• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.245-249
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• 2010

Much interest on the thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) has recently been attracted in commercial fields as well as scientific and applied research. The TPEs have their own characteristic area especially in relation with block copolymers as well as many other polymeric materials, since they show interesting features displayed by the conventional vulcanized rubber, and at the same time, by the thermoplastics. In addition, they are characterized by a set of interesting properties inherent to block and graft copolymers, variety of blends and vulcanized materials. The importance of TPE as organic materials can be evaluated by the number of published reports (papers, patents, technical reports, etc). For the suitable introduction of the TPE, historic, scientific, technical and commercial considerations should be taken into account. This review article starts with a brief discussion on historical considerations, followed by a introduction of the main preparations and analytical techniques utilized in chemical, structural, and morphological studies. The properties, processing tools, the position among organic materials, and applications of TPEs are also briefly reviewed. Finally, the most probable trends of their future development are discussed in a short final remarks.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.895-906
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• 2015

Background: Mitigation of primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) is a significant issue in the nuclear industry. Advanced nickel-based alloys with lower susceptibility have been adopted, although they do not seem to be entirely immune from PWSCC during normal operation. With regard to structural integrity assessments of the relevant components, an accurate evaluation of crack growth rate (CGR) is important. Methods: For the present study, the extended finite element method was adopted from among diverse meshless methods because of its advantages in arbitrary crack analysis. A user-subroutine based on the strain rate damage model was developed and incorporated into the crack growth evaluation. Results: The proposed method was verified by using the well-known Alloy 600 material with a reference CGR curve. The analyzed CGR curve of the alternative Alloy 690 material was then newly estimated by applying the proven method over a practical range of stress intensity factors. Conclusion: Reliable CGR curves were obtained without complex environmental facilities or a high degree of experimental effort. The proposed method may be used to assess the PWSCC resistance of nuclear components subjected to high residual stresses such as those resulting from dissimilar metal welding parts.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.453-469
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• 2021

The cracking at the transverse diaphragm cutout is one of the most severe fatigue failures threatening orthotropic steel decks (OSDs), whose mechanisms and crack treatment techniques have not been fully studied. In this paper, full-scale experiments were first performed to investigate the fatigue performance of polished cutouts involving the effect of an artificial geometrical defect. Following this, comparative experimental testing for defective cutouts strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) was carried out. Numerical finite element analysis was also performed to verify and explain the experimental observations. Results show that the combinative effect of the wheel load and thermal residual stress constitutes the external driving force for the fatigue cracking of the cutout. Initial geometrical defects are confirmed as a critical factor affecting the fatigue cracking. The principal stress 6 mm away from the free edge of the cutout can be adopted as the nominal stress of the cutout during fatigue evaluation, and the fatigue resistance of polished cutouts is higher than Grade A in AASHTO specification. The bonded CFRP system is highly effective in extending the fatigue life of the defective cutouts. The present study provides some new insights into the fatigue evaluation and repair of OSDs.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.63-72
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• 2022

The study applied the non-financial dimensions of the Balanced Scorecard (customer dimension, internal processes dimension, learning, and growth dimension). It was done to evaluate performance and measure the effectiveness of these dimensions on performance evaluation at College of Science and Humanities Studies: Al Aflaj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University. The researchers used the descriptive analytical approach to conduct the study to find the effect of these dimensions. Data was collected from the college staff and administrators; 120 questionnaires were distributed, out of which 112 were collected. The questionnaire data were analyzed using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) through the (Spss) and (Amos) software. The study finding showed that the balanced scorecard had a positive contribution in evaluating the performance of the College of Science and Humanities Studies: Al Aflaj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University through the dimensions of customers and internal processes, and the study finding revealed that the balanced scorecard has no contribution at performance evaluating the College of Science and Humanities Studies: Al Aflaj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University through the dimension of learning and growth.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.329-339
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• 2023

The objective of this study is to develop a Stability Evaluation System for retaining walls to assess their safety in real-time during excavation. A ground investigation is typically conducted before construction to gather information about the soil properties and predict wall stability. However, these properties may not accurately reflect the actual ground being excavated. To address this issue, the study employed a differential evolution algorithm to estimate the soil parameters of the actual ground. The estimated results were then used as input for an artificial neural network to evaluate the stability of the retaining walls. The study achieved an average accuracy of over 90% in predicting differential settlement, wall displacement, anchor force, and structural stability of the retaining walls. If implemented at actual excavation sites, this approach would enable real-time prediction of wall stability and facilitate effective safety management. Overall, the developed Stability Evaluation System offers a promising solution for ensuring the stability of retaining walls during construction. By incorporating real-time soil parameter analysis, it enhances the accuracy of stability predictions and contributes to proactive safety management in excavation projects.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1347-1356
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• 2024

