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In this study, an application of evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithms on the optimization of sandwich structures is presented. The solution strategy is known as Elitist Non-Dominated Sorting Evolution Strategy (ENSES) wherein Evolution Strategies (ES) as Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) in the elitist Non-dominated Sorting Genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) procedure. Evolutionary algorithm seems a compatible approach to resolve multi-objective optimization problems because it is inspired by natural evolution, which closely linked to Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and elitism has shown an important factor for improving evolutionary multi-objective search. In order to evaluate the notion of performance by ENSES, the well-known study case of sandwich structures are reconsidered. For Case 1, the goals of the multi-objective optimization are minimization of the deflection and the weight of the sandwich structures. The length, the core and skin thicknesses are the design variables of Case 1. For Case 2, the objective functions are the fabrication cost, the beam weight and the end deflection of the sandwich structures. There are four design variables i.e., the weld height, the weld length, the beam depth and the beam width in Case 2. Numerical results are presented in terms of Paretooptimal solutions for both evaluated cases.
We conducted extensive molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline hexagonal boron-nitride (h-BN) films. To this aim, we constructed large atomistic models of polycrystalline h-BN sheets with random and uniform grain configuration. By performing equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulations, we investigated the influence of the average grain size on the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline h-BN films at various temperatures. Using the EMD results, we constructed finite element models of polycrystalline h-BN sheets to probe the thermal conductivity of samples with larger grain sizes. Our multiscale investigations not only provide a general viewpoint regarding the heat conduction in h-BN films but also propose that polycrystalline h-BN sheets present high thermal conductivity comparable to monocrystalline sheets.
One major research focus in the Material Science and Engineering Community in the past decade has been to obtain a more fundamental understanding on the phenomenon 'material failure'. Such an understanding is critical for engineers and scientists developing new materials with higher strength and toughness, developing robust designs against failure, or for those concerned with an accurate estimate of a component's design life. Defects like cracks and dislocations evolve at
nano scales and influence the macroscopic properties such as strength, toughness and ductility of a material. In engineering applications, the global response of the system is often governed by the behaviour at the smaller length scales. Hence, the sub-scale behaviour must be computed accurately for good predictions of the full scale behaviour.
Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations promise to reveal the fundamental mechanics of material failure by modeling the atom to atom interactions. Since the atomistic dimensions are of the order of Angstroms ( A), approximately 85 billion atoms are required to model a 1 micro- m^3 volume of Copper. Therefore, pure atomistic models are prohibitively expensive with everyday engineering computations involving macroscopic cracks and shear bands, which are much larger than the atomistic length and time scales. To reduce the computational effort, multiscale methods are required, which are able to couple a continuum description of the structure with an atomistic description. In such paradigms, cracks and dislocations are explicitly modeled at the atomistic scale, whilst a self-consistent continuum model elsewhere.
Many multiscale methods for fracture are developed for "fictitious" materials based on "simple" potentials such as the Lennard-Jones potential. Moreover, multiscale methods for evolving cracks are rare. Efficient methods to coarse grain the fine scale defects are missing. However, the existing multiscale methods for fracture do not adaptively adjust the fine scale domain as the crack propagates. Most methods, therefore only "enlarge" the fine scale domain and therefore drastically increase computational cost. Adaptive adjustment requires the fine scale domain to be refined and coarsened. One of the major difficulties in multiscale methods for fracture is to up-scale fracture related material information from the fine scale to the coarse scale, in particular for complex crack problems. Most of the existing approaches therefore were applied to examples with comparatively few macroscopic cracks.
Key contributions
The bridging scale method is enhanced using the phantom node method so that cracks can be modeled at the coarse scale. To ensure self-consistency in the bulk, a virtual atom cluster is devised providing the response of the intact material at the coarse scale. A molecular statics model is employed in the fine scale where crack propagation is modeled by naturally breaking the bonds. The fine scale and coarse scale models are coupled by enforcing the displacement boundary conditions on the ghost atoms. An energy criterion is used to detect the crack tip location. Adaptive refinement and coarsening schemes are developed and implemented during the crack propagation. The results were observed to be in excellent agreement with the pure atomistic simulations. The developed multiscale method is one of the first adaptive multiscale method for fracture.
A robust and simple three dimensional coarse graining technique to convert a given atomistic region into an equivalent coarse region, in the context of multiscale fracture has been developed. The developed method is the first of its kind. The developed coarse graining technique can be applied to identify and upscale the defects like: cracks, dislocations and shear bands. The current method has been applied to estimate the equivalent coarse scale models of several complex fracture patterns arrived from the pure atomistic simulations. The upscaled fracture pattern agree well with the actual fracture pattern. The error in the potential energy of the pure atomistic and the coarse grained model was observed to be acceptable.
A first novel meshless adaptive multiscale method for fracture has been developed. The phantom node method is replaced by a meshless differential reproducing kernel particle method. The differential reproducing kernel particle method is comparatively more expensive but allows for a more "natural" coupling between the two scales due to the meshless interpolation functions. The higher order continuity is also beneficial. The centro symmetry parameter is used to detect the crack tip location. The developed multiscale method is employed to study the complex crack propagation. Results based on the meshless adaptive multiscale method were observed to be in excellent agreement with the pure atomistic simulations.
The developed multiscale methods are applied to study the fracture in practical materials like Graphene and Graphene on Silicon surface. The bond stretching and the bond reorientation were observed to be the net mechanisms of the crack growth in Graphene. The influence of time step on the crack propagation was studied using two different time steps. Pure atomistic simulations of fracture in Graphene on Silicon surface are presented. Details of the three dimensional multiscale method to study the fracture in Graphene on Silicon surface are discussed.
Methods based on B-splines for model representation, numerical analysis and image registration
(2015)
The thesis consists of inter-connected parts for modeling and analysis using newly developed isogeometric methods. The main parts are reproducing kernel triangular B-splines, extended isogeometric analysis for solving weakly discontinuous problems, collocation methods using superconvergent points, and B-spline basis in image registration applications.
Each topic is oriented towards application of isogeometric analysis basis functions to ease the process of integrating the modeling and analysis phases of simulation.
First, we develop reproducing a kernel triangular B-spline-based FEM for solving PDEs. We review the triangular B-splines and their properties. By definition, the triangular basis function is very flexible in modeling complicated domains. However, instability results when it is applied for analysis. We modify the triangular B-spline by a reproducing kernel technique, calculating a correction term for the triangular kernel function from the chosen surrounding basis. The improved triangular basis is capable to obtain the results with higher accuracy and almost optimal convergence rates.
Second, we propose an extended isogeometric analysis for dealing with weakly discontinuous problems such as material interfaces. The original IGA is combined with XFEM-like enrichments which are continuous functions themselves but with discontinuous derivatives. Consequently, the resulting solution space can approximate solutions with weak discontinuities. The method is also applied to curved material interfaces, where the inverse mapping and the curved triangular elements are considered.
Third, we develop an IGA collocation method using superconvergent points. The collocation methods are efficient because no numerical integration is needed. In particular when higher polynomial basis applied, the method has a lower computational cost than Galerkin methods. However, the positions of the collocation points are crucial for the accuracy of the method, as they affect the convergent rate significantly. The proposed IGA collocation method uses superconvergent points instead of the traditional Greville abscissae points. The numerical results show the proposed method can have better accuracy and optimal convergence rates, while the traditional IGA collocation has optimal convergence only for even polynomial degrees.
Lastly, we propose a novel dynamic multilevel technique for handling image registration. It is application of the B-spline functions in image processing. The procedure considered aims to align a target image from a reference image by a spatial transformation. The method starts with an energy function which is the same as a FEM-based image registration. However, we simplify the solving procedure, working on the energy function directly. We dynamically solve for control points which are coefficients of B-spline basis functions. The new approach is more simple and fast. Moreover, it is also enhanced by a multilevel technique in order to prevent instabilities. The numerical testing consists of two artificial images, four real bio-medical MRI brain and CT heart images, and they show our registration method is accurate, fast and efficient, especially for large deformation problems.
The polymeric clay nanocomposites are a new class of materials of which recently have become the centre of attention due to their superior mechanical and physical properties. Several studies have been performed on the mechanical characterisation of these nanocomposites; however most of those studies have neglected the effect of the interfacial region between the clays and the matrix despite of its significant influence on the mechanical performance of the nanocomposites.
There are different analytical methods to calculate the overall elastic material properties of the composites. In this study we use the Mori-Tanaka method to determine the overall stiffness of the composites for simple inclusion geometries of cylinder and sphere. Furthermore, the effect of interphase layer on the overall properties of composites is calculated. Here, we intend to get ounds for the effective mechanical properties to compare with the analytical results. Hence, we use linear displacement boundary conditions (LD) and uniform traction boundary conditions (UT) accordingly. Finally, the analytical results are compared with numerical results and they are in a good agreement.
The next focus of this dissertation is a computational approach with a hierarchical multiscale method on the mesoscopic level. In other words, in this study we use the stochastic analysis and computational homogenization method to analyse the effect of thickness and stiffness of the interfacial region on the overall elastic properties of the clay/epoxy nanocomposites. The results show that the increase in interphase thickness, reduces the stiffness of the clay/epoxy naocomposites and this decrease becomes significant in higher clay contents. The results of the sensitivity analysis prove that the stiffness of the interphase layer has more significant effect on the final stiffness of nanocomposites. We also validate the results with the available experimental results from the literature which show good agreement.
The current study attempts to recognise an adequate classification for a semi-rigid beam-to-column connection by investigating strength, stiffness and ductility. For this purpose, an experimental test was carried out to investigate the moment-rotation (M-theta) features of flush end-plate (FEP) connections including variable parameters like size and number of bolts, thickness of end-plate, and finally, size of beams and columns. The initial elastic stiffness and ultimate moment capacity of connections were determined by an extensive analytical procedure from the proposed method prescribed by ANSI/AISC 360-10, and Eurocode 3 Part 1-8 specifications. The behaviour of beams with partially restrained or semi-rigid connections were also studied by incorporating classical analysis methods. The results confirmed that thickness of the column flange and end-plate substantially govern over the initial rotational stiffness of of flush end-plate connections. The results also clearly showed that EC3 provided a more reliable classification index for flush end-plate (FEP) connections. The findings from this study make significant contributions to the current literature as the actual response characteristics of such connections are non-linear. Therefore, such semirigid behaviour should be used to for an analysis and design method.
Paraffin Nanocomposites for Heat Management of Lithium-Ion Batteries: A Computational Investigation
(2016)
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are currently considered as vital components for advances in mobile technologies such as those in communications and transport. Nonetheless, Li-ion batteries suffer from temperature rises which sometimes lead to operational damages or may even cause fire. An appropriate solution to control the temperature changes during the operation of Li-ion batteries is to embed batteries inside a paraffin matrix to absorb and dissipate heat. In the present work, we aimed to investigate the possibility of making paraffin nanocomposites for better heat management of a Li-ion battery pack. To fulfill this aim, heat generation during a battery charging/discharging cycles was simulated using Newman’s well established electrochemical pseudo-2D model. We couple this model to a 3D heat transfer model to predict the temperature evolution during the battery operation. In the later model, we considered different paraffin nanocomposites structures made by the addition of graphene, carbon nanotubes, and fullerene by assuming the same thermal conductivity for all fillers. This way, our results mainly correlate with the geometry of the fillers. Our results assess the degree of enhancement in heat dissipation of Li-ion batteries through the use of paraffin nanocomposites. Our results may be used as a guide for experimental set-ups to improve the heat management of Li-ion batteries.
The key objective of this research is to study fracture with a meshfree method, local maximum entropy approximations, and model fracture in thin shell structures with complex geometry and topology. This topic is of high relevance for real-world applications, for example in the automotive industry and in aerospace engineering. The shell structure can be described efficiently by meshless methods which are capable of describing complex shapes as a collection of points instead of a structured mesh. In order to find the appropriate numerical method to achieve this goal, the first part of the work was development of a method based on local maximum entropy (LME)
shape functions together with enrichment functions used in partition of unity methods to discretize problems in linear elastic fracture mechanics. We obtain improved accuracy relative to the standard extended finite element method (XFEM) at a comparable computational cost. In addition, we keep the advantages of the LME shape functions,such as smoothness and non-negativity. We show numerically that optimal convergence (same as in FEM) for energy norm and stress intensity factors can be obtained through the use of geometric (fixed area) enrichment with no special treatment of the nodes
near the crack such as blending or shifting.
As extension of this method to three dimensional problems and complex thin shell structures with arbitrary crack growth is cumbersome, we developed a phase field model for fracture using LME. Phase field models provide a powerful tool to tackle moving interface problems, and have been extensively used in physics and materials science. Phase methods are gaining popularity in a wide set of applications in applied science and engineering, recently a second order phase field approximation for brittle fracture has gathered significant interest in computational fracture such that sharp cracks discontinuities are modeled by a diffusive crack. By minimizing the system energy with respect to the mechanical displacements and the phase-field, subject to an irreversibility condition to avoid crack healing, this model can describe crack nucleation, propagation, branching and merging. One of the main advantages of the phase field modeling of fractures is the unified treatment of the interfacial tracking and mechanics, which potentially leads to simple, robust, scalable computer codes applicable to complex systems. In other words, this approximation reduces considerably the implementation complexity because the numerical tracking of the fracture is not needed, at the expense of a high computational cost. We present a fourth-order phase field model for fracture based on local maximum entropy (LME) approximations. The higher order continuity of the meshfree LME approximation allows to directly solve the fourth-order phase field equations without splitting the fourth-order differential equation into two second order differential equations. Notably, in contrast to previous discretizations that use at least a quadratic basis, only linear completeness is needed in the LME approximation. We show that the crack surface can be captured more accurately in the fourth-order model than the second-order model. Furthermore, less nodes are needed for the fourth-order model to resolve the crack path. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of the proposed meshfree fourth order phase-field formulation for 5 representative numerical examples. Computational results will be compared to analytical solutions within linear elastic fracture mechanics and experimental data for three-dimensional crack propagation.
In the last part of this research, we present a phase-field model for fracture in Kirchoff-Love thin shells using the local maximum-entropy (LME) meshfree method. Since the crack is a natural outcome of the analysis it does not require an explicit representation and tracking, which is advantageous over techniques as the extended finite element method that requires tracking of the crack paths. The geometric description of the shell is based on statistical learning techniques that allow dealing with general point set surfaces avoiding a global parametrization, which can be applied to tackle surfaces of complex geometry and topology. We show the flexibility and robustness of the present methodology for two examples: plate in tension and a set of open connected
pipes.
Piezoelectric materials are used in several applications as sensors and actuators where they experience high stress and electric field concentrations as a result of which they may fail due to fracture. Though there are many analytical and experimental works on piezoelectric fracture mechanics. There are very few studies about damage detection, which is an interesting way to prevent the failure of these ceramics.
An iterative method to treat the inverse problem of detecting cracks and voids in piezoelectric structures is proposed. Extended finite element method (XFEM) is employed for solving the inverse problem as it allows the use of a single regular mesh for large number of iterations with different flaw geometries.
