• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.64-68
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the durability of carbon fiber/epoxy composites (CFRP) in a saline water environment. The carbon fiber/epoxy composites were modified to use nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and titanum oxide. These hybrid composites were exposed to a saline water environment for a certain period. The weight gain according to the immersion time, a quasi-static tensile test, and micro-graphic characterization were used to investigate the samples exposed to the saline water environment. The weight gains increased with increasing immersion time. The weight gains of the hybrid composites were lower than that for pure CFRP throughout the entire immersion time. The tensile strengths decreased with increasing immersion time. The tensile strengths of the hybrid composites were higher than that of the pure CFRP throughout the entire immersion time. The pure CFRP was observed to be more degraded than the hybrid composites in the saline water environment. Therefore, it was concluded that the addition of nanoparticles to CFRP could lead to improved durability in a saline water environment.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.102-111
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• 2014

An analytical model was developed to understand the physics and predict the functional performance of a pin puller. The formulated model is based on one-dimensional gas dynamics for an ideal gas. Resistive forces against pin shaft movement were measured in quasi-static mechanical tests, the results of which were incorporated into the model. The expansion chamber pressure and the pin shaft displacement were measured from an actual firing test and compared to the model prediction. The gas generation rate was adjusted by a correction factor, and the heat transfer rate was obtained through parametric analysis. The validity of the model is assessed for additional firing tests with different amounts of pyrotechnic charge. This model can provide knowledge on how the pin puller functions, and on which design parameters contribute the most to the actuation of the pin puller. Using this model, we estimate the functional safety factor by comparing the energy generated by the pyrotechnic charge to the energy required to accomplish the function.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.233-256
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• 2015

This paper presents an experimental study to assess the effectiveness of using ferrocement to strengthen deficient beam-column joints. Ferrocement is proposed to protect the joint region through replacing concrete cover. Six exterior beam-column joints, including two control specimens and four strengthened specimens, are prepared and tested under constant axial load and quasi-static cyclic loading. Two levels of axial load on column (0.2fc'Ag and 0.4fc'Ag) and two types of skeletal reinforcements in ferrocement (grid reinforcements and diagonal reinforcements) are considered as test variables. Experimental results have indicated that ferrocement as a composite material can enhance the seismic performance of deficient beam-column joints in terms of peak horizontal load, energy dissipation, stiffness and joint shear strength. Shear distortions within the joints are significantly reduced for the strengthened specimens. High axial load (0.4fc'Ag) has a detrimental effect on peak horizontal load for both control and ferrocement-strengthened specimens. Specimens strengthened by ferrocement with two types of skeletal reinforcements perform similarly. Finally, a method is proposed to predict shear strength of beam-column joints strengthened by ferrocement.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.869-881
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• 2014

This paper presents the materials analysis for combination of working modes of Magnetorheological (MR) damper. The materials were selected based on the optimum magnetic field strength at the effective areas in order to obtain a better design of MR damper. The design of electromagnetic circuit is one of the critical criteria in designing MR dampers besides the working mechanism and the types of MR damper. The increase in the magnetic field strength is an indication of the improvement in the damping performance of the MR damper. Eventually, the experimental test was performed under quasi-static loading to observe the performances of MR damper in shear mode, squeeze mode and mixed mode. The results showed that the increment of forces was obtained with the increased current due to higher magnetic flux density generated by electromagnetic coils. In general, it can be summarized that the combination of modes generates higher forces than single mode for the same experimental parameters throughout the study.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.499-516
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• 2007

An experimental method denoted as Impulse Method is proposed as a cost-effective non-destructive technique for the on-site evaluation of concrete elastic modulus in existing structures: on the basis of Hertz's quasi-static theory of elastic impact and with the aid of a simple portable testing equipment, it makes it possible to collect series of local measurements of the elastic modulus in an easy way and in a very short time. A Hypothesis Testing procedure is developed in order to provide a statistical tool for processing the data collected by means of the Impulse Method and assessing the possible occurrence of significant variations in the elastic modulus without exceeding some prescribed error probabilities. It is based on a particular formulation of the renowned sequential probability ratio test and reveals to be optimal with respect to the error probabilities and the required number of observations, thus further improving the time-effectiveness of the Impulse Method. The results of an experimental investigation on different types of plain concrete prove the validity of the Impulse Method in estimating the unknown value of the elastic modulus and attest the effectiveness of the proposed Hypothesis Testing procedure in identifying significant variations in the elastic modulus.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.227-237
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• 2020

