• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.665-683
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• 2006

The strength behaviors of Fiber Reinforced Plastics (FRP) Composites can be greatly influenced by the properties of constitutive materials, the laminate structures, and load conditions etc, accompanied by many uncertainty factors. So the reliability study on FRP is an important subject of research. Many achievements have been made in reliability studies based on the probability theory, but little has been done on the roles played by fuzzy variables. In this paper, a fuzzy reliability model for FRP laminates is established first, in which the loads are considered as random variables and the strengths as fuzzy variables. Then a numerical model is developed to assess the fuzzy reliability. The Monte Carlo simulation method is utilized to compute the reliability of laminas under the maximum stress criterion. In the second part of this paper, a generalized fuzzy reliability model (GFRM) is proposed. By virtue of the fact that there may exist a series of states between the failure state and the function state, a fuzzy assumption for the structure state together with the probabilistic assumption for strength parameters is adopted to construct the GFRM of composite materials. By defining a generalized limit state function, the problem is converted to the conventional reliability formula that enables the first-order reliability method (FORM) applicable in calculating the reliability index. Several examples are worked out to show the validity of the models and the efficiency of the methods proposed in this paper. The parameter sensitivity analysis shows that some of the mean values of the strength parameters have great influence on the laminated composites' reliability. The differences resulting from the application of different failure criteria and different fuzzy assumptions are also discussed. It is concluded that the GFRM is feasible to use, and can provide an effective and synthetic method to evaluate the reliability of a system with different types of uncertainty factors.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.325-354
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• 2004

Slabs in buildings and bridge decks, which are restrained against lateral displacements at the edges, have ultimate strengths far in excess of those predicted by analytical methods based on yield line theory. The increase in strength has been attributed to membrane action, which is due to the in-plane forces developed at the supports. The benefits of compressive membrane action are usually not taken into account in currently available design methods developed based on plastic flow theories assuming concrete to be a rigid-plastic material. By extending the existing knowledge of compressive membrane action, it is possible to design slabs in building and bridge structures economically with less than normal reinforcement. Recent research on building and bridge structures reflects the importance of membrane action in design. This paper describes the finite element modelling of membrane action in reinforced concrete slabs through optimisation of a simple concrete model. Through a series of parametric studies using the simple concrete model in the finite element simulation of eight fully clamped concrete slabs with significant membrane action, a set of fixed numerical model parameter values is identified and computational conditions established, which would guarantee reliable strength prediction of arbitrary slabs. The reliability of the identified values to simulate membrane action (for prediction purposes) is further verified by the direct simulation of 42 other slabs, which gave an average value of 0.9698 for the ratio of experimental to predicted strengths and a standard deviation of 0.117. A 'deflection factor' is also established for the slabs, relating the predicted peak deflection to experimental values, which, (for the same level of fixity at the supports), can be used for accurate displacement determination. The proposed optimised concrete model and finite element procedure can be used as a tool to simulate membrane action in slabs in building and bridge structures having variable support and loading conditions including fire. Other practical applications of the developed finite element procedure and design process are also discussed.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.127-135
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• 1993

This paper summarizes a study on the application of viscoelastic dampers as an energy dissipation device in the frame structure. It can be concluded that, even at high temperatures, the viscoelastically damped structure can achieve a significant reduction of structural response as compared to the case with no dampers added. Empirical formulae for estimating the dynamic properties of the viscoelastic damper are established based on the regression analysis using data obtained from component tests of the damper. The structural damping with added dampers can be satisfactorily estimated by the modal strain energy method and the derived empirical formulae. Numerical simulations using conventional modal analysis methods are also carried out to predict the dynamic response of viscoelastically damped structures under seismic excitations. Comparison between numerical simulations and test results shows very good agreement. Based on the above studies, a design procedure for viscoelastically damped structures is present . This design procedure fits naturally into the conventional structural design flow-chart by including damping ratio an additional design parameter.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 2005

The damped least-squares inversion has become a most popular method in finding the solution in geophysical problems. Generally, the least-squares inversion is to minimize the object function which consists of data misfits and model constraints. Although both the data misfit and the model constraint take an important part in the least-squares inversion, most of the studies are concentrated on what kind of model constraint is imposed and how to select an optimum regularization parameter. Despite that each datum is recommended to be weighted according to its uncertainty or error in the data acquisition, the uncertainty is usually not available. Thus, the data weighting matrix is inevitably regarded as the identity matrix in the inversion. We present a new inversion scheme, in which the data weighting matrix is automatically obtained from the analysis of the data resolution matrix and its spread function. This approach, named 'extended active constraint balancing (EACB)', assigns a great weighting on the datum having a high resolution and vice versa. We demonstrate that by applying EACB to a two-dimensional resistivity tomography problem, the EACB approach helps to enhance both the resolution and the stability of the inversion process.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.19-33
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• 2017

Optimum concentrations of anesthetic clove oil and anesthetic lidocaine-HCl were determined for a species of adult marine medaka, Oryzias dancena, over a range of salinity conditions, and investigated in a transport simulation experiment by analyzing various water and physiological parameters. Research indicated that the higher the concentration of anesthetic at each salinity, the shorter the anesthesia time at each salinity. At each concentration, fish were anesthetized slower at water salinities over 10 ppt (P<0.05). Anesthesia time at 10 ppt was faster than any other salinity. In 10 ppt salinity, the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and respiratory frequencies of the clove-oil-administered groups decreased until 48 hours (P<0.05), whereas the $NH_4{^+}$ and $CO_2$ concentrations increased until 48 hours (P<0.05). In same period, the DO, $NH_4{^+}$, and $CO_2$ concentrations and respiratory frequencies all decreased as the clove oil concentration increased (P<0.05). The trends in the DO, $NH_4{^+}$, and $CO_2$ concentrations and respiratory frequencies in the lidocaine-HCl-administered groups were similar to those in the clove-oil-administered groups. In conclusion, clove oil and lidocaine-HCl are effective anesthetics, improving the transportation of the marine medaka. The results from this study will contribute to safe laboratory handling of the marine medaka, which are commonly required by many research studies and experiments.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.601-606
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• 2017

