Masonry infill walls are often used as non-structural elements. According to the past structural failure, ignorance of interaction between infill walls and enclosed frame may lead to the different seismic response for non-ductile building frames. The main contribution of this paper is to analytically investigate the behavior of reinforced concrete with masonry infill panels as participating str...

In this study, the method of multiple scales is used to perform a nonlinear vibration analysis of a mechanical system in two cases; with dry and lubricated clearance joints. In the dry contact case, the Lankarani-Nikravesh model is used to represent the contact force between the joined bodies. The surface elasticity is modeled as a nonlinear spring-damper element. Primary resonance is discussed...

This paper presents the design, fabrication and characterization of an electromagnetic MEMS energy harvester with ultra-broad operating bandwidth. The beam stretching induced nonlinear spring stiffness enables the resonance to extend from 65 Hz to 340 Hz and 400 Hz at accelerations of 0.5g and 1.0g, respectively. The ultra-wide bandwidth could benefit the harvester device for more efficient vib...

An intricate arrangement of different cell types is required for the spring-loaded mechanism of spontaneous seed dispersal typical for many fruits. Liljegren and colleagues (2004 [this issue of Cell]) describe a nonlinear network of transcription factor genes controlling this process.