• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.1-14
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• 2019

Transmission tower-line system is one of most critical lifeline systems to cities. However, it is found that the transmission tower-line system is prone to be damaged by earthquakes in past decades. To mitigate seismic demands, this study introduces a tuned-mass damper (TMD) using superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) spring for the system. In addition, considering the dynamic characteristics of both tower-line system and SMA are affected by temperature change. Particular attention is paid on the effect of temperature variation on seismic behavior. In doing so, the SMA-TMD is installed into the system, and its properties are optimized through parametric analyses. The considered temperature range is from -40 to $40^{\circ}C$. The seismic control effect of using SMA-TMD is investigated under the considered temperatures. Interested seismic performance indices include peak displacement and peak acceleration at the tower top and the height-wise deformation. Parametric analyses on seismic intensity and frequency ratio were carried out as well. This study indicates that the nonlinear behavior of SMA-TMD is critical to the control effect, and proper tuning before application is advisable. Seismic demand mitigation is always achieved in this wide temperature range, and the control effect is increased at high temperatures.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.141-145
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare walking conditions (straight line and curved path) on walking patterns in persons who had experienced hemiplegic stroke and to determine whether if they adapt their walking pattern and performances according to changes in environmental conditions. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty-four hemiplegic stroke survivors participated in this study. This study measured walking performance in three different walking conditions, such as straight walking, the more-affected leg in the inner curve walking, and less-affected leg in the inner curve walking conditions, and a 2-dimentional gait analysis system was used as a primary measurement. This study also measured secondary clinical factors including the Timed Up-and-Go Test, the Trunk Impairment Scale, and the Dynamic Gait Index. Results: After analyzing, cadence and step length of the less-affected side, stride length in the more-affected side, and stride length in less-affected side were significantly different among the three different walking conditions in this study (p<0.05), but other temporospatial parameters were not significant. Cadence was the largest in the straight walking condition. Step length in the less-affected side, stride length in the more-affected side, and stride length in less-affected side were also the longest in the straight walking condition. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that hemiplegic stroke survivors show walking adaptability according to changes in walking demands and conditions, and moreover, cadence and step and stride lengths were significantly different between straight and curved walking conditions.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.95-102
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• 2019

Public transportation systems play key roles in supporting dynamic activities and interaction between urban places. Especially, high efficient public transportation systems are required in order to support large traffic demands in urban areas. In this paper, we define a new metric, structural activation level (SAL), to replace the conventional transportation share ratio (TSR) measuring efficiency of public transportation systems. First of all, we access the Korea Transport Database (KTDB) and download origin-destination data by transport types to construct traffic networks with respect to transport types for each city. Then, we calculate the QAP (Quadratic Assignment Procedure) correlation between each traffic network and the total traffic network for each city to investigate SAL by comparing cities one another. The results of our investigation reveal inconsistency between TSR and SAL. In Daegu, TSR of public transportation systems is relatively low while SAL is high. In Deajeon, however, SAL is low while TSR is high. Therefore, we suggest to take into consideration SAL as well as TSR in order to investigate the degree of activation of public transportation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.589-599
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• 2019

Conventional buckling restrained braces used in concentrically braced frames are expected to yield in both tension and compression without major degradation of capacity under severe seismic ground motions. One of the weakness points of a standard buckling restrained braced frame is the low post-yield stiffness and thus large residual deformation under moderate to severe ground motions. This phenomenon can be attributed to low post-yield stiffness of core member in a BRB. This paper introduces a multi-core buckling restrained brace. The multi-core term arises from the use of more than one core component with different steel materials, including high-performance steel (HPS-70W) and stainless steel (304L) with high strain hardening properties. Nonlinear dynamic time history analyses were conducted on variety of diagonally braced frames with different heights, in order to compare the seismic performance of regular and multi-core buckling restrained braced frames. The results exhibited that the proposed multi-core buckling restrained braces reduce inter-story and especially residual drift demands in BRBFs. In addition, the results of seismic fragility analysis designated that the probability of exceedance of residual drifts in multi-core buckling restrained braced frames is significantly lower in comparison to standard BRBFs.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.161-173
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• 2021

The structural behavior of a tensile fabric structure, known as hypar, is investigated. Seismic-induced stresses in the fabric and axial forces in masts and cables are obtained using accelerograms recorded at different regions of the world. Time-history analysis using each recording are performed for the hypar by using finite element simulation. It is found that while the seismic stresses in the fabric are not critical for design, the seismic tensile forces in cables and the seismic compressive forces in masts should not be disregarded by designers. This is important, because the seismic design is usually not considered so relevant, as compared for instance with wind design, for these types ofstructures. The most relevant findings of this study are: 1) dynamic axial forces can have an increase of up to twice the static loading when the TFS is subjected to seismic demands, 2) large peak ground accelerations seem to be the key parameter for significant seismic-induced axial forces, but not clear trend is found to relate such forces with earthquakes and site characteristics and, 3) the inclusion or exclusion of the form-finding in the analysis procedure importantly affects results ofseismic stresses in the fabric, but not in the frame.

