• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.365-377
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• 2015

Large-amplitude vibration of overhead sign structures can cause unfavorable psychological responses in motorists, interfere with readability of the signs, and lead to fatigue cracking in the sign structures. Field experience in Texas suggests that an overhead sign structure can vibrate excessively when supported within the span of a highway bridge instead of at a bent. This study used finite element modeling to analyze the dynamic displacement response of three hypothetical sign structures subjected to truck-passage-induced vertical oscillations recorded for the girders from four actual bridges. The modeled sign bridge structures included several span lengths based on standard design practices in Texas and were mounted on precast concrete I-girder bridges. Results revealed that resonance with bridge girder vertical vibrations can amplify the dynamic displacement of sign structures, and a specific range of frequency ratios subject to undesirable amplification was identified. Based on these findings, it is suggested that this type of sign structure be located at a bridge bent if its vertical motion frequency is within the identified range of bridge structure excitation frequencies. Several alternatives are investigated for cases where this is not possible, including increasing sign structure stiffness, reducing sign mass, and installing mechanical dampers.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.170-181
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• 2018

Because of the design and construction requirements, the nuclear structures need to maintain the structural integrity under both design state and extreme earthquake shaking. The base-isolation technology can significantly reduce the damages of structures under extreme earthquake events, and effectively protect the safeties of structures and internal equipment. This study proposes a base-isolation design for the AP1000 nuclear shield building on considering the performance requirements of the seismic isolation systems and devices of shield building. The seismic responses of isolated and nonisolated shield buildings subjected to design basis earthquake (DBE) shaking and beyond-design basis earthquake (BDBE) shaking are analyzed, and three different strategies for controlling the displacements subjected to BDBE shaking are performed. By comparing with nonisolated shield buildings, the floor acceleration spectra of isolated shield buildings, relative displacement, and base shear force are significantly reduced in high-frequency region. The results demonstrate that the base-isolation technology is an effective approach to maintain the structural integrity which subjected to both DBE and BDBE shaking. A displacement control design for isolation layers subjected to BDBE shaking, which adopts fluid dampers for controlling the horizontal displacement of isolation layer is developed. The effectiveness of this simple method is verified through numerical analysis.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.68-74
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• 2006

The evaluation of durability performance in Virtual Testing Laboratory(VTL) is a new concept of vehicle design, which can reduce the automotive design period and cost. In this study, the multibody dynamics model of a car is built with a reverse engineering design. Hard points and masses of components are measured by a surface scanning device and imported into CAD system. In order to simulate the non-linear dynamic behavior of force elements such as dampers and bushes, components and materials are tested with specialized test equipments. An optimized numerical model for the damping behavior is used and the hysteresis of bush rubber is considered in the simulation. Loads of components are calculated in VTL and used in the evaluation of durability performance. In order to verify simulation results, loads of components in the vehicle are measured and durability tests are performed.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

This paper proposes a hydraulic circuit for a Magnetorheological (MR) damper that can be used for semi-active and active controls. Methods are presented for obtaining reliable damping force displacement and velocity data, and hysteresis loop data corresponding to applied current. In order to get reliable data, analysis using electric and electronic software, a series of tests. and comparative evaluations are required. A hydraulic circuit model is proposed that can be applied to analyze a MR damper without any assumptions where the yield stress data according to the applied current are known. Analysis results of the proposed hydraulic circuit are confirmed by experimental results within acceptable tolerance. This hydraulic circuit model can be applied to various MR dampers and systems.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 2008

The purpose of this paper was to develop a rehabilitation training system which is controlled by electric currents to the Magneto-Rheological dampers system. This system provided the function for the training of the unbalance of the lower extremities. 10 subjects executed the tracing and moving exercises which are presented through the display monitor and confirmed own the capability of performance on the task. The electromyographies of the four muscles in lower extremities were recorded and analyzed in the time and frequency domain the muscles of interest were rectus femoris, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior. The experimental results showed that subjects had a task under feedback mode then subjects improve the capability of performance, increasing the in time, decreasing the out time and the distance of body shift. The moving average EMG, spectral energy of four muscle is lower the feedback mode than the constant mode. This could aid the hemiplegic patients to train more easily.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.77-86
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• 2004

This paper introduces a shape memory alloy-restrainer-damper(SMA-RD) to protect multiple span continuous steel bridges from seismic loads. The type of bridges has only one fixed bearing condition on a pier and expansion bearings are located on the other piers and abutments. Due to this state and a big mass of the deck, these bridges are usually very vulnerable to column's damage on which fixed bearings are located and large deformation of abutments in passive action. Two types of SMA-RDs are developed, and their effect is inspected for protecting the bridges through seismic analyses. Conventional steel restrainer cables are also used to reduce the seismic vulnerability of the bridge and the results are compared to those of the SMA-RDs.

• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.64-69
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• 2006

Due to the inherent nonlinear nature of Electro-rheological (ER) fluid dampers, one of the challenging aspects for utilizing these devices to achieve high system performance is the development of accurate models and control algorithms that can take advantage of their unique characteristics. In this paper, the nonlinear damping force model is made to identify the properties of the ER damper using higher order spectrum. The higher order spectral analysis is used to investigate the nonlinear frequency coupling phenomena with the damping force signal according to the sinusoidal excitation of the damper. Also, this paper presents an inverse model of the ER damper, i.e., the model can predict the required voltage so that the ER damper can produce the desired force for the requirement of vibration control of vehicle suspension systems. The inverse model is constructed by using a multi-layer perceptron neural network. A quarter-car suspension model is considered in this paper for analysis and simulation. Simulation results show that the proposed inverse model of ER damper can obtain control voltage of ER damper for required damping force.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.339-354
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• 2006

Hangzhou Bay Bridge spans the Hangzhou Bay and is located at Zhejiang province in the southeast seacoast of China. The total length of the bridge is 36 km. The bridge is composed of bridge approaches made up of multi-span prestressed concrete box girders and two cable-stayed bridges over the north and south navigable spans respectively. The seismic response analysis of the bridge model shows that if the navigable spans are designed as the routine earthquake-resistance system, the displacements and internal forces in pylons, piers and deckes are too large to satisfy the anti-seismic requirement of the structure. Therefore, the seismic reduction design was carried out by using viscous dampers to dissipate the kinetic energy of the structure both longitudinally and transversely. Using the vibration reduction system and aiming at the reasonable optimal goal, the purpose to reduce the seismic responses in south and north navigable spans has been achieved.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.231-256
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• 2016

This study concerns the derivation of optimum tuning formulas for a passive Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) device, for the case of benchmark ideal excitations acting on a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) damped primary structure. The free TMD parameters are tuned first through a non-linear gradient-based optimisation algorithm, for the case of harmonic or white noise excitations, acting either as force on the SDOF primary structure or as base acceleration. The achieved optimum TMD parameters are successively interpolated according to appropriate analytical fitting proposals, by non-linear least squares, in order to produce simple and effective TMD tuning formulas. In particular, two fitting models are presented. The main proposal is composed of a simple polynomial relationship, refined within the fitting process, and constitutes the optimum choice. A second model refers to proper modifications of literature formulas for the case of an undamped primary structure. The results in terms of final (interpolated) optimum TMD parameters and of device effectiveness in reducing the structural dynamic response are finally displayed and discussed in detail, showing the wide and ready-to-use validity of the proposed optimisation procedure and achieved tuning formulas. Several post-tuning trials have been carried out as well on SDOF and MDOF shear-type frame buildings, by confirming the effective benefit provided by the proposed optimum TMD.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.807-830
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• 2015

When a building structure requires both health monitoring system and vibration control system, integrating the two systems together will be cost-effective and beneficial for creating a smart building structure with its own sensors (nervous system), processors (brain system), and actuators (muscular system). This paper presents a real-time integrated procedure to demonstrate how health monitoring and vibration control can be integrated in real time to accurately identify time-varying structural parameters and unknown excitations on one hand, and to optimally mitigate excessive vibration of the building structure on the other hand. The basic equations for the identification of time-varying structural parameters and unknown excitations of a semi-active damper-controlled building structure are first presented. The basic equations for semi-active vibration control of the building structure with time-varying structural parameters and unknown excitations are then put forward. The numerical algorithm is finally followed to show how the identification and the control can be performed simultaneously. The results from the numerical investigation of an example building demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible and accurate.