• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.81-86
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• 2013

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and effects of balance training using a newly developed elastic band orthosis (aider) for improvement of mobility and balance in chronic stroke patients. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Ten patients with chronic hemiplegia participated in this study. There were six males and four females; two patients had right hemiplegia and eight had left hemiplegia. This study investigated the effect of the elastic band orthosis on balance and gait ability compared with bare foot condition. Gait parameters were measured using the opto-gait system for analysis of the spatial and temporal parameters of walking in stroke patients. In addition, balance ability in stroke patients was evaluated using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Results: This study investigated the effect of the elastic band orthosis on balance compared with bare foot condition. The TUG and BBS showed significant improvement with use of the elastic band orthosis (p<0.05). Use of the Elastic band orthosis resulted in significantly improved velocity, cadence, less-affected step length, less-affected stride length, and less-affected single limb support in stroke patients (p<0.05). Conclusions: We demonstrated a significant improvement in dynamic balance and gait ability in chronic stroke patients using the elastic band orthosis. This orthosis may aid in prevention of spastic foot drop, leading to improvement of walking ability.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제6권3호
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• pp.351-367
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• 2017

In this article, the multiphysics response of magneto-electro-elastic (MEE) cantilever beam subjected to thermo-mechanical loading is analysed. The equilibrium equations of the system are obtained with the aid of the principle of total potential energy. The constitutive equations of a MEE material accounting the thermal fields are used for analysis. The corresponding finite element (FE) formulation is derived and model of the beam is generated using an eight noded 3D brick element. The 3D FE formulation developed enables the representation of governing equations in all three axes, achieving accurate results. Also, geometric, constitutive and loading assumptions required to dimensionality reduction can be avoided. Numerical evaluation is performed on the basis of the derived formulation and the influence of various mechanical loading profiles and volume fractions on the direct quantities and stresses is evaluated. In addition, an attempt has been made to compare the individual effect of thermal and mechanical loading with the combined effect. It is believed that the numerical results obtained helps in accurate design and development of sensors and actuators.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.161-170
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• 2019

This paper aims at presenting a numerical method for estimating the elastic modulus of recycled concrete with crushed aggregates. In the method, polygonal aggregates following a given sieve curve are generated, and placed into a square simulation element with the aid of the periodic boundary condition and the overlap criterion of two polygonal aggregates. The mesostructure of recycled concrete is reconstructed by embedding an old interfacial transition zone (ITZ) layer inside each recycled aggregate and by coating all the aggregates with a new ITZ layer. The square simulation element is discretized into a regular grid and a representative point is selected from each sub-element. The iterative method is combined with the fast Fourier transform to evaluate the elastic modulus of recycled concrete. After the validity of the numerical method is verified with experimental results, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the effects of key factors on the elastic modulus of recycled concrete. Numerical results show that the elastic modulus of recycled concrete increases with the increase of the total aggregate content and the elastic moduli of old and new ITZ but decreases with increasing the replacement ratio of recycled aggregate and the thicknesses of old and new ITZ. It is also shown that, for a replacement ratio of recycled aggregate smaller than 0.3, the elastic modulus of recycled concrete is reduced by no more than 10%.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 재36권6호
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• pp.711-727
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• 2020

In the present research, the free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) nanocomposite deep spherical shells reinforced by graphene platelets (GPLs) on elastic foundation is performed. The elastic foundation is assumed to be Winkler-Past ernak-type. It is also assumed that graphaene platelets are randomly oriented and uniformly dispersed in each layer of the nanocomposite shell. Volume fraction of the graphene platelets as nanofillers may be different in the layers. The modified HalpinTsai model is used to approximate the effective mechanical properties of the multilayer nanocomposite. With the aid of the first order shear deformation shell theory and implementing Hamilton's principle, motion equations are derived. Afterwards, the generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) is utilized to study the free vibration characteristics of FG-GPLRC spherical shell. To assess the validity and accuracy of the presented method, the results are compared with the available researches. Finally, the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes are provided for different boundary conditions, GPLs volume fraction, types of functionally graded, elastic foundation coefficients, opening angles of shell, and thickness-to-radius ratio.

• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.69-80
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• 2000

Generally, die polishing is a lime consuming process, resulting in 30∼50％ of the whole die manufacturing time. However, die polishing has not been automated yet, since it needs a great deal of experience and skill. This paper describes a new development of automated system for die polishing and focuses on the successful achievements of the element techniques to realize from hand skill to automation, as followings: (1) The 5 axes polishing system by the aid of robot with 2 degrees of freedom, is developed for the application of curved surface die. (2) The CAM system realizes a 5 axes tool path control for polishing and measuring. (3) The conductive elastic tool is able to meet curved surfaces of die and gives a high efficient and quality polishing characteristics. (4) The surface roughness measurement device with noncontact laser is developed and has a high reliability without surface damage.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.1-17
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• 2014

An interfacial penny-shaped crack between piezoelectric layer and elastic half-space subjected to mechanical and electric loads is investigated. Using Hankel transform technique, the mixed boundary value problem is reduced to a system of singular integral equations. The integral equations are further reduced to a system of algebraic equations with the aid of Jacobi polynomials. The stress intensity factor and energy release rate are determined. Numerical results reveal the effects of electric loadings and material parameters of composite on crack propagation and growth. The results seem useful for design of the piezoelectric composite structures and devices of high performance.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• 제4권3호
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• pp.382-393
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• 2006

Mechanical system dynamics plays an important role in the area of computational structural biology. Elastic network models (ENMs) for macromolecules (e.g., polymers, proteins, and nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA) have been developed to understand the relationship between their structure and biological function. For example. a protein, which is basically a folded polypeptide chain, can be simply modeled as a mass-spring system from the mechanical viewpoint. Since the conformational flexibility of a protein is dominantly subject to its chemical bond interactions (e.g., covalent bonds, salt bridges, and hydrogen bonds), these constraints can be modeled as linear spring connections between spatially proximal representatives in a variety of coarse-grained ENMs. Coarse-graining approaches enable one to simulate harmonic and anharmonic motions of large macromolecules in a PC, while all-atom based molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been conventionally performed with an aid of supercomputer. A harmonic analysis of a macroscopic mechanical system, called normal mode analysis, has been adopted to analyze thermal fluctuations of a microscopic biological system around its equilibrium state. Furthermore, a structure-based system optimization, called elastic network interpolation, has been developed to predict nonlinear transition (or folding) pathways between two different functional states of a same macromolecule. The good agreement of simulation and experiment allows the employment of coarse-grained ENMs as a versatile tool for the study of macromolecular dynamics.

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제18권10호
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• pp.964-969
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• 2012

Robot hands capable of grasping or handling various objects are important for service robots to effectively aid humans. In particular, controlling a contact force and providing a compliant motion are essential when the hand is in contact with objects. Many dexterous robot hands equipped with force/torque sensors have been developed to perform force control, but they suffer from the complexity of control and high cost. In this paper, a low-cost robot hand based on SEA (Series Elastic Actuator), which is composed of compression spring, stretch sensor, and wire, is proposed. The grasping force can be estimated by measuring the compression length of spring, which would allow the hand to perform force control. A series of experimentations are carried out to verify the performance of force control of the proposed robot hand, and it is shown that it can successfully control the contact force without any additional force/torque sensors.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.267-292
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• 2019

The present article addresses the coupled free vibration problem of skew magneto-electro-elastic plates (SMEE) considering the temperature-moisture dependent material properties. The plate kinematics follows Reddy's higher order shear deformation theory. With the aid of finite element methods, the governing equations of motion are derived considering the Hamilton's principle and solved by adopting condensation technique. The influence of different temperature and moisture dependent empirical constants on the frequency response of SMEE plate has been assessed. In addition, the natural frequencies corresponding to various fields are evaluated and the effect of empirical constants on these coupled frequencies is determined. A detailed parametric study has been carried out to assess the individual effects of temperature and moisture dependent empirical constants along with their combined effect, aspect ratio, length-to-width ratio, stacking sequence and boundary conditions. The results reveal that the external environment as well as the geometrical skewness has a significant influence on the stiffness of the SMEE plates.

• 한국소음진동공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국소음진동공학회 2004년도 추계학술대회논문집
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• pp.916-919
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• 2004

The monopole theory has long been used to model air-pumped effect from the elastic cavities in car tire. This approach models the change of an air as a piston moving backward and forward on a spring and equates local air movements exactly with the volume changes of the system. Thus, the monopole theory has a restricted domain of applicability due to the usual assumption of a small amplitude acoustic wave equation and acoustic monopole theory. This paper describes an approach to predict the air-pumping noise of a car ave with CFD/Kirchhoff integral method. The type groove is simply modeled as piston-cavity-sliding door geometry and with the aid of CFD technique flow properties in the groove of rolling car tyre are acquired. And these unsteady flow data are used as a air-pumping source in the next Cm calculation of full tyre-road geometry. Acoustic far field is predicted from Kirchhoff integral method by using unsteady flow data in space and time, which is provided by the CFD calculation of full tyre-road domain. This approach can cover the non-linearity of acoustic monopole theory with the aid of using Non-linear governing equation in CFD calculation. The method proposed in this paper is applied to the prediction of air-pumping noise of modeled car tyre and the predicted results are qualitatively compared with the experimental data.