally fixed at the ends. The experimental study was carried out on a Zwick/Roell Z100 installation using special equipment that simulates geometric boundary conditions. During the loading process, a diagram of the deformation of a real bar with initial shape imperfections was automatically constructed. The experimental critical force was determined from the deformation diagram. This force was compared with the critical forces obtained from calculations using two schemes: the Euler formula and the dynamic analysis methodology. In the second scheme, in contrast to the first one, the initial imperfection, established by the measurements of the tested structure, was taken into account. The design calculation errors for both schemes were determined.

Combination resonance analysis of imperfect functionally graded conical shell resting on nonlinear viscoelastic foundation in thermal environment under multi-excitation

In this work, nonlinear forced vibrations of truncated conical shells are presented using a semi-analytical method. The material properties are varied along the thickness direction as a power law distribution. The functionally graded truncated conical shells are exposed to external harmonic load and placed in the thermal environment and have an initial imperfection. Furthermore, the functionally graded truncated conical shells rests on generalized nonlinear viscoelastic foundations which consisted of a Winkler and Pasternak foundation parameters augmented by a Kelvin–Voigt viscoelastic model and a nonlinear cubic stiffness. The fundamental equations are extracted using first-order shear deformation theory in conjunction with nonlinear von Kármán relationships. The partial differential equations of truncated conical shells are reduced through Galerkin’s method, and the result is extracted using the multiple scales method. To analyze the resonance analyses, a two-term external excitation is considered. In this regard, various secondary resonances are investigated, and finally, the analyses about combination resonances are represented. To investigate the presented approach, a comparison study is performed with those addressed by other researchers. To analyze the nonlinear combination resonance behavior of truncated conical shells, the effect of geometrical characteristics, material properties, power law index, thermal effects, external load amplitude, and initial imperfection are examined. Finally, the steady-state responses of the nonlinear system are analyzed. As one of the most interesting results, the softening behavior of truncated conical shells with inverse quadratic distribution is the most, and for the quadratic distribution is the least.