• Wind and Structures
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.89-106
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• 2004

The response of tall buildings to gust buffeting is usually evaluated assuming that the structural damping is of a viscous nature. In addition, when dampers are incorporated in the design to mitigate the response, their effect is allowed for increasing the building modal damping ratios by a quantity corresponding to the additional energy dissipation arising from the presence of the devices. Even though straightforward, this procedure has some degree of inaccuracy due to the existence of a memory effect, associated with the damping mechanism, which is neglected by a viscous model. In this paper a more realistic viscoelastic model is used to evaluate the response to gust buffeting of tall buildings provided with energy dissipation devices. Both cases of viscous and hysteretic inherent damping are considered, while for the dampers a generic viscoelastic behaviour is assumed. The Laguerre Polynomial Approximation is used to write the equations of motion and find the frequency response functions. The procedure is applied to a 25-story building to quantify the memory effects, and the inaccuracy arising when the latter is neglected.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.91-113
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• 2020

This paper analyzes the terminal descent phase of a space lander on a surface of a celestial body. A multibody approach is adopted to build the physical model of the lander and the surface. In this work, a legged landing gear system is considered. Opportune modelling of the landing gear crashbox is implemented in order to accurately predict the kinetic energy. To ensure the stability of the lander while impacting the ground and to reduce the contact forces that arise in this maneuver, the multibody model makes use of a co-simulation with a dedicated control system. Two types of control systems are considered; one with only position variables and the other with position and velocity variables. The results demonstrate the good reliability of modern multibody technology to incorporate control algorithms to carry out stability analysis of ground impact of space landers. Moreover, from a comparison between the two control systems adopted, it is shown how the velocity control leads to lower contact forces and fuel consumption.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권8호
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• pp.2771-2782
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• 2022

When assessing the radiological consequences of postulated accident scenarios, it is of primary interest to determine the amount of radioactive fission gas accumulated in the fuel rod free volume. The state-of-the-art semi-empirical approach (ANS 5.4-2010) is reviewed and compared with a mechanistic approach to evaluate the release of radioactive fission gases. At the intra-granular level, the diffusion-decay equation is handled by a spectral diffusion algorithm. At the inter-granular level, a mechanistic description of the grain boundary is considered: bubble growth and coalescence are treated as interrelated phenomena, resulting in the grain-boundary venting as the onset for the release from the fuel pellets. The outcome is a kinetic description of the release of radioactive fission gases, of interest when assessing normal and off-normal conditions. We implement the model in SCIANTIX and reproduce the release of short-lived fission gases, during the CONTACT 1 experiments. The results show a satisfactory agreement with the measurement and with the state-of-the-art methodology, demonstrating the model soundness. A second work will follow, providing integral fuel rod analysis by coupling the code SCIANTIX with the thermo-mechanical code TRANSURANUS.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권12호
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• pp.4460-4473
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• 2022

The behaviour of the fission gas plays an important role in the fuel rod performance. In a previous work, we presented a physics-based model describing intra- and inter-granular behaviour of radioactive fission gas. The model was implemented in SCIANTIX, a mesoscale module for fission gas behaviour, and assessed against the CONTACT 1 irradiation experiment. In this work, we present the multi-scale coupling between the TRANSURANUS fuel performance code and SCIANTIX, used as mechanistic module for stable and radioactive fission gas behaviour. We exploit the coupled code version to reproduce two integral irradiation experiments involving standard fuel rod segments in steady-state operation (CONTACT 1) and during successive power transients (HATAC C2). The simulation results demonstrate the predictive capabilities of the code coupling and contribute to the integral validation of the models implemented in SCIANTIX.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.264-271
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• 2004

