• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.461-473
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• 2022

Energy-saving block and invisible multiribbed frame composite wall (EBIMFCW) is an important shear wall, which is composed of energy-saving blocks, steel bars and concrete. This paper conducted seismic performance tests on six 1/2-scale EBIMFCW specimens, analyzed their failure process under horizontal reciprocating load, and studied the effect of axial compression ratio on the wall's hysteresis curve and skeleton curve, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, stiffness degradation, bearing capacity degradation. A formula for calculating the peak bearing capacity of such walls was proposed. Results showed that the EBIMFCW had experienced a long time deformation from cracking to failure and exhibited signs of failure. The three seismic fortification lines of the energy-saving block, internal multiribbed frame, and outer multiribbed frame sequentially played important roles. With the increase in axial compression ratio, the peak bearing capacity and ductility of the wall increased, whereas the initial stiffness decreased. The change in axial compression ratio had a small effect on the energy dissipation capacity of the wall. In the early stage of loading, the influence of axial compression ratio on wall stiffness and strength degradation was unremarkable. In the later stage of loading, the stiffness and strength degradation of walls with high axial compression ratio were low. The displacement ductility coefficients of the wall under vertical pressure were more than 3.0 indicating that this wall type has good deformation ability. The limit values of elastic displacement angle under weak earthquake and elastic-plastic displacement angle under strong earthquake of the EBIMFCW were1/800 and 1/80, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.968-980
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• 2023

The dynamic structural responses are sensitive to the time-frequency content of seismic waves, and seismic input motions in time-history analysis are usually required to be compatible with design response spectra according to nuclear codes. In order to generate spectra-compatible input motions while maintaining the intrinsic non-stationarity of seismic waves, an improved time-domain approach is proposed in this paper. To maintain the nonstationary characteristics of the given seismic waves, a new time-frequency envelope function is constructed using the Hilbert amplitude spectrum. Based on the intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) obtained from given seismic waves through variational mode decomposition, a new corrective time history is constructed to locally modify the given seismic waves. The proposed corrective time history and time-frequency envelope function are unique for each earthquake records as they are extracted from the given seismic waves. In addition, a dimension reduction iterative technique is presented herein to simultaneously superimpose corrective time histories of all the damping ratios at a specific frequency in the time domain according to optimal weights, which are found by the genetic algorithm (GA). Examples are presented to show the capability of the proposed approach in generating spectra-compatible time histories, especially in maintaining the nonstationary characteristics of seismic records. And numerical results reveal that the modified time histories generated by the proposed method can obtain similar dynamic behaviors of AP1000 nuclear power plant with the natural seismic records. Thus, the proposed method can be efficiently used in the design practices.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2023

As composite materials are used in many applications, the modern world looks forward to significant progress. An overview of the application of composite fiber materials in sports equipment is provided in this article, focusing primarily on the advantages of these materials when applied to sports equipment, as well as an Analysis of the influence of sports equipment of fiber-reinforced composite material on social sports development. The present study investigated surface morphology and physical and mechanical properties of S-glass fiber epoxy composites containing Al₂O₃ nanofillers (for example, 1 wt%, 2 wt%, 3 wt%, 4 wt%). A mechanical stirrer and ultrasonication combined the Al₂O₃ nanofiller with the matrix in varying amounts. A compression molding method was used to produce sheet composites. A first physical observation is well done, which confirms that nanoparticles are deposited on the fiber, and adhesive bonds are formed. Al₂O₃ nanofiller crystalline structure was investigated by X-ray diffraction, and its surface morphology was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). In the experimental test, nanofiller content was added at a rate of 1, 2, and 3% by weight, which caused a gradual decrease in void fraction by 2.851, 2.533, and 1.724%, respectively, an increase from 2.7%. The atomic bonding mechanism shows molecular bonding between nanoparticles and fibers. At temperatures between 60 ℃ and 380 ℃, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) analysis shows that NPs deposition improves the thermal properties of the fibers and causes negligible weight reduction (percentage). Thermal stability of the composites was therefore presented up to 380 ℃. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) spectrum confirms that nanoparticles have been deposited successfully on the fiber.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.25-38
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• 2023

