• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2024

The roof-filling body system stability plays a key role in gob-side entry retained (GER). Taking the GER of the 1103 belt transportation roadway in Heilong Coal Mine as engineering background, stability analysis of roof-filling body system was conducted based on the cusp catastrophe theory. Theoretical results showed that the current design parameters of 1103 belt transportation roadway could ensure the roof-filling body system stable during the resistance-increasing support stage of the filling body and the stable support stage of the filling body. Moreover, a verified global numerical model in FLAC3D was established to analyze the failure characteristics including surrounding rock deformation, stress distribution, and plastic zone. Numerical simulation indicated that the width-height ratio of the filling body had a great influence on the stability of the roof-filling body system. When the width-height ratio was greater than 0.62, with the decrease of the width-height ratio, the peak stress of the filling body gradually decreased; when the width-height ratio was greater than 0.92, as the distance to the roadway increased, the roof stress increased and then decreased. The theoretical analysis and numerical simulation findings in this study provide a new research method to analyze the stability of the roof-filling body system in GER.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.29.1-29.23
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• 2023

Cholesterol (CL) is required for various biomolecular production processes, including those of cell membrane components. Therefore, to meet these needs, CL is converted into various derivatives. Among these derivatives is cholesterol sulfate (CS), a naturally produced CL derivative by the sulfotransferase family 2B1 (SULT2B1), which is widely present in human plasma. CS is involved in cell membrane stabilization, blood clotting, keratinocyte differentiation, and TCR nanocluster deformation. This study shows that treatment of T cells with CS resulted in the decreased surface expression of some surface T-cell proteins and reduced IL-2 release. Furthermore, T cells treated with CS significantly reduced lipid raft contents and membrane CLs. Surprisingly, using the electron microscope, we also observed that CS led to the disruption of T-cell microvilli, releasing small microvilli particles containing TCRs and other microvillar proteins. However, in vivo, T cells with CS showed aberrant migration to high endothelial venules and limited infiltrating splenic T-cell zones compared with the untreated T cells. Additionally, we observed significant alleviation of atopic dermatitis in mice injected with CS in the animal model. Based on these results, we conclude that CS is an immunosuppressive natural lipid that impairs TCR signaling by disrupting microvillar function in T cells, suggesting its usefulness as a therapeutic agent for alleviating T-cell-mediated hypersensitivity and a potential target for treating autoimmune diseases.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.73-91
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• 2024

This paper has focused on presenting vibration analysis of trapezoidal sandwich plates with a damaged core and FG wavy CNT-reinforced face sheets. A damage model is introduced to provide an analytical description of an irreversible rheological process that causes the decay of the mechanical properties, in terms of engineering constants. An isotropic damage is considered for the core of the sandwich structure. The classical theory concerning the mechanical efficiency of a matrix embedding finite length fibers has been modified by introducing the tube-to-tube random contact, which explicitly accounts for the progressive reduction of the tubes' effective aspect ratio as the filler content increases. The First-order shear deformation theory of plate is utilized to establish governing partial differential equations and boundary conditions for the trapezoidal plate. The governing equations together with related boundary conditions are discretized using a mapping-generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method in spatial domain. Then natural frequencies of the trapezoidal sandwich plates are obtained using GDQ method. Validity of the current study is evaluated by comparing its numerical results with those available in the literature. After demonstrating the convergence and accuracy of the method, different parametric studies for laminated trapezoidal structure including carbon nanotubes waviness (0≤w≤1), CNT aspect ratio (0≤AR≤4000), face sheet to core thickness ratio (0.1 ≤ ${\frac{h_f}{h_c}}$ ≤ 0.5), trapezoidal side angles (30° ≤ α, β ≤ 90°) and damaged parameter (0 ≤ D < 1) are carried out. It is explicated that the damaged core and weight fraction, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) waviness and CNT aspect ratio can significantly affect the vibrational behavior of the sandwich structure. Results show that by increasing the values of waviness index (w), normalized natural frequency of the structure decreases, and the straight CNT (w=0) gives the highest frequency. For an overall comprehension on vibration of laminated trapezoidal plates, some selected vibration mode shapes were graphically represented in this study.

• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.153-176
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• 2024

At 0843 UTC 30 May 2021, a commercial aircraft encountered severe turbulence at z = 11.5 km associated with the rapid development of Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) in the Gyeonggi Bay of Korea. To investigate the generation mechanisms of Near-Cloud Turbulence (NCT) near the MCS, Weather Research and Forecasting model was used to reproduce key features at multiple-scales with four nested domains (the finest ∆x = 0.2 km) and 112 hybrid vertical layers. Simulated subgrid-scale turbulent kinetic energy (SGS TKE) was located in three different regions of the MCS. First, the simulated NCT with non-zero SGS TKE at z = 11.5 km at 0835 UTC was collocated with the reported NCT. Cloud-induced flow deformation and entrainment process on the downstream of the overshooting top triggered convective instability and subsequent SGS TKE. Second, at z = 16.5 km at 0820 UTC, the localized SGS TKE was found 4 km above the overshooting cloud top. It was attributed to breaking down of vertically propagating convectively-induced gravity wave at background critical level. Lastly, SGS TKE was simulated at z = 11.5 km at 0930 UTC during the dissipating stage of MCS. Upper-level anticyclonic outflow of MCS intensified the environmental westerlies, developing strong vertical wind shear on the northeastern quadrant of the dissipating MCS. Three different generation mechanisms suggest the avoidance guidance for the possible NCT events near the entire period of the MCS in the heavy air traffic area around Incheon International Airport in Korea.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.509-519
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• 2024

In this study, the static analysis of carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (CNTRC) beams resting on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation is presented. The developed theories account for higher-order variation of transverse shear strain through the depth of the beam and satisfy the stress-free boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the beam. To study the effect of carbon nanotubes distribution in functionally graded (FG-CNT), we introduce in the equation of CNT volume fraction a new exponent equation. The SWCNTs are assumed to be aligned and distributed in the polymeric matrix with different patterns of reinforcement. The rule of mixture is used to describe the material properties of the CNTRC beams. The governing equations were derived by employing Hamilton's principle. The models presented in this work are numerically provided to verify the accuracy of the present theory. The analytical solutions are presented, and the obtained results are compared with the existing solutions to verify the validity of the developed theories. Many parameters are investigated, such as the Pasternak shear modulus parameter, the Winkler modulus parameter, the volume fraction, and the order of the exponent in the volume fraction equation. New results obtained from bending and stresses are presented and discussed in detail. From the obtained results, it became clear the influence of the exponential CNTs distribution and Winkler-Pasternak model improved the mechanical properties of the CNTRC beams.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.47-57
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• 2024

Recently, in newly constructed apartment buildings, the exterior wall structures have been characterized by thinness, having various openings, and a significantly low reinforcement ratio. In this study, a nonlinear finite element analysis was performed to investigate the crack damage characteristics of the exterior wall structure. The limited analysis models for a 10-story exterior wall were constructed based on the prototype apartment building, and nonlinear static analysis (push-over analysis) was performed. Based on the finite element (FE) analysis model, the parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of various design parameters on the strength and crack width of the exterior walls. As the parameters, the vertical reinforcement ratio and horizontal reinforcement ratio of the wall, as well as the uniformly distributed longitudinal reinforcement ratio and shear reinforcement ratio of the connection beam, were addressed. The analysis results showed that the strength and deformation capacity of the prototype exterior walls were limited by the failure of the connection beam prior to the flexural yielding of the walls. Thus, the increase of wall reinforcement limitedly affected the failure modes, peak strengths, and crack damages. On the other hand, when the reinforcement ratio of the connection beams was increased, the peak strength was increased due to the increase in the load-carrying capacity of the connection beams. Further, the crack damage index decreased as the reinforcement ratio of the connection beam increased. In particular, it was more effective to increase the uniformly distributed longitudinal reinforcement ratio in the connection beams to decrease the crack damage of the coupling beams, regardless of the type of the prototype exterior walls.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.84-92
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• 2024

