• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.91-98
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• 2018

Length of a vehicle is an important variation to generate different variants of an automotive platform. This parameter is usually adjusted by embedding dimensional flexibility into different components of the Body in White (BIW) including the floor pan. Due to future uncertainties, it is not necessarily possible to define certain values of wheelbase for the future products of a platform. This work is performed to add flexibility into the design process of a length-variable floor pan. By means of this analysis, the cost and time consuming process of optimization is not necessary to be performed for designing the different variants of a product family. Stiffness and mass of the floor pan are two important functional requirements of this component which directly affect the occupant comfort, dynamic characteristics, fuel economy and environmental protection of the vehicle. A combination of Genetic algorithm, GMDH-type of artificial neural networks and TOPSIS methods is used to optimally design the floor pan associated with arbitrary length of the variant in the defined system range. The correlation between the optimal results shows that for a constant mass of the floor pan, the first natural frequency decreases by increasing the length of this component.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제17권6호
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• pp.543-551
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• 2019

In China, serious environmental problems are induced by the extremely soft construction waste slurries in many urban areas, and there is no appropriate method to treat it presently. In this paper, four model tests were conducted to investigate the efficiency of waste slurry treatment by combining three conditioning agents which can change characteristics of the slurries with a traditional vacuum preloading method. The tests of size analysis of particle aggregate were conducted to investigate the influence of different conditioning agents on the size distributions of particle aggregate. During the model test, the discharged water volumes were monitored. The pore-size distribution and void ratio of the waste slurries after the vacuum preloading were measured by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). It is found that 1) During the natural precipitation, volume of water out of the organic agent is higher than that of the mixed agent, but it is smaller than that of the mixed agent in the vacuum preloading stage; 2) the mixed agent has a higher total volume of water out than the organic agent and the inorganic agent after test, while the organic agent and the inorganic agent have little difference with respect to the drainage effect. The results demonstrate that the combination of mixed conditioning agent and vacuum preloading for the solid-liquid separation in waste slurry has a satisfactory effect and can be applied in engineering practice.

• Advances in environmental research
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.337-353
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• 2014

The determination of the effectiveness of the immobilization of blasting dust (waste generated in galvanic activities) in cement matrix, as well of mechanical, physical and microstructural properties of concrete paving blocks produced with partial replacement of cement was the objective of this work. The results showed that blasting dust has high percentage of silica in the composition and very fine particle size, characteristics that qualify it for replacement of cement in manufacturing concrete blocks. The replacement of Portland cement by up to 5% residues did not cause a significant loss in compressive strength nor increase in water absorption of the blocks. Chemical tests indicated that there is no problem of leaching or solubilization of contaminants to the environment during the useful life of the concrete blocks, since the solidification/stabilization process led to the immobilization of waste in the cement mass. Therefore, the use of blasting dust in the manufacture of concrete paving blocks is promising, thus being not only an alternative for proper disposal of such waste as well as a possibility of saving raw materials used in the construction industry.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제52권4호
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• pp.487-499
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• 2024

The primary objective of this study is to analyze the free vibration behavior of a sandwich cylindrical shell with a defective core and wavy carbon nanotube (CNT)-enhanced face sheets, utilizing the three-dimensional theory of elasticity. The intricate equations of motion for the structure are solved semi-analytically using the generalized differential quadrature method. The shell structure consists of a damaged isotropic core and two external face sheets. The distributions of CNTs are either functionally graded (FG) or uniform across the thickness, with their mechanical properties determined through an extended rule of mixture. In this research, the conventional theory regarding the mechanical effectiveness of a matrix embedding finite-length fibers has been enhanced by introducing tube-to-tube random contact. This enhancement explicitly addresses the progressive reduction in the tubes' effective aspect ratio as the filler content increases. The study investigates the influence of a damaged matrix, CNT distribution, volume fraction, aspect ratio, and waviness on the free vibration characteristics of the sandwich cylindrical shell with wavy CNT-reinforced face sheets. Unlike two-dimensional theories such as classical and the first shear deformation plate theories, this inquiry is grounded in the three-dimensional theory of elasticity, which comprehensively accounts for transverse normal deformations.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.171-189
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• 2016

An adjustable, louver-type wind barrier was introduced in this study for improving the running safety and ride comfort of train on the bridge under the undesirable wind environment. The aerodynamic characteristics of both train and bridge due to this novel wind barrier was systematically investigated based on the wind tunnel tests. It is suggested that rotation angles of the adjustable blade of the louver-type wind barrier should be controlled within $90^{\circ}$ to achieve an effective solution in terms of the overall aerodynamic performance of the train. Compared to the traditional grid-type wind barrier, the louver-type wind barrier generally presents better aerodynamic performance. Specifically, the larger decrease of the lift force and overturn moment of the train and the smaller increase of the drag force and torsional moment of the bridge resulting from the louver-type wind barrier were highlighted. Finally, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was applied to explore the underlying mechanism of aerodynamic control using the proposed wind barrier.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제21권5호
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• pp.549-559
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• 2018