Measuring the residual stress in the components in nuclear power plants is crucial to their safety evaluation. The instrumented indentation technique is a minimally invasive approach that can be conveniently used to determine the residual stress in structural materials in service. Because the indentation behavior of a structure with residual stresses is closely related to the elastic-plastic behavior of the indented material, an accurate understanding of the elastic-plastic behavior of the material is essential for evaluation of the residual stresses in the structures. However, due to the analytical problems associated with solving the elastic-plastic behavior, empirical equations with limited applicability have been used. In the present study, the impact of the non-equibiaxial residual stress state on indentation behavior was investigated using finite element analysis. In addition, a new nonequibiaxial residual-stress prediction methodology is proposed using a convolutional neural network, and the performance was validated. A more accurate residual-stress measurement will be possible by applying the proposed residual-stress prediction methodology in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.290-301
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• 2013

The docking analysis of a global ship structure is requested to evaluate its structural safety against the reaction forces at supports during docking works inside a dry dock. That problem becomes more important recently as the size of ships is getting larger and larger. The docking supports are appropriately arranged in a dock to avoid their excessive reaction forces which primarily cause the structural damages in docking a ship and, up to now, the structural safety has been assessed against the support arrangement by the finite element analysis (FEA) of a global ship structure. However, it is complicated to establish the finite element model of the ship in the current structural design environment of a shipyard and it takes over a month to finish the work. This paper investigates a simple and fast approach to carry out a ship docking analysis by a simplified grillage model and to assign the docking supports position on the model. The grillage analysis was considered from the motivation that only the reaction forces at supports are sufficient to assess their arrangement. Since the simplified grillage model of the ship cannot guarantee its accuracy quantitatively, modeling strategies are proposed to improve the accuracy. In this paper, comparisons between the proposed approach and three-dimensional FEA for typical types of ships show that the results from the present grillage model have reasonably good agreement with the FEA model. Finally, an integrated program developed for docking supports planning and its evaluation by the proposed approach is briefly described.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.32-42
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• 2020

In this study, in order to secure the necessity of introducing the safety certification system for the assembled temporary equipment and materials, the feasibility of the introduction was analyzed through literature review, structural analysis, and actual experiments and surveys related to the assembled temporary equipment and materials. In the previous studies, it was found that the research on the assembled temporary equipment and materials was insufficient, and it was possible to grasp the necessity of introducing the safety certification system for the assembled temporary equipment and materials. In addition, in the results of the serious accident analysis, it was found that the soundness of the temporary equipment and materials is determined by the structural characteristics after it was assembled. As a result of the feasibility analysis of the introduction of the safety certification of the assembled temporary equipment and materials through structural analysis, it is possible to effectively and rationally reflect the main geometrical influence factors, and to introduce the safety certification system that can test the procedures and procedures of the assembled temporary equipment and materials and based on it. It was found that there is a need. As a result of feasibility analysis on the necessity of introducing the safety certification system for assembled temporary equipment and materials through actual experiments, the existing single member performance evaluation has limitations in evaluating the structural performance of the assembled temporary equipment and materials. It was found that there is a need to introduce a safety certification system. As a result of gathering opinions on the feasibility of introducing the safety certification system for assembled temporary equipment and materials of manufacturers and users through the survey, it was found that the overall positive response result was high and the effectiveness was high.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.70-78
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• 2018

This research was carried out to develop an integrated folding wing made from carbon composite materials. Design requirements were reviewed and composite wing sizing was conducted using design optimization with commercial software. Three composite manufacturing processes including hot-press, pultrusion, and autoclave were evaluated and the most suitable processes for the integrated wing fabrication were selected, with consideration given to performance and cost. The determined manufacturing process was verified by two design development tests for selecting the design concept. Stiffness and strength of the composite wing were estimated through structural analyses. The test loads were calculated and static tests about design limit load and design ultimate load were performed using both wings. As a result, the evaluation criterions of the tests were satisfied and structural safety was verified through the series of structural analyses and testing.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.30-41
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• 2017

Types of noise barrier installed for noise attenuation are largely divided into noise-absorbing format and noise-proofing format. In these days, installation of transparent noise barrier is general trend to solve problems that hinder sunshine and landscape. Some kinds of transparent boards are used to one of components in noise barriers, but in some cases, less transparency and worse pollution due to yellowing phenomena, and severe material deformation are to harm the urban aesthetics Therefore laminated-tempered glass board in that yellowing phenomena does not occur can be replaced as a transparent one to secure those shortcomings. In this paper, the structural safety against train induced vibration and the resistibility to wind load are analyzed for laminated-tempered glass system as a component of noise barrier installed on Metro railway elevated bridges. Also the appropriateness is evaluated through flexural bending performance test, compressive strength test, modulus of elasticity tests, and impact test for the system or the glass material itself. All of these processes are intended to present the deployment of logic to evaluate the adequacy for the system.