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Haftka, Raphael T.

Publications and source records attributed to Haftka, Raphael T..

At least 73 records · Page 4

Derivatives of buckling loads and vibration frequencies with respect to stiffness and initial strain parameters

A uniform variational approach to sensitivity analysis of vibration frequencies and bifurcation loads of nonlinear structures is developed. Two methods of calculating the sensitivities of bifurcation buckling loads and vibration frequencies of nonlinear structures, with respect to stiffness and initial strain parameters, are presented. A direct method requires calculation of derivatives of the prebuckling state with respect to these parameters. An adjoint method bypasses the need for these derivatives by using instead the strain field associated with the second-order postbuckling state. An operator notation is used and the derivation is based on the principle of virtual work. The derivative computations are easily implemented in structural analysis programs. This is demonstrated by examples using a general purpose, finite element program and a shell-of-revolution program.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗

Evaluation of alternatives for best-fit paraboloid for deformed antenna surfaces

Paraboloid antenna surfaces suffer performance degradation due to structural deformation. A first step in the prediction of the performance degradation is to find the best-fit paraboloid to the deformed surface. Examined here is the question of whether rigid body translations perpendicular to the axis of the paraboloid should be included in the search for the best-fit paraboloid. It is shown that if these translations are included the problem is ill-conditioned, and small structural deformation can result in large translations of the best-fit paraboloid with respect to the original surface. The magnitude of these translations then requires nonlinear analysis for finding the best-fit paraboloid. On the other hand, if these translations are excluded, or if they are limited in magnitude, the errors with respect to the restricted not-so-best-fit paraboloid can be much greater than the errors with respect to the true best-fit paraboloid.

Baruch, Menahem↗

Screening actuator locations for static shape control

Correction of shape distortion due to zero-mean normally distributed errors in structural sizes which are random variables is examined. A bound on the maximum improvement in the expected value of the root-mean-square shape error is obtained. The shape correction associated with the optimal actuators is also characterized. An actuator effectiveness index is developed and shown to be helpful in screening actuator locations in the structure. The results are specialized to a simple form for truss structures composed of nominally identical members. The bound and effectiveness index are tested on a 55-m radiometer antenna truss structure. It is found that previously obtained results for optimum actuators had a performance close to the bound obtained here. Furthermore, the actuators associated with the optimum design are shown to have high effectiveness indices. Since only a small fraction of truss elements tend to have high effectiveness indices, the proposed screening procedure can greatly reduce the number of truss members that need to be considered as actuator sites.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗

Integrated structure-control optimization of space structures

In the past few years there has been substantial interest in the integrated design of large space structures and their vibration control systems. This paper overviews two aspects of integrated control-structure design. The first is the calculation of derivatives of control system stability margins with respect to structural parameters, and the effect of modal truncation on the accuracy of these derivatives. The second aspect is the various formulations used to define an integrated design optimization problem.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗

Integrated controls-structures optimization of a large space structure

A technique for the simultaneous optimization of structural and control elements of a large space structure is developed and demonstrated for a test problem, the NASA COFS-I Mast Flight System. General-purpose control and structural-analysis codes are applied directly to a large detailed model, with realistic objective and constraint functions. The steps in the process (structural optimization, control optimization, and system coordination) are described and illustrated with diagrams; the numerical implementation (using different computers for different steps) is discussed; and results showing significant design improvements in three COFS-I configurations are presented in graphs. When the weights of both structure and power-generating equipment are taken into account, a 40-bay truss design is found to be better than designs with 42 or 44 bays.

Padula, Sharon L.↗

Sensitivity of actively damped structures to imperfections and modeling errors

The sensitivity of actively damped response of structures with respect to errors in the structural modeling is studied. Two ways of representing errors are considered. The first approach assumes errors in the form of spatial variations (or imperfections) in the assumed mass and stiffness properties of the structures. The second approach assumes errors due to such factors as unknown joint stiffnesses, discretization errors, and nonlinearities. These errors are represented here as discrepancies between experimental and analytical mode shapes and frequencies. The actively damped system considered here is a direct-rate feedback regulator based on a number of colocated velocity sensors and force actuators. The response of the controlled structure is characterized by the eigenvalues of the closed-loop system. The effects of the modeling errors are thus presented as the sensitivity of the eigenvalues of the closed-loop system. Results are presented for two examples: (1) a three-span simply supported beam controlled by three sensors and actuators, and (2) a laboratory structure consisting of a cruciform beam supported by cables.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗

Demonstration of decomposition and optimization in the design of experimental space systems