The dynamic behaviors of the bridge structures have great effects on the comfortability and safety of running high-speed trains, which can also reflect the structural degradation. This paper aims to reveal the characteristics of the dynamic behaviors induced by train loadings for a combined highway and railway bridge. Monitoring-based analysis of the acceleration and dynamic displacement of the bridge girder is carried out. The effects of train loadings on the vertical acceleration of the bridge girder are analyzed; the spatial variability of the train-induced lateral girder displacement is studied; and statistical analysis has been performed for the daily extreme values of the train-induced girder deflections. It is revealed that there are great time and spatial variabilities for the acceleration induced by train loadings for the combined highway and railway cable-stayed bridge. The daily extreme values of the train-induced girder deflections can be well fitted by the general extreme value distribution.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제71권3호
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• pp.283-290
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• 2019

In global competition manufacturing companies have to produce modern, new constructions from advanced materials in order to increase competitiveness. The aim of my research was to develop a new composite cellular plate structure, which can be primarily used for structural elements of road, rail, water and air transport vehicles (e.g. vehicle bodies, ship floors). The new structure is novel and innovative, because all materials of the components of the newly developed structure are composites (laminated Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) deck plates with pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) stiffeners), furthermore combines the characteristics of sandwich and cellular plate structures. The material of the structure is much more advantageous than traditional steel materials, due mainly to its low density, resulting in weight savings, causing lower fuel consumption and less environmental damage. In the study the optimal construction of a given geometry of a structural element of a road truck trailer body was defined by single- and multi-objective optimization (minimal cost and weight). During the single-objective optimization the Flexible Tolerance Optimization method, while during the multi-objective optimization the Particle Swarm Optimization method were used. Seven design constraints were considered: maximum deflection of the structure, buckling of the composite plates, buckling of the stiffeners, stress in the composite plates, stress in the stiffeners, eigenfrequency of the structure, size constraint for design variables. It was confirmed that the developed structure can be used principally as structural elements of transport vehicles and unit load devices (containers) and can be applied also in building construction.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제77권5호
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• pp.661-672
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• 2021

In this article, the role of spans number and length in fire-resistance ratings (FRRs) of fireproofed steel frames are investigated. First, over a span-lengthening scenario, two one- and three-bay frames under the ISO834 fire are examined. It is shown that the FRRs of the frames rely highly on the changes made on their span length. Second, a building designed for three spans number of three, four, and five under natural fire is investigated. The beams are designed for two load-capacity-ratios (LCRs) of optimum and ultimate. The fire curves are determined through a probabilistic-based approach. It is shown that the structural vulnerability vastly increases while the number of spans decreases. The results show that for an optimum LCR, while the five-span frame can meet the required FRR in 87% of the fire scenarios, the four- and three-span frames can meet the required FRR in only 56%, and 50% of the fire scenarios, respectively. For an ultimate LCR, the five-, four- and three-span frames can meet the required FRR in 81%, 50%, and 37.5% of the fire scenarios, respectively. Functional solutions are then proposed to resolve the insufficiencies in the results and to rectify the application of the standard-based FRRs in the cases studied. The study here highlights how employing current standard-based FRRs can endanger structural safety if they are not connected to structural characteristics; a crucial hint specifically for the structural engineering community who may be not well familiar with the fundamentals of performance-based approaches.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.73-92
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• 2012

The effect of element interaction and material nonlinearity on the ultimate capacity of stainless steel plated cross-sections is investigated in this paper. The focus of the research lies in cross-sections failing by local buckling; member instabilities, distortional buckling and interactions thereof with local buckling are not considered. The cross-sections investigated include rectangular hollow sections (RHS), I sections and parallel flange channels (PFC). Based on previous finite element investigations of structural stainless steel stub columns, parametric studies were conducted and the ultimate capacity of the aforementioned cross-sections with a range of element slendernesses and aspect ratios has been obtained. Various design methods, including the effective width approach, the direct strength method (DSM), the continuous strength method (CSM) and a design method based on regression analysis, which accounts for element interaction, were assessed on the basis of the numerical results, and the relative merits and weaknesses of each design approach have been highlighted. Element interaction has been shown to be significant for slender cross-sections, whilst the behaviour of stocky cross-sections is more strongly influenced by the material strain-hardening characteristics. A modification to the continuous strength method has been proposed to allow for the effect of element interaction, which leads to more reliable ultimate capacity predictions. Comparisons with available test data have also been made to demonstrate the enhanced accuracy of the proposed method and its suitability for the treatment of local buckling in stainless steel cross-sections.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제72권4호
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• pp.469-477
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• 2019

The understanding of tool-rock interaction mechanism is of high essence for improving the rock breaking efficiency and optimizing the drilling parameters in mechanical rock breaking. In this study, the tool-rock interaction models of indentation and cutting are carried out by employing the discrete element method (DEM) to examine the rock failure modes of various brittleness rocks and critical indentation and cutting depths of the ductile to brittle failure mode transition. The results show that the cluster size and inter-cluster to intra-cluster bond strength ratio are the key factors which influence the UCS magnitude and the UCS to BTS ratio. The UCS to BTS strength ratio can be increased to a more realistic value using clustered rock model so that the characteristics of real rocks can be better represented. The critical indentation and cutting depth decrease with the brittleness of rock increases and the decreasing rate reduces dramatically against the brittleness value. This effort may lead to a better understanding of rock breaking mechanisms in mechanical excavation, and may contribute to the improvement in the design of rock excavation machines and the related parameters determination.