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The purpose of this paper is to optimize a new thin-walled cellular configurations with crashworthiness criteria, so as to improve the crashworthiness of components of a vehicle body.

ANSYS Parametric Design Language is used to create the parameterized models so that the design variables can be changed conveniently. Moreover, the surrogate technique, namely response surface method, is adopted for fitting objective and constraint functions. The factorial design and D-optimal criterion are employed to screen active parameters for constructing the response functions of the specific energy absorption and the peak crushing force. Finally, sequential quadratic programming-NLPQL is utilized to solve the design optimization problem of the new cellular configurations filled with multi-cell circular tubes under the axial crushing loading.

Two kinds of distribution modes of the cellular configurations are first investigated, which are in an orthogonal way and in a diamond fashion. After comparing the optimized configurations of the rectangular distribution with the annular distribution of the multi-cell fillers, it is found that the orthogonal way seems better in the aspects of crashworthiness than the diamond fashion.

The two new thin-walled cellular configuration are studied and optimized with the crashworthiness criteria. Study on the new cellular configurations is very valuable for improving the crashworthiness of components of a vehicle body. Meanwhile, the factorial design and the factor screening are adopted in the process of the crashworthiness optimization of the new thin-walled cellular configurations.

Python codes are developed for the versatile structural analysis on a 3 spar multi-cell box beam by means of idealization approach.

Shear flow distribution, stiffener loads, location of shear center and location of geometric center are computed via numpy module. Data visualization is performed by using Matplotlib module.

Python scripts are developed for the structural analysis of multi-cell box beams in lieu of long hand solutions. In-house developed python codes are made available to be used with finite element analysis for verification purposes.

The use of python scripts for the structural analysis provides prompt visualization, especially once dimensional variations are concerned in the frame of aircraft structural design. The developed python scripts would serve as a practical tool that is widely applicable to various multi-cell wing boxes for stiffness purposes. This would be further extended to the structural integrity problems to cover the effect of gaps and/or cut-outs in shear flow distribution in box-beams.

THIS article is concerned with the type of multi‐cell box found in wings, fins and tail planes, etc. It does not include the effect of axial constraint applied to the box root inducing differential bending of the box spars, or the type of box whose individual cells have vastly different rates of change of cross sectional properties, i.e. a twin cell box with one cell remaining constant in area and the other tapering sharply—this type would require special analysis, in which the loads imposed on the internal ribs, due to their finite stiffness, would need investigating.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a resource allocation mechanism for Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) in a wireless cellular system and to obtain a rapid and efficient transmission scheme over various types' services. The proposed algorithm is evaluated by simulation results.

A big problem for wireless communication is the limited time/frequency resources. Therefore, the most important issue is how to utilize these limited resources to transmit various services over a wireless broadband network, especially for MBMS services. In this paper, resource allocation mechanism in a full unicast system is first analyzed with three classical methods, then improved modulation and coding schemes (MCS) methods are proposed in a full multicast system to improve system throughput and spectral efficiency. Based on the foregoing discussions, research on resource allocation mechanism for mixed multicast and unicast traffic is developed in single‐cell and multi‐cell system (MBSFN, MBMS over single frequency network), respectively. Different transmission proportions between multicast and unicast are analyzed and a multiplexing scenario is also considered.

Resource allocation is a hot topic in wireless communication and there are many investigations on it. However, resource allocation for multicast system, especially for mixed multicast and unicast traffic system, is still a problem worthy of further study. Under same transmission condition in a single cell scenario, system throughput in multicast mode is worse than in unicast mode, which is partly because the number of valid date in multicast resource block (RB) is less than the one in unicast in 3GPP LTE/LTE‐A, on the other hand, because that multicast need to select a relative low MCS to satisfy most MBMS users, even the users with a very poor transmission condition. Fortunately, multicast in MBSFN (MBMS over single frequency network) transfer mode can largely improve system performance.

Improved MCS selection schemes are proposed for full multicast transmission and three transmission scenarios for mixed multicast and unicast traffic are presented to discuss resource allocation mechanism over various types' services. Simulation results show that system performance of multicast system can be greatly enhanced in MBSFN transmission mode, especially with MIMO technology.

This paper aims to establish a multi-input equilibrium manifold expansion (EME) model for gas turbine (GT). It proposes that the extension of model input dimension is realized based on similarity theory and affine structure in the framework of single-input EME model. The study aims to expand the scope of application of the EME model so that it can be used for the control or fault diagnosis of GTs.

In this paper, the concepts of corrected equilibrium manifold expansion (CEME) model and multi-cell equilibrium manifold expansion (MEME) model are first proposed. This paper uses theoretical analysis and simulation experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the bilayer equilibrium manifold expansion (BEME) model, which is a combination of the CEME and the MEME models. Simulation experiments include confirmatory experiments and comparative experiments.

