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The accuracy of the bending disturbances in (axisymmetrically loaded) spherical shells is computed by means of the widely used simplified method known as Geckeler's approximation (often employed as a benchmark for numerical models). The study is based on a comparison between Geckeler's approach and a related, but ‘superior’ approximation which, for practical purposes, may be considered to be exact. Conclusions are drawn from the results of a parametric investigation that encompasses various loading types, boundary conditions and shell geometries (i.e. springing angles and slenderness ratios).

A non‐linear finite element program for concrete structures is outlined, with emphasis on the material modelling. It is shown that the package can be used with confidence in the analysis of practical structural forms. In addition, there is considerable potential for the application of the program to research and design.

A simple estimate of the accuracy of the widely‐used Geckeler approximation for the axisymmetric bending of non‐shallow spherical shells is presented. Based on the edge‐deformation coefficients associated with a pair of arbitrary edge loadings, this estimate is independent of the actual surface‐loading and edge conditions of a practical shell. In this respect, the note complements the findings of an earlier error study, which was based on specific surface loadings and boundary conditions. The complementary nature of the work lies in its use for providing (in the absence of more specialised results) a reasonable assessment of the accuracy of the Geckeler approximation for any loading and/or boundary conditions.

This paper gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied to the analysis of ceramics and glass materials. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations on the subject that were published between 1977‐1998. The following topics are included: ceramics – material and mechanical properties in general, ceramic coatings and joining problems, ceramic composites, ferrites, piezoceramics, ceramic tools and machining, material processing simulations, fracture mechanics and damage, applications of ceramic/composites in engineering; glass – material and mechanical properties in general, glass fiber composites, material processing simulations, fracture mechanics and damage, and applications of glasses in engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to present a simplified hybrid modeling (HYMOD) approach which overcomes limitations regarding computational cost and permits the simulation and prediction of the nonlinear inelastic behavior of full-scale RC structures.

The proposed HYMOD formulation was integrated in a research software ReConAn FEA and was numerically studied through the use of different numerical implementations. Then the method was used to model a full-scale two-storey RC building, in an attempt to demonstrate its numerical robustness and efficiency.

The numerical results performed demonstrate the advantages of the proposed hybrid numerical simulation for the prediction of the nonlinear ultimate limit state response of RC structures.

A new numerical modeling method based on finite element method is proposed for simulating accurately and with computational efficiency, the mechanical behavior of RC structures. Currently 3D detailed methods are used to model single structural members or small parts of RC structures. The proposed method overcomes the above constraints.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a reliable model that would predict the compressive strength of slurry infiltrated fiber concrete (SIFCON) modified with various supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) using artificial intelligence approach.

This study engaged the artificial intelligence to predict the compressive strength of SIFCON through deep neural networks (DNN), artificial neural networks, linear regression, regression trees, support vector machine, ensemble trees, Gaussian process regression and neural networks (NN). A thorough data set of 387 samples was gathered from relevant studies. Eleven variables (cement, silica fume, fly ash, metakaolin, steel slag, fine aggregates, steel fiber fraction, steel fiber aspect ratio, superplasticizer, water to binder ratio and curing ages) were taken as input to predict the output (compressive strength). The accuracy and reliability of the developed models were assessed using a variety of performance metrics.

The results showed that the DNN (11-20-20-20-1) predicted the compressive strength of SIFCON better than the other algorithms with R² and mean square error yielding 95.89% and 8.07. The sensitivity analysis revealed that steel fiber, cement, silica fume, steel fiber aspect ratio and superplasticizer are the most vital variables in estimating the compressive strength of SIFCON. Steel fiber contributed the highest value to the SIFCON’s compressive strength with 16.90% impact.

This is a novel technique in predicting the compressive strength of SIFCON optimized with different SCMs using supervised learning algorithms, improving its quality and performance.

Hoping to uncover the physical principles of the vibration of the functionally graded material (FGM) microplate, by which the authors can make contributions to the design and manufacturing process in factories like micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) and other industries.

The authors design a method by establishing a reasonable mathematical model of the physical microplate composed of a porous FGM.

The authors discover that the porosity, the distributions of porosity, the power law of the FGM and the length-to-thickness ratio all affect the natural frequency of the vibration of the microplate, but in different ways.

Originally proposed a model of the micro FGM plate considering the different distributions of the porosity and scale effect and analyzed the vibration frequency of it.

This paper presents the full range sensitivity study of various components of material model on the response of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to central patch loads using non‐linear finite element analysis. A layered degenerate quadratic plate element with five degrees of freedom was employed. Smeared crack model was used with orthogonal cracking. The components considered in this work are: perfectly plastic models versus hardening models, role of crushing condition on collapse load, influence of dowel effect on punching capacity, parametric variation of tension stiffening parameter, parametric variation of degraded shear modulus and the role of yield criterion.

The paper aims to discuss a new design methodology for multi-fingered robotic grippers.

Optimization of the compliant mechanism with underactuation.

A new robotic gripper principle without active control.

Design of multi-fingered robotic gripper as a monolithic structure without joints.

Tactile sensing is the process of determining physical properties and events through contact with objects in the world. The purpose of this paper is to establish a novel design of an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for estimation of contact position of a new tactile sensing structure.

The major task is to investigate implementations of carbon-black-filled silicone rubber for tactile sensation; the silicone rubber is electrically conductive and its resistance changes by loading or unloading strains.

The sensor-elements for the tactile sensing structure were made by press-curing from carbon-black-filled silicone rubber. The experimental results can be used as training and checking data for the ANFIS network.

This system is capable to find any change of contact positions and thus indicates state of the current contact location of the tactile sensing structure. The behavior of the use silicone rubber shows strong non-linearity, therefore, the sensor cannot be used for high accurate measurements. The greatest advantage of this sensing material lies in its high elasticity.