• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.85-91
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• 2022

The demand for electric vehicles has increased because of environmental regulations. The lithium-ion battery, the most widely used type of battery in electric vehicles, is composed of a cathode, an anode, and an electrolyte. It is manufactured according to the pole plate, assembly, and formation processes. To improve battery performance and increase manufacturing efficiency, the manufacturing process must be optimized. To do so, simulation can be used to reduce wasted resources and time, and a finite-element method can be utilized. For high simulation quality, it is essential to reflect the material properties of the electrode by considering the pores. However, the material properties of electrodes are difficult to derive through measurement. In this study, the representative volume element method, which is a homogenization method, was applied to estimate the representative material properties of the electrode considering the pores. The representative volume element method assumes that the strain energy before and after the conversion into a representative volume is conserved. The method can be converted into one representative property, even when nonhomogeneous materials are mixed in a unit volume. In this study, the material properties of the electrode considering the pores were derived. The results should be helpful in optimizing the electrode manufacturing process and related element technologies.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1722-1729
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• 2006

Predicting the mechanical properties of the 3-D scaffold using finite element method (FEM) simulation is important to the practical application of tissue engineering. However, the porous structure of the scaffold complicates computer simulations, and calculating scaffold models at the pore level is time-consuming. In some cases, the demands of the procedure are too high for a computer to run the standard code. To address this problem, the representative volume element (RVE) theory was introduced, but studies on RVE modeling applied to the 3-D scaffold model have not been focused. In this paper, we propose an improved FEM-based RVE modeling strategy to better predict the mechanical properties of the scaffold prior to fabrication. To improve the precision of RVE modeling, we evaluated various RVE models of newly designed 3-D scaffolds using FEM simulation. The scaffolds were then constructed using microstereolithography technology, and their mechanical properties were measured for comparison.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.5
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• pp.651-659
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• 2021

In this study, a new constitutive model has been developed to predict the elastic behavior of plain weave textile composites, using the finite element (FE) method. The geometric conditions and basic assumptions of this model are based on the basics of a continuum theory developed for the plane curved composites. In this model, the mechanical properties of the weave region and pure matrix region is calculated separately and then imported for the FE analysis. This new constitutive model is used to implement the mechanical properties of weave region in the representative volume element (RVE). The constitutive relations are implemented as user-material subroutine code (UMAT) in ABAQUS® FE software. The results of FE analysis have been compared with experimental results and other data available in the literature. These comparisons confirmed the capability of the presented model for the prediction of effective elastic properties of plain weave fabric composites.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.315-334
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• 2015

This study's primary aim is to check the existence of a representative volume element for granular materials and determine the link between the properties (responses) of macro structures and the size of the discrete particle assembly used to represent a constitutive relation in a two-scale model. In our two-scale method the boundary value problem on the macro level was solved using finite element method, based on the Cosserat continuum; the macro stresses and modulus were obtained using a solution of discrete particle assemblies at certain element integration points. Meanwhile, discrete particle assemblies were solved using discrete element method under boundary conditions provided by the macro deformation. Our investigations focused largely on the size effects of the discrete particle assembly and the radius of the particle on macro properties, such as deformation stiffness, bearing capacity and the residual strength of the granular structure. According to the numerical results, we suggest fitting formulas linking the values of different macro properties (responses) and size of discrete particle assemblies. In addition, this study also concerns the configuration and displacement fluctuation of discrete particle assemblies on the micro level, accompanied with the evolution of bearing capacity and deformation on the macro level.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.114-117
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• 2002

To develop an effective geometric modeling is essential in order that precise material properties of the 3-D braided composite can be estimated. in this study RVE(representative volume element) which is the smallest volume element representing whole material properties is developed to estimate the mechanical properties of 3-D flat board shaped braided composite using volume averaging method.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2017

Despite the exceptional mechanical properties of individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the effective properties of CNT-reinforced composites remain below expectations. The composite's microstructure has been identified as a key factor in explaining this discrepancy. In this contribution, a method for generating representative volume elements of aligned CNT sheets is presented. The model captures material characteristics such as random waviness and entanglement of individual nanotubes. Thus it allows studying microstructural effects on the composite's effective properties. Simulations investigating the strengthening effect of the application of a pre-stretch on the CNTs are carried out and found to be in very good agreement with experimental values. They highlight the importance of the nanotube's waviness and entanglement for the mechanical behavior of the composite. The presented representative volume elements are the first to accurately capture the waviness and entanglement of CNT sheets for realistically high volume fractions.

