• Atmosphere
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.359-370
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• 2006

Terrain height variance spectra for the Korean mountain region are calculated in order to determine an adequate grid size required to resolve terrain forcing on mesoscale model simulation. One-dimensional spectral analysis is applied to specifically the central-eastern part of the Korean mountain region, where topographical-scale forcing has an important effect on mesoscale atmospheric flow. It is found that the terrain height variance spectra in this mountain region has a wavelength dependence with the power law exponents of 1.5 at the wavelength near 30 km, but this dependence is steeply changed to 2.5 at the wavelength less than 30 km. For the adequate horizontal grid size selection on mesoscale simulation two-dimensional terrain height spectral analysis is also performed. There is no directionality within 50% of spectral energy region, so one-dimensional spectral analysis can be reasonably applied to the Korea Peninsula. According to the spectral analysis of terrain height variance, the finer grid size which is higher than 6 km is required to resolve a 90% of terrain variance in this region. Numerical simulation using WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting Model) was performed to evaluate the effect of different terrain resolution in accordance with the result of spectral analysis. The simulated results were quantitatively compared to observations and there was a significant improvement in the wind prediction across the mountain region as the grid space decreased from 18 km to 2 km. The results will provide useful guidance of grid size selection on mesoscale topographical simulation over the Korean mountain region.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.135-147
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• 2012

At mesoscale, concrete is considered as a three-phase composite material consisting of the aggregate particles, the cement matrix and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ). The reconstruction of the internal structures for concrete composites requires the identification of the boundary of the aggregate particles and the cement matrix using digital imaging technology followed by post-processing through MATLAB. A parameter study covers the subsection transformation, median filter, and open and close operation of the digital image sample to obtain the optimal parameter for performing the image processing technology. The subsection transformation is performed using a grey histogram of the digital image samples with a threshold value of [120, 210] followed by median filtering with a $16{\times}16$ square module based on the dimensions of the aggregate particles and their internal impurity. We then select a "disk" tectonic structure with a specific radius, which performs open and close operations on the images. The edges of the aggregate particles (similar to the original digital images) are obtained using the canny edge detection method. The finite element model at mesoscale can be established using the proposed image processing technology. The location of the crack determined through the numerical method is identical to the experimental result, and the load-displacement curve determined through the numerical method is in close agreement with the experimental results. Comparisons of the numerical and experimental results show that the proposed image processing technology is highly effective in reconstructing the internal structures of concrete composites.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.305-319
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• 2015

On mesoscopic level, concrete can be treated as a three-phase composite material consisting of mortar, aggregates and interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between mortar and aggregate. A lot of research has confirmed that ITZ plays a crucial role in the mechanical fracture process of concrete. The aim of the present study is to propose a numerical method on mesoscale to analyze the failure mechanism of reinforced concrete (RC) structures under mechanical loading, and then it will help precisely predict the damage or the cracking initiation and propagation of concrete. Concrete is meshed by means of the Rigid Body Spring Model (RBSM) concept, while the reinforcing steel bars are modeled as beam-type elements. Two kinds of RC members, i.e. subjected to uniaxial tension and beams under bending, the fracture process of concrete and the distribution of cracks, as well as the load-deflection relationships are investigated and compared with the available test results. It is found that the numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental observations, indicating that the model can successfully simulate the failure process of the RC members.

• Atmosphere
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.339-354
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• 2008

A numerical simulation of a heavy snowfall event that occurred 13 January 2008 along the Yeongdong coastal area, was performed using WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) in order to reveal mesoscale structures and to construct a conceptual model showing the meteorological background that caused the large difference in snowfall amounts between the Yeongdong mountain area and the Yeongdong coastal area. The simulation results matched well with various observations such as corresponding 12h-accumulated observed precipitation, surface wind obscrvation, radar echoes, and satellite infrared images. The simulation and the observations showed that the scale of the event was of meso - $\beta$ and meso - $\gamma$ scale. The simulation represented well the mesoscale process causing the large difference in snowfall amounts in the two areas. First, wind flow was kept, to a certain extent, from crossing the mountains due to the blocking effect of the low Froude number (~1). The northeast flow over the adjaccnt sea tumcd northwest as it approachcd the mountains, where it was trapped, allowing so-called cold air damming. Second, a strong convergence area formed where the cold northwest flow along the Yeongdong coastal area and the relatively warm and moist northeast flow advecting toward the coast met, supporting the fonllation of a coastal front. Thus, the vertical motion was strongest over the front located near the coast, leading to the heavy snowfall there rather than in the remote mountain area.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.1575-1588
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• 2019

Fracture near the U-10Mo/cladding material interface impacts fuel service life. In this work, a mesoscale stress model is developed with the fuel foil considered as a porous medium having gas bubbles and bearing bubble pressure and surface tension. The models for the evolution of bubble volume fraction, size and internal pressure are also obtained. For a U-10Mo/Al monolithic fuel plate under location-dependent irradiation, the finite element simulation of the thermo-mechanical coupling behavior is implemented to obtain the bubble distribution and evolution behavior together with their effects on the mesoscale stresses. The numerical simulation results indicate that higher macroscale tensile stresses appear close to the locations with the maximum increments of fuel foil thickness, which is intensively related to irradiation creep deformations. The maximum mesoscale tensile stress is more than 2 times of the macroscale one on the irradiation time of 98 days, which results from the contributions of considerable volume fraction and internal pressure of bubbles. This study lays a foundation for the fracture mechanism analysis and development of a fracture criterion for U-10Mo monolithic fuels.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1597-1611
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• 2016

