• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.100-107
• /
• 2005

Reinforcing steel bars in reinforced concrete structures are protected from corrosion by passive film on the steel surface inside concrete with high alkalinity. However, when the passive film breaks down due to chloride ion ingressed into the RC structures, a corrosion initiates at the surface of steel bars. Then, internal pressure by volume expansion of corrosion products in reinforcing bars induces cracking and spalling of cover concrete, which reduces not only durability performance but also structural performance in RC structures. In this paper, a service life prediction of RC structures is carried out by using a micro-mechanics based corrosion model. The corrosion model is composed of a chloride penetration model to evaluate the initiation of corrosion and an electric corrosion cell model and an oxygen diffusion model to evaluate the rate and the accumulated amounts of corrosion. Then, a corrosion cracking model is combined to the models to evaluate critical amount of corrosion product for initiation cracking in cover concrete. By implementing the models into a finite element analysis program, a time and space dependent corrosion analysis and a service life prediction of RC structures due to chloride attack are simulated and the results of the analysis are compared with test results. The effect of crack width on the corrosion and the service life of the RC structures are analyzed and discussed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.643-648
• /
• 2010

Portable fuel cells are commonly operated in the dead-end mode because of such as high fuel utilization. However, the performance of such systems deteriorates continuously with an increase in the amount of by-products such as water vapor and nitrogen. In this study, to verify the effect of water vapor on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), constant-load experiments were carried out for a current density of 600 mA/cm2 and a voltage of 0.4 V, respectively. The performance of the cell was more stable under constant voltage conditions than under constant current density conditions. Condensed water accumulated in the anode channel near the cell outlet. The experimental results show how the relative humidity (RH = 0.15, 0.4 and 0.75) of air at the cathode side affect the performance of PEMFCs with dead-end anode. At RH values higher than 0.15, the mean power density increased by up to 51% and the mean purge duration decreased by up to 25% compared to the corresponding initial values.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.601-607
• /
• 2012

In this study, we performed computational fluid dynamic simulations to explore how the detailed design of drug-eluting stents affects both the flow field in the vicinity of the stent as well as the concentration of the eluted drug at the endothelial cell surface. Simulations were performed on three idealized stent geometries we developed and on geometries approximating three commercial stents,: Medtronic's Aurora stent, Cordis's BX Velocity stent, and Boston Scientific's Wallstent. An important contribution of the present study is the introduction of the stent effectiveness index (EI), which provides a quantitative assessment of stent performance and an objective basis for comparing the performance of different stents. Among the three commercial stents studied, our simulations have revealed that the BX Velocity stent is associated with the lowest in-stent EI values for the range of flow Reynolds numbers studied ($200{\leq}Re{\leq}800$). In addition to commercial stent designs, we investigated the EI in three idealized stents and determined that a spiral stent provides excellent performance (low EI) under all flow conditions investigated.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.33.1-33.17
• /
• 2022

Nervous necrosis virus (NNV) is a deadly infectious disease that affects several fish species. It has been found that the NNV utilizes grouper heat shock cognate protein 70 (GHSC70) to enter the host cell. Thus, blocking the virus entry by targeting the responsible protein can protect the fishes from disease. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the inhibitory potentiality of 70 compounds of Azadirachta indica (Neem plant) which has been reported to show potential antiviral activity against various pathogens, but activity against the NNV has not yet been reported. The binding affinity of 70 compounds was calculated against the GHSC70 with the docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation approaches. Both the docking and MD methods predict 4 (PubChem CID: 14492795, 10134, 5280863, and 11119228) inhibitory compounds that bind strongly with the GHSC70 protein with a binding affinity of -9.7, -9.5, -9.1, and -9.0 kcal/mol, respectively. Also, the ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) properties of the compounds confirmed the drug-likeness properties. As a result of the investigation, it may be inferred that Neem plant compounds may act as significant inhibitors of viral entry into the host cell. More in-vitro testing is needed to establish their effectiveness.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.84 no.3
• /
• pp.295-310
• /
• 2022

This paper proposes a modified bar simulation method for analyzing the shear lag effect of variable sectional box girder with multiple cells. This theoretical method formulates the equivalent area of stiffening bars and the allocation proportion of shear flows in webs, and re-derives the governing differential equations of bar simulation method. The feasibility of the proposed method is verified by the model test and finite element (FE) analysis of a simply supported multi-cell box girder with constant depth. Subsequently, parametric analysis is conducted to explore the mechanism of shear lag effect of varied sectional cantilever box girder with multiple cells. Results show that the shear lag behavior of variable box-section cantilever box girder is weaker than that of box girder with constant section. It is recommended to make the gradient of shear flow in the web with respect to span length vary as smoothly as possible for eliminating the shear lag effect of box girder. An effective countermeasure for diminishing shear lag effect is to increase the number of box chambers or change the variation manner of bridge depth. The shear lag effect of varied sectional cantilever box girder will get more server when the length of central flanges is shorter than 0.26 or longer than 0.36 times of total width of top flange, as well as the cantilever length exceeds 0.29 times of total length of box's flange. Therefore, the distance between central webs can adjust the shear lag effect of box girder. Especially, the width ratio of cantilever plate with respect to total length of top flange is proposed to be no more 1/3.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.90 no.6
• /
• pp.611-633
• /
• 2024

