• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2020

Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that causes serious health problems. Nonetheless, it is increasingly being used for industrial applications and is often discharged into the environment without adequate purification. In this study, Pb(II) was removed by powdered waste sludge (PWS) based on the biosorption mechanism. Different PWSs were collected from a submerged moving media intermittent aeration reactor (SMMIAR) and modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) processes. The contents of extracellular polymeric substances were similar, but the surface area of MLE-PWS (2.07 ㎡/g) was higher than that of SMMIAR-PWS (0.82 ㎡/g); this is expected to be the main parameter determining Pb(II) biosorption capacity. The Bacillaceae family was dominant in both PWSs and may serve as the major responsible bacterial group for Pb(II) biosorption. Pb(II) biosorption using PWS was evaluated for reaction time, salinity effect, and isotherm equilibrium. For all experiments, MLE-PWS showed higher removal efficiency. At a fixed initial Pb(II) concentration of 20 mg/L and a reaction time of 180 minutes, the biosorption capacities (q_e) for SMMIAR- and MLE-PWSs were 2.86 and 3.07 mg/g, respectively. Pb(II) biosorption using PWS was rapid; over 80% of the maximum biosorption capacity was achieved within 10 minutes. Interestingly, MLE-PWS showed enhanced Pb(II) biosorption with salinity values of up to 30 g NaCl/L. Linear regression of the Freundlich isotherm revealed high regression coefficients (R² > 0.968). The fundamental Pb(II) biosorption capacity, represented by the K_F value, was consistently higher for MLE-PWS than SMMIAR-PWS.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 2020

The study objective was to evaluate the enhanced removal of high concentrations of phosphorus from synthetic wastewater (solely phosphorus-containing) and real wastewater (pig manure) by using carbon nanotube (CNT)-coated steel slag. Generally, phosphorus removal by steel slag is attributed to Ca²⁺ eluted from the slag. However, in this study, CNT was used to control the excess release of Ca²⁺ from steel slag and increase the phosphorus removal. The phosphorus removal rate by the uncoated steel slag was lower than that of the CNT-coated steel slag, even though the Ca²⁺ concentrations were higher in the solution containing the uncoated steel slag. Therefore, the phosphorus removal could be attributed to both precipitation with Ca²⁺ eluted from steel slag in aqueous solution and adsorption onto the surface of the CNT-coated steel slag. Furthermore, the protons released from the CNT surface by exchanging with divalent cations acted to reduce the pH increase of the solution, which is attributed to the OH^- eluted from the steel slag. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics of the CNT-coated steel slags followed the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order model, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of the uncoated and CNT-coated steel slags was 6.127 and 9.268 mg P g^-1 slag, respectively. In addition, phosphorus from pig manure was more effectively removed by the CNT-coated steel slag than by the uncoated slag. Over 24 hours, the PO₄-P removal in pig manure was 12.3% higher by the CNT-coated slag. This CNT-coated steel slag can be used to remove both phosphorus and metals and has potential applications in high phosphorus-containing wastewater like pig manure.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.511-527
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• 2020

The main aim of the current research is to investigate the flexural behavior of the reinforced concrete (RC) slabs strengthened with strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) experimentally and numerically. Seven RC slabs were prepared and tested under four-points loading test. One un-strengthened slab considered as control specimen while six RC slabs were strengthened with reinforced SHCC layers. The SHCC layers had different reinforcement ratios and different thicknesses. The results showed that the proposed strengthening techniques significantly increased the ultimate failure load and the ductility index up to 25% and 22%, respectively, compared to the control RC slab. Moreover, a three dimensional (3D) finite element model was proposed to analyze the strengthened RC slabs. It was found that the results of the proposed numerical model well agreed with the experimental responses. The validated numerical model used to study many parameters of the SHCC layer such as the reinforcement ratios and the different thicknesses. In addition, steel connectors were suggested to adjoin the concrete/SHCC interface to enhance the flexural performance of the strengthened RC slabs. It was noticed that using the SHCC layer with thickness over 40 mm changed the failure mode from the concrete cover separation to the SHCC layer debonding. Also, the steel connectors prevented the debonding failure pattern and enhanced both the ultimate failure load and the ductility index. Furthermore, a theoretical equation was proposed to predict the ultimate load of the tested RC slabs. The theoretical and experimental ultimate loads are seen to be in fairly good agreement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.303-314
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• 2018

