Title: An efficient re-analysis methodology for vibration of large-scale structures

Authors: Zissimos P. Mourelatos; Efstratios Nikolaidis

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA ' Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

Abstract: The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a well-established methodology in structural dynamics. However, optimisation or probabilistic studies can be prohibitively expensive, because they require repeated FEA of large models. Various re-analysis methods have been proposed in order to calculate efficiently the dynamic response of a structure after a baseline design has been modified, without recalculating the new response. Although these methods are promising by themselves, they cannot handle large FE models with large numbers of Degrees of Freedom (DOF) (e.g., 100,000) and design parameters (e.g., 50), which are common in practice. In this paper, a new re-analysis method is proposed to address these shortcomings. A simple frame structure is used to explain all steps of the proposed method. Also, a vibro-acoustic analysis of a realistic vehicle FE model is presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the new method. A design optimisation study is also performed to highlight the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed re-analysis method.

Keywords: efficient re-analysis; finite element analysis; FEA; vibroacoustic response; design optimisation; vibration analysis; large-scale structures; structural dynamics; modelling; dynamic response.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2013.050841

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2013 Vol.61 No.1/2/3/4, pp.86 - 107

Received: 10 Jan 2011
Accepted: 12 Oct 2011
Published online: 12 Apr 2013 *

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