Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Structurs'

Dans la premiere partie, la structure acoustique d'une sonde ultrasonore est optimisee en termes de sensibilite et de largeur de bande au moyen de simulations exploratoires. Le modele de transduction acoustique utilise permet de simuler le comportement unidimensionnel d'un materiau piezoelectrique equipe de lames d'adaptation avant et arriere et d'une semelle d'amortissement. Ce modele est etendu, dans la seconde partie de la these, aux sondes composees de deux materiaux piezo-electriques empiles. Deux nouvelles structures acoustiques permettant de gagner de la sensibilite et de la bande passante sont ainsi definies

Ces travaux concernent le developpement d'une methode de mesure optique basee sur l'interferometrie holographique pour analyser le comportement dynamique de structures. Le systeme developpe permet a la fois la mesure simultanee des trois composantes des deplacements de la structure et l'enregistrement ultra-rapide d'une serie d'interferogrammes generes par un laser a impulsions multiples. L'acquisition des deplacements tridimensionnels est basee sur l'enregistrement de trois interferogrammes ayant des faisceaux d'illumination non coplanaires, l'evaluation quantitative de chaque interferogramme s'appuyant sur la technique du decalage de phase. Nous avons mis au point une methode originale de multiplexage spatial des hologrammes qui permet de conserver exactement la meme vue de l'objet pour chacun des trois interferogrammes et donc d'attribuer sans ambiguite a chaque point analyse les trois mesures de phase. Les mesures effectuees sur un cylindre en vibration sont tres bien correlees avec les resultats obtenus par le calcul et confirment la grande sensibilite de la methode et sa fiabilite. Le systeme d'enregistrement ultra-rapide a ete developpe avec un laser a rubis delivrant quatre impulsions dans un intervalle de 800 s. La separation des enregistrements sur la plaque holographique est realisee par deviation des faisceaux de reference grace a des modulateurs acousto-optiques. Pour effectuer le traitement de ces donnees, nous avons examine theoriquement et experimentalement une methode de decomposition modale des reponses dynamiques mesurees par le systeme holographique. Les premiers resultats obtenus sont prometteurs et ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives d'application pour cette methode

The simulation of diffractive optical structures allows for the efficient testing of a large number of structures without having to actually fabricate these devices. Various forms of analysis of these structures have been done through computer programs in the past. However, programs that can actually design a structure to perform a given task are very limited in scope. Optimization of a structure can be a task that is very processor time intensive, particularly if the optimization space has many dimensions. This thesis describes the creation of a computer program that is able to find an optimal structure while maintaining a low-dimensional search space, thus greatly reducing the processor time required to find the solution. The program can design the optimal structure for a wide variety of planar optical devices that conform to the weakly-guiding approximation with an efficient code that incorporates the low-dimensional search space concept. This work is the first use of an electromagnetic field solver inside of an optimization loop for the design of an optimized diffractive-optic structure.

Dans cette thèse, les problématiques de la modélisation et du contrôle robuste de l’attitude des grandes structures spatiales flexibles sont considérées. Afin de satisfaire les performances de pointage requises dans les scénarios des futures missions spatiales, nous proposons d’optimiser directement une loi de commande d’ordre réduit sur un modèle de validation d’ordre élevé et des critères qui exploitent directement la structure du modèle. Ainsi, les travaux de cette thèse sont naturellement divisés en deux parties : une partie relative à l’obtention d’un modèle dynamique judicieusement structuré du véhicule spatial qui servira à l’étape de synthèse ; une seconde partie concernant l’obtention de la loi de commande.Ces travaux sont illustrés sur l’exemple académique du système masses-ressort, qui est la représentation la plus simple d’un système flexible à un degré de liberté. En complément, un cas d’étude sur un satellite géostationnaire est traité pour valider les approches sur un exemple plus réaliste d’une problématique industrielle<br>In this thesis, modeling and robust attitude control problems of large flexible space structures are considered. To meet the required pointing performance of future space missions scenarios, we propose to directly optimize a reduced order control law on high order model validation and criteria that directly exploit the model structure. Thus, the work of this thesis is naturally divided into two parts : one part on obtaining a wisely structured dynamic model of the spacecraft to be used in the synthesis step, a second part about getting the law control. This work is illustrated on the example of the academic spring-masses system, which is the simplest representation of a one degree of freedom flexible system. In addition, a geostationary satellite study case is processed to validate developed approaches on a more realistic example of an industrial problem