Shear walls are a typical member under a complex stress state and have complicated mechanical properties and failure modes. The separated-elements model Genetic Evolutionary Structural Optimization (GESO), which is a combination of an elastic-plastic stress method and an optimization method, has been introduced in the literature for designing such members. Although the separated-elements model GESO method is well recognized due to its stability, feasibility, and economy, its adequacy has not been experimentally verified. This paper seeks to validate the adequacy of the separated-elements model GESO method against experimental data and demonstrate its feasibility and advantages over the traditional elastic stress method. Two types of reinforced concrete shear wall specimens, which had the location of an opening in the middle bottom and the center region, respectively, were utilized for this study. For each type, two specimens were designed using the separated-elements model GESO method and elastic stress method, respectively. All specimens were subjected to a constant vertical load and an incremental lateral load until failure. Test results indicated that the ultimate bearing capacity, failure modes, and main crack types of the shear walls designed using the two methods were similar, but the ductility indexes including the stiffness degradation, deformability, reinforcement yielding, and crack development of the specimens designed using the separated-elements model GESO method were superior to those using the elastic stress method. Additionally, the shear walls designed using the separated-elements model GESO method, had a reinforcement layout which could closely resist the actual critical stress, and thus a reduced amount of steel bars were required for such shear walls.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 2018

In order to study the natural vibration characteristics of steel-concrete composite truss beam (SCCTB), the influence of multiple factors such as interface slip, shear deformation and moment of inertia are considered. Afterwards, based on the Hamilton principle the vibration control differential equation and natural boundary conditions of SCCTB are deduced. By solving SCCTB differential equations of vibration control, an analytical calculation method is proposed for analyzing the natural vibration characteristics of SCCTB. The natural frequencies of SCCTBs with different degrees of shear connection and effective lengths are calculated by using the analytical method, and the results are compared against those obtained from ANSYS finite element numerical calculation method. The results show that the analytical method considering the influence factors such as interface slip, shear deformation and moment of inertia are in good agreement with those obtained from ANSYS finite element numerical calculation method. This evidences the correctness of the analytical method and show that the method proposed exhibits improvement over the previously developed theories for the natural vibration characteristics of SCCTB. Finally, based on the analytical method, the influence factors of SCCTB natural vibration characteristics are analyzed. The results indicate that the influence of interface slip stiffness on SCCTB's natural frequency is more than 10% and therefore cannot be neglected. Moreover, shear deformation has an effect of more than 35% on SCCTB's natural frequency and the effect cannot be ignored either in this case too.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2018

Post-tensioning (PT) tendons are commonly used for the assembly of modularized concrete members, and tension is applied to the tendons during construction to facilitate the integrated behavior of the members. However, the tension in a PT tendon decreases over time due to steel corrosion and concrete creep, and consequently, the stress on the anchor head that secures the PT tendon also diminishes. This study proposes an automatic detection system to identify tension reduction in a PT tendon using pulsed-eddy-current (PEC) measurement. An eddy-current sensor is installed on the surface of the steel anchor head. The sensor creates a pulsed excitation to the driving coil and measures the resulting PEC response using the pick-up coil. The basic premise is that the tension reduction of a PT tendon results in stress reduction on the anchor head surface and a change in the PEC intensity measured by the pick-up coil. Thus, PEC measurement is used to detect the reduction of the anchor head stress and consequently the reduction of the PT tendon force below a certain threshold value. The advantages of the proposed PEC-based tension-reduction-detection (PTRD) system are (1) a low-cost (< $ 30), low-power (< 2 Watts) sensor, (2) a short inspection time (< 10 seconds), (3) high reliability and (4) the potential for embedded sensing. A 3.3 m long full-scale monostrand PT tendon was used to evaluate the performance of the proposed PTRD system. The PT tendon was tensioned to 180 kN using a custom universal tensile machine, and the tension was decreased to 0 kN at 20 kN intervals. At each tension, the PEC responses were measured, and tension reduction was successfully detected.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.771-791
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• 2018

