• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.1236-1249
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• 2021

Although there are still controversial opinions and uncertainty on application of SiC_f/SiC composite cladding as next-generation cladding material for its great oxidation resistance in high temperature steam environment and other outstanding advantages, it cannot deny that SiC_f/SiC cladding is a potential accident tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding with high research priority and still in the engineering design stage for now. However, considering its disadvantages, such as low irradiated thermal conductivity, ductility that barely not exist, further evaluations of its in-pile behaviors are still necessary. Based on the self-developed code we recently updated, relevant thermohydraulic and mechanical models in FROBA-ATF were applied to simulate the cladding behaviors under normal and accident conditions in this paper. Even through steady-state performance analysis revealed that this kind of cladding material could greatly reduce the oxidation thickness, the thermal performance of UO₂-SiC was poor due to its low inpile thermal conductivity and creep rate. Besides, the risk of failure exists when reactor power decreased. With geometry optimization and dopant addition in pellets, the steady-state performance of UO₂-SiC was enhanced and the failure risk was reduced. The thermal and mechanical performance of the improved UO₂-SiC was further evaluated under Loss of coolant accident (LOCA) and Reactivity Initiated Accident (RIA) conditions. Transient results showed that the optimized ATF had better thermal performance, lower cladding hoop stress, and could provide more coping time under accident conditions.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.51-58
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• 2022

Flat plate slab is cost-efficient structural system widely used in high rise building, apartment and parking garages. But flat plate-column connections are so weak against punching shear failure that it may cause collapse of overall structure. In this study, spiral type shear reinforcement which increases the shear strength and ductility of the plate-column connection and has good workability was proposed. And experimental test was performed to verify the punching shear capacity of spiral type shear reinforcement. The current code does not accurately estimate the punching shear strength of slab-column connection with shear reinforcement because slab is so slender that punching failure may occurred before shear reinforcement reached yield stress. Therefore modified equation of ACI code for punching shear strength was proposed base on finite element analysis using LUSAS program, and data analysis from CEB-FIP database.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.647-657
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• 2012

Although nuclear power plant piping system is designed conforming to design specifications, the piping systems are deteriorated with increase in service life. In this study, monotonic and cyclic loading tests were carried out on TP316 stainless steel pipe specimens, and the effect of local wall thinning and cracking on failure behavior was investigated. In the tests, 0%, 35% and 75% wall thinning and cracking of initial thickness were artificially introduced to inside elbow and straight pipe specimens, and internal pressures of 20MPa were applied to simulate real operation condition. From the test results, the effect of local wall thinning and cracking on failure mode, ultimate load, number of cycle and strain energy was presented, and maximum bending moment was compared with allowable bending moment calculated by ASME code.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.326-332
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• 2010

Critical response of seawater pump impeller shaft structure to various exciting loads is a fundamental factor in re-designing of the structure after its functional failure. In this paper, a typical case of the shaft structure's failure is investigated for re-designing purposes. Failure causes of interest are excessive bending moment, fatigue loads and dynamic resonance due to relevant motor rotation and unbalancing of the rotation loads. Static analyses of shaft structure under the conditions of concerned loads are carried out, followed by a dynamic investigation of the effects of resonance between the shaft and the motor on the structure. The relevant structural analyses are carried out using the Finite Element Methods combined with ANSYS code. Based on these, the primary cause for the shaft's structural failure is obtained. It is found that the change of the bending stiffness of the shaft is the primary concern in the re-designing process. A guideline for the re-design process of the seawater pump shaft structure is established, and a re-design scheme of the structure is proposed.

• Composites Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.7-14
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• 2006

In this paper, an integrated probabilistic strength analysis was conducted to predict the reliability of a composite pressure vessel under inner pressure loading condition. As a probabilistic strength analysis, the probabilistic progressive failure model consisting of progressive failure model and Monte Carlo simulation was incorporated with a commercial FEA code, ABAQUS Standard, to perform the probabilistic failure analysis of composite structure which has a complex shape and boundary conditions. As design random variables, the laminar strengths of each direction were considered. Finally, from probabilistic strength analysis, the scattering of burst pressure could be explained and the reliability of composite pressure vessel could be obtained for each component. In case of composite structures in mass production, the effects of uncertainties in material and manufacturing on the performance of composite structures would apparently become larger. So, the probabilistic strength analysis is essential for the structural design of composite structures in mass production.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1017-1027
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• 2018