This study intends to investigate the response of multi-cell (MC) beams to flexural loads in which the primary reinforcement is composed of both metallic and non-metallic materials. "Multi-cell" describes beam sections with multiple longitudinal voids separated by thin webs. Seven reinforced concrete MC beams measuring 300×200×1800 mm were tested under flexural loadings until failure. Two series of beams are formed, depending on the type of main reinforcement that is being used. A control RC beam with no openings and six MC beams are found in these two series. Series one and two are reinforced with metallic and non-metallic main reinforcement, respectively, in order to maintain a constant reinforcement ratio. The first crack, ultimate load, deflection, ductility index, energy absorption, strain characteristics, crack pattern, and failure mode were among the structural parameters of the beams under investigation that were documented. The primary variables that vary are the kind of reinforcing materials that are utilized, as well as the kind and quantity of mesh layers. The outcomes of this study that looked at the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement reinforced concrete MC beams are presented in this article. Nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was performed with ANSYS-16.0 software to demonstrate the behavior of composite MC beams with holes. A parametric study is also carried out to investigate the factors, such as opening size, that can most strongly affect the mechanical behavior of the suggested model. The experimental and numerical results obtained demonstrate that the FE simulations generated an acceptable degree of experimental value estimation. It's also important to demonstrate that, when compared to the control beam, the MC beam reinforced with geogrid mesh (MCGB) decreases its strength capacity by a maximum of 73.33%. In contrast, the minimum strength reduction value of 16.71% is observed in the MC beams reinforced with carbon reinforcing bars (MCCR). The findings of the experiments on MC beams with openings demonstrate that the presence of openings has a significant impact on the behavior of the beams, as there is a decrease in both the ultimate load and maximum deflection.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2007.05b
• /
• pp.2785-2790
• /
• 2007

This study presents an impedance method of in-vitro characterization of the thrombotic potential of whole blood. Whole blood samples of 0.2 cc were put into a micro-cell with embedded three electrodes immediately after venepuncture at $37^{\circ}C$. Anti-coagulated blood samples were also collected for hematocrit and blood viscosity analyses. The rate of change of electron flow was measured, which indicates the inverse of the thrombotic potential. A sudden decrease in the rate of change of electron flow was observed at a time equal to approximately 110 seconds. This sudden decrease was significantly delayed in anti-coagulated samples. After the sudden decrease, the rate continued to decrease, reaching a minimum value in unadulterated samples while the change in the rate in the anti-coagulated ones was found rather moderate. Based on these preliminary findings, the present method may be of used as a new tool for the diagnosis of the thrombotic potential of whole blood.

• Advanced Composite Materials
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.77-93
• /
• 2009

This paper investigated the damage transition mechanism between the fiber-breaking mode and the fiber-avoiding crack mode when the fiber-length is reduced in the unidirectional discontinuous carbon fiber-reinforced-plastics (CFRP) composites. The critical fiber-length for the transition is a key parameter for the manufacturing of flexible and high-strength CFRP composites with thermoset resin, because below this limit, we cannot take full advantage of the superior strength properties of fibers. For this discussion, we presented a numerical model for the microscopic damage and fracture of unidirectional discontinuous fiber-reinforced plastics. The model addressed the microscopic damage generated in these composites; the matrix crack with continuum damage mechanics model and the fiber breakage with the Weibull model for fiber strengths. With this numerical model, the damage transition behavior was discussed when the fiber length was varied. The comparison revealed that the length of discontinuous fibers in composites influences the formation and growth of the cluster of fiber-end damage, which causes the damage mode transition. Since the composite strength is significantly reduced below the critical fiber-length for the transition to fiber-avoiding crack mode, we should understand the damage mode transition appropriately with the analysis on the cluster growth of fiber-end damage.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.525-539
• /
• 2010

Polymer matrix composites are widely used in many engineering applications as they can be customized to meet a desired performance while not only maintaining low cost but also reducing weight. Polymers can experience viscoelastic-viscoplastic response when subjected to external loadings. Various reinforcements and fillers are added to polymers which bring out more complexity in analyzing the timedependent response. This study formulates an integrated micromechanical model and finite element (FE) analysis for predicting effective viscoelastic-viscoplastic response of polymer based hybrid composites. The studied hybrid system consists of unidirectional short-fiber reinforcements and a matrix system which is composed of solid spherical particle fillers dispersed in a homogeneous polymer constituent. The goal is to predict effective performance of hybrid systems having different compositions and properties of the fiber, particle, and matrix constituents. A combined Schapery's viscoelastic integral model and Valanis's endochronic viscoplastic model is used for the polymer constituent. The particle and fiber constituents are assumed linear elastic. A previously developed micromechanical model of particle reinforced composite is first used to obtain effective mechanical properties of the matrix systems. The effective properties of the matrix are then integrated to a unit-cell model of short-fiber reinforced composites, which is generated using the FE. The effective properties of the matrix are implemented using a user material subroutine in the FE framework. Limited experimental data and analytical solutions available in the literatures are used for comparisons.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.684-693
• /
• 2007

Previous trials for development of a pulsatile-Extracorporeal Life Support had some defects such as insufficient blood flow, high pressure at its membrane oxygenator and the high risk of blood cell damage. To solve those problems of previous pulsatile-ECLSs, we suggest dual pulsatile blood pump structure for the new pulsatile-ECLS. Two pulsatile pumps areconnected in a parallel manner and this new structure raises the inflow capacity and efficiency and it decreases the high blood pressure at membrane oxygenator. In in-vitro experiments, The Energy Equivalent Pressure Increment(EEP inc.) was 10%, and it showed that its pulsatilty was $5{\sim}10$ times higher than other commercial ECLS In in-vivo experiments, we had applied a new pulsatile-ECLS to 30 Kg pigs and a new pulsatile-ECLS couldsupport high blood flow and pulsatility above 2 L/min, 10% EEP inc.