Application of saddlepoint approximation in reliability analysis of dynamic systems

The application of the saddlepoint approximation to reliability analysis of dynamic systems is investigated. The failure event in reliability problems is formulated as the exceedance of a single performance variable over a prescribed threshold level. The saddlepoint approximation technique provides a choice to estimate the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the performance variable. The failure probability is obtained as the value of the complement CDF at a specif ied threshold. The method requires computing the saddlepoint from a simple algebraic equation that depends on the cumulant generating function (CGF) of the performance variable. A method for calculating the saddlepoint using random samples of the performance variable is presented. The applicable region of the saddlepoint approximation is discussed in detail. A 10-story shear building model with white noise excitation illustrates the accuracy and effi ciency of the proposed methodology.     

岩溶区层状缓倾角岩质边坡变形破坏机制研究

在贵州岩溶区某大型工程台址工程地质环境条件研究基础上,采用地质历史过程机制分析法和数值模拟方法,对岩溶区层状缓倾角岩质边坡变形破坏机制作系统研究,总结出了4种变形破坏机制,即高陡的层状缓倾内边坡(A类坡)主要发生倾倒-崩落或拉裂-崩落破坏,低矮的层状缓倾内边坡(C类坡)则以小规模垮塌为主;缓倾外顺层边坡(B类坡)以滑移-拉裂型顺层滑坡或块状滑坡为主,而复合型边坡(D类坡)多以滑移-拉裂和弯曲-拉裂组合形式发生破坏.     

黄土路堑边坡变形破坏机理的三轴试验研究

通过原状黄土的减压三轴压缩试验,研究了黄土边坡不同深度不同含水量土体的应力-应变关系,并与原状黄土的常规三轴试验结果进行了比较,发现减压三轴试验能合理地模拟和解释开挖卸荷作用下黄土边坡土体的变形与破坏过程。试验结果表明:坡脚开挖卸荷时,黄土边坡中浅层非饱和黄土易出现应变软化或塑性流动,强度较低,易产生较大变形,而深层饱和黄土仅在高围压下发生应变硬化,强度增加,在中低围压时均发生应变软化现象。分析认为黄土边坡特殊的工程地质条件,使得黄土边坡的特定部位在开挖卸荷作用下常形成了不利于土体稳定的含水量和围压组合,导致坡体特定部位的土体变形破坏,进而诱发边坡的变形破坏;开挖卸荷作用下黄土边坡变形破坏的力学机制应为蠕滑-压致拉裂或牵引式滑坡。     

Reliability of mooring lines and piles for a permanently manned vessel in a tropical cyclone environment

The factors of safety for stationkeeping systems in current standards (ISO, API) are not derived or validated using reliability analyses. As the oil and gas exploration and production is breaking new boundaries, deploying new floating systems and moving into regions with harsher environments, it is of paramount importance to understand what level of reliability these new marine structures are achieving. This paper presents a reliability analysis of the mooring system of a Floating LNG (FLNG) vessel permanently moored and permanently manned offshore North West Australia in a tropical cyclone environment. The reliability analysis addresses both the mooring chain and the pile foundation. The analysis accounts for the long term characteristics of the environment, including the short term variability, in response to a given sea state and the variability and uncertainty in strength of the mooring chain and the pile. The stationkeeping system was analysed using detailed time domain simulations, capturing system non-linearities and low frequency oscillations as well as wave frequency responses and, thereby, reducing modelling uncertainties to a minimum.It is found that for the conditions modelled, neither the chain nor the pile meet a target reliability of 10⁻⁴/annum using the factors of safety commonly used in design following current ISO and API standards. New factors of safety are proposed to achieve this target reliability. For the pile design, one complicating factor is that current design standards do not explicitly define the exceedance probability that should be associated with the characteristic value of the undrained shear strength to be used in the design. It is demonstrated that the required factor of safety is crucially dependent on the definition of this characteristic value and on the level and the type of uncertainty in the soil strength profile. A recommendation is made regarding the definition of this characteristic value and the associated factor of safety. Furthermore, it is found that designing the mooring system to an environmental condition with a return period of 10,000 yr (as an Abnormal Limit State event), and setting the factor of safety to unity, meets the target reliability of 10⁻⁴/annum for the pile, if the characteristic undrained shear strength is a lower bound, defined in this paper by the 10th percentile value. For the chain however, this target reliability is not achieved.     

Experimental Study of a Command Governor Adaptive Depth Controller for an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are increasingly being used in advanced applications that require them to operate in tandem with human divers and around underwater infrastructure and other vehicles. These applications require precise control of the UUVs which is challenging due to the non-linear and time varying nature of the hydrodynamic forces, presence of external disturbances, uncertainties and unexpected changes that can occur within the UUV’s operating environment. Adaptive control has been identified as a promising solution to achieve desired control within such dynamic environments. Nevertheless, adaptive control in its basic form, such as Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) has a trade-off between the adaptation rate and transient performance. Even though, higher adaptation rates produce better performance they can lead to instabilities and actuator fatigue due to high frequency oscillations in the control signal. Command Governor Adaptive Control (CGAC) is a possible solution to achieve better transient performance at low adaptation rates. In this study CGAC has been experimentally validated for depth control of a UUV, which is a unique challenge due to the unavailability of full state measurement and a greater thrust requirement. These in turn leads to additional noise from state estimation, time-delays from input noise filters, higher energy expenditure and susceptibility to saturation. Experimental results show that CGAC is more robust against noise and time-delays and has lower energy expenditure and thruster saturation. In addition, CGAC offers better tracking, disturbance rejection and tolerance to partial thruster failure compared to the MRAC.     

