• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.707-714
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• 2016

We present a piezoelectric energy harvester with stopper-engaged dynamic magnifier which is capable of significantly increasing the operating bandwidth and the energy (power) harvested from a broad range of low frequency vibrations (<30 Hz). It uses a mass-loaded polymer beam (primary spring-mass system) that works as a dynamic magnifier for another mass-loaded piezoelectric beam (secondary spring-mass system) clamped on primary mass, constituting a two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) system. Use of polymer (polycarbonate) as the primary beam allows the harvester not only to respond to low frequency vibrations but also generates high impulsive force while the primary mass engages the base stopper. Upon excitation, the dynamic magnifier causes mechanical impact on the base stopper and transfers a secondary shock (in the form of impulsive force) to the energy harvesting element resulting in an increased strain in it and triggers nonlinear frequency up-conversion mechanism. Therefore, it generates almost four times larger average power and exhibits over 250% wider half-power bandwidth than those of its conventional 2-DOF counterpart (without stopper). Experimental results indicate that the proposed device is highly applicable to vibration energy harvesting in automobiles.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1145-1165
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• 2015

A behavior model for screw connections is developed to provide a better representation of the nonlinear response of thin steel plate shear walls (TSPSWs) with infill plates attached to the boundary frame members via self-drilling screws. This analytical representation is based on the load-bearing deformation relationship between the infill plate and the screw threads. The model can be easily implemented in strip models of TSPSWs where the tension field action of the infill plates is represented by a series of parallel discrete tension-only strips. Previously reported experimental results from tests of two different TSPSWs are used to provide experimental validation of the modeling approach. The beam-to-column connection behavior was also included in the analyses using a four parameter rotational spring model that was calibrated to a test of an identical frame as used for the TSPSW specimens but without the infill plates. The complete TSPSW models consisting of strips representing the infill plates, zero length elements representing the load-bearing deformation response of the screw connection at each end of the strips and the four parameter spring model at each beam-to-column connection are shown to have good agreement with the experimental results. The resulting models should enable design and analysis of TSPSWs for both new construction and retrofit of existing buildings.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.290-297
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• 1998

In this paper, we propose to a method to estimate the elasto-plastic buckling for single layer latticed domes. First, we assume that each member consists of the rigid zone and elastic spring at both end joint, the elastic element and three elasto-plastic spring to judge for yeilding the member. Next, the member which has most influence on buckling for structures is determined by a distributed pattern of the strain energy which is calculated through linear eigenvalue analysis. And then, normalized slenderness ratio of the element is derived considering the axial force at elastic buckling load. Later, we execute elasto-plastic nonlinear analysis that based on loading increasement method and displacement increasement method. From this results, we discusses the effect of the joint rigidity and the half open angle $\theta$$_{0}$ on the buckling strength of single layer lattice domes ; (1) how the joint rigidity contributes to the reduction of buckling loads, (2) how the reduction can be interrelated to compressive strength curves in terms of the generalized slenderness for the member most relevant to the overall buckling of domes.s.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.382-393
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• 2006

Mechanical system dynamics plays an important role in the area of computational structural biology. Elastic network models (ENMs) for macromolecules (e.g., polymers, proteins, and nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA) have been developed to understand the relationship between their structure and biological function. For example. a protein, which is basically a folded polypeptide chain, can be simply modeled as a mass-spring system from the mechanical viewpoint. Since the conformational flexibility of a protein is dominantly subject to its chemical bond interactions (e.g., covalent bonds, salt bridges, and hydrogen bonds), these constraints can be modeled as linear spring connections between spatially proximal representatives in a variety of coarse-grained ENMs. Coarse-graining approaches enable one to simulate harmonic and anharmonic motions of large macromolecules in a PC, while all-atom based molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been conventionally performed with an aid of supercomputer. A harmonic analysis of a macroscopic mechanical system, called normal mode analysis, has been adopted to analyze thermal fluctuations of a microscopic biological system around its equilibrium state. Furthermore, a structure-based system optimization, called elastic network interpolation, has been developed to predict nonlinear transition (or folding) pathways between two different functional states of a same macromolecule. The good agreement of simulation and experiment allows the employment of coarse-grained ENMs as a versatile tool for the study of macromolecular dynamics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.108-115
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• 1995

