• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.62-69
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• 2016

Current guidance considers that uniaxially loaded specimen with a deep crack is used for the determination of the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature. However, reactor pressure vessel is under biaxial loading in real and the existence of deep crack is not probable through periodic in-service-inspection. The elastic stress intensity factor and the elastic-plastic J-integral which were used for crack-tip stress field and fracture mechanics assessment parameters. The difference of the loading condition and crack geometry can significantly influence on these parameters. Thus, a constraint effect caused by differences between standard specimens and a real structure can over/underestimate the fracture toughness, and it affects the results of the structural integrity assessment, consequentially. The present paper investigates the constraint effects by evaluating the master curve $T_0$ reference temperature of PCVN (Pre-cracked Charpy V-Notch) and small scale cruciform specimens which was designed to simulate biaxial loading condition with shallow crack through the fracture toughness tests and 3-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element analyses. Based on the finite element analysis results, the fracture toughness values of a small scale cruciform specimen were estimated, and the geometry-dependent factors of the cruciform specimen considered in the present study were determined. Finally, the transferability of the test results of these specimens was discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.14-21
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• 2021

Inner shell material of LNG storage tanks that store ultra-low temperature LNG at -162℃ requires structural integrity assessment of a crack-like defect. From the viewpoint of conventional fracture mechanics, the assessment has mainly performed by single parameter using stress intensity factor K, J-integral and CTOD. However, the stresses in a material of crack tip are not unique caused by constraint loss due to size and geometry of the structure. Various attempts have been made to complement a single parameter fracture mechanics, typically with Q-stress. In this paper, we have performed a two-parameter approach by deriving the Q-stress coupling with J-integral suitable for the evaluation of the crack tip stress field in the non-linear elastic region. A quantitative evaluation of the constraint effect has performed by using the J-Q approach. It was evaluated that the SENB type specimen had a crack ratio of 0.1 to 0.7 and the wide type specimen had a crack ratio of 0.2 to 0.6.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.127-132
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• 2002

Recent deepwater offshore structures in Gulf of Mexico utilize butt welded tubular joints. Application of welded tubular joint includes tendons, production risers, and steel catenary risers. Fatigue life assessment of these joints becomes more critical because the structures to which they are attached are allowed to undergo cyclic and sometimes large displacements around an anchored position. Estimating the fatigue behavior of these tubular members in the design stage is generally conducted by using S-N curves specified in the codes and standards. Applying the stress concentration factor of the welded structure to S-N approach often results in very conservative assessment because the stress field acting on the tubular has a non-uniform distribution through the thickness. Fracture mechanics and fitness for service (FFS) technology have been applied in the design of the catenary risers. This technology enables the engineer to establish proper requirements on weld quality and inspection acceptance criteria to assure satisfactory structural integrity during its design life. It also provides guidance on proper design curves to be used and a methodology for accounting for the effects of non-uniform stress distribution through the wall thickness. An attempt was made to develop set of S-N curves based on fracture mechanics approach by considering non-uniform stress distribution and a threshold stress intensity factor. Series of S-N curves generated from this approach were compared to the existing S-N curves. For flat plate butt joint, the S-N curve generated from fracture mechanics matches with the IIW class 100 curve when initial crack depth was 0.5 mm (0.02"). Similar comparison with API X′ was made for tubular joint.. These initial crack depths are larger than the limits of inspection by current Non-destructive examination (NDE) means, such as Automatic Ultrasonic Inspection (AUT). Thus a safe approach can be taken by specifying acceptance criteria that are close to limits of sizing capability of the selected NDE method. The comparison illustrates conservatism built into the S-N design curve.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.970-979
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• 2012

