• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.983-1000
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• 2016

To date the engineering community has seen facade systems as non-structural elements with high aesthetic value and a barrier between the outdoor and indoor environments. The role of facades in energy use in a building has also been recognized and the industry is also witnessing the emergence of many energy efficient facade systems. This paper will focus on using exterior skin of the double skin facade system as a dissipative movable element during earthquake excitation. The main aim of this study is to investigate the potential of the facade system to act as a damper system to reduce earthquake-induced vibration of the primary structure. Unlike traditional mass dampers, which are usually placed at the top level of structures, the movable/smart double skin facade systems are distributed throughout the entire height of building structures. The outer skin is moveable and can act as a multi tuned mass dampers (MTMDs) that move and dissipate energy during strong earthquake motions. In this paper, using a three dimensional 10-storey building structure as the example, it is shown that with optimal choice of materials for stiffness and damping of brackets connecting the two skins, a substantial portion of earthquake induced vibration energy can be dissipated which leads to avoiding expensive ductile seismic designs. It is shown that the engineering demand parameters (EDPs) for a low-rise building structures subjected to moderate to severe earthquakes can be substantially reduced by introduction of a smart designed double skin system.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.253-269
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• 2012

A split spectrum processing (SSP) method is proposed to accurately determine the time-of-flight (ToF) of damage-scattered waves by comparing the instantaneous amplitude variation degree (IAVD) of a wave signal captured from a damage case with that from the benchmark. The fundamental symmetrical ($S_0$) mode in aluminum plates without and with a notch is assessed. The efficiency of the proposed SSP method and Hilbert transform in determining the ToF of damage-scattered $S_0$ mode is evaluated for damage identification when the wave signals are severely contaminated by noise. Broadband noise can overwhelm damage-scattered wave signals in the time domain, and the Hilbert transform is only competent for determining the ToF of damage-scattered $S_0$ mode in a noise-free condition. However, the calibrated IAVD of the captured wave signal is minimally affected by noise, and the proposed SSP method is capable of determining the ToF of damage-scattered $S_0$ mode accurately even though the captured wave signal is severely contaminated by broadband noise, leading to the successful identification of damage (within an error on the order of the damage size) using a triangulation algorithm.

• Composites Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.83-87
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• 2018

An object in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is affected by many environmental conditions unlike earth's surface such as, Atomic oxygen (AO), Ultraviolet Radiation (UV), thermal cycling, High Vacuum and Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD) impacts. The effect of all these parameters have to be carefully considered when designing a space structure, as it could be very critical for a space mission. Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is a high performance thermoplastic polymer that could be a suitable material for space missions because of its excellent resistance to these environmental factors. A thin coating of PBI polymer on the carbon epoxy composite laminate (referred as CFRP) was found to improve the energy absorption capability of the laminate in event of a hypervelocity impact. However, the overall efficiency of the shield also depends on other factors like placement and orientation of the laminates, standoff distances and the number of shielding layers. This paper studies the effectiveness of using a PBI coating on the front bumper in a multi-shock shield design for enhanced hypervelocity impact resistance. A thin PBI coating of 43 micron was observed to improve the shielding efficiency of the CFRP laminate by 22.06% when exposed to LEO environment conditions in a simulation chamber. To study the effectiveness of PBI coating in a hypervelocity impact situation, experiments were conducted on the CFRP and the PBI coated CFRP laminates with projectile velocities between 2.2 to 3.2 km/s. It was observed that the mass loss of the CFRP laminates decreased 7% when coated by a thin layer of PBI. However, the study of mass loss and damage area on a witness plate showed CFRP case to have better shielding efficiency than PBI coated CFRP laminate case. Therefore, it is recommended that PBI coating on the front bumper is not so effective in improving the overall hypervelocity impact resistance of the space structure.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.225-240
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• 2011

Active and shape morphing aerospace structures are discussed with a focus on activities aimed at practical implementation. In active structures applications range from dynamic load alleviation in aircraft and spacecraft up to static and dynamic shape control. In contrast, shape morphing means strong shape variation according to different mission status and needs, aiming to enhance functionality and performance over wide flight and mission regimes. The interaction of required flexible materials with the morphing structure and the actuating mechanisms is specifically addressed together with approaches in design and simulation.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.28-40
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• 2015

