• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.339-349
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• 2020

This study investigates the feasibility of using the results of the UPV (ultrasonic pulse velocity) test to assess the UCS (unconfined compressive strength) of unsaturated soil. A series of laboratory tests was conducted on samples of unsaturated lateritic soils of northern Taiwan. Specifically, the unconfined compressive test was combined with the pressure plate test to obtain the unconfined compressive strength and its matric suction (s) of the samples. Soil samples were first compacted at the designated water content and subsequently subjected to the wetting process for saturation and the following drying process to its target suction using the apparatus developed by the authors. The correlations among the UCS, s and UPV were studied. The test results show that both the UCS and UPV significantly increased with the matric suction regardless of the initial compaction condition, but neither the UCS nor UPV obviously varied when the matric suction was less than the air-entry value. In addition, the UCS approximately linearly increased with increasing UPV. According to the investigation of the test results, simplified methods to estimate the UCS using the UPV or matric suction were established. Furthermore, an empirical formula of the matric suction calculated from the UPV was proposed. From the comparison between the predicted values and the test results, the MAPE values of UCS were 4.52-9.98% and were less than 10%, and the MAPE value of matric suction was 17.3% and in the range of 10-20%. Thus, the established formulas have good forecasting accuracy and may be applied to the stability analysis of the unsaturated soil slope. However, further study is warranted for validation.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.77-82
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• 2011

The changes in the wet pressing response of old corrugated container(OCC) stock depending on the beating treatment and the addition of polymer aids were investigated with laboratory roll press instrument. Two types of polymer aids, such as high molecular weight polymer with low charge density and low molecular weight polymer with high charge density, were applied in this study. The more beaten OCC stock showed the lower dryness after wet pressing. The addition of polymer aids had great influences on the wet pressing efficiency and paper properties. The dryness after wet pressing was increased by the addition of polymer aids, but the pattern of changes in dryness were different depending on the type of polymer and the properties of stock. The higher molecular weight polymer aids showed the greater increase in the dryness. The properties of paper such as air permeability, bulk, formation, tensile strength were also greatly affected by the addition of polymer aids.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.553-570
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• 2020

To address the problems caused by the strong coupling of an airbreathing hypersonic vehicle's airframe and propulsion to the integrated control system design, an integrated airframe-propulsion model is established, and the coupling characteristics between the aircraft and engine are analyzed. First, the airframe-propulsion integration model is established based on the typical nonlinear longitudinal dynamical model of an air-breathing hypersonic vehicle and the one-dimensional dual-mode scramjet model. Thrust, moment, angle of attack, altitude, and velocity are used as transfer variables between the aircraft model and the engine model. The one-dimensional scramjet model can accurately reflect the working state of the engine and provide data to support the coupling analysis. Second, owing to the static instability of the aircraft model, the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controller of the aircraft is designed to ensure attitude stability and height tracking. Finally, the coupling relationship between the aircraft and the engine is revealed through simulation examples. The interaction between vehicle attitude and engine working condition is analyzed, and the influence of vehicle attitude on engine safety is considered. When the engine is in a critical working state, the attitude change of the aircraft will not affect the engine safety without considering coupling, whereas when coupling is considered, the attitude change of the aircraft may cause the engine unstart, which demonstrates the significance of considering coupling characteristics.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.555-571
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• 2016

A hanging-type sand-retaining wall is a very common sand-blocking fence structure used to prevent sand movement. This type of wall is widely used along the Qinghai-Tibet and Gobi desert railways in Xinjiang, Western China. To analyze the characteristics of wind-sand flow fields under the effect of such a sand fence structure, a wind tunnel test and a field test were carried out. The wind tunnel test showed the zoning characteristics of the flow fields under the effect of the hanging-type sand-retaining wall, and the field test provided the sediment transport data for effective wind-proof interval and the sand resistance data in the front and behind the sand-retaining wall. The consistency of the wind-sand flow fields with the spatial distribution characteristic of wind-carried sand motion was verified by the correspondences of the acceleration zone in the flow field and the negative elevation points of the percentage variations of the sand collection rate. The spatial distribution characteristic of the field sand collection data further showed the spatial structural characteristic of the sandy air currents under the action of the hanging-type sand-retaining wall and the sand resistance characteristic of the sand-retaining wall. This systematic study on the wind-sand flow fields under the control of the hanging-type sand-retaining wall provides a theoretical basis for the rational layout of sand control engineering systems and the efficient utilization of a hanging-type sand-retaining wall.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.831-847
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• 2012

