• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.4
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• pp.441-461
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• 2021

Reinforced concrete (RC) columns are crucial in building structures and they are of higher vulnerability to terrorist threat than any other structural elements. Thus it is of great interest and necessity to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the possible responses of RC columns when exposed to high intensive blast loads. The primary objective of this study is to derive analytical formulas to assess vulnerability of RC columns using an advanced numerical modelling approach. This investigation is necessary as the effect of blast loads would be minimal to the RC structure if the explosive charge is located at the safe standoff distance from the main columns in the building and therefore minimizes the chance of disastrous collapse of the RC columns. In the current research, finite element model is developed for RC columns using LS-DYNA program that includes a comprehensive discussion of the material models, element formulation, boundary condition and loading methods. Numerical model is validated to aid in the study of RC column testing against the explosion field test results. Residual capacity of RC column is selected as damage criteria. Intensive investigations using Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) methodology are then implemented to evaluate the influence of scaled distance, column dimension, concrete and steel reinforcement properties and axial load index on the vulnerability of RC columns. The generated empirical formulae can be used by the designers to predict a damage degree of new column design when consider explosive loads. With an extensive knowledge on the vulnerability assessment of RC structures under blast explosion, advancement to the convention design of structural elements can be achieved to improve the column survivability, while reducing the lethality of explosive attack and in turn providing a safer environment for the public.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.153-166
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• 2023

Health monitoring of civil infrastructures, in particular, old bridges that are still in service, has become more than necessary, given the risk that a possible degradation or failure of these infrastructures can induce on the safety of users in addition to the resulting commercial and economic impact. Bridge integrity assessment has attracted significant research efforts over the past forty years with the aim of developing new damage identification methods applicable to real structures. The bridge of Ouled Mimoun (Tlemcen, Algeria) is one of the oldest railway structure in the country. It was built in 1889. This bridge, which is too low with respect to the level of the road, has suffered multiple shocks from various machines that caused considerable damage to its central part. The present work aims to analyze the stability of this bridge by identifying damages and evaluating the damage rate in different parts of the structure on the basis of a finite element model. The applied method is based on an inverse analysis of the normal stress responses that were calculated from the corresponding recorded strains, during the passage of a real train, by means of a set of strain gauges placed on certain elements of the bridge. The results obtained from the inverse analysis made it possible to successfully locate areas that were really damaged and to estimate the damage rate. These results were also used to detect an excessive rigidity in certain elements due to the presence of plates, which were neglected in the numerical reference model. In the case of the continuous bridge monitoring, this developed method will be a very powerful tool as a smart health monitoring system, allowing engineers to take in time decisions in the event of bridge damage.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2012

Various numerical methods in simulation of seismic wave propagation have been developed. Recently an innovative numerical method called as the Spectral Element Method (SEM) has been developed and used in wave propagation in 3-D elastic media. The SEM that easily implements the free surface of topography combines the flexibility of a finite element method with the accuracy of a spectral method. It is generally used a weak formulation of the equation of motion which are solved on a mesh of hexahedral elements based on the Gauss-Lobatto-Legendre integration rule. Variational formulations of velocity-stress motion are newly modified in order to implement ADE-PML (Auxiliary Differential Equation of Perfectly Matched Layer) in wave propagation in 3-D elastic media, because a general weak formulation has a difficulty in adapting CFS (Complex Frequency Shifted) PML (Perfectly Matched Layer). SEM of Velocity-Stress motion having ADE-PML that is very efficient in absorbing waves reflected from finite boundary is verified with simulation of 1-D and 3-D wave propagation.

• Composites Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.17-22
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• 2011

In this paper, as a basic research to apply the composite sandwich to underwater vehicle, the manufacturing, analysis and test methods, and weight saving effect of a composite sandwich cylinder under external pressure were studied. A two-step manufacturing method to prevent the wrinkling of the sandwich cylinder face was proposed and the three cylinders were made and tested. Finite element results based on the shell and solid model using MSC.Nastran were compared with test results. The comparison showed that the linear finite element analysis using the shell and solid elements can predict the buckling pressure of the sandwich cylinder with approximately 3% difference. The parametric study of the filament wound cylinders revealed that the composite sandwich can reduce the weight of the cylinder more than 30% compared with the filament wound cylinder supporting the same pressure.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.619-628
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• 2002

This paper deals with the FE analysis for the free vibration of sloshing in horizontal cylindrical tank with baffles. We use Laplace equation based on potential theory as governing equation. This problem is solved by FEM using lineal isoparametric elements. We assume that the tank as well as baffles is rigid body and by separating nodes into two at the baffle location, baffle effect is obtained by separating nodes into two at the baffle location. For the calculation of natural frequencies and mode shapes, we introduce Lanczos transformation and Jacobi iteration methods. Numerical results of the first longitudinal and transverse modes, while comparing with literature cited, are very good. In order for the baffle effects on the free vibration of sloshing, various combinations of baffle parameters, which are location, inner diameter and number, are examined.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.449-459
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• 2000

The original Mindlin-type degenerated shell element perform reasonably well for moderately thick shell structures. However, when full integration for analysis of thin shell is used to evaluate the stiffness matrix, the stiffness of shell element is often over-estimated due to shear or membrane locking phenomena. To correct this problem, the formulation of the new degenerated shell element is derived by the combination of two different techniques. The first type of elements(TypeⅠ) has used assumed shear strains in the natural coordinate system to overcome the shear locking problem, the reduced integration technique in in-plane strains(membrane strains) to avoid membrane locking behaviour. Another element(TypeⅡ) has applied the assumed strains to both of membrane strain and transverse shear strains. The improved degenerated shell element has been tested by several numerical problems of shell structures. Numerical results indicate that this shell element shows fast convergence and reliable solutions.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2020

