• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.975-991
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• 2014

The objective of this study is to develop a reliable method for locating cracks in a beam using data fusion of fractal dimension features of operating deflection shapes. The Katz's fractal dimension curve of an operating deflection shape is used as a basic feature of damage. Like most available damage features, the Katz's fractal dimension curve has a notable limitation in characterizing damage: it is unresponsive to damage near the nodes of structural deformation responses, e.g., operating deflection shapes. To address this limitation, data fusion of Katz's fractal dimension curves of various operating deflection shapes is used to create a sophisticated fractal damage feature, the 'overall Katz's fractal dimension curve'. This overall Katz's fractal dimension curve has the distinctive capability of overcoming the nodal effect of operating deflection shapes so that it maximizes responsiveness to damage and reliability of damage localization. The method is applied to the detection of damage in numerical and experimental cases of cantilever beams with single/multiple cracks, with high-resolution operating deflection shapes acquired by a scanning laser vibrometer. Results show that the overall Katz's fractal dimension curve can locate single/multiple cracks in beams with significantly improved accuracy and reliability in comparison to the existing method. Data fusion of fractal dimension features of operating deflection shapes provides a viable strategy for identifying damage in beam-type structures, with robustness against node effects.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.43-58
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• 2002

A methodology to nondestructively locate and estimate size of damage in beam-type structures using a few natural frequencies or a few mode shapes is presented. A damage-localization algorithm to locate damage from changes in natural frequencies and a damage-sizing algorithm to estimate crack-size from natural frequency perturbation are outlined. A damage index algorithm to localize and estimate severity of damage from monitoring changes in mode shapes is outlined. The frequency-based method and the mode-shape-based method are evaluated for several damage scenarios by locating and sizing damage in PS concrete beams lot which a few natural frequencies and mode shapes are generated from finite element models. The result of the analyses indicates that the two methods correctly localize and closely estimate the size of the crack simulated in the test beam.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.291-302
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• 2018

This paper presents a flexibility based method for damage identification from static measurements in beam-type structures. The response of the beam at the Damaged State is decomposed into the response at the Reference State plus the response at an Incremental State, which represents the effect of damage. The damage is localized by detecting slope discontinuities in the deflection of the structure at the Incremental State. A denoising filtering technique is applied to reduce the effect of experimental noise. The extent of the damage is estimated through comparing the experimental flexural stiffness of the damaged cross-sections with the corresponding values provided by analytical models of cracked beams. The paper illustrates the method by showing a numerical example with two cracks and an experimental case study of a simply supported steel beam with one artificially introduced notch type crack at three damage levels. A Digital Image Correlation system was used to accurately measure the deflections of the beam at a dense measurement grid under a set of point loads. The results indicate that the method can successfully detect and quantify a small damage from the experimental data.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2020

During the past decades, the application of acoustic emission techniques (AET) through the diagnosis and monitoring of the fracture process in materials has been attracting considerable attention. AET proved to be operative among the other non-destructive testing methods for various reasons including their practicality and cost-effectiveness. Concrete and rock structures often demand thorough and real-time assessment to predict and prevent their damage nucleation and evolution. This paper presents an overview of the work carried out on the use of AE as a monitoring technique to form a comprehensive insight into its potential application in brittle materials. Reported properties in this study are crack growth behavior, localization, damage evolution, dynamic character and structures monitoring. This literature review provides practicing engineers and researchers with the main AE procedures to follow when examining the possibility of failure in civil/resource structures that rely on brittle materials.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.292-300
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• 2020

In this study, the effect of tempering on the stretch-flangeability is investigated in 980 MPa grade dual-phase steel consisting of ferrite and martensite phases. During tempering at 300 ℃, the strength of ferrite increases due to the pinning of dislocations by carbon atoms released from martensite, while martensite is softened as a consequence of a reduction in its carbon super-saturation. This strength variation results in a considerable increase in yield strength of the steel, without loss of tensile strength. The hole expansion test shows that steel tempered for 20 min (T20 steel) exhibits a higher hole expansion ratio than that of steel without tempering (T0 steel). In T0 steel, severe plastic localization in ferrite causes easy pore formation at the ferrite-martensite interface and subsequent brittle crack propagation through the highly deformed ferrite area during hole expansion testing; this propagation is mainly attributed to the large difference in hardness between ferrite and martensite. When the difference in hardness is not so large (T20 steel), on the other hand, tempered martensite can be considerably deformed together with ferrite, thereby delaying pore formation and hindering crack propagation by crack blunting. Eventually, these different deformation and fracture behaviors contribute to the superior stretch-flangeability of T20 steel.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.361-370
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• 2017

