• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.391-401
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• 2020

The present article reports the feasibility of the electrical energy generation from ambient low-frequency vibration using a piezoelectric material mounted on a bimorph cantilever beam actuator. A corresponding higher-order analytical model is developed using MATLAB in conjunction with finite element method under low-frequency with both damped and undamped conditions. An alternate model is also developed to check the material and dimensional viability of both piezoelectric materials (mainly focussed to PVDF and PZT) and the base material. Also, Genetic Algorithm is implemented to find the optimum dimensions which can produce the higher values of voltage at low-frequency frequencies (≤ 100 Hz). The delamination constraints are employed to avoid inter-laminar stresses and to increase the fracture toughness. The delamination has been done using a Teflon sheet sandwiched in between base plates and the piezo material is stuck to the base plate using adhesives. The analytical model is tested for both homogenous and isotropic material characteristics of the base material and extended to investigate the effect of the different geometrical parameters (base plate dimensions, piezo layer dimensions and placement, delamination thickness and placement, excitation frequency) on the model responses of the bimorph cantilever beam. It has been observed that when the base material characteristics are homogenous, the efficiency of the model remains higher when compared to the condition when it is of isotropic material. The necessary convergence behaviour of the current numerical model has been established and checked for the accuracy by comparing with available published results. Finally, using the results obtained from the model, a prototype is fabricated for the experimental validation via a suitable circuit considering Glass fibre and Aluminium as the bimorph material.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.134-142
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• 2016

In this paper, a method synthesizing speech signal using the 40 kHz ultrasonic signals reflected from the articulatory muscles was introduced and performance was evaluated. When the ultrasound signals are radiated to articulating face, the Doppler effects caused by movements of lips, jaw, and chin observed. The signals that have different frequencies from that of the transmitted signals are found in the received signals. These ADS (Acoustic-Doppler Signals) were used for estimating of the speech parameters in this study. Prior to synthesizing speech signal, a quantitative correlation analysis between ADS and speech signals was carried out on each frequency bin. According to the results, the feasibility of the ADS-based speech synthesis was validated. ADS-to-speech transformation was achieved by the joint Gaussian mixture model-based conversion rules. The experimental results from the 5 subjects showed that filter bank energy and LPC (Linear Predictive Coefficient) cepstrum coefficients are the optimal features for ADS, and speech, respectively. In the subjective evaluation where synthesized speech signals were obtained using the excitation sources extracted from original speech signals, it was confirmed that the ADS-to-speech conversion method yielded 72.2 % average recognition rates.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.253-272
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• 2016

The paper concerns with the method and results of wind tunnel investigations of the Strouhal number (St) of a stationary iced cable model of cable-supported bridges with respect to different angles of wind attack. The investigations were conducted in the Climatic Wind Tunnel Laboratory of the Czech Academy of Sciences in $Tel{\check{c}}$. The methodology leading to the experimental icing of the inclined cable model was prepared in a climatic section of the laboratory. The shape of the ice on the cable was registered by a photogrammetry method. A section of an iced cable model with a smaller scale was reproduced with a 3D printing procedure for subsequent aerodynamic investigations. The St values were determined within the range of the Reynolds number (Re) between $2.4{\cdot}10^4$ and $16.5{\cdot}10^4$, based on the dominant vortex shedding frequencies measured in the wake of the model. The model was oriented at three principal angles of wind attack for each of selected Re values. The flow regimes were distinguished for each model configuration. In order to recognize the tunnel blockage effect the St of a circular smooth cylinder was also tested. Good agreement with the reported values in the subcritical Re range of a circular cylinder was obtained. The knowledge of the flow regimes of the airflow around an iced cable and the associated St values could constitute a basis to formulate a mathematical description of the vortex-induced force acting on the iced cable of a cable-supported bridge and could allow predicting the cable response due to the vortex excitation phenomenon.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.859-887
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• 2015

Structural health monitoring (SHM) has gained in popularity in recent years since it can assess the performance and condition of instrumented structures in real time and provide valuable information to the asset's manager and owner. Operational modal analysis plays an important role in SHM and it involves the determination of natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes of a constructed structure based on measured dynamic data. This paper presents the operational modal analysis and seismic response characterization of the Tsing Ma Suspension Bridge of 2,160 m long subjected to different earthquake events. Three kinds of events, i.e., short-distance, middle-distance and long-distance earthquakes are taken into account. A fast Bayesian modal identification method is used to carry out the operational modal analysis. The modal properties of the bridge are identified and compared by use of the field monitoring data acquired before and after the earthquake for each type of the events. Research emphasis is given on identifying the predominant modes of the seismic responses in the deck during short-distance, middle-distance and long-distance earthquakes, respectively, and characterizing the response pattern of various structural portions (deck, towers, main cables, etc.) under different types of earthquakes. Since the bridge is over 2,000 m long, the seismic wave would arrive at the tower/anchorage basements of the two side spans at different time instants. The behaviors of structural dynamic responses on the Tsing Yi side span and on the Ma Wan side span under each type of the earthquake events are compared. The results obtained from this study would be beneficial to the seismic design of future long-span bridges to be built around Hong Kong (e.g., the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge).