Firstly, minimization of cost function is performed by Multilevel Coordinate Search (MCS) method. The XFEM-MCS methodology is applied to two dimensional electromechanical problems where flaws considered are straight cracks and elliptical voids. Then a numerical method based on combination of classical shape derivative and level set method for front propagation used in structural optimization is utilized to minimize the cost function. The results obtained show that the XFEM-level set methodology is effectively able to determine the number of voids in a piezoelectric structure and its corresponding locations.
The XFEM-level set methodology is improved to solve the inverse problem of detecting inclusion interfaces in a piezoelectric structure. The material interfaces are implicitly represented by level sets which are identified by applying regularisation using total variation penalty terms. The formulation is presented for three dimensional structures and inclusions made of different materials are detected by using multiple level sets. The results obtained prove that the iterative procedure proposed can determine the location and approximate shape of material subdomains in the presence of higher noise levels.
Piezoelectric nanostructures exhibit size dependent properties because of surface elasticity and surface piezoelectricity. Initially a study to understand the influence of surface elasticity on optimization of nano elastic beams is performed. The boundary of the nano structure is implicitly represented by a level set function, which is considered as the design variable in the optimization process. Two objective functions, minimizing the total potential energy of a nanostructure subjected to a material volume constraint and minimizing the least square error compared to a target
displacement, are chosen for the numerical examples. The numerical examples demonstrate the importance of size and aspect ratio in determining how surface effects impact the optimized topology of nanobeams.
Finally a conventional cantilever energy harvester with a piezoelectric nano layer is analysed. The presence of surface piezoelectricity in nano beams and nano plates leads to increase in electromechanical coupling coefficient. Topology optimization of these piezoelectric structures in an energy harvesting device to further increase energy conversion using appropriately modified XFEM-level set algorithm is performed .
Briefly, the two basic questions that this research is supposed to answer are:
1. Howmuch fiber is needed and how fibers should be distributed through a fiber reinforced composite (FRC) structure in order to obtain the optimal and reliable structural response?
2. How do uncertainties influence the optimization results and reliability of the structure?
Giving answer to the above questions a double stage sequential optimization algorithm for finding the optimal content of short fiber reinforcements and their distribution in the composite structure, considering uncertain design parameters, is presented. In the first stage, the optimal amount of short fibers in a FRC structure with uniformly distributed fibers is conducted in the framework of a Reliability Based Design Optimization (RBDO) problem. Presented model considers material, structural and modeling uncertainties. In the second stage, the fiber distribution optimization (with the aim to further increase in structural reliability) is performed by defining a fiber distribution function through a Non-Uniform Rational BSpline (NURBS) surface. The advantages of using the NURBS surface as a fiber distribution function include: using the same data set for the optimization and analysis; high convergence rate due to the smoothness of the NURBS; mesh independency of the optimal layout; no need for any post processing technique and its non-heuristic nature. The output of stage 1 (the optimal fiber content for homogeneously distributed fibers) is considered as the input of stage 2. The output of stage 2 is the Reliability Index (b ) of the structure with the optimal fiber content and distribution.
First order reliability method (in order to approximate the limit state function) as well as different material models including Rule of Mixtures, Mori-Tanaka, energy-based approach and stochastic multi-scales are implemented in different examples. The proposed combined model is able to capture the role of available uncertainties in FRC structures through a computationally efficient algorithm using all sequential, NURBS and sensitivity based techniques. The methodology is successfully implemented for interfacial shear stress optimization in sandwich beams and also for optimization of the internal cooling channels in a ceramic matrix composite.
Finally, after some changes and modifications by combining Isogeometric Analysis, level set and point wise density mapping techniques, the computational framework is extended for topology optimization of piezoelectric / flexoelectric materials.
The phenomenon of aerodynamic instability caused by the wind is usually a major design criterion for long-span cable-supported bridges. If the wind speed exceeds the critical flutter speed of the bridge, this constitutes an Ultimate Limit State. The prediction of the flutter boundary, therefore, requires accurate and robust models. The complexity and uncertainty of models for such engineering problems demand strategies for model assessment. This study is an attempt to use the concepts of sensitivity and uncertainty analyses to assess the aeroelastic instability prediction models for long-span bridges. The state-of-the-art theory concerning the determination of the flutter stability limit is presented. Since flutter is a coupling of aerodynamic forcing with a structural dynamics problem, different types and classes of structural and aerodynamic models can be combined to study the interaction. Here, both numerical approaches and analytical models are utilised and coupled in different ways to assess the prediction quality of the coupled model.
The thesis investigates at the computer aided simulation process for operational vibration analysis of complex coupled systems. As part of the internal methods project “Absolute Values” of the BMW Group, the thesis deals with the analysis of the structural dynamic interactions and excitation interactions. The overarching aim of the methods project is to predict the operational vibrations of engines.
Simulations are usually used to analyze technical aspects (e. g. operational vibrations, strength, ...) of single components in the industrial development. The boundary conditions of submodels are mostly based on experiences. So the interactions with neighboring components and systems are neglected. To get physically more realistic results but still efficient simulations, this work wants to support the engineer during the preprocessing phase by useful criteria.
At first suitable abstraction levels based on the existing literature are defined to identify structural dynamic interactions and excitation interactions of coupled systems. So it is possible to separate different effects of the coupled subsystems. On this basis, criteria are derived to assess the influence of interactions between the considered systems. These criteria can be used during the preprocessing phase and help the engineer to build up efficient models with respect to the interactions with neighboring systems. The method was developed by using several models with different complexity levels. Furthermore, the method is proved for the application in the industrial environment by using the example of a current combustion engine.
The gradual digitization in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry over the past fifty years led to an extremely heterogeneous software environment, which today is embodied by the multitude of different digital tools and proprietary data formats used by the many specialists contributing to the design process in a construction project. Though these projects become increasingly complex, the demands on financial efficiency and the completion within a tight schedule grow at the same time. The digital collaboration of project partners has been identified as one key issue in successfully dealing with these challenges. Yet currently, the numerous software applications and their respective individual views on the design process severely impede that collaboration.
An approach to establish a unified basis for the digital collaboration, regardless of the existing software heterogeneity, is a comprehensive digital building model contributed to by all projects partners. This type of data management known as building information modeling (BIM) has many benefits, yet its adoption is associated with many difficulties and thus, proceeds only slowly. One aspect in the field of conflicting requirements on such a digital model is the cooperation of architects and structural engineers. Traditionally, these two disciplines use different abstractions of reality for their models that in consequence lead to incompatible digital representations thereof.
The onset of isogeometric analysis (IGA) promised to ease the discrepancy in design and analysis model representations. Yet, that initial focus quickly shifted towards using these methods as a more powerful basis for numerical simulations. Furthermore, the isogeometric representation alone is not capable of solving the model abstraction problem. It is thus the intention of this work to contribute to an improved digital collaboration of architects and engineers by exploring an integrated analysis approach on the basis of an unified digital model and solid geometry expressed by splines. In the course of this work, an analysis framework is developed that utilizes such models to automatically conduct numerical simulations commonly required in construction projects. In essence, this allows to retrieve structural analysis results from BIM models in a fast and simple manner, thereby facilitating rapid design iterations and profound design feedback.
The BIM implementation Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is reviewed with regard to its capabilities of representing the unified model. The current IFC schema strongly supports the use of redundant model data, a major pitfall in digital collaboration. Additionally, it does not allow to describe the geometry by volumetric splines. As the pursued approach builds upon a unique model for both, architectural and structural design, and furthermore requires solid geometry, necessary schema modifications are suggested.
Structural entities are modeled by volumetric NURBS patches, each of which constitutes an individual subdomain that, with regard to the analysis, is incompatible with the remaining full model. The resulting consequences for numerical simulation are elaborated in this work. The individual subdomains have to be weakly coupled, for which the mortar method is used. Different approaches to discretize the interface traction fields are implemented and their respective impact on the analysis results is evaluated. All necessary coupling conditions are automatically derived from the related geometry model.
The weak coupling procedure leads to a linear system of equations in saddle point form, which, owed to the volumetric modeling, is large in size and, the associated coefficient matrix has, due to the use of higher degree basis functions, a high bandwidth. The peculiarities of the system require adapted solution methods that generally cause higher numerical costs than the standard procedures for symmetric, positive-definite systems do. Different methods to solve the specific system are investigated and an efficient parallel algorithm is finally proposed.
When the structural analysis model is derived from the unified model in the BIM data, it does in general initially not meet the requirements on the discretization that are necessary to obtain sufficiently accurate analysis results. The consequently necessary patch refinements must be controlled automatically to allowfor an entirely automatic analysis procedure. For that purpose, an empirical refinement scheme based on the geometrical and possibly mechanical properties of the specific entities is proposed. The level of refinement may be selectively manipulated by the structural engineer in charge. Furthermore, a Zienkiewicz-Zhu type error estimator is adapted for the use with isogeometric analysis results. It is shown that also this estimator can be used to steer an adaptive refinement procedure.
Phase Field Modeling for Fracture with Applications to Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Materials
(2017)
The thesis presents an implementation including different applications of a variational-based approach for gradient type standard dissipative solids. Phase field model for brittle fracture is an application of the variational-based framework for gradient type solids. This model allows the prediction of different crack topologies and states. Of significant concern is the application of theoretical and numerical formulation of the phase field modeling into the commercial finite element software Abaqus in 2D and 3D. The fully coupled incremental variational formulation of phase field method is implemented by using the UEL and UMAT subroutines of Abaqus. The phase field method
considerably reduces the implementation complexity of fracture problems as it removes the need for numerical tracking of discontinuities in the displacement field that are characteristic of discrete crack methods. This is accomplished by replacing the sharp discontinuities with a scalar damage phase field representing the diffuse crack topology wherein the amount of diffusion is controlled by a regularization parameter. The nonlinear coupled system consisting of the linear momentum equation and a diffusion type equation governing the phase field evolution is solved simultaneously via a Newton-
Raphson approach. Post-processing of simulation results to be used as visualization
module is performed via an additional UMAT subroutine implemented in the standard Abaqus viewer.
In the same context, we propose a simple yet effective algorithm to initiate and propagate cracks in 2D geometries which is independent of both particular constitutive laws and specific element technology and dimension. It consists of a localization limiter in the form of the screened Poisson equation with, optionally, local mesh refinement. A staggered scheme for standard equilibrium and screened Cauchy equations is used. The remeshing part of the algorithm consists of a sequence of mesh subdivision and element erosion steps. Element subdivision is based on edge split operations using a
given constitutive quantity (either damage or void fraction). Mesh smoothing makes use of edge contraction as function of a given constitutive quantity such as the principal stress or void fraction. To assess the robustness and accuracy of this algorithm, we use both quasi-brittle benchmarks and ductile tests.
Furthermore, we introduce a computational approach regarding mechanical loading in microscale on an inelastically deforming composite material. The nanocomposites material of fully exfoliated clay/epoxy is shaped to predict macroscopic elastic and fracture related material parameters based on their fine–scale features. Two different configurations of polymer nanocomposites material (PNCs) have been studied. These configurations are fully bonded PNCs and PNCs with an interphase zone formation between the matrix and the clay reinforcement. The representative volume element of PNCs specimens with different clay weight contents, different aspect ratios, and different
interphase zone thicknesses are generated by adopting Python scripting. Different constitutive models are employed for the matrix, the clay platelets, and the interphase zones. The brittle fracture behavior of the epoxy matrix and the interphase zones material are modeled using the phase field approach, whereas the stiff silicate clay platelets of the composite are designated as a linear elastic material. The comprehensive study investigates the elastic and fracture behavior of PNCs composites, in addition to predict Young’s modulus, tensile strength, fracture toughness, surface energy dissipation, and cracks surface area in the composite for different material parameters, geometry, and interphase zones properties and thicknesses.
Tensile strain and compress strain can greatly affect the thermal conductivity of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). However, the effect of GNRs under shear strain, which is also one of the main strain effect, has not been studied systematically yet. In this work, we employ reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (RNEMD) to the systematical study of the thermal conductivity of GNRs (with model size of 4 nm × 15 nm) under the shear strain. Our studies show that the thermal conductivity of GNRs is not sensitive to the shear strain, and the thermal conductivity decreases only 12–16% before the pristine structure is broken. Furthermore, the phonon frequency and the change of the micro-structure of GNRs, such as band angel and bond length, are analyzed to explore the tendency of thermal conductivity. The results show that the main influence of shear strain is on the in-plane phonon density of states (PDOS), whose G band (higher frequency peaks) moved to the low frequency, thus the thermal conductivity is decreased. The unique thermal properties of GNRs under shear strains suggest their great potentials for graphene nanodevices and great potentials in the thermal managements and thermoelectric applications.
The main categories of wind effects on long span bridge decks are buffeting, flutter, vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) which are often critical for the safety and serviceability of the structure. With the rapid increase of bridge spans, research on controlling wind-induced vibrations of long span bridges has been a problem of great concern.The developments of vibration control theories have led to the wide use of tuned mass dampers (TMDs) which has been proven to be effective for suppressing these vibrations both analytically and experimentally. Fire incidents are also of special interest in the stability and safety of long span bridges due to significant role of the complex phenomenon through triple interaction between the deck with the incoming wind flow and the thermal boundary of the surrounding air.
This work begins with analyzing the buffeting response and flutter instability of three dimensional computational structural dynamics (CSD) models of a cable stayed bridge due to strong wind excitations using ABAQUS finite element commercial software. Optimization and global sensitivity analysis are utilized to target the vertical and torsional vibrations of the segmental deck through considering three aerodynamic parameters (wind attack angle, deck streamlined length and viscous damping of the stay cables). The numerical simulations results in conjunction with the frequency analysis results emphasized the existence of these vibrations and further theoretical studies are possible with a high level of accuracy. Model validation is performed by comparing the results of lift and moment coefficients between the created CSD models and two benchmarks from the literature (flat plate theory) and flat plate by (Xavier and co-authors) which resulted in very good agreements between them. Optimum values of the parameters have been identified. Global sensitivity analysis based on Monte Carlo sampling method was utilized to formulate the surrogate models and calculate the sensitivity indices. The rational effect and the role of each parameter on the aerodynamic stability of the structure were calculated and efficient insight has been constructed for the stability of the long span bridge.
2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of the decks are created with the support of MATLAB codes to simulate and analyze the vortex shedding and VIV of the deck. Three aerodynamic parameters (wind speed, deck streamlined length and dynamic viscosity of the air) are dedicated to study their effects on the kinetic energy of the system and the vortices shapes and patterns. Two benchmarks from the literature (Von Karman) and (Dyrbye and Hansen) are used to validate the numerical simulations of the vortex shedding for the CFD models. A good consent between the results was detected. Latin hypercube experimental
method is dedicated to generate the surrogate models for the kinetic energy of the system and the generated lift forces. Variance based sensitivity analysis is utilized to calculate the main sensitivity indices and the interaction orders for each parameter. The kinetic energy approach performed very well in revealing the rational effect and the role of each parameter in the generation of vortex shedding and predicting the early VIV and the critical wind speed.
Both one-way fluid-structure interaction (one-way FSI) simulations and two-way fluid-structure interaction (two-way FSI) co-simulations for the 2D models of the deck are executed to calculate the shedding frequencies for the associated wind speeds in the lock-in region in addition to the lift and drag coefficients. Validation is executed with the results of (Simiu and Scanlan) and the results of flat plate theory compiled by (Munson and co-authors) respectively. High levels of agreements between all the results were detected. A decrease in the critical wind speed and the shedding frequencies considering (two-way FSI) was identified compared to those obtained in the (one-way FSI). The results from the (two-way FSI) approach predicted appreciable decrease in the lift and drag forces as well as prediction of earlier VIV for lower critical wind speeds and lock-in regions which exist at lower natural frequencies of the system. These conclusions help the designers to efficiently plan and consider for the design and safety of the long span bridge before and after construction.