Uncertainty involved in the safe and comfort design of the structures is a major concern of civil engineers. Traditionally, the uncertainty has been overcome by utilizing various and relatively large safety factors for loads and structural properties. As a result in conventional design of for example tall buildings, the designed structural elements have unnecessary dimensions that sometimes are more than double of the ones needed to resist normal loads. On the other hand the requirements for strength and safety and comfort can be conflicting. Consequently, an alternative approach for design of the structures may be of great interest in design of safe and comfort structures that also offers economical advantages. Recently, there has been growing interest among the researchers in the concept of structural control as an alternative or complementary approach to the existing approaches of structural design. A few buildings have been designed and built based on this concept. The concept is to utilize a device for applying a force (known as control force) to encounter the effects of disturbing forces like earthquake force. However, the concept still has not found its rightful place among the practical engineers and more research is needed on the subject. One of the main problems in structural control is to find a proper algorithm for determining the optimum control force that should be applied to the structure. The investigation reported in this thesis is concerned with the application of active control to civil engineering structures. From the literature on control theory. (Particularly literature on the control of civil engineering structures) problems faced in application of control theory were identified and classified into two categories: 1) problems common to control of all dynamical systems, and 2) problems which are specially important in control of civil engineering structures. It was concluded that while many control algorithms are suitable for control of dynamical systems, considering the special problems in controlling civil structures and considering the unique future of structural control, many otherwise useful control algorithms face practical problems in application to civil structures. Consequently a set of criteria were set for judging the suitability of the control algorithms for use in control of civil engineering structures. Various types of existing control algorithms were investigated and finally it was concluded that predictive optimal control algorithms possess good characteristics for purpose of control of civil engineering structures. Among predictive control algorithms, those that use ARMA stochastic models for predicting the ground acceleration are better fitted to the structural control environment because all the past measured excitation is used to estimate the trends of the excitation for making qualified guesses about its coming values. However, existing ARMA based predictive algorithms are devised specially for earthquake and require on-line measurement of the external disturbing load which is not possible for dynamic loads like wind or blast. So, the algorithms are not suitable for tall buildings that experience both earthquake and wind loads during their life. Consequently, it was decided to establish a new closed loop predictive optimal control based on ARMA models as the first phase of the study. In this phase it was initially established that ARMA models are capable of predicting response of a linear SDOF system to the earthquake excitation a few steps ahead. The results of the predictions encouraged a search for finding a new closed loop optimal predictive control algorithm for linear SDOF structures based on prediction of the response by ARMA models. The second part of phase I, was devoted to developing and testing the proposed algorithm The new developed algorithm is different from other ARMA based optimal controls since it uses ARMA models for prediction of the structure response while existing algorithms predict the input excitation. Modeling the structure response as an AR or ARMA stochastic process is an effective mean for prediction of the structure response while avoiding measurement of the input excitation. ARMA models used in the algorithm enables it to avoid or reduce the time delay effect by predicting the structure response a few steps ahead. Being a closed loop control, the algorithm is suitable for all structural control conditions and can be used in a single control mechanism for vibration control of tall buildings against wind, earthquake or other random dynamic loads. Consequently the standby time is less than that for existing ARMA based algorithms devised only for earthquakes. This makes the control mechanism more reliable. The proposed algorithm utilizes and combines two different mathematical models. First model is an ARMA model representing the environment and the structure as a single system subjected to the unknown random excitation and the second model is a linear SDOF system which represents the structure subjected to a known past history of the applied control force only. The principle of superposition is then used to combine the results of these two models to predict the total response of the structure as a function of the control force. By using the predicted responses, the minimization of the performance index with respect to the control force is carried out for finding the optimal control force. As phase II, the proposed predictive control algorithm was extended to structures that are more complicated than linear SDOF structures. Initially, the algorithm was extended to linear MDOF structures. Although, the development of the algorithm for MDOF structures was relatively straightforward, during testing of the algorithm, it was found that prediction of the response by ARMA models can not be done as was done for SDOF case. In the SDOF case each of the two components of the state vector (i.e. displacement and velocity) was treated separately as an ARMA stochastic process. However, applying the same approach to each component of the state vector of a MDOF structure did not yield satisfactory results in prediction of the response. Considering the whole state vector as a multi-variable ARMA stochastic vector process yielded the desired results in predicting the response a few steps ahead. In the second part of this phase, the algorithm was extended to non-linear MDOF structures. Since the algorithm had been developed based on the principle of superposition, it was not possible to directly extend the algorithm to non-linear systems. Instead, some generalized response was defined. Then credibility of the ARMA models in predicting the generalized response was verified. Based on this credibility, the algorithm was extended for non-linear MDOF structures. Also in phase II, the stability of a controlled MDOF structure was proved. Both internal and external stability of the system were described and verified. In phase III, some problems of special interest, i.e. soil-structure interaction and control time delay, were investigated and compensated for in the framework of the developed predictive optimal control. In first part of phase III soil-structure interaction was studied. The half-space solution of the SSI effect leads to a frequency dependent representation of the structure-footing system, which is not fit for control purpose. Consequently an equivalent frequency independent system was proposed and defined as a system whose frequency response is equal to the original structure -footing system in the mean squares sense. This equivalent frequency independent system then was used in the control algorithm. In the second part of this phase, an analytical approach was used to tackle the time delay phenomenon in the context of the predictive algorithm described in previous chapters. A generalized performance index was defined considering time delay. Minimization of the generalized performance index resulted into a modified version of the algorithm in which time delay is compensated explicitly. Unlike the time delay compensation technique used in the previous phases of this investigation, which restricts time delay to be an integer multiplier of the sampling period, the modified algorithm allows time delay to be any non-negative number. However, the two approaches produce the same results if time delay is an integer multiplier of the sampling period. For evaluating the proposed algorithm and comparing it with other algorithms, several numerical simulations were carried during the research by using MATLAB and its toolboxes. A few interesting results of these simulations are enumerated below: ARM A models are able to predict the response of both linear and non-linear structures to random inputs such as earthquakes. The proposed predictive optimal control based on ARMA models has produced better results in the context of reducing velocity, displacement, total energy and operational cost compared to classic optimal control. Proposed active control algorithm is very effective in increasing safety and comfort. Its performance is not affected much by errors in the estimation of system parameters (e.g. damping). The effect of soil-structure interaction on the response to control force is considerable. Ignoring SSI will cause a significant change in the magnitude of the frequency response and a shift in the frequencies of the maximum response (resonant frequencies). Compensating the time delay effect by the modified version of the proposed algorithm will improve the performance of the control system in achieving the control goal and reduction of the structural response.

Deployable structures serve a large number of space missions. They are vital since spacecraft are launched by placing them inside launch vehicle payload fairings of limited volume. Traditional spacecraft design often involves large components. These components could have power, communication, or optics applications and include booms, masts, antennas, and solar arrays. Different stowing methods are used in order to reduce the overall size of a spacecraft. Some examples of stowing methods include simple articulating, more complex origami inspired folding, telescoping, and rolling or wrapping. Wrapping of a flexible component could reduce the weight by eliminating joints and other components needed to enable some of the other mechanisms. It also is one of the most effective methods at reducing the compaction volume of the stowed deployable. In this study, a generic unfurlable structure is optimized for maximum natural frequency at its fully deployed configuration and minimal strain energy in its stowed configuration. The optimized stowed structure is then deployed in simulation. The structure consists of a rectangular panel that tightly wraps around a central cylindrical hub for release in space. It is desired to minimize elastic energy in the fully wrapped panel and hinge to ensure minimum reaction load into the spacecraft as it deploys in space, since that elastic energy stored at the stowed position transforms into kinetic energy when the panel is released and induces a moment in the connected spacecraft. It is also desired to maximize the fundamental frequency of the released panel as a surrogate for the panel having sufficient stiffness. Deployment dynamic analysis of the finite element model was run to ensure satisfactory optimization formulation and results.<br>Master of Science<br>Spacecraft, or artificial satellites, do not fly from earth to space on their own. They are launched into their orbits by placing them inside launch vehicles, also known as carrier rockets. Some parts or components of spacecraft are large and cannot fit in their designated space inside launch vehicles without being stowed into smaller volumes first. Examples of large components on spacecraft include solar arrays, which provide power to the spacecraft, and antennas, which are used on satellite for communication purposes. Many methods have been developed to stow such large components. Many of these methods involve folding about joints or hinges, whether it is done in a simple manner or by more complex designs. Moreover, components that are flexible enough could be rolled or wrapped before they are placed in launch vehicles. This method reduces the mass which the launch vehicle needs to carry, since added mass of joints is eliminated. Low mass is always desirable in space applications. Furthermore, wrapping is very effective at minimizing the volume of a component. These structures store energy inside them as they are wrapped due to the stiffness of their materials. This behavior is identical to that observed in a deformed spring. When the structures are released in space, that energy is released, and thus, they deploy and try to return to their original form. This is due to inertia, where the stored strain energy turns into kinetic energy as the structure deploys. The physical analysis of these structures, which enables their design, is complex and requires computational solutions and numerical modeling. The best design for a given problem can be found through numerical optimization. Numerical optimization uses mathematical approximations and computer programming to give the values of design parameters that would result in the best design based on specified criterion and goals. In this thesis, numerical optimization was conducted for a simple unfurlable structure. The structure consists of a thin rectangular panel that wraps tightly around a central cylinder. The cylinder and panel are connected with a hinge that is a rotational spring with some stiffness. The optimization was solved to obtain the best values for the stiffness of the hinge, the thickness of the panel, which is allowed to vary along its length, and the stiffness or elasticity of the panel's material. The goals or objective of the optimization was to ensure that the deployed panel meets stiffness requirement specified for similar space components. Those requirements are set to make certain that the spacecraft can be controlled from earth even with its large component deployed. Additionally, the second goal of the optimization was to guarantee that the unfurling panel does not have very high energy stored while it's wrapped, so that it would not cause large motion the connected spacecraft in the zero gravity environments of space. A computer simulation was run with the resulting hinge stiffness and panel elasticity and thickness values with the cylinder and four panels connected to a structure representing a spacecraft. The simulation results and deployment animation were assessed to confirm that desired results were achieved.

