Postbuckling delamination of a stiffened composite panel using finite element methods

A combined numerical and experimental study is carried out for the postbuckling behavior of a stiffened composite panel. The panel is rectangular and is subjected to static in-plane compression on two opposite edges to the collapse level. Nonlinear (large deflection) plate theory is employed, together with an experimentally based failure criterion. It is found that the stiffened composite panel can exhibit significant postbuckling strength

Almost Classically Damped Linear Discrete Systems

The present work investigates dynamic response of a class of linear oscillators. The common characteristic of the systems analyzed is that they possess damping properties close to those resulting in classical normal modes. Regular perturbation expansions arc utilized for analyzing the eigenproblem as well as the vibration response Of such systems. The analysis is based on a proper splitting of the damping matrix. The advantage of this approach is that it sets the stage for application of standard modal analysis methodologies, reducing the main mathematical problem to that of finding the frequencies and mode shapes of the corresponding undamped model. The validity and effectiveness of the present analysis is illustrated and verified by a numerical example

Periodic steady state response of large scale mechanical models with local nonlinearities

AbstractLong term dynamics of a class of mechanical systems is investigated in a computationally efficient way. Due to geometric complexity, each structural component is first discretized by applying the finite element method. Frequently, this leads to models with a quite large number of degrees of freedom. In addition, the composite system may also possess nonlinear properties. The method applied overcomes these difficulties by imposing a multi-level substructuring procedure, based on the sparsity pattern of the stiffness matrix. This is necessary, since the number of the resulting equations of motion can be so high that the classical coordinate reduction methods become inefficient to apply. As a result, the original dimension of the complete system is substantially reduced. Subsequently, this allows the application of numerical methods which are efficient for predicting response of small scale systems. In particular, a systematic method is applied next, leading to direct determination of periodic steady state response of nonlinear models subjected to periodic excitation. An appropriate continuation scheme is also applied, leading to evaluation of complete branches of periodic solutions. In addition, the stability properties of the located motions are also determined. Finally, respresentative sets of numerical results are presented for an internal combustion car engine and a complete city bus model. Where possible, the accuracy and validity of the applied methodology is verified by comparison with results obtained for the original models. Moreover, emphasis is placed in comparing results obtained by employing the nonlinear or the corresponding linearized models

What does it take to make integrated care work? A ‘cookbook’ for large-scale deployment of coordinated care and telehealth

The Advancing Care Coordination & Telehealth Deployment (ACT) Programme is the first to explore the organisational and structural processes needed to successfully implement care coordination and telehealth (CC&TH) services on a large scale. A number of insights and conclusions were identified by the ACT programme. These will prove useful and valuable in supporting the large-scale deployment of CC&TH. Targeted at populations of chronic patients and elderly people, these insights and conclusions are a useful benchmark for implementing and exchanging best practices across the EU. Examples are: Perceptions between managers, frontline staff and patients do not always match; Organisational structure does influence the views and experiences of patients: a dedicated contact person is considered both important and helpful; Successful patient adherence happens when staff are engaged; There is a willingness by patients to participate in healthcare programmes; Patients overestimate their level of knowledge and adherence behaviour; The responsibility for adherence must be shared between patients and health care providers; Awareness of the adherence concept is an important factor for adherence promotion; The ability to track the use of resources is a useful feature of a stratification strategy, however, current regional case finding tools are difficult to benchmark and evaluate; Data availability and homogeneity are the biggest challenges when evaluating the performance of the programmes

Multiple nonsmooth events in multi-degree-of-freedom vibro-impact systems

The behaviour of a multi-degree-of-freedom vibro-impact system is studied using a 2 degree-of-freedom impact oscillator as a motivating example. A multi-modal model is used to simulate the behaviour of the system, and examine the complex dynamics which occurs when both degrees of freedom are subjected to a motion limiting constraint. In particular, the chattering and sticking behaviour which occurs for low forcing frequencies is discussed. In this region, a variety of non-smooth events can occur, including newly studied phenomena such as sliding bifurcations. In this paper, the multiple non-smooth events which can occur in the 2 degree-of-freedom system are categorised, and demonstrated using numerical simulations

Nonlinear dynamics of a spinning shaft with non-constant rotating speed

Research on spinning shafts is mostly restricted to cases of constant rotating speed without examining the dynamics during their spin-up or spin-down operation. In this article, initially the equations of motion for a spinning shaft with non-constant speed are derived, then the system is discretised, and finally a nonlinear dynamic analysis is performed using multiple scales perturbation method. The system in first-order approximation takes the form of two coupled sets of paired equations. The first pair describes the torsional and the rigid body rotation, whilst the second consists of the equations describing the two lateral bending motions. Notably, equations of the lateral bending motions of first-order approximation coincide with the system in case of constant rotating speed, and considering the amplitude modulation equations, as it is shown, there are detuning frequencies from the Campbell diagram. The nonlinear normal modes of the system have been determined analytically up to the second-order approximation. The comparison of the analytical solutions with direct numerical simulations shows good agreement up to the validity of the performed analysis. Finally, it is shown that the Campbell diagram in the case of spin-up or spin-down operation cannot describe the critical situations of the shaft. This work paves the way, for new safe operational ‘modes’ of rotating structures bypassing critical situations, and also it is essential to identify the validity of the tools for defining critical situations in rotating structures with non-constant rotating speeds, which can be applied not only in spinning shafts but in all rotating structures