• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.193-206
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• 2011

The use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) to strengthen reinforced concrete beams under bending and shear has gained rapid growth in recent years. The performance of shear strengthened beams with externally bonded CFRP laminate or fabric strips is raising many concerns when the beam is loaded under cyclic loading. Such concerns warrant experimental, analytical and numerical investigation of such beams under cyclic loading. To date, limited investigations have been carried out to address this concern. This paper presents a numerical investigation by developing a nonlinear finite element (FE) model to study the response of a cantilever reinforced concrete T-beam strengthened in shear with side bonded CFRP fabric strips and subjected to cyclic loading. A detailed 3D nonlinear finite element model that takes into account the orthotropic nature of the polymer's fibers is developed. In order to simulate the bond between the CFRP sheets and concrete, a layer having the material properties of the adhesive epoxy resin is introduced in the model as an interface between the CFRP sheets and concrete surface. Appropriate numerical modeling strategies were used and the response envelope and the load-displacement hysteresis loops of the FE model were compared with the experimental response at all stages of the cyclic loading. It is observed that the responses of the FE beam model are in good agreement with those of the experimental test. A parametric study was conducted using the validated FE model to investigate the effect of spacing between CFRP sheets, number of CFRP layers, and fiber orientation on the overall performance of the T-beam. It is concluded that successful FE modeling provides a practical and economical tool to investigate the behavior of such strengthened beams when subjected to cyclic loading.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.243-248
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• 2016

Although thermoset carbon fiber composite bipolar plates not only have high mechanical properties but also high corrosion resistance in acid environment, high manufacturing cost and low bulk electrical conductivity are the biggest obstacle to overcome. In this research, thermoplastic polymer is employed for the matrix of carbon composite bipolar plate to increase both the manufacturing productivity and bulk electric conductivity of the bipolar plate. In order to increase the electrical conductivity and strength, plain type carbon fabric rather than chopped or unidirectional fibers is used. Also nano particles are embedded in the thermoplastic matrix to increase the bulk resistance of the bipolar plate. The area specific resistance and the mechanical strength of the developed bipolar plate are measured with respect to the environmental temperature and stack compaction pressure.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.65-74
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• 2021

With recent innovations in the ICT industry, the demand for wearable sensing devices to recognize and respond to biological signals has increased. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) spacer fabric was embedded in a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) dispersive solution through a simple penetration process to develop a monolayer piezoresistive pressure sensor. To induce electrical conductivity in the 3D spacer fabric, samples were immersed in the SWCNT dispersive solution and dried. To determine the electrical properties of the impregnated specimen, a universal testing machine and multimeter were used to measure the resistance of the pressure change. Moreover, to examine the changes in the electrical properties of the sensor, its performance was evaluated by varying the concentration, number of penetrations, and thickness of the specimen. Samples that penetrated twice in the SWCNT distributed solution of 0.1 wt% showed the best performance as sensors. The 7-mm thick sensors showed the highest GF, and the 13-mm thick sensors showed the widest operating range. This study confirms the effectiveness of the simple process of fabricating smart textile sensors comprising 3D spacer fabrics and the excellent performance of the sensors.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 2024

This study aimed to develop a soft fabric-based elbow-bending angle sensor that can replace conventional hard-type inertial sensors and a system for estimating bending angles using it. To enhance comfort during exercise, this study treated four fabrics (Bergamo, E-band, span cushion, and polyester) by single-walled carbon nanotube dip coating to create conductive textiles. Subsequently, one fabric was selected based on performance evaluations, and an elbow flexion angle sensor was fabricated. Gauge factor, hysteresis, and sensing range were employed as performance evaluation metrics. The data obtained using the fabricated sensor showed different trends in sensor values for the changes in the angle during bending and extending movements. Because of this divergence, the two movements were separated, and this constituted the one-step process. In the two-step process, multilayer perceptron (MLP) was employed to handle the complex nonlinear relationships and achieve high data accuracy. Based on the results of this study, we anticipate effective utilization in various smart wearable and healthcare domains. Consequently, a soft- fabric bending angle sensor was developed, and using MLP, nonlinear relationships can be addressed, enabling angle estimation. Based on the results of this study, we anticipate the effective utilization of the developed system in smart wearables and healthcare.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2016

In this paper, The concept of a wheel with carbon fiber composite is to replace the conventional material used for a wheel hub, such as plastic, with a disk-type hub made of carbon fabric and epoxy resin. The impact load from the ground under real conditions was considered; a low-velocity impact test was conducted to evaluate the impact performance of the carbon wheel and compare it with that of a conventional plastic wheel. This study applied a 70 J impact load as a test condition. The impact energy was controlled in the test by adjustment of height and weight of impactor. The use of a carbon disk wheel hub was confirmed to reduce weight and generate an excellent repulsive force at low energy under conditions similar to real driving conditions. The results showed that the maximum load increased proportionally depending on the impact load, but the growth of the maximum load was reduced at a 20 J impact load and tended to decrease at a 45 J impact load. The carbon wheel showed excellent properties ; the level of rebounding was 35.3% and 19.1% of the total impact energy at impact loads of 5 J and 10 J, respectively. On the other hand, the carbon disk wheel rebounded less than 5% of the total energy due to crack generation of the thin carbon hub for impact loads of more than 20 J.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1261-1266
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• 2012