An aquatic food chain was constructed to provide information of bioaccumulation of DEHP as followed: phytoplankton(Scenedesmus subspicatus) ${\rightarrow}$ zooplankton(Daphnia magna) ${\rightarrow}$ fish(Oryzias latipes). After 10 days of exposure to DEHP, the fish and culture water were analyzed for residual concentration of DEHP and BAF(Bioaccumulation Factor) was determined. In addition, BCF(Bioconcentration Factor) was calculated in exposure tank in which fish were only exposed DEHP by culture water. These experiments provide the relative importance between BAF and BCF. In this study, BCF and BAF did not show any significant difference. Another work in this study was model construction and application to investigate the effect of food chain structure to BAF in higher organism (fish). The model constructed in this study considered the biological characteristics of DEHP such as metabolic parameters, as well as the chemical characteristics such as solubility. This model could be used in prediction of bioaccumulation level in dependent of various food chain structures, when the target organisms or chemicals would be changed.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제6권6호
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• pp.419-436
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• 2003

Large-eddy simulations of the flow around a circular cylinder at a Reynolds number, based on cylinder diameter and free-stream velocity, $Re_D=2{\times}10^4$ are presented. Three different dynamic subgrid-scale models are used, viz. the dynamic eddy-viscosity model and two different mixed two-parameter models. The sensitivity to grid refinement in the spanwise and radial directions is systematically investigated. For the highest resolution considered, the effects of subgrid-scale modeling are also discussed in detail. In particular, it is shown that SGS modeling has a significant influence on the low-frequency modulations of the aerodynamics loads, which are related to significant changes in the near wake structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.307-329
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• 2013

The bending problem of Euler-Bernoulli discontinuous beams is dealt with, in which the discontinuities are due to the loads and eventually to essential constrains applied along the beam axis. In particular, the loads are modelled as random delta-correlated processes acting along the beam axis, while the ulterior eventual discontinuities are produced by the presence of external rollers applied along the beam axis. This kind of structural model can be considered in the static study of bridge beams. In the present work the exact expression of the response quantities are given in terms of means and variances, thanks to the use of the stochastic analysis rules and to the use of the generalized functions. The knowledge of the means and the variances of the internal forces implies the possibility of applying the reliability ${\beta}$-method for verifying the beam.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.129-144
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• 2016

We present a methodology to validate with monitoring data finite element models of existing concrete dams: numerical analyses are performed to assess the structural response under the effects of seasonal loading conditions, represented by hydrostatic pressure on the upstream-downstream dam surfaces and thermal variations as recorded by a thermometers network. We show that the stiffness effect of the rock foundation and the surface degradation of concrete due to aging are crucial aspects to be accounted for a correct interpretation of the real behavior. This work summarizes some general procedures developed by this research group at Politecnico di Milano on traditional static monitoring systems and two significant case studies: a buttress gravity and an arch-gravity dam.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제7권6호
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• pp.405-420
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• 2004

In common approaches, bridge dynamics under wind action is analyzed by modeling the interaction between fluid and structure by means of transient wind loads acting over the structure itself. Amid various possible manners to describe such types of loads, a representation based on families of 'indicial functions' is adopted here. The aim is to investigate its flexibility to capture the main features of wind-bridge interaction. A set of coefficients is involved in indicial functions. The values that one may attribute to them suffer uncertainties coming from experimental errors affecting data. Here, the sensitivity of a 2-DOF schematic model to the variations of these coefficients is investigated at fixed values of dynamic derivatives and for various types of indicial functions. It is shown how parameter variations influence phase portraits.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.533-547
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• 2013

"Reciprocal Frame" refers to a self-supporting grid structure used both for floor and roof. Using Finite Element Methods for non-linear solid mechanics and frictional-contact, this paper intends to analytically and numerically investigate the collapse behaviour of a reciprocal frame structure made of fibre-reinforced concrete. Considering a simple 3-beam structure, it has been investigated using a solid finite element model. Once defined the collapse behaviour of the simple structure, the analysis has been generalized using a concentrated plasticity finite element method. Results provided will be useful for studying generic reciprocal frame structures with several beams.