• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-70
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• 2003

The motivation of this paper is to introduce the modern technology of large-scale cooling tower design. Thereby the innovative design concept for the world's largest cooling tower with a height of 200 m is briefly presented (Harte & Kr$\ddot{a}$tzig 2002, Bush et al. 2002). The new concept was considered not only for safety, but also for preservation of the durability of the structure, because cracking damage in large cooling towers in general cause extremely high cost of maintenance and repair. The paper demonstrates numerically the damage process in large cooling towers (Kr$\ddot{a}$tzig et al. 2001), and describes some basics of the numerical finite element approach for damage propagation modelling of shell structure. A prototype is analysed to trace the progressive damage process, whereby the changes in the dynamical behaviour of the structure, as mirrored in its natural frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes, are presented and discussed. Finally, the example shows that such damage processes develop progressively over the life-time of the shell structure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.53-72
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• 2012

In this study, the physically-based failure models for matrix and fibers in compression and tension loading are introduced. For the 3D stress based fiber kinking model a modification is proposed for calculation of the fiber misalignment angle. All of these models are implemented into the finite element code by using the advantage of damage variable and the numerical results are discussed. To investigate the matrix failure model, purely in-plane transverse compression experiments are carried out on the specimens made by Glass/Epoxy to obtain the fracture surface angle and then a comparison is made with the calculated numerical results. Furthermore, shear failure of $({\pm}45)_s$ model is investigated and the obtained numerical results are discussed and compared with available experimental results. Some experiments are also carried out on the woven laminated composites to investigate the fracture pattern in the matrix failure mode and shown that the presented matrix failure model can be used for the woven composites. Finally, the obtained numerical results for stress based fiber kinking model and improved ones (strain based model) are discussed and compared with each other and with the available results. The results show that these models can predict the kink band angle approximately.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.691-704
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• 2014

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are commonly used for building structures to resist seismic loading. While the RC shear walls can have a high load-carrying capacity, they tend to fail in a brittle mode under shear, accompanied by forming large diagonal cracks and bond splitting between concrete and steel reinforcement. Improving seismic performance of shear walls has remained a challenge for researchers all over the world. Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), featuring incredible ductility under tension, can be a promising material to replace concrete in shear walls with improved performance. Currently, the application of ECC to large structures is limited due to the lack of the proper constitutive models especially under shear. In this paper, a new Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced ECC is proposed. The model was built upon the Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced concrete by (Hsu and Mo 2010). The model was then implemented in the OpenSees program to perform analysis on several cases of shear walls under seismic loading. The seismic response of reinforced ECC compared with RC shear walls under monotonic and cyclic loading, their difference in pinching effect and energy dissipation capacity were studied. The modeling results revealed that reinforced ECC shear walls can have superior seismic performance to traditional RC shear walls.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.523-545
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• 2013

Piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors of a piezoceramic patch adhesively centered on a carbon composite plate are identified using a robust multi-objective optimization procedure. For this purpose, the patch piezoelectric stress coupling and blocked dielectric constants are automatically evaluated for a wide frequency range and for the different identifiable behaviors. Latters' symmetry conditions are coded in the design plans serving for response surface methodology-based sensitivity analysis and meta-modeling. The identified constants result from the measured and computed open-circuit frequencies deviations minimization by a genetic algorithm that uses meta-model estimated frequencies. Present investigations show that the bonded piezoceramic patch has effective three-dimensional (3D) orthotropic piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors. Besides, the sensitivity analysis indicates that four constants, from eight, dominate the 3D orthotropic behavior, and that the analyses can be reduced to the electromechanically coupled modes only; therefore, in this case, and if only the dominated parameters are optimized while the others keep their nominal values, the resulting piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors are found to be transverse-isotropic. These results can help designing piezoceramics smart composites for various applications like noise, vibration, shape, and health control.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.647-662
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• 2016

This study aims to monitor the variation of modal frequencies of steel buildings during their construction sequence. In this respect, construction of a steel building is followed by vibration based measurements. The monitored building is a three-story educational building within a building group whose structural system consists of steel moment resisting steel frames and eccentric braces. Five different acceleration measurements in two perpendicular directions are taken on five different construction stages, starting from the erection of the columns and beams ending with the completion of the construction. The recorded measurements are transferred into frequency domain and the dominant frequencies for each case have been determined. The change in the dominant frequencies is evaluated with the existing construction stages and performed constructional works between the stages. The last measurement, performed on the building in service, revealed the first two dominant frequencies as mutual in X and Y direction, showing that these dynamic modes are torsional modes. This result is investigated by numerical analysis performed with finite element model of the building constructed for design purpose. Lower frequencies and different mode shapes are determined from numerical analysis. The reason of lower frequencies is discussed and the vibration survey is extended to determine the effects of an adjacent building. The results showed that the building is in strong relation with an adjoining building in spite of a designed construction joint.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2018

