• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제3권3_4호
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• pp.341-363
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• 2012

The spectral representation method is a quick and versatile tool for the generation of spatially variable, response-spectrum-compatible simulations to be used in the nonlinear seismic response evaluation of extended structures, such as bridges. However, just as recorded data, these simulated accelerations require processing, but, unlike recorded data, the reasons for their processing are purely numerical. Hence, the criteria for the processing of acceleration simulations need to be tied to the effect of processing on the structural response. This paper presents a framework for processing acceleration simulations that is based on seismological approaches for processing recorded data, but establishes the corner frequency of the high-pass filter by minimizing the effect of processing on the response of the structural system, for the response evaluation of which the ground motions were generated. The proposed two-step criterion selects the filter corner frequency by considering both the dynamic and the pseudo-static response of the systems. First, it ensures that the linear/nonlinear dynamic structural response induced by the processed simulations captures the characteristics of the system's dynamic response caused by the unprocessed simulations, the frequency content of which is fully compatible with the target response spectrum. Second, it examines the adequacy of the selected estimate for the filter corner frequency by evaluating the pseudo-static response of the system subjected to spatially variable excitations. It is noted that the first step of this two-fold criterion suffices for the establishment of the corner frequency for the processing of acceleration time series generated at a single ground-surface location to be used in the seismic response evaluation of, e.g. a building structure. Furthermore, the concept also applies for the processing of acceleration time series generated by means of any approach that does not provide physical considerations for the selection of the corner frequency of the high-pass filter.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권1호
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• pp.44-60
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• 2021

In this paper, we validate the decay heat calculation capability via a two-step method to analyze spent nuclear fuel (SNF) discharged from pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The calculation method is implemented with a lattice code STREAM and a nodal diffusion code RAST-K. One of the features of this method is the direct consideration of three-dimensional (3D) core simulation conditions with the advantage of a short simulation time. Other features include the prediction of the isotope inventory by Lagrange non-linear interpolation and the use of power history correction factors. The validation is performed with 58 decay heat measurements of 48 fuel assemblies (FAs) discharged from five PWRs operated in Sweden and the United States. These realistic benchmarks cover the discharge burnup range up to 51 GWd/MTU, 23.2 years of cooling time, and spanning an initial uranium enrichment range of 2.100-4.005 wt percent. The SNF analysis capability of STREAM is also employed in the code-to-code comparison. Compared to the measurements, the validation results of the FA calculation with RAST-K are within ±4%, and the pin-wise results are within ±4.3%. This paper successfully demonstrates that the developed decay heat calculation method can perform SNF back-end cycle analyses.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• 제17권3호
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• pp.319-325
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• 2017

Through silicon via (TSV) technology is extensively used in 3D IC integrations. The special structure of the TSV is realized by CMP (Chemically Mechanical Polishing) process with a high Cu removal rate and, low dishing, yielding fine topography without defects. In this study, we investigated the electrochemical behavior of copper slurries with various inhibitors in the Cu CMP process for advanced TSV applications. One of the slurries was carried out for the most promising process with a high removal rate (${\sim}18000{\AA}/Min$ @ 3 psi) and low dishing (${\sim}800{\AA}$), providing good microstructure. The effects of pH value and $H_2O_2$ concentration on the slurry corrosion potential and Cu static etching rate (SER) were also examined. The slurry formula with a pH of 6 and 2% $H_2O_2$, hadthe lowest SER (${\sim}75{\AA}/Min$) and was the best for TSV CMP. A novel Cu TSV CMP process was developed with two CMPs and an additional annealing step after some of the bulk Cu had been removed, effectively improving the condition of the TSV Cu surface and preventing the formation of crack defects by variations in wafer stress during TSV process integration.

• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.563-571
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• 2012

In 3D integration package using TSV technology, bonding is the core technology for stacking and interconnecting the chips or wafers. During bonding process, however, warpage and high stress are introduced, and will lead to the misalignment problem between two chips being bonded and failure of the chips. In this paper, a finite element approach is used to predict the warpages and stresses during the bonding process. In particular, in-plane deformation which directly affects the bonding misalignment is closely analyzed. Three types of bonding technology, which are Sn-Ag solder bonding, Cu-Cu direct bonding and SiO2 direct bonding, are compared. Numerical analysis indicates that warpage and stress are accumulated and become larger for each bonding step. In-plane deformation is much larger than out-of-plane deformation during bonding process. Cu-Cu bonding shows the largest warpage, while SiO2 direct bonding shows the smallest warpage. For stress, Sn-Ag solder bonding shows the largest stress, while Cu-Cu bonding shows the smallest. The stress is mainly concentrated at the interface between the via hole and silicon chip or via hole and bonding area. Misalignment induced during Cu-Cu and Sn-Ag solder bonding is equal to or larger than the size of via diameter, therefore should be reduced by lowering bonding temperature and proper selection of package materials.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• 제19권10호
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• pp.1919-1931
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• 2005

Human joint motion can be kinematically described in three planes, typically the frontal, sagittal, and transverse, and related to experimentally measured data. The selection of reference systems is a prerequisite for accurate kinematic analysis and resulting development of the equations of motion. Moreover, the development of analysis techniques for the minimization of errors, due to skin movement or body deformation, during experiments involving human locomotion is a critically important step, without which accurate results in this type of experiment are an impossibility. The traditional kinematic analysis method is the Angular-based method (ABM), which utilizes the Euler angle or the Bryant angle. However, this analysis method tends to increase cumulative errors due to skin movement. Therefore, the objective of this study was to propose a new kinematic analysis method, Position-based method (PBM), which directly applies position displacement data to represent locomotion. The PBM presented here was designed to minimize cumulative errors via considerations of angle changes and translational motion between markers occurring due to skin movements. In order to verify the efficacy and accuracy of the developed PBM, the mean value of joint dislocation at the knee during one gait cycle and the pattern of three dimensional translation motion of the tibiofemoral joint at the knee, in both flexion and extension, were accessed via ABM and via new method, PBM, with a Local Reference system (LRS) and Segmental Reference system (SRS), and then the data were compared between the two techniques. Our results indicate that the proposed PBM resulted in improved accuracy in terms of motion analysis, as compared to ABM, with the LRS and SRS.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.1712-1731
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• 2016

