• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.281-286
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• 2011

Station structures, one of important infrastructures, which have been being operated since the 1970s, are especially vulnerable to even the medium-level earthquake and they could be damaged by long-term internal or external vibrations such as ambient vibrations. Recently, much attention has been paid to real-time monitoring of the fatal defect or long-term deterioration of civil infrastructures to ensure their safety and adequate performance throughout their life span. In this study, a structural health monitoring methodology using acceleration responses is proposed to evaluate the health-state of the station structures and to detect initial damage-stage. A damage index is developed using the acceleration data and it is applied to outlier analysis, one of unsupervised learning based pattern recognition methods. A threshold value for the outlier analysis is determined based on confidence level of the probabilistic distribution of the acceleration data. The probabilistic distribution is selected according to the feature of the collected data.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.107-122
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• 2019

As one of the most important parameters in structural health monitoring, structural frequency has many advantages, such as convenient to be measured, high precision, and insensitive to noise. In addition, frequency-change-ratio based method had been validated to have the ability to identify the damage occurrence and location. However, building a precise enough finite elemental model (FEM) for the test structure is still a huge challenge for this frequency-change-ratio based damage detection technique. In order to overcome this disadvantage and extend the application for frequencies in structural health monitoring area, a novel method was developed in this paper by combining the cross-model cross-mode (CMCM) model updating algorithm with the frequency-change-ratio based method. At first, assuming the physical parameters, including the element mass and stiffness, of the test structure had been known with a certain value, then an initial to-be-updated model with these assumed parameters was constructed according to the typical mass and stiffness distribution characteristic of shear buildings. After that, this to-be-updated model was updated using CMCM algorithm by combining with the measured frequencies of the actual structure when no damage was introduced. Thus, this updated model was regarded as a representation of the FEM model of actual structure, because their modal information were almost the same. Finally, based on this updated model, the frequency-change-ratio based method can be further proceed to realize the damage detection and localization. In order to verify the effectiveness of the developed method, a four-level shear building was numerically simulated and two actual shear structures, including a three-level shear model and an eight-story frame, were experimentally test in laboratory, and all the test results demonstrate that the developed method can identify the structural damage occurrence and location effectively, even only very limited modal frequencies of the test structure were provided.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.3
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• pp.295-309
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• 2020

The construction of Reinforced Concrete (R/C) buildings with unreinforced masonry infills is part of the traditional building practice in many countries with regions of high seismicity throughout the world. When these buildings are subjected to seismic motions the presence of masonry infills and especially their configuration can highly influence the seismic damage state. The capability to avoid configurations of masonry infills prone to seismic damage at the stage of initial architectural concept would be significantly definitive in the context of Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering. Along these lines, the present paper investigates the potential of instant prediction of the damage response of R/C buildings with various configurations of masonry infills utilizing Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). To this end, Multilayer Feedforward Perceptron networks are utilized and the problem is formulated as pattern recognition problem. The ANNs' training data-set is created by means of Nonlinear Time History Analyses of 5 R/C buildings with a large number of different masonry infills' distributions, which are subjected to 65 earthquakes. The structural damage is expressed in terms of the Maximum Interstorey Drift Ratio. The most significant conclusion which is extracted is that the ANNs can reliably estimate the influence of masonry infills' configurations on the seismic damage level of R/C buildings incorporating their optimum design.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.31-44
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• 2005

In highly stressed conditions, the excavation damage zone induced by stress redistribution and disturbance must be evaluated after tunnel excavation. Therefore, the investigation of stress-induced deformation and fracture in rock is indispensable. In this study, fracture and damage mechanisms of rock induced by the accumulation of microcracks were investigated by the moving point regression technique as well as acoustic emission measured during uniaxial compression tests. Especially, the modified procedures to determine damage thresholds more systematically were newly proposed, and successfully applied to rock. From experiments, crack initiation and track damage stress levels were estimated to be $33{\~}36\%$ and $84{\~}89\%$ of uniaxial compressive strength respectively, for both of Hwangdeung granite and Yeosan marble. However, the normalized crack closure stress level for Yeosan marble was much higher than for Hwangdeung granite. In addition, the largest proportion of total axial strain in Hwangdeung granite was attributable to elastic deformation and initial microcracking. However, the greatest part of axial deformation in Yeosan marble arose from initial crack closure and unstable cracking. Finally, it was seen that unstable cracking after the crack damage stress level played a key part in the lateral deformation in rocks under uniaxial compression.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 2020

One of the most important aspects in structural health monitoring is the detection of fatigue damage. Structural components such as heavy-duty bolts work under high dynamic loads, and thus are prone to accumulate fatigue damage and cracks may originate. Those heavy-duty bolts are used, for example, in wind power generation and mining equipment. Therefore, the investigation of new and more effective monitoring technologies attracts a great interest. In this study the acoustic emission (AE) technology was employed to detect incipient damage during fatigue testing of a M36 bolt. Initial results showed that the AE signals have a high level of background noise due to how the load is applied by the fatigue testing machine. Thus, an advanced signal processing method in the time-frequency domain, the Hilbert-Huang Spectrum (HHS), was applied to reveal AE components buried in background noise in form of high-frequency peaks that can be associated with damage progression. Accordingly, the main contribution of the present study is providing insights regarding the detection of incipient damage during fatigue testing using AE signals and providing recommendations for further research.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.1935-1946
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• 2022

