Fatigue Assessment of Complex Riveted Connections: A study on old steel bridges using Advanced Finite Element Analysis

Numerous traffic bridges have been constructed over the last 150 years. Because bridges are commonly built based on an expected lifetime of 75 to 100 years, a large quantity of bridges are reaching the end of their design lifetime, or even are far overdue. To ensure these bridges remain operational without experiencing catastrophic failures,...

Effect of multipass welds and pores on residual stresses in butt-welded joints

Welding is a widely used process in various industries for joining materials, but it can introduce several complexities that affect the mechanical properties of the welded components. In particular, the presence of pores within the welded material can have significant implications for fatigue resistance, residual stresses, and overall structural...

From CTA to 3D modelling: A computational framework for morphometrical assessment and biomechanical analysis of atherosclerotic carotid arteries

Background: Ischemic stroke is a major cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries is an established predictor of these events. Ideally, patient-specific prevention plans can be developed that target advanced plaque development prior to events. Morphometry of advanced calcified plaque phenotypes can be assessed through...

Optimization of grillage design for the transportation oof suction caisson jackets

Suction caisson jacket (SCJ) is one of the most promising substructures, under certain conditions, for offshore wind turbines. Their unique characteristic of large diameter (D) compared to their small wall thickness (t) conducts them an object of study, concerning their transportation to the offshore location, as their structural stability...

An Efficient 3D-model for the Micro-Scale Analysis of Geometrically Imperfect Fibre-Reinforced Composites

This work develops a stand-alone Finite Element-based Unit Cell for the modelling of Fibre Reinforced Composites, capable of capturing 3D stress states and geometrical imperfections at the micro-scale. The project considers different beam and 3D elements for this purpose and draws comparisons between them based on computational efficiency,...

Integrated Neural Network and Finite Element Analysis for constitutive modelling of soil

Finite Element Analysis is an application used in many engineering fields, including geotechnical engineering. With increasing complexities of structures and material behavior, classical approach for non-linear finite element analysis has become computationally expensive (Gulikers, 2018). In order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the...

Finite element analysis of the closed stiffener to crossbeam connection in OSDs using the hot spot stress approach

An Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) is suspectable to fatigue and this forms an important design criterium. In this research the rib-to-crossbeam connection with a cope hole is studied using Finite Element Methods (FEM). The fatigue assessment is performed with the hot spot stress method making use of surface stress extrapolation. Two fatigue cracks...

Stress wave propagation in aircraft structures under bird impact

As collisions between aircraft and birds happen many thousands of times every year, all aspects of such impact events need to be taken into account in the process of designing an aircraft. One aspect that poses a risk is caused by the vibrations induced during bird impact. These vibrations are propagated through the aircraft structure by stress...

Prediction of residual stress of an orthotropic plate due to welding

Orthotropic steel decks are widely used in bridge construction nowadays, especially in case of long span bridges. One of the main problems of bridges that utilize this technology is the susceptibility to fatigue failure. Cyclic loading due to wheel loads, in combination with the complex network of welded details, make such types of decks prone...

Modelling Delamination in an Equivalent Single Layer Model in Explicit Finite Element Analysis

Delamination is one of the failure modes of composites prone to happen in the case of a car crash. In the early stages of car design, finite element analysis is used as a tool to analyze structural concepts. In order to model delamination in a newly developed material model, it is analyzed in two parts: detection and effects of delamination. To...

Stress analysis in atherosclerotic arteries: The influence of heterogeneity

Atherosclerosis is a progressive arterial disease in which fatty tissue accumulates in the arterial wall. Due to this lipid uptake, the artery thickens and can eventually rupture, causing the lipids to flow into the bloodstream and form blood clots. If this happens in the carotid arteries, which supply the head with oxygenated blood, a stroke...