Structural Dynamics in Practice

This subject introduces students to the fundamental concepts of structural dynamics and finite element modelling and teaches students the skills of undertaking structural analyses which involve dynamic (or transient) actions in a practical engineering context. At the conclusion of this subject students should be able to undertake dynamic analyses by hand calculations (that can be enhanced by the use of EXCEL spreadsheets) and effectively employ a commercial computational package (e.g. Strand 7) for more complex analyses. Emphasis is on the ability to undertake independent checks of results generated by the computer. Improved proficiencies in structural dynamics and modelling will result in more economical design of structures and a more sustainable built environment. This subject builds on students’ fundamental knowledge of engineering mathematics, mechanics and structural analysis. For students considering a career in structural design for earthquake resistant structures this is an important subject to prepare for professional practice as a graduate under the supervision of a chartered engineer.

• 1ILO 1. Implement in structural engineering practice the modelling of the response of single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems to pulse and harmonic excitations
• 2ILO 2. Describe and apply the concepts of viscous damping, hysteretic damping, coulomb damping (by friction) and equivalent damping in support of structural engineering practice.
• 3ILO 3. To implement on spreadsheets, transformation from the time-domain to frequency domain in the form of Fourier Amplitude/Phase spectra and Power spectra, and apply linear transformation
• 4ILO 4. Implement in structural engineering practice the modelling of the response of discrete lumped mass multi-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems involving the use of the participation factor, effective modal mass and modal coefficients based on the principles of modal superposition
• 5ILO 5. Obtain classical solutions for the dynamic response behaviour of single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems based on harmonic excitations and common idealised forms of transient excitations
• 6ILO 6. Implement in structural engineering practice on spreadsheets time-step integration procedures for analysing the response of SDOF systems to a range of transient excitations including earthquake excitations, and collation of the response output to produce elastic response spectra of different formats
• 7ILO 7. Implement on spreadsheets the response analyses of simple discrete MDOF systems using principles of modal superposition in structural engineering practice.
• 8ILO 8. Apply finite element modelling packages to perform static and dynamic response analysis to a variety of dynamic loading options
• 9ILO 9. Undertake independent checks of analysis results by hand calculations in support of structural engineering practice.