• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.111-121
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• 2018

It has been argued that fracture energy of composite laminates depends on their thickness and number of layers. In this paper a modified direct energy balance approach (DEBA) has been developed to evaluate the mode-II shear fracture energy for E-glass/Epoxy laminates from finite element model at an arbitrary thickness. This approach considers friction and damage/plasticity deformations using cohesive zone modeling (CZM) and nonlinear finite element modeling. The presence of compressive stress and resulting friction was argued to be a possible cause for the thickness dependency of fracture energy. In the finite element modeling, CZM formulation has been developed with bilinear cohesive constitutive law combined with friction consideration. Also ply element have been developed with shear plastic damage model. Modified direct energy balance approach has been proposed for estimation of mode-II shear fracture energy. Experiments were performed on laminates of glass epoxy specimens for characterization of material parameters and determination of mode-II fracture energies for different thicknesses. Effect of laminate thickness on fracture energy of transverse crack tension (TCT) and end notched flexure (ENF) specimens has been numerically studied and comparison with experimental results has been made. It is shown that the developed numerical approach is capable of estimating increase in fracture energy due to size effect.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.349-364
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• 2013

Recently, researchers in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM) have been rigorously striving to replace the conventional NDE techniques with the smart material based SHM techniques, employing smart materials such as piezoelectric materials. For instance, the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique employing piezo-impedance (lead zirconate titanate, PZT) transducer is known for its sensitivity in detecting local damage. For practical applications, various external factors such as fluctuations of temperature and loading, affecting the effectiveness of the EMI technique ought to be understood and compensated. This paper aims at investigating the damage monitoring capability of EMI technique in the presence of axial stress with fixed boundary condition. A compensation technique using effective frequency shift (EFS) by cross-correlation analysis was incorporated to compensate the effect of loading and boundary stiffening. Experimental tests were conducted by inducing damages on lab-sized aluminium beams in the presence of tensile and compressive forces. Two types of damages, crack propagation and bolts loosening were simulated. With EFS for compensation, both cross-correlation coefficient (CC) index and reduction in peak frequency were found to be efficient in characterizing damages in the presence of varying axial loading.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.361-370
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• 2017

Through the use of finite element analysis and acoustic emission techniques we have evaluated the interfacial failure of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) repair patch on a notched aluminum substrate. The repair of cracks is a very common and widely used practice in the aeronautics field to extend the life of cracked sheet metal panels. The process consists of adhesively bonding a patch that encompasses the notched site to provide additional strength, thereby increasing life and avoiding costly replacements. The mechanical strength of the bonded joint relies mainly on the bonding of the adhesive to the plate and patch stiffness. Stress concentrations at crack tips promote disbonding of the composite patch from the substrate, consequently reducing the bonded area, which makes this a critical aspect of repair effectiveness. In this paper we examine patch disbonding by calculating the influence of notch tip stress on disbond area and verify computational results with acoustic emission (AE) measurements obtained from specimens subjected to uniaxial tension. The FE results showed that disbonding first occurs between the patch and the substrate close to free edge of the patch followed by failure around the tip of the notch, both highest stress regions. Experimental results revealed that cement adhesion at the aluminum interface was the limiting factor in patch performance. The patch did not appear to strengthen the aluminum substrate when measured by stress-strain due to early stage disbonding. Analysis of the AE signals provided insight to the disbond locations and progression at the metal-adhesive interface. Crack growth from the notch in the aluminum was not observed until the stress reached a critical level, an instant before final fracture, which was unaffected by the patch due to early stage disbonding. The FE model was further utilized to study the effects of patch fiber orientation and increased adhesive strength. The model revealed that the effectiveness of patch repairs is strongly dependent upon the combined interactions of adhesive bond strength and fiber orientation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 2012

The orthotropic steel deck bridge made by using relatively thin steel plate, and structural members such as transverse and longitudinal ribs, cross beam, etc. in the bridge are fabricated with complex shape by welding. Therefore, the possibility occurring deformation and defects by welding is very high, and stress states in the welded connection parts are very complex. Also, the fatigue cracks in orthotropic steel deck bridge are happening fromthe welded connection parts of secondary member than main member. However, stress evaluation for main members is mainly carried out in the design process of the bridge, detailed stress evaluation and characteristic analysis is not almost reviewed in the structural details which fatigue crack occurred. For the orthotropic steel deck bridge with open ribs which has been serviced for 29 years, in this study, the cause of fatigue crack is investigated and the fatigue safety of the bridge is examined based on fieldmeasurement by the loading test and real traffic condition. Also, structural analyses using gridmodel and detailed analysis model were carried out for the welded connection parts of longitudinal rib and diaphramthat fatigue crack occurred. Additionally, the behavior characteristics due to running vehicles were investigated by using influence area analysis for these structural details, and the occurrence causes of fatigue crack in the target bridge were clarified.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.51-59
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• 2011