• PNF and Movement
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.43-52
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• 2012

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to observe the effect of a gait training using PNF on a gait and balance ability of a person with chronic stroke. Methods : The subject was left hemiplegia due to cerebral infarction. The subject participated in PNF gait training session as well as baseline for 30 minutes a day for 4 weeks. we used the 10-meter walking test(10MWT), figure-8-of walk test(F8WT), dynamic gait index(DGI) for measuring the gait ability and four square step test(FSST), Berg balance scale(BBS) for measuring the balance ability through the whole sessions. Results : The gait ability was enhanced compared to first baseline, as measured by 10MWT(27.3%), F8WT(36.6%), DGI(8 points increased). The balance ability was improved compared to first baseline, as measured by FSST(49.1%), BBS(10 points increased). The increase was maintained in second baseline session. Conclusion : The PNF gait training program is helpful to enhance the adaptation of the gait and balance according to the various environmental demands.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.1101-1109
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• 2021

Nowadays, quality affects product or service performance and customer loyalty in the competitive business' environment. This is truly important when it comes to how the customer interprets the service's satisfaction and the judgment of the purchase process as a whole, in view of the fact that service quality is an abstract and elusive construction due to the three characteristics of services: intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability of output and consumption. The main purpose of this paper is to determine the hotel service quality using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and SERVQUAL method. In this study, a five-star hotel's real case is considered in evaluating the service quality criteria. The results revealed that Tangibles and Assurance are the most critical service quality criteria in the hotel industry. Accurate records, service consistency, Necessary arrangements for disabled people, Service flexibility to guests' demands, and Providing the services at the time it promises are the most influencing sub-criteria of service quality. These findings indicate that hotels should concentrate on sequentially and organized priority factors to enhance service quality. This method of service quality assessment may also aid in distinguishing between hotels. Finally, as a future direction, more additional parameters can be used as a potential guide in our proposed model for the dynamic decision-making approach.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.209-219
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• 2022

Offshore platforms in seismically active areas must be designed to survive in the face of intense earthquakes without a global structural collapse. This paper scrutinizes the seismic performance of a newly designed and established jacket type offshore platform situated in the entrance of the Gulf of Suez region based on the API-RP2A normalized response spectra during seismic events. A nonlinear finite element model of a typical jacket type offshore platform is constructed taking into consideration the effect of structure-soil-interaction. Soil properties at the site were manipulated to generate the pile lateral soil properties in the form of load deflection curves, based on API-RP2A recommendations. Dynamic characteristics of the offshore platform, the response function, output power spectral density and transfer functions for different elements of the platform are discussed. The joints deflection and acceleration responses demands are presented. It is generally concluded that consideration of the interaction between structure, piles and soil leads to higher deflections and less stresses in platform elements due to soil elasticity, nonlinearity, and damping and leads to a more realistic platform design. The earthquake-based analysis for offshore platform structure is essential for the safe design and operation of offshore platforms.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권5호
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• pp.1664-1673
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• 2022

Achieving sustainable development requires an increasing share of green technologies. World energy demand is expected to rise significantly especially in developing economies. The increasing energy demands will be entertained with conventional energy sources at the cost of higher emissions unless eco-friendly technologies are used. This study examines the asymmetric effects of nuclear energy on carbon emissions for Pakistan from 1974 to 2019. Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) unit root tests suggest that variables are integrated of order one and bound test of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and nonlinear ARDL confirm a long-run relationship among selected variables. The ARDL, Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) results show that the coefficient of nuclear energy has a negative and significant impact on emissions in both short and long run. Further, the NARDL finding shows that there exists an asymmetric long-run association between nuclear energy and CO₂ emissions. The vector error correction method (VECM) results indicate that there exists a bidirectional causal relationship between nuclear energy and carbon emissions in both the short and long run. Additionally, the impact of nuclear energy on ecological footprint has been examined and our findings remain robust.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.23-32
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• 2023

Reinforced concrete flat slab (RCFS) with columns is a standard gravity floor system for tall buildings in North America. Typically, RCFS-column connections are designed to resist gravity loads, and their contribution to resisting seismic forces is ignored. However, past experimental research has shown that RCFS-column connections have some strength and ductility, which may not be ignored. Advanced numerical models have been developed in the past to determine the nonlinear cyclic behavior of RCFS-column connections. However, these models are either too complicated for nonlinear dynamic analysis of an entire building or not developed to model the behavior of modern RCFS-column connections. This paper proposes a new nonlinear model suitable for modern RCFS-column connections. The numerical model is verified using experimental data of specimens with various material and reinforcement properties. A 40-story RC shear wall building was designed and analyzed to investigate the influence of RCFS on the global response of tall concrete buildings. The seismic responses of the building with and without the RCFS were modelled and compared. The results show that the modelling of RCFS has a significant impact on the inter-story drifts and force demands on both the seismic force-resisting and gravity elements.