How must n equal circles of given radius be placed so that they cover as great a part of the area of the unit circle as possible? To analyse this mathematical problem, mechanical models are introduced. A generalized tensegrity structure is associated with a maximum area configuration of the n circles, whose equilibrium configuration is determined numerically with the method of dynamic relaxatio...

Hydrogels are widely used as in vitro culture models to mimic 3D cellular microenvironments. The stiffness of the extracellular matrix is known to influence cell phenotype, inspiring work toward unraveling the role of stiffness on cell behavior using hydrogels. However, in many biological processes such as embryonic development, wound healing, and tumorigenesis, the microenvironment is highly d...

Because of random nature of many dependent variables in coastal engineering, treatment of effective parameters is generally associated with uncertainty. Numerical models are often used for dynamic analysis of complex structures, including mechanical systems. Furthermore, deterministic models are not sufficient for exact anticipation of structure’s dynamic response, but probabilistic models...

A finite element solution based on equevalent elements is proposed for the static and dynamic analysis of tallhigh tensioned cable antennas. To reduce high number of degrees of freedom in space frame body of a structure, a simple equivalent beam element is defined for each simulative substructure. This numerical procedure is applicable to analyze complex three dimensional assemblies of substruc...

This paper presents a method for modeling and analysis of cablestayed bridges under the action of moving vehicles. Accurate and efficient finite elements are used for modeling the bridge structure. A beam element is adopted for modeling the girder and the pylons. Whereas, a two-node catenary cable element derived using exact analytical expressions for the elastic catenary, is adopted for modeli...

B = signed Boolean matrix C = damping matrix f = vector of external forces G = matrix of associated modes g = vector of connecting forces K = stiffness matrix L = Boolean localization matrix M = mass matrix q = vector of unique degrees of freedom R = reduction matrix r = vector of residual forces t = time u = vector of degrees of freedom Y = receptance matrix Z = dynamic stiffness matrix = vect...