• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.261-275
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• 2019

The main objective of this paper is to study the axial buckling and post-buckling of geometrically imperfect single-layer graphene sheets (GSs) under in-plane loading in the theoretical framework of the nonlocal strain gradient theory. To begin with, a graphene sheet is modeled by a two-dimensional plate subjected to simply supported ends, and supposed to have a small initial curvature. Then according to the Hamilton's principle, the nonlinear governing equations are derived with the aid of the classical plate theory and the von-karman nonlinearity theory. Subsequently, for providing a more accurate physical assessment with respect to the influence of respective parameters on the mechanical performances, the approximate analytical solutions are acquired via using a two-step perturbation method. Finally, the authors perform a detailed parametric study based on the solutions, including geometric imperfection, nonlocal parameters, strain gradient parameters and wave mode numbers, and then reaching a significant conclusion that both the size-dependent effect and a geometrical imperfection can't be ignored in analyzing GSs.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.11-17
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• 2018

Concrete is the well-used material in many architectural and civil structures. The behavior of concrete does exhibit a different characteristic in compression and tension, and it also shows an inelastic-nonlinear behavior. In addition, the concrete properties vary slightly depending on the environmental factor and manufacturer. These properties of concrete make the modeling or simulation of concrete material difficult. In reinforced concrete, particularly, there is a difficulty in bond-slip relationship between concrete and steel. However, in this paper, reserving remainder of these limits the finite element analysis for reinforced concrete beams through ABAQUS simulation has been carried out with some assumptions. Assumptions include the perfect bond of steel and concrete as well as the concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) in concrete property. There is a reasonable agreement between the experimental and numerical results, although the analytical strength and external rod deformation are slightly overestimated. The average and standard deviation between two results are 1.05 and 0.05, respectively. And the models and the computations lead to the evolution of fracture in bending beam.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.571-584
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• 2022

The residual displacement ratio (RDRs) response spectra have been generally used as an important means to evaluate the post-earthquake repairability, and the ratios of residual to maximum inelastic displacement are considered to be more appropriate for development of the spectra. This methodology, however, assumes that the expected residual displacement can be computed as the product of the RDRs and maximum inelastic displacement, without considering the correlation between these two variables, which inevitably introduces potential systematic error. For providing an adequately accurate estimate of residual displacement, while accounting for the collapse resistance performance prior to the repairability evaluation, a probability-based procedure to estimate the residual displacement demands using the nonlinear static analysis (NSA) is developed for single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems. To this end, the energy-based equivalent damping ratio used for NSA is revised to obtain the maximum displacement coincident with the nonlinear time history analysis (NTHA) results in the mean sense. Then, the possible systematic error resulted from RDRs spectra methodology is examined based on the NTHA results of SDOF systems. Finally, the statistical relation between the residual displacement and the NSA-based maximum displacement is established. The results indicate that the energy-based equivalent damping ratio will underestimate the damping for short period ranges, and overestimate the damping for longer period ranges. The RDRs spectra methodology generally leads to the results being non-conservative, depending on post-yield stiffness. The proposed approach emphasizes that the repairability evaluation should be based on the premise of no collapse, which matches with the current performance-based seismic assessment procedure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.787-803
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• 2021

The size-dependent nonlinear thermomechanical vibration analysis of pre- and post-buckled tapered two-directional functionally graded (2D-FG) microbeams is presented in this study. In the context of the modified couple stress theory, the formulations are derived based on the parabolic shear deformation beam theory and von Karman nonlinear strains. Different thermomechanical material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent and smoothly vary in both length and thickness directions using the power law and the physical neutral axis concept is employed. The nonlinear governing equations are derived using the Hamilton principle and the resulting variable coefficient equations of motion are solved using the differential quadrature method (DQM) and iterative Newton's method for clamped-clamped and simply supported boundary conditions. Comparison studies are presented to validate the derived model and solution procedure. The impacts of induced thermal moments, temperature power index, two gradient indices, nonuniform cross-section, and microstructure length scale parameter on the frequency-temperature configurations are explored for both clamped and simply supported microbeams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.689-706
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• 2022

Thin-walled square concrete-filled double steel tubular (CFDST) columns composed of the inner circular tube filled with concrete can be used to carry the large axial loads or strengthen existing CFST columns in composite constructions. This paper reports an experimental program carried out on short square CFDST columns loaded concentrically. The influences of important column parameters on the post-buckling performance of such columns are investigated. Test results exhibit that the inner circular tube significantly improves the ultimate loads and the ductility of such columns compared to conventional concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) and double-skin CFST (DCFST) columns with an inner void. A mathematical model developed is used to simulate the ultimate strengths and load-strain curves of such columns loaded axially. Furthermore, the ultimate strengths of such columns are predicted using existing codified design models for conventional CFST columns as well as the formulas proposed by previous researchers and compared against a large database comprising 500 CFDST columns. Lastly, an accurate artificial neural network model is developed for the practical applications of such columns under axial loading.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.39-66
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• 2022

