• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.6 s.249
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• pp.670-677
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• 2006

Vacuum interrupters are used in various switch-gear components such as circuit breakers, distribution switches, contactors. The electrodes of a vacuum interrupter are manufactured of sinter-forged Cu-Cr material for good electrical and mechanical characteristics. Since the closing velocity is 1-2m/s and impact deformation of the electrode depends on the strain-rate at the given velocity, the dynamic material property of the sinter-forged Cu-Cr alloy is important to design the vacuum interrupter reliably and to identify the impact characteristics of a vacuum interrupter accurately. This paper is concerned with the dynamic material properties of sinter-forged Cu-Cr alloy for various strain rates. The amount of chrome is varied from 10 wt% to 30 wt% in order to investigate the influence of the chrome content on the dynamic material property. The high speed tensile test machine is utilized in order to identify the dynamic property of the Cu-Cr alloy at the intermediate strain-rate and the split Hopkinson pressure bar is used at the high strain-rate. Experimental results from both the quasi-static and the high strain-rate up to the 5000/sec are interpolated with respect to the amount of chrome in order to construct the Johnson-Cook and the modified Johnson-Cook model as the constitutive relation that should be applied to numerical simulation of the impact behavior of electrodes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.321-331
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• 2003

The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation conducted on welded tubular joints, that are employed in offshore platforms, to study the behaviour and strength of these joints under axial brace compression loading. The geometrical configuration of the joints tested were T and Y. The nominal diameter of the chord and brace members of the joint were 324 and 219 mm respectively. The chord thickness was 12 mm and the brace 8 mm. The tested joints are approximately quarter size when compared to the largest joints in the platforms built in a shallow water depth of 80 m in the Bombay High field. Some of the joints were actually fabricated by a leading offshore agency which firm is directly involved in the fabrication of prototype structures. Strength of the internally ring-stiffened joints was found to be almost twice that of the unstiffened joints of the same configuration and dimensions. Bending of the chord as a whole was observed to be the predominant mode of deformation of the internally ring-stiffened joints in contrast to ovaling and punching shear of the unstiffened joints. It was observed in this investigation that unstiffened joint was stiffer in ovaling mode than in bending and that midspan deflection of unstiffened joint was insignificant when compared to that of the internally ring stiffened joint. The measured midspan deflection of the unstiffened joint in this investigation and its relation with the applied axial load compares very well with that predicted for the brace axial displacement by energy method published in the literature. A comparison of the measured deflection and ovaling of the unstiffened joint was made with that published by the author elsewhere in which numerical prediction of both quantities have been made using ANSYS software package. The agreement was found to be quite good.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.257-289
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• 2015

Shear connectors are generally used to link the slab and girders together in slab-on-girder bridge structures. Damage of shear connectors in such structures will result in shear slippage between the slab and girders, which significantly reduces the load-carrying capacity of the bridge. Because shear connectors are buried inside the structure, routine visual inspection is not able to detect conditions of shear connectors. A few methods have been proposed in the literature to detect the condition of shear connectors based on vibration measurements. This paper proposes a different dynamic condition assessment approach to identify the damage of shear connectors in slab-on-girder bridge structures based on power spectral density transmissibility (PSDT). PSDT formulates the relationship between the auto-spectral densities of two responses in the frequency domain. It can be used to identify shear connector conditions with or without reference data of the undamaged structure (or the baseline). Measured impact force and acceleration responses from hammer tests are analyzed to obtain the frequency response functions at sensor locations by experimental modal analysis. PSDT from the slab response to the girder response is derived with the obtained frequency response functions. PSDT vectors in the undamaged and damaged states can be compared to identify the damage of shear connectors. When the baseline is not available, as in most practical cases, PSDT vectors from the measured response at a reference sensor to those of the slab and girder in the damaged state can be used to detect the damage of shear connectors. Numerical and experimental studies on a concrete slab supported by two steel girders are conducted to investigate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach. Identification results demonstrate that damages of shear connectors are identified accurately and efficiently with and without the baseline. The proposed method is also used to evaluate the conditions of shear connectors in a real composite bridge with in-field testing data.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.229-251
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• 2012

Guided waves have shown a great potential for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. In contrast to traditional non-destructive testing (NDT) methodologies, a key element of SHM approaches is the high process of automation. The monitoring system should decide autonomously whether the host structure is intact or not. A basic requirement for the realization of such a system is that the sensors are permanently installed on the host structure. Thus, baseline measurements become available that can be used for diagnostic purposes, i.e., damage detection, localization, etc. This paper contributes to guided wave-based inspection in anisotropic materials for SHM purposes. Therefore, computational strategies are described for both, the solution of the complex equations for wave propagation analysis in composite materials based on exact elasticity theory and the popular global matrix method, as well as the underlying equations of two active damage localization algorithms for anisotropic structures. The result of the global matrix method is an angular and frequency dependent wave velocity characteristic that is used subsequently in the localization procedures. Numerical simulations and experimental investigations through time-delay measurements are carried out in order to validate the proposed theoretical model. An exemplary case study including the calculation of dispersion curves and damage localization is conducted on an exemplary unidirectional composite structure where the ultrasonic signals processed in the localization step are simulated with the spectral element method. The proposed study demonstrates the capabilities of the proposed algorithms for accurate damage localization in anisotropic structures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.209-220
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• 2008