Tensile stress occurs and random crack develops in concrete pavement slab when it contracts by variation of temperature and humidity. The tensile stress decreases and the random crack is minimized by sawcutting the slab and inducing the crack with regular spacing. The random crack, joint damage, decrease of load transfer efficiency are caused by too wide joint spacing while too narrow joint spacing leads to increase of construction cost and decrease of comfort. A mechanistic-empirical joint spacing design method for the concrete pavement was developed in this study. Structurally and environmentally weakest sections were found among the sections showing good performance, and design strengths were determined by finite element analysis on the sections. The joint width for which the load transfer efficiency is suddenly lowered was determined as allowable joint with referring to existing research results. The maximum joint spacing for which the maximum tensile stress calculated by the finite element analysis did not exceed the design strength were found. And the maximum joint width expected by the maximum joint spacing were compared to the allowable joint width. The new method developed in this study was applied to two zones of Hamyang-Woolsan Expressway being designed. The same joint spacing as a test section constructed by 8.0m of joint spacing wider than usual was calculated by the design method. Very low cracking measured at 6 years after opening of the test section verified the design method developed in this study.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.547-551
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• 2008

Crack-free joining of $Si_3N_4\;and\;Al_2O_3$ using 15 layers has been achieved by a unique approach introducing Sialon polytypoids as a functionally graded materials (FGMs) bonding layer. In the past, hot press sintering of multilayered FGMs with 20 layers of thickness $500{\mu}m$ each has been fabricated successfully. In this study, the number of layers for FGM was reduced to 15 layers from 20 layers for optimization. For fabrication, model was hot pressed at 38 MPa while heating up to $1700^{\circ}$, and it was cooled at $2^{\circ}$/min to minimize residual stress during sintering. Initially, FGM with 15 layers had cracks near 90 wt.% 12H / 10 wt.% $Al_2O_3$ and 90 wt.% 12H/10 wt.% $Si_3N_4$ layers. To solve this problem, FEM (finite element method) program based on the maximum tensile stress theory was applied to design optimized FGM layers of crack free joint. The sample is 3-dimensional cylindrical shape where this has been transformed to 2-dimensional axisymmetric mode. Based on the simulation, crack-free FGM sample was obtained by designing axial, hoop and radial stresses less than tensile strength values across all the layers of FGM. Therefore, we were able to predict and prevent the damage by calculating its thermal stress using its elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion. Such analyses are especially useful for FGM samples where the residual stresses are very difficult to measure experimentally.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.11 no.4 s.41
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• pp.329-338
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• 1999

A systematic procedure to evaluate fatigue damages and to predict remaining fatigue lives is introduced for a steel railway bridge. Fatigue damages are evaluated by using the currently available fatigue damage theory. Fatigue lives with the condition of fatigue crack initiation are estimated by the probabilistic approach based on the reliability theory as well as the simplified procedure. A equivalent deterministic procedure is also suggested to assess the remaining fatigue life under various traffic conditions. Numerical simulations are used to assess dynamic stress histories with correction factors. Loading models are obtained from the passenger volume data. Train coincidences are also considered. Based on the results, the fatigue life is found to be underestimated by without considering the coincidence of trains on the bridge. The simplified method proposed in this study are found to yield approximately the same results as the systematic procedure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2005

An end beam is one of the most important structural members supporting uncovered freight under in-service loading. In general, it needs to endure over 25 years. However fatigue fracture has occurred at dynamic stress concentration location of the end beam because user's specifications demanded high speed and vehicle manufacturer made the uncovered freight car with comparatively low strength and stiffness. For durability analysis, finite element analysis is performed to evaluate the problem of uncovered freight structure and local strain. The uncovered freight car was operated on actual problematic railroad line to measure dynamic stress versus time history on the critical part from which a crack is initiated often. Rainflow cycle counting method was used to estimate fatigue damage at dangerous area under operating condition. Therefore, this study shows that analytical fatigue life at the end beam can be predicted on the basis of S-N curve and structure analysis and has a fairly good correlation with experimental fatigue life.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.27-44
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• 2022

Gravelly soil is a kind of special geotechnical material, which is widely used in the subgrade engineering of railway, highway and airport. Its mechanical properties are very complex, and will greatly influence the stability of subgrade engineering. To investigate the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of gravelly soils, this paper introduced and verified a new discrete element method (DEM) of gravelly soils in large scale direct shear test, which considers the actual shape and broken characteristics of gravels. Then, the stress and strain characteristics, particle interaction, particle contact force, crack development and energy conversion in gravelly soils during the shear process were analyzed using this method. Moreover, the effects of gravel content (GC) on the mechanical properties and failure characteristics were discussed. The results reveal that as GC increases, the shear stress becomes more fluctuating, the peak shear stress increases, the volumetric strain tends to dilate, the average particle contact force increases, the cumulative number of cracks increases, and the shear failure plane becomes coarser. Higher GC will change the friction angle with a trend of "stability", "increase", and "stability". Differently, it affects the cohesion with a law of "increase", "stability" and "increase".

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.328-337
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• 2008

Quantifying the extent and characteristics of the excavation damage zone(EDZ) is important for the nuclear waste industry which relies on the sealing of underground openings to minimize the risk for radionuclide transport. At AECL's Underground Research Laboratory(URL) the Tunnel Sealing Experiment(TSX) was conducted and the tunnel geometry and orientation relative to the stress field had been selected to minimize the potential for the development of an EDZ. The extent and characteristics of the EDZ was measured using velocity profiling and permeability measurements in radial boreholes. The results from this EDZ characterization are used in this paper to evaluate a modeling fir estimating the extent of the EDZ. The methodology used a damage model formulated in the Universal Distinct Element Code and calibrated to laboratory properties. This model was then used to predict the extent of crack initiation and growth around the TSX tunnel and the results compared to the measured damage. The development of the damage zone in the numerical model was found to be in good agreement with the field measurements.