The purpose of study was to analyze the ecological health of the Namcheon Stream using Index of Biotic Integrity(IBI) Qualitative Habitate Evaluation Index(QHEI) and Water quality condition. Diatom samples were collected from ten sampling sites in the stream at total four times in 2006 and 2007. To assess ecological health of the stream, it was used modify metrics proposed by USEPA(1999). IBI values of the stream averaged 23 which was judged as a "fair". Physical habitate evaluation analysis showed that QHEI values in the stream averaged 57 indicating a "poor" condition. Water quality condition in the stream averaged "II" indicating a "a little good" condition In conclusion, ecological health of the Namcheon Stream was "fair" condition that means habitate minimally disturb in the aquatic environment and relatively good water quality. Especially, St. 6 St. 7, St. 8, and St. 9 showed that QHEI values in the stream averaged 47 indicating a "poor" condition. St. 6 exists mostly to interfere with the flow of the river piers and artificial beams around. They are also serious disturbance at riverbed structure in aquatic ecosystems. St. 10 was good about habitate condition however, it was disturbance of aquatic ecosystems due to nutrient. It is suggest that St. 10 needs to be managed for nutrient inflows.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2013

Power generating unit structures are designed and built to meet standard to secure its safety for expected life time. As the structures have been exposed to combined environment, degradation of structure material is accelerated and it can cause unexpected damage; evaluating precise mechanical properties of weak site like welded area is an essential research area as it is directly connected to safety issues. Existing measuring technique like tensile test requires specific size in testing specimen yet it is destructive method which is hard to apply on running structures. To overcome above mentioned limitation, IIT is getting limelight as it is non-destructive and simple method. In this study, latest technique is introduced to evaluate tensile property and residual stress by analyzing stress field occurs under the indenter while IIT is performed. Test on welded area, the weak site of nuclear structures have been practiced and confirmed that IIT can be usefully applied to evaluate integrity in industry.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.153-166
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• 2023

Health monitoring of civil infrastructures, in particular, old bridges that are still in service, has become more than necessary, given the risk that a possible degradation or failure of these infrastructures can induce on the safety of users in addition to the resulting commercial and economic impact. Bridge integrity assessment has attracted significant research efforts over the past forty years with the aim of developing new damage identification methods applicable to real structures. The bridge of Ouled Mimoun (Tlemcen, Algeria) is one of the oldest railway structure in the country. It was built in 1889. This bridge, which is too low with respect to the level of the road, has suffered multiple shocks from various machines that caused considerable damage to its central part. The present work aims to analyze the stability of this bridge by identifying damages and evaluating the damage rate in different parts of the structure on the basis of a finite element model. The applied method is based on an inverse analysis of the normal stress responses that were calculated from the corresponding recorded strains, during the passage of a real train, by means of a set of strain gauges placed on certain elements of the bridge. The results obtained from the inverse analysis made it possible to successfully locate areas that were really damaged and to estimate the damage rate. These results were also used to detect an excessive rigidity in certain elements due to the presence of plates, which were neglected in the numerical reference model. In the case of the continuous bridge monitoring, this developed method will be a very powerful tool as a smart health monitoring system, allowing engineers to take in time decisions in the event of bridge damage.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.145-153
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• 2013

It is a global trend that the water management policy is shifting from a water quality-oriented assessment to the aquatic ecosystem-based assessment. The majority of aquatic ecosystem assessment systems were developed solely based on physicochemical factors (e.g., water quality and bed structure) and a limited number of organisms (e.g., plankton and benthic organisms). Only a few systems use plants for a health assessment, although plants are sensitive indicators reflecting long-term disturbances and alterations in water regimes. The development of an assessment system is underway to evaluate and manage lakes as ecosystem units in the Korean Ministry of Environment. We reviewed the existing multivariate health assessment methods of other leading countries, and discussed their applicability to Korean lakes. The application of multivariate assessment methods is costly and time consuming, in addition to the correlation problem among variables. However, a single variable is not available at this moment, and the multivariate method is an appropriate system due to its multidimensional evaluation and cumulative data generation. We, therefore, discussed multivariate assessment methods in three steps: selecting metrics, scoring metrics and assessing indices. In the step of selecting metrics, the best available metrics are species-related variables, such as composition and abundance, as well as richness and diversity. Indicator species, such as sensitive species, are the most frequently used in other countries, but their system of classification in Korea is not yet complete. In terms of scoring metrics, the lack of reference lakes with little anthropogenic impact make this step difficult, and therefore, the use of relative scores among the investigated lakes is a suitable alternative. Overall, in spite of several limitations, the development of a plant-based multivariate assessment method in Korea is possible using mostly field research data. Later, it could be improved based on qualitative metrics on plant species, and with the emergence of further survey data.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.92-102
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• 2013

