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This paper presents a new design procedure for large wind turbine blades, which can be used in various case studies. The structural design of 2MW CFRP blade was performed using a verified 2MW GFRP blade model. The structural integrity assessment of the CFRP model demonstrated that the design criteria for tip deformation, buckling failure, and laminate failure in normal wind turbine operating conditions were met. The existing aero-elastic analysis code was not used to estimate the blade load, but the blade’s surface pressure was calculated using CFD. The conventional load analysis code necessitates the establishment of a turbine system and the input of structural characteristics with changes in the structural design specifications. However, when CFD was used to estimate the load, the turbine system was not required and the structure was evaluated against various design cases, making this a useful approach in preliminary design. This new structural design and evaluation procedure for wind blades can be used to review diverse design specifications in the initial design stage.

This research presents structural design and analysis results of applying a composite boom structure on a Concrete Pump Truck (CPT). Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) is used to complete the structural design of the end boom to reduce the weight of the CPT. The weight of the newly designed end boom is reduced by 32% compared to the original steel component. Structural analysis is accomplished by applying static load combinations of self-weight of the boom and the weights of the pipes, the concrete and the drain hose. The results show that the tip deflection is reduced by 30% compared to the conventional end boom. Also, equivalent stress is considerably lower than the conventional design. Composite failure evaluation of the CFRP end boom is conducted by post-processing the stress results using Puck’s failure criteria. The evaluation results show that the design criteria are met on the static load of the pump truck. Specifically, it is expected that fiber failure and inter fiber failure of the boom do not occur under loading conditions according to the design evaluation results.

The purpose of this study is to reduce the weight of elevator components in order to save energy and apply the findings to the new drive-type elevator system. Structural design has been carried out for two lightweight elevator models in which the damped aluminum laminate (DAL) and carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are utilized for the elevator walls, respectively. The structural designs of the new elevator walls are based on the bending stiffness of the existing steel walls. The aluminum elevator model is designed to exhibit a bending stiffness similar to that of the existing steel elevator, while the CFRP model is designed to possess 20% of the existing wall bending stiffness considering that the tensile strength in the fiber direction is about nine times higher than that of the existing structural steel material. DAL and CFRP are applied to the elevator walls, respectively, and aluminum sandwich structures are applied to the ceiling and platform of two kinds of lightweight elevator models. It has been ascertained that the aluminum elevator model is about 40% lighter than the existing steel elevator, and the CFRP elevator model is about 50% lighter than the existing elevator. In order to evaluate the structural integrity of the newly designed elevator model, the criteria presented in the elevator inspection guideline are applied. The designed elevator model is confirmed to satisfy the strength and stiffness criteria presented in the elevator inspection parameter.

This research presents the structural design and mechanical performance evaluation results of a lightweight belt for high-rise elevators. Weight reduction of elevator components is indispensable in developing ultra-high-rise elevators. In this study, the structural design and performance evaluation of high-rise elevator ropes were carried out. The weight of the newly designed Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) belt was reduced by 30% compared with the original steel wire rope. The structural analysis results of the CFRP belt showed that the design criteria were met on the design load condition of the belt. Also, mechanical tests were executed to verify the mechanical characteristics of the newly developed belt, with the results showing that the belt had sufficient structural performance compared with conventional steel wire rope.

The technology of firefighting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in fire scene reconnaissance, water disaster investigation, and rescue missions, has become a crucial asset in responding to fires and emergencies. The key to this technology is to swiftly and effectively improve the operational efficiency of UAVs. Based on the premise of rapid and effective rescue, the stability, tracking, and safety of hexacopter UAVs technology improved the design and optimization innovative design of the storage and transportation convenience structure of unmanned aerial vehicles were carried out. An innovative high-pressure ejection mechanism for fire bombs (delivery items) has been designed. So, a portable, efficient, and fast unmanned aerial vehicle structure was designed. The PX4 flight control system was used to conduct simulation experiments on the newly designed UAV, and it was found that the structural design was reasonable, and the UAV was operated smoothly and accurately during the simulation flight. This structural design and simulation analysis can provide new ideas for the design of new fire-fighting equipment.