Les stratifiés composites sont de plus en plus utilisés dans les pièces de structures des aéronefs ce qui fait émerger de nouvelles problématiques comme celle des Impacts de Faible Energie (IFE). En effet, bien qu’ils possèdent des propriétés rapportées à leur masse très intéressantes ces matériaux peuvent être vulnérables aux petits chocs. Or, compte tenu des nombreux paramètres influents lors d’un tel impact (énergie, vitesse, stratification...), les essais actuellement majoritairement privilégiés à l’échelle industrielle sont long et coûteux. Ainsi, l’apport de la simulation numérique pourrait être d’une grande aide pour les constructeurs. La pratique du « virtual testing », en particulier, permettrait d’aller dans cette direction ce qui aurait pour effet de rationaliser les campagnes d’essais et les coûts financier qui en découlent. Cependant, elle peine à être mise en place ici car le temps CPU nécessaire pour la simulation fine des ndommagements induits par les IFE est trop important avec les méthodes actuelles. Partant de ce constat, ce travail a consisté à tirer avantageusement partie de la localisation spatiale et temporelle des délaminages, fissurations matricielles et ruptures de fibres qui peuvent apparaître pendant l’impact pour diminuer le coût de calcul. Ainsi une méthode multiéchelle en espace et en temps a été mise en place. Elle consiste à découper la structure impactée en deux zones. L’une est située autour du point d’impact, elle contient l’ensemble des non-régularités du problème (contact, loi adoucissante, modèle de zone cohésive). Elle est traitée avec le code de dynamique explicite Europlexus. L’autre correspond à la partie complémentaire. Le problème mécanique y est beaucoup plus régulier et il est traité avec le code de dynamique implicite Zset/Zébulon. Un couplage peu intrusif basé sur la méthode GC est donc réalisé entre ces deux codes. Il permet d’utiliser une modélisation adaptée dans chacune des deux régions ce qui permet en particulier d’utiliser des pas de temps différents. Un rapport supérieur à 1000 peut ainsi être obtenu entre celui du code explicite fixé par la condition de stabilité et celui utilisé dans la partie complémentaire. Un gain de temps CPU significatif confirmé par la simulation d’un impact réalisé sur un panneau composite raidi est ainsi obtenu. Il est également montré que la répartition implicite/explicite peut évoluer au cours du calcul. Pour cela un mécanisme de bascule a été mis en place. Il permet ainsi de faire transiter la résolution d’une partie de la structure initialement traitée dans le code Zebulon dans Europlexus. Un gain de temps supplémentaire est alors obtenu grâce à cette méthode sur le même cas d’application<br>The composite laminates are increasingly used in aircraft structural parts which lead to new issues such as the Low Energy Impacts (LEI). Indeed, although they have well mechanical properties relative to their mass, small shocks may be very harmfull for laminates. Controlling such situations is essential for manufacturers that why lot of testing campaigns are currently performed. Yet, they are time consuming and expensive considering the many influential parameters (energy, speed, layup...). Numerical simulations of this phenomenon by practicing the so called “virtual testing” process could be really helpfull to rationalize testing campaigns in order to save money. Yet, this practice remain currently hard to do at the industrial scale due to the excessive CPU time required for fine simulation of damages induced by the LEI. Based on this observation, this work has consisted in taking advantage of the spatial and temporal location of delamination, matrix cracking and fiber breakage that can occur during impact in order to reduce the computational cost. Thus, a space and time multiscale method has been put in place. The impacted structure is split into two areas. One is located around the impacted point, it contains all the non-regularities of the problem (contact, softening law, cohesive zone model). This domain is treated with the explicit dynamics code Europlexus. The other one corresponds to the complementary part. The mechanical problem is much more regular and it is treated with the implicit dynamics code Zset / Zebulon. A low intrusive coupling based on the GC method is carried out between these two codes. It allows to use an adapted model in both regions different time step are in particular used. A time step ratio upper to 1000 can be reach between the one of the explicit code set by the stability condition and the one used in the complementary part. As a results, significant CPU time is saved. This is confirmed by the simulation of a stiffened composite panel impacted. It is also shown that the implicit / explicit allocation can change over the calculation. To do that, a switch mechanism has been established. It thus makes it possible to transit the resolution of a portion of the structure initially solved in the code Zebulon to Europlexus. As a results, further gain is obtained

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.<br>In this research, dynamic characteristics of polymer composite beam and plate structures were studied when the structures were in contact with water. The effect of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) on natural frequencies, mode shapes, and dynamic responses was examined for polymer composite structures using multiphysics-based computational techniques. Composite structures were modeled using the finite element method. The fluid was modeled as an acoustic medium using the cellular automata technique. Both techniques were coupled so that both fluid and structure could interact bi-directionally. In order to make the coupling easier, the beam and plate finite elements have only displacement degrees of freedom but no rotational degrees of freedom. The fast Fourier transform (FFT) technique was applied to the transient responses of the composite structures with and without FSI, respectively, so that the effect of FSI can be examined by comparing the two results. The study showed that the effect of FSI is significant on dynamic properties of polymer composite structures. Some previous experimental observations were confirmed using the results from the computer simulations, which also enhanced understanding the effect of FSI on dynamic responses of composite structures.