One-dimensional nanostructured metal oxide can be formed through an anodic oxidation, which is a typical technique of metal surface treatment. Studies on $TiO_2$ nanotubes have been widely carried out with increasing interests in $TiO_2$, which has an excellent functionality among various metal oxides. The present article reviews the principles of formation of $TiO_2$ nanotubes, which have been studied so far. In particular, the article discussed the equilibrium relationship between the oxide formation and etching, which is a key parameter of $TiO_2$ nanotube growth, and the formation of the porous structure. Furthermore, morphological considerations of $TiO_2$ nanotubes according to electrolyte conditions will be explained to the researchers who will study the application of $TiO_2$ nanotubes formed through the anodic oxidation in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.22 no.3 s.74
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• pp.95-105
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• 2004

The fundamental diagram is a important element in a variety of transportation studies. While various shapes of the fundamental diagram have been proposed and numerous debates on the best-fit fundamental diagram have been made, the reason why the fundamental diagram has many different shapes has not been well explained. This study introduces time sap as a key parameter to understand drivers' behavioral differences at different locations and traffic conditions, then relate to the shape of the fundamental diagram. From the freeway event detector data, it is shown that time gap follows a certain probabilistic distribution and its mean value varies along locations. It also turns out that drivers take different time gaps for different travel speeds. Three different types of time gap-speed diagrams are identified and matched to Greenberg, reversed-lambda, and inverted-V types of fundamental diagrams, respectively. This study explains the characteristics of fundamental diagrams using time gap as a microscopic variable and describes drivers' behavioral characteristics according to traffic and geometric conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1017-1028
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• 2014

Well-known Bayes and empirical Bayes estimators have a disadvantage in respecting to overshink the parameter estimator error; therefore, a constrained Bayes estimator is suggested by matching the first two moments. Also traditional loss function such as mean square error loss function only considers the precision of estimation and to consider both precision and goodness of fit, balanced loss function is suggested. With these reasons, constrained Bayes estimators under balanced loss function is recommended for non-life insurance pricing.; however, most studies focus on the performance of estimation since Bayes risk of newly suggested estimators such as constrained Bayes and constrained empirical Bayes estimators under specific loss function is difficult to derive. This study compares the Bayes risk of several Bayes estimators under two different loss functions for estimating the risk in the auto insurance business and indicates the effectiveness of the newly suggested Bayes estimators with regards to Bayes risk perspective through auto insurance real data analysis.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.43.1-43.1
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• 2018

Star formation in galaxies predominantly takes place in giant molecular clouds (GMCs). While it is widely believed that UV radiation feedback from young massive stars can destroy natal GMCs by exciting HII regions and driving their expansion, our understanding on how this actually occurs remains incomplete. To quantitatively assess the effect of UV radiation feedback on cloud disruption, we conduct a series of theoretical studies on the dynamics of HII regions and its role in controlling the star formation efficiency (SFE) and lifetime of GMCs in a wide range of star-forming environments. We first develop a semi-analytic model for the expansion of spherical dusty HII regions driven by the combination of gas and radiation pressures, finding that GMCs in normal disk galaxies are destroyed by gas-pressure driven expansion with SFE < 10%, while more dense and massive clouds with higher SFE are disrupted primarily by radiation pressure. Next, we turn to radiation hydrodynamic simulations of GMC dispersal to allow for self-consistent star formation as well as inhomogeneous density and velocity structures arising from supersonic turbulence. For this, we develop an efficient parallel algorithm for ray tracing method, which enables us to probe a range of cloud masses and sizes. Our parameter study shows that the net SFE, lifetime (measured in units of free-fall time), and the importance of radiation pressure (relative to photoionization) increase primarily with the initial surface density of the cloud. Unlike in the idealized spherical model, we find that the dominant mass loss mechanism is photoevaporation rather than dynamical ejection and that a significant fraction of radiation escapes through low optical-depth channels. We will discuss the astronomical.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.33.1-33.1
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• 2018

The differential rotational properties of early-type galaxies (ETGs) revealed by integral field spectroscopy surveys is arguably one of the most exciting findings in the galaxy evolution study during the past decade. Numerical studies have shown that galaxy mergers under various configurations can reproduce the observed distribution of ETG spin. However, we suggest an alternative scenario for the spin evolution of a large fraction of ETGs. Using the Horizon-AGN simulation, we follow the spin evolution of 10037 color-selected ETGs more massive than 1010 Msun that are divided into four groups: cluster centrals (3%), cluster satellites (33%), group centrals(5%), and field ETGs (59%). We find a strong mass dependence of the slow rotator fraction, fSR, and the mean spin of massive ETGs. Although the environmental dependence is not clear in the fSR, it is visible in the mean value of the spin parameter. The environmental dependence is driven by the satellite ETGs whose spin gradually decreases as their environment becomes denser. Galaxy mergers appear to be the main cause of total spin changes in 94% of central ETGs of halos with Mvir > 1012.5 Msun, but only 22% of satellite and field ETGs. We find that non-merger induced tidal perturbations better correlate with the galaxy spin-down in satellite ETGs than mergers. Given that the majority of ETGs are not central in dense environments, we conclude that non-merger tidal perturbation effects played a key role in the spin evolution of ETGs observed in the local (z < 1) universe.