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of post-curing on the three-dimensional (3D) accuracy of artificial teeth, denture bases, and denture base monoblock manufactured using digital light processing (DLP) technology. Methods: Using an edentulous model, a 3D design was made for complete dentures. Three groups were printed by DLP: artificial teeth, denture bases, and denture base monoblock. The models were scanned, subjected to post-curing, and scanned again. Three-dimensional analysis was performed based on the post-treatment differences among the three groups. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics ver. 22.0 (IBM), and the Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis test were employed as nonparametric tests. Results: The complete denture monoblock (CM) and complete denture artificial teeth (CA) groups showed the lowest and highest errors at 15.13 and 23.37 ㎛, respectively. The groups did not show significant differences (p>0.05). In the significance test among the three groups, no significance was found in the CA group; however, significant differences were found between the complete denture base (CB) and CM groups. In addition, the three groups showed significant differences (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although deformation may occur during the post-curing process, it is within the clinically acceptable range. Future comparative studies using different 3D printers and searching for ways to minimize errors through optimization of the post-curing process are warranted.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.405-418
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• 2024

To study the influence of different reduced beam section (RBS) on the mechanical performance of modular boltedwelded hybrid connection joints (MHCJs), this article uses ABAQUS to establish and verify the finite element model (FEM) of the test specimens on the basis of quasi-static test research. Based on, 14 joint models featuring different RBS are devised to evaluate their influence on seismic behavior, such as joint failure mode, bending moment (M)-rotation angle (θ) curve, ductility, and energy consumption. The results indicate that when the flange and web are individually weakened, they alleviate to some extent the concentrated stress of the core module (CM) and column end steel skeleton in the joint core area, but both increase the stress on the flange connecting plate (FCP). At the same time, the impact of both on seismic performance such as bearing capacity, stiffness, and energy consumption is relatively small. When simultaneously weakening the flange and web of the steel beam, forming plastic hinges at the weakened position of the beam end, significantly alleviated the stress concentration of the CM and the damage at the FCP, improving the overall deformation and energy consumption capacity of joints. But as the weakening size of the web increases, the overall bearing capacity of the joint shows a decreasing trend.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.75-92
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• 2024

High Strength steel reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) Beam is a new type of beams which has evident advantages than the conventional concrete beams. However, there is limited research on the shear bearing capacity of high-strength steel reinforced RPC structures, and there is a lack of theoretical support for structural design. In order to promote the application of high-strength steel reinforced RPC structures in engineering, it is necessary to select a shear model and derive applicable calculation methods. By considering the shear span ratio, steel fiber volume ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, stirrup ratio, section shape, horizontal web reinforcement ratio, stirrup configuration angle and other variables in the shear test of 32 high-strength steel reinforced RPC beams, the applicability of three theoretical methods to the shear bearing capacity of high-strength steel reinforced RPC beams was explored. The plasticity theory adopts the RPC200 biaxial failure criterion, establishes an equilibrium equation based on the principle of virtual work, and derives the calculation formula for the shear bearing capacity of high-strength steel reinforced RPC beams; Based on the Strut and Tie Theory, considering the softening phenomenon of RPC, a failure criterion is established, and the balance equation and deformation coordination condition of the combined force are combined to derive the calculation formula for the shear bearing capacity of high-strength reinforced RPC beams; Based on the Rankine theory and Rankine failure criterion, taking into account the influence of size effects, a calculation formula for the shear bearing capacity of high-strength reinforced RPC beams is derived. Experimental data is used for verification, and the results are in good agreement with a small coefficient of variation.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.391-416
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• 2024

Hybrid composite materials are widely used in various load-bearing structural components of micro - mini UAVs. However, the design of thin laminates for better impact resistance remains a challenge, despite the strong demand for lightweight structures. This work aims to assess the low-velocity impact (LVI) behaviour of thin quasi-isotropic woven carbon/ aramid epoxy hybrid laminates using experimental and numerical techniques. Drop tower impact test with 10 J and 15 J impact energies is performed on carbon/epoxy laminates having aramid layers at different sequences and locations. The impact behaviour is experimentally evaluated using force-time, force-deformation, and energy-time histories considering delamination threshold load, peak load, and laminate deflection. Ultrasonic C-scan is performed on the post-impact samples to analyse the insidious damage profile at different impact energies. The experimental data is further utilized to numerically simulate LVI behaviour by employing the representative volume element model. The numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental data. Numerical and experimental approach predicts that the hybrid laminates with aramid layers at both impact and non-impact sides of the laminate exhibits significant improvement in the overall impact behaviour by having a subcritical damage morphology compared to carbon/epoxy laminate. A combined numerical-experimental approach is proposed for evaluating the effective impact performance.