• Computers and Concrete
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.347-362
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• 2007

Due to heterogeneities at all scales, concrete exhibits significant variability in mechanical behavior from sample to sample. An understanding of the fundamental mechanical performance of concrete must therefore be embedded in a stochastic framework. The current work attempts to address the connection between a two-dimensional concrete mesostructure and the random local material properties associated within that mesostructure. This work builds on previous work that has focused on the random configuration of concrete mesostructures. This was accomplished by developing an understanding of the effects of variations in the mortar strength and the mortar-aggregate interfacial strength in given deterministic mesostructural configurations. The results are assessed through direct tension tests that are validated by comparing experimental results of two different, pre-arranged mesostructures, with the intent of isolating the effect of local variations in strength. Agreement is shown both in mechanical property values as well as the qualitative nature of crack initiation and propagation.

• Ceramist
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.114-131
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• 2020

Fracture in the titanium carbonitride-metal composites occurs by crack propagation through the carbonitride grains or in the interfaces. Thus, intrinsic properties of the carbonitride need to be enhanced and the interfaces should be also modified to coherent structure to strengthen the composites. Especially, interfacial structure can be the main factor to determine the mechanical properties of titanium carbonitride-metal composites because the interfaces between carbonitride grains and metallic phase are weak parts due to heterogeneous nature of carbonitride and metallic phase. In this paper, methodologies for improving the interfacial structure of titanium carbonitride-metal composites are suggested. Total area of the interfaces can be reduced using solid solution type carbonitrides as raw materials instead of a mixture of various carbonitrides in the composites. Also, synthesis of titanium carbonitride-metal composite powders and the low-temperature sintering of the composite powders for short time can be the way for formation of coherent interfaces. The sintering of the composite powders for short time at low temperature can reduce the potential of formation of interfaces by dissolution and precipitation of carbonitride in the liquid metal. As a result of formation of coherent boundaries due to low-temperature and short-time sintering, interfaces between titanium carbonitride grains and metallic phase have the favorable structure for the enhanced fracture toughness. It is believed that the low-temperature sintering of solid solution type composite powders for short time can be the way to improve the low toughness of the titanium carbonitride-metal composites.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.329-337
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• 2008

Simple, small and portable oxygen sensors were fabricated by tape casting technique. Yttria stabilized zirconia containing cordierite ceramics (YSZC) were used as a porous diffused layer of oxygen in pumping cell. Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) solid electrolyte, YSZC porous diffusion layer and heater-patterned ceramic sheets were prepared by co- firing method. Limit current characteristics and the linear relationship of current to oxygen concentration were observed. Viscosity variation of the slurries both YSZ and YSZC showed a similar behavior, but micro pores in the fired sheet were increased with increasing of the cordierite amount. Molecular diffusion was dominated due to the formation of large pores in porous diffusion layer. The plateau range of limit current in porous-type oxygen sensor was narrow than the one of aperture-type oxygen sensor. However limit current curve was appeared in porous-type oxygen sensor even at the lower applied voltage. The plateau range of limit-current was widen as increasing the thickness of porous diffusion layer of the YSZ containing cordierite. Measuring temperature of $600{\sim}650^{\circ}C$ was recommended for limit-current oxygen sensor. Porous diffusion layer-type oxygen sensor showed faster response than the aperture-type one and was stable up to 30 days running without any crack at interface between the layers.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.5_6
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• pp.689-709
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• 2010

In this paper, a low cost, low power but multifunctional wireless sensor node is presented for the impedance-based SHM using piezoelectric sensors. Firstly, a miniaturized impedance measuring chip device is utilized for low cost and low power structural excitation/sensing. Then, structural damage detection/sensor self-diagnosis algorithms are embedded on the on-board microcontroller. This sensor node uses the power harvested from the solar energy to measure and analyze the impedance data. Simultaneously it monitors temperature on the structure near the piezoelectric sensor and battery power consumption. The wireless sensor node is based on the TinyOS platform for operation, and users can take MATLAB$^{(R)}$ interface for the control of the sensor node through serial communication. In order to validate the performance of this multifunctional wireless impedance sensor node, a series of experimental studies have been carried out for detecting loose bolts and crack damages on lab-scale steel structural members as well as on real steel bridge and building structures. It has been found that the proposed sensor nodes can be effectively used for local wireless health monitoring of structural components and for constructing a low-cost and multifunctional SHM system as "place and forget" wireless sensors.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.1
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• pp.51-67
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• 2019

In this paper, the anisotropy of tensile behaviours of layered rocks consisting internal notch has been investigated using particle flow code. For this purpose, firstly calibration of PFC2D was performed using Brazilian tensile strength. Secondly Brazilian test models consisting bedding layer was simulated numerically. Thickness of layers was 10 mm and layered angularity was $90^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$. The strength of bedding interface was too high. Each model was consisted of one internal notch. Notch length is 1 cm, 2 cm and 4 cm and notch angularities are $60^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$. Totally, 90 model were tested. The results show that failure pattern was affected by notch orientation and notch length. It's to be noted that layer angle has not any effect on the failure pattern. Also, Brazilian tensile strength is affected by notch orientation and notch length.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.241-247
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• 2019

