• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.69
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• pp.239-259
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• 2016

An increasing number of transactions in the bilateral trade between Korea and China rely on collection and remittance, resulting in an increase in exporters' demand for trade financing. Therefore, there is a need to vitalize forfaiting transactions using drafts or promissory notes, which are based on the collections. In the forfaiting transactions, exporters transfer a payment claim to forfaiters on a non-recourse basis through a without recourse endorsement. However, forfaiters do not know importers' creditworthiness and ability to repay drafts or promissory notes; thus, they need a bank aval as a means of credit support. In forfaiting using aval, the drafts or promissory notes are transferred internationally. However, there is no internationally unified law that regulates drafts and promissory notes, and the governing laws related to such drafts and promissory notes do not accept the "principle of party autonomy." Therefore, there is no other choice but to apply the laws of a certain country, in the event of any dispute relating to such drafts or promissory notes. This paper examined forfaiting using aval from the comparative law perspective, focusing on the "Law of China on Negotiable Instruments." The results of this study may to provide businesses involved in international trade with practical guidance and assistance when using forfaiting with aval, especially in trade with China.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.43
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• pp.169-198
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• 2009

This paper sees some legal phases of the forfaiting transactions performed by using bills of exchange (drafts) or promissory notes. It focuses on the issues of the endorsement without recourse and the aval under the Korean statute for such negotiable instruments which is enacted by succeeding to the Convention Providing a Uniform Law For Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes (Geneva, 1930) of the League of Nations. This paper purposes to give basic legal guides for forfaiting participants in order for them to be able to prevent and solve some problems caused by lack of understanding for relevant rules of law. Forfaiting is a useful technic as it provides financing for international export businesses by enabling forfaiters to discount future payment obligations on non-recourse basis. It gives benefits to exporters by removing political, transfer and commercial risks of importers or their country. Also it protects exporters from the risks of the increase of interest rates and the fluctuation of exchange rate as well. In traditionally normal forfaiting transactions, exporter of goods generally takes promissory notes or accepted drafts from importers in payment for the price of goods. Further, when the exporter is not comfortable with the importer's credit or is not confident whether the importer will pay the accepted drafts or the promissory notes as they come due, the exporter nomally requires the importer to make the importer's bank (avalizer or guarantor) add an aval, which is made by the written expression of intention, the words of "per aval", and the guarantor's signature on the drafts or promissory notes. The exporter endorses without recourse to transfer the drafts or the promissory notes to the forfaiter, typically a bank, who purchases the drafts or the promissory notes without recourse.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.253-274
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• 2011

In this paper, the harmonic displacement response of a damaged square plate with all-over part-through damage parallel to one edge is utilized as the input signal function in wavelet analysis. The method requires the properties of the damaged plate, i.e., no information about the original undamaged structure is required. The location of damage is identified by sudden changes in the spatial variation of transformed response. The incurred damage causes a change in the stiffness or mass of the plate. This causes a localized singularity which can be identified by a wavelet analysis of the displacement response. In this study via numerical examples shown by using harmonic response is more versatile and effective compared with the static deflection response, specially in the presence of noise. In the light of the obtained results, suggestions for future work are presented and discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.119-133
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• 2002

A beam-column fiber element for the large displacement, nonlinear inelastic analysis of Concrete-Filled Steel Tubes (CFT) is implemented. The method of description is Total Lagrangian formulation. An 8 degree of freedom (DOF) element with three nodes, which has 3 DOF per end node and 2 DOF on the middle node, has been chosen. The quadratic Lagrangian shape functions for axial deformation and the quartic Hermitian shape function for the transverse deformation are used. It is assumed that the perfect bond is maintained between steel shell and concrete core. The constitutive models employed for concrete and steel are based on the results of a recent study and include the confinement and biaxial effects. The model is implemented to analyze several CFT columns under constant and non-proportional fluctuating concentric axial load and cyclic lateral load. Good agreement has been found between experimental results and theoretical analysis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.35-51
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• 2013