To explore the influence of coal thickness on the mechanical behavior and the failure characteristics of rock-coal-rock (RCR) mass, the experimental investigation of uniaxial compressive tests was conducted first and then a systematic numerical simulation by particle flow code (PFC2D) was performed to deeply analyze the failure mechanical behavior of RCR specimens with different coal thicknesses in conventional compression tests. The overall elastic modulus and peak stress of RCR specimens lie between the rock and the coal. Inter-particle properties were calibrated to match the physical sample strength and the stiffness response. Numerical simulation results show that the deformation and strength behaviors of RCR specimens depend not only on the coal thickness, but also on the confining pressure. Under low confining pressures, the overall failure mechanism of RCR specimen is the serious damage of coal section when the coal thickness is smaller than 30 mm, but it is shear failure of coal section when the coal thickness is larger than 30 mm. Whereas under high confining pressures, obvious shear bands exist in both the coal section and the rock section when the coal thickness is larger than 30 mm, but when the coal thickness is smaller than 30mm, the failure mechanism is serious damage of coal section and shear failure of rock section.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.421-434
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• 2019

It is of great significance to study the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of the defected rock for geological engineering. The defected sandstone modeling with power-law distribution of pre-cracks was built in this paper by Particle Flow Code software. Then the mechanical properties of sandstone and the corresponding failure process were meticulously analyzed by changing the power-law index (PLI) and the number of pre-cracks (NPC). The results show that (1) With the increase of the PLI, the proportion of prefabricated long cracks gradually decreases. (2) When the NPC is the same, the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of sandstone increases with the PLI; while when the PLI is the same, the UCS decreases with the NPC. (3) The damage model of rock strength is established based on the Mori-Tanaka method, which can be used to better describe the strength evolution of damaged rock. (4) The failure mode of the specimen is closely related to the total length of the pre-crack. As the total length of the pre-crack increases, the failure intensity of the specimen gradually becomes weaker. In addition, for the specimens with the total pre-crack length between 0.2-0.55 m, significant lateral expansion occurred during their failure process. (5) For the specimens with smaller PLI in the pre-peak loading process, the concentration of the force field inside is more serious than that of the specimens with larger PLI.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.833-848
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• 2013

Nine rectangular-section of High Strength Concrete(HSC) beams were designed and casted based on the American Concrete Institute (ACI) code provisons with varying of tensile reinforcement ratio as (${\rho}_{min}$, $0.2_{{\rho}b}$, $0.3_{{\rho}b}$, $0.4_{{\rho}b}$, $0.5_{{\rho}b}$, $0.75_{{\rho}b}$, $0.85_{{\rho}b}$, $_{{\rho}b}$, $1.2_{{\rho}b}$). Steel and concrete strains and deflections were measured at different points of the beam's length for every incremental load up to failure. The ductility ratios were calculated and the moment-curvature and load-deflection curves were drawn. The results showed that the ductility ratio reduced to less than 2 when the tensile reinforcement ratio increased to $0.5_{{\rho}b}$. Comparison of the theoretical ductility coefficient from CSA94, NZS95 and ACI with the experimental ones shows that the three mentioned codes exhibit conservative values for low reinforced HSC beams. For over-reinforced HSC beams, only the CSA94 provision is more valid. ACI bending provision is 10 percent conservative for assessing of ultimate bending moment in low-reinforced HSC section while its results are valid for over-reinforced HSC sections. The ACI code provision is non-conservative for the modulus of rupture and needs to be reviewed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.2 s.233
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• pp.253-261
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• 2005

In decades, a substantial body of work on a unified viscoplastic model which considers the mechanism of plastic deformation and creep deformation has developed. The systematic scheme for numerical analysis of unified model is necessary because the dominant failure mechanism is the defect growth and coalescence in materials. In the present study, the unified viscoplastic model for materials with defects suggested by Suquet and Michel was employed for numerical analysis. The constitutive equations are integrated based on the generalized mid-point rule and implemented into a finite element program (ABAQUS) by means of user-defined subroutine (UMAT). To evaluate the validity of the developed UMAT code and the assessment of the adopted viscoplastic model, the results obtained from the UMAT code was compared with the numerical reference solution and experimental data. The unit cell analysis also has been investigated to study the effect of strain rate, temperature, stress triaxiality and initial defect volume fraction on the growth and coalescence of the defect.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.261-291
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• 2016

This paper deals with the seismic assessment of a real RC frame building located in Italy, designed according to the current Italian seismic code. The first part of the paper deals with the calibration of the structural model of the investigated building. The results of an in-situ dynamic identification test are employed in a sensitivity and parametric study in order to find the best fit model in terms of frequencies and modal shapes. In the second part, the safety of the structure is evaluated by means of nonlinear static analyses, taking into account the results of the previous dynamic study. In order to investigate the influence of the infills on the seismic response of the structure, the nonlinear static analyses are performed both neglecting and taking into account the infill panels. The infill panels differently change the behavior of the structure in terms of strength and stiffness at different seismic intensity levels. The assessment study also verifies the absence of brittle failures in structural elements, which could be caused by either the local interaction with infills or the failure of the strength hierarchy.