• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.175-191
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• 2020

In this article, for the first time, the seismic behavior of elliptic-braced moment resisting frame (ELBRF) is assessed through a laboratory program and numerical analyses of FEM specifically focused on the development of global- and local-type failure mechanisms. The ELBRF as a new lateral braced system, when installed in the middle bay of the frames in the facade of a building, not only causes no problem to the opening space of the facade, but also improves the structural behavior. Quantitative and qualitative investigations were pursued to find out how elliptic braces would affect the failure mechanism of ELBRF structures exposed to seismic action as a nonlinear process. To this aim, an experimental test of a ½ scale single-story single-bay ELBRF specimen under cyclic quasi-static loading was run and the results were compared with those for X-bracing, knee-bracing, K-bracing, and diamond-bracing systems in a story base model. Nonlinear FEM analyses were carried out to evaluate failure mechanism, yield order of components, distribution of plasticity, degradation of structural nonlinear stiffness, distribution of internal forces, and energy dissipation capacity. The test results indicated that the yield of elliptic braces would delay the failure mode of adjacent elliptic columns and thus, help tolerate a significant nonlinear deformation to the point of ultimate failure. Symmetrical behavior, high energy absorption, appropriate stiffness, and high ductility in comparison with the conventional systems are some of the advantages of the proposed system.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.186-194
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• 2017

A brain-enriched secreting signal peptide, NELL2, has been suggested to play multiple roles in the development, survival, and activity of neurons in mammal. We investigated here a possible involvement of central NELL2 in regulating feeding behavior and metabolism. In situ hybridization and an immunohistochemical approach were used to determine expression of NELL2 as well as its colocalization with proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the rat hypothalamus. To investigate the effect of NELL2 on feeding behavior, 2 nmole of antisense NELL2 oligodeoxynucleotide was administered into the lateral ventricle of adult male rat brains for 6 consecutive days, and changes in daily body weight, food, and water intake were monitored. Metabolic state-dependent NELL2 expression in the hypothalamus was tested in vivo using a fasting model. NELL2 was noticeably expressed in the hypothalamic nuclei controlling feeding behavior. Furthermore, all arcuatic POMC and NPY positive neurons produced NELL2. The NELL2 gene expression in the hypothalamus was up-regulated by fasting. However, NELL2 did not affect POMC and NPY gene expression in the hypothalamus. A blockade of NELL2 production in the hypothalamus led to a reduction in daily food intake, followed by a loss in body weight without a change in daily water intake in normal diet condition. NELL2 did not affect short-term hunger dependent appetite behavior. Our data suggests that hypothalamic NELL2 is associated with appetite behavior, and thus central NELL2 could be a new therapeutic target for obesity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2011

Plastic gradient from geometrically necessary dislocation(GND) can strongly affect micro-scale plastic behavior of polycrystalline solids. In this research, mechanical behavior of polycrystalline solid is investigated using the finite element method incorporating plastic gradient from GND effect. Gradient hardness coefficient and material length parameter are used to evaluate the effect of the plastic gradient on the behavior of materials. Sensitivity of the modeling parameters on the plastic gradient from GND is presented and effects of plastic gradient and material parameters on the behavior of single crystal inside a polycrystalline aggregate are investigated. It is confirmed that the plastic gradient from GND amplifies hardening response of polycrystals and affects single crystal behavior embedded in polycrystalline solids.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.365-375
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• 2022

The microstructure and high-temperature plastic deformation behavior of the modified Al-0.7Mn alloy were investigated and compared with the conventional Al-0.3Mn (Al3102) alloy. α-Al (matrix) and Al₆(Mn, Fe) phases were identified in both alloys. As a result of microstructure observation, both alloys showed equiaxed grains, and Al-0.7Mn alloy showed larger grain size and higher Al₆(Mn, Fe) fraction than Al-0.3Mn alloy. High temperature compressive tests, the deformation temperatures of 410℃, 450℃, 490℃, 530℃ and strain rats of 10^-2/s, 10^-1/s, 1/s, 10/s, were conducted using Gleeble equipment. The flow stress values of Al-0.7Mn alloy were higher than that of Al-0.3Mn alloy at all strain rates and temperature conditions. Constitutive equations were presented using the flow stresses obtained from experimental results and the Zener-Hollomon parameter. In the true stress-true strain curves of the two alloys, the experimental and predicted values were in good agreement with each other. Based on the dynamic material model, eutectic deformation maps of Al-0.7Mn and Al-0.3Mn alloys were suggested, and the plastic instability region was presented. The modified Al-0.7Mn alloy showed a wider plastic instability region than that Al-0.3Mn alloy. Based on the process deformation maps, the MPE tube parts could be manufactured through the actual extrusion process using the suggested conditions.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.315-338
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• 2019

