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LIFETIME-ORIENTED OPTIMIZATION OF BRIDGE TIE RODS EXPOSED TO VORTEX-INDUCED ACROSS-WIND VIBRATIONS
(2006)
In recent years, damages in welded connections plates of vertical tie rods of several arched steel bridges have been reported. These damages are due to fatigue caused by wind-induced vibrations. In the present study, such phenomena are examined, and the corresponding lifetime of a reference bridge in Münster-Hiltrup, Germany, is estimated, based on the actual shape of the connection plate. Also, the results obtained are compared to the expected lifetime of a connection plate, whose geometry has been optimized separately. The structural optimization, focussing on the shape of the cut at the hanger ends, has been carried out using evolution strategies. The oscillation amplitudes have been computed by means of the Newmark-Wilson time-step method, using an appropriate load model, which has been validated by on-site experiments on the selected reference bridge. Corresponding stress-amplitudes are evaluated by multiplying the oscillation amplitudes with a stress concentration factor. This factor has been computed on the basis of a finite element model of the system "hanger-welding-connection plate", applying solid elements, according to the notch stress approach. The damage estimation takes into account the stochastics of the exciting wind process, as well as the stochastics of the material parameters (fatigue strength) given in terms of Woehler-curves. The shape optimization results in a substantial increase of the estimated hanger lifetime. The comparison of the lifetimes of the bulk plate and of the welding revealed that, in the optimized structure, the welding, being the most sensitive part in the original structure, shows much more resistance against potential damages than the bulk material.
Interval analysis extends the concept of computing with real numbers to computing with real intervals. As a consequence, some interesting properties appear, such as the delivery of guaranteed results or confirmed global values. The former property is given in the sense that unknown numerical values are in known to lie in a computed interval. The latter property states that the global minimum value, for example, of a given function is also known to be contained in a interval (or a finite set of intervals). Depending upon the amount computation effort invested in the calculation, we can often find tight bounds on these enclosing intervals. The downside of interval analysis, however, is the mathematically correct, but often very pessimistic size of the interval result. This is in particularly due to the so-called dependency effect, where a single variable is used multiple times in one calculation. Applying interval analysis to structural analysis problems, the dependency has a great influence on the quality of numerical results. In this paper, a brief background of interval analysis is presented and shown how it can be applied to the solution of structural analysis problems. A discussion of possible improvements as well as an outlook to parallel computing is also given.