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Cooling tower analysis by a finite element technique based on a modified hamilton's principle

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Sommario

IL presente lavoro consiste di una parte teorica ed una numerica. Loscopo della prima è la derivazione delle equazioni di moto, sia totali che incrementali, per una generale analisi non lineare dinamica di gusci sottili per mezzo del metodo degli elementi finiti. Una modifica del principio di Hamilton, che permette di considerare forze interne ed esterne non conservative, serve come veicolo per raggiungere questo obiettivo. Aspetti particolari di questa derivazione sono: (a) la considerazione di forze che si mantengono normali alla superficie del guscio durante la sua deformazione; (b) l'uso di moltiplicatori di Lagrange per soddisfare alle condizioni di continuità tra elementi contigui, non imposte «a priori».

Nella parte numerica, la formazione teorica è applicata all'analisi di torri di raffreddamento ad iperboloide. Per una torre soggetta a carico di vento vengono determinate, in regime quasistatico, lo stato di sollecitazione ed il valore critico della pressione. Viene poi analizzata la risposta ad azione sismiche mediante un nuovo algoritmo per la condensazione statica dei gradi di libertà non affetti da masse concentrate e per la successiva soluzione del problema degli autovalori.

Summary

The present paper consists of a theorethical and a numerical part. The purpose of the former is the derivation of total as well as incremental equations of motion for general nonlinear dynamic analysis of thin shells by the Finite Element Method. A modification of Hamilton's principle, permitting consideration of nonconservative internal and external forces, serves as the vehicle to meet this goal. Special features of the derivation are: (a) consideration of follower loads acting normally to the shell throughout the deformation history and (b) the use of Lagrangian multipliers in order to satisfy originally relaxed interelement continuity conditions.

In the numerical part of this paper the theorethical concept is applied to the analysis of cooling-tower shells. The numerical investigation covers solution of the quasistatic stress problem and determination of quasistatic buckling wind pressures for a cooling tower shell subjected to wind load as well as earthquake response analysis for another one. A novel scheme for static condensation of massless degrees of freedom is found to permit an effective solution of the eigenproblem, required as a prerequisite to obtain the earthquake response.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Struct. Engrg., Techn. Univ., Wien, Austria

    Herbert A. Mang (Assoc. Prof.)

  2. Dept. of Struct. Engrg., Politecnico, Milano, Italy

    Luigi Cedolin (Assoc. Prof.)

Authors
  1. Herbert A. Mang
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  2. Luigi Cedolin
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Mang, H.A., Cedolin, L. Cooling tower analysis by a finite element technique based on a modified hamilton's principle. Meccanica 13, 208–224 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02128387

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02128387

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