• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.81-96
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• 2019

The behavior of a new Three-Tube Buckling-Restrained Brace (TTBRB) with circumference pre-stress (${\sigma}_{{\theta},pre}$) in core tube are investigated through a verified finite element model. The TTBRB is composed of one core tube and two restraining tubes. The core tube is in the middle to provide the axial stiffness, to carry the axial load and to dissipate the earthquake energy. The two restraining tubes are at inside and outside of the core tube, respectively, to restrain the global and local buckling of the core tube. Based on the yield criteria of fringe fiber, a design method for restraining tubes is proposed. The applicability of the proposed design equations are verified by TTBRBs with different radius-thickness ratios, with different gap widths between core tube and restraining tubs, and with different levels of ${\sigma}_{{\theta},pre}$. The outer and inner tubes will restrain the deformation of the core tube in radius direction, which causes circumference stress (${\sigma}_{\theta}$) in the core tube. Together with the ${\sigma}_{{\theta},pre}$ in the core tube that is applied through interference fit of the three tubes, the yield strength of the core tube in the axial direction is improved from 160 MPa to 235 MPa. Effects of gap width between the core tube and restraining tubes, and ${\sigma}_{{\theta},pre}$ on hysteretic behavior of TTBRBs are presented. Analysis results showed that the gap width and the ${\sigma}_{{\theta},pre}$ can significantly affect the hysteretic behavior of a TTBRB.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.319-327
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• 2019

This paper describes an experimental study of steel beam-column connections with or without expanded beam flanges with different geometries. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the cyclic behavior of these connections, identify the location of the plastic hinge zone, and provide useful test data for future numerical simulations. Five connection specimens are designed and tested under cyclic load. The test setup consists of a beam and a column connected together by a connection with or without expanded beam flanges. A constant axial force is applied to the column and a time varying point load is applied to the free end of the beam, inducing shear and moment in the connection. Because the only effect to be studied in the present work is the expanded beam flange, the sizes of the beam and column as well as the magnitude of the axial force in the column are kept constant. However, the length, width and shape of the expanded beam flanges are varied. The responses of these connections in terms of their hysteretic behavior, failure modes, stiffness degradation and strain variations are experimentally obtained and discussed. The test results show that while the influence of the expanded beam flanges on hysteretic behavior, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacity of the connection is relatively minor, the size of the expanded beam flanges does affect the location of the plastic hinge zone and strain variations in these beam-column joints. Furthermore, in terms of ductility, moment and rotational capacities, all five connections behave well. No weld fracture or premature failure occurs before the formation of a plastic hinge in the beam.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.261-276
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• 2019

The study investigates the free vibration of a nano-scale sandwich beam by an extended high order approach, which has not been reported in the existing literature. First-order shear deformation theory for steel skins and so-called high-order sandwich panel theory for the core are applied. Next, the modified couple stress theory is used for both skins and cores. The Hamilton principle is utilized for deriving equations and corresponding boundary conditions. First, in the study the three-mode shapes natural frequencies for various material parameters are investigated. Also, obtained results are evaluated for two types of stiff and soft cores and isotropic, homogenous steel skins. In the research since the governing equations and also the boundary conditions are nonhomogeneous, therefore some closed-form solutions are not applicable. So, to obtain natural frequencies, the boundary conditions are converted to initial conditions called the shooting method as the numerical one. This method is one of the most robust approaches to solve complex equations and boundary conditions. Moreover, three types of simply supported on both sides of the beam (S-S), simply on one side and clamp supported on the other one (S-C) and clamped supported on both sides (C-C) are scrutinized. The parametric study is followed to evaluate the effect of nano-size scale, geometrical configurations for skins, core and material property change for cores as well. Results show that natural frequencies increase by an increase in skins thickness and core Young modulus and a decrease in beam length, core thickness as well. Furthermore, differences between obtained frequencies for soft and stiff cores increase in higher mode shapes; while, the more differences are evaluated for the stiff one.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.199-211
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• 2021

As an additive manufacturing achieves technological advances, it enables to manufacture complex structures with saving a cost and time. Therefore, metamaterials, which has geometric complexity, have gradually gathered attention due to the unprecedented properties: the unprecedented mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, and optical properties. The metamaterials could exhibit a high potential in engineering applications, and thus it has been steadily investigated to design or/and develop novel metamaterials. Here, mechanical metamaterials, which had been reported, were reviewed to suggest the way to design and fabricate the metamaterials for industrial applications.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.681-692
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• 2020

Conventional Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters (CPEH) have been extensively studied for maximizing their electrical output through material selection, geometric and structural optimization, and adoption of efficient interface circuits. In this paper, the performance of Stepped Piezoelectric Energy Harvester (SPEH) under harmonic base excitation is studied analytically, numerically and experimentally. The motivation is to compare the energy harvesting performance of CPEH and SPEHs with the same characteristics (resonant frequency). The results of this study challenge the notion of achieving higher voltage and power output through incorporation of geometric discontinuities such as step sections in the harvester beams. A CPEH consists of substrate material with a patch of piezoelectric material bonded over it and a tip mass at the free end to tune the resonant frequency. A SPEH is designed by introducing a step section near the root of substrate beam to induce higher dynamic strain for maximizing the electrical output. The incorporation of step section reduces the stiffness and consequently, a lower tip mass is used with SPEH to match the resonant frequency to that of CPEH. Moreover, the electromechanical coupling coefficient, forcing function and damping are significantly influenced because of the inclusion of step section, which consequently affects harvester's output. Three different configurations of SPEHs characterized by the same resonant frequency as that of CPEH are designed and analyzed using linear electromechanical model and their performances are compared. The variation of strain on the harvester beams is obtained using finite element analysis. The prototypes of CPEH and SPEHs are fabricated and experimentally tested. It is shown that the power output from SPEHs is lower than the CPEH. When the prototypes with resonant frequencies in the range of 56-56.5 Hz are tested at 1 m/s2, three SPEHs generate power output of 482 μW, 424 μW and 228 μW when compared with 674 μW from CPEH. It is concluded that the advantage of increasing dynamic strain using step section is negated by increase in damping and decrease in forcing function. However, SPEHs show slightly better performance in terms of specific power and thus making them suitable for practical scenarios where the ratio of power to system mass is critical.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.529-536
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• 2020