Multiple tuned mass dampers (MTMDs) system has been applied in the three dimensional CSD models of the cable stayed bridge to analyze their control efficiency in suppressing both wind -induced vertical and torsional vibrations of the deck by optimizing three design parameters (mass ratio, frequency ratio and damping ratio) for the (TMDs) supporting on actual field data and minimax optimization technique in addition to MATLAB codes and Fast Fourier Transform technique. The optimum values of each parameter were identified and validated with two benchmarks from the literature, first with (Wang and co-authors) and then with (Lin and co-authors). The validation procedure detected a good agreement between the results. Box-Behnken experimental method is dedicated to formulate the surrogate models to represent the control efficiency of the vertical and torsional vibrations. Sobol's sensitivity indices are calculated for the design parameters in addition to their interaction orders. The optimization results revealed better performance of the MTMDs in controlling both the vertical and the torsional vibrations for higher mode shapes. Furthermore, the calculated rational effect of each design parameter facilitates to increase the control efficiency of the MTMDs in conjunction with the support of the surrogate models which simplifies the process of analysis for vibration control to a great extent.
A novel structural modification approach has been adopted to eliminate the early coupling between the bending and torsional mode shapes of the cable stayed bridge. Two lateral steel
beams are added to the middle span of the structure. Frequency analysis is dedicated to obtain the natural frequencies of the first eight mode shapes of vibrations before and after the structural modification. Numerical simulations of wind excitations are conducted for the 3D model of the cable stayed bridge. Both vertical and torsional displacements are calculated at the mid span of the deck to analyze the bending and the torsional stiffness of the system before and after the structural modification. The results of the frequency analysis after applying lateral steel beams declared that the coupling between the vertical and torsional mode shapes of vibrations has been removed to larger natural frequencies magnitudes and higher rare critical wind speeds with a high factor of safety.
Finally, thermal fluid-structure interaction (TFSI) and coupled thermal-stress analysis are utilized to identify the effects of transient and steady state heat-transfer on the VIV and fatigue of the deck due to fire incidents. Numerical simulations of TFSI models of the deck are dedicated to calculate the lift and drag forces in addition to determining the lock-in regions once using FSI models and another using TFSI models. Vorticity and thermal fields of three fire scenarios are simulated and analyzed. The benchmark of (Simiu and Scanlan) is used to validate the TFSI models, where a good agreement was manifested between the two results. Extended finite element method (XFEM) is adopted to create 3D models of the cable stayed bridge to simulate the fatigue of the deck considering three fire scenarios. The benchmark of (Choi and Shin) is used to validate the damaged models of the deck in which a good coincide was seen between them. The results revealed that the TFSI models and the coupled thermal-stress models are significant in detecting earlier vortex induced vibration and lock-in regions in addition to predicting damages and fatigue of the deck and identifying the role of wind-induced vibrations in speeding up the damage generation and the collapse of the structure in critical situations.
Advances in nanotechnology lead to the development of nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) such as nanomechanical resonators with ultra-high resonant frequencies. The ultra-high-frequency resonators have recently received significant attention for wide-ranging applications such as molecular separation, molecular transportation, ultra-high sensitive sensing, high-frequency signal processing, and biological imaging. It is well known that for micrometer length scale, first-principles technique, the most accurate approach, poses serious limitations for comparisons with experimental studies. For such larger size, classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are desirable, which require interatomic potentials. Additionally, a mesoscale method such as the coarse-grained (CG) method is another useful method to support simulations for even larger system sizes.
Furthermore, quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) materials have attracted intensive research interest due to their many novel properties over the past decades. However, the energy dissipation mechanisms of nanomechanical resonators based on several Q2D materials are still unknown. In this work, the addressed main issues include the development of the CG models for molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), investigation of the mechanism effects on black phosphorus (BP) nanoresonators and the application of graphene nanoresonators. The primary coverage and results of the dissertation are as follows:
Method development. Firstly, a two-dimensional (2D) CG model for single layer MoS2 (SLMoS2) is analytically developed. The Stillinger-Weber (SW) potential for this 2D CG model is further parametrized, in which all SW geometrical parameters are determined analytically according to the equilibrium condition for each individual potential term, while the SW energy parameters are derived analytically based on the valence force field model. Next, the 2D CG model is further simplified to one-dimensional (1D) CG model, which describes the 2D SLMoS2 structure using a 1D chain model. This 1D CG model is applied to investigate the relaxed configuration and the resonant oscillation of the folded SLMoS2. Owning to the simplicity nature of the 1D CG model, the relaxed configuration of the folded SLMoS2 is determined analytically, and the resonant oscillation frequency is derived analytically. Considering the increasing interest in studying the properties of other 2D layered materials, and in particular those in the semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide class like MoS2, the CG models proposed in current work provide valuable simulation approaches.
Mechanism understanding. Two energy dissipation mechanisms of BP nanoresonators are focused exclusively, i.e. mechanical strain effects and defect effects (including vacancy and oxidation). Vacancy defect is intrinsic damping factor for the quality (Q)-factor, while mechanical strain and oxidation are extrinsic damping factors. Intrinsic dissipation (induced by thermal vibrations) in BP resonators (BPRs) is firstly investigated. Specifically, classical MD simulations are performed to examine the temperature dependence for the Q-factor of the single layer BPR (SLBPR) along the armchair and zigzag directions, where two-step fitting procedure is used to extract the frequency and Q-factor from the kinetic energy time history. The Q-factors of BPRs are evaluated through comparison with those of graphene and MoS2 nanoresonators. Next, effects of mechanical strain, vacancy and oxidation on BP nanoresonators are investigated in turn. Considering the increasing interest in studying the properties of BP, and in particular the lack of theoretical study for the BPRs, the results in current work provide a useful reference.
Application. A novel application for graphene nanoresonators, using them to self-assemble small nanostructures such as water chains, is proposed. All of the underlying physics enabling this phenomenon is elucidated. In particular, by drawing inspiration from macroscale self-assembly using the higher order resonant modes of Chladni plates, classical MD simulations are used to investigate the self-assembly of water molecules using
graphene nanoresonators. An analytic formula for the critical resonant frequency based on the interaction between water molecules and graphene is provided. Furthermore, the properties of the water chains assembled by the graphene nanoresonators are studied.
This dissertation is devoted to the theoretical development and experimental laboratory verification of a new damage localization method: The state projection estimation error (SP2E). This method is based on the subspace identification of mechanical structures, Krein space based H-infinity estimation and oblique projections. To explain method SP2E, several theories are discussed and laboratory experiments have been conducted and analysed.
A fundamental approach of structural dynamics is outlined first by explaining mechanical systems based on first principles. Following that, a fundamentally different approach, subspace identification, is comprehensively explained. While both theories, first principle and subspace identification based mechanical systems, may be seen as widespread methods, barely known and new techniques follow up. Therefore, the indefinite quadratic estimation theory is explained. Based on a Popov function approach, this leads to the Krein space based H-infinity theory. Subsequently, a new method for damage identification, namely SP2E, is proposed. Here, the introduction of a difference process, the analysis by its average process power and the application of oblique projections is discussed in depth.
Finally, the new method is verified in laboratory experiments. Therefore, the identification of a laboratory structure at Leipzig University of Applied Sciences is elaborated. Then structural alterations are experimentally applied, which were localized by SP2E afterwards. In the end four experimental sensitivity studies are shown and discussed. For each measurement series the structural alteration was increased, which was successfully tracked by SP2E. The experimental results are plausible and in accordance with the developed theories. By repeating these experiments, the applicability of SP2E for damage localization is experimentally proven.
Polymeric nanocomposites (PNCs) are considered for numerous nanotechnology such as: nano-biotechnology, nano-systems, nanoelectronics, and nano-structured materials. Commonly , they are formed by polymer (epoxy) matrix reinforced with a nanosized filler. The addition of rigid nanofillers to the epoxy matrix has offered great improvements in the fracture toughness without sacrificing other important thermo-mechanical properties. The physics of the fracture in PNCs is rather complicated and is influenced by different parameters. The presence of uncertainty in the predicted output is expected as a result of stochastic variance in the factors affecting the fracture mechanism. Consequently, evaluating the improved fracture toughness in PNCs is a challenging problem.
Artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) have been employed to predict the fracture energy of polymer/particle nanocomposites. The ANN and ANFIS models were constructed, trained, and tested based on a collection of 115 experimental datasets gathered from the literature. The performance evaluation indices of the developed ANN and ANFIS showed relatively small error, with high coefficients of determination (R2), and low root mean square error and mean absolute percentage error.
In the framework for uncertainty quantification of PNCs, a sensitivity analysis (SA) has been conducted to examine the influence of uncertain input parameters on the fracture toughness of polymer/clay nanocomposites (PNCs). The phase-field approach is employed to predict the macroscopic properties of the composite considering six uncertain input parameters. The efficiency, robustness, and repeatability are compared and evaluated comprehensively for five different SA methods.
The Bayesian method is applied to develop a methodology in order to evaluate the performance of different analytical models used in predicting the fracture toughness of polymeric particles nanocomposites. The developed method have considered the model and parameters uncertainties based on different reference data (experimental measurements) gained from the literature. Three analytical models differing in theory and assumptions were examined. The coefficients of variation of the model predictions to the measurements are calculated using the approximated optimal parameter sets. Then, the model selection probability is obtained with respect to the different reference data.
Stochastic finite element modeling is implemented to predict the fracture toughness of polymer/particle nanocomposites. For this purpose, 2D finite element model containing an epoxy matrix and rigid nanoparticles surrounded by an interphase zone is generated. The crack propagation is simulated by the cohesive segments method and phantom nodes. Considering the uncertainties in the input parameters, a polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) surrogate model is construed followed by a sensitivity analysis.
Management strategies for sustainable sugarcane production need to deal with the increasing complexity and variability of the whole sugar system. Moreover, they need to accommodate the multiple goals of different industry sectors and the wider community. Traditional disciplinary approaches are unable to provide integrated management solutions, and an approach based on whole systems analysis is essential to bring about beneficial change to industry and the community. The application of this approach to water management, environmental management and cane supply management is outlined, where the literature indicates that the application of extreme learning machine (ELM) has never been explored in this realm. Consequently, the leading objective of the current research was set to filling this gap by applying ELM to launch swift and accurate model for crop production data-driven. The key learning has been the need for innovation both in the technical aspects of system function underpinned by modelling of sugarcane growth. Therefore, the current study is an attempt to establish an integrate model using ELM to predict the concluding growth amount of sugarcane. Prediction results were evaluated and further compared with artificial neural network (ANN) and genetic programming models. Accuracy of the ELM model is calculated using the statistics indicators of Root Means Square Error (RMSE), Pearson Coefficient (r), and Coefficient of Determination (R2) with promising results of 0.8, 0.47, and 0.89, respectively. The results also show better generalization ability in addition to faster learning curve. Thus, proficiency of the ELM for supplementary work on advancement of prediction model for sugarcane growth was approved with promising results.
The production of a desired product needs an effective use of the experimental model. The present study proposes an extreme learning machine (ELM) and a support vector machine (SVM) integrated with the response surface methodology (RSM) to solve the complexity in optimization and prediction of the ethyl ester and methyl ester production process. The novel hybrid models of ELM-RSM and ELM-SVM are further used as a case study to estimate the yield of methyl and ethyl esters through a trans-esterification process from waste cooking oil (WCO) based on American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. The results of the prediction phase were also compared with artificial neural networks (ANNs) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), which were recently developed by the second author of this study. Based on the results, an ELM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9815 and 0.9863 for methyl and ethyl esters, respectively, had a high estimation capability compared with that for SVM, ANNs, and ANFIS. Accordingly, the maximum production yield was obtained in the case of using ELM-RSM of 96.86% for ethyl ester at a temperature of 68.48 °C, a catalyst value of 1.15 wt. %, mixing intensity of 650.07 rpm, and an alcohol to oil molar ratio (A/O) of 5.77; for methyl ester, the production yield was 98.46% at a temperature of 67.62 °C, a catalyst value of 1.1 wt. %, mixing intensity of 709.42 rpm, and an A/O of 6.09. Therefore, ELM-RSM increased the production yield by 3.6% for ethyl ester and 3.1% for methyl ester, compared with those for the experimental data.
Biodiesel, as the main alternative fuel to diesel fuel which is produced from renewable and available resources, improves the engine emissions during combustion in diesel engines. In this study, the biodiesel is produced initially from waste cooking oil (WCO). The fuel samples are applied in a diesel engine and the engine performance has been considered from the viewpoint of exergy and energy approaches. Engine tests are performed at a constant 1500 rpm speed with various loads and fuel samples. The obtained experimental data are also applied to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) model. Response surface methodology (RSM) is employed to optimize the exergy and energy efficiencies. Based on the results of the energy analysis, optimal engine performance is obtained at 80% of full load in presence of B10 and B20 fuels. However, based on the exergy analysis results, optimal engine performance is obtained at 80% of full load in presence of B90 and B100 fuels. The optimum values of exergy and energy efficiencies are in the range of 25–30% of full load, which is the same as the calculated range obtained from mathematical modeling.
In this work, molecular separation of aqueous-organic was simulated by using combined soft computing-mechanistic approaches. The considered separation system was a microporous membrane contactor for separation of benzoic acid from water by contacting with an organic phase containing extractor molecules. Indeed, extractive separation is carried out using membrane technology where complex of solute-organic is formed at the interface. The main focus was to develop a simulation methodology for prediction of concentration distribution of solute (benzoic acid) in the feed side of the membrane system, as the removal efficiency of the system is determined by concentration distribution of the solute in the feed channel. The pattern of Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) was optimized by finding the optimum membership function, learning percentage, and a number of rules. The ANFIS was trained using the extracted data from the CFD simulation of the membrane system. The comparisons between the predicted concentration distribution by ANFIS and CFD data revealed that the optimized ANFIS pattern can be used as a predictive tool for simulation of the process. The R2 of higher than 0.99 was obtained for the optimized ANFIS model. The main privilege of the developed methodology is its very low computational time for simulation of the system and can be used as a rigorous simulation tool for understanding and design of membrane-based systems.