Effective design strategies for a class of systems which may be termed Experimental Space Systems (ESS) are needed. These systems, which include large space antenna and observatories, space platforms, earth satellites and deep space explorers, have special characteristics which make them particularly difficult to design. It is argued here that these same characteristics encourage the use of advanced computer-aided optimization and planning techniques. The broad goal of this research is to develop optimization strategies for the design of ESS. These strategics would account for the possibly conflicting requirements of mission life, safety, scientific payoffs, initial system cost, launch limitations and maintenance costs. The strategies must also preserve the coupling between disciplines or between subsystems. Here, the specific purpose is to describe a computer-aided planning and scheduling technique. This technique provides the designer with a way to map the flow of data between multidisciplinary analyses. The technique is important because it enables the designer to decompose the system design problem into a number of smaller subproblems. The planning and scheduling technique is demonstrated by its application to a specific preliminary design problem.

Padula, Sharon↗

Integrated aerodynamic-structural design of a forward-swept transport wing

The introduction of composite materials is having a profound effect on aircraft design. Since these materials permit the designer to tailor material properties to improve structural, aerodynamic and acoustic performance, they require an integrated multidisciplinary design process. Futhermore, because of the complexity of the design process, numerical optimization methods are required. The utilization of integrated multidisciplinary design procedures for improving aircraft design is not currently feasible because of software coordination problems and the enormous computational burden. Even with the expected rapid growth of supercomputers and parallel architectures, these tasks will not be practical without the development of efficient methods for cross-disciplinary sensitivities and efficient optimization procedures. The present research is part of an on-going effort which is focused on the processes of simultaneous aerodynamic and structural wing design as a prototype for design integration. A sequence of integrated wing design procedures has been developed in order to investigate various aspects of the design process.

Haftka, Raphael T.↗

Optimum design of swept-forward high-aspect-ration graphite-epoxy wings

An analytical investigation of a swept-forward high-aspect-ratio graphite-epoxy transport wing is described. The objectives of this investigation are to illustrate an effective usage of the unique properties of composite materials by exploiting material tailoring and to demonstrate an integrated multidisciplinary approach for conducting this investigation.

Shuart, Mark J.↗

Design of laminated plates for maximum buckling load

The buckling load of laminated plates having midplane symmetry is maximized for a given total thickness. The thicknesses of the layers are taken as the design variables. Buckling analysis is carried out using the finite element method. The optimality equations are solved by a homotopy method which permits tracing optima as a function of total thickness. It is shown that for any design with a given stacking sequence of ply orientations, there exists a design associated with any other stacking sequence which possesses the same bending stiffness matrix and same total thickness. Hence, from the optimum design for a given stacking sequence, one can directly determine the optimum design for any rearrangement of the ply orientations, and the optimum buckling load is independent of the stacking sequence.

Shin, Yung S.↗

Optimizing Locations Of Nodes To Reduce Vibrations

Distribution of mass modified to move nodes to desired locations. Modal shaping proposed as method to reduce structural vibration. Current optimization technique deals with placement of nodal points, related to modal shaping and consists of modifying distribution of mass of structure to place node of mode at desired location. Key to procedure; analysis of sensitivity of locations of nodes, provides straightforward expressions for derivatives of locations of nodes.

Adelman, Howard M.↗

Development of higher-order modal methods for transient thermal and structural analysis

A force-derivative method which produces higher-order modal solutions to transient problems is evaluated. These higher-order solutions converge to an accurate response using fewer degrees-of-freedom (eigenmodes) than lower-order methods such as the mode-displacement or mode-acceleration methods. Results are presented for non-proportionally damped structural problems as well as thermal problems modeled by finite elements.

Camarda, Charles J.↗

Reducing distortion and internal forces in truss structures by member exchanges

Manufacturing errors in the length of members or joint diameters of large truss reflector backup structures may result in unacceptable large distortion errors or member forces. However, it may be possible to accurately measure these length or diameter errors. The present work suggests that a member and joint placement strategy may be used to reduce distortion errors and internal member forces. A member and joint exchange algorithm is used to demonstrate the potential of this approach on several 102-member and 660-member truss reflector structures. It is shown that it is possible to simultaneously reduce the rms of the surface error and the rms of member forces by two orders of magnitude by member and joint exchanges.

Greene, William H.↗

Sensitivity of buckling loads of anisotropic shells of revolution to geometric imperfections and design changes

Buckling load sensitivity calculations in the shell-of-revolution program FASOR are discussed. This development is based on Koiter's initial postbuckling theory, which has been generalized to include the effect of stiffness changes, as well as geometric imperfections. The implementation in FASOR is valid for anisotropic, as well as orthotropic, shells. Examples are presented for cylindrical panels under axial compression, complete cylindrical shells in torsion, and antisymmetric angle-ply cylindrical panels under edge shear.

Cohen, Gerald A.↗