• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 2013

In nature, many small insects are using jumping as a survival strategy. Among them, fleas jump in a unique method. They use an elastomer, 'Resilin', an extensor muscle and a trigger muscle. By contracting the extensor muscle, the elastic energy, that makes a flea to jump, is stored in the resilin. After storing energy, the trigger muscle begins contracting and pulling the extensor muscle. When the extensor muscle crosses the rotational joint, direction of torque generated from the extensor muscle reverses, 'torque reversal mechanism'. Simultaneously, the elastic energy stored in the resilin releases rapidly and is converted into the kinetic energy. It makes a flea to jump 150 times its body length. In this paper, miniaturized jumping robot using flea-inspired catapult mechanism is presented. This mechanism is based on the 4-bar linkage and the reversal joint and is actuated by Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) coiled springs describing the flea's muscle. The robot prototype is fabricated by SCM process using glass fiber prepregs and a sheet of polyimide film. The prototype is 20mm link length, 34mm width and 2.0g weight and can jump 103cm.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2004

Nondestructive damage sensitivity of carbon nanotube(CNT) and nanofiber (CNF)/epoxy composites with their adding contents was investigated using electro-micromechanical technique. Carbon black (CB) was used only for the comparison with CNT and CNF. The fracture of carbon fiber was detected by acoustic emission (AE), which was correlated to the change in electrical resistance, ΔR under double-matrix composites (DMC) test. Stress sensing on carbon nanocomposites was performed by electro-pullout test under uniform cyclic loading. At the same volume fraction, the damage sensitivity for fiber fracture, matrix deformation and stress sensing were highest for CNT/epoxy composite, whereas for CB/epoxy composite they were the lowest among three carbon nanomaterials (CNMs). Damage sensitivity was correlated with morphological observation of carbon nanocomposites. Homogeneous dispersion among CNMs could be keying parameters for better damage monitoring. In this study, damage sensing of carbon nanocomposites could be evaluated well nondestructively by the electrical resistance measurement with AE.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.133-146
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• 2007

This paper addresses a new type of broad and stage-based hybrid carbon fiber reinforced polymer (HCFRP) sensor that is suitable for the sensing of infrastructures. The HCFRP sensors, a type of composite sensor, are fabricated with three types of carbon tows of different strength and moduli. For all of the specimens, the active materials are carbon tows by virtue of their electrical conductivity and piezoresistivity. The measurement principles are based on the micro- and macro-fractures of different types of carbon tows. A series of experiments are carried out to investigate the sensing performances of the HCFRP sensors. The main variables include the stack order and volume fractions of different types of carbon tows. It is shown that the change in electrical resistance is in direct proportion to the strain/load in low strain ranges. However, the fractional change in electrical resistance (${\Delta}R/R_0$) is smaller than 2% prior to the macrofractures of carbon tows. In order to improve the resistance changes, measures are taken that can enhance the values of ${\Delta}R/R_0$ by more than 2 times during low strain ranges. In high strain ranges, the electrical resistance changes markedly with strain/load in a step-wise manner due to the gradual ruptures of different types of carbon tows at different strain amplitudes. The values of ${\Delta}R/R_0$ due to the fracture of high modulus carbon tows are larger than 36%. Thus, it is demonstrated that the HCFRP sensors have a broad and stage-based sensing capability.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.179-194
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• 2018

Reliable and accurate method of computationally aided design processes of advanced thin walled structures in automotive industries are much essential for the efficient usage of smart materials, that possess higher energy absorption in dynamic compression loading. In this paper, most versatile components i.e., thin walled crash tubes with different geometrical profiles are introduced in view of mitigating the impact of varying cross section in crash behavior and energy absorption characteristics. Apart from the geometrical parameters such as length, diameter and thickness, the non-dimensionalized parameters of average forces which control the plastic bending moment for varying thickness has explored in view of quantifying its impact on the crashworthiness of the structure. The explicit finite element code ABAQUS is utilized to conduct the numerical studies to examine the effect of parametric modifications in crash behavior and energy absorption. Also the simulation results are experimentally validated. It is evident that the circular cross-sectional tubes are preferable as high collision impact shock absorbers due to their ability in withstanding axial and oblique impact loads effectively. Furthermore, the specific energy absorption (SEA), crash force efficiency (CFE), plastic bending moment, peak force responses and its impact for optimally tailoring a design to cater the crashworthiness requirements are investigated. The primary outcome of the study is to provide sufficient information on circular tubes for the use of energy absorbers where impact oblique loading is expected.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.569-586
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• 2022

This study introduces a novel friction damper as a component of a recentering frame connection, to solve the problem of structural repair costs, caused by stiffness deterioration and brittle fracture of the central brace frame (CBF). The proposed damper consists of shape memory alloy (SMA) bars with pretension applied to them to improve the stability. SMAs reduce the residual displacement by virtue of the properties of the materials themselves; in addition, a pretension can be applied to partially improve their energy dissipation capacity. The damper also consists of a friction device equipped with friction bolts for increased energy dissipation. Therefore, a study was conducted on the effects of the friction device as well as the pretension forces on the friction damper. For performance verification, 12 cases were studied and analyzed using ABAQUS program. In addition, the friction and pretension forces were used as variables in each case, and the results were compared. As a result, when the pretension and friction force are increased, the energy dissipation capacity gradually increases by up to about 94% and the recentering capacity decreases by up to about 55%. Therefore, it has been shown that SMA bars with adequate pretension in combination with bolts with adequate frictional force effectively reduce residual deformation and increase damper capacity. Thus, this study has successfully proposed a novel friction damper with excellent performance in terms of recentering and energy dissipation capacity.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.603-614
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• 2023