Highlights are, Molecular separation using microporous membranes. Developing hybrid model based on ANFIS-CFD for the separation process, Optimization of ANFIS structure for prediction of separation process
Turbomachinery plays an important role in many cases of energy generation or conversion. Therefore, turbomachinery is a promising approaching point for optimization in order to increase the efficiency of energy use. In recent years, the use of automated optimization strategies in combination with numerical simulation has become increasingly popular in many fields of engineering. The complex interactions between fluid and solid mechanics encountered in turbomachines on the one hand and the high computational expense needed to calculate the performance on the other hand, have, however, prevented a widespread use of these techniques in this field of engineering. The objective of this work was the development of a strategy for efficient metamodel based optimization of centrifugal compressor impellers. In this context, the main focus is the reduction of the required numerical expense. The central idea followed in this research was the incorporation of preliminary information acquired from low-fidelity computation methods and empirical correlations into the sampling process to identify promising regions of the parameter space. This information was then used to concentrate the numerically expensive high-fidelity computations of the fluid dynamic and structure mechanic performance of the impeller in these regions while still maintaining a good coverage of the whole parameter space. The development of the optimization strategy can be divided into three main tasks. Firstly, the available preliminary information had to be researched and rated. This research identified loss models based on one dimensional flow physics and empirical correlations as the best suited method to predict the aerodynamic performance. The loss models were calibrated using available performance data to obtain a high prediction quality. As no sufficiently exact models for the prediction of the mechanical loading of the impellercould be identified, a metamodel based on finite element computations was chosen for this estimation. The second task was the development of a sampling method which concentrates samples in regions of the parameter space where high quality designs are predicted by the preliminary information while maintaining a good overall coverage. As available methods like rejection sampling or Markov-chain Monte-Carlo methods did not meet the requirements in terms of sample distribution and input correlation, a new multi-fidelity sampling method called “Filtered Sampling“has been developed. The last task was the development of an automated computational workflow. This workflow encompasses geometry parametrization, geometry generation, grid generation and computation of the aerodynamic performance and the structure mechanic loading. Special emphasis was put into the development of a geometry parametrization strategy based on fluid mechanic considerations to prevent the generation of physically inexpedient designs. Finally, the optimization strategy, which utilizes the previously developed tools, was successfully employed to carry out three optimization tasks. The efficiency of the method was proven by the first and second testcase where an existing compressor design was optimized by the presented method. The results were comparable to optimizations which did not take preliminary information into account, while the required computational expense cloud be halved. In the third testcase, the method was applied to generate a new impeller design. In contrast to the previous examples, this optimization featuredlargervariationsoftheimpellerdesigns. Therefore, theapplicability of the method to parameter spaces with significantly varying designs could be proven, too.
Due to an increased need for hydro-electricity, water storage, and flood protection, it is assumed that a series of new dams will be built throughout the world. Comparing existing design methodologies for arch-type dams, model-based shape optimization can effectively reduce construction costs and leverage the properties of construction materials. To apply the means of shape optimization, suitable variables need to be chosen to formulate the objective function, which is the volume of the arch dam here. In order to increase the consistency with practical conditions, a great number of geometrical and behavioral constraints are included in the mathematical model. An optimization method, namely Genetic Algorithm is adopted which allows a global search.
Traditional optimization techniques are realized based on a deterministic approach, which means that the material properties and loading conditions are assumed to be fixed values. As a result, the real-world structures that are optimized by these approaches suffer from uncertainties that one needs to be aware of. Hence, in any optimization process for arch dams, it is nec- essary to find a methodology that is capable of considering the influences of uncertainties and generating a solution which is robust enough against the uncertainties.
The focus of this thesis is the formulation and the numerical method for the optimization of the arch dam under the uncertainties. The two main models, the probabilistic model, and non-probabilistic models are intro- duced and discussed. Classic procedures of probabilistic approaches un- der uncertainties, such as RDO (robust design optimization) and RBDO (reliability-based design optimization), are in general computationally ex- pensive and rely on estimates of the system’s response variance and fail- ure probabilities. Instead, the robust optimization (RO) method which is based on the non-probabilistic model, will not follow a full probabilistic approach but works with pre-defined confidence levels. This leads to a bi-level optimization program where the volume of the dam is optimized under the worst combination of the uncertain parameters. By this, robust and reliable designs are obtained and the result is independent of any as- sumptions on stochastic properties of the random variables in the model.
The optimization of an arch-type dam is realized here by a robust optimiza- tion method under load uncertainty, where hydraulic and thermal loads are considered. The load uncertainty is modeled as an ellipsoidal expression. Comparing with any traditional deterministic optimization (DO) method, which only concerns the minimum objective value and offers a solution candidate close to limit-states, the RO method provides a robust solution against uncertainties.
All the above mentioned methods are applied to the optimization of the arch dam to compare with the optimal design with DO methods. The re- sults are compared and analyzed to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each method.
In order to reduce the computational cost, a ranking strategy and an ap- proximation model are further involved to do a preliminary screening. By means of these, the robust design can generate an improved arch dam structure which ensures both safety and serviceability during its lifetime.
The underlying goal of this work is to reduce the uncertainty related to thermally induced stress prediction. This is accomplished by considering use of non-linear material behavior, notably path dependent thermal hysteresis behavior in the elastic properties.
Primary novel factors of this work center on two aspects.
1. Broad material characterization and mechanistic material understanding, giving insight into why this class of material behaves in characteristic manners.
2. Development and implementation of a thermal hysteresis material model and its use to determine impact on overall macroscopic stress predictions.
Results highlight microcracking evolution and behavior as the dominant mechanism for material property complexity in this class of materials. Additionally, it was found that for the cases studied, thermal hysteresis behavior impacts relevant peak stress predictions of a heavy-duty diesel particulate filter undergoing a drop-to-idle regeneration by less than ~15% for all conditions tested. It is also found that path independent heating curves may be utilized for a linear solution assumption to simplify analysis.
This work brings forth a newly conceived concept of a 3 state, 4 path, thermally induced microcrack evolution process; demonstrates experimental behavior that is consistent with the proposed mechanisms, develops a mathematical framework that describes the process and quantifies the impact in a real world application space.
In recent years the demand on dynamic analyses of existing structures in civil engineering has remarkably increased. These analyses are mainly based on numerical models. Accordingly, the generated results depend on the quality of the used models. Therefore it is very important that the models describe the considered systems such that the behaviour of the physical structure is realistically represented. As any model is based on assumptions, there is always a certain degree of uncertainty present in the results of a simulation based on the respective numerical model. To minimise these uncertainties in the prediction of the response of a structure to a certain loading, it has become common practice to update or calibrate the parameters of a numerical model based on observations of the structural behaviour of the respective existing system.
The determination of the behaviour of an existing structure requires experimental investigations. If the numerical analyses concern the dynamic response of a structure it is sensible to direct the experimental investigations towards the identification of the dynamic structural behaviour which is determined by the modal parameters of the system. In consequence, several methods for the experimental identification of modal parameters have been developed since the 1980ies.
Due to various technical restraints in civil engineering which limit the possibilities to excitate a structure with economically reasonable effort, several methods have been developed that allow a modal identification form tests with an ambient excitation. The approach of identifying modal parameters only from measurements of the structural response without precise knowledge of the excitation is known as output-only or operational modal analysis.
Since operational modal analysis (OMA) can be considered as a link between numerical modelling and simulation on the one hand and the dynamic behaviour of an existing structure on the other hand, the respective algorithms connect both the concepts of structural dynamics and mathematical tools applied within the processing of experimental data. Accordingly, the related theoretical topics are revised after an introduction into the topic.
Several OMA methods have been developed over the last decades. The most established algorithms are presented here and their application is illustrated by means of both a small numerical and an experimental example. Since experimentally obtained results always underly manifold influences, an appropriate postprocessing of the results is necessary for a respective quality assessment. This quality assessment does not only require respective indicators but should also include the quantification of uncertainties.
One special feature in modal testing is that it is common to instrument the structure in different sensor setups to improve the spacial resolution of identified mode shapes. The modal information identified from tests in several setups needs to be merged a posteriori. Algorithms to cope with this problem are also presented.
Due to the fact that the amount of data generated in modal tests can become very large, manual processing can become extremely expensive or even impossible, for example in the case of a long-term continuous structural monitoring. In these situations an automated analysis and postprocessing are essential. Descriptions of respective methodologies are therefore also included in this work.
Every structural system in civil engineering is unique and so also every identification of modal parameters has its specific challenges. Some aspects that can be faced in practical applications of operational modal analysis are presented and discussed in a chapter that is dedicated specific problems that an analyst may have to overcome. Case studies of systems with very close modes, with limited accessibility as well as the application of different OMA methods are described and discussed. In this context the focus is put on several types of uncertainty that may occur in the multiple stages of an operational modal analysis. In literature only very specific uncertainties at certain stages of the analysis are addressed. Here, the topic of uncertainties has been considered in a broader sense and approaches for treating respective problems are suggested.
Eventually, it is concluded that the methodologies of operatinal modal analysis and related technical solutions have been well-engineered already. However, as in any discipline that includes experiments, a certain degree of uncertainty always remains in the results. From these conclusions has been derived a demand for further research and development that should be directed towards the minimisation of these uncertainties and to a respective optimisation of the steps and corresponding parameters included in an operational modal analysis.
Matrix-free voxel-based finite element method for materials with heterogeneous microstructures
(2019)
Modern image detection techniques such as micro computer tomography
(μCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provide us with high resolution images of the microstructure of materials in a non-invasive and convenient way. They form the basis for the geometrical models of high-resolution analysis, so called image-based analysis.
However especially in 3D, discretizations of these models reach easily the size of 100 Mill. degrees of freedoms and require extensive hardware resources in terms of main memory and computing power to solve the numerical model. Consequently, the focus of this work is to combine and adapt numerical solution methods to reduce the memory demand first and then the computation time and therewith enable an execution of the image-based analysis on modern computer desktops. Hence, the numerical model is a straightforward grid discretization of the voxel-based (pixels with a third dimension) geometry which omits the boundary detection algorithms and allows reduced storage of the finite element data structure and a matrix-free solution algorithm.
This in turn reduce the effort of almost all applied grid-based solution techniques and results in memory efficient and numerically stable algorithms for the microstructural models. Two variants of the matrix-free algorithm are presented. The efficient iterative solution method of conjugate gradients is used with matrix-free applicable preconditioners such as the Jacobi and the especially suited multigrid method. The jagged material boundaries of the voxel-based mesh are smoothed through embedded boundary elements which contain different material information at the integration point and are integrated sub-cell wise though without additional boundary detection. The efficiency of the matrix-free methods can be retained.
Since the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, the high emission of gaseous wastes into the atmosphere from the usage of fossil fuels has caused a general increase in temperatures globally. To combat the environmental imbalance, there is an increase in the demand for renewable energy sources. Dams play a major role in the generation of “green" energy. However, these structures require frequent and strict monitoring to ensure safe and efficient operation. To tackle the challenges faced in the application of convention dam monitoring techniques, this work proposes the inverse analysis of numerical models to identify damaged regions in the dam. Using a dynamic coupled hydro-mechanical Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) model and a global optimization strategy, damage (crack) in the dam is identified. By employing seismic waves to probe the dam structure, a more detailed information on the distribution of heterogeneous materials and damaged regions are obtained by the application of the Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) method. The FWI is based on a local optimization strategy and thus it is highly dependent on the starting model. A variety of data acquisition setups are investigated, and an optimal setup is proposed. The effect of different starting models and noise in the measured data on the damage identification is considered. Combining the non-dependence of a starting model of the global optimization strategy based dynamic coupled hydro-mechanical XFEM method and the detailed output of the local optimization strategy based FWI method, an enhanced Full Waveform Inversion is proposed for the structural analysis of dams.
This thesis addresses an adaptive higher-order method based on a Geometry Independent Field approximatTion(GIFT) of polynomial/rationals plines over hierarchical T-meshes(PHT/RHT-splines).
In isogeometric analysis, basis functions used for constructing geometric models in computer-aided design(CAD) are also employed to discretize the partial differential equations(PDEs) for numerical analysis. Non-uniform rational B-Splines(NURBS) are the most commonly used basis functions in CAD. However, they may not be ideal for numerical analysis where local refinement is required.
The alternative method GIFT deploys different splines for geometry and numerical analysis. NURBS are utilized for the geometry representation, while for the field solution, PHT/RHT-splines are used. PHT-splines not only inherit the useful properties of B-splines and NURBS, but also possess the capabilities of local refinement and hierarchical structure. The smooth basis function properties of PHT-splines make them suitable for analysis purposes. While most problems considered in isogeometric analysis can be solved efficiently when the solution is smooth, many non-trivial problems have rough solutions. For example, this can be caused by the presence of re-entrant corners in the domain. For such problems, a tensor-product basis (as in the case of NURBS) is less suitable for resolving the singularities that appear since refinement propagates throughout the computational domain. Hierarchical bases and local refinement (as in the case of PHT-splines) allow for a more efficient way to resolve these singularities by adding more degrees of freedom where they are necessary. In order to drive the adaptive refinement, an efficient recovery-based error estimator is proposed in this thesis. The estimator produces a recovery solution which is a more accurate approximation than the computed numerical solution. Several two- and three-dimensional numerical investigations with PHT-splines of higher order and continuity prove that the proposed method is capable of obtaining results with higher accuracy, better convergence, fewer degrees of freedom and less computational cost than NURBS for smooth solution problems. The adaptive GIFT method utilizing PHT-splines with the recovery-based error estimator is used for solutions with discontinuities or singularities where adaptive local refinement in particular domains of interest achieves higher accuracy with fewer degrees of freedom. This method also proves that it can handle complicated multi-patch domains for two- and three-dimensional problems outperforming uniform refinement in terms of degrees of freedom and computational cost.
Identification of flaws in structures is a critical element in the management of maintenance and quality assurance processes in engineering. Nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques based on a wide range of physical principles have been developed and are used in common practice for structural health monitoring. However, basic NDT techniques are usually limited in their ability to provide the accurate information on locations, dimensions and shapes of flaws. One alternative to extract additional information from the results of NDT is to append it with a computational model that provides detailed analysis of the physical process involved and enables the accurate identification of the flaw parameters. The aim here is to develop the strategies to uniquely identify cracks in two-dimensional 2D) structures under dynamic loadings.
A local NDT technique combined eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) with dynamic loading in order to identify the cracks in the structures quickly and accurately is developed in this dissertation. The Newmark-b time integration method with Rayleigh damping is used for the time integration. We apply Nelder-Mead (NM)and Quasi-Newton (QN) methods for identifying the crack tip in plate. The inverse problem is solved iteratively, in which XFEM is used for solving the forward problem in each iteration. For a timeharmonic excitation with a single frequency and a short-duration signal measured along part of the external boundary, the crack is detected through the solution of an inverse time-dependent problem. Compared to the static load, we show that the dynamic loads are more effective for crack detection problems. Moreover, we tested different dynamic loads and find that NM method works more efficient under the harmonic load than the pounding load while the QN method achieves almost the same results for both load types.
