• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.7
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• pp.767-792
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• 2010

In this paper, the optimal design of vibration control system for smart structures has been investigated semi-analytically via the optimization of geometric parameters like the placements and sizes of piezoelectric sensors and actuators (S/As) bonded on the structures. The criterion based on the maximization of energy dissipation was adopted for the optimization of the control system. Based on the sensing and actuating equations, the total energy stored in the system which is used as the objective function was analytically derived with design variables explicitly presented. Two cases of single and combined vibration modes were addressed for a simply supported beam and a simply supported cylindrical shell. For single vibration mode, the optimal distributions of the piezoelectric S/As could be obtained analytically. However, the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) method has to be employed to solve those which violated the prescribed constraints and to solve the case of combined vibration modes. The results of three examples, which include a simply supported beam, a simply supported cylindrical shell and a simply supported plate, showed good agreement with those obtained by the Genetic Algorithm (GA) method. Moreover, in comparison with the GA method, the proposed method is more effective in obtaining better optimization results and is much more efficient in terms of computation time.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.313-328
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• 2016

Beam-column joints are recognized as one of the most critical and vulnerable zones of a Reinforced Concrete (RC) moment resisting structure subjected to seismic loads. The performance of the deficient beam-column joints can be improved by retrofitting these joints by jacketing them with varied materials like concrete, steel, FRP and ferrocement. In the present study strength behavior of RCC exterior beam-column joints, initially loaded to a prefixed percentage of the ultimate load, and retrofitted using ferrocement jacketing using two different wrapping schemes has been studied and presented. In retrofitting scheme, RS-I, wire mesh is provided in L shape at top and at bottom of the beam-column joint, whereas, in scheme RS-II along with wire mesh in L shape at top and bottom wire mesh is also provided diagonally to the joint. The results of these retrofitted beam-column joints have been compared with those of the controlled joint specimens. The results show an improvement in the ultimate load carrying capacity and yield load of the retrofitted specimens. However, no improvement in the ductility and energy absorption has been observed.

• Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.16-33
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• 2002

A concept of hierarchical modeling, the newest modeling technology. has been introduced early In 1990. This nu technology has a goat potential to advance the capabilities of current computational mechanics. A first step to Implement this concept is to construct hierarchical models, a family of mathematical models which are sequentially connected by a key parameter of the problem under consideration and have different levels in modeling accuracy, and to investigate characteristics In their numerical simulation aspects. Among representative model problems to explore this concept are elastic structures such as beam-, arch-. plate- and shell-like structures because the mechanical behavior through the thickness can be approximated with sequential accuracy by varying the order of thickness polynomials in the displacement or stress fields. But, in the numerical analysis of hierarchical models, two kinds of errors prevail: the modeling error and the numerical approximation errors. To ensure numerical simulation quality, an accurate estimation of these two errors Is definitely essential. Here, a local a posteriori error estimator for elastic structures with thin domain such as plate- and shell-like structures Is derived using element residuals and flux balancing technique. This method guarantees upper bounds for the global error, and also provides accurate local error Indicators for two types of errors, in the energy norm. Comparing to the classical error estimators using flux averaging technique, this shows considerably reliable and accurate effectivity indices. To illustrate the theoretical results and to verify the validity of the proposed error estimator, representative numerical examples are provided.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.513-529
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• 1999

A concept of hierarchical modeling, the newest modeling technology, has been introduced in early 1990's. This new technology has a great potential to advance the capabilities of current computational mechanics. A first step to implement this concept is to construct hierarchical models, a family of mathematical models sequentially connected by a key parameter of the problem under consideration and have different levels in modeling accuracy, and to investigate characteristics in their numerical simulation aspects. Among representative model problems to explore this concept are elastic structures such as beam-, arch-, plate- and shell-like structures because the mechanical behavior through the thickness can be approximated with sequential accuracy by varying the order of thickness polynomials in the displacement or stress fields. But, in the numerical, analysis of hierarchical models, two kinds of errors prevail, the modeling error and the numerical approximation error. To ensure numerical simulation quality, an accurate estimation of these two errors is definitely essential. Here, a local a posteriori error estimator for elastic structures with thin domain such as plate- and shell-like structures is derived using the element residuals and the flux balancing technique. This method guarantees upper bounds for the global error, and also provides accurate local error indicators for two types of errors, in the energy norm. Compared to the classical error estimators using the flux averaging technique, this shows considerably reliable and accurate effectivity indices. To illustrate the theoretical results and to verify the validity of the proposed error estimator, representative numerical examples are provided.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.12 no.S1
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• pp.63-66
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• 2003

It is experimentally shown that a $TiO_2$ film on Si(111) substrate was prepared by using the technique of D.C. reaction sputter deposition with $Ar^{+}$ ion beam bombardment, and a layer-like structure was observed from the depth profile of the interface between $TiO_2$ film and Si substrate with Scanning Electron Microscopy and Electron Probe. It was also surprisingly discovered that Ti atoms could be detected at about 9 $\mu$m depth. The $TiO_2$-Si interface bombarded by $Ar^{+}$ ion beams revealed multi-layer structures, a mechanism might be caused by defect diffusion, impurity and matrix relocation. Multi-relocations of impurity and matrix atoms were as a result of profile broadening of the $TiO_2$-Si interface, and the spread due to matrix relocation in this system is shown to exceed much more the spread due to impurity relocation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1467-1474
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• 2004

