• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.95-108
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• 2023

Soft soil ground is a crucial factor limiting the development of the construction of transportation infrastructure in coastal areas. Soft soil is characterized by low strength, low permeability and high compressibility. However, the ordinary treatment method uses Portland cement to solidify the soft soil, which has low early strength and requires a long curing time. Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is an emerging method to address geo-environmental problems associated with geotechnical materials. In this study, a method of bio-cementitious mortars consisting of MICP and cement was proposed to stabilize the soft soil. A series of laboratory tests were conducted on MICP-treated and cement-MICP-treated (C-MICP-treated) soft soils to improve mechanical properties. Microscale observations were also undertaken to reveal the underlying mechanism of cement-soil treated by MICP. The results showed that cohesion and internal friction angles of MICP-treated soft soil were greater than those of remolded soft soil. The UCS, elastic modulus and toughness of C-MICP-treated soft soil with high moisture content (50%, 60%, 70%, 80%) were improved compared to traditional cement-soil. A remarkable difference was observed that the MICP process mainly played a role in the early curing stage (i.e., within 14 days) while cement hydration continued during the whole process. Micro-characterization revealed that the calcium carbonate filling the pores enhanced the soft soil.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.485-502
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• 2001

Modem soft computing methods, such as neural networks, evolutionary models and fuzzy logic, are mainly inspired by the problem solving strategies the biological systems use in nature. As such, the soft computing methods are fundamentally different from the conventional engineering problem solving methods, which are based on mathematics. In the author's opinion, these fundamental differences are the key to the full understanding of the soft computing methods and in the realization of their full potential in engineering applications. The main theme of this paper is to discuss the fundamental differences between the soft computing methods and the mathematically based conventional methods in engineering problems, and to explore the potential of soft computing methods in new ways of formulating and solving the otherwise intractable engineering problems. Inverse problems are identified as a class of particularly difficult engineering problems, and the special capabilities of the soft computing methods in inverse problems are discussed. Soft computing methods are especially suited for engineering design, which can be considered as a special class of inverse problems. Several examples from the research work of the author and his co-workers are presented and discussed to illustrate the main points raised in this paper.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.531-537
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• 2015

Hand function is one of the essential functions required to perform the activities of daily living, and wearable robots that assist or recover hand functions have been consistently developed. Previously, wearable robots commonly employed conventional robotic technology such as linkage which consists of rigid links and pin joints. Recently, as the interest in soft robotics has increased, many attempts to develop a wearable robot with a soft structure have been made and are in progress in order to reduce size and weight. This paper presents the concept of a soft wearable robot composed of a soft structure by comparing it with conventional wearable robots. After that, currently developed soft wearable robots and related issues are introduced.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to analyze the golf swing motion for a soft golf clubs and regular golf club. Soft golf is a newly developed recreational sports for all ages, including the elderly and the beginners of golf. To quantify the effect of using soft golf club, which much lighter club than regular clubs, a motion analysis has been performed using a 3D optoelectric motion tracking system that utilizes active infrared LEDs and near-infrared sensors. The subject performed swing motion using a regular golf club and a soft golf club in turn. The obtained motion capture data was used to build a 3D computer simulation model to obtain left wrist, elbow shoulder and lumbar joint force and torque using inverse and forward dynamics calculations. The joint force and torque during soft golf swing were lower than regular golf swing. The analysis gave better understanding of the effectiveness of the soft golf club.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.511-523
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• 2023