A global strategy, Multilevel Coordinate Search (MCS) with XFEM (XFEM-MCS) methodology under the dynamic electric load, to detect multiple cracks in 2D piezoelectric plates is proposed in this dissertation. The Newmark-b method is employed for the time integration and in each iteration the forward problem is solved by XFEM for various cracks. The objective functional is minimized by using a global search algorithm MCS. The test problems show that the XFEM-MCS algorithm under the dynamic electric load can be effectively employed for multiple cracks detection in piezoelectric materials, and it proves to be robust in identifying defects in piezoelectric structures. Fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) are extensively applied in practical engineering since they have high stiffness and strength. Experiments reveal a so-called interphase zone, i.e. the space between the outside interface of the fiber and the inside interface of the matrix. The interphase strength between the fiber and the matrix strongly affects the mechanical properties as a result of the large ratio of interface/volume. For the purpose of understanding the mechanical properties of FRCs with functionally graded interphase (FGI), a closed-form expression of the interface strength between a fiber and a matrix is obtained in this dissertation using a continuum modeling approach according to the ver derWaals (vdW) forces. Based on the interatomic potential, we develop a new modified nonlinear cohesive law, which is applied to study the interface delamination of FRCs with FGI under different loadings. The analytical solutions show that the delamination behavior strongly depends on the interphase thickness, the fiber radius, the Young’s moduli and Poisson’s ratios of the fiber and the matrix. Thermal conductivity is the property of a material to conduct heat. With the development and deep research of 2D materials, especially graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), the thermal conductivity of 2D materials attracts wide attentions. The thermal conductivity of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is found to appear a tendency of decreasing under tensile strain by classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Hence, the strain effects of graphene can play a key role in the continuous tunability and applicability of its thermal conductivity property at nanoscale, and the dissipation of thermal conductivity is an obstacle for the applications of thermal management. Up to now, the thermal conductivity of graphene under shear deformation has not been investigated yet. From a practical point of view, good thermal managements of GNRs have significantly potential applications of future GNR-based thermal nanodevices, which can greatly improve performances of the nanosized devices due to heat dissipations. Meanwhile, graphene is a thin membrane structure, it is also important to understand the wrinkling behavior under shear deformation. MoS2 exists in the stable semiconducting 1H phase (1H-MoS2) while the metallic 1T phase (1T-MoS2) is unstable at ambient conditions. As it’s well known that much attention has been focused on studying the nonlinear optical properties of the 1H-MoS2. In a very recent research, the 1T-type monolayer crystals of TMDCs, MX2 (MoS2, WS2 ...) was reported having an intrinsic in-plane negative Poisson’s ratio. Luckily, nearly at the same time, unprecedented long-term (>3months) air stability of the 1T-MoS2 can be achieved by using the donor lithium hydride (LiH). Therefore, it’s very important to study the thermal conductivity of 1T-MoS2.
The thermal conductivity of graphene under shear strain is systematically studied in this dissertation by MD simulations. The results show that, in contrast to the dramatic decrease of thermal conductivity of graphene under uniaxial tensile, the thermal conductivity of graphene is not sensitive to the shear strain, and the thermal conductivity decreases only 12-16%. The wrinkle evolves when the shear strain is around 5%-10%, but the thermal conductivity barely changes.
The thermal conductivities of single-layer 1H-MoS2(1H-SLMoS2) and single-layer 1T-MoS2 (1T-SLMoS2) with different sample sizes, temperatures and strain rates have been studied systematically in this dissertation. We find that the thermal conductivities of 1H-SLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 in both the armchair and the zigzag directions increase with the increasing of the sample length, while the increase of the width of the sample has minor effect on the thermal conductions of these two structures. The thermal conductivity of 1HSLMoS2 is smaller than that of 1T-SLMoS2 under size effect. Furthermore, the temperature effect results show that the thermal conductivities of both 1H-SLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 decrease with the increasing of the temperature. The thermal conductivities of 1HSLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 are nearly the same (difference <6%) in both of the chiral orientations under corresponding temperatures, especially in the armchair direction (difference <2.8%). Moreover, we find that the strain effects on the thermal conductivity of 1HSLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 are different. More specifically, the thermal conductivity decreases with the increasing tensile strain rate for
1T-SLMoS2, while fluctuates with the growth of the strain for 1HSLMoS2. Finally, we find that the thermal conductivity of same sized 1H-SLMoS2 is similar with that of the strained 1H-SLMoS2 structure.
Estimating the solubility of carbon dioxide in ionic liquids, using reliable models, is of paramount importance from both environmental and economic points of view. In this regard, the current research aims at evaluating the performance of two data-driven techniques, namely multilayer perceptron (MLP) and gene expression programming (GEP), for predicting the solubility of carbon dioxide (CO2) in ionic liquids (ILs) as the function of pressure, temperature, and four thermodynamical parameters of the ionic liquid. To develop the above techniques, 744 experimental data points derived from the literature including 13 ILs were used (80% of the points for training and 20% for validation). Two backpropagation-based methods, namely Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) and Bayesian Regularization (BR), were applied to optimize the MLP algorithm. Various statistical and graphical assessments were applied to check the credibility of the developed techniques. The results were then compared with those calculated using Peng–Robinson (PR) or Soave–Redlich–Kwong (SRK) equations of state (EoS). The highest coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.9965) and the lowest root mean square error (RMSE = 0.0116) were recorded for the MLP-LMA model on the full dataset (with a negligible difference to the MLP-BR model). The comparison of results from this model with the vastly applied thermodynamic equation of state models revealed slightly better performance, but the EoS approaches also performed well with R2 from 0.984 up to 0.996. Lastly, the newly established correlation based on the GEP model exhibited very satisfactory results with overall values of R2 = 0.9896 and RMSE = 0.0201.
FCS-MBFLEACH: Designing an Energy-Aware Fault Detection System for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks
(2019)
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) include large-scale sensor nodes that are densely distributed over a geographical region that is completely randomized for monitoring, identifying, and analyzing physical events. The crucial challenge in wireless sensor networks is the very high dependence of the sensor nodes on limited battery power to exchange information wirelessly as well as the non-rechargeable battery of the wireless sensor nodes, which makes the management and monitoring of these nodes in terms of abnormal changes very difficult. These anomalies appear under faults, including hardware, software, anomalies, and attacks by raiders, all of which affect the comprehensiveness of the data collected by wireless sensor networks. Hence, a crucial contraption should be taken to detect the early faults in the network, despite the limitations of the sensor nodes. Machine learning methods include solutions that can be used to detect the sensor node faults in the network. The purpose of this study is to use several classification methods to compute the fault detection accuracy with different densities under two scenarios in regions of interest such as MB-FLEACH, one-class support vector machine (SVM), fuzzy one-class, or a combination of SVM and FCS-MBFLEACH methods. It should be noted that in the study so far, no super cluster head (SCH) selection has been performed to detect node faults in the network. The simulation outcomes demonstrate that the FCS-MBFLEACH method has the best performance in terms of the accuracy of fault detection, false-positive rate (FPR), average remaining energy, and network lifetime compared to other classification methods.
Renewable energy use is on the rise and these alternative resources of energy can help combat with the climate change. Around 80% of the world's electricity comes from coal and petroleum however, the renewables are the fastest growing source of energy in the world. Solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biogas are the most common forms of renewable energy. Among them, wind energy is emerging as a reliable and large-scaled source of power production. The recent research and confidence in the performance has led to the construction of more and bigger wind turbines around the world. As wind turbines are getting bigger, a concern regarding their safety is also in discussion. Wind turbines are expensive machinery to construct and the enormous capital investment is one of the main reasons, why many countries are unable to adopt to the wind energy. Generally, a reliable wind turbine will result in better performance and assist in minimizing the cost of operation. If a wind turbine fails, it's a loss of investment and can be harmful for the surrounding habitat. This thesis aims towards estimating the reliability of an offshore wind turbine. A model of Jacket type offshore wind turbine is prepared by using finite element software package ABAQUS and is compared with the structural failure criteria of the wind turbine tower. UQLab, which is a general uncertainty quantification framework developed at ETH Zürich, is used for the reliability analysis. Several probabilistic methods are included in the framework of UQLab, which include Monte Carlo, First Order Reliability Analysis and Adaptive Kriging Monte Carlo simulation. This reliability study is performed only for the structural failure of the wind turbine but it can be extended to many other forms of failures e.g. reliability for power production, or reliability for different component failures etc. It's a useful tool that can be utilized to estimate the reliability of future wind turbines, that could result in more safer and better performance of wind turbines.
The vibration control of the tall building during earthquake excitations is a challenging task due to their complex seismic behavior. This paper investigates the optimum placement and properties of the Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) in tall buildings, which are employed to control the vibrations during earthquakes. An algorithm was developed to spend a limited mass either in a single TMD or in multiple TMDs and distribute them optimally over the height of the building. The Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA – II) method was improved by adding multi-variant genetic operators and utilized to simultaneously study the optimum design parameters of the TMDs and the optimum placement. The results showed that under earthquake excitations with noticeable amplitude in higher modes, distributing TMDs over the height of the building is more effective in mitigating the vibrations compared to the use of a single TMD system. From the optimization, it was observed that the locations of the TMDs were related to the stories corresponding to the maximum modal displacements in the lower modes and the stories corresponding to the maximum modal displacements in the modes which were highly activated by the earthquake excitations. It was also noted that the frequency content of the earthquake has significant influence on the optimum location of the TMDs.
This study aims to evaluate a new approach in modeling gully erosion susceptibility (GES) based on a deep learning neural network (DLNN) model and an ensemble particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm with DLNN (PSO-DLNN), comparing these approaches with common artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM) models in Shirahan watershed, Iran. For this purpose, 13 independent variables affecting GES in the study area, namely, altitude, slope, aspect, plan curvature, profile curvature, drainage density, distance from a river, land use, soil, lithology, rainfall, stream power index (SPI), and topographic wetness index (TWI), were prepared. A total of 132 gully erosion locations were identified during field visits. To implement the proposed model, the dataset was divided into the two categories of training (70%) and testing (30%). The results indicate that the area under the curve (AUC) value from receiver operating characteristic (ROC) considering the testing datasets of PSO-DLNN is 0.89, which indicates superb accuracy. The rest of the models are associated with optimal accuracy and have similar results to the PSO-DLNN model; the AUC values from ROC of DLNN, SVM, and ANN for the testing datasets are 0.87, 0.85, and 0.84, respectively. The efficiency of the proposed model in terms of prediction of GES was increased. Therefore, it can be concluded that the DLNN model and its ensemble with the PSO algorithm can be used as a novel and practical method to predict gully erosion susceptibility, which can help planners and managers to manage and reduce the risk of this phenomenon.
A Machine Learning Framework for Assessing Seismic Hazard Safety of Reinforced Concrete Buildings
(2020)
Although averting a seismic disturbance and its physical, social, and economic disruption is practically impossible, using the advancements in computational science and numerical modeling shall equip humanity to predict its severity, understand the outcomes, and equip for post-disaster management. Many buildings exist amidst the developed metropolitan areas, which are senile and still in service. These buildings were also designed before establishing national seismic codes or without the introduction of construction regulations. In that case, risk reduction is significant for developing alternatives and designing suitable models to enhance the existing structure’s performance. Such models will be able to classify risks and casualties related to possible earthquakes through emergency preparation. Thus, it is crucial to recognize structures that are susceptible to earthquake vibrations and need to be prioritized for retrofitting. However, each building’s behavior under seismic actions cannot be studied through performing structural analysis, as it might be unrealistic because of the rigorous computations, long period, and substantial expenditure. Therefore, it calls for a simple, reliable, and accurate process known as Rapid Visual Screening (RVS), which serves as a primary screening platform, including an optimum number of seismic parameters and predetermined performance damage conditions for structures. In this study, the damage classification technique was studied, and the efficacy of the Machine Learning (ML) method in damage prediction via a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model was explored. The ML model is trained and tested separately on damage data from four different earthquakes, namely Ecuador, Haiti, Nepal, and South Korea. Each dataset consists of varying numbers of input data and eight performance modifiers. Based on the study and the results, the ML model using SVM classifies the given input data into the belonging classes and accomplishes the performance on hazard safety evaluation of buildings.
The latest earthquakes have proven that several existing buildings, particularly in developing countries, are not secured from damages of earthquake. A variety of statistical and machine-learning approaches have been proposed to identify vulnerable buildings for the prioritization of retrofitting. The present work aims to investigate earthquake susceptibility through the combination of six building performance variables that can be used to obtain an optimal prediction of the damage state of reinforced concrete buildings using artificial neural network (ANN). In this regard, a multi-layer perceptron network is trained and optimized using a database of 484 damaged buildings from the Düzce earthquake in Turkey. The results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the selected ANN approach to classify concrete structural damage that can be used as a preliminary assessment technique to identify vulnerable buildings in disaster risk-management programs.
This study permits a reliability analysis to solve the mechanical behaviour issues existing in the current structural design of fabric structures. Purely predictive material models are highly desirable to facilitate an optimized design scheme and to significantly reduce time and cost at the design stage, such as experimental characterization.
The present study examined the role of three major tasks; a) single-objective optimization, b) sensitivity analyses and c) multi-objective optimization on proposed weave structures for woven fabric composites. For single-objective optimization task, the first goal is to optimize the elastic properties of proposed complex weave structure under unit cells basis based on periodic boundary conditions.
We predict the geometric characteristics towards skewness of woven fabric composites via Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) and a parametric study. We also demonstrate the effect of complex weave structures on the fray tendency in woven fabric composites via tightness evaluation. We utilize a procedure which does not require a numerical averaging process for evaluating the elastic properties of woven fabric composites. The fray tendency and skewness of woven fabrics depends upon the behaviour of the floats which is related to the factor of weave. Results of this study may suggest a broader view for further research into the effects of complex weave structures or may provide an alternative to the fray and skewness problems of current weave structure in woven fabric composites.
A comprehensive study is developed on the complex weave structure model which adopts the dry woven fabric of the most potential pattern in singleobjective optimization incorporating the uncertainties parameters of woven fabric composites. The comprehensive study covers the regression-based and variance-based sensitivity analyses. The second task goal is to introduce the fabric uncertainties parameters and elaborate how they can be incorporated into finite element models on macroscopic material parameters such as elastic modulus and shear modulus of dry woven fabric subjected to uni-axial and biaxial deformations. Significant correlations in the study, would indicate the need for a thorough investigation of woven fabric composites under uncertainties parameters. The study describes here could serve as an alternative to identify effective material properties without prolonged time consumption and expensive experimental tests.
The last part focuses on a hierarchical stochastic multi-scale optimization approach (fine-scale and coarse-scale optimizations) under geometrical uncertainties parameters for hybrid composites considering complex weave structure. The fine-scale optimization is to determine the best lamina pattern that maximizes its macroscopic elastic properties, conducted by EA under the following uncertain mesoscopic parameters: yarn spacing, yarn height, yarn width and misalignment of yarn angle. The coarse-scale optimization has been carried out to optimize the stacking sequences of symmetric hybrid laminated composite plate with uncertain mesoscopic parameters by employing the Ant Colony Algorithm (ACO). The objective functions of the coarse-scale optimization are to minimize the cost (C) and weight (W) of the hybrid laminated composite plate considering the fundamental frequency and the buckling load factor as the design constraints.
Based on the uncertainty criteria of the design parameters, the appropriate variation required for the structural design standards can be evaluated using the reliability tool, and then an optimized design decision in consideration of cost can be subsequently determined.
