• PNF and Movement
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.27-35
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• 2023

Purpose: Hallux valgus (HV) is one of the most common chronic foot disorders, occurring when the first toe deviates laterally toward the other toe. HV impairs muscle strength and affects gait function (postural sway and gait speed). Thus, this study aims to investigate using the FDM system the effect of wearing braces on gait while wearing a virtual reality (VR) device. Methods: This study was conducted on 28 healthy adults with HV of 15 degrees or more. To compare differences in walking, depending on whether a toe brace can be worn, the subject walked without wearing anything, walked after wearing the VR device, and walked after wearing the VR device and the toe brace, and the FDM system was used for the gait ability measurement analysis. Results: As a result of a one-way repeated analysis of variance, the walking speed-related variables (cadence, velocity, etc.) in the HV group were higher during comfortable walking. In addition, walking while wearing a VR device and walking while wearing a VR device and a toe brace demonstrated more significant values in terms of six gait parameters (double stance phase, loading response, stage, stage, stage, and stage). The maximum pressure of the forefoot was significantly reduced when walking while wearing a VR device and a toe brace compared to comfortable walking, but in all variables, there was no statistically significant difference between walking while wearing a VR device and walking while wearing a VR device and a toe brace. Conclusion: Orthosis with a VR device during gait (OVG) and gait with a VR device (GVR) affect gait in HV patients. However, there was no significant difference between GVR and OVG. Thus, it is necessary to conduct experiments on various HV angles and increase the duration of wearing the toe brace.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제21권5호
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• pp.1017-1029
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• 2016

When a welded circular hollow section (CHS) tubular joint is subjected to brace axial loading, failure position is located usually at the weld toe on the chord surface due to the weak flexural stiffness of the thin-walled chord. The failure mode is local yielding or buckling in most cases for a tubular joint subjected to axial load at the brace end. Especially when a cyclic axial load is applied, fracture failure at the weld toe may occur because both high stress concentration and welding residual stress along the brace/chord intersection cause the material in this region to become brittle. To improve the ductility as well as to increase the static strength, a tubular joint can be reinforced by increasing the chord thickness locally near the brace/chord intersection. Both experimental investigation and finite element analysis have been carried out to study the hysteretic behaviour of the reinforced tubular joint. In the experimental study, the hysteretic performance of two full-scale circular tubular T-joints subjected to cyclic load in the axial direction of the brace was investigated. The two specimens include a reinforced specimen by increasing the wall thickness of the chord locally at the brace/chord intersection and a corresponding un-reinforced specimen. The hysteretic loops are obtained from the measured load-displacement curves. Based on the hysteretic curves, it is found that the reinforced specimen is more ductile than the un-reinforced one because no fracture failure is observed after experiencing similar loading cycles. The area enclosed by the hysteretic curves of the reinforced specimen is much bigger, which shows that more energy can be dissipated by the reinforced specimen to indicate the advantage of the reinforcing method in resisting seismic action. Additionally, finite element analysis is carried out to study the effect of the thickness and the length of the reinforced chord segment on the hysteretic behaviour of CHS tubular T-joints. The optimized reinforcing method is recommended for design purposes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.1045-1062
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• 2015

Concrete-filled circular t steel tubular joints (CFSTJs) in practice are frequently subjected to fluctuated loadings caused by wind, earthquake and so on. As fatigue crack is sensitive to such cyclic loadings, assessment on performance of CFSTJs with crack-like defect attracts more concerns because both high stress concentration at the brace/chord intersection and welding residual stresses along weld toe cause the materials in the region around the intersection to be more brittle. Once crack initiates and propagates along the weld toe, tri-axial stresses in high gradient around the crack front exist, which may bring brittle fracture failure. Additionally, the stiffness and the load carrying capacity of the CFSTJs with crack may decrease due to the weakened connection at the intersection. To study the behaviour of CFSTJs with initial crack, experimental tests have been carried out on three full-scale CFCST T-joints with same configuration. The three specimens include one uncracked joint and two corresponding cracked joints. Load-displacement and load-deformation curves, failure mode and crack propagation are obtained from the experiment measurement. According to the experimental results, it can be found that he load carrying capacity of the cracked joints is decreased by more than 10% compared with the uncracked joint. The effect of crack depth on the load carrying capacity of CFCST T-joints seems to be slight. The failure mode of the cracked CFCST T-joints represents as plastic yielding rather than brittle fracture through experimental observation.

• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.165-175
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• 2008

An ankle-foot orthosis(AFO) is a brace for persons with gait disabilities to support or replace the function of ankle joint. Ankle-foot orthoses(AFO's) are usually prescribed to alleviate the drop-foot by constraining the excessive plantar flexion. The shape and the strength of the AFO are often based on 'trial and error' due to a lack of knowledge of the stress distribution in the AFO. In this study, an improved stress-freezing method was proposed to measure the stress distribution characteristics in the AFO. As a result, a photoelastic material with low freezing temperature was developed to measure the stresses under a person's direct contact loading condition. The three-dimensional stress-1rozen photoelastic models of AFO's for five stages of stance phase such as heel contact, foot flat, mid stance, heel off, and toe off were produced. The results of photoelastic analysis revealed that the stresses developed in the AFO were varied considerably from tensile to compressive or vice versa, during walking. At the posterior part of ankle joint in the AFO, the maximum compressive stress of 1.81MPa was observed in the mid stance, and the maximum tensile stress of 0.74MPa was observed during heel contact. The overall stress levels in the AFO's were low in the toe off phase. The results suggested that the posterior part of ankle joint might be the most fragile part in the AFO.

• 한국강구조학회 논문집
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• 제17권5호통권78호
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• pp.561-568
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• 2005

본 논문의 목적은 트러스 인장웨브재의 형상이 정방형 각형강관인 기존 연구(강관웨브형)와 고장력 강봉을 인장웨브재로 사용하기 위해 연결플레이트를 가지는(강봉웨브형) 냉간성형 각형강관 갭 K형 접합부의 거동 비교를 통하여 고장력 강봉 사용의 적정성을 알아보기 위한 것이다. 주관폭두께비가 33.3으로 동일한 강관웨브형 실험체 4개와 강봉웨브형 실험체 8개의 최대내력, 파괴모드, 초기강성, 연성율 등을 비교하였다. 비교 결과, 접합부의 내력은 강관웨브형에서는 압축지관의 선행파괴로 결정되었으며, 강봉웨브형에서는 인장측의 선행파괴로 결정되었다. 무차원화 내력은 동일 폭비에서 강관웨브형이 높게 나타났으며, 폭비 증가에 따른 내력증가현상도 강관웨브형에서 뚜렷하게 나타나고, 강봉웨브형은 일정한 경향이 나타나지 않은 반면에 인장과 압축폭비로 나누어 살펴보면 인장폭비 증가에 따라서는 선형적인 증가현상이 나타남을 알았다. 파괴모드는 강관웨브형의 경우에는 압축지관의 미소 국부좌굴과 인장웨브와 주관 접합면의 소성파괴가 나타났고, 강봉웨브형의 경우는 주관플랜지면 소성변형 후 연결플레이트 용접부위의 파단이 나타났다. 따라서, 강봉웨브형에서 연결 플레이트를 갖는 갭K형 접합부의 경우에는 강관웨브형에 비해 주관의 폭두께비를 낮게 할 필요가 있으며, 폭비도 인장지관과 압축지관과의 관계를 고려하여 결정하여야 할 것으로 판단된다.