Equivalent Beam Model for Spatial Repetitive Lattice Structures with Hysteretic Nonlinear Joints

This study presented an equivalent modeling method for analysis of the fundamental harmonic response of the spatial repetitive lattice structures with hysteretic nonlinear joints. Firstly, the joint was modelled as a spatial nonlinear spring-damper system with bilinear hysteresis, the equivalent linear stiffness and viscous damping coefficients of the hysteretic joint were derived using the describing function method. Subsequently, high-precision displacement and rotation fields that consider the warping and distortion of the cross section of the lattice structure were presented for the repeating element and the equivalent continuum modeling method based on the principle of energy equivalence was adopted to obtain an 8-DOFs spatial beam element for the repeating element of the lattice structure. Afterwards, the equations of motion of the equivalent beam model for the lattice structure were established in the frequency domain and solved by using the Newton-Raphson method. In the numerical studies, the joints with axial nonlinearity and rotational nonlinearity were considered, and the influences of joint parameters and excitation amplitude on the dynamic response of the lattice structure were investigated. The correctness of the presented modeling method was verified by comparison with the nonlinear finite element model of the original structure.