Impact from water-borne debris during tsunami and flood events pose a potential threat to structures. Debris impact forces specified by current codes and standards are based on rigid body dynamics, leading to forces that are dependent on total debris mass. However, shipping containers and other debris are unlikely to be rigid compared to the walls, columns and other structures that they impact. The application of a simple one-dimensional model to obtain impact force magnitude and duration, based on acoustic wave propagation in a flexible projectile, is explored. The focus herein is on in-air impact. Based on small-scale experiments, the applicability of the model to predict actual impact forces is investigated. The tests show that the force and duration are reasonably well represented by the simple model, but they also show how actual impact differs from the ideal model. A more detailed three-dimensional finite element model is also developed to understand more clearly the physical phenomena involved in the experimental tests. The tests and the FE results reveal important characteristics of actual impact, knowledge of which can be used to guide larger scale experiments and detailed modeling. The one-dimensional model is extended to consider water-driven debris as well. When fluid is used to propel the 1-D model, an estimate of the 'added mass' effect is possible. In this extended model the debris impact force depends on the wave propagation in the two media, and the conditions under which the fluid increases the impact force are discussed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.221-231
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• 2018

A new procedure to produce poly(vinylidene fluoride)/boron nitride hybrid membrane is presented for application in membrane distillation (MD) process. The influence of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) incorporation on the performance of the polymeric membranes is studied through the present investigation. For this aim, h-BN nanopowders were successfully synthesized using the simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) route and subsequent solvent treatments. The resulting h-BN nanosheets were blended with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) solution. Then, the prepared composite solution was subjected to phase inversion process to obtain PVDF/h-BN hybrid membranes. Various examinations such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), wettability, permeation flux, mechanical strength and liquid entry pressure (LEP) measurements are performed to evaluate the prepared membrane. Moreover, Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) experiments were carried out to investigate the salt rejection performance and the durability of membranes. The results show that our hybrid PVDF/h-BN membrane presents higher water permeation flux (${\sim}18kg/m^2h$) compared to pristine PVDF membrane. In addition, the experimental data confirms that the prepared nanocomposite membrane is hydrophobic (water contact angle: ${\sim}103^{\circ}$), has a porous skin layer (>85%), as well competitive fouling resistance and operational durability. Furthermore, the total salt rejection efficiency was obtained for PVDF/h-BN membrane. The results prove that the novel PVDF/h-BN membrane can be easily synthesized and applied in MD process for salt rejection purposes.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.269-280
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• 2009

In this paper an experimental study of the influence of hot springs curing upon concrete properties was carried out. The primary variables of the investigation include water-to-binder ratio (W/B), pozzolanic material content and curing condition. Three types of hot springs, in the range $40-90^{\circ}C$, derived from different regions in Taiwan were adopted for laboratory testing of concrete curing. In addition, to compare with the laboratory results, compressive strength and durability of practical concrete were conducted in a tunnel construction site. The experimental results indicate that when concrete comprising pozzolanic materials was cured by a hot spring with high temperature, its compressive strength increased rapidly in the early ages due to high temperature and chloride ions. In the later ages, the trend of strength development decreased obviously and the strength was even lower than that of the standard cured one. The results of durability test show that concrete containing 30-40% Portland cement replacement by pozzolanic materials and with W/B lower than 0.5 was cured in a hot spring environment, then it had sufficient durability to prevent steel corrosion. Similar to the laboratory results, the cast-inplace concrete in a hot spring had a compressive strength growing rapidly at the earlier age and slowly at the later age. The results of electric resistance and permeability tests also show that concrete in a hot spring had higher durability than those cured in air. In addition, there was no neutralization reaction being observed after the 360-day neutralization test. This study demonstrates that the concrete with enough compressive strength and durability is suitable for the cast-in-place structure being used in hot spring areas.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.126-135
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• 2005

