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NASA NTRS1987

Substructure analysis using NICE/SPAR and applications of force to linear and nonlinear structures

Parallel computing studies are presented for a variety of structural analysis problems. Included are the substructure planar analysis of rectangular panels with and without a hole, the static analysis of space mast, using NICE/SPAR and FORCE, and substructure analysis of plane rigid-jointed frames using FORCE. The computations are carried out on the Flex/32 MultiComputer using one to eighteen processors. The NICE/SPAR runstream samples are documented for the panel problem. For the substructure analysis of plane frames, a computer program is developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a substructuring technique when FORCE is enforced. Ongoing research activities for an elasto-plastic stability analysis problem using FORCE, and stability analysis of the focus problem using NICE/SPAR are briefly summarized. Speedup curves for the panel, the mast, and the frame problems provide a basic understanding of the effectiveness of parallel computing procedures utilized or developed, within the domain of the parameters considered. Although the speedup curves obtained exhibit various levels of computational efficiency, they clearly demonstrate the excellent promise which parallel computing holds for the structural analysis problem. Source code is given for the elasto-plastic stability problem and the FORCE program.

Razzaq, Zia↗

NASA NTRS1989

A parallel structure transient response algorithm using independent substructure response computation

An algorithm for parallel computation of transient response for structures is presented in which responses of substructures are computed independently for dozens of time steps at a time, and these substructure responses are then corrected to obtain the response of the overall coupled structure. The correction of the uncoupled substructure responses only requires the responses computed for interfaces at occasional points in time, and is done independently for different substructures in a very efficient procedure. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the method and show the accuracy of the method.

Bennighof, Jeffrey K.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Substructural controller synthesis

A decentralized design procedure which combines substructural synthesis, model reduction, decentralized controller design, subcontroller synthesis, and controller reduction is proposed for the control design of flexible structures. The structure to be controlled is decomposed into several substructures, which are modeled by component mode synthesis methods. For each substructure, a subcontroller is designed by using the linear quadratic optimal control theory. Then, a controller synthesis scheme called Substructural Controller Synthesis (SCS) is used to assemble the subcontrollers into a system controller, which is to be used to control the whole structure.

Su, Tzu-Jeng↗

NASA NTRS1990

Substructuring decomposition and controller synthesis

A decentralized design procedure is proposed for the control design for flexible structures. The structure to be controlled is decomposed into several substructures by using a natural decomposition called substructuring decomposition. For each substructure, a subcontroller is designed by using the linear quadratic optimal control theory. Then, a controller synthesis scheme called Substructural Controller Synthesis (SCS) is used to assemble the subcontrollers into a system controller, which is to be used to control the whole structure. A plane truss example is used to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed method.

Su, Tzu-Jeng↗

NASA NTRS1991

NASTRAN GPWG tables for combined substructures

A method for computing the mass and center of gravity for basic and combined substructures stored in the NASTRAN Substructure Operating File (SOF) is described. The three step method recovers SOF data blocks for the relevant substructure, processes these data blocks using a specially developed FORTRAN routine, and generates the NASTRAN gridpoint weight generator (GPWG) table for the substructure in a PHASE2 SOF execution using a Direct Matrix Abstraction Program (DMAP) sequence. Verification data for the process is also provided.

Allen, Tom↗

NASA NTRS1996

A Frequency-Domain Substructure System Identification Algorithm

A new frequency-domain system identification algorithm is presented for system identification of substructures, such as payloads to be flown aboard the Space Shuttle. In the vibration test, all interface degrees of freedom where the substructure is connected to the carrier structure are either subjected to active excitation or are supported by a test stand with the reaction forces measured. The measured frequency-response data is used to obtain a linear, viscous-damped model with all interface-degree of freedom entries included. This model can then be used to validate analytical substructure models. This procedure makes it possible to obtain not only the fixed-interface modal data associated with a Craig-Bampton substructure model, but also the data associated with constraint modes. With this proposed algorithm, multiple-boundary-condition tests are not required, and test-stand dynamics is accounted for without requiring a separate modal test or finite element modeling of the test stand. Numerical simulations are used in examining the algorithm's ability to estimate valid reduced-order structural models. The algorithm's performance when frequency-response data covering narrow and broad frequency bandwidths is used as input is explored. Its performance when noise is added to the frequency-response data and the use of different least squares solution techniques are also examined. The identified reduced-order models are also compared for accuracy with other test-analysis models and a formulation for a Craig-Bampton test-analysis model is also presented.