The paper provides a new sight into building a multiple-input EME (MI-EME) model for GTs. The proposed method can build an accurate and robust MI-EME model that has superior performance compared with widely used nonlinear models including Wiener model (WM), Hammerstein model (HM), Hammerstein–Wiener model (HWM) and nonlinear autoregressive with exogenous inputs (NARX) network model. In terms of accuracy, the maximum error percentage of the proposed model is just 1.309%, far less than WM, HM and HWM. In terms of the stability of model calculation, the range of the mean error percentage of the proposed model is just a quarter of that of NARX network model.

The paper fulfills the construction of a novel multi-input nonlinear model, which has laid a foundation for the follow-up research of model-based GT fault detection and isolation or GT control.

This paper aims to study the energy absorption properties of the thin-walled square tube with lateral piecewise variable thickness under axial crashing and the influence of the tube parameters on energy absorption.

In this work, the energy absorption properties of the thin-walled square tube were analyzed by theoretical, numerical and experimental approach. The numerical results are obtained based on the finite element method. The explicit formulation for predicting the mean crushing force of the tube with lateral piecewise variable thickness was derived based on Super Folding Element method. The limitation of the prediction formulation was analyzed by numerical calculation. The numerical calculation was also used to compare the energy absorption between the tube with lateral piecewise variable thickness and other tubes, and to carry out the parametric analysis.

Results indicate that the thin-walled tube with lateral piecewise variable thickness has higher energy absorption properties than the uniform thickness tubes and the tubes with lateral linear variable thickness. The thickness of the corner is the key factor for the energy absorption of the tubes. The thickness of the non-corner region is the secondary factor. Increasing the corner thickness and decreasing the non-corner thickness can make the energy absorption improved. It is also found that the prediction formulation of the mean crushing force given in this paper can quickly and accurately predict the energy absorption of the square tube.

The outcome of the present research provides a design idea to improve the energy absorption of thin-walled tube by designing cross-section thickness and gives an explicit formulation for predicting the mean crushing force quickly and accurately.

A new analogue approach is presented for the solution to the multi‐celled, multi‐stringer tube subjected to flexural and torsional loads. This approach is based upon the condition of current continuity and an equivalent to Castigliano's theorem which holds for certain types of electrical networks. The associated equations lend themselves to creating an analogue with a high degree of pictorial similarity, so that the network can be constructed without formulating the structural equations. The analogue of a simple two‐celled structure is devised and the results obtained by electrical circuit analysis are checked against the structure.

THE application of the general theory with displacements as unknowns to frameworks—both of the pin‐jointed and stiff‐jointed type—is straightforward. For the stiff‐jointed system the method is particularly simple when direct and shear deformations are ignored. In fact, for all frameworks the determination of the matrices C and C0 is trivial once we consider all possible degrees of freedom of the joints. See for example, the systems of figs. (23), (24) and (48) investigated on pp. 48, and 91, which show clearly how elementary the matrices a and stiffness k are when we break up the structure into its simplest constituent components. We need not therefore concern ourselves any more here with frameworks, and we turn our attention to the membrane type of system characteristic of aircraft applications. Essentially, a major aircraft structure like a wing consists of an assembly of plates (fields) stiffened by flanges along their edges. The field may be a curved and/or tapered surface but we ignore here both these effects and consider only rectangular flat elements of constant thickness. For convenience the element formed by the plate (sheet) and its fouredge members is denoted by the term unit panel. It is assumed that the flange areas are constant along each edge.

This study aims to analyse slender thin-walled anisotropic box-beams. Fiber-reinforced laminated composites could play an important role in the design of current and future generations of innovative civil aircrafts and unconventional unmanned configurations. The tailoring characteristics of these composites not only improve the structural performance, and thus reduce the structural weight, but also allow possible material couplings to be made. Static and dynamic aeroelastic stability can be altered by these couplings. It is, therefore, necessary to use an accurate and computationally efficient beam model during the preliminary design phase.

A proper structural beam scheme, which is a modification of a previous first-level approximation scheme, has been adopted. The effect of local laminate stiffness has been investigated to check the possibility of extending the analytical approximation to different structural configurations. The equivalent stiffness has been evaluated for both the case of an isotropic configuration and for simple thin-walled laminated or stiffened sections by introducing classical thin-walled assumptions and the classical beam theory for an equivalent system. Coupling effects have also been included. The equivalent analytical and finite element beam behaviour has been determined and compared to validate the considered analytical stiffness relations that are useful in the preliminary design phase.

The work has analyzed different configurations and highlighted the effect of flexural/torsion couplings and a local stiffness effect on the global behaviour of the structure. Three types of configurations have been considered, namely, a composite wing box configuration, with and without coupling effects; a wing box configuration with sandwich and cellular constructions; and a wing box with stiffened panels in a coupled or an uncoupled configuration. An advanced aluminium experimental test sample has also been described in detail. Good agreement has been found between the theoretical and numerical analyses and the experimental tests, thus confirming the validity of the analytical relations.

The equivalent beam behaviour that has been determined and the stiffness calculation procedure that has been derived could be useful for future dynamic and aeroelastic analyses.

The article presents an original derivation of the sectional characteristics of a thin-walled composite beam and a numerical/experimental validation.