Les blocs protéiques (BP) constituent un alphabet structural qui permettent une bonne approximation du squelette carbonnée des protéines et la compression de l'information 3D en 1D. Leur utilisation a permis d'appréhender sous un nouvel angle la structure des protéines. Cette thèse explore de nouvelles applications des BP pour l'analyse des structures des protéines, leur prédiction et la reconnaissance de leurs repliements. Dans un premier temps, nous utilisons les BP pour une caractérisation fine des régions variables dans les alignements structuraux de protéines homologues. Ces régions peuvent néanmoins présenter des similarités importantes en terme de conformation. Leur caractérisation a permis de les distinguer des régions dont les conformations sont différentes. Nous montrons aussi que les variations intrinsèques de certaines régions comme les boucles au sein d’une protéine ne sont pas corrélées aux différences de conformation observées dans les régions équivalentes entre protéines homologues. Dans une deuxième partie, nous analysons la relation séquence-structure à l'aide de BP par le biais d'une base de données de pentapeptides issus des structures des protéines. Celle-ci a servi de base pour la mise en place d'outils pour la prédiction du squelette carbonnée des protéines (PB-kPRED) et de sa plasticité (PB-SVindex). Nous exposons comment ces prédictions permettent la reconnaissance du repliement des protéines avec un certain succès et l'identification de probables points chauds structuraux et fonctionnels. En dernière partie, nous présentons un nouvel algorithme (FoRSA) pour la reconnaissance du repliement des protéines à l'aide des BP. Cet algorithme s'appuie sur le calcul de la probabilité conditionnelle qu'une séquence adopte un repliement donné et a été testé avec succès sur des protéines tirées de CASP10. Nous montrons que FoRSA peut être utilisé pour l'annotation structurale rapide de génomes entiers<br>Analysis of protein structures using structural alphabets has provided new insights into protein function and evolution. We have used a structural alphabet called proteins blocks (PBs) which efficiently approximates protein backbone and allows abstraction of 3D protein structures into 1D PB sequences. This thesis describes applications of PBs for protein structure analysis, prediction and fold recognition. First, PBs were used to provide a refined view of structurally variable regions (SVRs) in homologous proteins in terms of conformationally similar and dissimilar SVRs in which were compiled a database of structural alignments (DoSA). We also show that the inherent conformational variations in loop regions are not correlated to corresponding conformational differences in their homologues. Second, to further analyze sequence-structure relationships in terms of PBs and other structural features, we have set up a database of pentapeptides derived from protein structures. This served as a basis for the knowledge-based prediction of local protein structure in terms of PB sequences (PB-kPRED) and of local structure plasticity (PB-SVindex). We demonstrate the successful applications of PB-kPRED for fold recognition and explored possible identification of structural and functional hotspots in proteins using PB-SVindex. Finally, an algorithm for fold recognition using a structural alphabet (FoRSA) based on calculation of conditional probability of sequence-structure compatibility was developed. This new threading method has been successfully benchmarked on a test dataset from CASP10 targets. We further demonstrate the application of FoRSA for fast structural annotations of genomes

The assumptions encountered during the analysis and design of civil engineering structures lead to a difference in the structural behavior between calculations based models and real structures. Moreover, the recent approach in civil engineering nowadays is to rely on the performance-based design approaches, which give more importance for durability, serviceability limit states, and maintenance.Structural identification (St-Id) approach was utilized to bridge the gap between the real structure and the model. The St-Id procedure can be utilized to evaluate the structures health, damage detection, and efficiency. Despite the enormous developments in parametric time-domain identification methods, their relative merits and performance as correlated to the vibrating structures are still incomplete due to the lack of comparative studies under various test conditions and the lack of extended applications and verification of these methods with real-life data.This licentiate thesis focuses on the applications of the parametric models and non-parametric models of the System Identification approach to assist in a better understanding of their potentials, while proposing a novel strategy by combining this approach with the utilization of the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and the Complex Mode Indicator Function (CMIF) curves based techniques in the damage detection of structures.In this work, the problems of identification of the vertical frequencies of the top storey in a multi-storey¸ building prefabricated from reinforced concrete in Stockholm, and the existence of damage and damage locations for a bench mark steel frame are investigated. Moreover, the non-parametric structural identification approach to investigate the amount of variations in the modal characteristics (frequency, damping, and modes shapes) for a railway steel bridge will be presented.<br>Godkänd; 2014; 20141023 (taredr); Nedanstående person kommer att hålla licentiatseminarium för avläggande av teknologie licentiatexamen. Namn: Tarek Edrees Saaed Ämne: Konstruktionsteknik/Structural Engineering Uppsats: Structural Identification of Civil Engineering Structures Examinator: Professor Jan-Erik Jonasson, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Diskutant: Forskare Andreas Andersson, Brobyggnad inklusive Stålbyggnad, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan Tid: Torsdag den 20 november 2014 kl 10:00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.<br>The objective of this research is to examine the fluid structure interaction (FSI) effect on composite sandwich structures under a low velocity impact. The primary sandwich composite used in this study was a 6.35-mm balsa core and a multi-ply symmetrical plain weave 6 oz E-glass skin. The specific geometry of the composite was a 305 by 305 mm square with clamped boundary conditions. Using a uniquely designed vertical drop-weight testing machine, there were three fluid conditions in which these experiments focused. The first of these conditions was completely dry (or air) surrounded testing. The second condition was completely water submerged. The final condition was a wet top/air-backed surrounded test. The tests were conducted progressively from a low to high drop height to best conclude the onset and spread of damage to the sandwich composite when impacted with the test machine. The measured output of these tests was force levels and multi-axis strain performance. The collection and analysis of this data will help to increase the understanding of the study of sandwich composites, particularly in a marine environment.