This paper deals with the low velocity impact response and dynamic stresses of composite sandwich truncated conical shells (STCS) with compressible or incompressible core. Impacts are assumed to occur normally over the top face-sheet and the interaction between the impactor and the structure is simulated using a new equivalent three-degree-of-freedom (TDOF) spring-mass-damper (SMD) model. The displacement fields of core and face sheets are considered by higher order and first order shear deformation theory (FSDT), respectively. Considering continuity boundary conditions between the layers, the motion equations are derived based on Hamilton's principal incorporating the curvature, in-plane stress of the core and the structural damping effects based on Kelvin-Voigt model. In order to obtain the contact force, the displacement histories and the dynamic stresses, the differential quadrature method (DQM) is used. The effects of different parameters such as number of the layers of the face sheets, boundary conditions, semi vertex angle of the cone, impact velocity of impactor, trapezoidal shape and in-plane stresses of the core are examined on the low velocity impact response of STCS. Comparison of the present results with those reported by other researchers, confirms the accuracy of the present method. Numerical results show that increasing the impact velocity of the impactor yields to increases in the maximum contact force and deflection, while the contact duration is decreased. In addition, the normal stresses induced in top layer are higher than bottom layer since the top layer is subjected to impact load. Furthermore, with considering structural damping, the contact force and dynamic deflection decrees.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.695-703
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• 2018

Based on monitoring data collected from the Nanjing Dashengguan Bridge over the last five years, this paper systematically investigates the effects of temperature field and train loadings on the structural responses of this long-span high-speed railway bridge, and establishes the early warning thresholds for various structural responses. Then, some lessons drawn from the structural health monitoring system of this bridge are summarized. The main context includes: (1) Polynomial regression models are established for monitoring temperature effects on modal frequencies of the main girder and hangers, longitudinal displacements of the bearings, and static strains of the truss members; (2) The correlation between structural vibration accelerations and train speeds is investigated, focusing on the resonance characteristics of the bridge at the specific train speeds; (3) With regard to various static and dynamic responses of the bridge, early warning thresholds are established by using mean control chart analysis and probabilistic analysis; (4) Two lessons are drawn from the experiences in the bridge operation, which involves the lacks of the health monitoring for telescopic devices on the beam-end and bolt fractures in key members of the main truss.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.415-437
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• 2020

Circular concrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns have an advantage over all other sections when they are used in compression members. This paper proposes a new approach for deriving a new empirical equation to predict the axial compressive capacity of circular CFST columns using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The developed ANN model uses 5 input parameters that include the diameter of circular steel tube, the length of the column, the thickness of steel tube, the steel yield strength and the compressive strength of concrete. The only output parameter is the axial compressive capacity. Training and testing the developed ANN model was carried out using 219 available sets of data collected from the experimental results in the literature. An empirical equation is then proposed as an important result of this study, which is practically used to predict the axial compressive capacity of a circular CFST column. To evaluate the performance of the developed ANN model and the proposed equation, the predicted results are compared with those of the empirical equations stated in the current design codes and other models. It is shown that the proposed equation can predict the axial compressive capacity of circular CFST columns more accurately than other methods. This is confirmed by the high accuracy of a large number of existing test results. Finally, the parametric study result is analyzed for the proposed ANN equation to consider the effect of the input parameters on axial compressive strength.

• Archives of design research
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• v.21
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• pp.149-158
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• 1997

Since Macintosh computer was introduced in 1984, important technological evolution has not only changed the computer graphics field but had a significant effect in the graphic design field for its judgement of aesthetic value. In Korea, the development of digital typeface and electronic pre-press business became active due to computer design system since Macintosh computer was introduced in 1987. Currently there are many digital type foundries in Korea and they have produced over 500 typefaces of the Korean alphabet. However, a few technological limitations and aesthetic problems still exist in the development of the Korean typeface. In this study, I have examined the role and function of computer technology in typography. Also I analyzed the aesthetic elements which are found in computer technology and compared them to traditional typography to try to find some opportunity and possibility for new method of development.