The effectiveness of the measures provided in the 2005 American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Specification for elastic distortional buckling of doubly symmetric I-shaped flexural members with slender webs was evaluated in a previous study. It was demonstrated that the code equations generally provide conservative strength estimates for the slender-web I-beams, and the amount of the conservatism was found to be rather dramatic for some cases. As a continuation of this effort, the effectiveness and accuracy of the 2005 AISC code provisions as well as predictions for elastic distortional buckling of slender-web singly symmetric I-shaped members is investigated in this paper. Comparisons are made with the finite strip analysis results for distortional buckling and the two design equations for elastic distortional buckling proposed by other researchers. It is demonstrated that the code predictions are by and large conservative, and even overly conservative in some cases, which does not seem to be justifiable economically.

To meet the needs of industrial production, an improved evolution structural optimization (ESO) method with high efficiency is proposed. The optimized design variables with intermediate density were designed using the windowed evolution structural optimization (WESO) method to increase the stability of the algorithm. The efficient calculation method of the element node sensitivity was established, which realizes the establishment of level set functions, smooth topological design of structures and the updating of design variables. The stability of the proposed algorithm was verified by the Zhou–Rozvany problem, two- and three-dimensional (3D) numerical results. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm was further verified by numerical comparison with other topology optimization frameworks. Lastly, the improved windowed ESO method was applied to the initial configuration design of the double-deck bridge structure, which not only provides guidance for its initial design but also demonstrates the applicability of the method in complex structural systems.

Based on the lower-bound direct methods, namely limit and shakedown analysis, it is shown in this paper how these methods can be used in a constructive manner for structural industrial design. The proposed methods are based on finite element analyses and numerical optimization to determine the admissible loading. Numerical applications are presented and compared with existing results in literatures.

Modular robots are widely used in complicated environments because its configuration is easily transformed and adapted to the environment. This paper presents the design of a new type of reconfigurable modular robot, namely the cell robot, and does a kinematic analysis of it using the D-H parameter method. The homogeneous coordinate transformational matrix of modules and connecting rods with different connecting methods was developed, and the working space of the ends of different configurations was also discussed. The inverse kinematics solution of cell robots was given using a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, which is suitable to different configurations. Application indicates that the proposed method can increase the calculation speed while ensuring that the cell robot's precision remains high.

In order to increase the efficiency, convenience and practicality of optimizing the structural design of parking systems, a method which introduces a discrete variable in the ANSYS environment is proposed. The finite element analysis software, ANSYS, is used as the operating environment, with the total mass of the parking system being taken as the objective function. The strength, stiffness and stability of the columns, beams and oblique supports are used as the restrictions. These columns, beams and oblique supports are used as discrete design variables via the subproblem approximation method from ANSYS. Finally, the Visual Studio program is used to perform the automatic invocation of ANSYS and extraction of the optimization results. The optimization results from engineering examples show that this method has a fast convergence rate and high design efficiency. It can thus support the optimization of parking systems and its efficient design.

The chemical grouting technique has become one of effective approaches to soil reinforcement and maintenance in the field of geotechnical and hydraulic engineering. According to the high pressure and large flow rated conditions, in which the pressure is 10 MPa and the flow rate is 120 L/min, the structure form of valve plate of axial piston pump is determined. Furthermore, the essential parts of pump including piston, valve plate, slipper and bearing are designed. Finally, the structure of valve plate axial piston pump for chemical grouting is integrated, which provides the basis for subsequent processing and performance test of prototype.

To study the design of molded pulp products structure based on UG. With the use of UG software, electric kettle as an example, solid modeling was proceeded and the molded pulp structural design were described in detail the whole process according to the structural features and design requirements of the molded pulp products, as well as the general steps of paper pulp molding design. Practice showed that giving full play to the advantages of software function, the quality and efficiency of the molded pulp products structural design can be improved.