STRUCTURAL DYNAMIC AND VISCOELASTIC ANALYSIS VIA ELECTRIC ANALOGY

The analysis of viscoelastic continua and spatial frames may be relate d back to the study of the RLC (resistance, inductance, and capacitor lumped constant) electrical network by considering the analogy existin g between the stress-strain relationships in the viscoelastic material s and the current-potential relationships in the electric circuits. Th e proposed analogy is also a consistent tool for the evaluation of cre ep in spatial structures composed of rectilinear frames. The theoretic al bases of this possible application are brought out and a numerical example is presented. The main contribution of this work is the develo pment of the electrical analogy to the solution of dynamic systems exc ited by time-dependent loads. The theoretical formulation of a free dy namic system is extensively discussed and a numerical example shows it s easy applicability to a spatial framework. As far as the analysis of damped structures is concerned, two different models of a single-degr ee-of-freedom system are proposed.