In this paper, frequency analysis of curved functionally graded (FG) nanobeam by consideration of deepness effect has been studied. Differential transform method (DTM) has been used to obtain frequency responses. The nonlocal theory of Eringen has been applied to consider nanoscales. Material properties are supposed to vary in radial direction according to power-law distribution. Differential equations and related boundary conditions have been derived using Hamilton's principle. Finally, by consideration of nonlocal theory, the governing equations have been derived. Natural frequencies have been obtained using semi analytical method (DTM) for different boundary conditions. In order to study the effect of deepness, the deepness term is considered in strain field. The effects of the gradient index, radius of curvature, the aspect ratio, the nonlocal parameter and interaction of aforementioned parameters on frequency value for different boundary conditions such as clamped-clamped (C-C), clamped-hinged (C-H), and clamped-free (C-F) have been investigated. In addition, the obtained results are compared with the results in previous literature in order to validate present study, a good agreement was observed in the present results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.501-513
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• 2024

Two-directional functionally graded materials (2D-FGMs) show extraordinary physical properties which makes them ideal candidates for designing smart micro-switches. Pull-in instability is one of the most critical challenges in the design of electrostatically-actuated microswitches. The present research aims to bridge the gap in the static pull-in instability analysis of microswitches composed of 2D-FGM. Euler-Bernoulli beam theory with geometrical nonlinearity effect (i.e. von-Karman nonlinearity) in conjunction with the modified couple stress theory (MCST) are employed for mathematical formulation. The micro-switch is subjected to electrostatic actuation with fringing field effect and Casimir force. Hamilton's principle is utilized to derive the governing equations of the system and corresponding boundary conditions. Due to the extreme nonlinear coupling of the governing equations and boundary conditions as well as the existence of terms with variable coefficients, it was difficult to solve the obtained equations analytically. Therefore, differential quadrature method (DQM) is hired to discretize the obtained nonlinear coupled equations and non-classical boundary conditions. The result is a system of nonlinear coupled algebraic equations, which are solved via Newton-Raphson method. A parametric study is then implemented for clamped-clamped and cantilever switches to explore the static pull-in response of the system. The influences of the FG indexes in two directions, length scale parameter, and initial gap are discussed in detail.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.5_6
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• pp.641-659
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• 2010

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) gradually becomes a technique for ensuring the health and safety of civil infrastructures and is also an important approach for the research of the damage accumulation and disaster evolving characteristics of civil infrastructures. It is attracting prodigious research interests and the active development interests of scientists and engineers because a great number of civil infrastructures are planned and built every year in mainland China. In a SHM system the sheer number of accompanying wires, fiber optic cables, and other physical transmission medium is usually prohibitive, particularly for such structures as offshore platforms and long-span structures. Fortunately, with recent advances in technologies in sensing, wireless communication, and micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), wireless sensor technique has been developing rapidly and is being used gradually in the SHM of civil engineering structures. In this paper, some recent advances in the research, development, and implementation of wireless sensors for the SHM of civil infrastructures in mainland China, especially in Dalian University of Technology (DUT) and Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), are introduced. Firstly, a kind of wireless digital acceleration sensors for structural global monitoring is designed and validated in an offshore structure model. Secondly, wireless inclination sensor systems based on Frequency-hopping techniques are developed and applied successfully to swing monitoring of large-scale hook structures. Thirdly, wireless acquisition systems integrating with different sensing materials, such as Polyvinylidene Fluoride(PVDF), strain gauge, piezoresistive stress/strain sensors fabricated by using the nickel powder-filled cement-based composite, are proposed for structural local monitoring, and validating the characteristics of the above materials. Finally, solutions to the key problem of finite energy for wireless sensors networks are discussed, with future works also being introduced, for example, the wireless sensor networks powered by corrosion signal for corrosion monitoring and rapid diagnosis for large structures.

• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

This paper presents an experimental study on the piezoresistive behavior of nanocomposite strain sensors subjected to various loading modes and their capability to detect structural deformations and damages. The electrically conductive nanocomposites were fabricated in the form of a film using various types of thermoplastic polymers and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) at various loadings. In this study, the nanocomposite strain sensors were bonded to a substrate and subjected to tension, flexure, or compression. In tension and flexure, the resistivity change showed dependence on measurement direction, indicating that the sensors can be used for multi-directional strain sensing. In addition, the sensors exhibited a decreasing behavior in resistivity as the compressive load was applied, suggesting that they can be used for pressure sensing. This study demonstrates that the nanocomposite strain sensors can provide a pathway to affordable, effective, and versatile structural health monitoring.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2024

This paper measures the mechanical properties of corrugated cardboard, an eco-friendly packaging material, and applies these measurements to the MAT_PAPER model in LS-DYNA for finite element analysis. Although MAT_PAPER is primarily designed for modeling the behavior of paper, this research demonstrates its applicability to corrugated cardboard as well. Tensile, compression, and shear behaviors of a corrugated cardboard were measured and analyzed, and based on these results, six yield surfaces were derived and integrated into the MAT_PAPER model. By comparing the finite element analysis of the material tests and the low velocity collapse analysis of the corrugated cardboard square boxes with each experimental results, it was shown that the behavior of corrugated cardboard could be equivalently considered well by the MAT_PAPER model. However, since the model is not rate-dependent, the high strain rate properties of liner materials were measured and used for strain rate correction. Consequently, this matches well with the results of the high-speed compression tests of the corrugated cardboard square boxes.