• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.347-362
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• 2005

The input energy to a base-isolated (BI) building during an earthquake is considered and formulated in the frequency domain. The frequency-domain approach for input energy computation has some notable advantages over the conventional time-domain approach. Sensitivities of the input energy to the BI building are derived with respect to uncertain parameters in the base-isolation system. It is demonstrated that the input energy can be of a compact form via the frequency integration of the product between the input component (Fourier amplitude spectrum of acceleration) and the structural model component (so-called energy transfer function). With the help of this compact form, it is shown that the formulation of earthquake input energy in the frequency domain is essential for deriving the sensitivities of the input energy to the BI building with respect to uncertain parameters. The sensitivity expressions provide us with information on the most unfavorable combination of the uncertain parameters which leads to the maximum energy input.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.698-700
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• 2003

LGP (Light-Guide Panel) of TFT-LCD Backligh/Frontlight is one of the major components which affect on the product quality of LCD. Since the brightness distribution of LGP is sensitive to the process error in manufacturing, the optical characteristics such as reflection and absorption of LGP pattern should be modeled including the process error. LGP is developed by using the fast and reliable design technology, which uses the concept of the inverse-design, makes the model on the characteristics of uncertainty in the manufacturing process, and designs the dispersion pattern analytically without try-and-error by using an artificial intelligence. The PEA(Process-Error-Adaptive) design gives the best solution in handling the process error. The offset of target in feedback system makes such the best pattern design possible that the brightness distribution is nearly same (more than 90%) with target in regardless of the miscellaneous errors in mass production. The present design method has been also applied to frontlight and multi-side-lamp(eg., four-side-four-lamp) backlight.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.363-378
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• 2015

Estimation of geotechnical properties is an essential but challenging task since they are major components governing the safety and reliability of the entire structural system. However, due to time and budget constraints, reliable geotechnical properties estimation using traditional site characterization approach is difficult. In view of this, an alternative efficient and cost effective approach to address the overall uncertainty is necessary to facilitate an economical, safe and reliable geotechnical design. In this paper a probabilistic approach is proposed for real-time updating by incorporating new geotechnical information from the underlying project site. The updated model obtained from the proposed method is advantageous because it incorporates information from both existing database and the site of concern. An application using real data from a site in Hong Kong will be presented to demonstrate the proposed method.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2018

From the viewpoint of engineering applications, the prediction of the failure of bogies plays an important role in preventing the occurrence of fatigue. Fatigue is a complex phenomenon affected by many uncertainties (such as load, environment, geometrical and material properties, and so on). The key to predict fatigue damage accurately is how to quantify these uncertainties. A Bayesian model is used to account for the uncertainty of various sources when predicting fatigue damage of structural components. In spite of improvements in the design of fatigue-sensitive structures, periodic non-destructive inspections are required for components. With the help of modern nondestructive inspection techniques, the fatigue flaws can be detected for bogie structures, and fatigue reliability can be updated by using Bayesian theorem with inspection data. A practical fatigue analysis of welded bogies is utilized to testify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.381-392
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• 2020

Despite that the failure of sign structure may not have disastrous consequence, its sheer number still ensures the need for rigorous safety standard to regulate their maintenance and construction. During its service life, a sign structure is subject to extensive wind load, sometimes well over its permissible design load. A fragility analysis of a sign structure offers a tool for rational decision making and safety evaluation by using a probabilistic framework to consider the various sources of uncertainty that affect its performance. Wind fragility analysis was used to determine the performance of sign structure based on the performance of its connection components. In this study, basic wind fragility concepts and data required to support the fragility analysis of the sign structure such as sign panel's parameters, connection component's parameters, as well as wind load parameters were presented. Fragility and compound fragility analysis showed disparity between connection component. Additionally, reinforcement of the connection system was introduced as an example of the utilization of wind fragility results in the retrofit decision making.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.527-538
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• 2012

In seismic analyses of structures, additional eccentricity is introduced to take account for oscillations of random and unknown origins. In many codes of practice, the torsion about the vertical axis is considered through empirical accidental eccentricity formulation. Due to the random nature of structural systems, it is very difficult to evaluate the accidental eccentricity in a deterministic way and to specify its effect on the overall seismic response of structures. The aim of this study is to develop a procedure for the evaluation of the accidental eccentricity induced by uncertainties in stiffness and mass of structural members, using the neural network techniques coupled with Monte Carlo simulations. This method gives very interesting results for single story structures. For real structures, this method can be used as a tool to determine the accidental eccentricity in the seismic vulnerability studies of buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.25-43
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• 2016

The uneven distribution of rolling friction coefficient may lead to great uncertainty in the structural seismic isolation performance. This paper attempts to improve the isolation performance of a spring-damper-rolling isolation system by artificially making the uneven friction distribution to be concave. The rolling friction coefficient gradually increases when the isolator rolls away from the original position during an earthquake. After the spring-damper-rolling isolation system under different ground motions was calculated by a numerical analysis method, the system obtained more regular results than that of random uneven friction distributions. Results shows that the concave friction distribution can not only dissipate the earthquake energy, but also change the structural natural period. These functions improve the seismic isolation efficiency of the spring-damper-rolling isolation system in comparison with the random uneven distribution of rolling friction coefficient, and always lead to a relatively acceptable isolation state even if the actual earthquake significantly differs from the design earthquake.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.703-715
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• 1996

In stochastic analysis, the randomness of the structural parameters is taken into consideration and the response variability is obtained in addition to the conventional (mean) response. In the present paper the structural response variability of plate structure is calculated using the weighted integral method and is compared with the results obtained by different methods. The stochastic field is assumed to be normally distributed and to have the homogeneity. The decomposition of strain-displacement matrix enabled us to extend the formulation to the stochastic analysis with the quadratic elements in the weighted integral method. A new auto-correlation function is derived considering the uncertainty of plate thickness. The results obtained in the numerical examples by two different methods, i.e., weighted integral method and Monte Carlo simulation, are in a close agreement. In the case of the variable plate thickness, the obtained results are in good agreement with those of Lawrence and Monte Carlo simulation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.735-749
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• 2015

The major difficulty of using Bayesian probabilistic inference for system identification is to obtain the posterior probability density of parameters conditioned by the measured response. The posterior density of structural parameters indicates how plausible each model is when considering the uncertainty of prediction errors. The Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is a widespread medium for posterior inference but its convergence is often slow. The differential evolution adaptive Metropolis-Hasting (DREAM) algorithm boasts a population-based mechanism, which nms multiple different Markov chains simultaneously, and a global optimum exploration ability. This paper proposes an improved differential evolution adaptive Metropolis-Hasting algorithm (IDREAM) strategy to estimate the posterior density of structural parameters. The main benefit of IDREAM is its efficient MCMC simulation through its use of the adaptive Metropolis (AM) method with a mutation strategy for ensuring quick convergence and robust solutions. Its effectiveness was demonstrated in simulations on identifying the structural parameters with limited output data and noise polluted measurements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.369-387
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• 2016

In this work, random homogenization analysis for the effective thermal properties of a three-dimensional composite material with unidirectional fibers is presented by combining the equivalent inclusion method with Random Factor Method (RFM). The randomness of the micro-structural morphology and constituent material properties as well as the correlation among these random parameters are completely accounted for, and stochastic effective thermal properties as thermal expansion coefficients as well as their correlation are then sought. Results from the RFM and the Monte-Carlo Method (MCM) are compared. The impact of randomness and correlation of the micro-structural parameters on the random homogenized results is revealed by two methods simultaneously, and some important conclusions are obtained.