• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2017

In this study, the mechanical behavior and interface properties of boron nitride nanotube-poly(methyl methacrylate) nanocomposites are predicted using the molecular dynamics simulations and the double inclusion model. After modeling nanocomposite unit cell embedding single-walled nanotube and polymer, the stiffness matrix is determined from uniaxial tension and shear tests. Through the orientation average of the transversely isotropic stiffness matrix, the effective isotropic elastic constants of randomly dispersed microstructure of nanocomposites. Compared with the double inclusion model solution with a perfect interfacial condition, it is found that the interface between boron nitride nanotube and polymer matrix is weak in nature. To characterize the interphase surrounding the nanotube, the two step domain decomposition method incorporating a linear spring model at the interface is adopted. As a result, various combinations of the interfacial compliance and the interphase elastic constants are successfully determined from an inverse analysis.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.7-12
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• 1996

Present study was undertaken to investigate the leakage and friction of self-lubricating piston seal rings. A crank-piston type gas leakage test set-up was constructed. The piston rings were made of PTFE-polyimide composite. The free gap configurations of the seal rings were butt and step types. Eccentric tension rings were used to give the seal rings prepressure between the seal rings and cylinder wall. Two sizes of the tension rings were installed to investigate their effect on the gas leakage and friction of the seal rings. The results showed that step type seal rings are superior than the butt types. High tension spring rings resulted in low leakage and high friction loss. In order to reduce the gas leakage and friction loss of the piston seal rings, there should be compromise between the number of ring stages and prepressure of the tension rings.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1053-1063
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• 2016

As concrete is most usable material in construction industry it's been required to improve its quality. Nowadays, nanotechnology offers the possibility of great advances in construction. For the first time, the nonlinear buckling of straight concrete columns armed with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) resting on foundation is investigated in the present study. The column is modelled with Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The characteristics of the equivalent composite being determined using the Mori-Tanaka model. The foundation around the column is simulated with spring and shear layer. Employing nonlinear strains-displacements, energy methods and Hamilton's principal, the governing equations are derived. Differential quadrature method (DQM) is used in order to obtain the buckling load of structure. The influences of volume percent of SWCNTs, geometrical parameters, elastic foundation and boundary conditions on the buckling of column are investigated. Numerical results indicate that reinforcing the concrete column with SWCNTs, the structure becomes stiffer and the buckling load increases with respect to concrete column armed with steel.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.243-259
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• 2016

This research develops a finite element code for the transient dynamic analysis of tapered fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) poles with hollow circular cross-section and flexible joints used in power transmission lines. The FRP poles are modeled by tapered beam elements and their flexible joints by a rotational spring. To solve the time equations of transient dynamic analysis, precise time integration method is utilized. In order to verify the utilized formulations, a typical jointed FRP pole under step, triangular and sine pulses is analyzed by the developed finite element code and also ANSYS commercial finite element software for comparison. Thereafter, the effect of joint flexibility on its dynamic behavior is investigated. It is observed that by increasing the joint stiffness, the amplitude of the pole tip deflection history decreases, and the time of occurrence of the maximum deflection is earlier.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.297-303
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• 2002

We have investigated the microstructural properties of a weakly charged polyelectrolyte modeled with both Hookean spring and Debye-Huckel potential, by employing a novel hybrid scheme of molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Although the off-lattice pivot step facilitates the earlier computations stage, it gives rise to oscillations and hinders the stable equilibrium state. In order to overcome this problem, we adopt the MC off-lattice pivot step in early stage only, and then switch the computation to a pure MD step. The result shows that the computational speed-up compared to the previous method is entirely above 10 to 50, without loss of the accuracy. We examined the conformations of polyelectrolyte in solvents in terms of the end-to-end distance, radius of gyration, and structure factor with variations of the screening effects of solvent and the monomer charges. The emphasis can favorably be given on the elongation behavior of a polyelectrolyte chain, with observing the simultaneous snapshots.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.311-318
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• 2020

