• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
• /
• v.16 no.1 s.68
• /
• pp.123-134
• /
• 2004

In this research, a multilevel decomposition technique to enhance the efficiency of the configuration optimization of truss structures was proposed. On the first level, the nonlinear programming problem was formulated considering cross-sectional areas as design variables, weight, or volume as objective function and behavior under multiloading condition as design constraint. Said nonlinear programming problem was transformed into a sequential linear programming problem. which was effective in calculation through the approximation of member forces using behavior space approach. Such approach has proven to be efficient in sensitivity analysis and different form existing shape optimization studies. The modified method of feasible direction (MMFD) was used for the optimization process. On the second level, by treating only shape design variables, the optimum problem was transformed into and unconstrained optimal design problem. A unidirectional search technique was used. As numerical examples, some truss structures were applied to illustrate the applicability. and validity of the formulated algorithm.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.21-25
• /
• 2013

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the shaping ability of newly marketed single-file instruments, Wave One (Dentsply-Maillefer) and Reciproc (VDW GmbH), in terms of maintaining the original root canal configuration and curvature, with or without a glide-path. Materials and Methods: According to the instruments used, the blocks were divided into 4 groups (n = 10): Group 1, no glide-path / Wave One; Group 2, no glide-path / Reciproc; Group 3, #15 K-file / Wave One; Group 4, #15 K-file / Reciproc. Pre- and post-instrumented images were scanned and the canal deviation was assessed. The cyclic fatigue stress was loaded to examine the cross-sectional shape of the fractured surface. The broken fragments were evaluated under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) for topographic features of the cross-section. Statistically analysis of the data was performed using one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey's test (${\alpha}$ = 0.05). Results: The ability of instruments to remain centered in prepared canals at 1 and 2 mm levels was significantly lower in Group 1 (p < 0.05). The centering ratio at 3, 5, and 7 mm level were not significantly different. Conclusions: The Wave One file should be used following establishment of a glide-path larger than #15.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.54 no.6
• /
• pp.1135-1152
• /
• 2015

Most of current bridge decks are made of reinforced concrete and often deteriorate at a relatively rapid rate in operational environments. The quick deterioration of the deck often impacts other critical components of the bridge. Another disadvantage of the concrete deck is its high weight in long-span bridges. Therefore, it is essential to examine new materials and innovative designs using hybrid system consisting conventional materials such as concrete and steel with FRP plates which is also known as composite deck. Since these decks are relatively new, so it would be useful to evaluate their performances in more details. The present study is dedicated to Hat-Shape composite girder with concrete slab. The structural performance of girder was evaluated with nonlinear finite element method by using ABAQUS and numerical results have been compared with experimental results of other researches. After ensuring the validity of numerical modeling of composite deck, parametric studies have been conducted; such as investigating the effects of constituent properties by changing the compressive strength of concrete slab and Elasticity modulus of GFRP materials. The efficacy of the GFRP box girders has been studied by changing GFRP material to steel and aluminum. In addition, the effect of Cross-Sectional Configuration has been evaluated. It was found that the behavior of this type of composite girders can be studied with numerical methods without carrying out costly experiments. The material properties can be modified to improve ultimate load capacity of the composite girder. strength-to-weight ratio of the girder increased by changing the GFRP material to aluminum and ultimate load capacity enhanced by deformation of composite girder cross-section.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.1001-1009
• /
• 2002

The objective of this study is to determine the range of confinement (or the transverse reinforcement of the reinforced concrete structural walls with the T-shaped cross section subjected to cyclic lateral loads. The range of confinement for transverse reinforcement is related to the location of neutral axis and determined by the magnitude and distribution of compressive strain. The compressive strain depends on the ratio of wall cross sectional area to the floor-plan area, the aspect ratio, configuration, the axial load, and the reinforcement ratios. By affection of flange, the neutral axis appears different depending on positive and negative forces and because of this reason, when web and flange are subjected to compressive stress, the range of confinement for the transverse reinforcement of T-shaped walls would shows different result. Therefore this experimental research focused on the structural characteristics of T-shaped walls and suggested the neutral axis depth through comparing the results of this study with sectional analysis.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.244-253
• /
• 1997