Cette thèse examine l’impact de la structure actionnariale sur la structure du capital et la performance des banques commerciales européennes sur la période 2002-2010. Elle est composée de trois essais empiriques. Le premier chapitre teste l'effet de la divergence entre les droits de contrôle et les droits pécuniaires d'un actionnaire ultime sur l’ajustement du ratio du capital à son niveau optimal et sur l’offre de crédit par les banques. Les résultats montrent qu’en présence de divergence entre les droits de contrôle et les droits pécuniaires, les banques n’émettent pas du capital pour augmenter leur ratio et, au contraire, elles réduisent leur taille en ralentissant leur offre de prêts. Le chapitre 2 teste l’effet de cette divergence sur la rentabilité et le risque bancaires en temps normal et en temps de crise. Les résultats montrent que bien qu'une divergence entre les droits de contrôle et les droits pécuniaires soit associée en temps normal à une rentabilité plus faible et un risque plus élevé elle a, à contrario, amélioré la rentabilité et contribué à la résilience des banques pendant la crise financière de 2007-2008. Le troisième chapitre teste si le réseau des actionnaires auquel la banque est liée au sein d’une chaîne de contrôle affecte la relation entre la diversification et la performance. Les résultats montrent que la présence des investisseurs institutionnels dans les chaînes de contrôle aide les banques à tirer des bénéfices lorsqu’elles diversifient leurs activités<br>This dissertation examines the role of ownership structure in explaining capital structure and performance of European commercial banks from 2002 to 2010. It comprises three empirical essays. The first chapter explores the effect of greater control rights than cash-flow rights of an ultimate owner on the bank’s capital ratio adjustment and its lending decisions. The results show that whenever control rights exceed cash-flow rights, banks do not issue equity to increase their capital ratio and, instead, downsize by mainly slowing their lending. Chapter 2 provides evidence on how the divergence between control and cash-flow rights affects bank profitability and risk during normal times and distress times. The findings emphasize that during normal times the divergence between control and cash-flow rights is associated with lower profitability and higher risk. Conversely, during the acute financial crisis period (2007-2008), such a divergence improves profitability and banks’ resilience to shocks. The third chapter takes into account differences in the strength of ownership network to which banks belong when assessing the effect of greater activity diversification on bank performance. The results show that diseconomies of diversification vanish the stronger is the ownership network surrounding the bank in the control chain. Such mitigating roles are attributable to the presence of domestic and foreign institutional owners in the pyramid

L’amélioration rapide du nombre de documents stockés électroniquement représente un défi pour la classification automatique de documents. Les systèmes de classification traditionnels traitent les documents en tant que texte plat, mais les documents sont de plus en plus structurés. Par exemple, XML est la norme plus connue et plus utilisée pour la représentation de documents structurés. Ce type des documents comprend des informations complémentaires sur l'organisation du contenu représentées par différents éléments comme les titres, les sections, les légendes etc. Pour tenir compte des informations stockées dans la structure logique, nous proposons une approche de représentation des documents structurés basée à la fois sur la structure logique du document et son contenu textuel. Notre approche étend le modèle traditionnel de représentation du document appelé modèle vectoriel. Nous avons essayé d'utiliser d'information structurelle dans toutes les phases de la représentation du document: -procédure d'extraction de caractéristiques, -La sélection des caractéristiques, -Pondération des caractéristiques. Notre deuxième contribution concerne d’appliquer notre approche générique à un domaine réel : classification des documents techniques. Nous désirons mettre en œuvre notre proposition sur une collection de documents techniques sauvegardés électroniquement dans la société CONTINEW spécialisée dans l'audit de documents techniques. Ces documents sont en format représentations où la structure logique est non accessible. Nous proposons une solution d’interprétation de documents pour détecter la structure logique des documents à partir de leur présentation physique. Ainsi une collection hétérogène en différents formats de stockage est transformée en une collection homogène de documents XML contenant le même schéma logique. Cette contribution est basée sur un apprentissage supervisé. En conclusion, notre proposition prend en charge l'ensemble de flux de traitements des documents partant du format original jusqu’à la détermination de la ses classe Dans notre système l’algorithme de classification utilisé est SVM<br>Rapid improvement in the number of documents stored electronically presents a challenge for automatic classification of documents. Traditional classification systems consider documents as a plain text; however documents are becoming more and more structured. For example, XML is the most known and used standard for structured document representation. These documents include supplementary information on content organization represented by different elements such as title, section, caption etc. We propose an approach on structured document classification based on both document logical structure and its content in order to take into account the information present in logical structure. Our approach extends the traditional document representation model called Vector Space Model (VSM). We have tried to integrate structural information in all phases of document representation construction: -Feature extraction procedure, -Feature selection, -Feature weighting. Our second contribution concerns to apply our generic approach to a real domain of technical documentation. We desire to use our proposition for classifying technical documents electronically saved in CONTINEW; society specialized in technical document audit. These documents are in legacy format in which logical structure is inaccessible. Then we propose an approach for document understanding in order to extract documents logical structure from their presentation layout. Thus a collection of heterogeneous documents in different physical presentations and formats is transformed to a homogenous XML collection sharing the same logical structure. Our contribution is based on learning approach where each logical element is described by its physical characteristics. Therefore, our proposal supports whole document transformation workflow from document’s original format to being classified. In our system SVM has been used as classification algorithm

Considerable interest has developed recently in 'stretch' and 'power' fabrics and their component yams. Stretch fabrics are finding applications in areas such as medical compression therapy, support for back, knee and ankle, and in prosthetics. These stretch fabrics can be made by either knitting or weaving; knitted structures are widely used as stretch fabrics due to their inherent elasticity, drapability and the relative ease of fabrication with stretchable yams. Therefore, the present research work deals with the development of comprehensive mechanical models to predict the mechanical properties of plain knitted elastomeric structures namely the tensile, and interface pressure profile behaviour. All the models are based on Rayleigh-Ritz energy approach, which allows handling nonlinear mechanical properties of constituent yams while producing computationally efficient algorithms. The models incorporate modes of deformation i.e. yam elongation, yam bending and yam compression. An effort has been made to make the models more general by considering generalised geometry with adequate degrees of freedom to represent the yam path under all deformed configurations. A geometric model based on cubic spline geometry has been developed and it has been shown that the energy model based on this geometry closely simulates plain knitted elastomeric structure's mechanical behaviour in contrast to Chamberlain geometry. And therefore, cubic spline geometry has been applied for elastomeric plain knitted derivative structure, which is a stable structure and very much more capable of achieving the required high pressure profiles than the plain knitted elastomeric structure, and maintaining them over a useful period of time. This study also describes experimental investigation into the physical, structural, and mechanical behaviour of both constituent yam, i.e. covered elastomeric yams and plain knitted elastomeric fabrics, in order to ascertain the contribution of core and covered yams in terms of structural mechanical properties.