Strain rate investigations are needed to calibrate strain-rate-dependent material models and numerical codes. An appropriate material model, which considers the rate effects, need to be used for proper numerical modeling. The plastic concrete cut-off wall is a special underground structure that acts as a barrier to stop or reduce the groundwater flow. These structures might be subjected to different dynamic loads, especially earthquake. Deformability of a structure subjected to dynamic loads is a principal issue which need to be undertaken during the design phase of these structures. The characterization of plastic concrete behavior under different strain rates is essential for proper designing of cut-off walls subjected to dynamic loads. The Cowper-Symonds model, as one of the most commonly applied material models, complies well with the behavior of a plastic concretes in low to moderate strain rates and will be useful in explicit dynamics simulations. This paper aims to present the results of an experimental study on mechanical responses of one of the most useful types of plastic concrete and Cowper-Symonds constant determination procedures in a wide range of strain rate from 0.0005 to 107 (1/s). For this purpose, SHPB, uniaxial, and triaxial compression tests were done on plastic concrete samples. Based on the results of quasi-static and dynamic tests, the dynamic increase factors (DIF) of this material in different strain rates and stress state conditions were determined for calibration of the Cowper - Symonds material models.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.52 no.10
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• pp.148-158
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• 2015

It is difficult to test a detection system in underwater acoustics channel environments. The system can be evaluated by using simulation analysis tool. In this paper, a simulation tool is proposed to analyze the effectiveness of underwater acoustics detection based on database for real environments. First, the underwater environment is built based on HYCOM underwater environment database. Then, a multipath characteristic is considered through calculating underwater acoustics propagation path/pressure based on the ray theory. Also, hydrophone thermal noise and underwater ambient noise are considered to reflect underwater noise characteristics.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.23 no.7 s.166
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• pp.1182-1195
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to investigate experimentally the effects of both seismic loading and crack length on the fracture behavior of piping system with a circumferential crack in nuclear power plants. The experiments were performed using both large scale piping system facility and 4 points bending test machine under PWR operating conditions. The difference in the load carrying capacities between cracked piping and non-cracked piping was also investigated using the results from experiments and numerical calculations. The results obtained from the experiments and estimation are as follows : (1) The safety margin under seismic loading is larger than those under quasi static loading or simple cyclic loading. (2) There was no significant effect of crack length on tincture behavior of piping system with both a surface crack and a through-wall crack. (3) The load carrying capacity in cracked piping was reduced by factors of 7 to 46 compared to non-cracked piping.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.505-521
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• 2017

The steel plate shear wall with beam-only connected infill plate (SSW-BO) is an innovative lateral load resisting system consisting of infill plates connected to surrounding beams and separated from the main columns. In this research, the effects of perforation diameter as well as slenderness ratios of infill plates on the hysteresis behavior of SSW-BO systems were studied experimentally. Experimental testing is performed on eight one-sixth scaled one-story SSW-BO specimens with two plate thicknesses and four different circular opening ratios at the center of the panels under fully reversed cyclic quasi-static loading in compliance with the SAC test protocol. Strength, stiffness, ductility and energy absorption were evaluated based on the hysteresis loops. It is found that the systems exhibited stable hysteretic behavior during testing until significant damage in the connection of infill plates to surrounding beams at large drifts. It is also seen that pinching occurred in the hysteresis loops, since the hinge type connections were used as boundaries at four corners of surrounding frames. The strength and initial stiffness degradation of the perforated specimens containing opening ratio of 0.36 compared to the solid one is in the range of 20% to 30% and 40% to 50%, respectively.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.627-646
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• 2014

Adobe is one of the oldest construction materials that is still used in many seismic countries, and different construction techniques are found around the world. The adobe material is characterized as a brittle material; it has acceptable compression strength but it has poor performance under tensile and shear loading conditions. Numerical modelling is an alternative approach for studying the nonlinear behaviour of masonry structures such as adobe. The lack of a comprehensive experimental database on the adobe material properties motivated the study developed here. A set of a reference material parameters for the adobe were obtained from a calibration of numerical models based on a quasi-static cyclic in-plane test on full-scale adobe wall representative of the typical Peruvian adobe constructions. The numerical modelling, within the micro and macro modelling approach, lead to a good prediction of the in-plane seismic capacity and of the damage evolution in the adobe wall considered.