• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.230-236
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to investigate the alteration of lumbar spine and trunk postures on different load-carrying types and amounts under static loading. Two load-carrying types(unilateral carrying: UC vs. bilateral carrying: BC) and four different loads(0, 5, 10, and 15 kg) were randomly tested in this study. Carrying a heavy bag would affect human body posture, specifically lumbar spine curvature, which is considered as one of sources of back problems. Previous studies have not paid attention to the approach of the multisegment model of the lumbar spine and trunk. This study separated two compartments of trunk segment(the lumbar and thorax) in the analysis. The multisegment model of the lumbar spine in addition to Helen-Hayes marker set was used. Eight motion analysis cameras and a force plate were utilized. Ten male subjects(mean mass, $70.6{\pm}3.97$ kg; mean height, $178{\pm}4.18$ m) having no musculoskeletal disease participated in this study. We analyzed trunk angles in three anatomical planes and the spinal curvature in sagittal and frontal planes. Increased loading in both UC and BC significantly resulted in increases in trunk forward lean but only UC induced increases in trunk lateral lean. In addition, increased loading in BC produced flatten lumbar curvature in sagittal plane. As far as coupling motion, subjects tended to use axial rotation of the lumbar spine in transverse plane in response to increased UC loading. Finally, it is concluded that the increased static loading in UC rather than in BC tends to causes combined alterations of the spinal postures(sagittal and transverse planes together), which would be vulnerable to improper mechanical stresses on the spine.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the structural capacities of beam-column specimens retrofitted with CFRP sheet and BRB (Buckling-Restrained Brace) under sustained axial and cyclic lateral loads. Three specimens were made using different retrofitting methods : non-retrofitted, retrofitted with CFRP sheets only, and retrofitted with both CFRP sheet and BRB systems. Lateral load resistant capacities were evaluated based on the load-displacement relations. From the results, the maximum lateral forces of the FRP sheet retrofitted and both the FRP and BRB retrofitted specimens showed approximately 34% and 138% improvement, respectively, compared with the non-retrofitted specimen.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.65-74
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• 2005

The negative skin friction on piles, which are installed in currently consolidating soft deposits, creates significant problems on the stability of pile foundations. This study investigated whether or not the pile foundation designs were appropriate in soft deposits with large amount of consolidation settlement. The final settlements of the grounds along the pile depth were estimated by the soil parameters obtained from the laboratory tests and by the field-measured settlement curves, if they were available. The displacement of the piles along the pile depth was estimated by both the load transfer method and the numerical method. Both methods gave similar locations of neutral planes and magnitudes of the maximum axial forces on the piles. The movements of the ground and the piles were compared to calculate the down drag acting on piles. For the piles whose bearing capacities were less than the design loads including the down drag, slip layer coatings and/or incrementing of the pile penetration depth into the bearing stratum were proposed to improve the pile capacities.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.933-943
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• 2009

Axial loads and shaft resistances can be calculated by load transfer analysis using strain data with load level. In load transfer analysis, the elastic modulus of concrete is a one of the most important parameters to consider. The elastic modulus, $E_{50}$, suggested by ACI (American Concrete Institute), has been commonly used. However, elastic modulus of concrete shows nonlinear stress-strain characteristic, so nonlinearity should be considered in load transfer analysis. In this paper, a load transfer analysis was performed by using data obtained from bi-directional pile load tests for four cases of drilled shafts. For consideration of nonlinearity, elastic modulus was calculated by both the Fellenius method and the nonlinear method, assuming the stress-strain relation of concrete to be a quadratic function, and then, the calculated elastic modulus was applied to the estimation of shaft resistance. The calculated shaft resistances were compared with the result obtained using the constant elastic modulus of ACI code. It was found that the f-w curves are similar to each method, and elastic modulus and shaft resistances decreased as strain increased. Moreover, shaft resistances estimated from elastic modulus considering nonlinearity were 5~15% different than those obtained using the constant elastic modulus.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.511-521
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• 2002

A simple numerical modelling technique is proposed for estimating the shear stress distribution in beams of framed tube structures with multiple internal tubes. The structures arc analysed using a continuum approach in which each tube is individually modelled by a tube beam that accounts for the flexural and shear deformations, as well as the shear lag effects. The numerical analysis of shear stress is based on the mathematical analogy in conjunction with the elastic theory By simplifying assumptions regarding the form of strain distributions in external and internal tubes, the shear stress distributions are expressed in terms of a series of lineal functions of the second moments of area of the structures and the corresponding geometric and material properties, as well as the applied loads. Previous studies for axial stresses and shear lag phenomenon are further developed lot the numerical analysis of shear stresses in the tubes. The simplicity and accuracy of the proposed method are demonstrated through the solutions of throe numerical examples.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.501-520
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• 2015