Over the last two decades Wavelet Transformation (WT) method has been widely utilized for the damage identification of structures. The main objective of this paper is to discuss and present some of common shortcomings and limitations of mathematical software, as well as other precautionary measures that need to be considered when using them for wavelet analysis applications. Due to popular usage of MATLABMATLAB(R) comparing to other mathematical tools among researchers for data processing of structural responses through WT analysis, this software was chosen for specific study. To the best of the authors' knowledge, these limitations and observations have not been previously identified or discussed in the literature. In this work, a square plate with a severe damage, in form of a crack, parallel to the left edge of the plate is selected for a pilot study. The steady state harmonic response is used for measuring the deflection shape across the line parallel to one edge and perpendicular to the damage. Several criteria and cases such as the smallest size damage that can be detected, correlation between the crack width and the number of sampling points, and the influence of the damage thickness on the accuracy of the result are investigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.921-938
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• 2010

Most of studies on control of beams containing piezoelectric sensors and actuators have been based on linear quadratic regulator (LQR) with state feedback or output feedback law. The aim of this study is to develop velocity-acceleration feedback law in the optimal control of smart piezoelectric beams. A new controller which is an optimal control system with velocity-acceleration feedback is presented. In finite element modeling of the beam, the variation of mechanical displacement through the thickness is modeled by a sinus model that ensures inter-laminar continuity of shear stress at the layer interfaces as well as the boundary conditions on the upper and lower surfaces of the beam. In addition to mechanical degrees of freedom, one electric potential degree of freedom is considered for each piezoelectric element layer. The efficiency of this control strategy is evaluated by applying to an aluminum cantilever beam under different loading conditions. Numerical simulations show that this new control scheme is almost as efficient as an optimal control system with state feedback. However, inclusion of the acceleration in the control algorithm increases practical value of a system due to easier and more accurate measurement of accelerations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.175-191
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• 2020

In this article, for the first time, the seismic behavior of elliptic-braced moment resisting frame (ELBRF) is assessed through a laboratory program and numerical analyses of FEM specifically focused on the development of global- and local-type failure mechanisms. The ELBRF as a new lateral braced system, when installed in the middle bay of the frames in the facade of a building, not only causes no problem to the opening space of the facade, but also improves the structural behavior. Quantitative and qualitative investigations were pursued to find out how elliptic braces would affect the failure mechanism of ELBRF structures exposed to seismic action as a nonlinear process. To this aim, an experimental test of a ½ scale single-story single-bay ELBRF specimen under cyclic quasi-static loading was run and the results were compared with those for X-bracing, knee-bracing, K-bracing, and diamond-bracing systems in a story base model. Nonlinear FEM analyses were carried out to evaluate failure mechanism, yield order of components, distribution of plasticity, degradation of structural nonlinear stiffness, distribution of internal forces, and energy dissipation capacity. The test results indicated that the yield of elliptic braces would delay the failure mode of adjacent elliptic columns and thus, help tolerate a significant nonlinear deformation to the point of ultimate failure. Symmetrical behavior, high energy absorption, appropriate stiffness, and high ductility in comparison with the conventional systems are some of the advantages of the proposed system.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2016

Background: Work Ability Index (WAI) is a well-known and valid self-report tool that has been widely used in various studies to identify and avoid early retirement and work-related disability. Nevertheless, very few studies have been carried out to evaluate work ability in Iran. We aimed to investigate the WAI and the effect of work-related stress on it among Iranian workers. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytic study was carried out among 449 workers from five working sectors in three big cities of Iran. Work ability and work-related stress were measured using the Persian version of WAI and the Persian version of Health and Safety Executive Stress Indicator Tool. Results: More than a third of the workers surveyed (34.70%) did not have an appropriate level of work ability (WAI < 37). There was a significant correlation between subscales of work-related stress and the mean score of WAI. Furthermore, the variables of body mass index, sleep quality, exercise activity, job tenure, and three subscales of work-related stress including demands, supervisor support, and role were significant predictors of WAI. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the interventional programs must be focused on improving supervisors support, eliminating ambiguity and conflicts in the role of workers in their job and organization, reducing job demands, improving sleep quality, and increasing exercise activity.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.151-164
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• 2017

