Robustness of large-span timber roof structures — Two examples

Numerical Modelling of Timber Braced Frame Masonry Structures (Dhajji Dewari)

This paper presents numerical modeling technique for Dhajji-Dewari structures (timber-braced rubble stone masonry), and its application for the evaluation of in-plane force-deformation capacity of Dhajji wall panels of different configuration of bracings. Dhajji structures are mainly composed of vertical and horizontal timber posts and braced using diagonal bracings and horizontal studs. Wall o...

Retractable roof structures

j This paper presents a new concept for retractable roof structures. The new structures consist of a foldable lattice of beams connected by cylindrical joints, to which covering panels or membranes are attached. These structures fold towards their perimeter and there is practically no limit to their shape. Solutions to the key problems that have to be solved in the course of the kinematic desig...

Composite Repair of Timber Structures

A TWO-STAGE METHOD FOR DAMAGE DETECTION OF LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURES

A novel two-stage algorithm for detection of damages in large-scale structures under static loads is presented. The technique utilizes the vector of response change (VRC) and sensitivities of responses with respect to the elemental damage parameters (RSEs). It is shown that VRC approximately lies in the subspace spanned by RSEs corresponding to the damaged elements. The property is leveraged in...

Semidefinite programming for robustness analysis of structures under large uncertainties

A numerically tractable algorithm based on the semidefinite program (SDP) is proposed for computing a lower bound of the robustness function of structures under non-probabilistic load and structural uncertainties. By using the robustness function, we define a robust structural optimization problem which attempts to maximize the robustness function. A sequential SDP method is proposed to solve t...