学位授与大学：京都大学 ; 取得学位: 博士(工学) ; 学位授与年月日: 2007-09-25 ; 学位の種類: 新制・課程博士 ; 学位記番号: 工博第2856号 ; 請求記号: 新制/工/1420 ; 整理番号: 25541<br>Kyoto University (京都大学)<br>0048<br>新制・課程博士<br>博士(工学)<br>甲第13385号<br>工博第2856号<br>新制||工||1420(附属図書館)<br>25541<br>UT51-2007-Q786<br>京都大学大学院工学研究科建築学専攻<br>(主査)教授 加藤 直樹, 教授 上谷 宏二, 准教授 大﨑 純<br>学位規則第4条第1項該当

The fluid-structure interactions of wall-mounted slender structures, such as cilia, filaments, flaps, and flags, play an important role in a broad range of physical processes: from the coherent waving motion of vegetation, to the passive flow control capability of hair-like surface coatings. While these systems are ubiquitous, their coupled nonlinear response exhibits a wide variety of behaviours that is yet to be fully understood, especially when multiple structures are considered. The purpose of this work is to investigate, via numerical simulation, the fluid-structure interactions of arrays of slender structures over a range of input conditions. A direct modelling approach, whereby the individual structures and their dynamics are fully resolved, is realised via a lattice Boltzmann-immersed boundary model, which is coupled to two different structural solvers: an Euler-Bernoulli beam model, and a finite element model. Results are presented for three selected test cases - which build in scale from a single flap in a periodic array, to a small finite array of flaps, and finally to a large finite array - and the key behaviour modes are characterised and quantified. Results show a broad range of behaviours, which depend on the flow conditions and structural properties. In particular, the emergence of coherent waving motions are shown to be closely related to the natural frequency of the array. Furthermore, this behaviour is associated with a lock-in between the natural frequency of the array and the predicted frequency of the fluid instabilities. The original contributions of this work are: the development and application of a numerical tool for direct modelling of large arrays of slender structures; the characterisation of the behaviour of slender structures over a range of input conditions; and the exposition of key behaviour modes of slender structures and their relation to input conditions.

Cette étude propose une application innovante de deux concepts très étudiés par la communauté mathématique, le fibré des k-repères et la connaxion de Cartan. D'une part, l'utilisation d'une connexion de Cartan particulière sur le fibré des 2-repères nous permet de proposer une généralisation de la notion de dérivée de Schwarz en dimension arbitraire, pour les difféomorphismes projectifs et conformes. D'une part, nous avons pu élaborer une structure de BRS permettant de reproduire infinitésimalement l'action des difféomorphismes sur des champs de jauge à un terme de courbure près. Ainsi, la notion de connexion de Cartan sur le fibré des 2-repère a permis de résoudre un problème ouvert, originellement formulé par A. M. Polyakov en 1990 qui obtient formellement l'action difféomorphismes (symétrie de l'espace-temps) à partir d'une transformation de jauge (symétrie interne). Les symétries d'espace-temps et les symétries internes peuvent ainsi être exprimées dans un formalisme similaire<br>This study proposes an innovation application of two concepts studied by the mathematical community, the k-frame bundle and the Cartan connection. On the one hand, the use os a special Cartan connection on the 2-frame bundle allows us to propose a generalization of the concept of Schwarzian derivative in arbitrary dimension for projective and conformal diffeomorphisms. On the other hand, we were albe to develop a BRS structure which reproduce infinitesimally the action of diffeomorphisms on gauge fields plus a curvature term. Hence, the notion of Cartan connection on the frame bundle of second order resolves a problem open since twenty years by A. M. Polyakov who obtains the action of diffeomorphisms (space-time summetry) from a gauge transformation (internal symmetry). The result was published and opens a new field of recherch. The space-times and internal symmetries can then be formalised thanks to the same formalism

Cette thèse porte sur l'étude de l'amortissement des structures assemblées, et plus précisément de la contribution des assemblages sous sollicitations vibratoires. Le mémoire est composé de cinq chapitres traitant la problématique tant du point de vue analytique qu'expérimental. Un banc d'étude académique est proposé afin d'étudier des assemblages sous sollicitation normale constante (statique) et sous sollicitations tangentielles liées aux vibrations de la structure (dynamique). Le facteur de perte caractérisant l'amortissement de la structure est obtenu, dans un premier temps par une étude locale quasi-statique. Puis une fonction de dissipation est définie, permettant d'affiner la modélisation de l'amortissement par une étude dynamique globale. Au regard des résultats obtenus par la modélisation, une analyse expérimentale est menée. Cela afin d'isoler la contribution, à l'amortissement de la structure, des glissements partiels dans les assemblages. Pour cela, deux structures géométriquement identiques, l'une monolithique et l'autre assemblée sont étudiées. Les effets des interfaces sont analysés puis comparés aux résultats analytiques. Afin de simuler plus précisément ces effets, une modélisation prenant en compte les défauts de forme des surfaces en contact est menée<br>This thesis presents a study of damping in assembled structures, or, more precisely, a study of the vibrations of assemblies under external excitations. The paper contains five chapters examining this problem from both analytical and experimental viewpoints. An academic investigation is presented as a foundation in order to study assemblies both under constant normal stresses (static), and under tangential stresses linked to the structural vibrations (dynamic). The loss factor that characterizes the damping of the structure is obtained through a quasi-static local study. Then, a dissipation function is given, which allows the refinement of the damping model through a global dynamic study. An experimental analysis is undertaken to examine the results obtained by the modeling. The objective of this analysis is to isolate the effects, at the structural damping, of partial sliding in the assemblies. To isolate these effects, two structures identical in shape and material, one assembled and one uniform, are studied. The data collected from the interfaces are analyzed, and then compared to the analytical results. In order to simulate these effects with greater precision, a modeling is undertaken that takes into account the defects of form for the surfaces in contact