This paper presents experimental investigations about compressive strength and durability of reinforced concrete compressive members repaired using ductile fiber reinforced cementitious composite (DFRCC) and carbon fiber sheet through freezing and thawing test. Total 24 RC specimens of 100x100x400mm size were tested by compressive strength test and freezing and thawing test by KS F 2456. The specimens were reinforced using 4D10 steels and repaired on 4 sides expect on top cycle. Test results showed that the specimens repaired using fiber carbon sheet revealed about 5% higher values of the compressive strength compared than the cases of DFRCC motar. On the other hand, the resurts did not showed meaningful differences in the aspect of durability. For further research, considerations of the steel interference effect and real old specimens such as taken from real deteriorated structures are needed to be tested after repairing with DFRCC and carbon fiber sheet.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.631-643
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• 2021

The aim of this work is to study the hygro-thermo-mechanical bending responses of simply supported FG plate resting on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation. The effect transverse shear strains is taken into account in which the zero transverse shear stress condition on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate is ensured without using any shear correction factors. The developed model contains only four unknowns variable which is reduced compared to other HSDTs models. The material properties of FG-plate are supposed to vary across the thickness of the plate according to power-law mixture. The differential governing equations are derived based on the virtual working principle. Numerical outcomes of bending analysis of FG plates under hygro-thermo-mechanical loads are performed and compared with those available in the literature. The effects of the temperature, moisture concentration, elastic foundation parameters, shear deformation, geometrical parameters, and power-law-index on the dimensionless deflections, axial and transverse shear stresses of the FG-plate are presented and discussed.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.453-460
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• 2020

The price of the Brain phantom (Hoffman 3D brain phantom) used in nuclear medicine is quite expensive, it is difficult to be purchased by a medical institution or an educational institution. Therefore, the purpose of present research is to produce a low-price 3D brain phantom and evaluate its usefulness by using a 3D printer capable of producing 3D structures. The New 3D brain phantom consisted of 36 slices 0.7 mm thick and 58 slices 1.5 mm thick. A 0.7 mm thick slice was placed between 1. 5 mm thick slices to produce a composite slice. ROI was set at the gray matter and white matter scanned with CT to measure and compare the HU, in order to verify the similarity between PLA which was used as the material for the New 3D brain phantom and acrylic which was used as the material for Hoffman 3D brain phantom. As a result of measuring the volume of each Phantom, the error rate was 3.2% and there was no difference in the signal intensity in five areas. However, there was a significant difference in the average values of HU which was measured at the gray and white matter to verify the similarity between PLA and acrylic. By reproducing the previous Hoffman 3D brain phantom with a 100 times less cost, I hope this research could contribute to be used as the fundamental data in the areas of 3D printer, nuclear medicine and molecular imaging and to increasing the distribution rate of 3D brain phantom.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.151-164
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• 2021

During the pipe forming process, a steel plate undergoes inelastic behavior multiple times under a load condition repeating tension and compression in the circumferential direction. It derives local reduction or increase of yield strength within the thickness of steel pipes by the plastic hardening and Bauschinger effect. In this study, a combined hardening model is proposed to effectively predict variations of yield strength in the circumferential direction of API-X65 and X70 steel pipes with relatively low t/D ratio during the forming process, which is expected to experience accumulated plastic strain of 2~3%, the typical Lüder band range in a low-carbon steel. Cyclic tensile tests of API-X65 and X70 steels were performed, and the parameters of the proposed model for the steels were calibrated using the test results. Bending-flattening tests to simulate repeated tension and compression during pipe forming were followed for API-X65 and X70 steels, and the results were compared with those by the proposed model and Zou et al. (2016), in order to verify the process of material model calibration based on tension-compression cyclic test, and the accuracy of the proposed model. Finally, parametric analysis for the yield strength of the steel plate in the circumferential direction of UOE pipe was conducted to investigate the effects of t/D and expansion ratios after O-forming on the yield strength. The results confirmed that the model by Zou et al. (2016) underestimated the yield strength of steel pipe with relatively low t/D ratio, and the parametric analysis showed that the t/D and expansion ratio have a significant impact on the strength of steel pipe.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.17-31
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• 2021

Post-earthquake fire is a common disaster which causes serious safety issues to infrastructures. This study aims to investigate the residual loading capacities of circular concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns under post-earthquake fire experimentally and numerically. The experimental programme contains two loading steps - pre-damage cyclic loading at room temperature and transient state tests with constant compression loads. Three finite element models are developed and validated against the test results. Upon validation, a total of 48 numerical results were generated in the parametric study to investigate the effects of thickness and strengths of steel tube, axial compression ratio and damage degree on the fire resistance of circular CFST columns. Based on the analysis on experimental and numerical results, the loading mechanism of circular CFST columns is discussed. A design method is proposed for the prediction of fire resistance time under different seismic pre-damage and compression loads. The predictions by the new method is compared with the newly generated experimental and numerical results and is found to be accurate and consistent with the mean value close to the unity and a coefficient of variation around 1%.