• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.27-39
• /
• 2024

In this study, the authors investigate the free vibration behavior of three-phases functionally graded sandwich plates using a novel nth-order shear deformation theory. These plates are composed of a homogeneous core and two face-sheet layers made of different functionally graded materials. This is the novel type of the sandwich structures that can be applied in many fields of mechanical engineering and industrial. The proposed theory only requires four unknown displacement functions, and the transverse displacement does not need to be separated into bending and shear parts, simplifying the theory. One noteworthy feature of the proposed theory is its ability to capture the parabolic distribution of transverse shear strains and stresses throughout the plate's thickness while ensuring zero values on the two free surfaces. By eliminating the need for shear correction factors, the theory further enhances computational efficiency. Equations of motion are established using Hamilton's principle and solved via Navier's solution. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed theory are verified by comparing results with available solutions. The authors then use the proposed theory to investigate the free vibration characteristics of three-phases functionally graded sandwich plates, considering the effects of parameters such as aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio, skin-core-skin thicknesses, and power-law indexes. Through careful analysis of the free vibration behavior of three-phases functionally graded sandwich plates, the work highlighted the significant roles played by individual material ingredients in influencing their frequencies.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.28 no.6
• /
• pp.589-597
• /
• 2015

In this paper, the live load model for the design of high-speed railway bridge is analyzed by statistic and probabilistic methods and the safety level that is given by the load factors of the load combination is analyzed. This study is a part of the development of the limit state design method for the railway bridge, and the train data collected from the Gyeongbu high-speed railway for about one month are utilized. The four different statistical methods are applied to estimate the design load to match the bridge design life and the results are compared. In order to examine the safety level that the design load combination of the railway bridge gives, the reliability indexes are determined and the results are analyzed. The load effect from the current design live load for the high-speed rail bridge which is 0.75 times of the standard train load is came out greater than at least 30-22% that from the estimated load from the measured data. If it is judged based on the ultimate limit state, there is a possibility of additional reduction of the safety factors through the reliability analysis.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.18 no.8
• /
• pp.469-482
• /
• 2018

This research has developed the criteria and index for systematically and objectively assessing the quality of river water by fixing the various factors that affect Gyeongin ARA waterway's water quality through analysis with the Delphi Technique and analytic hierarchy program (AHP) Method. Based on the results, the highest criteria are, in order of importance, physical and environmental factors 28%, administrative factors 26%, natural fixed factors 26% and finally, cultural and social factors 20%. The three dimensions of the criteria show that for the internal physical and environmental factors, the most important are the loss of self-purification capacity, and the external factors are Gulpocheon and the sludge deposit due to Gyulhweon-weir the bridge. The facility factor in management was affected by the coagulation and waste water disposal facilities. The problem for the policy and institutional factors was seen in the regulatory area. The aquatic ecology/ point pollution source for the natural fixed factors show that it is due to the polluted water of Gulpo-cheon and the living environment/ non-point pollution source is shown through the inflow water from other rivers. Cultural and social factors show that the economical causes were due to the cargo and passenger flight operations and the external factors of having a lack of sewage treatment equipment have an importance effect. In order to estimate the order of priority through logical evidence and objectivity, future research must be continued on the evaluation indexes to measure the specific methodology and technique needed to improve the Gyeongin ARA Waterway.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.10 no.7
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2009

The correlation equation empirically proposed to obtain compression indexes has been proposed to conveniently obtain the value using the soil parameter that can be obtained through simple tests when the number of time of consolidation testing is low or the distribution is large but most of the analyzed regions are limited to certain regions abroad or in the country and multiple data were integrated for use in many cases, thus it is not very reasonable to apply it. Therefore, to establish a new design method considering the uncertainty of the ground, it was selected the Kwangyang port area of which the data have been collected recently thus are relatively more reliable as the subject region of the study in order to maximally reduce the uncertainty of test data. After performing the verification of the normality of the consolidation test data obtained from the selected region and the transformation of variables, a prediction formula was proposed through the regression model with the transformed variables and the proposed regression model with transformed variables was compared with existing empirical equations to verify the suitability of the proposed model formula. After analyzing, it was confirmed that the coefficient of determination was increased after the Box-Cox variable transformation, thus the explanatory power was being enhanced and through the root-mean-square-error method, it was confirmed that the proposed model formula showed the most closed value to the test value.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.73-94
• /
• 2009