Programa de Pós Graduação em Engenharia Civil. Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Escola de Minas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.<br>Submitted by Oliveira Flávia (flavia@sisbin.ufop.br) on 2016-01-14T15:41:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_QualitativeInvestigationPerformance.pdf: 28313982 bytes, checksum: 7fa9b21301ee73fcec79f7676cdc021f (MD5)<br>Approved for entry into archive by Gracilene Carvalho (gracilene@sisbin.ufop.br) on 2016-01-14T17:57:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_QualitativeInvestigationPerformance.pdf: 28313982 bytes, checksum: 7fa9b21301ee73fcec79f7676cdc021f (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-14T17:57:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_QualitativeInvestigationPerformance.pdf: 28313982 bytes, checksum: 7fa9b21301ee73fcec79f7676cdc021f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012<br>This paper provides a qualitative investigation about the structural performance of the membranes, surface structures (with double curvature in opposite directions) with minimum thickness and weight, which absorb forces in form of tensile stresses in its own plane, considering two aspects: structural and design procedure. Initially, it involved the analyses of lightweight structure buildings and the observation of constructive work process in membrane roofs. These investigations allowed identifying strategies that contribute to achieve optimum system performance and the challenges encountered along the stages of designing and building. They also guided the qualitative analysis of the performance of a structural membrane roofing project, i.e., a particular situation, as example. This qualitative analysis was developed in two stages, guided by experimental and numerical data. The first stage involved the optimization procedure of the structural system under load action. This analysis showed that the flexible system performance is a result of the three-dimensional stability of the structural system (arrangement and geometry of all components), membrane surface stiffness (membrane geometry), as well as the cooperation of all components in pre-tension state. The second stage comprised the experimental investigation of the membrane material behaviour within the structure context in order to analyze the flattened membrane geometry. Such evaluation enabled to verify the difference between the theoretical model (shape of equilibrium) and the actual shape (consisting of flat panels), enabling the proper adjustment of the surface geometry so that the final shape can reveal not only the path of the forces, but also the best use of the material. The investigations, analyses and working procedure here adopted broadened the understanding of this system pointing possibilities to increase its performance and to minimize failures during the preliminary stage of design.

<p> Methods for modeling structural failure with applications for fluid structure interaction (FSI) are developed in this work. Fracture as structural failure is modeled in this work by both the extended finite element method (XFEM) and element deletion. Both of these methods are used in simulations coupled with fluids modeled by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The methods presented here allow the fluid to pass through the fractured areas of the structure without any prior knowledge of where fracture will occur. Fracture modeled by XFEM is compared to an experimental result as well as a test problem for two phase coupling. The element deletion results are compared with an XFEM test problem, showing the differences and similarities between the two methods. </p><p> A new method for modeling fracture is also proposed in this work. The new method combines XFEM and element deletion to provide a robust implementation of fracture modeling. This method integrates well into legacy codes that currently have element deletion functionality. The implementation allows for application by a wide variety of users that are familiar with element deletion in current analysis tools. The combined method can also be used in conjunction with the work done on fracture coupled with fluids, discussed in this work. </p><p> Structural failure via buckling is also examined in an FSI framework. A new algorithm is produced to allow for structural subcycling during the collapse of a pipe subjected to a hydrostatic load. The responses of both the structure and the fluid are compared to a non-subcycling case to determine the accuracy of the new algorithm. </p><p> Overall this work looks at multiple forms of structural failure induced by fluids modeled by CFD. The work extends what is currently possible in FSI simulations.</p>

What stance should we take toward our best scientific theories? Traditionally, there have been two answers: realism and antirealism. Structural realism is an attempt to find middle-ground between these two views. Rather than accept everything our best theories seem to say about the world, the structural realist endorses only what those theories tell us about the structure of the world. I argue that switching the focus to structure allows the realist to better deal with problems of theory-change, and to better make sense of contemporary physics. I go on to offer a specific version of structural realism based on an understanding of structures as networks of relations between objects that are nothing more than places in structures. My view allows that there are objects and relations, but reverses the usual order of dependence: objects depend on relations rather than the other way around.

This thesis documents the results of a structural and compositional study of selected mixed metal oxides possessing novel structures based upon 'ribbons' of corner sharing metal-oxygen octahedra. The techniques employed to characterise the specimens of interest have included Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD). High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). Compositional analysis of specimens containing strontium, lanthanum and titanium has been achieved to a high degree of accuracy using EDS analysis in the electron microscope. A mathematical technique based upon the intensity ratios of the X-ray emission lines has been developed to overcome the problem of overlapping lanthanum L and titanium K peaks in the X-ray emission specimen. The viability of the new technique has been proven using well characterised test specimens containing all three elements. An in-depth study of two compounds in the SrO-La₂O₃-TiO₂ system, Sr₃La₂Ti₂O₁₀ and Sr₈La₄Ti₅O₂₄ has been performed. Evidence from high resolution imaging and electron diffraction has confirmed that threes phases possess composite layer structures based upon corner sharing ribbons of TiO₆ octahedra. Their status as the n=4 and n=5 members of a homologous series Sr_2n-2La₄Ti_nO_4n+4, where the parameter n represents the number of TiO₆ octahedra in the ribbons, has also been established using EDS. However, results also suggest that these compounds may be metastable. The effect of niobium substitution on the structure of the n=1 Aurivillius phase, Bi₂WO₆, has also been investigated. Results from HRTEM have shown up to 25% of the tungsten can be substituted by niobium without any observable effect on the Aurivillius structure. Upon 50% niobium substitution, it appears that a structural modification takes place, as high resolution imaging and electron diffraction reveal a superstructure on the (012) or (013) planes of a Bi₂WO₆ sub-cell, which can be attributed to the presence of steps in the Aurivillius matrix at regular intervals.

This study presents the application of control methods in seismic mitigation of structural responses. The study consists of two parts. In the first section, fractional order filters are utilized to enhance the performance of the conventional LQR method for optimal robust control of a simple civil structure. The introduced filters modify the state variables fed back to the constant gain controller. Four combinations of fractional order filter and LQR are considered and optimized based on a new performance criterion defined in the paper. Introducing fractional order filters is shown to improve the results considerably for both the artificially generated ground motions and previously recorded earthquake data. In the second part, frequency dependent filters are introduced to improve the effectiveness of active control systems designed to mitigate the seismic response of large scale civil structures. These filters are introduced as band pass pre-filters to the optimally designed H2/LQG controller to reduce the maximum singular value response of input-output transfer matrices over a defined frequency range. Furthermore, a structured uncertainty model is proposed to evaluate robustness of stability and performance considering nonlinear force-deformation behavior of structures. The proposed perturbation model characterizes variations in the stiffness matrix more accurately, thereby reducing overconservatism in the estimated destabilizing perturbations. The aforementioned techniques are applied to the nonlinear SAC three story steel building. Numerical results indicate that introducing filters can enhance the performance of the system in almost all response measures, while preserving robustness of stability and performance.

