Steel cylindrical shell structures such as silos and tanks are very sensitive to geometric imperfections and prone to a plastic instability failure known as elephant's foot (EF) buckling. This type of buckling arises under axial compression. The aim of this paper is to explore the plastic collapse response in conical shells with low semi-vertex angle values under compression. In a first step, the initial geometric imperfection shapes that dictate which plastic mechanisms arise were identified using finite element (FE) models. In a second step, a parametric study reported two plastic collapse mechanisms and showed that the elephant's foot plastic collapse mechanism is the most likely to appear in compressed conical shells with low d/t values, followed by the Yoshimura collapse mechanism, more common with larger d/t values. Finally, a practical model in which the parameters have been adjusted from numerical models has been derived for the elephant's foot plastic mechanism. This model provides the load-deformation behaviour of compressed conical shells at the post-collapse region. The load vs. end-shortening curves provided by the model have been validated through comparison with curves given by the FE models. The good agreement between the results proves the efficiency of the practical model to predict the collapse response of conical shells.

As result of the advances made in additive manufacturing in recent years, the design of porous materials with controlled mechanical properties has gained importance due to their capability to offer case-specific solutions in multiple applications. In terms of biomaterials, the use of lattice structures provides a considerable variety of mechanical and geometric properties that can enhance osseointegration and reduce stress shielding. In this paper, the elastic response of a modified face-centered cubic (FCC) unit cell was studied, and analytical expressions for macroscopic effective Young's moduli, shear moduli and Poisson's ratios were obtained, thus providing the necessary parameters for the homogenization of the unit cell. The analytical expressions of the homogenization parameters open the possibility for implementation in other research fields, such as topology optimization. Timoshenko beam theory was used to model the struts of the modified FCC unit cell and a finite element analysis using shear flexible beam elements was performed to assess the accuracy of the analytical expressions. In addition to modelling the bending of the beams, axial and torsional displacements were also considered for a more detailed analysis. It can be concluded that the expressions obtained represent the elastic behavior of the modified FCC unit cell with high accuracy.

This paper deals with a new designed joint system for single-layer spatial structures. As the stability of these structures is greatly influenced by the joint behaviour, the aim of this paper is the characterization of the joint response in bending through Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis using ABAQUS. The behaviour of the joints studied here was influenced by many geometrical factors, such as bolts and plate sizes, distance between bolts and end-plate thickness. The study comprised five models of joints with different values of those parameters. The numerical results were compared to the results of previous experimental tests and the agreement was good enough. The differences between the numerical and experimental initial stiffness are attributed to the simplifications introduced when modelling the bolt threads as well as the presence of residual stresses in the test specimens.

This paper presents what we call the Multiple Approach Experimental Project (MAEP), a project based on the model-building approach to learning. The MAEP complements theoretical lectures by placing students in a real situation where they design and build a physical structure. A total of 65 students divided into 24 teams voluntarily took part in the competition. Assessments from students who participated in the MAEP along with assessments from the instructors who implemented it are presented. Results show that the MAEP was welcomed and that the objective of engaging students in the subject was met.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that a recently published methodology for predicting flow generated noise by compact surfaces under free-field conditions [1] can be extended to a different and more complex configuration of industrial interest. In the previous paper, the methodology was applied to low Mach number flow past a circular cylinder in free-field, where the Green's function and its derivative were obtained analytically. In this paper, the method will be applied to the case of low Mach number flow past a complex confined scattering geometry where both compact and non-compact surfaces are involved. Here the generation of noise is dominated by the interaction of the flow with a surface whose maximum dimension is shorter than the wavelength of interest. The analysis is based on the surface-source term of the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation. The acoustic source data of the flow are generated by use of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. Due to the complexity of the scattering surfaces, the derivative of the Green's function must be obtained numerically through a Computational Acoustics (CA) simulation. The results have been validated through comparison with sound power measurements.

Sound generation has been widely studied using numerical hybrid methods. The aim of this paper is to introduce a flexible procedure where the acoustic source data may be synthesized and stored from commercially available Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes and later used to predict radiated noise. Different applications will require either analytical or numerical methods for the radiation calculations. Attention is restricted to low Mach number flows where the noise generation is dominated by the interaction of the flow with a surface with at least one characteristic dimension short compared to the wavelength of interest. This makes it possible to focus on the surface source term of the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation. In this paper, in order to illustrate the basic method for storing and utilizing data from the CFD analysis, the flow past a circular cylinder at a Reynolds number of Re = 1.4 . 10(5) will be studied, where the cylinder is compact and therefore the analytical free-space Green's function may be used.

This work studies a flexible methodology to predict radiated noise. The main contributions of this work are focused on the way flow parameters are acquired in fluid dynamics simulations are synthesised, stored and later used to predict radiated noise, but also on the procedure considered in the radiation calculations. The methodology has been restricted to low Mach number flows where the noise generation is dominated by the interaction of the flow with a surface at least one of whose typical dimensions is short compared to the wavelength of intereset, known as a compact source. The radiation calculations may employ purely analytical methods or numerical methods, depending on the application. Finally, the requirements in data storage and transfer are significantly reduced by using this method. Besides, if the flow remains essentially the same, the Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation should not need to be repeated in case different acoustic scenarios should be studied.