Title: Application of the empirical mode decomposition for establishing the critical buckling capacity of fibre-reinforced hybrid columns from experimentally obtained data

Authors: H. Abolghasem, F. Taheri, N. Cheraghi

Addresses: Department of Information Systems, St. Francies Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada. ' Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. ' RS Technologies Inc., Calgary, AB, Canada

Abstract: Evaluation of the stability of slender structural components has been an ongoing research topic for several decades. Designers use the well-known Euler|s equation to predict the buckling capacity of such structural components. However, when considering the actual response of such components because of the response being often highly non-linear, the establishment of the onset of buckling cannot be distinctly established. As a result, investigators often face difficulty in deciding what the actual buckling capacity of a given component is when considering load-deformation experimental data. This becomes even more significant when complex composite structural components are examined. In this paper, a novel approach, based on the empirical mode decomposition is introduced for establishing the buckling load of hybrid fibre-reinforced glulaminated columns from load-deformation data obtained experimentally. The performance of the proposed procedure is illustrated for establishing the buckling capacity of unreinforced glulam columns, as well as columns reinforced with fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) sheets, partially or along their full length. The methodology is equally applicable to any column with any initial imperfection and given boundary conditions.

Keywords: buckling; stability; empirical mode decomposition; EMD; composites; imperfect columns; fibre-reinforced hybrid columns; slender structural components; load deformation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2010.033820

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2010 Vol.38 No.4, pp.418 - 439

Published online: 02 Jul 2010 *

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