Due to the complexity and difficulty in meeting the multiphase flow complexity, similarity, and multiscale characteristics, the mechanism of snow drift is so complicated that the snow deposition prediction is still inaccurate and needs to be far improved. Meanwhile, the validation of prediction methods is also limited due to a lack of field-measured data about snow deposition. To this end, a field measurement activity about snow deposition around a cube with time was carried out, and the snow accumulation process was measured under blowing snow conditions in northwest China. The maximum snow depth, snow profile, and variation in snow depth around the cube were discussed and analyzed. The measured results indicated three stages of snow accumulation around the cube. First, snow is deposited in windward, lateral and leeward regions, and then the snow depth in windward and lateral regions increases. Secondly, when the snow in the windward region reaches its maximum, the downwash flow erodes the snow against the front wall. Meanwhile, snow range and depth in lateral regions have a significant increase. Thirdly, a narrow road in the leeward region is formed with the increase in snow range and depth, which results in higher wind speed and reforming snow deposition there. The field measurement study in this paper not only furthers understanding of the snow accumulation process instead of final deposition under complex conditions but also provides an important benchmark for validating prediction methods.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.237-248
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• 2022

Nowadays, more and more subway tunnels were planed and constructed underneath the ground of urban cities to relieve the congested traffic. Potential damage may occur in existing tunnel if the new tunnel is constructed too close. So far, previous studies mainly focused on the tunnel-tunnel interactions with circular shape. The difference between circular and horseshoe shaped tunnel in terms of deformation mechanism is not fully investigated. In this study, three-dimensional numerical parametric studies were carried out to explore the effect of different tunnel shapes on the complicated tunnel-tunnel interaction problem. Parameters considered include volume loss, tunnel stiffness and relative density. It is found that the value of volume loss play the most important role in the multi-tunnel interactions. For a typical condition in this study, the maximum invert settlement and gradient along longitudinal direction of horseshoe shaped tunnel was 50% and 96% larger than those in circular case, respectively. This is because of the larger vertical soil displacement underneath existing tunnel. Due to the discontinuous hoop axial stress in horseshoe shaped tunnel, significant shear stress was mobilized around the axillary angles. This resulted in substantial bending moment at the bottom plate and side walls of horseshoe shaped tunnel. Consequently, vertical elongation and horizontal compression in circular existing tunnel were 45% and 33% smaller than those in horseshoe case (at monitored section X/D = 0), which in latter case was mainly attributed to the bending induced deflection. The radial deformation stiffness of circular tunnel is more sensitive to the Young's modulus compared with horseshoe shaped tunnel. This is because of that circular tunnel resisted the radial deformation mainly by its hoop axial stress while horseshoe shaped tunnel do so mainly by its flexural rigidity. In addition, the reduction of soil stiffness beneath the circular tunnel was larger than that in horseshoe shaped tunnel at each level of relative density, indicating that large portion of tunneling effect were undertaken by the ground itself in circular tunnel case.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.441-456
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• 2023

Aiming at the development trend of light weight and high strength of engineering structures, this paper experimentally investigated the seismic performance of circular-in-square high-strength concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (HCFDST) stub columns with out-of-code width-to-thickness (B/t) ratios. Typical failure mode of HCFDST stub columns appeared with the infill material crushing, steel fracture and local buckling of outer tubes as well as the inner buckling of inner tubes. Subsequently, the detailed analysis on hysteretic curves, skeleton curves and ductility, energy dissipation, stiffness degradation and lateral force reduction was conducted to reflect the influences of hollow ratios, axial compression ratios and infill types, e.g., increasing hollow ratio from 0.54 to 0.68 and 0.82 made a slight effect on bearing capacity compared to the ductility coefficients; the higher axial compression ratio (e.g., 0.3 versus 0.1) significantly reduced the average bearing capacity and ductility; the HCFDST column SCFST-6 filled with concrete obviously displayed the larger initial secant stiffness with a percentage 34.20% than the column SCFST-2 using engineered cementitious composite (ECC); increasing hollow ratios, axial compression ratios could accelerate the drop speed of stiffness degradation. The out-of-code HCFDST stub columns with reasonable design could behave favorable hysteretic performance. A theoretical model considering the tensile strength effect of ECC was thereafter established and verified to predict the moment-resisting capacity of HCFDST columns using ECC. The reported research on circular-in-square HCFDST stub columns can provide significant references to the structural application and design.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.441-449
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• 2023

