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Quality is one of the most important properties of a product. Providing the optimal quality can reduce costs for rework, scrap, recall or even legal actions while satisfying customers demand for reliability. The aim is to achieve ``built-in'' quality within product development process (PDP). The common approach therefore is the robust design optimization (RDO). It uses stochastic values as constraint and/or objective to obtain a robust and reliable optimal design. In classical approaches the effort required for stochastic analysis multiplies with the complexity of the optimization algorithm. The suggested approach shows that it is possible to reduce this effort enormously by using previously obtained data. Therefore the support point set of an underlying metamodel is filled iteratively during ongoing optimization in regions of interest if this is necessary. In a simple example, it will be shown that this is possible without significant loss of accuracy.
As numerical techniques for solving PDE or integral equations become more sophisticated, treatments of the generation of the geometric inputs should also follow that numerical advancement. This document describes the preparation of CAD data so that they can later be applied to hierarchical BEM or FEM solvers. For the BEM case, the geometric data are described by surfaces which we want to decompose into several curved foursided patches. We show the treatment of untrimmed and trimmed surfaces. In particular, we provide prevention of smooth corners which are bad for diffeomorphism. Additionally, we consider the problem of characterizing whether a Coons map is a diffeomorphism from the unit square onto a planar domain delineated by four given curves. We aim primarily at having not only theoretically correct conditions but also practically efficient methods. As for FEM geometric preparation, we need to decompose a 3D solid into a set of curved tetrahedra. First, we describe some method of decomposition without adding too many Steiner points (additional points not belonging to the initial boundary nodes of the boundary surface). Then, we provide a methodology for efficiently checking whether a tetrahedral transfinite interpolation is regular. That is done by a combination of degree reduction technique and subdivision. Along with the method description, we report also on some interesting practical results from real CAD data.
Building information modeling offers a huge potential for increasing the productivity and quality of construction planning processes. Despite its promising concept, this approach has not found widespread use. One of the reasons is the insufficient coupling of the structural models with the general building model. Instead, structural engineers usually set up a structural model that is independent from the building model and consists of mechanical models of reduced dimension. An automatic model generation, which would be valuable in case of model revisions is therefore not possible. This can be overcome by a volumetric formulation of the problem. A recent approach employed the p-version of the finite element method to this problem. This method, in conjunction with a volumetric formulation is suited to simulate the structural behaviour of both „thick“ solid bodies and thin-walled structures. However, there remains a notable discretization error in the numerical models. This paper therefore proposes a new approach for overcoming this situation. It sugggests the combination of the Isogeometric analysis together with the volumetric models in order to integrate the structural design into the digital, building model-centered planning process and reduce the discretization error. The concept of the isogeometric analysis consists, roughly, in the application of NURBS functions to represent the geometry and the shape functions of the elements. These functions possess some beneficial properties regarding numerical simulation. Their use, however, leads to some intricacies related to the setup of the stiffness matrix. This paper describes some of these properties.
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THERMO-HYGRAL ALKALI-SILICA REACTION MODEL IN CONCRETE AT THE MESOSCALE
(2010)
This research aims to model Alkali-Silica Reaction gel expansion in concrete under the influence of hygral and thermal loading, based on experimental results. ASR provokes a heterogeneous expansion in concrete leading to dimensional changes and eventually the premature failure of the concrete structure. This can result in map cracking on the concrete surface which will decrease the concrete stiffness. Factors that influence ASR are parameters such as the cement alkalinity, the number of deleterious silica from the aggregate used, concrete porosity, and external factors like temperature, humidity and external source of alkali from ingression of deicing salts. Uncertainties of the influential factors make ASR a difficult phenomenon to solve; hence my approach to this matter is to solve the problem using stochastic modelling, where a numerical simulation of concrete cross-section with integration of experimental results from Finger-Institute for Building Materials Science at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. The problem is formulated as a multi-field problem, combining heat transfer, fluid transfer and the reaction rate model with the mechanical stress field. Simulation is performed as a mesoscale model considering aggregates and mortar matrix. The reaction rate model will be conducted using experimental results from concrete expansions due to ASR gained from concrete prism tests. Expansive strains values for transient environmental conditions due to the reaction rate will be determined from calculation based on the reaction rate model. Results from these models will be able to predict the rate of ASR expansion and the cracking propagation that may arise.
Sand-bentonite mixtures are well recognized as buffer and sealing material in nuclear waste repository constructions. The behaviour of compacted sand-bentonite mixture needs to be well understood in order to guarantee the safety and the efficiency of the barrier construction. This paper presents numerical simulations of swelling test and coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) test on compacted sand-bentonite mixture in order to reveal the influence of the temperature and hydraulic gradients on the distribution of temperature, mechanical stress and water content in such materials. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the parameters which influence the most the response of the numerical model. Results of back analysis of the model parameters are reported and critically assessed.