The numerical investigations have been carried out on reinforced concrete slab against blast loading to demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the finite element based numerical models using commercial package ABAQUS. The response of reinforced concrete slab have been studied against the influence of weight of TNT, standoff distance, boundary conditions, influence of air blast and surface blast. The results thus obtained from simulations were compared with the experiments available in literature. The inelastic behavior of concrete and steel reinforcement bar has been incorporated through concrete damage plasticity model and Johnson-cook models available in ABAQUS were presented. The predicted results through numerical simulations of the present study were found in close agreement with the experimental results. The damage mechanism and stress response of target were assessed based on the intensity of deformations, impulse velocity, von-Mises stresses and damage index in concrete. The results indicate that the standoff distance has great influence on the survivability of RC slab against blast loading. It is concluded that the velocity of impulse wave was found to be decreased from 17 to 11 m/s when the mass of TNT is reduced from 12 to 6 kg. It is observed that the maximum stress in the concrete was found to be in the range of 15 to $20N/mm^2$ and is almost constant for given charge weight. The slab with two short edge discontinuous end condition was found better and it may be utilised in designing important structures. Also it is observed that the deflection in slab by air blast was found decreased by 60% as compared to surface blast.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.99-112
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• 2019

Semi-rigid joints have been widely studied in literature in recent decades because they affect greatly the structural response of frames. In literature, the behavior of semi-rigid joints is commonly assumed to be identical under positive and negative moments which are obviously incorrect in many cases where joint details such as bolt arrangement or placement of haunch are vertically asymmetrical. This paper evaluates two common types of steel frames with asymmetrical beam-to-column joints by Direct Analysis allowing for plasticity. A refined design method of steel frames using a proposed simple forth order curved-quartic element with an integrated joint model allowing for asymmetrical geometric joint properties is presented. Furthermore, the ultimate behavior of six types of asymmetrical end-plate connections under positive and negative moment is examined by the Finite Element Method (FEM). The FEM results are further applied to the proposed design method with the curved-quartic element for Direct Analysis of two types of steel frames under dominant gravity or wind load. The ultimate frame behavior under the two different scenarios are examined with respect to their failure modes and considerably different structural performances of the frames were observed when compared with the identical frames designed with the traditional method where symmetrical joints characteristics were assumed. The finding of this research contributes to the design of steel frames as their asymmetrical beam-to-column joints lead to different frame behavior when under positive and negative moment and this aspect should be incorporated in the design and analysis of steel frames. This consideration of asymmetrical joint behavior is recommended to be highlighted in future design codes.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.281-290
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• 2011

In order to gain better understanding of the selective surface oxidation and its influence on the galvanizability of a transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) assisted steel containing 1.5 wt.% Si and 1.6 wt.% Mn, a model experiment has been carried out by depositing Si and Mn (each with a nominal thickness of 10 nm) in either monolayers or bilayers on a low-alloy interstitial-free (IF) steel sheet. After intercritical annealing at $800^{\circ}C$ in a $N_2$ ambient with a dew point of $-40^{\circ}C$, the surface scale formed on 590 MPa TRIP steel exhibited a microstructure similar to that of the scale formed on the Mn/Si bilayer-coated IF steel, consisting of $Mn_{2}SiO_{4}$ particles embedded in an amorphous $SiO_{2}$ film. The present study results indicated that, during the intercritical annealing process of 590 MPa TRIP steel, surface segregation of Si occurs first to form an amorphous $SiO_{2}$ film, which in turn accelerates the out-diffusion of Mn to form more stable Mn-Si oxide particles on the steel surface. During hot-dip galvanizing, particulate $Fe_{3}O_{4}$, MnO, and Si-Mn oxides were reduced more readily by Al in a Zn bath than the amorphous $SiO_{2}$ film. Therefore, in order to improve the galvanizability of 590 TRIP steel, it is most desirable to minimize the surface segregation of Si during the intercritical annealing process.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.214-228
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• 2022