Blades, Eric L.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Substructure Synthesis: A Controls Approach

Substructure synthesis from a controls perspective is considered. An efficient and computationally robust method for synthesis of substructures is developed. The method considers the interface forces/moments as control inputs and redefines the synthesis problem in terms of obtaining a constant gain compensator which would ensure the connectivity requirements of the combined structure. Orthogonal similarity transformations are used to provide simplified synthesized dynamics of the combined system. The simplicity of form in transformed coordinates are exploited to effectively deal with modeling parametric and non-parametric uncertainties at substructure level. Uncertainty models of reasonable size and complexity are derived for the combined structure from those in the substructure models.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗

NASA NTRS2017

The Evolution of the Deformation Substructure in a Ni-Co-Cr Equiatomic Solid Solution Alloy

The equiatomic NiCoCr alloy exhibits an excellent combination of strength and ductility, even greater than the FeNiCrCoMn high entropy alloy, and also displays a simultaneous increase in strength and ductility with decreasing the testing temperature. To systemically investigate the origin of the exceptional properties of NiCoCr alloy, which are related to the evolution of the deformation substructure with strain, interrupted tensile testing was conducted on the equiatomic NiCoCr single-phase solid solution alloy at both cryogenic and room temperatures at five different plastic strain levels of 1.5%, 6.5%, 29%, 50% and 70%. The evolution of deformation substructure was examined using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD), conventional transmission electron microscopy (CTEM), diffraction contrast imaging using STEM (DCI-STEM) and atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. While the deformation substructure mainly consisted of planar dislocation slip and the dissociation of dislocations into stacking faults at small strain levels (≤6.5%), at larger strain levels, additional substructures including nanotwins and a new phase with hexagonal close packed (HCP) lamellae also appeared. The volume fraction of the HCP lamellae increases with increasing deformation, especially at cryogenic temperature. First principles calculations at 0 K indicate that the HCP phase is indeed energetically favorable relative to FCC for this composition. The effects of the nanotwin and HCP lamellar structures on hardening rate and ductility at both cryogenic and room temperature are qualitatively discussed.

Twinning↗

NASA NTRS1974

Damping synthesis from substructure tests

A new method is proposed for synthesizing structural damping from substructure test data. It utilizes the off-diagonal coupling terms in the substructure modal damping matrices as well as the diagonal terms which correspond to uncoupled modal damping. The coupling terms are evaluated from complex resonant response measured at each substructure mode. Both analytical and experimental verification of the method have been made. Accuracy requirements on experimental data and data reduction have been established.

Hasselman, T. K.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Effect of load eccentricity and substructure deformation on ultimate strength of shuttle orbiter thermal protection system

The effect of load eccentricity and substructure deformation on the ultimate strength and stress displacement properties of the shuttle orbiter thermal protection system (TPS) was determined. The LI-900 Reusable Surface Insulation (RSI) tiles mounted on the .41 cm thick Strain Isolator Pad (SIP) were investigated. Substructure deformations reduce the ultimate strength of the SIP/tile TPS and increase the scatter in the ultimate strength data. Substructure deformations that occur unsymmetric to the tile can cause the tile to rotate when subjected to a uniform applied load. Load eccentricity reduces SIP/tile TPS ultimate strength and causes tile rotation.

Sawyer, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Analysis of structures with rotating, flexible substructures

A new methodology has been developed for the dynamic analysis of flexible structures, parts of which may be experiencing discrete motion relative to other parts. This methodology provides the capability of representing the continuum deformations typically treated using finite element methods. In addition, it provides the capability of representing the discrete motion at joints traditionally available with multibody methods. After decomposing the structure into substructures and associating a frame of reference with each substructure, the equations of motion for each substructure can be written explicitly including contributions due to the frame of reference generalized coordinates. By expanding the set of constraints to include constraints that eliminate the redundancy introduced by the frame generalized coordinates, the equations of motion become amenable to solution. The first digital computer program using this methodology, the General Rotorcraft Aeromechanical Stability Program (GRASP), was introduced in 1986. Although GRASP is limited to applications involving steady-state rotation, extension to arbitrary motions (including spin-up) can be accomplished by the selective retention of nonlinear terms in this formulation.