Through the use of finite element analysis and acoustic emission techniques we have evaluated the interfacial failure of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) repair patch on a notched aluminum substrate. The repair of cracks is a very common and widely used practice in the aeronautics field to extend the life of cracked sheet metal panels. The process consists of adhesively bonding a patch that encompasses the notched site to provide additional strength, thereby increasing life and avoiding costly replacements. The mechanical strength of the bonded joint relies mainly on the bonding of the adhesive to the plate and patch stiffness. Stress concentrations at crack tips promote disbonding of the composite patch from the substrate, consequently reducing the bonded area, which makes this a critical aspect of repair effectiveness. In this paper we examine patch disbonding by calculating the influence of notch tip stress on disbond area and verify computational results with acoustic emission (AE) measurements obtained from specimens subjected to uniaxial tension. The FE results showed that disbonding first occurs between the patch and the substrate close to free edge of the patch followed by failure around the tip of the notch, both highest stress regions. Experimental results revealed that cement adhesion at the aluminum interface was the limiting factor in patch performance. The patch did not appear to strengthen the aluminum substrate when measured by stress-strain due to early stage disbonding. Analysis of the AE signals provided insight to the disbond locations and progression at the metal-adhesive interface. Crack growth from the notch in the aluminum was not observed until the stress reached a critical level, an instant before final fracture, which was unaffected by the patch due to early stage disbonding. The FE model was further utilized to study the effects of patch fiber orientation and increased adhesive strength. The model revealed that the effectiveness of patch repairs is strongly dependent upon the combined interactions of adhesive bond strength and fiber orientation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.345-352
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• 2016

As aircrafts are being operated at high altitude, wing structures experience various fatigue loadings under cryogenic environments. As a result, fatigue damage such as a crack could be develop that could eventually lead to a catastrophic failure. For this reason, fatigue damage monitoring is an important process to ensure efficient maintenance and safety of structures. To implement damage detection in real-world flight environments, a special cooling chamber was built. Inside the chamber, the temperature was maintained at the cryogenic temperature, and harmonic fatigue loading was given to a wing structure. In this study, piezoelectric active-sensing based guided waves were used to detect the fatigue damage. In particular, a beamforming technique was applied to efficiently measure the scattering wave caused by the fatigue damage. The system was used for detection, growth monitoring, and localization of a fatigue crack. In addition, a sensor diagnostic process was also applied to ensure the proper operation of piezoelectric sensors. Several experiments were implemented and the results of the experiments demonstrated that this process could efficiently detect damage in such an extreme environment.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.29-44
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• 2020

The effectiveness and the sensitivity of a Wireless impedance/Admittance Monitoring System (WiAMS) for the prompt damage diagnosis of two single-storey single-span Reinforced Concrete (RC) frames under cyclic loading is experimentally investigated. The geometrical and the reinforcement characteristics of the RC structural members of the frames represent typical old RC frame structure without consideration of seismic design criteria. The columns of the frames are vulnerable to shear failure under lateral load due to their low height-to-depth ratio and insufficient transverse reinforcement. The proposed Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system comprises of specially manufactured autonomous portable devices that acquire the in-situ voltage frequency responses of a network of twenty piezoelectric transducers mounted to the RC frames. Measurements of external and internal small-sized piezoelectric patches are utilized for damage localization and assessment at various and increased damage levels as the magnitude of the imposed lateral cycle deformations increases. A bare RC frame and a strengthened one using a pair of steel crossed tension-ties (X-bracing) have been tested in order to check the sensitivity of the developed WiAMS in different structural conditions since crack propagation, damage locations and failure mode of the examined frames vary. Indeed, the imposed loading caused brittle shear failure to the column of the bare frame and the formation of plastic hinges at the beam ends of the X-braced frame. Test results highlighted the ability of the proposed SHM to identify incipient damages due to concrete cracking and steel yielding since promising early indication of the forthcoming critical failures before any visible sign has been obtained.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 2017

Ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is characterized by a post-cracking residual tensile strength with a large tensile strain as well as a high compressive strength. To determine a material tensile strength of UHPFRC, three-point loading test on notched prism and direct tensile test on doubly notched plate were compared and then the design tensile strength is decided. Shear tests on nine I-shaped beams with varied types of fiber volume ratio, shear span ratio and size effect were conducted to investigate shear behavior in web. From the test results, the stress redistribution ability represented as diagonal cracked zone was quantified by inclination of principal stress in web. The test results shows that the specimens were capable of resistance to shear loading without stirrup in a range of large deformation and the strength increase with post-cracking behavior is stable. However at the ultimate state all test specimens failed as a crack localization in the damaged zone and the shear strength of specimens is affected by shear span ratio and effective depth. Strength predictions show that the existing recommendations should be modified considering shear span ratio and effective depth as design parameters.