In this paper, an artificial neural network is implemented for the sake of predicting the thermal conductivity ratio of TiO2-Al2O3/water nanofluid. TiO2-Al2O3/water in the role of an innovative type of nanofluid was synthesized by the sol–gel method. The results indicated that 1.5 vol.% of nanofluids enhanced the thermal conductivity by up to 25%. It was shown that the heat transfer coefficient was linearly augmented with increasing nanoparticle concentration, but its variation with temperature was nonlinear. It should be noted that the increase in concentration may cause the particles to agglomerate, and then the thermal conductivity is reduced. The increase in temperature also increases the thermal conductivity, due to an increase in the Brownian motion and collision of particles. In this research, for the sake of predicting the thermal conductivity of TiO2-Al2O3/water nanofluid based on volumetric concentration and temperature functions, an artificial neural network is implemented. In this way, for predicting thermal conductivity, SOM (self-organizing map) and BP-LM (Back Propagation-Levenberq-Marquardt) algorithms were used. Based on the results obtained, these algorithms can be considered as an exceptional tool for predicting thermal conductivity. Additionally, the correlation coefficient values were equal to 0.938 and 0.98 when implementing the SOM and BP-LM algorithms, respectively, which is highly acceptable. View Full-Text
The K-nearest neighbors (KNN) machine learning algorithm is a well-known non-parametric classification method. However, like other traditional data mining methods, applying it on big data comes with computational challenges. Indeed, KNN determines the class of a new sample based on the class of its nearest neighbors; however, identifying the neighbors in a large amount of data imposes a large computational cost so that it is no longer applicable by a single computing machine. One of the proposed techniques to make classification methods applicable on large datasets is pruning. LC-KNN is an improved KNN method which first clusters the data into some smaller partitions using the K-means clustering method; and then applies the KNN for each new sample on the partition which its center is the nearest one. However, because the clusters have different shapes and densities, selection of the appropriate cluster is a challenge. In this paper, an approach has been proposed to improve the pruning phase of the LC-KNN method by taking into account these factors. The proposed approach helps to choose a more appropriate cluster of data for looking for the neighbors, thus, increasing the classification accuracy. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated on different real datasets. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach and its higher classification accuracy and lower time cost in comparison to other recent relevant methods.
Rechargeable lithium ion batteries (LIBs) play a very significant role in power supply and storage. In recent decades, LIBs have caught tremendous attention in mobile communication, portable electronics, and electric vehicles. Furthermore, global warming has become a worldwide issue due to the ongoing production of greenhouse gases. It motivates solutions such as renewable sources of energy. Solar and wind energies are the most important ones in renewable energy sources. By technology progress, they will definitely require batteries to store the produced power to make a balance between power generation and consumption. Nowadays,rechargeable batteries such as LIBs are considered as one of the best solutions. They provide high specific energy and high rate performance while their rate of self-discharge is low.
Performance of LIBs can be improved through the modification of battery characteristics. The size of solid particles in electrodes can impact the specific energy and the cyclability of batteries. It can improve the amount of lithium content in the electrode which is a vital parameter in capacity and capability of a battery. There exist diferent sources of heat generation in LIBs such as heat produced during electrochemical reactions, internal resistance in battery. The size of electrode's electroactive particles can directly affect the produced heat in battery. It will be shown that the smaller size of solid particle enhance the thermal characteristics of LIBs.
Thermal issues such as overheating, temperature maldistribution in the battery, and thermal runaway have confined applications of LIBs. Such thermal challenges reduce the Life cycle of LIBs. As well, they may lead to dangerous conditions such as fire or even explosion in batteries. However, recent advances in fabrication of advanced materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes with extraordinary thermal conductivity and electrical properties propose new opportunities to enhance their performance. Since experimental works are expensive, our objective is to use computational methods to investigate the thermal issues in LIBS. Dissipation of the heat produced in the battery can improve the cyclability and specific capacity of LIBs. In real applications, packs of LIB consist several battery cells that are used as the power source. Therefore, it is worth to investigate thermal characteristic of battery packs under their cycles of charging/discharging operations at different applied current rates. To remove the produced heat in batteries, they can be surrounded by materials with high thermal conductivity. Parafin wax absorbs high energy since it has a high latent heat. Absorption high amounts of energy occurs at constant temperature without phase change. As well, thermal conductivity of parafin can be magnified with nano-materials such as graphene, CNT, and fullerene to form a nano-composite medium. Improving the thermal conductivity of LIBs increase the heat dissipation from batteries which is a vital issue in systems of battery thermal management. The application of two-dimensional (2D) materials has been on the rise since exfoliation the graphene from bulk graphite. 2D materials are single-layered in an order of nanosizes which show superior thermal, mechanical, and optoelectronic properties. They are potential candidates for energy storage and supply, particularly in lithium ion batteries as electrode material. The high thermal conductivity of graphene and graphene-like materials can play a significant role in thermal management of batteries. However, defects always exist in nano-materials since there is no ideal fabrication process. One of the most important defects in materials are nano-crack which can dramatically weaken the mechanical properties of the materials. Newly synthesized crystalline carbon nitride with the stoichiometry of C3N have attracted many attentions due to its extraordinary mechanical and thermal properties. The other nano-material is phagraphene which shows anisotropic mechanical characteristics which is ideal in production of nanocomposite.
It shows ductile fracture behavior when subjected under uniaxial loadings. It is worth to investigate their thermo-mechanical properties in its pristine and defective states. We hope that the findings of our work not only be useful for both experimental and theoretical researches but also help to design advanced electrodes for LIBs.
In this study, machine learning methods of artificial neural networks (ANNs), least squares support vector machines (LSSVM), and neuro-fuzzy are used for advancing prediction models for thermal performance of a photovoltaic-thermal solar collector (PV/T). In the proposed models, the inlet temperature, flow rate, heat, solar radiation, and the sun heat have been considered as the input variables. Data set has been extracted through experimental measurements from a novel solar collector system. Different analyses are performed to examine the credibility of the introduced models and evaluate their performances. The proposed LSSVM model outperformed the ANFIS and ANNs models. LSSVM model is reported suitable when the laboratory measurements are costly and time-consuming, or achieving such values requires sophisticated interpretations.
A novel combination of the ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO)and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data is proposed for modeling the multiphase chemical reactors. The proposed intelligent model presents a probabilistic computational strategy for predicting various levels of three-dimensional bubble column reactor (BCR) flow. The results prove an enhanced communication between ant colony prediction and CFD data in different sections of the BCR.
Recently, the demand for residence and usage of urban infrastructure has been increased, thereby resulting in the elevation of risk levels of human lives over natural calamities. The occupancy demand has rapidly increased the construction rate, whereas the inadequate design of structures prone to more vulnerability. Buildings constructed before the development of seismic codes have an additional susceptibility to earthquake vibrations. The structural collapse causes an economic loss as well as setbacks for human lives. An application of different theoretical methods to analyze the structural behavior is expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, introducing a rapid vulnerability assessment method to check structural performances is necessary for future developments. The process, as mentioned earlier, is known as Rapid Visual Screening (RVS). This technique has been generated to identify, inventory, and screen structures that are potentially hazardous. Sometimes, poor construction quality does not provide some of the required parameters; in this case, the RVS process turns into a tedious scenario. Hence, to tackle such a situation, multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods for the seismic vulnerability assessment opens a new gateway. The different parameters required by RVS can be taken in MCDM. MCDM evaluates multiple conflicting criteria in decision making in several fields. This paper has aimed to bridge the gap between RVS and MCDM. Furthermore, to define the correlation between these techniques, implementation of the methodologies from Indian, Turkish, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) codes has been done. The effects of seismic vulnerability of structures have been observed and compared.
This research aims to model soil temperature (ST) using machine learning models of multilayer perceptron (MLP) algorithm and support vector machine (SVM) in hybrid form with the Firefly optimization algorithm, i.e. MLP-FFA and SVM-FFA. In the current study, measured ST and meteorological parameters of Tabriz and Ahar weather stations in a period of 2013–2015 are used for training and testing of the studied models with one and two days as a delay. To ascertain conclusive results for validation of the proposed hybrid models, the error metrics are benchmarked in an independent testing period. Moreover, Taylor diagrams utilized for that purpose. Obtained results showed that, in a case of one day delay, except in predicting ST at 5 cm below the soil surface (ST5cm) at Tabriz station, MLP-FFA produced superior results compared with MLP, SVM, and SVM-FFA models. However, for two days delay, MLP-FFA indicated increased accuracy in predicting ST5cm and ST 20cm of Tabriz station and ST10cm of Ahar station in comparison with SVM-FFA. Additionally, for all of the prescribed models, the performance of the MLP-FFA and SVM-FFA hybrid models in the testing phase was found to be meaningfully superior to the classical MLP and SVM models.
Energy‐Efficient Method for Wireless Sensor Networks Low‐Power Radio Operation in Internet of Things
(2020)
The radio operation in wireless sensor networks (WSN) in Internet of Things (IoT)applications is the most common source for power consumption. Consequently, recognizing and controlling the factors affecting radio operation can be valuable for managing the node power consumption. Among essential factors affecting radio operation, the time spent for checking the radio is of utmost importance for monitoring power consumption. It can lead to false WakeUp or idle listening in radio duty cycles and ContikiMAC. ContikiMAC is a low‐power radio duty‐cycle protocol in Contiki OS used in WakeUp mode, as a clear channel assessment (CCA) for checking radio status periodically. This paper presents a detailed analysis of radio WakeUp time factors of ContikiMAC. Furthermore, we propose a lightweight CCA (LW‐CCA) as an extension to ContikiMAC to reduce the Radio Duty‐Cycles in false WakeUps and idle listening though using dynamic received signal strength indicator (RSSI) status check time. The simulation results in the Cooja simulator show that LW‐CCA reduces about 8% energy consumption in nodes while maintaining up to 99% of the packet delivery rate (PDR).
The classical Internet of things routing and wireless sensor networks can provide more precise monitoring of the covered area due to the higher number of utilized nodes. Because of the limitations in shared transfer media, many nodes in the network are prone to the collision in simultaneous transmissions. Medium access control protocols are usually more practical in networks with low traffic, which are not subjected to external noise from adjacent frequencies. There are preventive, detection and control solutions to congestion management in the network which are all the focus of this study. In the congestion prevention phase, the proposed method chooses the next step of the path using the Fuzzy decision-making system to distribute network traffic via optimal paths. In the congestion detection phase, a dynamic approach to queue management was designed to detect congestion in the least amount of time and prevent the collision. In the congestion control phase, the back-pressure method was used based on the quality of the queue to decrease the probability of linking in the pathway from the pre-congested node. The main goals of this study are to balance energy consumption in network nodes, reducing the rate of lost packets and increasing quality of service in routing. Simulation results proved the proposed Congestion Control Fuzzy Decision Making (CCFDM) method was more capable in improving routing parameters as compared to recent algorithms.
Coronary Artery Disease Diagnosis: Ranking the Significant Features Using a Random Trees Model
(2020)
Heart disease is one of the most common diseases in middle-aged citizens. Among the vast number of heart diseases, coronary artery disease (CAD) is considered as a common cardiovascular disease with a high death rate. The most popular tool for diagnosing CAD is the use of medical imaging, e.g., angiography. However, angiography is known for being costly and also associated with a number of side effects. Hence, the purpose of this study is to increase the accuracy of coronary heart disease diagnosis through selecting significant predictive features in order of their ranking. In this study, we propose an integrated method using machine learning. The machine learning methods of random trees (RTs), decision tree of C5.0, support vector machine (SVM), and decision tree of Chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) are used in this study. The proposed method shows promising results and the study confirms that the RTs model outperforms other models.
The longitudinal dispersion coefficient (LDC) plays an important role in modeling the transport of pollutants and sediment in natural rivers. As a result of transportation processes, the concentration of pollutants changes along the river. Various studies have been conducted to provide simple equations for estimating LDC. In this study, machine learning methods, namely support vector regression, Gaussian process regression, M5 model tree (M5P) and random forest, and multiple linear regression were examined in predicting the LDC in natural streams. Data sets from 60 rivers around the world with different hydraulic and geometric features were gathered to develop models for LDC estimation. Statistical criteria, including correlation coefficient (CC), root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE), were used to scrutinize the models. The LDC values estimated by these models were compared with the corresponding results of common empirical models. The Taylor chart was used to evaluate the models and the results showed that among the machine learning models, M5P had superior performance, with CC of 0.823, RMSE of 454.9 and MAE of 380.9. The model of Sahay and Dutta, with CC of 0.795, RMSE of 460.7 and MAE of 306.1, gave more precise results than the other empirical models. The main advantage of M5P models is their ability to provide practical formulae. In conclusion, the results proved that the developed M5P model with simple formulations was superior to other machine learning models and empirical models; therefore, it can be used as a proper tool for estimating the LDC in rivers.
Temporary changes in precipitation may lead to sustained and severe drought or massive floods in different parts of the world. Knowing the variation in precipitation can effectively help the water resources decision-makers in water resources management. Large-scale circulation drivers have a considerable impact on precipitation in different parts of the world. In this research, the impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on seasonal precipitation over Iran was investigated. For this purpose, 103 synoptic stations with at least 30 years of data were utilized. The Spearman correlation coefficient between the indices in the previous 12 months with seasonal precipitation was calculated, and the meaningful correlations were extracted. Then, the month in which each of these indices has the highest correlation with seasonal precipitation was determined. Finally, the overall amount of increase or decrease in seasonal precipitation due to each of these indices was calculated. Results indicate the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), NAO, and PDO have the most impact on seasonal precipitation, respectively. Additionally, these indices have the highest impact on the precipitation in winter, autumn, spring, and summer, respectively. SOI has a diverse impact on winter precipitation compared to the PDO and NAO, while in the other seasons, each index has its special impact on seasonal precipitation. Generally, all indices in different phases may decrease the seasonal precipitation up to 100%. However, the seasonal precipitation may increase more than 100% in different seasons due to the impact of these indices. The results of this study can be used effectively in water resources management and especially in dam operation.
Hydrological drought forecasting plays a substantial role in water resources management. Hydrological drought highly affects the water allocation and hydropower generation. In this research, short term hydrological drought forecasted based on the hybridized of novel nature-inspired optimization algorithms and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). For this purpose, the Standardized Hydrological Drought Index (SHDI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) were calculated in one, three, and six aggregated months. Then, three states where proposed for SHDI forecasting, and 36 input-output combinations were extracted based on the cross-correlation analysis. In the next step, newly proposed optimization algorithms, including Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA), Salp Swarm algorithm (SSA), Biogeography-based optimization (BBO), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) hybridized with the ANN were utilized for SHDI forecasting and the results compared to the conventional ANN. Results indicated that the hybridized model outperformed compared to the conventional ANN. PSO performed better than the other optimization algorithms. The best models forecasted SHDI1 with R2 = 0.68 and RMSE = 0.58, SHDI3 with R 2 = 0.81 and RMSE = 0.45 and SHDI6 with R 2 = 0.82 and RMSE = 0.40.
Prediction of the groundwater nitrate concentration is of utmost importance for pollution control and water resource management. This research aims to model the spatial groundwater nitrate concentration in the Marvdasht watershed, Iran, based on several artificial intelligence methods of support vector machine (SVM), Cubist, random forest (RF), and Bayesian artificial neural network (Baysia-ANN) machine learning models. For this purpose, 11 independent variables affecting groundwater nitrate changes include elevation, slope, plan curvature, profile curvature, rainfall, piezometric depth, distance from the river, distance from residential, Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), and topographic wetness index (TWI) in the study area were prepared. Nitrate levels were also measured in 67 wells and used as a dependent variable for modeling. Data were divided into two categories of training (70%) and testing (30%) for modeling. The evaluation criteria coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) were used to evaluate the performance of the models used. The results of modeling the susceptibility of groundwater nitrate concentration showed that the RF (R2 = 0.89, RMSE = 4.24, NSE = 0.87) model is better than the other Cubist (R2 = 0.87, RMSE = 5.18, NSE = 0.81), SVM (R2 = 0.74, RMSE = 6.07, NSE = 0.74), Bayesian-ANN (R2 = 0.79, RMSE = 5.91, NSE = 0.75) models. The results of groundwater nitrate concentration zoning in the study area showed that the northern parts of the case study have the highest amount of nitrate, which is higher in these agricultural areas than in other areas. The most important cause of nitrate pollution in these areas is agriculture activities and the use of groundwater to irrigate these crops and the wells close to agricultural areas, which has led to the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers by irrigation or rainwater of these fertilizers is washed and penetrates groundwater and pollutes the aquifer.
