• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.741-759
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• 2020

Steel plate-concrete composite slabs provide attractive features, such as more effective loading transfer, and more cost-effective stay-in-place forms, thereby enabling engineers to design more high-performance light structures. Although significant studies in the literatures have been directed toward designing and implementing the steel plate-concrete composite beams, there are limited data available for understanding of the composite slabs. To fill this gap, nine the composite slabs with different variables in this study were tested to unveil the impacts of the critical factors on the ultimate strength behavior. The key information of the findings included sample failure modes, crack pattern, and ultimate strength behavior of the composite slabs under either four-point or three-point loading. Test results showed that the failure modes varied from delamination to shear failures under different design factors. Particularly, the shear stud spacing and thicknesses of the concrete slabs significantly affected their ultimate load-carrying capacities. Moreover, an analytical model of the composite slabs was derived for determining their ultimate load-carrying capacity and was well verified by the experimental data. Further extensive parametric study using the proposed analytical methods was conducted for a more comprehensive investigation of those critical factors in their performance. These findings are expected to help engineers to better understand the structural behavior of the steel plate-concrete composite slabs and to ensure reliability of design and performance throughout their service life.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.381-392
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• 2023

This study experimentally investigates the flexural behavior of steel-UHPC composite slabs composed of an innovative negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) steel plate and Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) slab connected via demountable high-strength bolt shear connectors. Eight demountable composite slab specimens were fabricated and tested under traditional four-point bending method. The effects of loading histories (positive and negative bending moment), types of steel plate (NPR steel plate and Q355 steel plate) and spacings of high-strength bolts (150 mm, 200 mm and 250 mm) on the flexural behavior of demountable composite slab, including failure mode, load-deflection curve, interface relative slip, crack width and sectional strain distribution, were evaluated. The results revealed that under positive bending moment, the failure mode of composite slabs employing NPR steel plate was distinct from that with Q355 steel plate, which exhibited that part of high-strength bolts was cut off, part of pre-embedded padded extension nuts was pulled out, and UHPC collapsed due to instantaneous instability and etc. Besides, under the same spacing of high-strength bolts, NPR steel plate availably delayed and restrained the relative slip between steel plate and UHPC plate, thus significantly enhanced the cooperative deformation capacity, flexural stiffness and load capacity for composite slabs further. While under negative bending moment, NPR steel plate effectively improved the flexural capacity and deformation characteristics of composite slabs, but it has no obvious effect on the initial flexural stiffness of composite slabs. Meanwhile, the excellent crack-width control ability for UHPC endowed composite members with better durability. Furthermore, according to the sectional strain distribution analysis, due to the negative Poisson's ratio effect and high yield strength of NPR steel plate, the tensile strain between NPR steel plate and UHPC layer held strain compatibility during the whole loading process, and the magnitude of upward movement for sectional plastic neutral axis could be ignored with the increase of positive bending moment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.325-344
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• 2017

The present paper investigates the propagation of Love-type wave in a composite structure comprised of imperfectly bonded piezoelectric layer with lower fiber-reinforced half-space with rectangular shaped irregularity at the common interface. Closed-form expression of phase velocity of Love-type wave propagating in the composite structure has been deduced analytically for electrically open and short conditions. Some special cases of the problem have also been studied. It has been found that the obtained results are in well-agreement to the Classical Love wave equation. Significant effects of various parameters viz. irregularity parameter, flexibility imperfectness parameter and viscoelastic imperfectness parameter associated with complex common interface, dielectric constant and piezoelectric coefficient on phase velocity of Love-type wave has been reported. Numerical computations and graphical illustrations have been carried out to demonstrate the deduced results for various cases. Moreover, comparative study has been performed to unravel the effects of the presence of reinforcement and piezoelectricity in the composite structure and also to analyze the existence of irregularity and imperfectness at the common interface of composite structure in context of the present problem which serves as a salient feature of the present study.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.377-401
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• 2016

To study the effect of titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) nanoparticles on membrane performance and structure and to explore possible improvement of using mixed solvents in the casting solution, composite polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration membranes were prepared via immersion precipitation method using a mixture of two solvents triethyl phosphate (TEP) and dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and addition of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. Properties of the neat and composite membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle and membrane porosity measurements. The neat and composite membranes were further investigated in terms of BSA rejection and flux decline in cross flow filtration experiments. Following hydrophilicity improvement of the PVDF membrane by addition of 0.25 wt.% $TiO_2$, (from $70.53^{\circ}$ to $60.5^{\circ}$) degree of flux decline due to irreversible fouling resistance of the composite membrane reduced significantly and the flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 96.85% was obtained. The results showed that using mixed solvents (DMAc/TEP) with lower content of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles (0.25 wt.%) affected the sedimentation rate of nanoparticles and consequently the distribution of nanoparticles in the casting solution and membrane formation which influenced the properties of the ultimate composite membranes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 2014