In this paper the effect of bedding layer on the failure mechanism of rock in direct shear test has been investigated using particle flow code, PFC. For this purpose, firstly calibration of pfc2d was performed using Brazilian tensile strength. Secondly direct shear test consisting bedding layer was simulated numerically. Thickness of layers was 10 mm and rock bridge length was 10 mm, 40 mm and 60 mm. In each rock bridge length, bedding layer angles changes from $0^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$ with increment of $15^{\circ}$. Totally 21 models were simulated and tested. The results show that two types of cracks develop within the model. Shear cracks and tensile cracks. Also failure pattern is affected by bridge length while shear strength is controlled by failure pattern. It's to be noted that bedding layer has not any effect on the failure pattern because the layer interface strength is too high.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 2009

In this study, alumina matrix composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were fabricated by ultrasonic dispersion, ball milling, mixing, compaction, and sintering processes, and their relative density, electrical resistance, hardness, flexure strength, and fracture toughness were evaluated. 0~3 vol.% of CNTs were relatively homogeneously dispersed in the composites in spite of the existence of some pores. The three-point bending test results indicated that the flexure strength increased with increasing volume fraction of CNTs, and reached the maximum when the CNT fraction was 1.5 vol.%. The fracture toughness increased as the CNT fraction increased, and the fracture toughness of the composite containing 3 vol.% of CNTs was higher by 40% than that of the monolithic alumina. According to observation of the crack propagation path after the indentation fracture test, a new toughening mechanism of grain interface bridging-induced CNT bridging was suggested to explain the improvement of fracture toughness in the alumina matrix composites reinforced with CNTs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.741-759
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• 2020

Steel plate-concrete composite slabs provide attractive features, such as more effective loading transfer, and more cost-effective stay-in-place forms, thereby enabling engineers to design more high-performance light structures. Although significant studies in the literatures have been directed toward designing and implementing the steel plate-concrete composite beams, there are limited data available for understanding of the composite slabs. To fill this gap, nine the composite slabs with different variables in this study were tested to unveil the impacts of the critical factors on the ultimate strength behavior. The key information of the findings included sample failure modes, crack pattern, and ultimate strength behavior of the composite slabs under either four-point or three-point loading. Test results showed that the failure modes varied from delamination to shear failures under different design factors. Particularly, the shear stud spacing and thicknesses of the concrete slabs significantly affected their ultimate load-carrying capacities. Moreover, an analytical model of the composite slabs was derived for determining their ultimate load-carrying capacity and was well verified by the experimental data. Further extensive parametric study using the proposed analytical methods was conducted for a more comprehensive investigation of those critical factors in their performance. These findings are expected to help engineers to better understand the structural behavior of the steel plate-concrete composite slabs and to ensure reliability of design and performance throughout their service life.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.4
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• pp.395-409
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• 2022

The presence of infill generally neglected in design despite the fact that infill contribution significantly increase the lateral stiffness and strength of the reinforced concrete frame structure. Several experimental studies and computational models have been proposed to capture the rational response of infill-frame interaction at global level. However, limited studies are available on explicit finite element modelling to study the local behavior due to high computation and convergence issues in numerical modelling. In the current study, the computational modelling of RC frames is done with various configurations of infill masonry in terms of types of blocks, lateral loading and reinforcement detailing employed with material nonlinearities, interface contact issues and bond-slip phenomenon particularly near the beam-column joints. To this end, extensive computational modelling of five variant characteristics test specimens extracted from the detailed experimental program available in literature and process through nonlinear static analysis in FEM code, ATENA generally used to capture the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures. Results are presented in terms of damage patterns and capacity curves by employing the finest possible detail provided in the experimental program. Comparative analysis shows that good correlation amongst the experimental and numerical simulated results both in terms of capacity and crack patterns.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.50
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• pp.25.1-25.11
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• 2020

Scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) or Acoustic Micro Imaging (AMI) is a powerful, non-destructive technique that can detect hidden defects in elastic and biological samples as well as non-transparent hard materials. By monitoring the internal features of a sample in three-dimensional integration, this technique can efficiently find physical defects such as cracks, voids, and delamination with high sensitivity. In recent years, advanced techniques such as ultrasound impedance microscopy, ultrasound speed microscopy, and scanning acoustic gigahertz microscopy have been developed for applications in industries and in the medical field to provide additional information on the internal stress, viscoelastic, and anisotropic, or nonlinear properties. X-ray, magnetic resonance, and infrared techniques are the other competitive and widely used methods. However, they have their own advantages and limitations owing to their inherent properties such as different light sources and sensors. This paper provides an overview of the principle of SAM and presents a few results to demonstrate the applications of modern acoustic imaging technology. A variety of inspection modes, such as vertical, horizontal, and diagonal cross-sections have been presented by employing the focus pathway and image reconstruction algorithm. Images have been reconstructed from the reflected echoes resulting from the change in the acoustic impedance at the interface of the material layers or defects. The results described in this paper indicate that the novel acoustic technology can expand the scope of SAM as a versatile diagnostic tool requiring less time and having a high efficiency.