Image Analysis Using Human Body Geometry and Size Proportion Science for Action Classification
(2020)
Gestures are one of the basic modes of human communication and are usually used to represent different actions. Automatic recognition of these actions forms the basis for solving more complex problems like human behavior analysis, video surveillance, event detection, and sign language recognition, etc. Action recognition from images is a challenging task as the key information like temporal data, object trajectory, and optical flow are not available in still images. While measuring the size of different regions of the human body i.e., step size, arms span, length of the arm, forearm, and hand, etc., provides valuable clues for identification of the human actions. In this article, a framework for classification of the human actions is presented where humans are detected and localized through faster region-convolutional neural networks followed by morphological image processing techniques. Furthermore, geometric features from human blob are extracted and incorporated into the classification rules for the six human actions i.e., standing, walking, single-hand side wave, single-hand top wave, both hands side wave, and both hands top wave. The performance of the proposed technique has been evaluated using precision, recall, omission error, and commission error. The proposed technique has been comparatively analyzed in terms of overall accuracy with existing approaches showing that it performs well in contrast to its counterparts.
In this research, an attempt was made to reduce the dimension of wavelet-ANFIS/ANN (artificial neural network/adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system) models toward reliable forecasts as well as to decrease computational cost. In this regard, the principal component analysis was performed on the input time series decomposed by a discrete wavelet transform to feed the ANN/ANFIS models. The models were applied for dissolved oxygen (DO) forecasting in rivers which is an important variable affecting aquatic life and water quality. The current values of DO, water surface temperature, salinity, and turbidity have been considered as the input variable to forecast DO in a three-time step further. The results of the study revealed that PCA can be employed as a powerful tool for dimension reduction of input variables and also to detect inter-correlation of input variables. Results of the PCA-wavelet-ANN models are compared with those obtained from wavelet-ANN models while the earlier one has the advantage of less computational time than the later models. Dealing with ANFIS models, PCA is more beneficial to avoid wavelet-ANFIS models creating too many rules which deteriorate the efficiency of the ANFIS models. Moreover, manipulating the wavelet-ANFIS models utilizing PCA leads to a significant decreasing in computational time. Finally, it was found that the PCA-wavelet-ANN/ANFIS models can provide reliable forecasts of dissolved oxygen as an important water quality indicator in rivers.
Self-healing materials have recently become more popular due to their capability to autonomously and autogenously repair the damage in cementitious materials. The concept of self-healing gives the damaged material the ability to recover its stiffness. This gives a difference in comparing with a material that is not subjected to healing. Once this material is damaged, it cannot sustain loading due to the stiffness degradation. Numerical modeling of self-healing materials is still in its infancy. Multiple experimental researches were conducted in literature to describe the behavior of self-healing of cementitious materials. However, few numerical investigations were undertaken.
The thesis presents an analytical framework of self-healing and super healing materials based on continuum damage-healing mechanics. Through this framework, we aim to describe the recovery and strengthening of material stiffness and strength. A simple damage healing law is proposed and applied on concrete material. The proposed damage-healing law is based on a new time-dependent healing variable. The damage-healing model is applied on isotropic concrete material at the macroscale under tensile load. Both autonomous and autogenous self-healing mechanisms are simulated under different loading conditions. These two mechanisms are denoted in the present work by coupled and uncoupled self-healing mechanisms, respectively. We assume in the coupled self-healing that the healing occurs at the same time with damage evolution, while we assume in the uncoupled self-healing that the healing occurs when the material is deformed and subjected to a rest period (damage is constant). In order to describe both coupled and uncoupled healing mechanisms, a one-dimensional element is subjected to different types of loading history.
In the same context, derivation of nonlinear self-healing theory is given, and comparison of linear and nonlinear damage-healing models is carried out using both coupled and uncoupled self-healing mechanisms. The nonlinear healing theory includes generalized nonlinear and quadratic healing models. The healing efficiency is studied by varying the values of the healing rest period and the parameter describing the material characteristics. In addition, theoretical formulation of different self-healing variables is presented for both isotropic and anisotropic maerials. The healing variables are defined based on the recovery in elastic modulus, shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, and bulk modulus. The evolution of the healing variable calculated based on cross-section as function of the healing variable calculated based on elastic stiffness is presented in both hypotheses of elastic strain equivalence and elastic energy equivalence. The components of the fourth-rank healing tensor are also obtained in the case of isotropic elasticity, plane stress and plane strain.
Recent research revealed that self-healing presents a crucial solution also for the strengthening of the materials. This new concept has been termed ``Super Healing``. Once the stiffness of the material is recovered, further healing can result as a strengthening material. In the present thesis, new theory of super healing materials is defined in isotropic and anisotropic cases using sound mathematical and mechanical principles which are applied in linear and nonlinear super healing theories. Additionally, the link of the proposed theory with the theory of undamageable materials is outlined. In order to describe the super healing efficiency in linear and nonlinear theories, the ratio of effective stress to nominal stress is calculated as function of the super healing variable. In addition, the hypotheses of elastic strain and elastic energy equivalence are applied. In the same context, new super healing matrix in plane strain is proposed based on continuum damage-healing mechanics.
In the present work, we also focus on numerical modeling of impact behavior of reinforced concrete slabs using the commercial finite element package Abaqus/Explicit. Plain and reinforced concrete slabs of unconfined compressive strength 41 MPa are simulated under impact of ogive-nosed hard projectile. The constitutive material modeling of the concrete and steel reinforcement bars is performed using the Johnson-Holmquist-2 damage and the Johnson-Cook plasticity material models, respectively. Damage diameters and residual velocities obtained by the numerical model are compared with the experimental results and effect of steel reinforcement and projectile diameter is studied.
The purpose of this study is to develop self-contained methods for obtaining smooth meshes which are compatible with isogeometric analysis (IGA). The study contains three main parts. We start by developing a better understanding of shapes and splines through the study of an image-related problem. Then we proceed towards obtaining smooth volumetric meshes of the given voxel-based images. Finally, we treat the smoothness issue on the multi-patch domains with C1 coupling. Following are the highlights of each part.
First, we present a B-spline convolution method for boundary representation of voxel-based images. We adopt the filtering technique to compute the B-spline coefficients and gradients of the images effectively. We then implement the B-spline convolution for developing a non-rigid images registration method. The proposed method is in some sense of “isoparametric”, for which all the computation is done within the B-splines framework. Particularly, updating the images by using B-spline composition promote smooth transformation map between the images. We show the possible medical applications of our method by applying it for registration of brain images.
Secondly, we develop a self-contained volumetric parametrization method based on the B-splines boundary representation. We aim to convert a given voxel-based data to a matching C1 representation with hierarchical cubic splines. The concept of the osculating circle is employed to enhance the geometric approximation, where it is done by a single template and linear transformations (scaling, translations, and rotations) without the need for solving an optimization problem. Moreover, we use the Laplacian smoothing and refinement techniques to avoid irregular meshes and to improve mesh quality. We show with several examples that the method is capable of handling complex 2D and 3D configurations. In particular, we parametrize the 3D Stanford bunny which contains irregular shapes and voids.
Finally, we propose the B´ezier ordinates approach and splines approach for C1 coupling. In the first approach, the new basis functions are defined in terms of the B´ezier Bernstein polynomials. For the second approach, the new basis is defined as a linear combination of C0 basis functions. The methods are not limited to planar or bilinear mappings. They allow the modeling of solutions to fourth order partial differential equations (PDEs) on complex geometric domains, provided that the given patches are G1
continuous. Both methods have their advantages. In particular, the B´ezier approach offer more degree of freedoms, while the spline approach is more computationally efficient. In addition, we proposed partial degree elevation to overcome the C1-locking issue caused by the over constraining of the solution space. We demonstrate the potential of the resulting C1 basis functions for application in IGA which involve fourth order PDEs such as those appearing in Kirchhoff-Love shell models, Cahn-Hilliard phase field application, and biharmonic problems.
Earthquake is among the most devastating natural disasters causing severe economical, environmental, and social destruction. Earthquake safety assessment and building hazard monitoring can highly contribute to urban sustainability through identification and insight into optimum materials and structures. While the vulnerability of structures mainly depends on the structural resistance, the safety assessment of buildings can be highly challenging. In this paper, we consider the Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) method, which is a qualitative procedure for estimating structural scores for buildings suitable for medium- to high-seismic cases. This paper presents an overview of the common RVS methods, i.e., FEMA P-154, IITK-GGSDMA, and EMPI. To examine the accuracy and validation, a practical comparison is performed between their assessment and observed damage of reinforced concrete buildings from a street survey in the Bingöl region, Turkey, after the 1 May 2003 earthquake. The results demonstrate that the application of RVS methods for preliminary damage estimation is a vital tool. Furthermore, the comparative analysis showed that FEMA P-154 creates an assessment that overestimates damage states and is not economically viable, while EMPI and IITK-GGSDMA provide more accurate and practical estimation, respectively.
Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) is a procedure that estimates structural scores for buildings and prioritizes their retrofit and upgrade requirements. Despite the speed and simplicity of RVS, many of the collected parameters are non-commensurable and include subjectivity due to visual observations. This might cause uncertainties in the evaluation, which emphasizes the use of a fuzzy-based method. This study aims to propose a novel RVS methodology based on the interval type-2 fuzzy logic system (IT2FLS) to set the priority of vulnerable building to undergo detailed assessment while covering uncertainties and minimizing their effects during evaluation. The proposed method estimates the vulnerability of a building, in terms of Damage Index, considering the number of stories, age of building, plan irregularity, vertical irregularity, building quality, and peak ground velocity, as inputs with a single output variable. Applicability of the proposed method has been investigated using a post-earthquake damage database of reinforced concrete buildings from the Bingöl and Düzce earthquakes in Turkey.
Pressure fluctuations beneath hydraulic jumps potentially endanger the stability of stilling basins. This paper deals with the mathematical modeling of the results of laboratory-scale experiments to estimate the extreme pressures. Experiments were carried out on a smooth stilling basin underneath free hydraulic jumps downstream of an Ogee spillway. From the probability distribution of measured instantaneous pressures, pressures with different probabilities could be determined. It was verified that maximum pressure fluctuations, and the negative pressures, are located at the positions near the spillway toe. Also, minimum pressure fluctuations are located at the downstream of hydraulic jumps. It was possible to assess the cumulative curves of pressure data related to the characteristic points along the basin, and different Froude numbers. To benchmark the results, the dimensionless forms of statistical parameters include mean pressures (P*m), the standard deviations of pressure fluctuations (σ*X), pressures with different non-exceedance probabilities (P*k%), and the statistical coefficient of the probability distribution (Nk%) were assessed. It was found that an existing method can be used to interpret the present data, and pressure distribution in similar conditions, by using a new second-order fractional relationships for σ*X, and Nk%. The values of the Nk% coefficient indicated a single mean value for each probability.
Cooling Performance of a Novel Circulatory Flow Concentric Multi-Channel Heat Sink with Nanofluids
(2020)
Heat rejection from electronic devices such as processors necessitates a high heat removal rate. The present study focuses on liquid-cooled novel heat sink geometry made from four channels (width 4 mm and depth 3.5 mm) configured in a concentric shape with alternate flow passages (slot of 3 mm gap). In this study, the cooling performance of the heat sink was tested under simulated controlled conditions.The lower bottom surface of the heat sink was heated at a constant heat flux condition based on dissipated power of 50 W and 70 W. The computations were carried out for different volume fractions of nanoparticles, namely 0.5% to 5%, and water as base fluid at a flow rate of 30 to 180 mL/min. The results showed a higher rate of heat rejection from the nanofluid cooled heat sink compared with water. The enhancement in performance was analyzed with the help of a temperature difference of nanofluid outlet temperature and water outlet temperature under similar operating conditions. The enhancement was ~2% for 0.5% volume fraction nanofluids and ~17% for a 5% volume fraction.
Along with environmental pollution, urban planning has been connected to public health. The research indicates that the quality of built environments plays an important role in reducing mental disorders and overall health. The structure and shape of the city are considered as one of the factors influencing happiness and health in urban communities and the type of the daily activities of citizens. The aim of this study was to promote physical activity in the main structure of the city via urban design in a way that the main form and morphology of the city can encourage citizens to move around and have physical activity within the city. Functional, physical, cultural-social, and perceptual-visual features are regarded as the most important and effective criteria in increasing physical activities in urban spaces, based on literature review. The environmental quality of urban spaces and their role in the physical activities of citizens in urban spaces were assessed by using the questionnaire tool and analytical network process (ANP) of structural equation modeling. Further, the space syntax method was utilized to evaluate the role of the spatial integration of urban spaces on improving physical activities. Based on the results, consideration of functional diversity, spatial flexibility and integration, security, and the aesthetic and visual quality of urban spaces plays an important role in improving the physical health of citizens in urban spaces. Further, more physical activities, including motivation for walking and the sense of public health and happiness, were observed in the streets having higher linkage and space syntax indexes with their surrounding texture.
Abstract In the first part of this research, the utilization of tuned mass dampers in the vibration control of tall buildings during earthquake excitations is studied. The main issues such as optimizing the parameters of the dampers and studying the effects of frequency content of the target earthquakes are addressed.
Abstract The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm method is improved by upgrading generic operators, and is utilized to develop a framework for determining the optimum placement and parameters of dampers in tall buildings. A case study is presented in which the optimal placement and properties of dampers are determined for a model of a tall building under different earthquake excitations through computer simulations.
Abstract In the second part, a novel framework for the brain learning-based intelligent seismic control of smart structures is developed. In this approach, a deep neural network learns how to improve structural responses during earthquake excitations using feedback control.
Abstract Reinforcement learning method is improved and utilized to develop a framework for training the deep neural network as an intelligent controller. The efficiency of the developed framework is examined through two case studies including a single-degree-of-freedom system and a high-rise building under different earthquake excitation records.
Abstract The results show that the controller gradually develops an optimum control policy to reduce the vibrations of a structure under an earthquake excitation through a cyclical process of actions and observations.
Abstract It is shown that the controller efficiently improves the structural responses under new earthquake excitations for which it was not trained. Moreover, it is shown that the controller has a stable performance under uncertainties.
In this study, a new approach to basis of intelligent systems and machine learning algorithms is introduced for solving singular multi-pantograph differential equations (SMDEs). For the first time, a type-2 fuzzy logic based approach is formulated to find an approximated solution. The rules of the suggested type-2 fuzzy logic system (T2-FLS) are optimized by the square root cubature Kalman filter (SCKF) such that the proposed fineness function to be minimized. Furthermore, the stability and boundedness of the estimation error is proved by novel approach on basis of Lyapunov theorem. The accuracy and robustness of the suggested algorithm is verified by several statistical examinations. It is shown that the suggested method results in an accurate solution with rapid convergence and a lower computational cost.