In orthopedic surgery and in particular in total hip arthroplasty, the implant fixation is carried out using a surgical cement called polymethylmethacrylat (PMMA). This cement has to insure a good adhesion between implant and bone and a good load distribution to the bone. By its fragile nature, the cement can easily break when it is subjected to a high stress gradient by presenting a craze zone in the vicinity of inclusion. The focus of this study is to analyze the effect of inclusion in some zone of cement in which the loading condition can lead to the crack opening leading to their propagation and consequently the aseptic loosening of the THR. In this study, the fracture behavior of the bone cement including a strange body (bone remain) from which the onset of a crack is supposed. The effect of loading condition, the geometry, the presence of both crack and inclusion on the stress distribution and the fracture behavior of the cement. Results show that the highest stresses are located around the sharp tip of bony inclusion. Most critical cracks are located in the middle of the cement mantle when they are subjected to one leg standing state loading during walking.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.602-608
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• 2002

The flexible structure like solar array and antenna in spacecraft shows very sensitive responses to the inner or outer disturbance and noise. And the spacecraft becomes more complex and larger as it has various mission and role. But since the spacecraft need to have the limited mass, the thin and light material should be selected and this necessity induces the decrease d natural frequency and structural stiffness. It reduces the ability of adapting to the disturbance and induces the structural unstability. Certainly, the disturbance does not only make the structural unstability, but also give the bad effect to the precise attitude control. So it is necessary to control the vibration in the space. In this paper, the flexible structure control modeling with piezo sensor and piezo actuator is developed. The model uncertainty of damping ratio is overcome by robust control. The system equation is induced by the finite element method.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2008

This paper presents the dynamic analysis and input shaping control of a positioning stage. Vibration characteristics of the positioning stage are affected not only by the structural dynamics but also by the servo actuators that consist of the mechanism; driving motor and controller. This paper proposes an integrated dynamic model to accommodate both the structural dynamics and the servo actuators. Theoretical modal analysis with a commercial finite element code is carried out to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the experimental positioning stage. Experiments are performed to validate the theoretical modal analysis and estimate the equivalent stiffness due to the servo actuators. This paper deals with an input shaping scheme to suppress vibration of the positioning stage. Input shapers are systematically implemented for the positioning stage in consideration of its dynamics. The effects of servo control gain are also investigated. The experiments show that input shaping effectively removes residual vibrations and then improves the performance of positioning stage.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.326-332
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• 2017

The effects of exposure to an extremely low-frequency magnetic field (25 Hz 20G) on animal cells have been studied. In some reports, stimulation was performed for fixed frequency and variations in magnitude; however, animal-cell experiments have established that both parameters play an important role. The present work undertook the modeling, simulation, and development of a uniform-magnetic-field generation system with variable frequency and stimulation intensity (0-60 Hz, 1-25G) for experimentation with cell cultures in situ. The results showed a coefficient of variation less than 1 % of the magnetic-field dispersion at the working volume, which is consistent with the corresponding simulation results demonstrating a uniform magnetic field. On the other hand, long-term tests during the characterization process indicated that increments of only $0.4^{\circ}C$ in the working volume temperature will not be an interfering factor when experiments are carried out in in situ cell cultures.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.213-226
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• 2001

Wind uplift rating of roofing systems is based on standardised test methods. Roof specimens are placed in an apparatus with specified table size (length and width) then subjected to the required wind load cycle. Currently, there is no consensus on the table size to be used by these testing protocols in spite of the fact that a table size plays a significant role in evaluating the performance. This paper presents a study with the objective to investigate the impact of table size on the performance of roofing systems. To achieve this purpose, extensive numerical experiments using the finite element method have been conducted to investigate the performance of roofing systems subjected to wind uplift pressures. Numerical results were compared with results obtained from experimental work to benchmark the numerical modeling. Required table size and curves for the determinations of appropriate correction factors are suggested. This has been completed for various test configurations with thermoplastic waterproofing membranes. Development of correction factors for assemblies with thermoset and modified bituminous membranes are in progress. Generalization of the correction factors and its usage for wind uplift rating of roofs will be the focus of a future paper.