• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제67권1호
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• pp.79-85
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• 2018

Topology optimization of steel and concrete composite based on truss-like material model is studied in this paper. First, the initial design domain is filled with concrete, and the steel is distributed in it. The problem of topology optimization is to minimize the volume of steel material and solved by full stress method. Then the optimized steel and concrete composite truss-like continuum is obtained. Finally, the distribution of steel material is determined based on the optimized truss-like continuum. Several numerical results indicate the numerical instability and rough boundary are settled. And more details of manufacture and construction can be presented based on the truss-like material model. Hence, the truss-like material model of steel and concrete is efficient to establish the distribution of steel material in concrete.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.381-388
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• 2016

The performance of a staring infrared imaging system can be characterized based on estimating the modulation transfer function (MTF). The slant edge method is a widely used MTF estimation method, which can effectively solve the aliasing problem caused by the discrete undersampling of the infrared focal plane array. However, the traditional slant edge method has some limitations such as the low precision of the edge angle extraction and using the approximate function to fit the edge spread function (ESF), which affects the accuracy of the MTF estimation. In this paper, we propose a modified slant edge method, including an edge angle extraction method that can improve the precision of the edge angle extraction and an ESF fitting algorithm which is based on the transfer function model of the imaging system, to enhance the accuracy of the MTF estimation. This modified slant edge method presents higher estimation accuracy and better immunity to noise and edge angle than other traditional methods, which is demonstrated by the simulation and application experiments operated in our study.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제65권4호
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• pp.465-476
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• 2018

This article investigates buckling behavior of a multi-phase nanocrystalline nanobeam resting on Winkler-Pasternak foundation in the framework of nonlocal couple stress elasticity and a higher order refined beam model. In this model, the essential measures to describe the real material structure of nanocrystalline nanobeams and the size effects were incorporated. This non-classical nanobeam model contains couple stress effect to capture grains micro-rotations. Moreover, the nonlocal elasticity theory is employed to study the nonlocal and long-range interactions between the particles. The present model can degenerate into the classical model if the nonlocal parameter, and couple stress effects are omitted. Hamilton's principle is employed to derive the governing equations and the related boundary conditions which are solved applying an analytical approach. The buckling loads are compared with those of nonlocal couple stress-based beams. It is showed that buckling loads of a nanocrystalline nanobeam depend on the grain size, grain rotations, porosities, interface, elastic foundation, shear deformation, surface effect, nonlocality and boundary conditions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제71권3호
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• pp.245-255
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• 2019

In this paper, an inverted-pendulum model consisting of a point supported by spring limbs with roller feet is adopted to simulate human walking load. To establish the kinematic motion of first and second single and double support phases, the Lagrangian variation method was used. Given a set of model parameters, desired walking speed and initial states, the Newmark-${\beta}$ method was used to solve the above kinematic motion for studying the effects of roller radius, stiffness, impact angle, walking speed, and step length on the ground reaction force, energy transfer, and height of center of mass transfer. The numerical simulation results show that the inverted-pendulum model for walking is conservative as there is no change in total energy and the duration time of double support phase is 50-70% of total time. Based on the numerical analysis, a dynamic load factor ${\alpha}_{wi}$ is proposed for the traditional walking load model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.363-377
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• 2018

An efficient and free of shear locking finite element model is developed and employed to study free vibration of tapered bidirectional functionally graded material (BFGM) beams. The beam material is assumed to be formed from four distinct constituent materials whose volume fraction continuously varies along the longitudinal and thickness directions by power-law functions. The finite element formulation based on the first-order shear deformation theory is derived by using hierarchical functions to interpolate the displacement field. In order to improve efficiency and accuracy of the formulation, the shear strain is constrained to constant and the exact variation of the cross-sectional profile is employed to compute the element stiffness and mass matrices. A comprehensive parametric study is carried out to highlight the influence of the material distribution, the taper and aspect ratios as well as the boundary conditions on the vibration characteristics. Numerical investigation reveals that the proposed model is efficient, and it is capable to evaluate the natural frequencies of BFGM beams by using a small number of the elements. It is also shown that the effect of the taper ratio on the fundamental frequency of the BFGM beams is significantly influenced by the boundary conditions. The present results are of benefit to optimum design of tapered FGM beam structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제38권6호
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• pp.803-823
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• 2011