Canal-side roads frequently collapse due to an unexpectedly greater soft-clay thickness with a rapid drawdown situation. This causes annually increased repair and reconstruction costs. This paper aims to explore the effect of soft-clay thickness on the failure in the canal-side road in the case study of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya rural road no. 1043 (AY. 1043). Before the actual construction, a field vane shear test was performed to determine the undrained shear strength and identify the thickness of the soft clay at the AY. 1043 area. After establishing the usability of AY. 1043, the resistivity survey method was used to evaluate the thickness of the soft clay layer at the failure zone. The screw driving sounding test was used to evaluate the undrained shear strength for the road structure with a medium-stiff clay layer at the failure zone for applying to the numerical model. This model was simulated to confirm the effect of soft-clay thickness on the failure of the canal-side road. The monitoring and testing results showed the tendency of rapid drawdown failure when the canal-side road was located on > 9 m thick of soft clay with a sensitivity > 4.5. The result indicates that the combination of resistivity survey and field vane shear test can be successfully used to inspect the soft-clay thickness and sensitivity before construction. The preliminary design for preventing failure or improving the stability of the canal-side road should be considered before construction under the critical thickness and sensitivity values of the soft clay.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.1094-1101
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• 2005

The stability of embankment on the soft ground has included problems on stabilities of embanked body and soft soil, which related with vertical displacement and lateral movement of the soft ground especially. The judge methods for the potentialities of lateral movement have been used in order to stabilization assessment during and after construction of the embankment. In this study, the judge methods on the improved soft ground suggested, which compared with exist judge methods on lateral movement. It is due to recent trend using embanked structures on the soft ground most of improved.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.955-969
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• 1998

Engineering problems are inherently imprecision tolerant. Biologically inspired soft computing methods are emerging as ideal tools for constructing intelligent engineering systems which employ approximate reasoning and exhibit imprecision tolerance. They also offer built-in mechanisms for dealing with uncertainty. The fundamental issues associated with engineering applications of the emerging soft computing methods are discussed, with emphasis on neural networks. A formalism for neural network representation is presented and recent developments on adaptive modeling of neural networks, specifically nested adaptive neural networks for constitutive modeling are discussed.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.231-234
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• 2003

This paper presents a novel high frequency transformer linked full-bridge type soft-switching phase-shift PWM control scheme DC-DC power converter, which can be used as power conditioner fur small-scale fuel cell power generation system. Using full-bridge soft-switching DC-DC converter topology makes possible to use low voltage high performance MOSFETs to achieve high efficiency of the power conditioner. A tapped inductor filter is implemented in the proposed soft-switching converter topology to achieve soft-switching PWM constant high frequency operation for a wide load variation range. to minimize circulating and idling currents without using additional resonant circuit and auxiliary power switching devices. The practical effectiveness of the proposed soft-switching DC-DC converter is verified in laboratory level experiment with 1 kW 100kHz breadboard setup using power MOSFETs. Actual efficiency of 94-96$\%$ is obtained for the wide load range

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.411-426
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• 2023

Soft clay is widely distributed in the southeast coastal areas of China. Many large underground structures, such as subway stations and underground pipe corridors, are shallow buried in the soft clay foundation, so the dynamic characteristics of the soft clay must be considered to the seismic design of underground structures. In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of saturated soft clay in Shanghai under the bidirectional excitation for earthquake loading are studied by dynamic triaxial tests, comparing the backbone curve and hysteretic curve of the saturated soft clay under different confining pressures with those under different vibration frequencies. Considering the coupling effects of the confining pressure and the vibration frequency, a fitting model of the maximum dynamic shear modulus was proposed by the multiple linear regression method. The M-D model was used to fit the variations of the dynamic shear modulus ratio with the shear strain. Based on the Chen model and the Park model, the effects of the consolidation confining pressure and the vibration frequency on the damping ratio were studied. The results can provide a reference to the earthquake prevention and disaster reduction in soft clay area.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.151-161
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• 2010

Soft Golf is a newly developed recreational sport in our research team aimed to become a safe and easy-to-learn sport for all ages. The advantage of Soft Golf stems from lighter weight of the club and much larger area of the sweet spot. The purpose of this study is to analyze ground reaction force(GRF) and joint angle during soft Golf club and regular golf club swing. The GRF of golf swing was recorded by 3-D motion analysis system and forceplate. The joint angle of golf swing was obtained from computer simulation model. The GRF and joint angle of golf swing are used to analysis of golf swing pattern. The pattern of GRF and joint angle during soft golf club swing was similar to that during regular golf club swing. This result means that soft golf club reduces the risk of injury and has an effect on similar entertainment of regular golf.