• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• 제7권6호
• /
• pp.1001-1024
• /
• 2014

The size of spread footings was found to be unnecessarily large from some actual engineering practices constructed in Taiwan, due to the strict design provisions related to footing uplift. According to the earlier design code in Taiwan, the footing uplift involving separation of footing from subsoil was permitted to be only up to one-half of the foundation base area, as the applied moment reaches the value of plastic moment capacity of the column. The reason for this provision was that rocking of spread footings was not a favorable mechanism. However, recent research has indicated that rocking itself may not be detrimental to seismic performance and, in fact, may act as a form of seismic isolation mechanism. In order to clarify the effects of the relative strength between column and foundation on the rocking behavior of a column, six circular reinforced concrete (RC) columns were designed and constructed and a series of rocking experiments were performed. During the tests, columns rested on a rubber pad to allow rocking to take place. Experimental variables included the dimensions of the footings, the strength and ductility capacity of the columns and the intensity of the applied earthquake. Experimental data for the six circular RC columns subjected to quasi-static and pseudo-dynamic loading are presented. Results of each cyclic loading test are compared against the benchmark test with fixed-base conditions. By comparing the experimental responses of the specimens with different design details, a key parameter of rocking behavior related to footing size and column strength is identified. For a properly designed column with the parameter higher than 1, the beneficial effects of rocking in reducing ductility and the strength demand of columns is verified.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• 제46권3호
• /
• pp.223-230
• /
• 2011

Considering of utilizing renewable resources and recycled plastics, green composites consisted of recycled polyethylene (PE) as matrix and eco-friendly natural fibers as reinforcement were processed and characterized in the present study. First, the wood flour/recycled polyethylene pellets with different wood flour contents were prepared by twin-screw extrusion processing. Using the pellets, wood flour/recycled polyethylene green composites were fabricated and the effects of wood flour loading on their flexural, tensile, impact properties, heat deflection temperature and fracture behavior were investigated. It was concluded that the flexural strength, flexural modulus, tensile modulus and heat deflection temperature of wood flour/recycled polyethylene green composites were increased with wood flour, whereas the tensile strength and impact strength were decreased. The fracture behavior observed by means of scanning electron microscopy supported qualitatively the tendency of the impact strength with wood flour loading, compared with the ductile fracture pattern of recycled polyethylene.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• 제45권2호
• /
• pp.122-128
• /
• 2010

We measured shear viscosity of copoly(styrene(St)/butyl methacrylate(BMA)) (co-PSB) particles, with a capillary rheometer at $170^{\circ}C$, prepared by suspension polymerization with hydrophobic silica as a stabilizer. co-PSB particles with the weight average molecular weights of lower than 74,800 g/mol displayed a Newtonian behavior at low shear rates. With the weight average molecular weight exceeding 136,800 g/mol, co-PSB particles showed shear thinning against shear rates and the absolute value of the slopes between shear viscosity vs. shear rate increased. When the ratio between St and BMA changed from 7/3 to 5/5 to 3/7, shear viscosity and glass transition decreased despite similar molecular weights. When the ratio was 1/9, it showed a large increase in initial shear viscosity despite reduced glass transition. Shear viscosity exhibited an increase in proportion to carbon black concentration. The effect of carbon black concentration on the shear viscosity of co-PSB composites was less pronounced compared to varying molecular weights and/or compositional ratio.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• 제44권4호
• /
• pp.373-377
• /
• 2009

Most of the plastics products are being manufactured by injection molding. Warpage in injection molded affects the product dimension and it causes assembling problem. In this study, warpages in the injection molded part been studied. Specimens are rectangular flat shapes with and without ribs. Amorphous polymers (PC and ABS) and crystalline polymers (PP and PA66) were used for material. Flat shape with ribs showed higher warpage than flat shape without ribs by 6 to 9%. The specimens with ribs that are located parallel to the flow direction has higher warpage than specimens with ribs that are located perpendicular to the flow direction by 25 to 39%. Crystalline polymers have higher warpage than amorphous polymers by 23 to 67%. Warpage decreases as packing time increases and it increases as injection temperature increases.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• 제45권2호
• /
• pp.80-86
• /
• 2010

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit excellent mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties as well as nanometer scale diameter and high aspect ratio, which make them an ideal reinforcing agent for high strength polymer composites. The functionalized CNTs are believed to be very promising in the fields such as preparation of functional and composite materials. CNT-Polymer composites are expected to have good processability characteristics of the polymer and excellent functional properties of the CNTs. However, since CNTs usually form stabilized bundles due to Van der Waals interactions, are extremely difficult to disperse and align in a polymer matrix. The biggest issues in the preparation of CNT-reinforced composites reside in efficient dispersion of CNTs into a polymer matrix, and the alignment and control of the CNTs in the matrix. There are several methods for the dispersion of nanotubes in the polymer matrix such as solution mixing, bulk mixing, melt mixing, in-situ polymerization and chemical functionalization of the carbon nanotubes, etc. These methods and preparation of high performance CNT-polymer composites are described in this review.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• 제8권2호
• /
• pp.173-190
• /
• 2011

