Use of NASTRAN in a university environment

A survey was conducted in the middle of the 1977-78 school year. Each faculty member of the civil engineering, engineering mechanics, and mechanical and aerospace engineering departments was asked to give information on the present (Level 15.5) and future projected (Level 17) usage of NASTRAN programs. Results from the survey study are summarized

Component mode synthesis and large deflection vibrations of complex structures

The accuracy of the NASTRAN modal synthesis analysis was assessed by comparing it with full structure NASTRAN and nine other modal synthesis results using a nine-bay truss. A NASTRAN component mode transient response analysis was also performed on the free-free truss structure. A finite element method was developed for nonlinear vibration of beam structures subjected to harmonic excitation. Longitudinal deformation and inertia are both included in the formula. Tables show the finite element free vibration results with and without considering the effects of longitudinal deformation and inertia as well as the frequency ratios for a simply supported and a clamped beam subjected to a uniform harmonic force

Response of nonlinear panels to random loads

Lightweight aircraft structures exposed to a high intensity noise environment can fatigue prematurely if adequate consideration is not given to the problem. Design methods and design criteria for sonic fatigue prevention were developed based on analytical and experimental techniques. Most of the analytical work was based upon small deflection or linear structural theory which did not agree with the experimental results. A large deflection geometrical nonlinearity was incorporated into the analysis methods for determining the structural response to high intensity noise. The Karman-Herrmann large deflection equations with a single mode Galerkin approximation, and the method of equivalent linearization were used to predict mean square amplitude, mean square stresses, and nonlinear frequency at various acoustic loadings for rectangular panels. Both simply supported and clamped support conditions with immovable or movable inplane edges are considered. Comparisons with experimental results are presented

Addition of higher order plate elements to NASTRAN

Two plate elements, the linear strain triangular membrane element CTRIM6 and the higher order plate bending element CTRPLT1, were added to NASTRAN Level 16.0. The theoretical formulation, programming details, and bulk data information pertaining to the addition of these elements are discussed. Sample problems illustrating the use of these elements are presented

Simple and Robust Boolean Operations for Triangulated Surfaces

Boolean operations of geometric models is an essential issue in computational geometry. In this paper, we develop a simple and robust approach to perform Boolean operations on closed and open triangulated surfaces. Our method mainly has two stages: (1) We firstly find out candidate intersected-triangles pairs based on Octree and then compute the inter-section lines for all pairs of triangles with parallel algorithm; (2) We form closed or open intersection-loops, sub-surfaces and sub-blocks quite robustly only according to the cleared and updated topology of meshes while without coordinate computations for geometric enti-ties. A novel technique instead of inside/outside classification is also proposed to distinguish the resulting union, subtraction and intersection. Several examples have been given to illus-trate the effectiveness of our approach.Comment: Novel method for determining Union, Subtraction and Intersectio

Atmospheric Charged K/πK/\pi Ratio and Measurement of Muon Annual Modulation with a Liquid Scintillation Detector at Soudan

We report a measurement of muon annual modulation in a 12-liter liquid scintillation detector with a live-time of more than 4 years at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Muon minimum ionization in the detector is identified by its observed pulse shape and large energy deposition. The measured muon rate in the detector is 28.69$\pm$2.09 muons per day with a modulation amplitude of 2.66$\pm$ 1.0\% and a phase at Jul 22 $\pm$ 36.2 days. This annual modulation is correlated with the variation of the effective atmospheric temperature in the stratosphere. The correlation coefficient, $\alpha_{T}$, is determined to be $0.898 \pm 0.025$. This can be interpreted as a measurement of the atmospheric charged kaon to pion ($K$/$\pi$) ratio of 0.094$^{+0.044}_{-0.061}$ for $E_{p} >$ 7 TeV, consistent with the measurement from the MINOS far detector. To further constrain the value of $K$/$\pi$ ratio, a Geant4 simulation of the primary cosmic-ray protons with energy up to 100 TeV is implemented to study the correlation of $K$/$\pi$ ratio and the muon annual modulation for muon energy greater than 0.5 TeV. We find out that a charged $K$/$\pi$ ratio of 0.1598, greater than the upper bound (0.138) from this work at the production point 30 km above the Earth surface in the stratosphere cannot induce muon annual modulation at the depth of Soudan.Comment: 6 pages and 11 figure

Gravity Waves Due to a Point Disturbance in a Plane Free Surface Flow of Stratified Fluids

The fundamental solution of the gravity waves due to a two-dimensional point singularity submerged in a steady free surface flow of a stratified fluid is investigated. A linearized theory is formulated by using Love's equations. The effect of density stratification p[sub]o(y) and the gravity effect are characterized by two flow parameters [sigma] = -(dp[sub]o/dy)/p[sub]o and [lambda] = gL/U^2, where [lambda]^-1/2 may be regarded as the internal Froude number if L assumes a characteristic value of [sigma]^-1. Two special cases of [sigma] and [lambda] are treated in this paper. In the first case of constant [sigma] (and arbitrary [lambda]) an exact mathematical analysis is carried out. It is shown that the flow is subcritical or supercritical according as [lambda] > or 1/2, there arises an internal wave which is attenuated at large distances for [lambda] > 1/4 and decays exponentially for [lambda] < 1/4. In the second example an asymptotic theory for large [lambda] is developed while [sigma](y) may assume the profile roughly resembling the actual situation in an ocean where a pronounced maximum called a seasonal thermocline occurs. Internal waves are now propagated to the downstream infinity in a manner analogous to the channel propagation of sound in an inhomogeneous medium

Modal Analysis of Grid Connected Doubly-Fed Induction Generators

This paper presents the modal analysis of a gridconnected doubly fed induction generator (DFIG). The change in modal properties for different system parameters, operating points, and grid strengths are computed and observed. The results offer a better understanding of theDFIG intrinsic dynamics,which can also be useful for control design and model justification. Index Terms—Doubly fed induction generator, eigenvalue analysis, nonlinear dynamic model, small-signal stability.Published versio

NASTRAN nonlinear vibration analysis of beam and frame structures

A capability for the nonlinear vibration analysis of beam and frame structures suitable for use with NASTRAN level 15.5 is described. The nonlinearity considered is due to the presence of axial loads induced by longitudinal end restraints and lateral displacements that are large compared to the beam height. A brief discussion is included of the mathematical analysis and the geometrical stiffness matrix for a prismatic beam (BAR) element. Also included are a brief discussion of the equivalent linearization iterative process used to determine the nonlinear frequency, the required modifications to subroutines DBAR and XMPLBD of the NASTRAN code, and the appropriate vibration capability, four example problems are presented. Comparisons with existing experimental and analytical results show that excellent accuracy is achieved with NASTRAN in all cases