• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.571-585
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• 2016

The crest of the Pubugou central core rockfill dam (CCRD) cracked in the first and second impounding periods. To evaluate the safety of the Pubugou CCRD, an inversion analysis of the constitutive model parameters for rockfill materials is performed based on the in situ deformation monitoring data. The aim of this work is to truly reflect the deformation state of the Pubugou CCRD and determine the causes of the dam crest cracks. A novel real-coded genetic algorithm based upon the differences in gene fragments (DGFX) is proposed. It is used in combination with the radial based function neural network (RBFNN) to perform the parameters back analysis. The simulated settlements show good agreements with the monitoring data, illustrating that the back analysis is reasonable and accurate. Furthermore, the deformation gradient of the dam crest has been analysed. The dam crest has a great possibility of cracking due to the uncoordinated deformation, which agrees well with the field investigation. The deformation gradient decreases to the value lower than the critical one and reaches a stable state after the second full reservoir.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1264-1272
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• 2016

The accurate estimation of leak rate through cracks is crucial in applying the leak before break (LBB) concept to pipeline design in nuclear power plants. Because of its importance, several programs were developed based on the several proposed flow models, and used in nuclear power industries. As the flow models were developed for a homogeneous pipe material, however, some difficulties were encountered in estimating leak rates for bimaterial pipes. In this paper, a flow model is proposed to estimate leak rate in bimaterial pipes based on the modified Henry-Fauske flow model. In the new flow model, different crack morphology parameters can be considered in two parts of a flow path. In addition, based on the proposed flow model, a program was developed to estimate leak rate for a crack with linearly varying cross-sectional area. Using the program, leak rates were calculated for through-thickness cracks with constant or linearly varying cross-sectional areas in a bimaterial pipe. The leak rate results were then compared and discussed in comparison with the results for a homogeneous pipe. The effects of the crack morphology parameters and the variation in cross-sectional area on the leak rate were examined and discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.715-721
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• 2016

In this paper, the classification rate of micro-cracks in silicon wafers was improved using a SVM. In case I, we investigated how feature data of micro-cracks and SVM parameters affect a classification rate. As a result, weighting vector and bias did not affect the classification rate, which was improved in case of high cost and sigmoid kernel function. Case II was performed using a more high quality image than that in case I. It was identified that learning data and input data had a large effect on the classification rate. Finally, images from cases I and II and another illumination system were used in case III. In spite of different condition images, good classification rates was achieved. Critical points for micro-crack classification improvement are SVM parameters, kernel function, clustered feature data, and experimental conditions. In the future, excellent results could be obtained through SVM parameter tuning and clustered feature data.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.365-375
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• 2021

Rammed earth (RE) buildings have existed all over the world for thousands of years, and have gained increasing attention because of its sustainable advantages, however, the shrinkage cracks reduce its bearing capacity and seriously affect its durability and applicability. In this study, the shrinkage cracks test was carried out to investigate the effects of initial water content, proportion of sand and gravel, compaction degree, thickness and the additives (polypropylene fiber, cement and sodium silicate) of shrinkage cracks in RE buildings, ten groups of RE samples were prepared and dried outdoors to crack. Four quantitative parameters of geometrical structure of crack patterns were used to evaluate the development of cracks. The results show that the specimens cracking behavior and the geometrical structure of crack patterns are significantly influenced by these considered factors. The formation of crack can be accelerated with the increase of initial water content and thickness of specimen, while restricted with the increase of the compaction degree and the proportion of sand and gravel. Moreover, the addition of 1% polypropylene fiber, 10% cement and 0.5 volume ratio sodium silicate can significantly restrain the form and development of cracks. In RE construction, these factors should be considered comprehensively to prevent the harm caused by shrinkage cracks. Further works should be carried out to obtain the optimum dosage of the additives, which can benefit the construction of RE buildings in future.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.119-129
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• 1990