Recently, the growing demand for weight reduction and improved structure durabilityfor commercial vehicles has led to active research into the development and application of suitablecomposite materials. This studysuggests abimaterial composite frame produced by apultrusion process to replace steel frames. We focused on the development of a composite frameconsisting of two types of materialsby mixing anorthotropic material with anisotropic material. The inside layer consisted of an aluminum pipe, and the outside layer was composed of a glass fiber pipe. To determine the strength and failure mechanisms of the composite material, tensile tests, shear tests, and three-point bending tests were conducted, followed by fatigue tests. After static testing, the fatigue tests were conducted at a load frequency of 5 Hz, a stress ratio (R) of 0.1, and an endurance limit of $10^6$ for the S-N curve. The resultsshowed that the failure modes were related to both the core design and the laminating conditions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-172
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• 2017

A new composite tube connection method called the pre-tightened teeth connection technique is proposed to improve the composite tube connection efficiency. This paper first introduces the manufacturing process of the proposed technique. It then outlines how the mechanical properties of this technology were tested using four test groups. The factors that influence the load-bearing capacity and damage model of the connection were analyzed, and finally, the transfer load mechanism was investigated. The following conclusions can be obtained from the research results. (1) The new technique improves the compressive connection efficiency by a maximum of 79%, with the efficiency exceeding that of adhesive connections of the same thickness. (2) Changing the depth of teeth results in two types of damage: local compressive damage and shear damage. The bearing capacity can be improved by increasing the depth, length, and number of teeth as well as the pre-tightening force. (3) The capacity of the technique to transfer high loads is a result of both the relatively high interlaminar shear strength of the pultruded composite and the interlaminar shear strength increase provided by the pre-tightening force. The proposed technique shows favorable mechanical properties, and therefore, it can be extensively applied in the engineering field.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.5
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• pp.563-583
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• 2021

Composite materials, composed of multiple constituent materials with dissimilar properties, are actively adopted in a wide range of industrial sectors due to their remarkable strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratio. Nevertheless, the failure mechanism of composite materials is highly complicated due to their sophisticated microstructure, making it much harder to predict their residual material lives in real life applications. A promising solution for this safety issue is structural damage detection. In the present paper, damage detection of composite material via electrical resistance-based technique and infrared thermography is reviewed. The operating principles of the two damage detection methodologies are introduced, and some research advances of each techniques are covered. The advancement of IR thermography-based non-destructive technique (NDT) including optical thermography, laser thermography and eddy current thermography will be reported, as well as the electrical impedance tomography (EIT) which is a technology increasingly drawing attentions in the field of electrical resistance-based damage detection. A brief comparison of the two methodologies based on each of their strengths and limitations is carried out, and a recent research update regarding the coupling of the two techniques for improved damage detection in composite materials will be discussed.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.144-150
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• 2020

This paper presents a numerical study on the design of composite head geometry used for compound processing machine. In order to achieve an optimum composite head geometry and to explain the interactions between the different geometric configurations, three dimensional computational fluid dynamics and design of experiment methods have been applied. From the 2k factorial design results, the most important design variable was found and the performance of the composite head was improved compared to the reference model.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.313-321
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• 2020

ACF preparation from different materials and its application in constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment has been focused in environmental field. Different materials have been used to prepare ACF around the world. This study aims to prepare, characterize and use of ACF from loofah for removal of Tetracycline from water through composite vertical flow constructed wetlands. ACF was prepared and it was tested for characterization, later it was used for removal of Tetracycline from water through composite vertical flow constructed wetlands. In composite vertical flow constructed wetlands, three HRTs were set according to the experiment, 1D, 2D, and 3D is individually. Samples were transported immediately from collection point to laboratory for analyzing. Samples were measured for Tetracycline (TC), Total Phosphorus (TP), and Total nitrogen and COD. Tetracycline absorbance with respective 356nm was obtained good and HRT is important factor. Results show that composite vertical flow constructed wetlands with ACF from luffa is best option and it is recommended to study further deep analysis.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.511-522
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• 2022

An experimental investigation to study the behaviour of connections between cold-formed steel (CFS) joist and plywood structural panel is presented in this paper. Material testing on CFS and plywood was carried out to assess their mechanical properties and behaviour. Push-out tests were conducted to determine the slip modulus and failure modes of three different shear connection types. The employed shear connectors in the study were; size 14 (6mm diameter) self-drilling screw, M12 coach screw, and M12 nut and bolt. The effective bending stiffness of composite cold-formed steel and plywood T-beam assembly is calculated based on the slip modulus values computed from push-out tests. The effective bending stiffness was increased by 25.5%, 18% and 30.2% for self-drilling screw, coach screw, nut and bolt, respectively, over the stiffness of cold-formed steel joist alone. This finding suggests the potential to enhance the structural performance of composite cold-formed steel and timber flooring system by mobilisation of composite action present between timber sheathing and CFS joist.