In this paper, we propose a novel saliency detection framework via multiple random walks (MRW) which simulate multiple agents on a graph simultaneously. In the MRW system, two agents, which represent the seeds of background and foreground, traverse the graph according to a transition matrix, and interact with each other to achieve a state of equilibrium. The proposed algorithm is divided into three steps. First, an initial segmentation is performed to partition an input image into homogeneous regions (i.e., superpixels) for saliency computation. Based on the regions of image, we construct a graph that the nodes correspond to the superpixels in the image, and the edges between neighboring nodes represent the similarities of the corresponding superpixels. Second, to generate the seeds of background, we first filter out one of the four boundaries that most unlikely belong to the background. The superpixels on each of the three remaining sides of the image will be labeled as the seeds of background. To generate the seeds of foreground, we utilize the center prior that foreground objects tend to appear near the image center. In last step, the seeds of foreground and background are treated as two different agents in multiple random walkers to complete the process of salient object detection. Experimental results on three benchmark databases demonstrate the proposed method performs well when it against the state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy and robustness.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제66권6호
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• pp.729-736
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• 2018

This paper studies thermal buckling and post-buckling behaviors of functionally graded materials (FGM) tubes subjected to a uniform temperature rise and resting on elastic foundations via a refined beam model. Compared to the Timoshenko beam theory, the number of unknowns of this model are the same and no correction factors are required. The material properties of the FGM tube vary continuously in the radial direction according to a power function. Two ends of the tube are assumed to be simply supported and in-plane boundary conditions are immovable. Energy variation principle is employed to establish the governing equations. A two-step perturbation method is adopted to determine the critical thermal buckling loads and post-buckling paths of the tubes with arbitrary radial non-homogeneity. Through detailed parametric studies, it can be found that the tube has much higher buckling temperature and post-buckling strength when it is supported by an elastic foundation.

• 한국분말재료학회지
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• 제18권6호
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• pp.538-545
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• 2011

This study shows that catalytic activity of bimetallic RhPt nanoparticle arrays under CO oxidation can be tuned by varying the size and composition of nanoparticles. The tuning of size of RhPt nanoparticles was achieved by changing concentration of rhodium and platinum precursors in one-step polyol synthesis. Two-dimensional RhPt bimetallic nanoparticle arrays in different size and composition were prepared through Langmuir-Blodgett thin film technique. CO oxidation was carried out on these two-dimensional nanoparticle arrays, revealing higher activity on the smaller nanoparticles compared to the bigger nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicate the preferential surface segregation of Rh compared to Pt on the smaller nanoparticles, which is consistent with the thermodynamic analysis. Because the catalytic activity is associated with differences in the rates of $O_2$ dissociative adsorption between Pt and Rh, this paper suppose that the surface segregation of Rh on the smaller bimetallic nanoparticles is responsible for the higher catalytic activity in CO oxidation. This result suggests a control mechanism of catalytic activity via synthetic approaches of colloid nanoparticles, with possible application in rational design of nanocatalysts.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.131-146
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• 2016

In research on behavioral studies, significant attention has been paid to the stage-sequential process for longitudinal data. Latent class profile analysis (LCPA) is an useful method to study sequential patterns of the behavioral development by the two-step identification process: identifying a small number of latent classes at each measurement occasion and two or more homogeneous subgroups in which individuals exhibit a similar sequence of latent class membership over time. Maximum likelihood (ML) estimates for LCPA are easily obtained by expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, and Bayesian inference can be implemented via Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). However, unusual properties in the likelihood of LCPA can cause difficulties in ML and Bayesian inference as well as estimation in small samples. This article describes and addresses erratic problems that involve conventional ML and Bayesian estimates for LCPA with small samples. We argue that these problems can be alleviated with a small amount of prior input. This study evaluates the performance of likelihood and MCMC-based estimates with the proposed prior in drawing inference over repeated sampling. Our simulation shows that estimates from the proposed methods perform better than those from the conventional ML and Bayesian method.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.144-148
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• 2013

Lycopene cyclase converts lycopene to ${\beta}$-carotene by catalyzing the formation of two beta-rings at each end of the linear carotene structure. This reaction takes place as a two-step reaction in which both sides of of the lycopene molecule are cyclized into ${\beta}$-carotene rings via the monocyclic ${\gamma}$-carotene as an intermediate. The crtY gene coding for lycopene cyclase from Paracoccus haeundaensis consists of 1,158 base pairs encoding 386 amino acids residues. An expression plasmid containing the crtY gene (pET44a-CrtY) was constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli, and produced a recombinant protein of approximately 43 kDa, corresponding to the molecular mass of lycopene cyclase. The expressed protein was purified to homogeneity by His-tag affinity chromatography and showed enzymatic activity corresponding to lycopene cyclase. We also determined the lycopene substrate specificity and NADPH cofactor requirements of the purified protein. The $K_m$ values for lycopene and NADPH were 3.5 ${\mu}M$ and 2 mM, respectively. The results obtained from this study will provide a wider base of knowledge on the enzyme characterization of lycopene cyclase at the molecular level.