Evaluation of nonlinear structural dynamic responses using a fast-running spring-mass formulation
In today`s world, accurate finite-element simulations of large nonlinear systems may require meshes composed of hundreds of thousands of degrees of freedom. Even with today`s fast computers and the promise of ever-faster ones in the future, central processing unit (CPU) expenditures for such problems could be measured in days. Many contemporary engineering problems, such as those found in risk assessment, probabilistic structural analysis, and structural design optimization, cannot tolerate the cost or turnaround time for such CPU-intensive analyses, because these applications require a large number of cases to be run with different inputs. For many risk assessment applications, analysts would prefer running times to be measurable in minutes. There is therefore a need for approximation methods which can solve such problems far more efficiently than the very detailed methods and yet maintain an acceptable degree of accuracy. For this purpose, we have been working on two methods of approximation: neural networks and spring-mass models. This paper presents our work and results to date for spring-mass modeling and analysis, since we are further along in this area than in the neural network formulation. It describes the physical and numerical models contained in a code we developed called STRESS, which stands for ``Spring-mass Transient Response Evaluation for structural Systems``. The paper also presents results for a demonstration problem, and compares these with results obtained for the same problem using PRONTO3D, a state-of-the-art finite element code which was also developed at Sandia.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 46548
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-95-0349C; CONF-950788-2; ON: DE95008503
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International conference on computational engineering science, Mauna Lani, HI (United States), 30 Jul - 3 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Modeling coupled blast/structure interaction with Zapotec, benchmark calculations for the Conventional Weapon Effects Backfill (CONWEB) tests.
ZAPOTEC