Tall buildings have become an integral part of cities despite all their pros and cons. Some current tall buildings have several problems because of their unsuitable location; the problems include increasing density, imposing traffic on urban thoroughfares, blocking view corridors, etc. Some of these buildings have destroyed desirable views of the city. In this research, different criteria have been chosen, such as environment, access, social-economic, land-use, and physical context. These criteria and sub-criteria are prioritized and weighted by the analytic network process (ANP) based on experts’ opinions, using Super Decisions V2.8 software. On the other hand, layers corresponding to sub-criteria were made in ArcGIS 10.3 simultaneously, then via a weighted overlay (map algebra), a locating plan was created. In the next step seven hypothetical tall buildings (20 stories), in the best part of the locating plan, were considered to evaluate how much of theses hypothetical buildings would be visible (fuzzy visibility) from the street and open spaces throughout the city. These processes have been modeled by MATLAB software, and the final fuzzy visibility plan was created by ArcGIS. Fuzzy visibility results can help city managers and planners to choose which location is suitable for a tall building and how much visibility may be appropriate. The proposed model can locate tall buildings based on technical and visual criteria in the future development of the city and it can be widely used in any city as long as the criteria and weights are localized.
Piping erosion is one form of water erosion that leads to significant changes in the landscape and environmental degradation. In the present study, we evaluated piping erosion modeling in the Zarandieh watershed of Markazi province in Iran based on random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and Bayesian generalized linear models (Bayesian GLM) machine learning algorithms. For this goal, due to the importance of various geo-environmental and soil properties in the evolution and creation of piping erosion, 18 variables were considered for modeling the piping erosion susceptibility in the Zarandieh watershed. A total of 152 points of piping erosion were recognized in the study area that were divided into training (70%) and validation (30%) for modeling. The area under curve (AUC) was used to assess the effeciency of the RF, SVM, and Bayesian GLM. Piping erosion susceptibility results indicated that all three RF, SVM, and Bayesian GLM models had high efficiency in the testing step, such as the AUC shown with values of 0.9 for RF, 0.88 for SVM, and 0.87 for Bayesian GLM. Altitude, pH, and bulk density were the variables that had the greatest influence on the piping erosion susceptibility in the Zarandieh watershed. This result indicates that geo-environmental and soil chemical variables are accountable for the expansion of piping erosion in the Zarandieh watershed.
For this paper, the problem of energy/voltage management in photovoltaic (PV)/battery systems was studied, and a new fractional-order control system on basis of type-3 (T3) fuzzy logic systems (FLSs) was developed. New fractional-order learning rules are derived for tuning of T3-FLSs such that the stability is ensured. In addition, using fractional-order calculus, the robustness was studied versus dynamic uncertainties, perturbation of irradiation, and temperature and abruptly faults in output loads, and, subsequently, new compensators were proposed. In several examinations under difficult operation conditions, such as random temperature, variable irradiation, and abrupt changes in output load, the capability of the schemed controller was verified. In addition, in comparison with other methods, such as proportional-derivative-integral (PID), sliding mode controller (SMC), passivity-based control systems (PBC), and linear quadratic regulator (LQR), the superiority of the suggested method was demonstrated.
In recent years, substantial attention has been devoted to thermoelastic multifield problems and their numerical analysis. Thermoelasticity is one of the important categories of multifield problems which deals with the effect of mechanical and thermal disturbances on an elastic body. In other words, thermoelasticity encompasses the phenomena that describe the elastic and thermal behavior of solids and their interactions under thermo-mechanical loadings. Since providing an analytical solution for general coupled thermoelasticity problems is mathematically complicated, the development of alternative numerical solution techniques seems essential.
Due to the nature of numerical analysis methods, presence of error in results is inevitable, therefore in any numerical simulation, the main concern is the accuracy of the approximation. There are different error estimation (EE) methods to assess the overall quality of numerical approximation. In many real-life numerical simulations, not only the overall error, but also the local error or error in a particular quantity of interest is of main interest. The error estimation techniques which are developed to evaluate the error in the quantity of interest are known as “goal-oriented” error estimation (GOEE) methods.
This project, for the first time, investigates the classical a posteriori error estimation and goal-oriented a posteriori error estimation in 2D/3D thermoelasticity problems. Generally, the a posteriori error estimation techniques can be categorized into two major branches of recovery-based and residual-based error estimators. In this research, application of both recovery- and residual-based error estimators in thermoelasticity are studied. Moreover, in order to reduce the error in the quantity of interest efficiently and optimally in 2D and 3D thermoelastic problems, goal-oriented adaptive mesh refinement is performed.
As the first application category, the error estimation in classical Thermoelasticity (CTE) is investigated. In the first step, a rh-adaptive thermo-mechanical formulation based on goal-oriented error estimation is proposed.The developed goal-oriented error estimation relies on different stress recovery techniques, i.e., the superconvergent patch recovery (SPR), L2-projection patch recovery (L2-PR), and weighted superconvergent patch recovery (WSPR). Moreover, a new adaptive refinement strategy (ARS) is presented that minimizes the error in a quantity of interest and refines the discretization such that the error is equally distributed in the refined mesh. The method is validated by numerous numerical examples where an analytical solution or reference solution is available.
After investigating error estimation in classical thermoelasticity and evaluating the quality of presented error estimators, we extended the application of the developed goal-oriented error estimation and the associated adaptive refinement technique to the classical fully coupled dynamic thermoelasticity. In this part, we present an adaptive method for coupled dynamic thermoelasticity problems based on goal-oriented error estimation. We use dimensionless variables in the finite element formulation and for the time integration we employ the acceleration-based Newmark-_ method. In this part, the SPR, L2-PR, and WSPR recovery methods are exploited to estimate the error in the quantity of interest (QoI). By using
adaptive refinement in space, the error in the quantity of interest is minimized. Therefore, the discretization is refined such that the error is equally distributed in the refined mesh. We demonstrate the efficiency of this method by numerous numerical examples.
After studying the recovery-based error estimators, we investigated the residual-based error estimation in thermoelasticity. In the last part of this research, we present a 3D adaptive method for thermoelastic problems based on goal-oriented error estimation where the error is measured with respect to a pointwise quantity of interest. We developed a method for a posteriori error estimation and mesh adaptation based on dual weighted residual (DWR) method relying on the duality principles and consisting of an adjoint problem solution. Here, we consider the application of the derived estimator and mesh refinement to two-/three-dimensional (2D/3D) thermo-mechanical multifield problems. In this study, the goal is considered to be given by singular pointwise functions, such as the point value or point value derivative at a specific point of interest (PoI). An adaptive algorithm has been adopted to refine the mesh to minimize the goal in the quantity of interest.
The mesh adaptivity procedure based on the DWR method is performed by adaptive local h-refinement/coarsening with allowed hanging nodes. According to the proposed DWR method, the error contribution of each element is evaluated. In the refinement process, the contribution of each element to the goal error is considered as the mesh refinement criterion.
In this study, we substantiate the accuracy and performance of this method by several numerical examples with available analytical solutions. Here, 2D and 3D problems under thermo-mechanical loadings are considered as benchmark problems. To show how accurately the derived estimator captures the exact error in the evaluation of the pointwise quantity of interest, in all examples, considering the analytical solutions, the goal error effectivity index as a standard measure of the quality of an estimator is calculated. Moreover, in order to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method and show the optimal behavior of the employed refinement method, the results of different conventional error estimators and refinement techniques (e.g., global uniform refinement, Kelly, and weighted Kelly techniques) are used for comparison.
In recent decades, a multitude of concepts and models were developed to understand, assess and predict muscular mechanics in the context of physiological and pathological events.
Most of these models are highly specialized and designed to selectively address fields in, e.g., medicine, sports science, forensics, product design or CGI; their data are often not transferable to other ranges of application. A single universal model, which covers the details of biochemical and neural processes, as well as the development of internal and external force and motion patterns and appearance could not be practical with regard to the diversity of the questions to be investigated and the task to find answers efficiently. With reasonable limitations though, a generalized approach is feasible.
The objective of the work at hand was to develop a model for muscle simulation which covers the phenomenological aspects, and thus is universally applicable in domains where up until now specialized models were utilized. This includes investigations on active and passive motion, structural interaction of muscles within the body and with external elements, for example in crash scenarios, but also research topics like the verification of in vivo experiments and parameter identification. For this purpose, elements for the simulation of incompressible deformations were studied, adapted and implemented into the finite element code SLang. Various anisotropic, visco-elastic muscle models were developed or enhanced. The applicability was demonstrated on the base of several examples, and a general base for the implementation of further material models was developed and elaborated.
The Marmara Region (NW Turkey) has experienced significant earthquakes (M > 7.0) to date. A destructive earthquake is also expected in the region. To determine the effect of the specific design spectrum, eleven provinces located in the region were chosen according to the Turkey Earthquake Building Code updated in 2019. Additionally, the differences between the previous and updated regulations of the country were investigated. Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) were obtained for each province by using earthquake ground motion levels with 2%, 10%, 50%, and 68% probability of exceedance in 50-year periods. The PGA values in the region range from 0.16 to 0.7 g for earthquakes with a return period of 475 years. For each province, a sample of a reinforced-concrete building having two different numbers of stories with the same ground and structural characteristics was chosen. Static adaptive pushover analyses were performed for the sample reinforced-concrete building using each province’s design spectrum. The variations in the earthquake and structural parameters were investigated according to different geographical locations. It was determined that the site-specific design spectrum significantly influences target displacements for performance-based assessments of buildings due to seismicity characteristics of the studied geographic location.
The economic losses from earthquakes tend to hit the national economy considerably; therefore, models that are capable of estimating the vulnerability and losses of future earthquakes are highly consequential for emergency planners with the purpose of risk mitigation. This demands a mass prioritization filtering of structures to identify vulnerable buildings for retrofitting purposes. The application of advanced structural analysis on each building to study the earthquake response is impractical due to complex calculations, long computational time, and exorbitant cost. This exhibits the need for a fast, reliable, and rapid method, commonly known as Rapid Visual Screening (RVS). The method serves as a preliminary screening platform, using an optimum number of seismic parameters of the structure and predefined output damage states. In this study, the efficacy of the Machine Learning (ML) application in damage prediction through a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model as the damage classification technique has been investigated. The developed model was trained and examined based on damage data from the 1999 Düzce Earthquake in Turkey, where the building’s data consists of 22 performance modifiers that have been implemented with supervised machine learning.
Material properties play a critical role in durable products manufacturing. Estimation of the precise characteristics in different scales requires complex and expensive experimental measurements. Potentially, computational methods can provide a platform to determine the fundamental properties before the final experiment. Multi-scale computational modeling leads to the modeling of the various time, and length scales include nano, micro, meso, and macro scales. These scales can be modeled separately or in correlation with coarser scales. Depend on the interested scales modeling, the right selection of multi-scale methods leads to reliable results and affordable computational cost. The present dissertation deals with the problems in various length and time scales using computational methods include density functional theory (DFT), molecular mechanics (MM), molecular dynamics (MD), and finite element (FE) methods.
Physical and chemical interactions in lower scales determine the coarser scale properties. Particles interaction modeling and exploring fundamental properties are significant challenges of computational science. Downscale modelings need more computational effort due to a large number of interacted atoms/particles. To deal with this problem and bring up a fine-scale (nano) as a coarse-scale (macro) problem, we extended an atomic-continuum framework. The discrete atomic models solve as a continuum problem using the computationally efficient FE method. MM or force field method based on a set of assumptions approximates a solution on the atomic scale. In this method, atoms and bonds model as a harmonic oscillator with a system of mass and springs. The negative gradient of the potential energy equal to the forces on each atom. In this way, each bond's total potential energy includes bonded, and non-bonded energies are simulated as equivalent structural strain energies. Finally, the chemical nature of the atomic bond is modeled as a piezoelectric beam element that solves by the FE method.
Exploring novel materials with unique properties is a demand for various industrial applications. During the last decade, many two-dimensional (2D) materials have been synthesized and shown outstanding properties. Investigation of the probable defects during the formation/fabrication process and studying their strength under severe service life are the critical tasks to explore performance prospects. We studied various defects include nano crack, notch, and point vacancy (Stone-Wales defect) defects employing MD analysis. Classical MD has been used to simulate a considerable amount of molecules at micro-, and meso- scales. Pristine and defective nanosheet structures considered under the uniaxial tensile loading at various temperatures using open-source LAMMPS codes. The results were visualized with the open-source software of OVITO and VMD.
Quantum based first principle calculations have been conducting at electronic scales and known as the most accurate Ab initio methods. However, they are computationally expensive to apply for large systems. We used density functional theory (DFT) to estimate the mechanical and electrochemical response of the 2D materials. Many-body Schrödinger's equation describes the motion and interactions of the solid-state particles. Solid describes as a system of positive nuclei and negative electrons, all electromagnetically interacting with each other, where the wave function theory describes the quantum state of the set of particles. However, dealing with the 3N coordinates of the electrons, nuclei, and N coordinates of the electrons spin components makes the governing equation unsolvable for just a few interacted atoms. Some assumptions and theories like Born Oppenheimer and Hartree-Fock mean-field and Hohenberg-Kohn theories are needed to treat with this equation. First, Born Oppenheimer approximation reduces it to the only electronic coordinates. Then Kohn and Sham, based on Hartree-Fock and Hohenberg-Kohn theories, assumed an equivalent fictitious non-interacting electrons system as an electron density functional such that their ground state energies are equal to a set of interacting electrons. Exchange-correlation energy functionals are responsible for satisfying the equivalency between both systems. The exact form of the exchange-correlation functional is not known. However, there are widely used methods to derive functionals like local density approximation (LDA), Generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and hybrid functionals (e.g., B3LYP). In our study, DFT performed using VASP codes within the GGA/PBE approximation, and visualization/post-processing of the results realized via open-source software of VESTA.
The extensive DFT calculations are conducted 2D nanomaterials prospects as anode/cathode electrode materials for batteries. Metal-ion batteries' performance strongly depends on the design of novel electrode material. Two-dimensional (2D) materials have developed a remarkable interest in using as an electrode in battery cells due to their excellent properties. Desirable battery energy storage systems (BESS) must satisfy the high energy density, safe operation, and efficient production costs. Batteries have been using in electronic devices and provide a solution to the environmental issues and store the discontinuous energies generated from renewable wind or solar power plants. Therefore, exploring optimal electrode materials can improve storage capacity and charging/discharging rates, leading to the design of advanced batteries.
Our results in multiple scales highlight not only the proposed and employed methods' efficiencies but also promising prospect of recently synthesized nanomaterials and their applications as an anode material. In this way, first, a novel approach developed for the modeling of the 1D nanotube as a continuum piezoelectric beam element. The results converged and matched closely with those from experiments and other more complex models. Then mechanical properties of nanosheets estimated and the failure mechanisms results provide a useful guide for further use in prospect applications. Our results indicated a comprehensive and useful vision concerning the mechanical properties of nanosheets with/without defects. Finally, mechanical and electrochemical properties of the several 2D nanomaterials are explored for the first time—their application performance as an anode material illustrates high potentials in manufacturing super-stretchable and ultrahigh-capacity battery energy storage systems (BESS). Our results exhibited better performance in comparison to the available commercial anode materials.