Please find here a list with all the undergraduate and postgraduate courses that I teach. You may click on each course's name to show/hide a short description.
Undergraduate:
- Statics I (Analysis of Staticaly Determinate Framed Structures)
Introduction to Statics. Definition of Rigid Formations and Bodies. Types of Frame Supports. Load Types. Equillibrium Equations. Statically Determinate Formations. Statical Function. Determination of Statical Determinacy/Indeterminacy. Investigating Geometrical Instabilities. Analysis using Small Displacements' Theory. Macroscopic Stress Components of Beam Sections. Bending Moment, Shear and Axial Force Diagrams for Typical Structure Types (Simply Supported Beams, Cantilevers, Gerber Beams. Tri-Articulated Frames and Arches. Cable Structures. Trusses. Structures with Reinforcement Systems. Influence Lines for all Types of Frames, Arches, and Trusses. Maximum Values of Stress Components for Various Types of Movable Loads. Staticaly and Kinematicaly Acceptable Systems. The Principle of Virtual Works for Framed Structures. Betti-Maxwell Theorem. Unit Load Theorem. Calculation of Deformations on Staticaly Determinate Frames.
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- Statics II (Analysis of Staticaly Indeterminate Framed Structures)
Difference between Staticaly Determinate and Indeterminate Structures. Compatibility of Deformations. Formulation of the Force Method. Determining Flexibility Coefficients. Temperature Loads. Retreating/Elastic Supports. Applications. Calculating Deformations on Staticaly Indeterminate Structures. Solution Checking Method. Simple 3D frames. Symmetric Structures. Structures under Symmetric and Anti-Symmetric Loading. Kinematic Indeterminacy, Nodal Displacements, Determination of Kinematic Indeterminacy. Formulation of the Displacement Method. Duality between Force and Displacement Methods. Fundamental Solutions for Hyperstatic Beams. Stiffness Coefficients. Applications. Symmetric Structures. Frames with Inclined Members. Applications. Cross Method, Free/Reserved Nodes. Influence Lines for Staticaly Indeterminate Frames. Mueller-Breslau Principle. Applications on Continuous Beams and Frames.
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- Statics V (Plastic/Limit Analysis of Framed Structures)
Technical Theory of Plastic Bending. Bending Moment Bearing Capacity of a Section, Elastoplastic Border, Influence of Shear and Axial Forces in Bearing Capacity, Loading-Unloading and Residual Stresses. Classic Methods of Plastic Analysis. Theorems of Plasticity (Upper & Lower Bounds). Successiveness of Independant Collapse Mechanisms for determining the Limit Load. Geometrical Method for Optimal Plastic Design with Minimal Weight. Modern Matrix Methods for Plastic Analysis with Linear Programming. Matrix Formulation of the Collapse Mechanisms' Constraints using Geometric and Kimenatic Parameters. The Step-By-Step Matrix Method for computing the Collapse Load and Displacements of a Frame. Converting an Elastic Analysis Program to perform Elastoplastic Holonomic Analysis. Elastoplastic Stiffness Matrix of Beams using the Distributed Plasticity Approach. Pushover Analysis of Structures. Interactive Problem Solution and Design according to the New Regulatory Standards.
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Postgraduate:
- Course A2 (Advanced Plastic Analysis of Framed Structures)
Introduction to the plastic design of structures. Redistribution of forces. Ductility. Relation with the Codes of Practice. Step-by-step 1st order elastoplastic analysis of frames. Principle of virtual work. Lower and upper bound theorems of plastic collapse. Safe moment distribution. Collapse mechanisms. Holonomic and non-holonomic behaviour. Mathematical programming. Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Linear programming. Simplex method. Mesh and nodal description. Static-kinematic duality. Flow rule. Stable materials. Rigid plastic behaviour. Alternative linear programs of limit analysis. Uniqueness of limit load. Automatic limit load evaluation. Optimal plastic design. Automatic optimal plastic design using linear programming. Variable loading. Alternating plasticity. Incremental collapse. Shakedown. Residual stress. Melan`s theorem. Mesh-unsafe shakedown linear program and automatic shakedown load evaluation. Relation between limit and shakedown load. Elastoplastic analysis with 2ndorder effects. Large displacements. Geometric non-linear elasto-plastic stiffness matrix. Arc-length method. Comparison of limit loads with and without 2nd order effects. Merchant-Rankine formula. Inelastic dynamic analysisof MDOF systems. Seismic response of buildings. Ductility ratios. Pounding of buildings. Reference to approximate static methods (pushover, etc.). Practice with commercial packages (SAP2000, Abaqus, etc.).
The course aims to the in-depth understanding of the inelastic behaviour of framed structures since plasticity is the basis of all today`s Codes of Practice. Emphasis is also put on the mathematical framework and the computational techniques of plastic analysis. In this way the course addresses both the practicing engineer and the researcher.
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