This study introduces a technique for improving the elastomeric-isolator performance using modular devices. The modular devices are shear resistance block, polymer spring, displacement acceptance guide, and anti-falling block. They are installed on the elastomeric isolator as a supplementary device. Each modularized device improves the isolator performance by performing step-by-step actions according to the seismic intensity and displacement. The PRB isolation device works in four stages, depending on the seismic magnitude, to satisfy the target performance. It is designed to accommodate design displacement in the first stage and large magnitude of earthquakes in the second and third stages. This design prevents superstructures from falling in the fourth stage due to large-magnitude earthquakes by increasing the capacity limit of the elastomeric isolator. In this study, the PRB isolation device is analyzed using finite element analysis to verify that the PRB isolation device works as intended and it can withstand loads corresponding to large-magnitude earthquakes. The performance of the PRB isolation device is validated by the analysis, which is further corroborated by actual experiments.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1337-1347
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• 2013

The parametric analysis on ultimate behavior of buried cylindrical GFRP(Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) septic tank was presented. Two kinds of F.E. analysis model(soil-spring model and 3D full model) was constructed. The ultimate behavior of septic tank was investigated according to the size of stiffened steel ring and properties of underground soil. Ramberg-Osgood model and Druker-Prager model were used for material nonlinear characteristics of GFRP septic tank and soil, respectively. The diameter and thickness of stiffened steel ring inside septic tank, elastic modulus and internal friction angle of soil were selected for parametric variables. The ultimate behavior of septic tank, load-displacement, axial and hoop strain, were calculated and investigated.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.315-329
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• 2010

Characteristics of thermophilic bacteria and secondary materials on the pyrrhotite surface were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermophilic bacteria from an acid hot spring in Japan were incubated with pyrrhotite at $42^{\circ}C$, $52^{\circ}C$, and $62^{\circ}C$ respectively. SEM analysis of the reacted pyrrhotite showed that indigenous rod-shaped bacteria ranging from $0.4{\times}1.5{\mu}m$ to $0.3{\times}11.9{\mu}m$ in size were attached to the pyrrhotite surface at these temperatures with formation of secondary materials. Extracellular polymer substances were formed on the bacterial surface. We suggest that these polymers functioned as a capsule protecting bacteria from the extreme environment. Secondary materials such as elemental sulfur, Fe-hydroxide, S-Fe and O-P-Fe compounds were found on the pyrrhotite surface.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.478-482
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• 2010

A series of molecular dynamic (MD), finite element (FE) and ab initio simulations are carried out to establish suitable modeling schemes for the continuum-based analysis of aluminum matrix nanocomposites reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). From a comparison of the MD with FE models and inferences based on bond structures and electron distributions, we propose that the effective thickness of a CNT wall for its continuum representation should be related to the graphitic inter-planar spacing of 3.4${\AA}$. We also show that shell element representation of a CNT structure in the FE models properly simulated the carbon-carbon covalent bonding and long-range interactions in terms of the load-displacement behaviors. Estimation of the effective interfacial elastic properties by ab initio simulations showed that the in-plane interfacial bond strength is negligibly weaker than the normal counterpart due to the nature of the weak secondary bonding at the CNT-Al interface. Therefore, we suggest that a third-phase solid element representation of the CNT-Al interface in nanocomposites is not physically meaningful and that spring or bar element representation of the weak interfacial bonding would be more appropriate as in the cases of polymer matrix counterparts. The possibility of treating the interface as a simply contacted phase boundary is also discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.409-424
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• 2012

Since relatively low elasticity modulus of the FRP materials results in lower natural frequencies, it is necessary to study the free vibration of FRP transmission poles. In this paper, the free vibration of tapered FRP transmission poles with thin-walled circular cross-section is investigated by a tapered beam element. To model the flexible joints of the modular poles, a rotational spring model is used. Modal analysis is performed for typical FRP poles with/without joint and they are also modeled by ANSYS commercial finite element software. There is a good correlation between the results of the tapered beam finite element model and those obtained from ANSYS as well as the existing experimental results. The effects of different geometries, material lay-ups, concentrated masses at the pole tip, and joint flexibilities are evaluated. Moreover, it is concluded that using tougher fibres at the inner and outer layers of the cross-section, results in higher natural frequencies, significantly.