A suitable piece of software is presented to connect Abaqus, a sophisticated
finite element package, with Matlab, the most comprehensive program for
mathematical analysis. This interface between these well-known codes not only
benefits from the image processing and the integrated graph-plotting features
of Matlab but also opens up new opportunities in results post-processing,
statistical analysis and mathematical optimization, among many other
possibilities. The software architecture and usage are appropriately described
and two problems of particular engineering significance are addressed to
demonstrate its capabilities. Firstly, the software is employed to assess
cleavage fracture through a novel 3-parameter Weibull probabilistic framework.
Then, its potential to create and train neural networks is used to identify
damage parameters through a hybrid experimental-numerical scheme, and model
crack propagation in structural materials by means of a cohesive zone approach.
The source code, detailed documentation and a large number of tutorials can be
freely downloaded from www.abaqus2matlab.com
OpenSeismoMatlab is an innovative open-source software for strong ground motion data processing, written in MATLAB. The software implements an elastoplastic bilinear kinematic hardening constitutive model and uses a state-of-the-art single step single solve time integration algorithm featuring exceptional speed, robustness and accuracy. OpenSeismoMatlab can calculate various time histories and corresponding peak values, Arias intensity and its time history, significant duration, various linear elastic response spectra and constant ductility inelastic response spectra, as well as Fourier amplitude spectrum and mean period. Due to its open-source nature, the software can be easily extended or modified, having high research and educational value for the professional engineering and research community. In the present paper, the structure, algorithms and main routines of the program are explained in detail and the results for various types of spectra of 11 earthquake strong ground motions are calculated and compared to corresponding results from other proprietary software.
A new optimization concept is introduced which involves the optimization of non-linear planar shear buildings by using gradients based on equivalent linear structures, instead of the traditional practice of calculating the gradients from the non-linear objective function. The optimization problem is formulated as an equivalent linear system of equations in which a target fundamental eigenfrequency and equal dissipated energy distribution within the storeys of the building are the components of the objective function. The concept is applied in a modified Newton-Raphson algorithm in order to find the optimum stiffness distribution of two representative linear or non-linear MDOF shear buildings, so that the distribution of viscously damped and hysteretically dissipated energy, respectively, over the structural height is uniform. A number of optimization results are presented in which the effect of the earthquake excitation, the critical modal damping ratio, and the normalized yield inter-storey drift limit on the optimum stiffness distributions is studied. Structural design based on the proposed approach is more rational and technically feasible compared to other optimization strategies (e.g., uniform ductility concept), whereas it is expected to provide increased protection against global collapse and loss of life during strong earthquake events. Finally, it is proven that the new optimization concept not only reduces running times by as much as 91% compared to the classical optimization algorithms but also can be applied in other optimization algorithms which use gradient information to proceed to the optimum point.
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