During preparation of narrow curved canals, procedural accidents such as, ledge, zipping, and transportation are frequently encountered and may lead to failure of endodontic therapy. To reduce these procedural errors and efficiently manage curved canals, various modifications in instrumentation technique and the design and flexibility of instruments have been advocated. This study compared the maintenance of the original canal curvature, cross sectional canal shape, and preparation time during instrumentation with stainless steel hand (K-Flexo) file, and nickel-titanium rotary files (Profile and Lightspeed). Thirty resin blocks with simulated curved canals of 20~25 degrees were used and divided into three groups of 10 each. In group 1, canals were instrumented using a quarter turn/pull technique with K-Flexofiles. Group 2 canals were prepared with rotary NiTi Profiles. Group 3 was prepared with rotary NiTi Lightspeed instrument. Before and after instrumentation, all canals were scanned using stereo microcope, FlexCam camera, and Photoshop 3.0 computer program. The results were as follows : 1. All groups showed some loss of canal curvature after instrumentation. Average loss of canal curvature was 8.6 degrees for K-Flexofile, 7.7 degrees for Profile, and 5.8 degrees for Lightspeed. Lightspeed exhibited significantly less curvature loss than K-Flexofile (p<0.05). 2. At the apical 1-mm level, Profile produced significantly rounder canals than Lightspeed (p<0.05). At the 3-mm level, Profile and Lightspeed exhibited significantly rounder canals than K-Flexofile (p<0.05). 3. Preparation with Lightspeed was significantly faster than Profile and K-Flexofile, and Profile was faster than K-Flexofile (p<0.05). 4. There was no significant difference in incidence of zipping between the hand K-Flexofile and rotary NiTi (Profile and Lightspeed) instruments. Most of apical canals were slightly widened near the apical foramen. As a results of this study, rotary NiTi instruments are superior to the K-Flexofile in regard to the maintenance of original canal curvature, cross-sectional shape and preparation time. But more investigations and studies should be needed to evaluate the ideal canal instrumentation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.549-556
• /
• 2010

In general, materials that can be used to form elastic pads, such as urethane and rubber, are often used in flexible forming processes by inserting the pads between a blank and flexible die for smoothing the forming surface that is formed by a reconfigurable die. In this study, the effects of the elastic pad on formability in the flexible forming process for sheet metals are investigated by performing numerical simulations. In the simulation, the hyperelastic material model is used, where the urethane elastic pads serve as elastic cushions. Case studies are carried out for elastic materials with different hardness values and thicknesses. The results are used to evaluate formability by comparing the configuration of the deformed blank and its major cross-sectional profiles. It is verified that the elastic pad used in the flexible forming process for sheet materials should be hard and that its thickness should be chosen appropriately.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.182-188
• /
• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the proximity of the mandibular molar apex to the buccal bone surface in order to provide anatomic information for apical surgery. Materials and Methods: Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 127 mandibular first molars and 153 mandibular second molars were analyzed from 160 patients' records. The distance was measured from the buccal bone surface to the root apex and the apical 3.0 mm on the cross-sectional view of CBCT. Results: The second molar apex and apical 3 mm were located significantly deeper relative to the buccal bone surface compared with the first molar (p < 0.01). For the mandibular second molars, the distance from the buccal bone surface to the root apex was significantly shorter in patients over 70 years of age (p < 0.05). Furthermore, this distance was significantly shorter when the first molar was missing compared to nonmissing cases (p < 0.05). For the mandibular first molars, the distance to the distal root apex of one distal-rooted tooth was significantly greater than the distance to the disto-buccal root apex (p < 0.01). In mandibular second molar, the distance to the apex of C-shaped roots was significantly greater than the distance to the mesial root apex of non-C-shaped roots (p < 0.01). Conclusions: For apical surgery in mandibular molars, the distance from the buccal bone surface to the apex and apical 3 mm is significantly affected by the location, patient age, an adjacent missing anterior tooth, and root configuration.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.35-41
• /
• 2003

