Stochastic collocation-based nonlinear analysis of concrete bridges with uncertain parameters

This paper focuses on the stochastic response of concrete bridges considering uncertainty in bearing and abutment stiffness. A multi-span simply supported bridge with concrete girders is selected. A 3D-dimensional model is prepared, and nonlinear response history analyses are performed. For the numerical dynamic simulation, the non-sampling stochastic method based on generalized polynomial chaos (gPC) expansion is utilised. The uncertain parameters include the vertical and shear stiffness of bearings and the lateral stiffness of abutments are presented by the truncated gPC expansions. Furthermore, the system response such as base shear, acceleration, velocity and displacement in different columns is presented by gPC expansion with unknown deterministic coefficients. The stochastic Galerkin projection is employed to calculate a set of deterministic equations. A non-intrusive solution, as a set of collocation points, determines the unknown gPC coefficients of the system response and the results are compared with Monte Carlo simulations. The key advantage of spectral discretization is the combination of the mentioned method with the spatial discretization, e.g. finite element model. This study also emphasises the accuracy in results and time efficiency of the proposed non-sampling method for uncertainty quantification of stochastic systems comparing to sampling procedure (e.g. Monte Carlo simulation).     

Economic Evaluation of Power System Flexibility by Commercial Air Conditioner Control with Large Penetration of Photovoltaic Generation

High penetration of intermittent renewable energy such as photovoltaic (PV) and wind power could cause shortage of power system flexibility. Demand response is expected to help supply ancillary service instead of the conventional power plant. Commercial air conditioners are a promising responsive load for demand response because they account for a large proportion of power consumption in the power system. We calculate a system operation cost and hourly operation pattern of each power plant by using the optimal power generation model considering flexibility supply from controlling commercial air conditioner. We obtained the following results as an effect of commercial air conditioner control. (1) The power generation of oil fired power plants decreases at peak time and annual fuel cost of oil fired plant is reduced by approximately 30% at most in Kanto area. (2) The percentage of rated operation mode of LNG combined cycle plants increases. (3) Curtailed energy rate of PV decreases because a power storage amount by pumped hydropower generation increases. (4) Required battery capacity to reduce PV curtailed amount decreased by combining battery energy storage system in case of high penetration of PV.     

A simple explicit single step time integration algorithm for structural dynamics

In this article, a new single-step explicit time integration method is developed based on the Newmark approximations for the analysis of various dynamic problems. The newly proposed method is second-order accurate and able to control numerical dissipation through the parameters of the Newmark approximations. Explicitness and order of accuracy of the proposed method are not affected in velocity-dependent problems. Illustrative linear and nonlinear examples are used to verify performances of the proposed method.     

Highly Bendable and Rotational Textile Structure with Prestrained Conductive Sewing Pattern for Human Joint Monitoring

Human joints have respective ranges of motion and joint forces corresponding to each kind of joint; this necessitates considerations of the characteristics of human joints to fabricate wearable strain sensors conformable to the human body, and capable of precisely monitoring complex motions of the human body. In the present study, the “all textile‐based highly stretchable structure” that is capable of precisely sensing motions (folding and rotation) of the human joints (finger, wrist, elbow, spine, and knee) is fabricated by optimizing patterns (straight, blind, and zigzag) of conductive yarns employed as the conductive part of the strain sensor, and several textile substrates (braided elastic fabric, knit fabric, and woven fabric), having preferable elasticity and conformability employed for the fabrication of strain sensors suitable for human joints. In particular, the technology, enabling the prestraining of textile substrate, is exploited to fabricate a strain sensor that is capable of outputting selective signals corresponding to the folding motion of the spinal joint over a predetermined angle of motion, and the gait pattern of the wearer of the sensor, attached to his or her knee joint doing folding and rotational motions, is analyzed.     