In this paper, the three dimensional Parallel Realistic Failure Process Analysis ($RFPA^{3D}$-Parallel) code based on micromechanical model is employed to investigate the bonding behavior in FRP sheet bonded to concrete in single shear test. In the model, the heterogeneity of brittle disordered material at a meso-scale was taken into consideration in order to realistically demonstrate the mechanical characteristics of FRP-to-concrete. Modified Mohr-coulomb strength criterion with tension cut-off, where a stressed element can damage in shear or in tension, was adopted and a stiffness degradation approach was used to simulate the initiation, propagation and growth of microcracks in the model. In addition, a Master-Slave parallel operation control technique was adopted to implement the parallel computation of a large numerical model. Parallel computational results of debonding of FRP-concrete visually reproduce the spatial and temporal debonding failure progression of microcracks in FRP sheet bonded to concrete, which agrees well with the existing testing results in laboratory. The numerical approach in this study provides a useful tool for enhancing our understanding of cracking and debonding failure process and mechanism of FRP-concrete and our ability to predict mechanical performance and reliability of these FRP sheet bonded to concrete structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.471-491
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• 2021

In this study, we estimate the ultimate load of rectangular concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST) by developing a novel hybrid predictive model (ANN-BCMO) which is a combination of balancing composite motion optimization (BCMO) - a very new optimization technique and artificial neural network (ANN). For this aim, an experimental database consisting of 422 datasets is used for the development and validation of the ANN-BCMO model. Variables in the database are related with the geometrical characteristics of the structural members, and the mechanical properties of the constituent materials (steel and concrete). Validation of the hybrid ANN-BCMO model is carried out by applying standard statistical criteria such as root mean square error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (R²), and mean absolute error (MAE). In addition, the selection of appropriate values for parameters of the hybrid ANN-BCMO is conducted and its robustness is evaluated and compared with the conventional ANN techniques. The results reveal that the new hybrid ANN-BCMO model is a promising tool for prediction of the ultimate load of rectangular CFST, and prove the effective role of BCMO as a powerful algorithm in optimizing and improving the capability of the ANN predictor.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제82권2호
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• pp.245-258
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• 2022

Many Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) methods have been proposed for structural damage diagnosis and prognosis. However, SHM for pinched hysteretic structures can be problematic due to the high level of nonlinearity. The model-free hysteresis loop analysis (HLA) has displayed notable robustness and accuracy in identifying damage for full-scaled and scaled test buildings. In this paper, the performance of HLA is compared with seven other SHM methods in identifying lateral elastic stiffness for a six-story numerical building with highly nonlinear pinching behavior. Two successive earthquakes are employed to compare the accuracy and consistency of methods within and between events. Robustness is assessed across sampling rates 50-1000 Hz in noise-free condition and then assessed with 10% root mean square (RMS) noise added to responses at 250 Hz sampling rate. Results confirm HLA is the most robust method to sampling rate and noise. HLA preserves high accuracy even when the sampling rate drops to 50 Hz, where the performance of other methods deteriorates considerably. In noisy conditions, the maximum absolute estimation error is less than 4% for HLA. The overall results show HLA has high robustness and accuracy for an extremely nonlinear, but realistic case compared to a range of leading and recent model-based and model-free methods.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제16권6호
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• pp.847-864
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• 2015

This study aimed to develop models of sulfate diffusion and ettringite content profile in cement paste for the predication of the damage behavior in cement paste subject to external sulfate. In the models, multiphase reaction equilibrium between ions in pore solution and solid calcium aluminates phases and the microstructure changes in different positions of cement paste were taken into account. The distributions of expansive volume strain and expansion stress in cement paste were calculated based on the ettringite content profile model. In addition, more sulfate diffusion tests and SEM analyses were determined to verify the reliability and veracity of the models. As the results shown, there was a good correlation between the numerical simulation results and experimental evidences. The results indicated that the water to cement ratio (w/c) had a significant influence on the diffusion of sulfate ions, ettringite concentration profile and expansion properties in cement paste specimens. The cracking points caused by ettringite growth in cement paste specimens were predicted through numerical methods. According to the simulation results, the fracture of cement paste would be accelerated when the specimens were prepared with higher w/c or when they were exposed to sulfate solution with higher concentration.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제23권5호
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• pp.405-418
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• 2020

Deep excavation may have impact on the adjacent tunnels. It is obvious that the excavation will adversely affect and even damage the existing tunnels if the induced deformation exceeds the capacity of tunnel structures. It hence creates a high necessity to predict tunnel displacement induced by nearby excavation to ensure the safety of tunnel. In this paper, a simplified method to evaluate the heave of the underlying tunnel induced by adjacent excavation is presented and verified by field measurement results. In the proposed model, the tunnel is represented by a series of short beams connected by tensile springs, compressional springs and shear springs, so that the rotational effect and shearing effect of the joints between lining rings can be captured. The proposed method is compared with the previous modelling methods (e.g., Euler-Bernoulli beam, a series of short beams connected only by shear springs) based on a field measured longitudinal deformation of subway tunnels. Results of these case studies show a reasonable agreement between the predictions and observations.