Topology optimization for crashworthiness of thin-walled structures under axial crash considering nonlinear plastic buckling and locations of plastic hinges

Although topology optimization is established for linear static problems, more effort is required for solving nonlinear plastic problems. A new topology optimization approach with equivalent static loads (ESLs) is suggested to find the optimum topologies and locations of plastic hinges of thin-walled crash boxes by considering crash-induced deformation, the main crash energy-absorbing mechanism. Together with finite element method crashworthiness analyses, considering all nonlinearities with rate-dependent plasticity, the method was developed using an appropriate time-incremental scheme of ESLs without removing any high values of loads. Analyses show that the crash boxes with optimum topologies have energy-absorbing capabilities equivalent to the original structure. The proposed method is evaluated for two crashes: a crash box at low speed and a double cell subjected to high-speed collision. The results indicate that this method captures nonlinear crushing behaviours and accurate locations of plastic hinges where, if proper reinforcements are made, energy absorption can be enhanced.     

An alternative modal combination rule for adaptive pushover analysis

The main purpose of the present study is to develop an alternative modal combination rule for use in the adaptive pushover analysis. Since the quadratic modal combination rules do not take into account the sign reversals of the modal load vectors in the higher modes, the accuracy of the advanced pushover methods are decreased. The proposed modal combination rule is a direct vectorial addition technique in which the relative contribution of each mode and its sign are taken into account. The proposed modal combination rule is employed within the displacement‐based adaptive pushover technique, and an alternative pushover procedure is developed. In order to verify the accuracy of the proposed method, two reference buildings are used, and the obtained results from the proposed method and nonlinear time history analysis are compared. It is concluded that the proposed method can estimate the benchmark responses with remarkable accuracy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical state-space average-value modeling of PWM DC-DC converters operating in DCM and CCM

State-space average-value modeling of pulsewidth modulation converters in continuous and discontinuous modes has received significant attention in the literature, and various models have been developed. This paper presents a new approach for generating the state-space average-value model. In the proposed methodology, the so-called duty-ratio constraint and the correction term are extracted numerically using the detailed simulation and are expressed as nonlinear functions of the duty cycle and average-value of the fast state variable. The parasitic effects of circuit elements are readily included. The resulting average-value model is compared to a hardware prototype, a detailed simulation, and several previously published models. The proposed model is shown to be very accurate in predicting the large-signal time-domain transients as well as the small-signal frequency-domain characteristics.     

Parametric average-value model of synchronous machine-rectifier systems

A new average-value model of a rectifier circuit in a synchronous-machine-fed rectifier system is set forth. In the proposed approach, a proper state model of the synchronous machine in the qd-rotor reference frame is used, whereas the rectifier/dc-link dynamics are represented using a suitable proper transfer function and a set of nonlinear algebraic functions that are obtained from the detailed model using numerical averaging. The new model is compared to a detailed simulation as well as to measured data and is shown to be very accurate in predicting the large-signal time-domain transients as well as small-signal frequency-domain characteristics.     

Toward A Mechanistic Understanding of Re-Infiltration in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs with Surfactant-Aided Gravity Drainage Process

Surfactant-aided gravity drainage is an improved oil recovery technique for water-invaded zone in fractured carbonate reservoirs, which are mostly oil-wet or mixed-wet rocks. The re-infiltration mechanism in water-invaded zone has a considerable effect on oil vertical movement in gravity drainage processes. In this work, a mechanistic understanding of re-infiltration in surfactant-aided gravity drainage, in comparison to oil–water gravity drainage is presented using an experimentally and numerically validated model. A column model is constructed from three matrix blocks. These blocks are separated from each other by horizontal fractures. A storage tank is considered on top of the model to store depleted oil from matrix blocks. The stacked-blocks model for re-infiltration is validated and verified to simulate water and chemical flooding using a mesh independency study and experimental flooding data in a composite core experiment. Using this model, several analyses are performed to investigate effects of rock and fluid properties, rock saturation functions, wettability alteration, surfactant adsorption, and capillary continuity on re-infiltration.     

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Sustainability: a new vision for the British planning system

This paper aims to explore the potential new directions in the British planning system by reviewing and linking together the current debates in three areas: the twin purposes of the post-war planning system, the twin discourses of sustainability and the implications for planning education. There is a general consensus that the sustainability agenda has provided the overdue and much needed ‘vision’ for planning. However, this paper argues that the different discourses of sustainability provide fundamentally distinctive development paths for the future of the planning system. Whilst the ‘ecological modernization’ approach to sustainability reinforces the technical and regulatory face of the system, the ‘risk society’ approach calls for a resurgence of its ideological and pro-active face. The former promotes a continuing role of planning as an apolitical, non-spatial, criteria-based corporatist activity. The latter provides the opportunity for a return to the planners‘ traditional concepts, emphasizing strategic thinking, a holistic approach, social responsiveness, political commitment, participative processes and reflexive institutions. As regards planning education, the paper argues that while the skills provided through a technically orientated professional training can fulfil the requirements of the ecological modernization path, research-orientated planning education based on critical social science can develop the students’ intellectual and reflective capacities and the skills required for pursuing the risk society approach.     

The effect of Al2O3 nano additions on failure of GFRP plate with two parallel pin loaded holes

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - The aim of this study is to scrutinize the effect of nano-additions on failure modes and loads of glass-epoxy laminate subjected two parallel...