This paper aims to address the intelligent active vibration control problem of a flexible rectangular plate vibration involving parameter variation and external disturbance. An adaptive sliding mode (ASM) MIMO control strategy and smart piezoelectric materials are proposed as a solution, where the controller design can deal with problems of an external disturbance and parametric uncertainty in system. Compared with the current 'classical' control design, the proposed ASM MIMO control strategy design has two advantages. First, unlike existing classical control algorithms, where only low intelligence of the vibration control system is achieved, this paper shows that high intelligent of the vibration control system can be realized by the ASM MIMO control strategy and smart piezoelectric materials. Second, the system performance is improved due to two additional terms obtained in the active vibration control system. Detailed design principle and rigorous stability analysis are provided. Finally, experiments and simulations were used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy using a hardware prototype based on NI instruments, a MATLAB/SIMULINK platform, and smart piezoelectric materials.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.889-903
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• 2010

Idea of using piezoelectric materials with flexible structures made of rubber-like materials is quite novel. In this study a non-linear finite element model based on updated Lagrangian (UL) approach has been developed for dynamic response and its control of rubber-elastic material with surface-bonded PVDF patches/layers. A compressible stain energy density function has been used for the modeling of the rubber component. The results obtained are compared with available analytical solutions and other published results in some cases. Some results are reported as new results which will be useful for future references since the number of published results is not sufficient.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.473-485
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• 2010

Lightweight materials using in-situ clay soil contain large amounts of fine grain and cement for increasing the strength, lighter weight to increase liquidity for the foam and the bulk of the material is conducted by the water. Domestic cases, Light weight soil to improve cementation and lightness using demountable mixing device is defined Smartsoil. Typical features are their self-leveling, self-compaction, folwability. By adjusting the amount of cement, the strength can be controlled artificially. And re-excavation is easy. In this paper, pre-loading method using the road due to the displacement of adjacent structures under construction as an alternative SmartSoil introduces the design and construction practices. Is to discuss and improve.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.367-389
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• 2008

Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are unique materials with a paramount potential for various applications in bridges. The novelty of this material lies in its ability to undergo large deformations and return to its undeformed shape through stress removal (superelasticity) or heating (shape memory effect). In particular, Ni-Ti alloys have distinct thermomechanical properties including superelasticity, shape memory effect, and hysteretic damping. SMA along with sensing devices can be effectively used to construct smart Reinforced Concrete (RC) bridges that can detect and repair damage, and adapt to changes in the loading conditions. SMA can also be used to retrofit existing deficient bridges. This includes the use of external post-tensioning, dampers, isolators and/or restrainers. This paper critically examines the fundamental characteristics of SMA and available sensing devices emphasizing the factors that control their properties. Existing SMA models are discussed and the application of one of the models to analyze a bridge pier is presented. SMA applications in the construction of smart bridge structures are discussed. Future trends and methods to achieve smart bridges are also proposed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.183-195
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• 2003

In this study, the method of the finite element modeling for free vibration control of beam-type smart structures with bonded plate-type piezoelectric sensors and actuators is proposed. Constitutive equations for the direct piezoelectric effect and converse piezoelectric effect of piezoelectric materials are considered. By using the variational principle, the equations of motion for the smart beam finite element are derived. The proposed 2-node beam finite element is an isoparametric element based on Timoshenko beam theory. Therefore, by analyzing beam-type smart structures with smart beam finite elements, it is possible to simulate the control of the structural behavior by applying voltages to piezoelectric actuators and monitoring of the structural behavior by sensing voltages of piezoelectric sensors. By using the smart beam finite element and constant-gain feed back control scheme, the formulation of the free nitration control for the beam structures with bonded plate-tyPe Piezoelectric sensors and actuators is proposed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.477-501
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• 2005

In this study, a new smart beam finite element is proposed for the finite element modeling of beam-type smart structures that are equipped with bonded plate-type piezoelectric sensors and actuators. Constitutive equations for the direct piezoelectric effect and converse piezoelectric effect of piezoelectric materials are considered in the formulation. By using a variational principle, the equations of motion for the smart beam finite element are derived. The proposed 2-node beam finite element is an isoparametric element based on Timoshenko beam theory. The proposed smart beam finite element is applied to the free vibration control adopting a constant gain feedback scheme. The electrical force vector, which is obtained in deriving an equation of motion, is the control force equivalent to that in existing literature. Validity of the proposed element is shown through comparing the analytical results of the verification examples with those of other previous researchers. With the use of smart beam finite elements, simulation of free vibration control is demonstrated by sensing the voltage of the piezoelectric sensors and by applying the voltages to the piezoelectric actuators.