• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.479-486
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• 2003

This paper presents an elastoplastic analysis for spent nuclear fuel disposal container and its 50 cm thick bentonite buffer to predict the collapse of the container while the horizontal asymmetric sudden rock movement of 10 cm is applied on the composite structure. This sudden rock movement is anticipated by the earthquake etc. at a deep underground. Elastoplastic material model is adopted. Drucker-Prager yield criterion is used for the material yield prediction of the bentonite buffer and von-Mises yield criterion is used for the material yield prediction of the container. Analysis results show that even though very large deformations occur beyond the yield point in the bentonite buffer, the container structure still endures elastic small strains and stresses below the yield strength. Hence, the asymmetric 50 cm thick bentonite buffer can protect the container safely against the 10 cm sudden rock movement by earthquake etc.. Analysis results also show that bending deformations occur in the container structure due to the shear deformation of the bentonite buffer. The finite element analysis code, NISA, is used for the analysis.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.435-451
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• 2015

Evaluation of the performance of aging structures is essential in the oil and gas industry, where the inaccurate prediction of structural performance can have significantly hazardous consequences. The effects of structure failure due to the significant reduction in wall thickness, which determines the burst strength, make it very complicated for pipeline operators to maintain pipeline serviceability. In other words, the serviceability of gas pipelines and elbows needs to be predicted and assessed to ensure that the burst or collapse strength capacities of the structures remain less than the maximum allowable operation pressure. In this study, several positions of the corrosion in a subsea elbow made of API X42 steel were evaluated using both design formulas and numerical analysis. The most hazardous corrosion position of the aging elbow was then determined to assess its serviceability. The results of this study are applicable to the operational and elbow serviceability needs of subsea pipelines and can help predict more accurate replacement or repair times.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.14-26
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• 2014

This paper provides the prediction of ultimate longitudinal strengths of the hull girders of a very large crude carrier considering probabilistic damage extent due to collision and grounding accidents based on IMO Guidelines (2003). The probabilistic density functions of damage extent are expressed as a function of non-dimensional damage variables. The accumulated probabilistic levels of 10%, 30%, 50%, and 70% are taken into account for the estimation of damage extent. The ultimate strengths have been calculated using the in-house software called Ultimate Moment Analysis of Damaged Ships which is based on the progressive collapse method, with a new convergence criterion of force vector equilibrium. Damage indices are provided for several probable heeling angles from $0^{\circ}$ (sagging) to $180^{\circ}$ (hogging) due to collision- and grounding-induced structural failures and consequent flooding of compartments. This paper proves from the residual strength analyses that the second moment of area of a damage section can be a reliable index for the estimation of the residual ultimate strength. A simple polynomial formula is also proposed based on minimum residual ultimate strengths.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.20-42
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• 2014

The Brazil, Russia, India China and South Africa (BRICS) group has emerged as a collection of large economies which are outside the traditional groups of industrialised "first world" economies and which have altered the global distribution of economic power. The basis of their emergence is a combination of their size and growth rates, and the fact that they lie outside the established centres of global economic power. As such, they have "diversified" the power base of the global economic order. The question which is asked in this paper is whether the phenomenon of the BRICS goes beyond this to mark the start of a possible challenge to the neoliberal orthodoxy which emerged as the globally dominant policy paradigm since the collapse of the Soviet Union. This paper develops and uses a "modes of innovation" approach to explore the potential of the BRICS to constitute a structural rupture in the current globally dominant neoliberal mode of innovation. This question is important since, in the absence of this rupture, the remarkable development trajectory of the BRICS will serve to reinforce the legitimacy of the global orthodoxy. The paper first articulates the modes of innovation concept and then proceeds to locate the BRICS systems of innovation within the current globally dominant mode. On this basis it then provides an appraisal of the possible impact of the BRICS on the evolutionary path of the global system of innovation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.469-476
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• 2013

In a postulated severe core damage accident in a PHWR, multiple failures of core cooling systems may lead to the collapse of pressure tubes and calandria tubes, which may ultimately relocate inside the calandria vessel forming a terminal debris bed. The debris bed, which may reach high temperatures due to the decay heat, is cooled by the moderator in the calandria. With time, the moderator is evaporated and after some time, a hot dry debris bed is formed. The debris bed transfers heat to the calandria vault water which acts as the ultimate heat sink. However, the questions remain: how long would the vault water be an ultimate heat sink, and what would be the failure mode of the calandria vessel if the heat sink capability of the reactor vault water is lost? In the present study, a numerical analysis is performed to evaluate the thermal loads and the stresses in the calandria vessel following the above accident scenario. The heat transfer from the molten corium pool to the surrounding is assumed to be by a combination of radiation, conduction, and convection from the calandria vessel wall to the vault water. From the temperature distribution in the vessel wall, the transient thermal loads have been evaluated. The strain rate and the vessel failure have been evaluated for the above scenario.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.1-41
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• 2012