Heavy metals, widely present in the environment, have become significant pollutants due to their excessive use in industries and technology. Their non-degradable nature poses a persistent environmental problem, leading to potential acute or chronic poisoning from prolonged exposure. Recent research has focused on separating heavy metals, particularly from industrial and mining sources. Industries such as metal plating, mining operations, tanning, wood and chipboard production, industrial paint and textile manufacturing, as well as oil refining, are major contributors of heavy metals in water sources. Therefore, removing heavy metals from water is crucial, especially for safe water supply in swimming and water sports. Iron oxide nanoparticles have proven to be highly effective adsorbents for water contaminants, and efforts have been made to enhance their efficiency and absorption capabilities through surface modifications. Nanoparticles synthesized using plant extracts can effectively bind with heavy metal ions by modifying the nanoparticle surface with plant components, thereby increasing the efficiency of heavy metal removal. This study focuses on removing lead from industrial wastewater using environmentally friendly, cost-effective iron nanoparticles synthesized with Genovese basil extract. The synthesis of nanoparticles is confirmed through analysis using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction, validating their spherical shape and nanometer-scale dimensions. The method used in this study has a low detection limit of 0.031 ppm for measuring lead concentration, making it suitable for ensuring water safety in swimming and water sports.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.27-41
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• 2023

Under the long-term effect of corrosive environment, many cold-formed steel (CFS) structures have serious corrosion problems. Corrosion leads to the change of surface morphology and the loss of section thickness, which results in the change of instability mode and failure mechanism of CFS structure. This paper mainly investigates the elastic local buckling behavior of corroded CFS columns. The surface morphology scanning test was carried out for eight CFS columns accelerated corrosion by the outdoor periodic spray test. The thin shell finite element (FE) eigen-buckling analysis was also carried out to reveal the influence of corrosion surface characteristics, corrosion depth, corrosion location and corrosion area on the elastic local buckling behaviour of the plates with four simply supported edges. The accuracy of the proposed formulas for calculating the elastic local buckling stress of the corroded plates and columns was assessed through extensive parameter studies. The results indicated that for the plates considering corrosion surface characteristics, the maximum deformation area of local buckling was located at the plates with the minimum average section area. For the plates with localized corrosion, the main buckling shape of the plates changed from one half-wave to two half-wave with the increase in corrosion area length. The elastic local buckling stress decreased gradually with the increase in corrosion area width and length. In addition, the elastic local buckling stress decreased slowly when corrosion area thickness was relatively large, and then tends to accelerate with the reduction in corrosion area thickness. The distance from the corrosion area to the transverse and longitudinal centerline of the plate had little effect on the elastic local buckling stress. Finally, the calculation formula of the elastic local buckling stress of the corroded plates and CFS columns was proposed.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_4
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• pp.1145-1153
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• 2023

Urban trees play an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, improving air quality, mitigating the urban heat island effect, and providing ecosystem services. To effectively manage and conserve urban trees, accurate spatial information on their location, condition, species, and population is needed. In this study, we propose an algorithm that uses a high-resolution urban tree cover map constructed from deep learning approach to separate trees from the urban land surface and accurately detect tree locations through local maximum filtering. Instead of using a uniform filter size, we improved the tree detection performance by selecting the appropriate filter size according to the tree height in consideration of various urban growth environments. The research output, the location and height of individual trees in human settlement over Suwon, will serve as a basis for sustainable management of urban ecosystems and carbon reduction measures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.617-626
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• 2023

In this study, three-dimensional numerical parametric study was conducted to explore deformation mechanisms of grouped piled-raft-foundation due to lateral load in clays. Effects of load intensity, loading angle, soil stiffness, pile diameter, pile spacing and pile length on foundation deformations were explored. It is found that the smallest and largest movements of pile foundation are induced when the loading angles are 0° and 30°~60°, respectively. By increasing loading angle from 0° to 30°~60°, the resultant horizontal movements and settlements increase by up to 20.0% and 57.1%, respectively. Since connection beams can substantially increase integrity of four piled raft foundation, resultant horizontal movements, settlements and bending moments induced in the piled raft foundation decrease by up to 54.0%, 8.8% and 46.3%, respectively. By increasing soil stiffness five times, resultant horizontal movements and settlements of pile foundation decrease by up to 61.7% and 13.0%, respectively. It is indicated that effects of connection beam and soil stiffness on settlements of pile foundation are relatively small. When pile diameter is less than 1.4 m, deformations of piled raft foundation decrease substantially as a reduction in the pile diameter. Two dimensional groups are proposed to develop calculation charts of horizontal movements and settlements of pile foundation. The proposed calculation charts can directly estimate movements of piled raft foundation under arbitrary loading, ground and pile conditions.