An efficient model for the dynamic analysis of caisson breakwaters under impulsive wave loadings is presented. The caisson structure is. regarded as a rigid body, and the rubble mound foundation is idealized as virtual added masses, springs, and dampers using the elastic half-space theory. The frequency-dependent hydrodynamic added mass and damping coefficients are considered by using the time memory functions and added mass at infinite frequency. To simulate the permanent sliding phenomenon of the caisson, the horizontal spring is modeled as a nonlinear spring with plastic behaviors. Comparisons with experimental results show that the present model gives fairly good results. Sensitivity analysis is performed for the relevant parameters affecting the dynamic responses of a caisson breakwater. Numerical experiments are also carried out to investigate the applicability to the prediction of permanent sliding distance and critical weight of the caisson.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 2012

In this paper, the optimal design of a spring-type gravity compensation system for an articulated robot is presented. Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) is adopted to resolve various nonlinear constraints in spring design such as stress, buckling, and fatigue constraints, and to reduce computation time. In addition, continuous relaxation method is used to explain the integer-valued design variables. The simulation results show that the gravity compensation system designed by proposed method improves the performance effectively without additional weight gain in the main workspace.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.690-695
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• 2005

Flexible circular cantilever beams when excited externally introduce a lot of dynamic characteristics. The non-linear elements that these flexible beams develop include non-linearity due to inertia terms, spring, and damping. They show different characteristics of motion from each other. In the modes of lower order, the non-linearity due to spring is prevalent, while the non-linearity due to inertia Is prevalent in the modes of higher order. To analyze these effects the non-linear phenomena are analyzed experimentally. When the response characteristics of non-linear vibration are analyzed using autospectrum, it is possible to analyze the subharmonic and superharmonic mot ion by comparison. The phase change is analyzed using the method of phase portrait and the non-linear characteristics of response characteristics that are developed in flexible structures can be predicted and applied to the stage of design.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.317-323
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• 1999

Dynamic characteristics of catenary that supplies electrical power to high-speed trains are investigated. A simple catenary is composed of the contact and messenger wires connected by droppers possessing bi-directional stiffness properties. For slender, repeating structures such as catenary, both the wave propagation and vibration properties need to be understood. The influence of parameters that determine catenary dynamics are investiaged through numerical simulations involving finite element models. The effects of the tension and flexural rigidity of the contact wire is first investigated. The effects of dropper characteristics are then investigated. For linear droppers wave propagation as well as modal properties are determined. For large catenary motion, droppers can be modeled as bi-directional elements possessing low stiffness in compression and high stiffness in tension. For this case, impulse response is computed and compared with the cases of linear droppers. It is found that the catenary dynamics are primarily determined by contact wire tension and dropper properties, with large responses observed in 5∼40 Hz frequency range. In particular, the dropper stiffness and spacing are found to have dominant influence on the response frequency and the wave transmission characteristics.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2008

Shear test procedure for concrete-dowel interaction was proposed along with determination of dowel support reaction factor or shear spring stiffness constant using the spreadsheet example. For this task, three AASHTO-type standard specimens were prepared to simulate behavior of the jointed concrete pavement. A side support system was adopted to minimize twisting of the test specimen which had been observed in a preliminary test. A typical elastic behavior of the dowel-concrete interaction was observed from several test loops of loading, unloading and reloading procedures. However load versus slab displacement represents to be nonlinear. Test results show that the dowel support reaction factor ranges from 550-880 GN/m3, which is 1.4-2.2 times greater than 407GN/m3 proposed by Yoder and Witczak. This is because less torsional distraction was occurred with the help of a side support system adopted in this experiment. The dowel support reaction factor or shear spring stiffness constant obtained from the procedures proposed in this paper may be used as a reference data for the structural analysis of jointed concrete pavement.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.133-144
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• 2018

To study the effectiveness of sliding isolation in a CRLSS (concrete rectangular liquid-storage structure) and develop a reasonable limiting-device method, dynamic responses of non-isolation, sliding isolation with spring limiting-devices and sliding isolation with steel bar limiting-devices are comparatively studied by shaking table test. The seismic response reduction advantage of sliding isolation for concrete liquid-storage structures is discussed, and the effect of the limiting-device type on system dynamic responses is analyzed. The results show that the dynamic responses of sliding isolation CRLSS with steel bar-limiting devices are significantly smaller than that of sliding isolation CRLSS with spring-limiting devices. The structure acceleration and liquid sloshing wave height are greatly influenced by spring-limiting devices. The acceleration of the structure in this case is close to or greater than that of a non-isolated structure. Liquid sloshing shows stronger nonlinear characteristics. On the other hand, sliding isolation with steel bar-limiting devices has a good control effect on the structural dynamic response and the liquid sloshing height simultaneously. Thus, a limiting device is an important factor affecting the seismic response reduction effect of sliding isolation. To take full advantage of sliding isolation in a concrete liquid-storage structure, a reasonable design of the limiting device is particularly important.