• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.547-565
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• 2014

This paper investigates the design of a perfect point load actuator based on flat triangular piezoelectric patches. Applying a difference of electric potential between the electrodes of a triangular patch leads to point loads at the tips and distributed moments along the edges of the electrodes. The previously derived analytical expressions of these forces show that they depend on two factors: the width over height (b/l) ratio of the triangle, and the ratio of the in-plane piezoelectric properties ($e_{31}/e_{32}$) of the active layer of the piezoelectric patch. In this paper, it is shown that by a proper choice of b/l and of the piezoelectric properties, the moments can be cancelled, so that if one side of the triangle is clamped, a perfect point load actuation can be achieved. This requires $e_{31}/e_{32}$ to be negative, which imposes the use of interdigitated electrodes instead of continuous ones. The design of two transducers with interdigitated electrodes for perfect point load actuation on a clamped plate is verified with finite element calculations. The first design is based on a full piezoelectric ceramic patch and shows superior actuation performance than the second design based on a piezocomposite patch with a volume fraction of fibres of 86%. The results show that both designs lead to perfect point load actuation while the use of an isotropic PZT patch with continuous electrodes gives significantly different results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.583-594
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• 2018

Although a lot of experimental and analytical investigations have been carried out for steel bridge piers made of SS400 and SM490, the formulas available for SS400 and SM490 are not suitable for evaluating ultimate load and deformation capacities of steel bridge piers made of high strength steel (HSS) SM570. The effect of various parameters is investigated in this paper, including plate width-to-thickness ratio, column slenderness ratio and axial compression force ratio, on the ultimate load and deformation capacities of steel bridge box piers made of SM570 steel subjected to cyclic loading. The elasto-plastic behavior of the steel bridge piers under cyclic loads is simulated through plastic large deformation finite element analysis, in which a modified two-surface model (M2SM) including cyclic hardening is employed to trace the material nonlinearity. An extensive parametric study is conducted to study the influences of structural parameters on the ultimate load and deformation capacities. Based on these analytical investigations, new formulas for predicting ultimate load and deformation capacities of steel bridge piers made of SM570 are proposed. This study extends the ultimate load and deformation capacities evaluation of steel bridge piers from SS400, SM490 steels to SM570 steel, and provides some useful suggestions.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.641-652
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• 2017

This paper proposes a cost-effective topology to drive a three-phase open-end load based on a five-leg indirect matrix converter (IMC) and a space vector modulation (SVM) method. By sharing an inverter leg with two load terminals, the proposed topology can reduce the number of power switches when compared to topologies based on a direct matrix converter or a six-leg IMC. The new SVM method uses only the active vectors that do not produce common-mode voltage (CMV), which results in zero CMV across the load phase and significantly reduces the peak value of the CMV at the load terminal. Furthermore, the proposed drive system can increase the voltage transfer ratio up to 1.5 and provide a superior performance in terms of an output line-to-line voltage with a three-level pulse-width modulation waveform. Simulation and experimental results are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed topology and the new SVM method.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.694-701
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• 2018

Larger crack widths can be observed more in FRP-reinforced concrete members than in steel-reinforced concrete members as a result of the lower elastic modulus and bond strength of FRP reinforcement. The ACI 440.1R-15 design guide provides equations derived as the maximum bar spacing to control the crack widths indirectly. On the other hand, it is not concerned with long-term effects on the crack control design provisions. This study provides suggestions for how to incorporate time-dependent effects into the crack width equation. The work presented herein includes the results from 8 beams composed of four rectangular and T-shaped FRP-reinforced concrete beams tested for one year under four-point bending. Over a one year period, the crack widths increased as much as 2.6~3.0 times in GFRP and AFRP-reinforced specimens and 1.1~1.4 times in the CFRP-reinforced specimens compared to steel-reinforced specimens. In addition, the average multiple for crack width at one year relative to the instantaneous crack width upon the application of the sustained load was 2.4 in the specimens with a rectangular section and 3.1 in the specimens with a T-shaped section. As a result, it is recommended conservatively that the time-dependent coefficient be taken as 2.5 for the rectangular beams and 3.5 for T-beams.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.2680-2687
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• 2000

The Reynolds equation, incorporating Elrods cavitation algorithm, is discretized on a rectangular grid in computational space through coordinate mapping in order to accurately analyze a herringbone grooved journal bearing of a spindle motor in a computer hard disk drive. The pressure distribution and cavitation area are determined by using the finite volume method. Predicted results are compared to experimental data of previous researchers. It was found that positive pressure is developed within the converging section of the bearing and that a cavity occurs in the diverging section. Cavitation has been neglected in the previous analysis of the herringbone grooved bearing. Load capacity and bearing torque are increased due to the increased of eccentricity and L/D and the decrease of the grooved width ratio. The maximum load capacity was found to occur at a groove angle of 30 degrees while bearing torque remains constant due to the variation of the groove angle. The cavitation region is significantly decreased with the inclusion of herringbone grooves. However, the region increases with the increase of the eccentricity, L/D, groove angle and the rotational speed and the decrease of the grooved width ratio.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.817-834
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• 2014