A finite element approach for predicting the full resistance profile of a spudcan deeply penetrating in dense sand overlying clay

This paper presents a finite element approach to calculate the full resistance profile of a spudcan deeply penetrating in dense sand overlying clay, in which a potential for an installing spudcan to experience a sudden uncontrolled punch-through failure exists. A modified Mohr-Coulomb model characterized by incorporating a four-phase variation of the mobilized strength and dilation parameters with an equivalent accumulated plastic strain is developed and tested for the overlying dense silica sand. An extended Tresca model is used for the strain softening of the underlying clay. A series of large deformation finite-element (LDFE) analyses are carried out, varying the strength and dilation parameters as well as the spudcan geometries. A fairly good performance of the present approach is verified by validating against groups of centrifuge tests data, allowing the numerical study to be extended parametrically. The four-phase variation of the mobilized strength and dilation parameters involved in the progressive failure of the upper dense sand is parametrically studied and extended to cover the range of sand relative densities that are of practical interest. Additionally, comparisons with the typical existing LDFE analyses using both simple and sophisticated constitutive models are carried out. It shows that the present approach performs fairly well to calculate the full resistance profile of a spudcan deeply penetration in both thin and thick dense sand overlying clay, especially the peak and post-peak resistance, within around 5% of the corresponding centrifuge tests results.     

防波堤损坏特点与其成因的关系

利用日本《被灾防波堤集览》、葡萄牙锡尼斯防波堤、日本六小河原港防波堤、中国大连渔港、台湾基隆港等61件典型损坏案例及其它参考文献所涉及的140余件案例,讨论了防波堤损坏平面形态与断面部位的特征。根据防波堤损坏特点,从波浪水动力学特性、结构、地基和施工多方面分析了损坏原因与损坏特性之间的关系,从而深化对防波堤工作机理的认识。     

复合加载模式作用下地基承载性能数值分析

确定竖向荷载(V)、水平荷载(H)和力矩(M)共同作用下建筑物地基的破坏模式及在荷载空间(H,V,M)中的破坏包络面是地基设计中的关键问题。为提高Swipe试验方法计算精度,提出了改进方案,进而利用有限元方法分析了复合加载模式作用下均质粘性土地基上条形基础的破坏包络面。计算表明,基于改进Swipe试验方法的数值模拟结果明显好于常规Swipe试验方法。针对海洋工程中实际复合加载模式的特点,探讨了竖向荷载分量V对地基破坏模式和H-M荷载平面上的破坏包络线的影响,结果表明竖向荷载分量显著地改变了地基的破坏模式及包络线的形状。     

结构首次穿越失效研究的新进展

在结构首次穿越失效分析中,初始条件、成群穿越、结构的非线性及抗力退化等问题影响着分析方法的复杂性和分析结果的精确性。结合近年来的研究进展,本文讨论和分析了解决上述问题的新思路、新技术和新方法,同时,归纳了几个新的研究热点,以便为结构首次穿越失效的进一步理论和应用研究提供有益的参考。     

长江三峡巴东复杂斜坡系统成因研究

三峡库区巴东县新城区所在的扇形大斜坡是一个复杂斜坡系统。斜坡后缘边界的挤压变形带是斜坡整体沿其底界面（T1j^3-T2b^1）之间岩层界面向长江发生重力蠕滑作用的结果,不存在“巴东断裂”问题。斜坡系统内部未发现成规模的褶皱,也不存在数量众多的内动力成因的断裂带。巴东斜坡区浅表生变形破坏类型可概括为侧向拉裂、“雪崩式”垮塌、表层风化、侧向滑移张剪破裂、岩层折断变位、软岩膝折剪破裂和压扭破裂又重胶结7种重力卸荷破坏力学模式。斜坡系统内部发育分期分区（块）滑动（滑坡）现象,但不存在构造地质意义上的“断层”形迹。在地貌形态上,巴东大斜坡被4条冲沟分割成5个斜坡单元。在斜坡地质结构、成因类型与空间分布上,巴东大斜坡可划分为3个层次,即表层崩塌滑坡成因为主的堆积层（第一层次）,冲沟分割且浅表生地质形迹发育的层状顺倾的中间基岩层（第二层次）和整体连续顺倾的深层基岩层（第三层次）。分形几何计算证明,巴东大斜坡的地貌形态尚处于侵蚀发育的青（幼）年期。FLAC^3D数值模拟发现,在长江侵蚀下切的不同阶段,巴东斜坡体前缘和后缘接近底界面位置塑性变形区分布集中,但不具备沿深层界面发生整体滑动剪出的可能性。基本认识是,“巴东复杂斜坡系统”是在官渡口-东瀼口向斜南翼（单斜山）的地质背景下,持续经受长江快速侵蚀下切外动力作用,河谷岸坡快速临空导致其自身重力产生强烈的侧向卸荷与滑移等浅表生地质改造作用过程而形成的,可简单地概括为“重力成因论”。