Limit Analysis of Frictional Block Assemblies as a Mathematical Program With Complementarity Constraints

Abstract

The computation of the collapse loads of discrete rigid block systems, characterized by frictional (nonassociative) and tensionless contact interfaces, is formulated and solved as a special constrained optimization problem known as a Mathematical Program with Equilibrium Constraints (MPEC). In the present instance, some of the essential constraints are defined by a complementarity system involving the orthogonality of two sign-constrained vectors. Due to its intrinsic complexity, MPECs are computationally very hard to solve. In this paper, we investigate a simple numerical scheme, involving appropriate relaxation of the complementarity term, to solve this nonstandard limit analysis problem. Some computational results are presented to illustrate potentialities of the method.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 15, 1999
Accession Number
ADA375513

Entities

People

  • F. Tin-loi
  • M. C. Ferris

Organizations

  • University of Wisconsin Madison Department of Computer Science

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Bending Moments
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Collapse
  • Compressive Strength
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Integer Programming
  • Language
  • Mathematical Programming
  • Nonlinear Programming
  • Optimization
  • Standards
  • Strain Rate

Fields of Study

  • Mathematics

Readers

  • Mathematical Modeling and Probability Theory.
  • Operations Research
  • Structural Dynamics.