The yield criterion, or called yield function, plays an important role in the study of plastic working of a sheet because it governs the plastic deformation properties of the sheet during plastic forming process. In this paper, we propose a novel anisotropic yield function useful for describing the plastic behavior of various anisotropic sheets. The proposed yield function includes the anisotropic version of the second stress invariant J₂ and the third stress invariant J₃. The anisotropic yield function newly proposed in this study is as follows. F(J₂)+ αG(J₃)+ βH (J₂ × J₃) = k^m The proposed yield function well explains the anisotropic plastic behavior of various sheets by introducing the parameters α and β, and also exhibits both symmetrical and asymmetrical yield surfaces. The parameters included in the proposed model are determined through an optimization algorithm from uniaxial and biaxial experimental data under proportional loading path. In this study, the validity of the proposed anisotropic yield function was verified by comparing the yield surface shape, normalized uniaxial yield stress value, and Lankford's anisotropic coefficient R-value derived with the experimental results. Application for the proposed anisotropic yield function to aluminum sheet shows symmetrical yielding behavior and to pure titanium sheet shows asymmetric yielding behavior, it was shown that the yield curve and yield behavior of various types of sheet materials can be predicted reasonably by using the proposed new yield anisotropic function.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.447-456
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• 2022

Recent experimental studies showed that deep steel I-shaped profiles classified as high ductility class sections in seismic design international codes exhibit low deformation capacity when subjected to cyclic loading. This paper presents an innovative retrofit solution to increase the rotation capacity of beams using bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) patches validated with advanced finite element analysis. This investigation focuses on the flexural cyclic behaviour of I-shaped hot rolled steel deep section used as beams in moment-resisting frames (MRF) retrofitted with CFRP patches on the web. The main goal of this CFRP reinforcement is to increase the rotation capacity of the member without increasing the overstrength in order to avoid compromising the strong column-weak beam condition in MRF. A finite element model that simulates the cyclic plasticity behavior of the steel and the damage in the adhesive layer is developed. The damage is modelled using the cohesive zone modelling (CZM) technique that is able to capture the crack initiation and propagation. Details on the modelling techniques including the mesh sensitivity near the fracture zone are presented. The effectiveness of the retrofit solution depends strongly on the selection of the appropriate adhesive. Different adhesive types are investigated where the CZM parameters are calibrated from high fidelity fracture mechanics tests that are thoroughly validated in the literature. This includes a rigid adhesive commonly found in the construction industry and two tough adhesives used in the automotive industry. The results revealed that the CFRP patch can increase the rotation capacity of a steel member considerably when using tough adhesives.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 2023

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is produced using high amount of cementitious materials, very low water/cementitious materials ratio, fine-sized fillers, and steel fibers. Due to the dense microstructure of UHPC, it possesses very high strength, elasticity, and durability. Besides that, the UHPC exhibits high ductility and fracture toughness due to presence of fibers in its matrix. While the high ductility of UHPC allows it to undergo high strain/deflection before failure, the high fracture toughness of UHPC greatly enhances its capacity to absorb impact energy without allowing the formation of severe cracking or penetration by the impactor. These advantages with UHPC make it a suitable material for construction of the structural members subjected to special loading conditions. In this research work, the UHPC mixtures having three different dosages of steel fibers (2%, 4% and 6% by weight corresponding to 0.67%, 1.33% and 2% by volume) were characterized in terms of their mechanical properties including facture toughness, before using these concrete mixtures for casting the slab specimens, which were tested under high-energy impact loading with the help of a drop-weight impact test setup. The effect of fiber content on the impact energy absorption capacity and central deflection of the slab specimens were investigated and the equations correlating fiber content with the energy absorption capacity and central deflection were obtained with high degrees of fit. Finite element modeling (FEM) was performed to simulate the behavior of the slabs under impact loading. The FEM results were found to be in good agreement with their corresponding experimentally generated results.