In this study, a new damage identification method for beam-like structures with a fatigue crack is proposed. which does not require comparative measurement on an intact structure but require several measurements at different level of excitation forces on the cracked structure. The idea comes from the fact that dynamic behavior of a structure with a fatigue crack changes with the level of the excitation force. The 2$^{nd}$ spatial derivatives of frequency response functions along the longitudinal direction of a beam are used as the sensitive indicator of crack existence. Then, weighting function is employed in the averaging process in frequency domain to account for the modal participation of the differences between the dynamic behavior of a beam with a fatigue crack at the low excitation and one at the high excitation. Subsequently, a damage index is defined such that the location and level of the crack may be identified. It is shown from the analysis of vibration measurements in this study that comparison of frequency response characteristics of a beam with a single fatigue crack at different level of excitation forces enables an effective detection of the crack.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.61-77
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• 2016

Seismic performance of structures depends on the force flow mechanism inside the structure. Discontinuity regions, like beam-column joints, are often affected during earthquake event due to the complex and discontinuous load paths. The evaluation of shear strength and identification of failure mode of the joint region are helpful to (i) define the strength hierarchy of the beam-column sub-assemblage, (ii) quantify the influence of different parameters on the behaviour of beam-column joint and, (iii) develop suitable and adequate strengthening scheme for the joints, if required, to obtain the desired strength hierarchy. In view of this, it is very important to estimate the joint shear strength and identify the failure modes of the joint region as it is the most critical part in any beam-column sub-assemblage. One of the most effective models is softened strut and tie model which was developed by incorporating force equilibrium, strain compatibility and constitutive laws of cracked reinforced concrete. In this study, softened strut and tie model, which incorporates force equilibrium equations, compatibility conditions and material constitutive relation of the cracked concrete, are used to simulate the shear strength behaviour and to identify failure mechanisms of the beam-column joints. The observations of the present study will be helpful to arrive at the design strategy of the joints to ensure the desired failure mechanism and strength hierarchy to achieve sustainability of structural systems under seismic loading.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1220-1228
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• 2003

The mirage technique is proved to be powerful in measuring the thermal diffusivity of materials. In particular, its contactless nature makes it suitable for delicate samples and microscale structures. In this study, thermal-wave-coupling method is developed in a general form for both thermally thin and thick samples. In the suggested measuring scheme, the probe beam can be positioned close to the pump beam and the absolute position need not be measured. Therefore the new scheme provides a relatively simple yet effective way to determine the thermal diffusivity of thermally thick samples. Thermal diffusivities of bulk samples like Ni and Al were measured and the characteristics of mirage signal for a thin film were observed by using the mirage experimental setup. The apparent thermal diffusivity was measured by varying such parameters as probe beam height, size of pump beam, power of pump beam, and surface condition of sample. From the practical standpoint, it is shown that the size of the pump beam is the most important factor for accurate thermaldiffusivity measurement. Experiments using thin-film samples show that the thermal diffusivity of a substrate covered with thin film can be measured by photothermal mirage signals.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.227-241
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• 2024

Safety and structural integrity of civil structures, like bridges and buildings, can be substantially enhanced by employing appropriate structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques for timely diagnosis of incipient damages. The information gathered from health monitoring of important infrastructure helps in making informed decisions on their maintenance. This ensures smooth, uninterrupted operation of the civil infrastructure and also cuts down the overall maintenance cost. With an early warning system, SHM can protect human life during major structural failures. A real-time online damage localization technique is proposed using only the vibration measurements in this paper. The concept of the 'Degree of Scatter' (DoS) of the vibration measurements is used to generate a spatial profile, and fractal dimension theory is used for damage detection and localization in the proposed two-phase algorithm. Further, it ensures robustness against environmental and operational variability (EoV). The proposed method works only with output-only responses and does not require correlated finite element models. Investigations are carried out to test the presented algorithm, using the synthetic data generated from a simply supported beam, a 25-storey shear building model, and also experimental data obtained from the lab-level experiments on a steel I-beam and a ten-storey framed structure. The investigations suggest that the proposed damage localization algorithm is capable of isolating the influence of the confounding factors associated with EoV while detecting and localizing damage even with noisy measurements.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.26-31
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• 2007

This paper addresses a method for structural optimum design of composite rotor blade. The basic model of a composite helicopter main rotor blade is designed and its parameters determining the structural/dynamic properties are studied. Through the investigation of flap/lag/torsional stiffness, the structural properties of the model are analyzed. In this study, helicopter rotor blades are analyzed by using VABS. The computer program VABS (Variational Asymptotic Beam Section Analysis) uses the variational asymptotic method to split a three-dimensional nonlinear elasticity problem into a two dimensional cross-sectional analysis and a one-dimensional nonlinear beam problem. This is accomplished by taking advantage of certain small parameters inherent to beam-like structures. In addition, the rotational stability of the blade is estimated by the frequency diagram from FE analysis(MSC.Patran/Nastran) to understand its vibrational property. From the result, design parameters to determine and optimize the properties of the model are presented.