Heat regenerator occupied by regenerative materials improves thermal efficiency of regenerative combustion system through the recovery of heat of exhaust gaset. By using one-dimensional two-phase fluid dynamics model, the unsteady thermal flow of heat regenerator with spherical particles, was numerically simulated to evaluate the heat transfer and pressure drop and thereby to suggest the parameter for designing heat regenerator. It takes about 7 hours for the steady state of the flow field in regenerator, in which heat absorption of regenerative particle is concurrent with the same magnitude of heat desorption. The regenerative particle experiences small temperature fluctuation below 10 K during the reversing process. The performance of thermal flow in heat regenerator varies with inlet velocity of exhaust gas and air, configuration of regenerator (cross-sectional area and length) and diameter of regenerative particle. As the gas velocity increases, the heat transfer between gas and particle enhances and with the increase the pressure losses. As particle diameter decreases, the air is preheated higher and the exhaust gases are cooled more with the increase of pressure losses.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.633-648
• /
• 2020

The objective of this work was to investigate the interference effects of two-parallel bridge decks on aerodynamic coefficients, vortex-induced vibration, flutter instability and flutter derivatives. The two bridges have significant difference in cross-sections, dynamic properties, and flutter speeds of each isolate bridge. The aerodynamic static tests and aeroelastic tests were performed in TU-AIT boundary layer wind tunnel in Thammasat University (Thailand) with sectional models in a 1:90 scale. Three configuration cases, including the new bridge stand-alone (case 1), the upstream new bridge and downstream existing bridge (case 2), and the downstream new bridge and the upstream existing bridge (case 3), were selected in this study. The covariance-driven stochastic subspace identification technique (SSI-COV) was applied to identify aerodynamic parameters (i.e., natural frequency, structural damping and state space matrix) of the decks. The results showed that, interference effects of two bridges decks on aerodynamic coefficients result in the slightly reduction of the drag coefficient of case 2 and 3 when compared with case 1. The two parallel configurations of the bridge result in vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) and significantly lower the flutter speed compared with the new bridge alone. The huge torsional motion from upstream new bridge (case 2) generated turbulent wakes flow and resulted in vertical aerodynamic damping H1^* of existing bridge becomes zero at wind speed of 72.01 m/s. In this case, the downstream existing bridge was subjected to galloping oscillation induced by the turbulent wake of upstream new bridge. The new bridge also results in significant reduction of the flutter speed of existing bridge from the 128.29 m/s flutter speed of the isolated existing bridge to the 75.35 m/s flutter speed of downstream existing bridge.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.161-183
• /
• 2017

This paper investigates the damage identification of the concrete pile element through axial wave propagation technique using computational and experimental studies. Now-a-days, concrete pile foundations are often common in all engineering structures and their safety is significant for preventing the failure. Damage detection and estimation in a sub-structure is challenging as the visual picture of the sub-structure and its condition is not well known and the state of the structure or foundation can be inferred only through its static and dynamic response. The concept of wave propagation involves dynamic impedance and whenever a wave encounters a changing impedance (due to loss of stiffness), a reflecting wave is generated with the total strain energy forked as reflected as well as refracted portions. Among many frequency domain methods, the Spectral Finite Element method (SFEM) has been found suitable for analysis of wave propagation in real engineering structures as the formulation is based on dynamic equilibrium under harmonic steady state excitation. The feasibility of the axial wave propagation technique is studied through numerical simulations using Elementary rod theory and higher order Love rod theory under SFEM and ABAQUS dynamic explicit analysis with experimental validation exercise. Towards simulating the damage scenario in a pile element, dis-continuity (impedance mismatch) is induced by varying its cross-sectional area along its length. Both experimental and computational investigations are performed under pulse-echo and pitch-catch configuration methods. Analytical and experimental results are in good agreement.