PURPOSE. This study evaluated the influence of prosthesis weight and number of implants on the bone tissue microstrain. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Fifteen (15) fixed full-arch implant-supported prosthesis designs were created using a modeling software with different numbers of implants (4, 6, or 8) and prosthesis weights (10, 15, 20, 40, or 60 g). Each solid was imported to the computer aided engineering software and tetrahedral elements formed the mesh. The material properties were assigned to each solid with isotropic and homogeneous behavior. The friction coefficient was set as 0.3 between all the metallic interfaces, 0.65 for the cortical bone-implant interface, and 0.77 for the cancellous bone-implant interface. The standard earth gravity was defined along the Z-axis and the bone was fixed. The resulting equivalent strain was assumed as failure criteria. RESULTS. The prosthesis weight was related to the bone strain. The more implants installed, the less the amount of strain generated in the bone. The most critical situation was the use of a 60 g prosthesis supported by 4 implants with the largest calculated magnitude of 39.9 mm/mm, thereby suggesting that there was no group able to induce bone remodeling simply due to the prosthesis weight. CONCLUSION. Heavier prostheses under the effect of gravity force are related to more strain being generated around the implants. Installing more implants to support the prosthesis enables attenuating the effects observed in the bone. The simulated prostheses were not able to generate harmful values of peri-implant bone strain.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.6
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• pp.747-769
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• 2020

This paper provides a semi-analytical approach to investigate the variations of 3D displacement components, electric potential, stresses, electric displacements and transverse vibration frequencies in laminated piezoelectric composite plates based on the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) and the precise integration algorithm (PIA). The proposed approach can analyze the static and dynamic responses of multilayered piezoelectric plates with any number of laminae, various geometrical shapes, boundary conditions, thickness-to-length ratios and stacking sequences. Only a longitudinal surface of the plate is discretized into 2D elements, which helps to improve the computational efficiency. Comparing with plate theories and other numerical methods, only three displacement components and the electric potential are set as the basic unknown variables and can be represented analytically through the transverse direction. The whole derivation is built upon the three dimensional key equations of elasticity for the piezoelectric materials and no assumptions on the plate kinematics have been taken. By virtue of the equilibrium equations, the constitutive relations and the introduced set of scaled boundary coordinates, three-dimensional governing partial differential equations are converted into the second order ordinary differential matrix equation. Furthermore, aided by the introduced internal nodal force, a first order ordinary differential equation is obtained with its general solution in the form of a matrix exponent. To further improve the accuracy of the matrix exponent in the SBFEM, the PIA is employed to make sure any desired accuracy of the mechanical and electric variables. By virtue of the kinetic energy technique, the global mass matrix of the composite plates constituted by piezoelectric laminae is constructed for the first time based on the SBFEM. Finally, comparisons with the exact solutions and available results are made to confirm the accuracy and effectiveness of the developed methodology. What's more, the effect of boundary conditions, thickness-to-length ratios and stacking sequences of laminae on the distributions of natural frequencies, mechanical and electric fields in laminated piezoelectric composite plates is evaluated.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.493-510
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• 2021

Mineral wool is an insulation material commonly used in passive fire protection (PFP) systems on offshore installations. Insulation materials have only been considered functional materials for thermal analysis in the conventional offshore PFP system design method. Hence, the structural performance of insulation has yet to be considered in the design of PFP systems. However, the structural elements of offshore PFP systems are often designed with excessive dimensions to satisfy structural requirements under external loads such as wind, fire and explosive pressure. To verify the structural contribution of insulation material, it was considered a structural material in this study. A series of material tensile tests was undertaken with two types of mineral wool at room temperature and at elevated temperatures for fire conditions. The mechanical properties were then verified with modified methods, and a database was constructed for application in a series of nonlinear structural and thermal finite-element analyses of an offshore bulkhead-type PFP system. Numerical analyses were performed with a conventional model without insulation and with a new suggested model with insulation. These analyses showed the structural contribution of the insulation in the structural behaviour of the PFP panel. The results suggest the need to consider the structural strength of the insulation material in PFP systems during the structural design step for offshore installations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 2024

A very widely used analytical method (mathematical model), mentioned in Eurocode 3, to examine the connections' bending behavior is the component-based method that has certain weak points shown in the plastic behavior part of the moment-rotation curves. In the component method available in Eurocode 3, for simplicity, the effect of strain hardening is omitted, and the bending behavior of the connection is modeled with the help of a two-line diagram. To make the component method more efficient and reliable, this research proposed its advanced version, wherein the plastic part of the diagram was developed beyond the guidelines of the mentioned Regulation, implemented to connect the end plate, and verified with the moment-rotation curves found from the laboratory model and the finite element method in ABAQUS. The findings indicated that the advanced component method (the method developed in this research) could predict the plastic part of the moment-rotation curve as well as the conventional component-based method in Eurocode 3. The comparison between the laboratory model and the outputs of the conventional and advanced component methods, as well as the outputs of the finite elements approach using ABAQUS, revealed a different percentage in the ultimate moment for bolt-extended end-plate connections. Specifically, the difference percentages were -31.56%, 2.46%, and 9.84%, respectively. Another aim of this research was to determine the optimal dimensions of the end plate joint to reduce costs without letting the mechanical constraints related to the bending moment and the resulting initial stiffness, are not compromised as well as the safety and integrity of the connection. In this research, the thickness and dimensions of the end plate and the location and diameter of the bolts were the design variables, which were optimized using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Snake Optimization (SO), and Teaching Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO) to minimization the connection cost of the end plate connection. According to the results, the TLBO method yielded better solutions than others, reducing the connection costs from 43.97 to 17.45€ (60.3%), which shows the method's proper efficiency.