In general, the main purpose of a structural control system is to apply powerful control techniques that improve the behaviour of civil structures under various kinds of dynamic loading. The first part of this thesis presents novel applications of posicast and input shaping control schemes that have never previously been applied in the field of structural control. Numerical simulations of a benchmark three-story building with an MR damper are used to verify the efficiency of the proposed control theories. The superiority and effectiveness of the suggested schemes at reducing the structure’s responses were demonstrated using six evaluation criteria and by comparison to results achieved with well-established classical control schemes. Moreover, a comprehensive procedure for generating scaled real ground motion records appropriate for a seismic analysis and design of structures using the linear spectrum matching technique is presented based on a seismic hazard study.To efficiently control a structure, it is necessary to estimate its real-life dynamical behaviour. This is usually done using the Structural Identification approach, which is also addressed in this thesis. Structural Identification is commonly utilized to bridge the gap between the real structure and its modeled behaviour. It can also be used to evaluate the structure’s health, detect damage, and assess efficiency. Despite the extensive development of parametric time domain identification methods, their relative merits and the accuracy with which they predict the behaviour of vibrating structures are largely unknown because there have been few comparative studies on their performance under diverse test conditions, and they have not been verified against real-life data gathered over extended periods of time.Thus, the second part of this thesis focuses on applications of parametric and non-parametric models based on the Structural Identification approach in order to clarify their potential and applicability. In addition, a new strategy is proposed that combines this approach with techniques based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Complex Mode Indicator Function (CMIF) curves to detect structural damage.The methods developed in this work are used to predict the vertical frequencies of the top storey in a multi-storey building prefabricated from reinforced concrete in Stockholm, and to detect and locate damage in a benchmark steel frame. In addition, the non-parametric structural identification approach is used to investigate variation in the modal characteristics (frequency, damping, and mode shapes) of a steel railway bridge.<br><p>Godkänd; 2015; 20150303 (taredr); Nedanstående person kommer att disputera för avläggande av teknologie doktorsexamen. Namn: Tarek Edreees Saaed Alqado Ämne: Konstruktionsteknik/Structural Engineering Avhandling: Structural Control and Identification of Civil Engineering Structures Opponent: Professor Francesc Pozo, Department of Applied Mathematics III, Escola Universitària d’Enginyeria Tècnica Industrial de Barcelona (EUETIB), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Comte d’Urgell, Barcelona, Spanien Ordförande: Professor Jan-Erik Jonasson vid Avd för byggkonstruktion och produktion, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Torsdag den 26 mars 2015, kl 10.00 Plats: C305, Luleå tekniska universitet</p>

Composite materials are in use in several applications, for example, aircraft structural components, because of their light weight and high strength. However the delamination which is one of the serious defects often develops and propagates due to vibration during the service of the structure. The presence of this defect warrants the design life of the structure and the safety. Hence the presence of such defect has to be detected in time to plan the remedial action well in advance. There are a number of methods in the literature for damage detection. They are either 'baseline free/reference free method' or using the data from the healthy structure for damage detection. However very limited vibration-based methods are available in the literature for delamination detection in composite structures. Many of these methods are just simulated studies without experimental validation. Grossly 2 kinds of the approaches have been suggested in the literature, one related to low frequency methods and other high frequency methods. In low frequency approaches, the change in the modal parameters, curvatures, etc. is compared with the healthy structure as the reference, however in the high frequency approaches, excitation of structures at higher modes of the order of few kHz or more needed with distributed sensors to map the deflection for identification of delamination. Use of high frequency methods imposes the limitations on the use of the conventional electromagnetic shaker and vibration sensors, whereas the low frequency methods may not be feasible for practical purpose because it often requires data from the healthy state which may not be available for old structures. Hence the objective of this research is to develop a novel reference-free method which can just use the vibration responses at a few lower modes using a conventional shaker and vibration sensors (accelerometers/laser vibrometers). It is believed that the delaminated layers will interact nonlinearly when excited externally. Hence this mechanism has been utilised in the numerical simulations and the experiments on the healthy and delaminated composite plates. Two methods have been developed here - first method can quickly identify the presence of the delamination when excited at just few lower modes and other method identify the location once the presence of the delamination is confirmed. In the first approach an averaged normalised RMS has been suggested and experimentally validated for this purpose. Latter the vibration data have then been analysed further to identify the location of delamination and its size. Initially, the measured acceleration responses from the composite plates have been differentiated twice to amplify the nonlinear interaction clearly in case of delaminated plate and then kurtosis was calculated at each measured location to identify the delamination location. The method has further been simplified by just using the harmonics in the measured responses to identify the location. The thesis presents the process of the development of the novel methods, details of analysis, observations and results.

This study describes a method for conducting the structural dynamic analysis of a crane fly (family Tipulidae) forewing under different airflow conditions. Wing geometry is captured via micro-computed tomography scanning. A finite element model of the forewing is developed from the reconstructed model of the scan. The finite element model is validated by comparing the natural frequencies of an elliptical membrane with similar dimensions of the crane fly forewing to its analytical solution. Furthermore, a simulation of the fluid-structure interaction of the forewing under different airflows is performed by coupling the finite element model of the wing with a computation fluid dynamics model. From the finite element model, the mode shapes and natural frequencies are investigated; similarly, from the fluid-structure interaction, the time-varying out-of-plane deformation, and the coefficients of drag and lift are determined.

This report presents the work done within the framework of my master thesis in the program Infrastructure Engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. This project has been proposed and sponsored by the French company Setec TPI, part of the Setec group, located in Paris. The overall goal of this study is to investigate fluid-structure interaction and particularly sloshing in liquid-containing structures subjected to seismic or other dynamic action. After a brief introduction, the report is composed of three main chapters. The first one presents and explains fluid-structure interaction equations. Fluid-structure interaction problems obey a general flow equation and several boundary conditions, given some basic assumptions. The purpose of the two following chapters is to solve the corresponding system of equations. The first approach proposes an analytical solution: the problem is solved for 2D rectangular tanks. Different models are considered and compared in order to analyze and describe sloshing phenomenon. Liquid can be decomposed in two parts: the lower part that moves in unison with the structure is modeled as an impulsive added mass; the upper part that sloshes is modeled as a convective added mass. Each of these two added mass creates hydrodynamic pressures and simple formulas are given in order to compute them. The second approach proposes a numerical solution: the goal is to be able to solve the problem for any kind of geometry. The differential problem is resolved using a singularity method and Gauss functions. It is stated as a boundary integral equation and solved by means of the Boundary Element Method. The linear system obtained is then implemented on Matlab. Scripts and results are presented. Matlab programs are run to solve fluid-structure interaction problems in the case of rectangular tanks: the results concur with the analytical solution which justifies the numerical solution. This report gives a good introduction to sloshing phenomenon and gathers several analytical solutions found in the literature. Besides, it provides a Matlab program able to model effects of sloshing in any liquid-containing structures.