• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

Purpose: This study identified the effects of the three types of consumer interactions on the utilitarian and hedonic values experienced by community members, their degree of participation, and brand loyalty. In addition, the mediating effect of virtual interactivity between the interactions that occur within the online brand community and the value experienced by community members was also identified. Research design, data and methodology: An online survey was distributed, and the data gathered was analyzed using structural equations modeling. Results: Test results showed that product-information interaction has a positive effect on utilitarian value and interpersonal interaction has a positive effect on hedonic value. Human-computer interaction was found to have a negative effect on hedonic value and no significant effect on utilitarian value. Furthermore, it was revealed that among the three types of interactions, virtual interactivity had a mediating effect only in the relationship between human-computer interaction and hedonic value. Moreover, utilitarian values experienced by community members affected their level of participation which ultimately enhances brand loyalty. Hedonic value did not affect their level of participation within the online brand community. Conclusions: When marketers establish online brand community strategies, they must place elements that can directly help the use of brands and products.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.4
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• pp.523-527
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• 2022

The objective of this study is to simulate the flow in pipes with various boundary conditions. Free-pressure fluid model, is used in the pipe based on Navier-Stokes equation. The models are solved by using the numerical method. A problem called "stability of pipes" is used in order to compare frequency and critical fluid velocity. When the initial conditions of problem satisfied the instability conditions, the free-pressure model could accurately predict discontinuities in the solution field. Employing nonlinear strains-displacements, stress-strain energy method the governing equations were derived using Hamilton's principal. Differential quadrature method (DQM) is used for obtaining the frequency and critical fluid velocity. The results of this paper are analyzed by hyperbolic numerical method. Results show that the level of numerical diffusion in the solution field and the range of well-posedness are two important criteria for selecting the two-fluid models. The solutions for predicting the flow variables is approximately equal to the two-pressure model 2. Therefore, the predicted pressure changes profile in the two-pressure model is more consistent with actual physics. Therefore, in numerical modeling of gas-liquid two-phase flows in the vertical pipe, the present model can be applied.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.569-585
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• 2023

This paper proposes an efficient approach for the structural topology optimization of bi-directional functionally graded structures by incorporating popular radial basis functions (RBFs) into an implicit level set (ILS) method. Compared to traditional element density-based methods, a level set (LS) description of material boundaries produces a smoother boundary description of the design. The paper develops RBF implicit modeling with multiquadric (MQ) splines, thin-plate spline (TPS), exponential spline (ES), and Gaussians (GS) to define the ILS function with high accuracy and smoothness. The optimization problem is formulated by considering RBF-based nodal densities as design variables and minimizing the compliance objective function. A LS-RBF optimization method is proposed to transform a Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equation (PDE) into a system of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) over the entire design domain using a collocation formulation of the method of lines design variables. The paper presents detailed mathematical expressions for BiDFG beams topology optimization with two different material models: continuum functionally graded (CFG) and mechanical functionally graded (MFG). Several numerical examples are presented to verify the method's efficiency, reliability, and success in accuracy, convergence speed, and insensitivity to initial designs in the topology optimization of two-dimensional (2D) structures. Overall, the paper presents a novel and efficient approach to topology optimization that can handle bi-directional functionally graded structures with complex geometries.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.293-318
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• 2023

This study aims to examine the elastic stiffness properties of Elliptic-Braced Moment Resisting Frame (EBMRF) subjected to lateral loads. Installing the elliptic brace in the middle span of the frames in the facade of a building, as a new lateral bracing system not only it can improve the structural behavior, but it provides sufficient space to consider opening it needed. In this regard, for the first time, an accurate theoretical formulation has been developed in order that the elastic stiffness is investigated in a two-dimensional single-story single-span EBMRF. The concept of strain energy and Castigliano's theorem were employed to perform the analysis. All influential factors were considered, including axial and shearing loads in addition to the bending moment in the elliptic brace. At the end of the analysis, the elastic lateral stiffness could be calculated using an improved relation through strain energy method based on geometric properties of the employed sections as well as specifications of the utilized materials. For the ease of finite element (FE) modeling and its use in linear design, an equivalent element was developed for the elliptic brace. The proposed relation was verified by different examples using OpenSees software. It was found that there is a negligible difference between elastic stiffness values derived by the developed equations and those of numerical analysis using FE method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.6
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• pp.589-598
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• 2023

This article addresses the quasi-static analysis of time-dependent honeycomb sandwich plates with various geometrical properties based on the bending analysis of elastic honeycomb sandwich plates employing a time function with three unknown coefficients. The novel point of the developed method is that the responses of viscoelastic honeycomb sandwich plates under static transversal loads are clearly formulated in the space and time domains with very low computational costs. The mechanical properties of the sandwich plates are supposed to be elastic for the faces and viscoelastic honeycomb cells for the core. The Boltzmann superposition integral with the constant bulk modulus is used for modeling the viscoelastic material. The shear effect is expressed using the first-order shear deformation theory. The displacement field is predicted by the product of a determinate geometrical function and an indeterminate time function. The simple HP cloud mesh-free method is utilized for discretizing the equations in the space domain. Two coefficients of the time function are extracted by answering the equilibrium equation at two asymptotic times. And the last coefficient is easily determined by solving the first-order linear equation. Numerical results are presented to consider the effects of geometrical properties on the displacement history of viscoelastic honeycomb sandwich plates.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.445-458
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• 2024