A Project Financing (PF) is a form of project delivery system that is carried out for the purpose of trying to give help to the development of national economy and the construction industry in order attract private investment. However, in the case of Korea, many PF projects are only taking into account the aspect of maximizing development benefits, and the proliferation of PF results in project failure. In addition, the interruption of business has been one after another in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis. These major cause is the result of efforts to block the potential risk of objectively quantifying operations. Nowadays, PF risk analysis in terms of various factors is insufficient. The purpose of this study is to identify and quantify the extensive risk elements to classify the cause of affecting the success of the project PF study prior to propose a methodology for evaluating the integrity of the project PF based on this and to provide a quantitative system that can evaluate the business risk. This study identified the factors that affect the PF business success and failure and establish the metrics that can be quantified through existing research and expert interviews. Factors influencing the success of the PF obtained as a result of surveys and interviews in assessing the soundness of the PF development conditions in the future be able to take advantage of, as well as an objective assessment tool to be able to take advantage of the development is expected.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.531-538
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• 2011

To ensure the structural integrity of membrane type LNG tank, the rational assessment of impact pressure and structural responses due to sloshing should be preceded. The sloshing impact pressures acting on the insulation system of LNG tank are typical irregular loads and the structural responses caused by them also very complex behaviors including fluid structure interaction. So it is not easy to estimate them accurately and huge time consuming process would be necessary. In this research, a simplified method to analyze the dynamic structural responses of LNG tank insulation system under pressure time histories obtained by sloshing model test or numerical analysis was proposed. This technique basically based on the concept of linear combination of the triangular response functions which are obtained by the transient response analysis under the unit triangular impact pressure acting on structures in time domain. The validity of suggested method was verified through the example calculations and applied to the structural analysis of real Mark III type insulation system using the sloshing impact pressure time histories obtained by model test.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.283-300
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• 2015

Visual condition inspections remain paramount to assessing the current deterioration status of a bridge and assigning remediation or maintenance tasks so as to ensure the ongoing serviceability of the structure. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing backlog of maintenance activities. Existing research reveals that this is attributable to the labour-intensive, subjective and disruptive nature of the current bridge inspection method. Current processes ultimately require lane closures, traffic guidance schemes and inspection equipment. This not only increases the whole-of-life costs of the bridge, but also increases the risk to the travelling public as issues affecting the structural integrity may go unaddressed. As a tool for bridge condition inspections, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or, drones, offer considerable potential, allowing a bridge to be visually assessed without the need for inspectors to walk across the deck or utilise under-bridge inspection units. With current inspection processes placing additional strain on the existing bridge maintenance resources, the technology has the potential to significantly reduce the overall inspection costs and disruption caused to the travelling public. In addition to this, the use of automated aerial image capture enables engineers to better understand a situation through the 3D spatial context offered by UAV systems. However, the use of UAV for bridge inspection involves a number of critical issues to be resolved, including stability and accuracy of control, and safety to people. SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping) is a technique that could be used by a UAV to build a map of the bridge underneath, while simultaneously determining its location on the constructed map. While there are considerable economic and risk-related benefits created through introducing entirely new ways of inspecting bridges and visualising information, there also remain hindrances to the wider deployment of UAVs. This study is to provide a context for use of UAVs for conducting visual bridge inspections, in addition to addressing the obstacles that are required to be overcome in order for the technology to be integrated into current practice.