Robust adaptive control for unmatched systems with guaranteed parameter estimation convergence

This paper provides a modified model reference adaptive control (MRAC) scheme to achieve better transient control performance for systems with unknown unmatched dynamics, where an adaptive law with guaranteed convergence is introduced. We first revisit the standard MRAC system and analyze the tracking error bound by using L₂‐norm and Cauchy‐Schwartz inequality. Based on this analysis, we suggest a feasible way to compensate the undesired transient dynamics induced by the gradient descent–based adaptive laws subject to sluggish convergence or even parameter drift. Then, a modified adaptive law with an alternative leakage term containing the parameter estimation error is developed. With this adaptive law, the convergence of both the estimation error and tracking error can be proved simultaneously. This enhanced convergence property can contribute to deriving smoother control signal and improved control response. Moreover, this paper provides a simple and numerically feasible approach to online verify the well‐known persistent excitation condition by testing the positive definiteness of an introduced auxiliary matrix. Comparative simulations based on a benchmark 3‐DOF helicopter model are given to validate the effectiveness of the proposed MRAC approach and show the improved performance over several other MRAC schemes.     

Novel model reference adaptive control architecture using semi‐initial excitation‐based switched parameter estimator

This paper is a generalization of the recently developed techniques of initial excitation (IE)–based adaptive control with an introduction to the definition of semi‐initial excitation (semi‐IE), a still more relaxed notion than IE. Classical adaptive controllers typically ensure Lyapunov stability of the extended error dynamics (tracking error + parameter estimation error) and asymptotic tracking, while requiring a stringent condition of persistence of excitation (PE) for parameter convergence. Of late, the authors have proposed a new adaptive control architecture, which guarantees parameter convergence under the online‐verifiable IE condition leading to exponential stability of the extended error dynamics. In earlier works, it has been established that the IE condition is significantly milder than the classical PE condition. The current work further slackens the excitation condition by proposing the concept of semi‐IE. The proposed adaptive controller is proved to ensure convergence of the parameter estimation error to a lower‐dimensional manifold under the weaker semi‐IE condition, while the stronger condition of IE guarantees convergence of the parameter estimation error to zero. The designed algorithm is shown to improve transient response of tracking error sufficiently in contrast to conventional adaptive controllers.     

激励对往复式骨架油封密封性能的影响

为改善往复式骨架油封的泄漏问题,建立油封唇口密封区流体润滑的数值计算模型,模型考虑密封面粗糙形貌以及油封唇口的径向变形,通过求解雷诺方程分析密封区的流体力学特性,获得密封区的油膜厚度和压力分布,并分析激振频率和振幅对密封性能的影响规律。结果表明:随着激振频率的增加,内外行程中密封区的最小膜厚呈先增加后减小的变化趋势,激振频率越大,往复式骨架油封的密封性越差;内外行程中密封区的的最小膜厚随激振振幅的增加呈非线性增加,激振振幅越大,往复式骨架油封的密封性越好。综合考虑,为提高密封效果,往复式骨架油封适用于小频高幅的工作场合。     

发夹式换热器管束流致振动数值模拟研究

运用计算流体力学方法,采用ANSYS CFX软件对发夹式换热器的壳侧流场进行了三维数值模拟。流场计算中采用多孔介质模型对管束区域进行简化,分析了壳侧流场的速度分布,结果表明:直管段部分的流体湍流强度大于弯管段,且外层管束所在区域为高流速区,受流体冲刷严重。结合流场信息,通过功率谱生成随机激振力,采用ABAQUS软件模拟计算了湍流激振下管束的振动响应,结果显示管束的面外均方根位移远大于面内位移,且弯管部分的振动位移最大。该研究结果可为发夹式换热器的性能分析和优化设计提供参考和依据。     

泳池式轻水反应堆内电磁线圈可控温辐照装置设计

本文设计了在泳池式轻水反应堆（简称泳池堆）内在线测量电磁线圈电性能的可控温辐照装置。采用MCNP程序进行中子物理计算，对泳池堆、线圈骨架的结构尺寸与物质组分进行了精细全尺寸模拟，得出辐照装置的发热功率和中子注量率。通过初步估算，使用ANSYS CFX进行了数值模拟，得出辐照装置内线圈在堆运行时的温度，并提出温度控制的方法。辐照装置采用铝材加工制造，并进行了垂直度测试、气压测试、检漏测试。增加了绝缘设计，将辐照装置与泳池堆之间进行绝缘。在线圈处预埋铠装热电偶，对线圈温度进行实时监测。在泳池堆内对电磁线圈进行辐照试验，结果表明，本文设计的辐照装置能满足电磁线圈在泳池堆孔道内进行辐照试验的要求，并可对电磁线圈进行实时温度控制。