Generation of strongly non-Gaussian stochastic processes by iterative scheme upgrading phase and amplitude contents

Abstract

Random excitations, such as wind velocity, always exhibit non-Gaussian features. Sample realisations of stochastic processes satisfying given features should be generated, in order to perform the dynamical analysis of structures under stochastic loads based on the Monte Carlo simulation. In this paper, an efficient method is proposed to generate stationary non-Gaussian stochastic processes. It involves an iterative scheme that produces a class of sample processes satisfying the following conditions. (1) The marginal cumulative distribution function of each sample process is perfectly identical to the prescribed one. (2) The ensemble-averaged power spectral density function of these non-Gaussian sample processes is as close to the prescribed target as possible. In this iterative scheme, the underlying processes are generated by means of the spectral representation method that recombines the upgraded power spectral density function with the phase contents of the new non-Gaussian processes in the latest iteration. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach for four typical non-Gaussian distributions, some of which deviate significantly from the Gaussian distribution. It is found that the estimated power spectral density functions of non-Gaussian processes are close to the target ones, even for the extremely non-Gaussian case. Furthermore, the capability of the proposed method is compared to two other methods. The results show that the proposed method performs well with convergence speed, accuracy, and random errors of power spectral density functions.