This article aims to investigate the possible retrofitting of a deficient building with soft story failure mode by connecting it to an adjacent building which is designed based on current code with friction dampers at all floors. Low cost and high performance reliability along with significant energy dissipation pertaining to stable hysteretic loops may be considered in order to choose the proper damper for connecting adjacent buildings. After connecting two neighbouring floors by friction dampers, the sliding forces of dampers at various stories are set in two arrangements: uniform sliding force and then variable sliding force. In order to account for the stochastic nature of the seismic events, incremental dynamic analyses are employed prior and after the installation of the friction dampers at the various floors. Based on these results, fragility curves and mean annual rate of exceedance of serviceability and ultimate limit states are obtained. The results of this study show that the collapse mode of the deficient building can affect the optimum arrangement of sliding forces of friction dampers at Collapse Prevention (CP) performance level. In particular, the Immediate Occupancy (IO) performance level is not tangible to the sliding force arrangement and it depends solely on sliding force value. Generally it can be claimed that this rehabilitation scheme can turn the challenge of pounding two adjacent buildings into the opportunity of dissipating a large amount of the seismic input energy by the friction dampers, thus improving significantly the poor seismic performance of the deficient structure.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.39
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• pp.143-175
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• 2008

The documentary letter of credit is the most preferred and frequently used method in International Payment System in Korea, as it has less possibility of occurring credit risks in export than any other payment system. That's because the exporter can get payment from the issuing bank(confirming bank) by delivering the goods and presenting documents following the required procedure under the letter of credit, as the payment is affirmed by the issuing bank(including the confirming bank in case of the confirmed letter of credit) regardless of the buyer's payment. However, the pattern of payment methods used in international trade of Korea is changing dramatically like the importance of the credit is decreasing continuously among the payment methods while the remittance is increasing. The increase of remittance has a positive aspect that International Payment System are changing into those of advanced countries, but the decrease of the credit also has a negative aspect that the exporter might have a greater credit risks. Therefore, we need a systematic device to deal with this. Exporters in Korea usually have used the export credit insurance to deal with the credit risks However, the export credit insurance also have a limitation as the policy finance due to the limitation based on the credit status of the business and the limitation of acceptance from the lack of financial resources of the government, etc. Korea, which is the 11th export power in the world, has a basic limitation to deal with the credit risks by depending on the export credit insurance only. So, in this thesis, I have studied on the international factoring, forfaiting, which are advanced export finances and widely used in advanced countries, as substitutes to deal with the credit risks. the international factoring is an trade financing in which a factor offers full services such as credit cover, offering prepayment, collection, account receivables, management, etc, instead of the exporter on the account receivables occurred by the exporter's delivering goods to the importer. This international factoring has a high possibility of using as a means to deal with the credit risks, because it offers prepayment without recourse. the forfaiting is another export financing in which a forfaiter purchases the draft, the promissory note and other negotiable instruments issued from the international trade, with fixed interest rate without recourse from the exporter or previous holder. By using this method, they can avoid foreign exchange risks, contingency risks as well as credit risks, as the conveyances like the promissory note, etc are issued with the note warranty so-called 'per aval' in business practice. These trade financing are good substitutes to deal with the credit risks in export, but they are not widely used in Korea. Though it can be explained with various reasons, the common reasons are the lack of understanding on the use of advanced export finance, the lack of experts to manage the advanced trade finance, the conservative way of thinking of domestic organizations related to trade financing, the lack of organizations supporting the trade financing, etc.