As a practical and effective seismic resisting technology, the base isolation system has seen extensive applications in buildings and bridges. However, a few problems associated with conventional lead-rubber bearings have been identified after historical strong earthquakes, e.g., excessive permanent deformations of bearings and potential unseating of bridge decks. Recently the applications of shape memory alloys (SMA) have received growing interest in the area of seismic response mitigation. As a result, a variety of SMA-based base isolators have been developed. These novel isolators often lead to minimal permanent deformations due to the self-centering feature of SMA materials. However, a rational design approach is still missing because of the fact that conventional design method cannot be directly applied to these novel devices. In light of this limitation, a displacement-based design approach for highway bridges with SMA isolators is proposed in this paper. Nonlinear response spectra, derived from typical hysteretic models for SMA, are employed in the design procedure. SMA isolators and bridge piers are designed according to the prescribed performance objectives. A prototype reinforced concrete (RC) highway bridge is designed using the proposed design approach. Nonlinear dynamic analyses for different seismic intensity levels are carried out using a computer program called "OpenSees". The efficacy of the displacement-based design approach is validated by numerical simulations. Results indicate that a properly designed RC highway bridge with novel SMA isolators may achieve minor damage and minimal residual deformations under frequent and rare earthquakes. Nonlinear static analysis is also carried out to investigate the failure mechanism and the self-centering ability of the designed highway bridge.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• 제39권6호
• /
• pp.235-243
• /
• 2023

This paper presents the fabrication process of water-lubricated plastic bearings. Plastic bearings require good mechanical properties and tribological properties as well as elasticity and shock resistance, especially when lubricated in dirty water conditions. In this study, sleeve-type plastic bearings are produced by winding a prepreg sheet, which primary contains nitrile rubber (NBR)-modified epoxy, self-lubricating fillers, and various types of lattice-structured reinforcing fibers such as carbon, Aramid, and polyethylene terephthalate. A thermosetting epoxy is chemically modified with NBR to impart elasticity and low-friction characteristics in water conditions. Experimental investigations are conducted to examine the mechanical and tribological characteristics of the developed bearing materials, and the results are compared with the characteristics of a commercial plastic bearing (Thordon SXL), well known as a water-lubricated bearing. A Thordon bearing (mainly composed of polyurethane) exhibits an extremely low load-bearing capacity and is thus only suitable for medium loading (1~10MPa). The tribological characteristics of the test materials are evaluated through Falex block-on-ring (LFW-1) friction and wear tests. The results indicate that friction exhibited by the carbon-fiber-reinforced NBR-10wt.%-modified epoxy composite material, incorporated with the addition of 20wt.% UHMWPE and 6wt.% paraffin wax, is lower than that of the Thorden bearings, whereas its wear resistance surpass that of Thorden ones. Because of these features, the load carrying capacity of the fabricated composite (>10MPa) is higher than that of the Thorden bearings. These results confirm the applicability of water-lubricated plastic bearing materials developed in this study.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
• /
• 제16권2호
• /
• pp.69-75
• /
• 2015

Stone board for the rock bed was needed to reduce weight using thin thickness and reinforced materials. In this work, stone/wood board for rock bed was studied. Stone and wood were attached to reduce total weight of stone for rock bed. For reinforcing wood heat treatment method was used to change surface and mechanical properties. Mechanical strength of heat treated wood increased more than neat condition. The optimum heat treatment condition was set on $100^{\circ}C$ under tensile, flexural loads whereas surface energy was also obtained by contact angle measurement. Optimum adhesive condition was to get the maximum adhesion between stone and wood. Lap shear test was performed for stone/wood board with different adhesives such as amine type epoxy, polyurethane, chloro-rubber and vinyl chloride acetate type. Fracture surface of lap shear test was shown at wood fracture part on stone using amine type epoxy adhesive. It was found that for high adhesion between stone and wood the optimum adhesive was epoxy type for the rock bed.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• 제46권3호
• /
• pp.211-217
• /
• 2011

Wood Polymer Composite (WPC) has attracted a great deal of attention in environmental industries due to renewable resources, processability, excellent physical properties and logging regulations for application to housing units and engineering construction materials. In this study, commercial WPCs were prepared by using a modular intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder. The effect of three main factors such as wood flour contents, coupling agent concentrations and pre-treatment of wood flour on the properties of WPCs was extensively investigated. It was found that tensile strength and thermal stability were decreased with increasing wood flour contents whereas the water absorption was increased. Addition of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MA) into WPC exhibited better physical properties. On the contrary, the water absorption was slightly decreased with PP-g-MA. Finally the sample, which was prepared with pre-treated wood flour, represented the highest tensile strength. However, the water absorption of the sample was increased due to the transition of crystalline structure of cellulose.