• Advances in biomechanics and applications
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-40
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• 2014

This paper examines the blood chamber of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) under static loading conditions and standard operating temperatures. The LVAD's walls are made of a temperature-sensitive polymer (ChronoFlex C 55D) and are covered with a titanium nitride (TiN) nano-coating (deposited by laser ablation) to improve their haemocompatibility. A loss of cohesion may be observed near the coating-substrate boundary. Therefore, a micro-scale stress-strain analysis of the multilayered blood chamber was conducted with FE (finite element) code. The multi-scale model included a macro-model of the LVAD's blood chamber and a micro-model of the TiN coating. The theories of non-linear elasticity and elasto-plasticity were applied. The formulated problems were solved with a finite element method. The micro-scale problem was solved for a representative volume element (RVE). This micro-model accounted for the residual stress, a material model of the TiN coating, the stress results under loading pressures, the thickness of the TiN coating and the wave parameters of the TiN surface. The numerical results (displacements and strains) were experimentally validated using digital image correlation (DIC) during static blood pressure deformations. The maximum strain and stress were determined at static pressure steps in a macro-scale FE simulation. The strain and stress were also computed at the same loading conditions in a micro-scale FE simulation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.469-482
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• 2010

This paper investigates the concrete permeability through a numerical and statistical approach. Concrete is considered as a random heterogeneous composite of three phases: aggregates, interfacial transition zones (ITZ) and matrix. The paper begins with some classical bound and estimate theories applied to concrete permeability and the influence of ITZ on these bound and estimate values is discussed. Numerical samples for permeability analysis are established through random aggregate structure (RAS) scheme, each numerical sample containing randomly distributed aggregates coated with ITZ and dispersed in a homogeneous matrix. The volumetric fraction of aggregates is fixed and the size distribution of aggregates observes Fuller's curve. Then finite element method is used to solve the steady permeation problem on 2D numerical samples and the overall permeability is deduced from flux-pressure relation. The impact of ITZ on overall permeability is analyzed in terms of ITZ width and contrast ratio between ITZ and matrix permeabilities. Hereafter, 3680 samples are generated for 23 sample sizes and 4 contrast ratios, and statistical analysis is performed on the permeability dispersion in terms of sample size and ITZ characteristics. By sample theory, the size of representative volume element (RVE) for permeability is then quantified considering sample realization number and expected error. Concluding remarks are provided for the impact of ITZ on concrete permeability and its statistical characteristics.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1085-1103
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• 2016

The present paper is aimed to evaluate and compare the effective elastic properties of CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites using 3-D nanoscale representative volume element (RVE) based on continuum mechanics using finite element method (FEM). Different periodic displacement boundary conditions are applied to the FEM model of the RVE to evaluate various elastic constants. The effects of the matrix material, the volume fraction and the length of reinforcements on the elastic properties are also studied. Results predicted are validated with the analytical and/or semiempirical results and the available results in the literature. Although all elastic stiffness properties of CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites are found to be improved compared to the matrix material, but out-of-plane and in-plane stiffness properties are better improved in CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites, respectively. It is also concluded that long nanofillers (graphene as well as CNT) are more effective in increasing the normal elastic moduli of the resulting nanocomposites as compared to the short length, but the values of shear moduli, except $G_{23}$ of CNT nanocomposite, of nanocomposites are slightly improved in the case of short length nanofillers (i.e., CNT and graphene).

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 1992

This paper presents the method of numerical analysis concerned with the hydropdynamic forces and moments of the floating bodies exerted by waves. The analytic methods of hydrodynamic wave forces and moments for large volume structures are generally classified into four categories ; the strip method, the boundary element method, the finite element method, and the potential matching method. In the case of the comparatively large structures, diffraction theory can be applied. However, there are no application limits of diffraction theory which have been known concerning with the analytic method of the rectangular structures. In this paper, the two-dimensional B.E.M. is treated for a moored small rectangular structure in order to evaluate applicability of diffraction theory. Numerical calculation is carried out for the structure. The results are compared with some other ones for verification. The result shows that diffraction theory is applicable to structures smaller than 0.15 in the ratio of the representative structure length d to wave length L for rectangular ones.