SKD 11 steel has been widely used for tools, metallic mold and die for press working because of its favorable mechanical properties such as high toughness and creep strength as well as excellent oxidation resistance. The ion nitrided tool steel containing Mo results in improvement of corrosion resistance, strength at high temperature and pitting resistance, especially in $Cl^-$ contained environment. But the Mo addition causes a disadvantage such as lower oxidation resistance at elevated temperature. In this study, several effects of ion-disadvantage on the oxidation characteristics for SKD 11 steel with various oxidation temperature were investigated. SKD 11 steels were manufactured by using vacuum furnace and solutionized for 1 hr at $1,050^{\circ}C$. Steel surface was ion nitrided at $500^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr and 5 hr by ion nitriding equipment. ion nitrided specimen were investigated by SEM, OM and hardness tester. Oxidation was carried out by using muffle furnace in air at $500^{\circ}C,\;700^{\circ}C\;and\;900^{\circ}C$ for 1hr, respectively. Oxidation behavior of the ion nitrided specimen was investigated by SEM, EDX and surface roughness tester. The conclusions of this study are as follows: It was found that plasma nitriding for 5 hr at $500^{\circ}C$, compared with ion nitriding for 1 hr at $500^{\circ}C$, had a thick nitrided layer and produced a layer with good wear, corrosion resistance and hardness as nitriding time increased. Nitrided SKD 11 alloy for 1hr showed that wear resistance and hardness decreased, whereas surface roughness increased, compared with nitrided SKD 11 alloy for 5 hr. The oxidation surface at $900^{\circ}C$ showed a good corrosion resistance.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.192-211
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• 2010

In most framed structures the nonlinearities and the damages are localized, extending over a limited length of the structural member. In order to capture the details of the local damage, the segments of a member that have entered the nonlinear range may need to be analyzed using the three-dimensional element (3D) model whereas the rest of the member can be analyzed using the simpler one-dimensional (1D) element model with fewer degrees of freedom. An Element-Coupling model was proposed to couple the small scale solid 3D elements with the large scale 1D beam elements. The mixed dimensional coupling is performed imposing the kinematic coupling hypothesis of the 1D model on the interfaces of the 3D model. The analysis results are compared with test results of a reinforced concrete pipe column and a structure consisting of reinforced concrete columns and a steel space truss subjected to static and dynamic loading. This structure is a reduced scale model of a direct air-cooled condenser support platform built in a thermal power plant. The reduction scale for the column as well as for the structure was 1:8. The same structures are also analyzed using 3D solid elements for the entire structure to demonstrate the validity of the Element-Coupling model. A comparison of the accuracy and the computational effort indicates that by the proposed Element-Coupling method the accuracy is almost the same but the computational effort is significantly reduced.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.405-423
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• 2016

In this study, the feasibility of using telecommunication single-mode optical fiber (SMF) as a distributed fiber optic strain and crack sensor was evaluated in concrete pavement monitoring. Tensile tests on various sensors indicated that the $SMF-28e^+$ fiber revealed linear elastic behavior to rupture at approximately 26 N load and 2.6% strain. Six full-scale concrete panels were prepared and tested under truck and three-point loads to quantify the performance of sensors with pulse pre-pump Brillouin optical time domain analysis (PPP-BOTDA). The sensors were protected by precast mortar from brutal action during concrete casting. Once air-cured for 2 hours after initial setting, half a mortar cylinder of 12 mm in diameter ensured that the protected sensors remained functional during and after concrete casting. The strains measured from PPP-BOTDA with a sensitivity coefficient of $5.43{\times}10^{-5}GHz/{\mu}{\varepsilon}$ were validated locally by commercial fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Unlike the point FBG sensors, the distributed PPP-BOTDA sensors can be utilized to effectively locate multiple cracks. Depending on their layout, the distributed sensors can provide one- or two-dimensional strain fields in pavement panels. The width of both micro and major cracks can be linearly related to the peak strain directly measured with the distributed fiber optic sensor.