• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.305-316
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• 2022

Externally bonded ultrahigh performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is commonly used as a strengthening material for reinforced concrete (RC) structures. This study reports the results of an experimental program investigating the bonding behavior between concrete and prefabricated UHPFRC plates. The overall experimental program is consisting of five RC specimens, which are strengthened using the different lengths and widths of prefabricated UHPFRC plates. These specimens were analyzed using the pull-pull double-shear test. The performance of each strengthened specimen is presented, discussed and compared in terms of failure mode, maximum load, load-slip relationship, fracture energy and strain distribution. Specimen C-25-160-300 which bonded along the whole width of 160 mm recorded the highest maximum load (109.2 kN) among all the analysed specimens. Moreover, a 3D numerical finite element model (FEM) is proposed to simulate the bond behavior between concrete and UHPFRC plates. Moreover, this study reviews the analytical models that can predict the relationship between the maximum bond stress and slip for strengthened concrete elements. The proposed FEM is verified against the experimental program and then used to test 36 RC specimens strengthened with prefabricated UHPFRC plates with different concrete grades and UHPFRC plate widths. The obtained results together with the review of analytical models helped in the formation of a design equation for estimating the bond stress between concrete and prefabricated UHPFRC plates.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.342-349
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• 2000

Hollow fiber membranes were prepared via thermally-induced phase separation process followed by stretching process from isotactic polypropylene and soybean oil system. Various operating parameters were examined in terms of their effects on the structure variation and performances of the membrane, and were optimized. Melt viscosity of the melt sample had influence on the formation of the microfibrils, and addition of nucleating agent increased the nucleation density to enhance the interspherulitic pore formation by stretching. Annealing the membrane at its stretched state relaxed the stress induced by stretching and helped the membrane maintain the stretched structure without shrinking. Solid-liquid Phase separation is more prevalent when the nucleating agent was added, and coagulation bath temperature determined the nucleation density, which affected the pore formation by stretching. In the absence of nucleating agent, nucleation was not effective and liquid-liquid phase separation governed the structure formation, which showed the opposite trend to that of the case with nucleating agent.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2000

Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composites and ceramic matrix composites (CMC) which contain electrically conductive phases have been designed and fabricated to introduce the detection capability of damage/fracture detection into these materials. The composites were made electrically conductive by adding carbon and TiN particles into FRP and CMC, respectively. The resistance of the conductive FRP containing carbon particles showed almost linear response to strain and high sensitivity over a wide range of strains. After each load-unload cycle the FRP retained a residual resistance, which increased with applied maximum stress or strain. The FRP with carbon particles embedded in cement (mortar) specimens enabled micro-crack formation and propagation in the mortar to be detected in situ. The CMC materials exhibited not only sensitive response to the applied strain but also an increase in resistance with increasing number of load-unload cycles during cyclic load testing. These results show that it is possible to use these composites to detect and/or fracture in structural materials, which are required to monitor the healthiness or safety in industrial applications and public constructions.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.117-127
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• 2012

The beneficial effects of adipose-derived stem cell conditioned media (ADSC-CM) for skin regeneration have previously been reported, despite the precise mechanism of how ADSC-CM promotes skin regeneration remaining unclear. ADSC-CM contains various secretomes and this may be a factor in it being a good resource for the treatment of skin conditions. It is also known that ADSC-CM produced in hypoxia conditions, in other words Advanced Adipose-Derived Stem cell Protein Extract (AAPE), has excellent skin regenerative properties. In this study, a human primary skin cell was devised to examine how AAPE affects human dermal fibroblast (HDF) and human keratinocyte (HK), which both play fundamental roles in skin regeneration. The promotion of collagen formation by HDFs was observed at 0.32 mg/ml of AAPE. AAPE treatment significantly stimulated stress fiber formation. DNA gene chips demonstrated that AAPE in HKs (p<0.05) affected the expression of 133 identifiable transcripts, which were associated with cell proliferation, migration, cell adhesion, and response to wounding. Twenty five identified proteins, including MMP, growth factor and cytokines such as CD54, FGF-2, GM-CSF, IL-4, IL-6, VEGF, TGF-${\beta}2$, TGF-${\beta}3$, MMP-1, MMP-10, and MMP-19, were contained in AAPE via antibody arrays. Thus, AAPE might activate the HK biological function and induce the collagen synthesis of HDF. These results demonstrate that AAPE has the potential to be used for clinic applications aimed at skin regeneration.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2016

The crystal structure of nylon 56 fibers post extended by drawing process was investigated by synchrotron x-ray scattering measurement. In as-cast fiber, distinct (004) and (020) diffraction peaks were observed and they were related to initial metastable alignment of nylon molecules. With increase in the drawing ratio, (110) peak intensity was increased in vertical direction with decreasing (020) peak. At the same time, (004)' peak evolved position tilted to 29 degrees from the (004) peak. This evolution is directly related to stable crystalline phase of nylon 56 originated from additional formation of hydrogen bondings between N-H and C=O by post drawing process. We also compared density variation, stress-strain curves of the fiber as a function of drawing ratio and strain. The variations of density and tanacity also supported the increase of stable structure of nylon 56.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.49-70
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• 2014

Steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) is known as one of the efficient modern composites that can greatly enhance the material performance of cracked concrete in tension. Such improved tensile resistance mechanism at crack interfaces in SFRC members can be heavily influenced by methodologies of treatments of crack direction. While most existing studies have focused on developing the numerical analysis model with the rotating-angle theory, there are only few studies on finite element analysis models with the fixed-angle model approach. According to many existing experimental studies, the direction of principal stress rotated after the formation of initial fixed-cracks, but it was also observed that new cracks with completely different angles relative to the initial crack direction very rarely occurred. Therefore, this study introduced the direct tension force transfer model (DTFTM), in which tensile resistance of the fibers at the crack interface can be easily estimated, to the nonlinear finite element analysis algorithm with the fixed-angle theory, and the proposed model was also verified by comparing the analysis results to the SFRC shear panel test results. The secant modulus method adopted in this study for iterative calculations in nonlinear finite element analysis showed highly stable and fast convergence capability when it was applied to the fixed-angle theory. The deviation angle between the principal stress direction and the fixed-crack direction significantly increased as the tensile stresses in the steel fibers at crack interfaces increased, which implies that the deviation angle is very important in the estimation of the shear behavior of SFRC members.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2013

Two different UHPCCs having different fiber lengths and volume fractions are considered to be applied to bridge decks. The objective of this study is to estimate cracking resistance of the two UHPCCs. The notched beam tests were performed with the UHPCCs, and the relationships between load and CMOD(Crack Mouth Opening Displacement) were obtained from the tests. The tensile stress and crack opening relationships optimally fitting the measured load-CMOD curves were found through the inverse analyses. The UHPCC with 2% volume fraction of 13 mm long fiber has lower fracture energy than the UHPCC with 0.5% and 1.0% volume fractions of 16.3 mm and 19.5 mm long fibers, respectively. It indicates that the latter UHPCC is more effective in uniformly distributing crack formation and reducing crack width.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.175-186
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• 2018

The plastic hinge method and the plastic zone method are extensively adopted in displacement-based elements and force-based elements respectively for second-order inelastic analysis. The former enhances the computational efficiency with relatively less accurate results while the latter precisely predicts the structural behavior but generally requires more computer time. The displacement-based elements receive criticism mainly on plasticity dominated problems not only in accuracy but also in longer computer time to redistribute the forces due to formation of plastic hinges. The multi-element-per-member model relieves this problem to some extent but will induce a new problem in modeling of member initial imperfections required in design codes for direct analysis. On the contrary, a force-based element with several integration points is sufficient for material yielding. However, use of more integration points or elements associated with fiber section reduces computational efficiency. In this paper, a new force-based element equipped with stress-resultant plasticity model with minimal computational cost is proposed for second-order inelastic analysis. This element is able to take the member initial bowing into account such that one-element-per-member model is adequate and complied with the codified requirements of direct analysis. This innovative solution is new and practical for routine design. Finally, several examples demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed method.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1199-1206
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• 2017

The lymphotoxin ${\beta}$ receptor ($LT{\beta}R$), a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family, plays an important role in lymphoid tissue's architecture and organogenesis. We found that $LT{\beta}R$ stimulation induced changes in stress fibers (SFs) in fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs). MLCK and ROCK play critical roles in the regulation of SF formation in cells. The present study was performed to investigate the antifibrotic effects on SF regulation of $LT{\beta}R$ signaling, with a focus on MLCK inhibition. The effect of $LT{\beta}R$ on the SF change was analyzed using immunoblot and fluorescence assays and agonistic $anti-LT{\beta}R$ antibody-treated FRCs. In addition, we checked the level of Rho-guanosine diphosphate (GDP)/guanosine triphosphate (GTP) exchange activity with FRC lysate. Phospho-ezrin proteins acting as membrane-cytoskeleton linkers completely de-phosphorylated in agonistic $anti-LT{\beta}R$ antibody-treated FRCs. The actin bundles rearranged into SFs, where phospho-myosin light chain (p-MLC) co-localized in FRCs. ML7-treated FRCs completely blocked SFs and showed retraction and shrinkage processes comparable to those observed in agonistic $anti-LT{\beta}R$ antibody-treated cells. Inhibition of ROCK activity induced changes in the actin cytoskeleton organization; however, some SFs remained in the cells, while they were completely disrupted by MLCK inhibition with ML7. We showed that the phosphorylation of MLC was completely abolished with $LT{\beta}R$ stimulation in FRCs. When $LT{\beta}R$ was stimulated with the agonistic $anti-LT{\beta}R$ antibody, the Rho-GDP/GTP exchange activity was reduced, however, the activity was not completely abolished. Collectively, the results illustrated that MLCK was potently responsible for the SF regulation triggered via $LT{\beta}R$ signaling in FRCs.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.677-687
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• 2016

Industrialization and urbanization are the two phenomena that are going relentless all over the world. The consequence of this economic success has been a massive increase in waste on one hand and increasing demand for suitable sites for construction on the other. Owing to the surplus raw materials and energy requirement needed for manufacturing synthetic fibers, applications of waste fibers for reinforcing soils evidenced to offer economic and environmental benefits. The main objective of the proposed work is to explore the possibilities of improving the strength of soil using fly ash waste as an admixture and Human Hair Fiber (HHF) as reinforcement such that they can be used for construction of embankments and land reclamation projects. The effect of fiber content on soil - fly ash mixture was observed through a series of laboratory tests such as compaction tests, CBR and unconfined compression tests. From the stress - strain curves, it was observed that the UCC strength for the optimised soil - flyash mixture reinforced with 0.75% human hair fibers is nearly 2.85 times higher than that of the untreated soil. Further, it has been noticed that there is about 7.73 times increase in CBR for the reinforced soil compared to untreated soil. This drastic increase in strength may be due to the fact that HHF offer more pull-out resistance which makes the fibers act like a bridge to prevent further cracking and thereby it improves the toughness which in turn prevent the brittle failure of soil-flyash specimen. Hence, the test results reveal that the inclusion of randomly distributed HHF in soil significantly improves the engineering properties of soil and can be effectively utilized in pavements. SEM analysis explained the change of microstructures and the formation of hydration products that offered increase in strength and it was found to be in accordance with strength tests.