The general aspects for the future warfare shows that the concept of firepower and maneuver centric warfare has been replacing with that of information and knowledge centric warfare. Thus, some developed countries are now trying to establish the information systems to perform intelligent warfare and innovate defense operations. The C4I(Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence for the Warrior) systems make it possible to do modern and systematic war operations. The basic idea of this study is to investigate how TAM(Technology Acceptance Model) can explain the acceptance behavior in military organizations. Because TAM is inadequate in explaining the acceptance processes forcomplex technologies and strict organizations, a revised research model based upon TAM was developed in order to assess the usage of the C4I system. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors affecting the usage of C4I in the Korean Army. The research model, based upon TAM, was extended through a belief construct such as self-efficacy as one of mediating variables. The self-efficacy has been used as a mediating variable for technology acceptance, and the variable was included in the research model. The external variables were selected on the basis of previous research. The external variables can be classified into following: 1) technological, 2) organizational, and 3) environmental factors on the basis of TOE(Technology-Organization-Environment) framework. The technological factor includes the information quality and the task-technology fitness. The organizational factor includes the influence of senior colleagues. The environmental factor includes the education/train data. The external variables are considered very important for explaining the behavior patterns of information technology or systems. A structured questionnaire was developed and administrated to those who were using the C4I system. Total 329 data were used for statistical data analyses. A confirmatory factor analysis and structured equation model were used as main statistical methods. Model fitness Indexes for measurement and structured models were verified before all 18 hypotheses were tested. This study shows that the perceived usefulness and the self-efficacy played their roles more than the perceived ease of use did in TAM. In military organizations, the perceived usefulness showed its mediating effects between external variables and dependent variable, but the perceived ease of use did not. These results imply that the perceived usefulness can explain the acceptance processes better than the perceived ease of use in the army. The self-efficacy was also used as one of the three mediating variables, and showed its mediating effects in explaining the acceptance processes. Such results also show that the self-efficacy can be selected as one possible belief construct in TAM. The perceived usefulness was influenced by such factors as senior colleagues, the information quality, and the task-technology fitness. The self-efficacy was affected by education/train and task-technology fitness. The actual usage of C4I was influenced not by the perceived ease of use but by the perceived usefulness and selfefficacy. This study suggests the followings: (1) An extended TAM can be applied to such strict organizations as the army; (2) Three mediation variables are included in the research model and tested at real situations; and (3) Several other implications are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.289-301
• /
• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the current status of consumption of energy drinks among college students and investigate the effects of general environmental factors, health behavior factors, caffeine knowledge levels, and perceived stress levels on consumption of energy drinks. Methods: A survey was conducted among a total of 479 college students in Gwangju, using self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of items about general environmental factors, health behavior, caffeine knowledge, perceived stress, and energy drink consumption behaviors. Results: 69.1% of participants experienced consumption of energy drinks, and specifically 82.8% of male students and 54.1% of female students experienced consumption of energy drinks (p<0.001). The reasons for drinking energy drinks were found to be recovery from fatigue, curiosity, taste, habit, thirst relief, and stress relief. In addition, 40.7% of participants experienced drinking energy drinks mixed with alcohol, and specifically 48.6% of male students and 27.4% of female students reported drinking energy drinks with alcohol (p<0.001). Moreover, 51.5% of participants responded that they experienced the effects of energy drinks, 31.9% reported experiencing adverse effects, and 41.1% were found to perceive the health risks. As a result of the assessment of caffeine knowledge, the participants showed a high level of knowledge of the arousal effect (77.7%) and the concentration increasing effect (70.8%) of caffeine, whereas they exhibited a low level of understanding of the health problems due to caffeine (32.6%) and adequate caffeine intake levels (24.4%). The higher levels of consumption experience of energy drinks was associated with higher body mass indexes (BMI) (p<0.01), higher academic years (p<0.01), lower levels of interest in health (p<0.05), smoking (p<0.001), alcohol consumption (p<0.05), and higher levels of perceived stress (p<0.05). Conclusions: The risk groups related to consumption of energy drinks among college students were identified as male students rather than female students, students in the third or fourth year of study associated with increased stress levels, and students with negative health behaviors. Therefore, support for diverse health and nutrition education for college students is required along with the improvement of internal and external environments of schools in order for college students to manage increased stress levels due to the schoolwork and preparation for employment and maintain positive health behaviors.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.39-48
• /
• 2014

