• International Journal of Railway
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.46-49
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• 2016

In this study a new detection technique based on WAK is introduced that can be used for identifying unstable concrete sleeper installed in ballast by triggering activated wave on the sleeper surface. If a gap exists immediately below the concrete sleeper, static stiffness can be lower than stable case's stiffness. The concrete sleeper is assumed as a single degree of freedom system (SDOF). The static stiffness K can be obtained by iteratively calculated mass (m), stiffness (k) and damping coefficient (c) of SDOF system. Those coefficients are used to specify the ballast condition such as a gap between the sleeper and ballast. Typical test results using a small sleeper model test are summarized and explained for proof of effectiveness of the WAK test for checking unstable condition of the sleeper.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.197-209
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• 2016

The Spacecraft (S/C) numerical sine test-predictions are usually performed through Finite Element Method (FEM) Frequency Response Analysis (FRA), that is the hypothesis of steady-state responses to harmonic excitation to the S/C base is made. In the test practice, the responses are transient and may be significantly different from those predicted through FRA. One of the most significant causes of discrepancy between prediction and test consists in the beating phenomena. After a brief overview of the topic, the typical causes of beating are described in the first part of the paper. Subsequently, focus is made on the sine sweep rate effect, which often leads to have beatings after the resonance of weakly damped modes. In this work, the approach illustrated in the literature for calculating the sine sweep rate effect in the case of Single-Degree-Of-Freedom (SDOF) oscillators is extended to Multi-Degrees-Of-Freedom (MDOF) systems, with the aim of increasing the accuracy of the numerical sine test-predictions. Assumptions and limitations of the proposed methodology are detailed along the paper. Several assessments with test results are discussed and commented.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.149-169
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• 2011

Dynamic response of two adjacent single degree-of-freedom (SDOF) structures connected with friction damper under base excitation is investigated. The base excitation is modeled as a stationary white-noise random process. As the force-deformation behavior of friction damper is non linear, the dynamic response of connected structures is obtained using the equivalent linearization technique. It is observed that there exists an optimum value of the limiting frictional force of the damper for which the mean square displacement and the mean square absolute acceleration responses of the connected structures attains the minimum value. The close form expressions for the optimum value of damper frictional force and corresponding mean square responses of the coupled undamped structures are derived. These expressions can be used for initial optimal design of the friction damper for connected structures. A parametric study is also carried out to investigate the influence of system parameters such as frequency ratio and mass ratio on the response of the coupled structures. It has been observed that the frequency ratio has significant effect on the performance of the friction damper, whereas the effects of mass ratio are marginal. Finally, the verification of the derived close from expressions is made by correlating the response of connected structures under real earthquake excitations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.131-147
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• 2011

The logarithmic decrement method has been long used to estimate damping ratios in systems with only one modal component such as linear single degree of freedom (SDOF) mechanical systems. This paper presents an application of a methodology that uses joint time-frequency distribution (JTFD) as input, instead of the raw signal, to systems with several vibration modes. A most important feature of the present approach is that it can be applied to a system with time-varying damping ratio. Initially the precision and robustness of the method is determined using a synthetic model with multiple harmonic components, one of them displaying a time-varying damping ratio, subsequently the results obtained from experiments with a reduced model are presented. A comparison is made between the results obtained with this methodology and those using the classical technique of Least Squares Complex Exponential Method (LSCE) in order to highlight the advantages of the former, such as, good precision, robustness and excellent performance in extreme cases, e.g., when very low frequency components and time varying damping ratio are present.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.397-407
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• 2017

To estimate the structural seismic demand, some methods are based on an equivalent linear system such as the Capacity Spectrum Method, the N2 method and the Equivalent Linearization method. Another category, widely investigated, is based on displacement correction such as the Displacement Coefficient Method and the Coefficient Method. Its basic concept consists in converting the elastic linear displacement of an equivalent Single Degree of Freedom system (SDOF) into a corresponding inelastic displacement. It relies on adequate modifying or reduction coefficient such as the inelastic deformation ratio which is usually developed for systems with known ductility factors ($C_{\mu}$) and ($C_R$) for known yield-strength reduction factor. The present paper proposes a rational approach which estimates this inelastic deformation ratio for SDOF bilinear systems by rigorous nonlinear analysis. It proposes a new inelastic deformation ratio which unifies and combines both $C_{\mu}$ and $C_R$ effects. It is defined by the ratio between the inelastic and elastic maximum lateral displacement demands. Three options are investigated in order to express the inelastic response spectra in terms of: ductility demand, yield strength reduction factor, and inelastic deformation ratio which depends on the period, the post-to-preyield stiffness ratio, the yield strength and the peak ground acceleration. This new inelastic deformation ratio ($C_{\eta}$) is describes the response spectra and is related to the capacity curve (pushover curve): normalized yield strength coefficient (${\eta}$), post-to-preyield stiffness ratio (${\alpha}$), natural period (T), peak ductility factor (${\mu}$), and the yield strength reduction factor ($R_y$). For illustrative purposes, instantaneous ductility demand and yield strength reduction factor for a SDOF system subject to various recorded motions (El-Centro 1940 (N/S), Boumerdes: Algeria 2003). The method accuracy is investigated and compared to classical formulations, for various hysteretic models and values of the normalized yield strength coefficient (${\eta}$), post-to-preyield stiffness ratio (${\alpha}$), and natural period (T). Though the ductility demand and yield strength reduction factor differ greatly for some given T and ${\eta}$ ranges, they remain take close when ${\eta}>1$, whereas they are equal to 1 for periods $T{\geq}1s$.