The peasant societies of East Asia had been challenged by capitalist plantation since colonization and by socialist collectivization since decolonization. The former was decisively weakened due to the crisis of the capitalist system in the 1930s and the collapse of the colonial order in the 1940s; The latter was thoroughly discredited due to the reform of the socialist system in the 1980s and the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. The failure of the two epochal challenges demonstrates the historical sustainability of peasant societies in East Asia. Their survival represents the universality of Northeast and Southeast Asia, which can be ascribed to the ecological environment and production process of wet-rice agriculture for their common staple food. In spite of their diverse differences, indeed, peasant societies in colonial East Asia shared profound similarities in their basic motivations (morality-rationality), central tendencies (involution - polarization), structural outcomes (dualism - pluralism), and future prospects (survival-extinction).

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.657-670
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• 2021

This paper presents a designing method for enhancing fire resistance of steel box bridge girders (closed steel box bridge girder supporting a thin concrete slab) through taking into account such parameters namely; fire severity, type of longitudinal stiffeners (I, L, and T shaped), and number of longitudinal stiffeners. A validated 3-D finite element model, developed through the computer program ANSYS, is utilized to go over the fire response of a typical steel box bridge girder using the transient thermo-structural analysis method. Results from the numerical analysis show that fire severity and type of longitudinal stiffeners welded on bottom flange have significant influence on fire resistance of steel box bridge girders. T shaped longitudinal stiffeners applied on bottom flange can highly prevent collapse of steel box bridge girders towards the end of fire exposure. Increase of longitudinal stiffeners on bottom flange and web can slightly enhance fire resistance of steel box bridge girders. Rate of deflection-based criterion can be reliable to evaluate fire resistance of steel box bridge girders in most fire exposure cases. Thus, T shaped longitudinal stiffeners on bottom flange incorporated into bridge fire-resistance design can significantly enhance fire resistance of steel box bridge girders.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.363-375
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• 2022

Flexural capacity prediction is a challenging problem for externally prestressed concrete beams (EPCBs) due to the unbonded phenomenon between the concrete beam and external tendons. Many prediction equations have been provided in previous research but typically ignored the differences in deformation mode between internal and external unbonded tendons. The availability of these equations for EPCBs is controversial due to the inconsistent deformation modes and ignored second-order effects. In this study, the deformation characteristics and collapse mechanism of EPCB are carefully considered, and the ultimate deflected shape curves are derived based on the simplified curvature distribution. With the compatible relation between external tendons and the concrete beam, the equations of tendon elongation and eccentricity loss at ultimate states are derived, and the geometric interpretation is clearly presented. Combined with the sectional equilibrium equations, a rational and simplified flexural capacity prediction method for EPCBs is proposed. The key parameter, plastic hinge length, is emphatically discussed and determined by the sensitivity analysis of 324 FE analysis results. With 94 collected laboratory-tested results, the effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed, and comparisons with the previous formulas are made. The results show the better prediction accuracy of the proposed method for both stress increments and flexural capacity of EPCBs and the main reasons are discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2022

Offshore platforms in seismically active areas must be designed to survive in the face of intense earthquakes without a global structural collapse. This paper scrutinizes the seismic performance of a newly designed and established jacket type offshore platform situated in the entrance of the Gulf of Suez region based on the API-RP2A normalized response spectra during seismic events. A nonlinear finite element model of a typical jacket type offshore platform is constructed taking into consideration the effect of structure-soil-interaction. Soil properties at the site were manipulated to generate the pile lateral soil properties in the form of load deflection curves, based on API-RP2A recommendations. Dynamic characteristics of the offshore platform, the response function, output power spectral density and transfer functions for different elements of the platform are discussed. The joints deflection and acceleration responses demands are presented. It is generally concluded that consideration of the interaction between structure, piles and soil leads to higher deflections and less stresses in platform elements due to soil elasticity, nonlinearity, and damping and leads to a more realistic platform design. The earthquake-based analysis for offshore platform structure is essential for the safe design and operation of offshore platforms.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.89-104
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• 2023

This work presents a proposal for employing reduced numerical integration in the formulation of the 4-node quadrilateral solid finite element. The use of these low-order integration rules leads to numerical instabilities such as those producing the hourglass effect. The proposed procedure allows evaluating a given constitutive model only in one integration point, achieving an attractive computational cost reduction and, also, successfully controls the hourglass effect. A validation of the proposal is included and discussed throughout the paper. To show the efficiency of the proposal, several application examples of masonry structures are studied and discussed. To represent the non-linear mechanical behaviour of masonry a plastic-damage model is implemented within the application of this sub-integration scheme. Also, in order to have a full and computationally efficient strategy to determine the behaviour of masonry structures, involving its evolution to collapse, a homogenization technique with a macro-modeling approach is used. The methodology discussed throughout this paper demonstrates a substantial computational cost reduction and an improved approximation of the non-linear problem evidenced by a reduction of up to 85% of the computational time for some cases.