Presence of torsional loadings can significantly affect the flow of internal forces and deformation capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) columns. It increases the possibility of brittle shear failure leading to catastrophic collapse of structural members. This necessitates accurate prediction of the torsional behaviour of RC members for their safe design. However, a review of previously published studies indicates that the torsional behaviour of RC members has not been studied in as much depth as the behaviour under flexure and shear in spite of its frequent occurrence in bridge columns. Very few analytical models are available to predict the response of RC members under torsional loads. Softened truss model (STM) developed in the University of Houston is one of them, which is widely used for this purpose. The present study shows that STM prediction is not sufficiently accurate particularly in the post cracking region when compared to test results. An improved analytical model for RC square columns subjected to torsion with and without axial compression is developed. Since concrete is weak in tension, its contribution to torsional capacity of RC members was neglected in the original STM. The present investigation revealed that, disregard to tensile strength of concrete is the main reason behind the discrepancies in the STM predictions. The existing STM is extended in this paper to include the effect of tension stiffening for better prediction of behaviour of square RC columns under torsion. Three different tension stiffening models comprising a linear, a quadratic and an exponential relationship have been considered in this study. The predictions of these models are validated through comparison with test data on local and global behaviour. It was observed that tension stiffening has significant influence on torsional behaviour of square RC members. The exponential and parabolic tension stiffening models were found to yield the most accurate predictions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.705-726
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• 2014

In general, cylindrically curved plates are used in ships and offshore structures such as wind towers, spa structures, fore and aft side shell plating, and bilge circle parts in merchant vessels. In a number of studies, it has been shown that curvature increases the buckling strength of a plate under compressive loading, and the ultimate load-carrying capacity is also expected to increase. In the present paper, a series of elastic and elastoplastic large deflection analyses were performed using the commercial finite element analysis program (MSC.NASTRAN/PATRAN) in order to clarify and examine the fundamental buckling and collapse behaviors of curved plates subjected to combined axial compression and lateral pressure. On the basis of the numerical results, the effects of curvature, the magnitude of the initial deflection, the slenderness ratio, and the aspect ratio on the characteristics of the buckling and collapse behavior of the curved plates are discussed. On the basis of the calculated results, the design formula was developed to predict the buckling and ultimate strengths of curved plates subjected to combined loads in an analytical manner. The buckling strength behaviors were simulated by performing elastic large deflection analyses. The newly developed formulations were applied in order to perform verification analyses for the curved plates by comparing the numerical results, and then, the usefulness of the proposed method was demonstrated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.524-531
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• 2004

To investigate relevance of the definition of the reference stress to estimate J and $C^{*}$ for surface crack problems, this paper compares FE J and $C^{*}$ results for surface cracked pipes with those estimated according to the reference stress approach using various definitions of the reference stress. Pipes with part circumferential inner surface crack and finite internal axial crack are considered, subject to internal pressure and global bending. The crack depth and aspect ratio are systematically varied. The reference stress is defined in four different ways using (i) the local limit load, (ii) the global limit load, (iii) the global limit load determined from the FE limit analysis, and (iv) the optimized reference load. It is found that the reference stress based on the local limit load gives overall excessively conservative estimates of J and $^{*}$. Use of the global limit load clearly reduces the conservatism, compared to that of the local limit load, although it can provide sometimes non-conservative estimates of J and $^{*}$. The use of the FE global limit load gives overall non-conservative estimates of J and $^{*}$. The reference stress based on the optimised reference load gives overall accurate estimates of J and $^{*}$, compared to other definitions of the reference stress. Based on the present finding, general guidance on the choice of the reference stress for surface crack problems is given.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.255-263
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• 1997

The optimum design of most structural systems used in practice requires considering design variables as discrete quantities. The present paper shows that the linear approximation method is very effective as a tool for the discrete optimum designs of unsymmetric composite laminates. The formulated design problem is subjected to a multiple in-plane loading condition due to shear and axial forces, bending and twisting moments, which is controlled by maximum strain criterion for each of the plys of a composite laminate. As an initial approach, the process of continuous variable optimization by FDM is required only once in operating discrete optimization. The nonlinear discrete optimization problem that has the discrete and continuous variables is transformed into the mixed integer programming problem by SLDP. In numerical examples, the discrete optimum solutions for the unsymmetric composite laminates consisted of six plys according to rotated stacking sequence were found, and then compared the results with the nonlinear branch and bound method to verify the efficiency of present method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.571-592
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• 2010

An energy-based fatigue life prediction framework was previously developed by the authors for prediction of axial, bending and shear fatigue life at various stress ratios. The framework for the prediction of fatigue life via energy analysis was based on a new constitutive law, which states the following: the amount of energy required to fracture a material is constant. In the first part of this study, energy expressions that construct the constitutive law are equated in the form of total strain energy and the distortion energy dissipated in a fatigue cycle. The resulting equation is further evaluated to acquire the equivalent stress per cycle using energy based methodologies. The equivalent stress expressions are developed both for biaxial and multiaxial fatigue loads and are used to predict the number of cycles to failure based on previously developed prediction criterion. The equivalent stress expressions developed in this study are further used in a new finite element procedure to predict the fatigue life for two and three dimensional structures. In the second part of this study, a new Quadrilateral fatigue finite element is developed through integration of constitutive law into minimum potential energy formulation. This new QUAD-4 element is capable of simulating biaxial fatigue problems. The final output of this finite element analysis both using equivalent stress approach and using the new QUAD-4 fatigue element, is in the form of number of cycles to failure for each element on a scale in ascending or descending order. Therefore, the new finite element framework can provide the number of cycles to failure at each location in gas turbine engine structural components. In order to obtain experimental data for comparison, an Al6061-T6 plate is tested using a previously developed vibration based testing framework. The finite element analysis is performed for Al6061-T6 aluminum and the results are compared with experimental results.