Time-domain simulation of the non-linear response of cooling tower shells subjected to stochastic wind loading

摘要

This paper presents a non--linear finite element model for cooling towers under realistic wind load processes. On the structural side both geometrical and physical non-linearities are considered, tak- ing into account tension cracking and crushing of concrete, yielding of reinforcement, and tension stiffening. The wind load is treated as a stochastic process, consisting of a multi-correlated field of nodal wind pressures. Samples of this field showing a desired spectral distribution and correlation structure are generated via autoregressive filter techniques. Currently, the stochastic proper- ties are simply assumed, but in the future shall be taken from a data base filled with experimental data. The structural response is calculated in the time domain by an implicit Newmark integrator with Newton--Raphson equilibrium iterations.