The investigations of the coated-particles of nuclear fuel samples are carried out in three stages: front-end, irradiation in the reactor core, and post-irradiation examination. The front-end stage is the initial analysis of the failures rates of produced samples before they are placed in the reactor core. The purpose of the verification is to prepare the particles for an experiment that will determine the degree of damage to the coated particles at each stage. Before starting experiments with the samples, they must be properly prepared. Polishing the samples in order to uncover the inner layers is an important, initial experimental step. The authors of this paper used a novel way to prepare samples for testing - by applying an ion polisher. Mechanical polishing used frequently for sample preparations generates additional mechanical damages in the studied fuel particle, thus directly affecting the experimental results. The polishing methods were compared for three different coated particles using diagnostic methods such as Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that the ion polishing method is better because the level of interference with the structures of the individual layers of the tested samples is much lower than with the mechanical method. The same technique is used for the fuel particles undergone ion implantation simulating radiation damage that can occur in the reactor core.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.73-90
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• 2014

The traditional destructive tests in damage detection require high cost, long consuming time, repairing of damaged members, etc. In addition to these, powerful equipments with advanced technology have motivated development of global vibration based damage detection methods. These methods base on observation of the changes in the structural dynamic properties and updating finite element models. The existence, location, severity and effect on the structural behavior of the damages can be identified by using these methods. The main idea in these methods is to minimize the differences between analytical and experimental natural frequencies. In this study, an application of damage detection using model updating method was presented on a one storey reinforced concrete (RC) building model. The model was designed to be 1/2 scale of a real building. The measurements on the model were performed by using ten uni-axial seismic accelerometers which were placed to the floor level. The presented damage identification procedure mainly consists of five steps: initial finite element modeling, testing of the undamaged model, finite element model calibration, testing of the damaged model, and damage detection with model updating. The elasticity modulus was selected as variable parameter for model calibration, while the inertia moment of section was selected for model updating. The first three modes were taken into consideration. The possible damaged members were estimated by considering the change ratio in the inertia moment. It was concluded that the finite element model calibration was required for structures to later evaluations such as damage, fatigue, etc. The presented model updating based procedure was very effective and useful for RC structures in the damage identification.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.193-212
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• 2009

The resilience of a city confronted with a terrorist bomb attack is the background of the paper. The resilience strongly depends on vital infrastructure and the physical protection of people. The protection buildings provide in case of an external explosion is one of the important elements in safety assessment. Besides the aspect of protection, buildings facilitate and enable many functions, e.g., offices, data storage, -handling and -transfer, energy supply, banks, shopping malls etc. When a building is damaged, the loss of functions is directly related to the location, amount of damage and the damage level. At TNO Defence, Security and Safety methods are developed to quantify the resilience of city infrastructure systems (Weerheijm et al. 2007b). In this framework, the dynamic response, damage levels and residual bearing capacity of multi-storey RC buildings is studied. The current paper addresses the aspects of dynamic response and progressive collapse, as well as the proposed method to relate the structural damage to a volume-damage parameter, which can be linked to the loss of functionality. After a general introduction to the research programme and progressive collapse, the study of the dynamic response and damage due to blast loading for a single RC element is described. Shock tube experiments on plates are used as a reference to study the possibilities of engineering methods and an explicit finite element code to quantify the response and residual bearing capacity. Next the dynamic response and progressive collapse of a multi storey RC building is studied numerically, using a number of models. Conclusions are drawn on the ability to predict initial blast damage and progressive collapse. Finally the link between the structural damage of a building and its loss of functionality is described, which is essential input for the envisaged method to quantify the resilience of city infrastructure.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.247-279
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• 2018

This study aims to investigate the behavioral characteristics of the LWSCR (lazy-wave steel catenary riser) for a turret-moored FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading) by using fully-coupled hull-mooring-riser dynamic simulation program in time domain. In particular, the effects of initial geometric profile on the global performance and structural behavior are investigated in depth to have an insight for optimal design. In this regard, a systematic parametric study with varying the initial curvature of sag and arch bend and initial position of touch down point (TDP) is conducted for 100-yr wind-wave-current (WWC) hurricane condition. The FPSO motions, riser dynamics, constituent structural stress results, accumulated fatigue damage of the LWSCR are presented and analyzed to draw a general trend of the relationship between the LWSCR geometric parameters and the resulting dynamic/structural performance. According to this study, the initial curvature of the sag and arch bend plays an important role in absorbing transferred platform motions, while the position of TDP mainly affects the change of static-stress level.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.16-22
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• 2003

In this paper, the method of determining the economically-optimal design section of rubble mound breakwater, using ADS program, was studied to supplement the deterministic approach. First of all, the design waves are computed, according to the return periods, using the Weibull distribution from the data of waves at the location of the breakwater. In order to take an optimal section, according to the return periods, the ADS program was used. The restriction conditions and objective functions are decided from the references of the specifications and standard manuals for Coastal and Harbor Construction Work. Results from this study support the ADS program as an appropriate method for determining the economically-optimal section of rubble mound breakwater, comparing the construction costs and the initial and damage repair costs for its life time.