Hopkins, A. Stewart↗

NASA NTRS1987

Analysis of structures with rotating, flexible substructures applied to rotorcraft aeroelasticity in GRASP

Application to the General Rotorcraft Aeromechanical Stability Program (GRASP) of new methodology for structural dynamic analysis, including substructuring, frames of reference, nodes, finite elements, and constraints, is discussed. The structure is decomposed into a hierarchy of substructures, and discrete relative motion between substructures is analyzed exactly. The finite element method is used to treat deformation of continua, and the library of finite elements includes a nonlinear beam element incorporating aeroelastic effects. Analytical bases for the aeroelastic beam element and the screw constraint are considered, and the important role of geometric stiffness in the formulation is shown.

Hodges, Dewey H.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Finite element substructuring methods for composite mechanics

Finite element substructuring strategies are presented to obtain numerical solutions for three typical problems of interest to the composites community: (1) impact and toughness characterization of composites using Charpy's impact test specimen; (2) free-edge stress analysis of composite laminates; and (3) fracture toughness predictions of composites for individual and combined fracture of modes I, II, and III. The key issue common to these problems is the presence of singular or near singular stress fields. The regions prone to see steep stress gradients are substructured with progressively refined meshes to study the local response simultaneously with the global response. The results from the select examples indicate that finite element substructuring methods are computationally effective for composite singularity mechanics.

Murthy, Pappu L. N.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A substructure technique for dynamics of flexible mechanical systems with contact-impact

A substructure synthesis method is proposed to account for contact-impact effects in flexible components of mechanical systems. Components that may come into contact is divided into substructures, on each of which local deformation modes are defined to described deformation fields of components. Constraint modes and fixed interface normal modes are used to account for elastic deformation within each substructure. A constraint addition-deletion technique is used to account for contact between impacting bodies. Lagrange multipliers associated with the constraints, which represent constraint forces, are used to determine separation of contacting nodes. Use of the method is illustrated on problems of longitudinal and transverse impact of bodies.

Wu, S.-C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Design sensitivity analysis of boundary element substructures

The ability to reduce or condense a three-dimensional model exactly, and then iterate on this reduced size model representing the parts of the design that are allowed to change in an optimization loop is discussed. The discussion presents the results obtained from an ongoing research effort to exploit the concept of substructuring within the structural shape optimization context using a Boundary Element Analysis (BEA) formulation. The first part contains a formulation for the exact condensation of portions of the overall boundary element model designated as substructures. The use of reduced boundary element models in shape optimization requires that structural sensitivity analysis can be performed. A reduced sensitivity analysis formulation is then presented that allows for the calculation of structural response sensitivities of both the substructured (reduced) and unsubstructured parts of the model. It is shown that this approach produces significant computational economy in the design sensitivity analysis and reanalysis process by facilitating the block triangular factorization and forward reduction and backward substitution of smaller matrices. The implementatior of this formulation is discussed and timings and accuracies of representative test cases presented.

Kane, James H.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Finite element substructuring methods for composite mechanics

Murthy, P. L. N.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Three-dimensional deformation analysis of two-phase dislocation substructures

Three-dimensional deformation analysis of two-phase dislocation substructures was carried out, extending the Qian and Fan (1991) approach to 3D stress-strain fields by using the Budiansky and Wu (1962) criterion for strain compatibility between the 'hard' and 'soft' regions. The result is a rate-dependent viscoplastic theory, named the dislocation substructure viscoplasticity (DSV), which incorporates a self-consistent effect of dislocation substructure on material response. An algorithm developed for numerical implementation of the DSV theory is presented.

Freed, Alan D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

X-ray substructure in A1656 and A2256

We report the confirmation of X-ray substructure in two rich clusters of galaxies, A1656 (Coma) and A2256. Using data from the Einstein Observatory imaging proportional counter, we present a technique of fitting the cluster profile and searching for contributions to the X-ray emission from small regions within the cluster. Using this method we find substructure in both A1656 and A2256 while simultaneously fitting the cluster profile. We obtain the ellipticity and position angle of both clusters as a function of radius and find that both have ellipticity and position angles which vary with radius. We interpret the existence of substructure along with the variable ellipticity and position angle as evidence for a recent merger in both of these clusters.

Davis, David S.↗