An experimental program was designed in the current work to examine the structural behavior of ferrocement beams reinforced with composite materials under three point loadings up to failure. The experimental program comprised casting and testing of twelve ferrocement beams having the dimensions of 120 mm width, 200 mm depth and 1600 mm length. The twelve beams were different in the type of reinforcements; steel bars, traditional wire meshes (welded and expanded wire meshes) and composite materials (fiberglass wire meshes and polypropylene wire meshes). The flexural performances of the all tested beams in terms of strength, ductility, cracking behavior and energy absorption were investigated. Also all the tested beams were simulated using ANSYS program. The results of the experimental tests concluded that the beam with fiber glass meshes gives the lowest first crack load and ultimate load. The ferrocement beam reinforced with four layers of welded wire meshes has better structural behavior than those beams reinforced with other types of wire meshes. Also the beams reinforced with metal wire meshes give smaller cracks width in comparing with those reinforced with non-metal wire meshes. Also the Finite Element (FE) simulations gave good results comparing with the experimental results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.135-160
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• 2007

Recently, CFT column has been well-studied and reported on, because a CFT column has certain superior structural properties as well as good productivity, execution efficiency, and improved rigidity over existing columns. However, CFT column still has problems clearing the capacity evaluation between its steel tube member and high-strength concrete materials. Also, research on concrete has examined numerical values for high-strength concrete filled steel square tube columns (HCFT) to explain transformation performance (M-${\phi}$) when a short-column receives equal flexure-moment from axial stress. Moment-curvature formulas are proposed for HCFT columns based on analytic assumption described in this paper. This study investigated structural properties (capacity, curvature), through a series of experiments for HCFT with key parameters, such as strength of concrete mixed design (58.8 MPa), width-thickness ratio (D/t), buckling length to sectional width ratio (Lk/D) and concrete types (Zeolite, Fly-ash, Silica-fume) under eccentric loads. A comparative analysis executed for the AISC-LRFD, AIJ and Takanori Sato, etc. Design formulas to estimate the axial load (N)-moment (M)-curvature (${\phi}$) are proposed for HCFT columns based on tests results described in this paper.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.554-570
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• 1990

he rolling contact behaviors between a smooth ball and a flat rough surface under dynamic load are intricately affected by many factors, such as the diameter of a ball, normal load and the roughness of a flat surface etc. Accordingly, the experimental study is done to find them on the base of elastic hysteresis loss as theoretical approach is very difficult. The experimental apparatus composed of damped-free vibration system is used. This paper investigates the damping characteristics on the rolling contact area through rolling friction force and logarithmic decrement versus displacement obtained in accordance with the variations of those factors, and presents a new experimental method to find out contact width using the relations of logarithmic decrement and rolling friction force with displacement.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.327-337
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• 2015

This study discusses the design of a parallel-operated DC-DC single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) for low-voltage application and current sharing with a constant output voltage. A coupled inductor is used for parallel-connected SEPIC topology. Generally, two separate inductors require different ripple currents, but a coupled inductor has the advantage of using the same ripple current. Furthermore, tightly coupled inductors require only half of the ripple current that separate inductors use. In this proposed work, tightly coupled inductors are used. These produce an output that is more efficient than that from separate inductors. Two SEPICs are also connected in parallel using the coupled inductors with a single common controller. An analog control circuit is designed to generate pulse width modulation (PWM) signals and to fulfill the closed-loop control function. A stable output current-sharing strategy is proposed in this system. An experimental setup is developed for a 18.5 V, 60 W parallel SEPIC (PSEPIC) converter, and the results are verified. Results indicate that the PSEPIC provides good response for the variation of input voltage and sudden change in load.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2019

The influence of two parameters on fatigue damage predictions of a variably loaded cantilever beam has been examined. The first parameter is the geometry of the cantilever beam and the weld connecting it to a rear panel. Variables of the geometry examined here include the cantilever length, the weld width on the critical cross-section and the angle of the critical cross-section. The second parameter is the safety factor, as set out by the Eurocode 3 standard. An analytical approach has been used to calculate the stresses at the critical cross-section and standard rainflow counting has been used for the extraction of the load cycles from the load history. The results here suggest that a change in the width and angle of the critical cross-section has a non-linear impact on the fatigue damage. The results also show that the angle of the critical cross-section has the biggest influence on the fatigue damage and can cause the weld to withstand fatigue better. The second parameter, the safety factor, is shown to have a significant effect on the fatigue damage calculation, whereby a slight increase in the endurance safety factor can cause the calculated fatigue damage to increase considerably.