• Computers and Concrete
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2004

The influence of the fracture process zone (FPZ) on the fracture properties is one of the hottest topics in the field of fracture mechanics for cementitious materials. Within the FPZ in front of a traction free crack, cohesive forces are distributed in accordance with the softening stress-separation constitutive relation of the material. Therefore, further crack propagation necessitates energy dissipation, which is the work done by the cohesive forces. In this paper $g_f$, the local fracture energy characterizing the energy consumption due to the cohesive forces, is discussed. The computational expression of $g_f$ in the FPZ can be obtained for any stage during the material fracture process regarding the variation of FPZ, whether in terms of its length or width. $G_{fa}$, the average energy consumption along the crack extension region, has also been computed and discussed in this paper. The experimental results obtained from the wedge splitting tests on specimens with different initial notch ratios are employed to investigate the property of the local fracture energy $g_f$ and the average value $G_{fa}$ over the crack extension length. These results can be used to indicate the influence of the FPZ. Additionally, changes in the length of the FPZ during the fracture process are also studied.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.40-44
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• 2010

Laser assisted machining (LAM) has been researched in order to machine the silicon nitride ceramics economically and effectively. LAM is an effective machining method by local heating of the cutting part to the softening temperature of the silicon nitride using laser beam. When silicon nitride ceramics is heated using a laser beam, the surface of silicon nitride ceramic is softened, oxidized and decomposed. And then surface hardness is decreased. Through machining in low viscosity and hardness conditions, silicon nitride was machined effectively and the life span of tool was increased. The plastic deformation was occurred due to softening of amorphous YSiAlON above $ 1,000^{\circ}C$. Transgranular fracture of ${\beta}-Si_3N_4$ was occurred when YSiAlON was not softened, but mostly intergranular fracture was occurred by the plastic deformation of softened YSiAlON.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.403-413
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• 2017

Residual axial capacity from numerical analysis was widely used as a critical indicator for damage assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) columns subjected to blast loads. However, the convergence of the numerical result was generally based on the displacement response, which might not necessarily generate the correct post-blast results in case that the strain softening behavior of concrete was considered. In this paper, two widely used concrete models are adopted for post-blast analysis of a RC column under blast loading, while the calculated results show a pathological mesh size dependence even though the displacement response is converged. As a consequence, a nonlocal integral formulation is implemented in a concrete damage model to ensure mesh size independent objectivity of the local and global responses. Two numerical examples, one to a RC column with strain softening response and the other one to a RC column with post-blast response, are conducted by the nonlocal damage model, and the results indicate that both the two cases obtain objective response in the post-peak stage.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1237-1258
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• 2015

This paper proposes a simple inelastic analysis approach to efficiently map out the complete nonlinear post-collapse (strain-softening) response and the maximum load capacity of axially loaded concrete encased steel composite columns (stub and slender). The scheme simultaneously incorporates the influences of difficult instabilizing phenomena such as concrete confinement, initial geometric imperfection, geometric nonlinearity, buckling of reinforcement bars and local buckling of structural steel, on the overall behavior of the composite columns. The proposed numerical method adopts fiber element discretization and an iterative M${\ddot{u}}$ller's algorithm with an additional adaptive technique that robustly yields solution convergence. The accuracy of the proposed analysis scheme is validated through comparisons with various available experimental benchmarks. Finally, a parametric study of various key parameters on the overall behaviors of the composite columns is conducted.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2009

The failure behavior of RC structure was exceedingly affected by the size and the local strain distribution of the failure zone due to the strain localization behavior on the tension softening materials. However, it is very difficult to quantify and assess the local strain occurring in the failure zone by the conventional test method. In this study, image processing technology, which is available to measure the strain up to the complete failure of RC structures, was used to estimate the local strain distribution and the size of failure zone. In order to verify the reliability and validity for the image processing technology, the strain transition acquired by the image processing technology was compared with strain values measured by the concrete gauge on the uniaxial compressive specimens. Based on the verification of image processing technology for the uniaxial compressive specimens, the size and the local strain distribution of the failure zone of deep beam was measured using the image processing technology. With the results of test, the principal tensile/compressive strain contours were drawn. Using the strain contours, the size of the failure zone and the local strain distribution on the failure of the deep beam was evaluated. The results of strain contour showed that image processing technology is available to assess the failure behavior of deep beam and obtain the local strain values on the domain of the post-peak failure comparatively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.914-922
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• 2003