Modern Bulgarian nationalists aspired towards incorporating the self-identified Bulgarian lands into the Bulgarian state. The Treaty of San Stefano ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 tantalizingly achieved these so-called national ideals. Great Power diplomacy quickly diminished Bulgaria's borders and international legal status with the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, exacerbating nationalist grievances. Bulgaria would expand vast resources to restore the San Stefano borders until Balkan Communist authoritarian regimes eventually suppressed the Macedonian issue as a foreign policy subject. Sofia's policy towards its neighbor has been overdetermined by the efforts of successive Bulgarian governments to institutionalize post-communist Bulgaria's own national identity. Bulgaria's integration into so-called Euro-Atlantic structures, i.e., NATO and the EU, had been the primary strategic objective of the Bulgarian authorities since the end of the Zhivkov regime. North Atlantic community security policy aims in response to the earliest post-Cold War foreign policy crises in the Western Balkans framed the parameters of Bulgarian diplomacy. The stabilization of FYROM in 2001, followed by Bulgaria's 2007 EU accession, led to Bulgarian nationalist values become more salient in Bulgarian politics and foreign policy. Sofia-Skopje relations are a test case for the effects of Europeanization on interdependent Balkan ethno-sectarian nationalisms and state territorial institutional development.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.337-350
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• 2022

This paper focuses on predicting the post-heating mechanical properties of cementitious composites reinforced with multi-scale additives using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach. A total of four different feed-forward ANN models are developed using 261 data sets collected from 18 published sources. The models are optimized using 12 input parameters selected based on a comprehensive literature review to predict the residual compressive strength, the residual flexural strengths, elastic modulus, and fracture energy of heat-damaged cementitious specimens. Furthermore, the ANN is employed to predict the impact of several variables including; the content of polypropylene (PP) microfibers and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) used in the concrete, mortar, or paste mix design, length of PP fibers, the average diameter of CNTs, and the average length of CNTs. The influence of the studied parameters is investigated at different heating levels ranged from 25℃ to 800℃. The results demonstrate that the developed ANN models have a strong potential for predicting the mechanical properties of the heated cementitious composites based on the mixing ingredients in addition to the heating conditions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.287-299
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• 2022

Rather than using smartphones as seismometers with designated locations and orientations, this study proposes to employ crowds' smartphones in buildings to perform fast safety assessment of buildings. The principal advantage of using crowds' smartphones is the potential to monitor the safety of millions of buildings without hardware costs, installation labor, and long-term maintenance. This study's goal is to measure the maximum interstory drift ratios during earthquake excitation using crowds' smartphones. Beacons inside the building are required to provide the location and relevant building information for the smartphones via Bluetooth. Wi-Fi Direct is employed between nearby smartphones to conduct peer-to-peer time synchronization and exchange the acceleration data measured. An algorithm to align the orientation between nearby smartphones is proposed, and the performance of the orientation alignment, interstory drift measurement, and damage level estimation are studied numerically. Finally, the proposed approach's performance is verified using large-scale shaking table tests of a scaled steel building. The results presented in this study illustrate the potential to use crowds' smartphones with the proposed approach to record building motions during earthquakes and use those data to estimate buildings' safety based on the interstory drift ratios measured.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.383-392
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• 2023

Post-earthquake building condition assessment is crucial for subsequent rescue and remediation and can be automated by emerging computer vision and deep learning technologies. This study is based on an endeavour for the 2nd International Competition of Structural Health Monitoring (IC-SHM 2021). The task package includes five image segmentation objectives - defects (crack/spall/rebar exposure), structural component, and damage state. The structural component and damage state tasks are identified as the priority that can form actionable decisions. A multi-task Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is proposed to conduct the two major tasks simultaneously. The rest 3 sub-tasks (spall/crack/rebar exposure) were incorporated as auxiliary tasks. By synchronously learning defect information (spall/crack/rebar exposure), the multi-task CNN model outperforms the counterpart single-task models in recognizing structural components and estimating damage states. Particularly, the pixel-level damage state estimation witnesses a mIoU (mean intersection over union) improvement from 0.5855 to 0.6374. For the defect detection tasks, rebar exposure is omitted due to the extremely biased sample distribution. The segmentations of crack and spall are automated by single-task U-Net but with extra efforts to resample the provided data. The segmentation of small objects (spall and crack) benefits from the resampling method, with a substantial IoU increment of nearly 10%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2854-2863
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• 2023

Objective: To present a hybrid approach that incorporates a constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) and deep learning (DL)-based post-refinement for metal artifact reduction in dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: Constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) is derived from a polychromatic X-ray attenuation model with respect to X-ray transmission length, which calculates associated parameters numerically. Deep-learning-based post-refinement with an artifact disentanglement network (ADN) is performed to mitigate the remaining dark shading regions around a metal. Artifact disentanglement network (ADN) supports an unsupervised learning approach, in which no paired CBCT images are required. The network consists of an encoder that separates artifacts and content and a decoder for the content. Additionally, ADN with data normalization replaces metal regions with values from bone or soft tissue regions. Finally, the metal regions obtained from the CBHE are blended into reconstructed images. The proposed approach is systematically assessed using a dental phantom with two types of metal objects for qualitative and quantitative comparisons. Results: The proposed hybrid scheme provides improved image quality in areas surrounding the metal while preserving native structures. Conclusion: This study may significantly improve the detection of areas of interest in many dentomaxillofacial applications.