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Applied Mechanics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Applied Mechanics

Reliability-Based Optimization Of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Bridge Deck Panels, Michel D. Thompson, Christopher D. Eamon, Masoud Rais-Rohani Dec 2006

Reliability-Based Optimization Of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Bridge Deck Panels, Michel D. Thompson, Christopher D. Eamon, Masoud Rais-Rohani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

A reliability-based optimization (RBO) procedure is developed and applied to minimize the weight of eight fiber-reinforced polymer composite bridge deck panel configurations. The method utilizes interlinked finite element, optimization, and reliability analysis procedures to solve the weight minimization problem with a deterministic strength constraint and two probabilistic deflection constraints. Panels are composed of an upper face plate, lower face plate, and a grid of interior stiffeners. Different panel depths and stiffener layouts are considered. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to identify significant design and random variables. Optimization design variables are panel component ply thicknesses while random variables include load and material …


Elastic Modulus Of Amorphous Sio2 Nanowires, Hai Ni, Xiaodong Li, Hongsheng Gao Jan 2006

Elastic Modulus Of Amorphous Sio2 Nanowires, Hai Ni, Xiaodong Li, Hongsheng Gao

Faculty Publications

Amorphous SiO2 nanowires with diameter ranging from 50 to 100 nm were synthesized using chemical vapor deposition(CVD) under an argon atmosphere at atmospheric pressure. Nanoscale three-point bending tests were performed directly on individual amorphous SiO2 nanowires using an atomic force microscope (AFM).Elastic modulus of the amorphous SiO2 nanowires was measured to be 76.6±7.2GPa, which is close to the reported value of the bulk SiO2 and thermally grown SiO2 thin films, but lower than that of plasma-enhanced CVD SiO2 thin films. The amorphous SiO2 nanowires exhibit brittle fracture failure in bending.


System Identification Of A Pasteurisation Process: A Comparison Of Direct And Indirect Methods, Niel Canty Jan 2006

System Identification Of A Pasteurisation Process: A Comparison Of Direct And Indirect Methods, Niel Canty

Theses

The primary focus of this research is to identify a linear model for a direct steam injection (DSI) pasteurisation process which is a component of a large-scale pilot evaporation process widely used in the dairy industry. The pasteurisation process has been identified as a key component of the evaporation process. The author believes that no previously published work has focused on identifying models for a DSI pasteurisation process which makes this work an original contribution to the area. The pasteurisation process can be modelled as a single-input, single-output (SISO) process with a measurable disturbance. Thus two transfer functions were required …


An Experimental Investigation Of Guided Wave Propagation In Corrugated Plates Showing Stop Bands And Pass Bands, Tribikram Kundu, Sourav Banerjee, Kumar V. Jata Jan 2006

An Experimental Investigation Of Guided Wave Propagation In Corrugated Plates Showing Stop Bands And Pass Bands, Tribikram Kundu, Sourav Banerjee, Kumar V. Jata

Faculty Publications

Nonplanar surfaces are often encountered in engineering structures. In aerospace structures, periodically corrugated boundaries are formed by friction-stir-welding. In civil engineering structures, rebars used in reinforced concrete beams and slabs have periodic surface. Periodic structures are also being used to create desired acoustic band gaps. For health monitoring of these structures, a good understanding of the elastic wave propagation through such periodic structures is necessary. Although a number of research papers on the wave propagation in periodic structures are available in the literature, no one experimentally investigated the guided wave propagation through plates with periodic boundaries and compared the experimental …


Elastic Wave Propagation In Sinusoidally Corrugated Waveguides, Sourav Banerjee, Tribikram Kundu Jan 2006

Elastic Wave Propagation In Sinusoidally Corrugated Waveguides, Sourav Banerjee, Tribikram Kundu

Faculty Publications

The ultrasonicwave propagation in sinusoidally corrugated waveguides is studied in this paper. Periodically corrugated waveguides are gaining popularity in the field of vibration control and for designing structures with desired acoustic band gaps. Currently only numerical method (Boundary Element Method or Finite Element Method) based packages (e.g., PZFlex) are in principle capable of modeling ultrasonic fields in complex structures with rapid change of curvatures at the interfaces and boundaries but no analyses have been reported. However, the packages are very CPU intensive; it requires a huge amount of computation memory and time for its execution. In this paper a new …