In case that the body with a cusp crack is under uniform heat flow, thermal stress intensity factors are calculated by using boundary element method with linearized body force term. The crack surface is under insulated or fixed temperature condition and the types of crack are symmetric lip and airfoil cusps. Numerical values of thermal stress intensity factors for a Griffith crack and cusp cracks in infinite bodies are proved to be in good agreement within .+-.5% when compared with the previous numerical and exact solutions, respectively. The thermal stress intensity factors for symmetric lip and airfoil cusp cracks in finite bodies are calculated about various effective crack lengths, configuration parameters, and heat flow directions. With the same crack surface thermal boundary conditions, heat flow directions and crack lengths, there are no appreciable differences in variations of thermal stress intensity factors between symmetric lip and airfoil cusp cracks. The signs of thermal stress intensity factors for each cusp crack are changed with each crack surface thermal boundary condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.20 no.2 s.70
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• pp.38-43
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• 2005

Several nuclear power plants reported that they often found the combination cracks, which consist of longitudinal and circumferential cracks in the tubes. For the burst pressure of a tube with a single longitudinal or circumferential crack several experimental equations have been proposed in published literatures. But for the combination crack appropriate fracture criterion has not been proposed yet. In this study the burst pressures of a tube with a longitudinal crack or a T-type combination crack consisting of longitudinal and circumferential cracks were obtained experimentally and analytically. Fracture parameters such as crack opening angle (COA) were investigated by using elastic plastic analysis. Also the burst pressure far a T-type combination crack located near a tubesheet was considered to develop a length-based criterion. Because most of the axial, circumferential or combination cracks initiate in roll transition zone near the tubesheet.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.219-229
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• 2019

This paper presents an experimental study on the structural performance of an innovative ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) deck with coarse aggregate of composite bridge under shear force. Test parameters included curing method and shear span-to-height ratio. Test results indicated that more short fine cracks developed beside the existing cracks due to the randomly dispersed fibers, resulting in re-distributing and homogenizing of the concrete stress beside cracks and allowing for the occurrence of more cracks with small spacing compared to normal strength concrete beams. Curing methods, incorporating steam curing and natural curing, did not have obvious effect on the nominal bending cracking strength and the ultimate strength of the test specimens. Shear reinforcement need not be provided for UHPFRC decks with a fiber volume fraction of 2%. UHPFRC decks showed superior load resistance ability after the appearance of cracks and excellent post-cracking deformability. Lastly, the current shear provisions were evaluated by the test results.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.297-301
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• 2004

The optimum design against contact crack initiation is investigated to find major parameters in designing desirable surface-coated asymmetric layered components. Hard ceramic coated soft materials with various elastic modulus mismatch are prepared for the analysis. Spherical indentation is conducted for producing contact cracks from the surface or interface between the coating and the substrate layer. A finite element analysis of the stress fields in the loaded layer components enables a direct correlation between the damage patterns and the stress distributions. Implications concerning the design of asymmetric layered components indicate that the coating thickness and the elastic modulus mismatch are important parameters for designing layered component to prevent the initiation of contact cracks.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.47-62
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• 2003

The nonlinear dependence aspect of various conical tool indentation parameters leading to an optimum tool semi angle value for easiest perforation is plotted and discussed explicitly in this work with the conclusion that tool angle has an optimum response towards most of the indentation parameters. Around this optimum angle, the aluminium sheets showed minimum fracture toughness as well as minimum work input to overcome the offered resistance. At the end, the mechanism leading to this phenomenon is presented with the conclusion that plastic flow dominates as the dimple semi cone angle reaches 35 and both pre and post plastic flow perforations lead the tool semi cone angle value towards this dimple cone semi angle of plastic flow initiation for its optimum performance. It is also concluded that specimen material failure is solely under tensile hoop stress and hence results into radial cracks initiation and propagation.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.343-350
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• 1999

Orthotropic steel bridge decks are potentially liable to cause fatigue cracks due to weld defects, residual stresses, and in-plane or out-of-plane stresses. In particular, the cracks propagated through deckplate in longitudinal rib to deckplate joints occur at weld toe and weld root due to stress concentrations. Numerical parametric studies are performed to show the Influence of the parameters on the stress concentration at the connection between the longitudinal rib and the deckplate. The parameters include root gap, toe angle $\theta$, toe radius $\rho$, and weld penetration. This study provides a fundamental point for the improvement of fatigue resistance and the estimation of the fatigue crack propagation in wekded joint details.