Nodal integration of finite elements has been investigated recently. Compared with full integration it shows better convergence when applied to incompressible media, allows easier remeshing and highly reduces the number of material evaluation points thus improving efficiency. Furthermore, understanding it may help to create new integration schemes in meshless methods as well. The new integration technique requires a nodally averaged deformation gradient. For the tetrahedral element it is possible to formulate a nodal strain which passes the patch test. On the downside, it introduces non-physical low energy modes. Most of these "spurious modes" are local deformation maps of neighbouring elements. Present stabilization schemes rely on adding a stabilizing potential to the strain energy. The stabilization is discussed within this article. Its drawbacks are easily identified within numerical experiments: Nonlinear material laws are not well represented. Plastic strains may often be underestimated. Geometrically nonlinear stabilization greatly reduces computational efficiency. The article reinterpretes nodal integration in terms of imposing a nonconforming C0-continuous strain field on the structure. By doing so, the origins of the spurious modes are discussed and two methods are presented that solve this problem. First, a geometric constraint is formulated and solved using a mixed formulation of Hu-Washizu type. This assumption leads to a consistent representation of the strain energy while eliminating spurious modes. The solution is exact, but only of theoretical interest since it produces global support. Second, an integration scheme is presented that approximates the stabilization criterion. The latter leads to a highly efficient scheme. It can even be extended to other finite element types such as hexahedrals. Numerical efficiency, convergence behaviour and stability of the new method is validated using linear tetrahedral and hexahedral elements.
MULTI-SITE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT SCHEDULING CONSIDERING RESOURCE MOVING TIME IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
(2010)
Under the booming construction demands in developing countries, particularly in Vietnam situation, construction contractors often perform multiple concurrent projects in different places. In construction project scheduling processes, the existing scheduling methods often assume the resource moving time between activities/projects to be negligible. When multiple projects are deployed in different places and far from each other, this assumption has many shortcomings for properly modelling the real-world constraints. Especially, with respect to developing countries such as the Vietnam which contains transportation systems that are still in backward and low technical standards. This paper proposes a new algorithm named Multi-Site Construction Project Scheduling - MCOPS. The objective of this algorithm is to solve the problem of minimising multi-site construction project duration under limited available conditions of renewable resources (labour, machines and equipment) combining with the moving time of required resource among activities/projects. Additionally, in order to mitigate the impact of resource moving time into the multi-site project duration, this paper proposed a new priority rule: Minimum Resource Moving Time (MinRMT). The MinRMT is applied to rank the finished activities according to a priority order, to support the released resources to the scheduling activities. In order to investigate the impact of the resource moving time among activities during the scheduling process, computational experimentation was implemented. The results of the MCOPS-based computational experiments showed that, the resource moving time among projects has significantly impacted the multi-site project durations and this amount of time can not be ignored in the multi-site project scheduling process. Besides, the efficient application of the MinRMT is also demonstrated through the achieved results of the computational experiment in this paper. Though the efforts in this paper are based on the Vietnamese construction conditions, the proposed method can be usefully applied in other developing countries which have similar construction conditions.
Several results concerning the distribution of the headway of busses in the flow behind a traffic signal are presented. In the main focus of interest is the description of analytical models, which are verified by the results of Monte-Carlo-Methods. The advantage of analytical models (verified, but not derived by simulation methods) is their flexibility with respect to possible generalizations. For instance, several random distributions of the flow incoming to the traffic signal can be compared. The attention will be directed at the question, how the primary headway H (analyzed in front of the traffic signal) is mapped to the headway H’ analyzed behind of the traffic signal and how the random distribution of H is mapped to that of H’. For the traffic flow in front of the traffic signal several models will be discussed. The first case considers the situation, that busses operate on a common lane with the individual motor car traffic and the traffic flow is saturated. In the second situation, busses operate on a separated bus lane. Moreover, a mixed situation is discussed to model as close to reality as possible.
There are many different approaches to simulate the mechanical behavior of RC−Frames with masonry infills. In this paper, selected modeling techniques for masonry infills and reinforced concrete frame members will be discussed − stressing the attention on the damaging effects of the individual members and the entire system under quasi−static horizontal loading. The effect of the infill walls on the surrounding frame members is studied using equivalent strut elements. The implemented model consider in−plane failure modes for the infills, such as bed joint sliding and corner crushing. These frame member models differ with respect to their stress state. Finally, examples are provided and compared with experimental data from a real size test executed on a three story RC−Frame with and without infills. The quality of the model is evaluated on the basis of load−displacement relationships as well as damage progression.