A numerical assessment using mesoscale-CFD (computational fluid dynamics) coupled A2C (atmosphere to CFD) model was carried out to analyze the variation of microscopic air flow pattern due to the construction of the Chilgok barrage in the Nakdong River. Scenarios with air flow patterns were classified into pre- and post-construction. The increased width of the river due to the construction of the Chilgok barrage induced obvious changes in moisture and the thermal environment around the river. However, air temperature variation was restricted within an area along the windward side in the numerical assessment. The impact of barrage construction on air temperature tends to be stronger during the nighttime than the daytime. It also stronger during the winter than the summer. In the simulation, the convergence of mesoscale wind is more pronounced after barrage construction than before. This is caused by the change of heat flux pattern induced by the widening of the river. Although this work is a case study with restricted atmospheric stability conditions that has several limitations in the numerical simulations, the impacts of the land-use changes brought about by the construction of the barrage in the river acceptable.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.375-388
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• 2009

Numerical simulation is essential to indicate the flow of the atmosphere in the region with a complicated topography which consists of many mountains in the inland while it is neighboring the seashore. Such complicated topography produces land and sea breeze as the mesoscale phenomenon of meteorology which results from the effect of the sea and inland. In the mesoscale simulation examines, the change of the temperature in relation to the one of the sea surface for the boundary condition and, in the inland, the interaction between the atmosphere and land surface reflecting the characteristic of the land surface. This research developed and simulated PNULSM to reflect both the SST and vegetation effect as a bottom boundary for detailed meteorological numerical simulation in coastal urban area. The result from four experiments performed according to this protocol revealed the change of temperature field and wind field depending on each effect. Therefore, the lower level of establishment of bottom boundary suitable for the characteristic of the region is necessary to figure out the atmospheric flow more precisely, and if the characteristic of the surface is improved to more realistic conditions, it will facilitate the simulation of regional environment.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.277-288
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• 2016

Polar lows are intense mesoscale cyclones that mainly occur over the sea in polar regions. Owing to their small spatial scale of a diameter less than 1000 km, simulating polar lows is a challenging task. At King Sejong station in West Antartica, polar lows are often observed. Despite the recent significant climatic changes observed over West Antarctica, adequate validation of regional simulations of extreme weather events such as polar lows are rare for this region. To address this gap, simulation results from a recent version of the Polar Weather Research and Forecasting model (Polar WRF) covering Antartic Peninsula at a high horizontal resolution of 3 km are validated against near-surface meteorological observations. We selected a case of high wind speed event on 7 January 2013 recorded at Automatic Meteorological Observation Station (AMOS) in King Sejong station, Antarctica. It is revealed by in situ observations, numerical weather prediction, and reanalysis fields that the synoptic and mesoscale environment of the strong wind event was due to the passage of a strong mesoscale polar low of center pressure 950 hPa. Verifying model results from 3 km grid resolution simulation against AMOS observation showed that high skill in simulating wind speed and surface pressure with a bias of $-1.1m\;s^{-1}$ and -1.2 hPa, respectively. Our evaluation suggests that the Polar WRF can be used as a useful dynamic downscaling tool for the simulation of Antartic weather systems and the near-surface meteorological instruments installed in King Sejong station can provide invaluable data for polar low studies over West Antartica.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.165-173
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• 2008

In this article, we describe a simple yet effective method for insertion of observational datasets in a mesoscale atmospheric model used in one-dimensional configuration through Nudging. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique, vertical profiles of meteorological parameters obtained from GLASS Sonde launches from a tiny island of Kaashidhoo in the Republic of Maldives are injected in a mesoscale atmospheric model - Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS), and model simulated parameters are compared with the available observational datasets. Analysis of one-time nudging in the model simulations over Kaashidhoo show that incorporation of this technique reasonably improves the model simulations within a time domain of +6 to +12 Hrs, while its impact on +18 Hrs simulations and beyond becomes literally null.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.235-249
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• 2009

The response of concrete structures subjected to shock and blast load involves a rapid transient phase, during which material breach may take place. Such an effect could play a crucial role in determining the residual state of the structure and the possible dispersion of the fragments. Modelling of the transient phase response poses various challenges due to the complexities arising from the dynamic behaviour of the materials and the numerical difficulties associated with the evolving material discontinuity and large deformations. Typical modelling approaches include the traditional finite element method in conjunction with an element removal scheme, various meshfree methods such as the SPH, and the mesoscale model. This paper is intended to provide an overview of several alternative approaches and discuss their respective applicability. Representative concrete material models for high pressure and high rate applications are also commented. Several recent application studies are introduced to illustrate the pros and cons of different modelling options.