The objective of this paper is to present free vibration and static stability analyses of rotating composite beams reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under uniform thermal loads. Beam structural equations and CNT-reinforced composite (CNTRC) beam formulations are derived based on Timoshenko beam theory (TBT). The temperature-dependent properties of the beam material, such as the elastic modulus, shear modulus, and material density, are assumed to vary over the thickness according to the rule of mixture. The beam material is modeled as a mixture of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in an isotropic matrix. The SWCNTs are aligned and distributed in the isotropic matrix with different patterns of reinforcement, namely the UD (uniform), FG-O, FG-V, FG- Λ and FG-X distributions, where FG-V and FG- Λ are asymmetric patterns. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effects of several essential parameters, including the rotational speed, hub radius, effective material properties, slenderness ratio, boundary conditions, thermal force, and moments due to temperature variation. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents the first attempt at the finite element modeling of rotating CNTRC Timoshenko beams under a thermal environment. The results are presented in tables and figures for both symmetric and asymmetric distribution patterns, and can be used as benchmarks for further validation.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.87-105
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• 2013

Modeling an equilibrium atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in an empty computational domain has routinely been performed with the k-${\varepsilon}$ turbulence model. However, the research objects of structural wind engineering are bluff bodies, and the SST k-${\omega}$ turbulence model is more widely used in the numerical simulation of flow around bluff bodies than the k-${\varepsilon}$ turbulence model. Therefore, to simulate an equilibrium ABL based on the SST k-${\omega}$ turbulence model, the inlet profiles of the mean wind speed U, turbulence kinetic energy k, and specific dissipation rate ${\omega}$ are proposed, and the source terms for the U, k and ${\omega}$ are derived by satisfying their corresponding transport equations. Based on the proposed inlet profiles, numerical comparative studies with and without considering the source terms are carried out in an empty computational domain, and an actual numerical simulation with a trapezoidal hill is further conducted. It shows that when the source terms are considered, the profiles of U, k and ${\omega}$ are all maintained well along the empty computational domain and the accuracy of the actual numerical simulation is greatly improved. The present study could provide a new methodology for modeling the equilibrium ABL problem and for further CFD simulations with practical value.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.3
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• pp.291-309
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• 2023

This paper addresses the finite element modeling of functionally graded porous (FGP) beams for free vibration and buckling behaviour cases. The formulated finite element is based on simple and efficient higher order shear deformation theory. The key feature of this formulation is that it deals with Euler-Bernoulli beam theory with only three unknowns without requiring any shear correction factor. In fact, the presented two-noded beam element has three degrees of freedom per node, and the discrete model guarantees the interelement continuity by using both C⁰ and C¹ continuities for the displacement field and its first derivative shape functions, respectively. The weak form of the governing equations is obtained from the Hamilton principle of FGP beams to generate the elementary stiffness, geometric, and mass matrices. By deploying the isoparametric coordinate system, the derived elementary matrices are computed using the Gauss quadrature rule. To overcome the shear-locking phenomenon, the reduced integration technique is used for the shear strain energy. Furthermore, the effect of porosity distribution patterns on the free vibration and buckling behaviours of porous functionally graded beams in various parameters is investigated. The obtained results extend and improve those predicted previously by alternative existing theories, in which significant parameters such as material distribution, geometrical configuration, boundary conditions, and porosity distributions are considered and discussed in detailed numerical comparisons. Determining the impacts of these parameters on natural frequencies and critical buckling loads play an essential role in the manufacturing process of such materials and their related mechanical modeling in aerospace, nuclear, civil, and other structures.

• 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.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.623-638
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• 2024

This study investigates the thermal post-buckling behavior of concrete eccentric annular sector plates reinforced with graphene oxide powders (GOPs). Employing the minimum total potential energy principle, the plates' stability and response under thermal loads are analyzed. The Haber-Schaim foundation model is utilized to account for the support conditions, while the transform differential quadrature method (TDQM) is applied to solve the governing differential equations efficiently. The integration of GOPs significantly enhances the mechanical properties and stability of the plates, making them suitable for advanced engineering applications. Numerical results demonstrate the critical thermal loads and post-buckling paths, providing valuable insights into the design and optimization of such reinforced structures. This study presents a machine learning algorithm designed to predict complex engineering phenomena using datasets derived from presented mathematical modeling. By leveraging advanced data analytics and machine learning techniques, the algorithm effectively captures and learns intricate patterns from the mathematical models, providing accurate and efficient predictions. The methodology involves generating comprehensive datasets from mathematical simulations, which are then used to train the machine learning model. The trained model is capable of predicting various engineering outcomes, such as stress, strain, and thermal responses, with high precision. This approach significantly reduces the computational time and resources required for traditional simulations, enabling rapid and reliable analysis. This comprehensive approach offers a robust framework for predicting the thermal post-buckling behavior of reinforced concrete plates, contributing to the development of resilient and efficient structural components in civil engineering.