A methodology for the seismic vulnerability assessment of historical monuments is presented in this paper. The ongoing work has been conducted in Tunisia within the framework of the FP6 European Union project (WIND-CHIME) on the use of appropriate modern seismic protective systems in the conservation of Mediterranean historical buildings in earthquake-prone areas. The case study is the five-century-old Zaouia of Sidi Kassem Djilizi, located downtown Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Ambient vibration tests were conducted on the case study using a number of force-balance accelerometers placed at selected locations. The Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition (EFDD) technique was applied to extract the dynamic characteristics of the monument. A 3-D finite element model was developed and updated to obtain reasonable correlation between experimental and numerical modal properties. The set of parameters selected for the updating consists of the modulus of elasticity in each wall element of the finite element model. Seismic vulnerability assessment of the case study was carried out via three-dimensional time-history dynamic analyses of the structure. Dynamic stresses were computed and damage was evaluated according to a masonry specific plane failure criterion. Statistics on the occurrence, location and type of failure provide a general view for the probable damage level and mode. Results indicate a high vulnerability that confirms the need for intervention and retrofit.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.181-186
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• 2006

An imaging method of seismic sources using time-reversal wave propagation is presented. The method is based on the time-reversal invariance and the spatial reciprocity of the wave equation. Time-reversal wave propagation has been used to image anomalous features of a midium in medical imaging, non destructive testing and waveform tomography. Seismogram is the record whose energy is propagated from the seismic source. If time-reversed seismogram propagates back into the medium, seismic energy is concentrated at the origin time of the event and at the source location. In this work, a staggered-grid finite-difference method of the elastic wave equation is parallelized for 3-D wave propagation simulation. With numerical experiments, we show that the time-reversal imaging will enable us to explore the spatio-temporal history of complex earthquake.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.4 s.179
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• pp.451-471
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• 2006

Major projects and research topics in the field of rock mechanics are analyzed to obtain the following results: $\cdot$ Rock mechanics deals with the behavior of deformation, failure and displacement of the rock and rock mass on the basis of geological basics. Discontinuities in the rock mass are the most important parameters to control the behavior of rock mass around underground openings. $\cdot$ The objective of site investigation and testing is to determine the strength properties of the rock mass and the in situ stress regime. Specimens for laboratory and in situ tests are to be selected in order that the results of the tests give the representative properties oi the rock mass of the site in question. $\cdot$ The result of a numerical model would be better evaluated not quantitatively but qualitatively. The displacement behavior of the rock mass has to be monitored properly for the NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) principles. $\cdot$ The stability of rock slope is to be evaluated preferably by back analysis with strength parameters, such as cohesion and friction angle.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.823-840
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• 2016

The plastic hinge lengths of beams and columns are a critical demand parameter in the nonlinear analysis of structures using the finite element method. The numerical model of a plastic hinge plays an important role in evaluating the response and damage of a structure to earthquakes or other loads causing the formation of plastic hinges. Previous research demonstrates that the plastic hinge length of reinforced concrete (RC) columns is closely related to section size, reinforcement ratio, reinforcement strength, concrete strength, axial compression ratio, and so on. However, because of the limitations of testing facilities, there is a lack of experimental data on columns with large section sizes and high axial compression ratios. In this work, we conducted a series of quasi-static tests for columns with large section sizes (up to 700 mm) and high axial compression ratios (up to 0.6) to explore the propagation of plastic hinge length during the whole loading process. The experimental results show that besides these parameters mentioned in previous work, the plastic hinge of RC columns is also affected by loading amplitude and size effect. Therefore, an approach toward considering the effect of these two parameters is discussed in this work.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.605-616
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• 2017

Concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) composite girder is a new type of structures for bridge constructions. The existing design codes cannot be used to predict the thermal stress in the CFST truss girder structures under solar radiation. This study is to develop the temperature gradient curves for predicting thermal stress of the structure based on field and laboratory monitoring data. An in-field testing had been carried out on Ganhaizi Bridge for over two months. Thermal couples were installed at the cross section of the CFST truss girder and the continuous data was collected every 30 minutes. A typical temperature gradient mode was then extracted by comparing temperature distributions at different times. To further verify the temperature gradient mode and investigate the evolution of temperature fields, an outdoor experiment was conducted on a 1:8 scale bridge model, which was installed with both thermal couples and strain gauges. The main factors including solar radiation and ambient temperature on the different positions were studied. Laboratory results were consistent with that from the in-field data and temperature gradient curves were obtained from the in-field and laboratory data. The relationship between the strain difference at top and bottom surfaces of the concrete deck and its corresponding temperature change was also obtained and a method based on curve fitting was proposed to predict the thermal strain under elevated temperature. The thermal stress model for CFST composite girder was derived. By the proposed model, the thermal stress was obtained from the temperature gradient curves. The results using the proposed model were agreed well with that by finite element modelling.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.10
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• pp.1244-1250
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• 2014

The temperature of the main engine cabin of commercial vessel is very high. The material SS-316L undergoes creep damage at temperatures exceeding $450^{\circ}C$. It is essential to maintain the highly stressed engine cabin below the creep regime. Hence, seawater is employed in this kind of maritime vehicles as cooling liquid. It obtains the thermal energy at the cooling pipe line after passing through main engine cooling system. To harness the energy in the seawater, a turbine can be installed to absorb the energy in the seawater before being released into the sea. In this study, a cooling pipe line is selected to apply the tubular type hydro turbine for transferring the energy. Numerical analysis for investigating the performance and the internal flow characteristics of the tubular turbine is conducted. The results show that the maximum efficiency of 85.8% is achieved although the efficiency drops rapidly at partial flow rate condition. The efficiency descends slowly at the condition of excess flow rate. There is a relatively wide operating range of flow rate of this turbine to keep high efficiency at the excess flow rate condition. For the internal flow of the turbine, there is uniform streamline on the suction and pressure sides of the blade at the design point. However, the secondary flow appears at the suction and pressure sidesat the excess flow rate.In addition, it appears only at pressure side at the partial flow rate condition.