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.84-91
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• 2017

The dynamic characteristics of a ducted fan in hovering condition were investigated. The section properties of the fan blade were calculated, and a simulation model was developed according to the rotor system components. Dynamic analyses were conducted relative to the rotational speed and the collective pitch. The proposed ducted fan system showed less aero-elastic instability within the designated operating ranges. To verify the analytical approach, a rotating test stand of the ducted fan was set up. A functional test of the assembly was carried out to determine the kinematics and interference between components. The non-rotating and rotating normal frequencies were measured by excitation of the collective pitch using hydraulic actuators. The results indicated a correlation between the test equipment and the simulation model.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.341-350
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• 2018

A series of model tests was carried out to investigate the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) characteristics of a free hanging PVC pipe under forced oscillation conditions. The prescribed displacement with a period and amplitude was forced at the top of the riser. The motion of the riser along its length was measured with underwater cameras in three dimensions. The top-excited responses in the inline direction and vortex-induced vibration in the cross-flow direction were examined in the time and frequency domains. Multi-peak frequencies in the VIV were demonstrated to be strongly dependent upon the Keulegan-Carpenter number, corresponding with the results of Blevin. It was found that the Reynolds numbers (excitation period) was a critical parameter for the dominant VIV characteristics, even under the condition of using the same Keulegan-Carpenter number, under the top-excited condition. In the resonance at the nth natural frequency by the forced-motion induced VIV frequency, the riser responded with a large amplitude and forced frequency, dominantly in the VIV CF direction.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.3_4
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• pp.327-344
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• 2013

Beam string structure (BSS) is introduced as a new type of hybrid prestressed string structures. The composition and mechanics features of BSS are discussed. The main principles of wavelet packet transform (WPT), principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) have been reviewed. WPT is applied to the structural response signals, and feature vectors are obtained by feature extraction and PCA. The feature vectors are used for training and classification as the inputs of the support vector machine. The method is used to a single one-way arched beam string structure for damage detection. The cable prestress loss and web members damage experiment for a beam string structure is carried through. Different prestressing forces are applied on the cable to simulate cable prestress loss, the prestressing forces are calculated by the frequencies which are solved by Fourier transform or wavelet transform under impulse excitation. Test results verify this method is accurate and convenient. The damage cases of web members on the beam are tested to validate the efficiency of the method presented in this study. Wavelet packet decomposition is applied to the structural response signals under ambient vibration, feature vectors are obtained by feature extraction method. The feature vectors are used for training and classification as the inputs of the support vector machine. The structural damage position and degree can be identified and classified, and the test result is highly accurate especially combined with principle component analysis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.3_4
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• pp.251-269
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• 2013

Measurement of deflections of certain bridges is usually hampered by corruption of the GPS signal by multipath associated with passing vehicles, resulting to unrealistically large apparent displacements. Field data from the Gorgopotamos train bridge in Greece and systematic experiments revealed that such bias is due to superimposition of two major effects, (i) changes in the geometry of satellites because of partial masking of certain satellites by the passing vehicles (this effect can be faced with solutions excluding satellites that get temporarily blocked by passing vehicles) and (ii) dynamic multipath caused from reflection of satellite signals on the passing trains, a high frequency multipath effect, different from the static multipath. Dynamic multipath seems to have rather irregular amplitude, depending on the geometry of measured satellites, but a typical pattern, mainly consisting of a baseline offset, wide base peaks correlating with the sequence of main reflective surfaces of the vehicles passing next to the antenna. In cases of limited corruption of GPS signal by dynamic multipath, corresponding to scale distortion of the short-period component of the GPS waveforms, we propose an algorithm which permits to reconstruct the waveform of bridge deflections using a weak fusion of GPS and RTS data, based on the complementary characteristics of the two instruments. By application of the proposed algorithm we managed to extract semi-static and dynamic displacements and oscillation frequencies of a historical railway bridge under train loading by using noisy GPS and RTS recordings. The combination of GPS and RTS is possible because these two sensors can be fully collocated and have complementary characteristics, with RTS and GPS focusing on the long- and short-period characteristics of the displacement, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.4136-4141
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• 2013

One of the most significant requisite that should be considered for effective rapping of the electrostatic precipitator using electromagnetic vibration exciter is vibration acceleration and resonance frequency of collecting plates. This vibration acceleration shows its peak points when natural frequencies of the system are corresponded with excitation frequency from the power source, and effective rapping performance can be expected. In this research, extend view of single electrostatic precipitator using one electromagnetic vibration exciter, the system was remodeled by arrangement of the exciters in view of multiple modules of the electrostatic precipitator in fields. And vibration acceleration measurement experiment is performed and measured values are compared with these remodeled systems. By this experimental comparison in series and parallel arrangement, effectiveness of arrangement methods for the electromagnetic vibration exciter, expected rapping performance, and power consumption are verified.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.205-210
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• 2014

Recently, pattern recognition methods have been widely used by researchers for fault diagnoses of mechanical systems. A pattern recognition method determines the soundness of a mechanical system by detecting variations in the system's vibration characteristics. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) have recently been used as pattern recognition methods in various fields. In this study, a HMM-ANN hybrid method for the fault diagnosis of a mechanical system is introduced, and a rotating wind turbine blade with a crack is selected for fault diagnosis. The existence, location, and depth of said crack are identified in this research. For improving the diagnostic accuracy of the method in spite of the presence of noise, a moment with a few specific frequencies is applied to the structure.