In this study, salt-water immersion tests were experimentally performed for up to 12 months to investigate the hygrothermal effect of salt-water environments on the mechanical properties of carbon/epoxy composites. The composites were manufactured by laminating prepregs composed of carbon plain-woven fabric and epoxy resin. The specimens were subjected to temperatures of 35, 55, and $75^{\circ}C$ while being exposed to the salt-water environments. Mechanical test results showed that the tensile modulus and tensile strength decreased at a small rate, and the compressive modulus and compressive strength decreased at a relatively larger rate, as the exposure temperature and time increased. The rate of decrease in compressive strength became larger as the exposure temperature became higher. This is because a higher environmental temperature accelerates the salt-water uptake; this, in turn, reduces the compressive strength more rapidly.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 1998

This paper presents the effects of an initial braking velocity, a braking pressure, and the number of braking stop on the tribological behaviors for the three different C-C composites using an inertia dynamic-friction tester. The C-C composites were prepared through the processes of several cycles of pitch impregnation/carbonization with different friction surface texture such as continuous 8-harness satin fabric (ADD-1), chopped fiber (ADD-2) and chopped fiber (ADD-3) having higher fiber volume fraction on friction than ADD-2 by about 10%. ADD-1 exhibited a higher fraction coefficient (0.41~0.33) than those of ADD-2 and ADD-3 (0.32~0.26) under the various initial braking velocities and braking pressures. The fraction coefficients decreased with increasing the initial velocity and the braking pressures. Wear rate by the thickness change after every 25 stop indicated that ADD-2 and ADD-3 having 1.7~2.7 $\mu\textrm{m}$/stop/pair were much lower than that of ADD-1 showing 5.0~6.5 $\mu\textrm{m}$/stop/pair. All specimens showed a little bit lower wear rate during the middle stage than the initial and latter stages among 100 braking stops. ADD-1 showed higher friction coefficient and wear rate due to the active pull-out of the fibers, evidenced by thicker were film and wear debrises.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.277-299
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• 2008

High quality and expedient processing repair methods are necessary to enhance the service life of bridge structures. Deterioration of concrete can occur as a result of structural cracks, corrosion of reinforcement, and freeze.thaw cycles. Cost effective methods with potential for field implementation are necessary to address the issue of the vulnerability of bridge structures and how to repair them. Most infrastructure related applications of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) use traditional hand lay-up technology. The hand lay-up is tedious, labor-intensive and relies upon personnel skill level. An alternative to traditional hand lay-up of FRP for infrastructure applications is Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM). VARTM uses single sided molding technology to infuse resin over fabrics wrapping large structures, such as bridge girders and columns. There is no work currently available in understanding the interface developed, when VARTM processing is adopted to wrap fibers such as carbon and/or glass over concrete structures. This paper investigates the interface formed by carbon fiber processed on to a concrete surface using the VARTM technique. Various surface treatments, including sandblasting, were performed to study the pull-off tensile test to find a potential prepared surface. A single-lap shear test was used to study the bond strength of CFRP fabric/epoxy composite adhered to concrete. Carbon fiber wraps incorporating Sikadur HEX 103C and low viscosity epoxy resin Sikadur 300 were considered in VARTM processing of concrete specimens.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.612-616
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• 2012

In this work, the effect of chemical treatments of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) on the mechanical interfacial properties of carbon fiber fabric-reinforced composites was investigated. The surface properties of the MWNTs were determined by acid and base values, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The mechanical interfacial properties of the composites were assessed by interlaminar shear stress (ILSS) and critical stress intensity factor ($K_{IC}$). The chemical treatments based on acid and base reactions led to a significant change of surface characteristics of the MWNTs, especially A-MWNTs/carbon fibers/epoxy composites had higher mechanical properties than those of B-MWNTs and non-treated MWNTs/carbon fibers/epoxy composites. These results were probably due to the improvement of interfacial bonding strength, resulting from the acid-base interaction and hydrogen bonding between the epoxy resins and the MWNT fillers.

• Composites Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.148-157
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• 2019

In this study, $C_f/SiC$, $SiC_f/SiC$ and $C_f-SiC_f/SiC$ ceramic composites reinforcing carbon fiber, SiC fiber and hybrid fiber were fabricated by hybrid TGCVI and PIP process. After the thermal shock cycle, 3-point bending and Oxy-Acetylene torch test, their mechanical behavior, oxidation and erosion resistance were evaluated. The $C_f/SiC$ composite showed a decrease in mechanical property along with increasing temperature, a pseudo-ductile fracture mode and a large quantity of erosion. The $SiC_f/SiC$ composite exhibited stronger mechanical property and lower erosion rate compared to the $C_f/SiC$, but brittle fracture mode. On the other hand, hybrid type of $C_f-SiC_f/SiC$ composite gave the best mechanical property, more ductile failure mode than the $SiC_f/SiC$, and lower erosion rate than the $C_f/SiC$. During the Oxy-Acetylene torch test, the $SiO_2$ formed by reaction of the SiC matrix with oxygen prevented further oxidation or erosion of the fibers for $C_f-SiC_f/SiC$ and $SiC_f/SiC$ composites particularly. In conclusion, if a hybrid composite with low porosity is prepared, this material is expected to have high applicability as a high temperature thermo-structural composite under high temperature oxidation atmosphere by improving low mechanical property due to the oxidation of $C_f/SiC$ and brittle fracture mode of $SiC_f/SiC$ composite.