In order to establish fundamental data for stream restoration and environmental flow, we investigated optimal ecological flowrate (OEF) and riverine health condition in the Chogang Stream, a tributary to Geum River, Korea. The number of fish individuals sampled in this period were 4,669 in 36 species of 9 families. The most abundant species was Korean chub (Zacco koreanus, 34.0%) followed by pale chub (Z. platypus, 22.6%) and Korean shinner (Coreoleuciscus splendidus, 13.3%). Index of biological integrity (IBI) and qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI) values decreased from upstream to downstream along the stream. The estimated IBI value ranged from 27.9 to 38.6 with average 32.2 out of 50, rendering the site ecologically fair to good health conditions. OEF was estimated by the physical habitat simulation system (PHABSIM) using the habitat suitability indexes (HSI) of three fish species Z. koreanus, C. splendidus and Pseudopungtungia nigra selected as indicator species. In Z. koreanus, HSI for flow velocity and water depth were estimated at 0.1 to 0.4 m/s and 0.2 to 0.4 m, respectively. In P. nigra, HSI for flow velocity, water depth and substrate size were estimated at 0.2 to 0.5 m/s and 0.4 to 0.6 m and fine gravel to cobbles, respectively. OEF values increasing from up to downstream was found to increase, weighted usable area (WUA) values increased accordingly.

• Management & Information Systems Review
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.307-327
• /
• 2017

Ecological efficiency is an important index measuring and reflecting the sustainable development level of economy, resources and environment in a region. This paper makes an empirical study on the ecological efficiency of 31 provinces in China in 2014 with the three-stage DEA model. The results show that the three indexes, the total investment in environmental governance (Unit: hundred million Yuan), the second industry proportion(%), and per capita automobile ownership (car/ten thousand people) functioning as the external environmental variables have significantly impacted the regional ecological efficiency. Excluding the impact of the external environment and statistical noise, the technical efficiency of regional ecological efficiency has increased from 0.526 to 0.639, and the pure technical efficiency has increased from 0.650 to 0.858, with the scale efficiency decreased from 0.833 to 0.740, accurately reflecting the regional ecological efficiency level. 31 Chinese provinces are classified into four different types according to the pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. Every region shall, according to the characteristics of its efficiency, emphasize differently on improving the management level or expanding the scale of production so as to improve the ecological efficiency.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.17-28
• /
• 2008

Favorable policies for freight vehicles (i.e., trucks), such as exclusive "Truck-ways," have been proposed, and at the same time restricted policies for freight vehicles have been suggested because transportation of goods by truck aggravates traffic congestion and environmental conditions in urban areas. This study discusses the limitations of assessment processes for freight vehicle route management systems which have been carried out from limited perspectives such as physical distribution efficiency and traffic circulation. The objective of this study is to propose an assessment method of truck route management systems in urban areas which includes more varied criteria. This research modified the two existing assessment indices of physical distribution efficiency and traffic circulation. In addition two new assessment indexes are proposed: (i) exposure indices for population directly influenced by nitrous oxide, a representative pollutant, and (ii) a friction index between trips for attending elementary school and freight vehicle trips. It was found that from the perspective of physical distribution efficiency and traffic circulation, the "before" alternative is better than "after". However, from the aspect of traffic safety and environmental impacts the "after" alternative is better than "before". It is expected that the proposed evaluation method in this study would be useful when identifying reasonable policies for truck route management in urban areas.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.39 no.1 s.162
• /
• pp.59-68
• /
• 2006

To assess the water resources sustainability, many indicators and methodologies have been suggested by international organizations and developed in other countries. However, in the previous studies, some of indicators were unsuitable for assessing the sustainability of water use and management in Korea. Thus, in this study nSl(Water Resources Sustainability Index), a multi-variable index, was created by consideration of environmental, social, and economical criteria. Relative weights for components, indicators and sub-indexes, were determined by employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process. In order to extract the indicators related with water resources sustainability, the data related with water resources and indicators suggested in various field were compared and thoroughly reviewed. These indicators were classified into four groups; Economic Efficiency Index, Social Equity Index, Environmental Conservation Index, and Maintenance Capability Index. The weight of each component were decided by the survey of 127 specialists in water resources and sustainability. The result of survey represented that efficiency and equity of water use and water quality for river restoration are major issues in enhancing the water resources sustainability In addition, it was found that investment and public participation should be considered for sustainable water use.