Fuzzy finite-element approach for the vibration analysis of imprecisely-defined systems

Many engineering systems are ill-defined and imprecisely known, especially in the preliminary design phase. It becomes necessary to develop fuzzy finite-element approaches for the design analysis of systems involving vagueness. A methodology using the fuzzy finite-element method (FEM) is proposed for vibration analysis of imprecisely defined systems. Numerical procedures to implement the methodology are presented. Two numerical examples are considered to illustrate the computational effectiveness of the approach. This work represents the first attempt made in the field of fuzzy finite-element analysis involving dynamics. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.