In this paper, the strain localization of voided ductile material has been analyzed by nonlocal plasticity formulation in which the yield strength not only depends on an equivalent plastic strain measure (hardening parameter), but also on the Laplacian thereof. The gradient terms in yield criterion show an important role on modeling strain-softening phenomena of material. The influence of the mesh size on the elastic -plastic deformation behavior and the effect of the characteristic length parameter for localization prediction are also investigated. The proposed nonlocal plasticity shows that the load -strain curves converge to one curve. Results using nonlocal plasticity also exhibit the dependence of mesh size is much less sensitivity than that for a corresponding local plasticity formulation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.515-545
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• 2015

The paper presents results of FE simulations of the strain-rate sensitive concrete behaviour under dynamic loading at the macroscopic level. To take the loading velocity effect into account, viscosity, stress modifications and inertial effects were included into a rate-independent elasto-plastic formulation. In addition, a decrease of the material stiffness was considered for a very high loading velocity to simulate fragmentation. In order to ensure the mesh-independence and to properly reproduce strain localization in the entire range of loading velocities, a constitutive formulation was enhanced by a characteristic length of micro-structure using a non-local theory. Numerical results were compared with corresponding laboratory tests and available analytical formulae.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.4
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• pp.417-425
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• 2018

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the bending of Euler-Bernouilli nano-beams made of bi-directional functionally graded materials (BDFGMs) using Eringen's non-local elasticity theory in the integral form with compare the differential form. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, in the literature, there is no study carried out into integral form of Eringen's non-local elasticity theory for bending analysis of BDFGM Euler-Bernoulli nano-beams with arbitrary functions. Material properties of nano-beam are assumed to change along the thickness and length directions according to arbitrary function. The approximate analytical solutions to the bending analysis of the BDFG nano-beam are derived by using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The differential form of Eringen's non-local elasticity theory reveals with increasing size effect parameter, the flexibility of the nano-beam decreases, that this is unreasonable. This problem has been resolved in the integral form of the Eringen's model. For all boundary conditions, it is clearly seen that the integral form of Eringen's model predicts the softening effect of the non-local parameter as expected. Finally, the effects of changes of some important parameters such as material length scale, BDFG index on the values of deflection of nano-beam are studied.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.322-329
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• 2009

Machinability of LAM(Laser Assisted Machining) has been studied for ceramics such as $Al_2O_3$, $Si_3_N4$ and $ZrO_2$ by $CO_2$ laser. It was possible to remove ceramics by PCBN tool because material became softening and deterioration by local laser beam irradiation. The advantage of LAM is the ability to produce larger material removal rates and tool life. But, for cutting of $Al_2O_3$ and $ZrO_2$, stage of laser power control was needed owing to thermal shock with high temperature of workpiece by laser power. And when $Si_3N_4$ was machined by LAM, $N_2$ gas spouted from surface of one cause of high temperature. Characteristics of LAM were analyzed using pyrometer, dynamometer, SEM and EDS to measure temperature of workpiece surface, cutting force, variation of machining surface and structure of lattice respectively. As the result of this study, it was found that machinability of LAM for ceramics in $CO_2$ laser and mechanism of LAM was different according to the kind of ceramics because of properties of materials.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1-6
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• 2010

Recently the use of ultra high strength steels (UHSS) in structural and safety component is rapidly increasing in the automotive industry. For example, 1.5GPa grade hot stamping with die-quenching of boron steel 22MnB5 could apply crash-resistant parts such as bumpers and pillars. The development of laser welding process of hot stamping steels, fundamental bead-on-plate welding and lap joint welding test were carried out using 3kW Nd:YAG laser. Local hardening & HAZ softening occurred in hot stamping steel as a result of metallurgical change caused by the welding heat input in the Nd:YAG laser welding process. The size of soft zones in the hot stamping steel was related to the welding heat input, being smaller at high speeds which generated a smaller heat input. Also in the case of lap joint design structure, same welded characteristics were shown. The HAZ softening degree was controlled to ensure the joint strength.