• Composites Research
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.290-295
• /
• 2019

In the present study, composite insulation mat was reinforced over polyurethane foam (PUF) to improve the thermal performance and impact resistance of the PUF applied to the liquefied natural gas carrier insulation system. The composite insulation mat used Kevlar, aerogel, and cryogel composite mat that can be applied in a cryogenic environment. The thermal conductivity was measured at $20^{\circ}C$ to investigate the thermal performance, and the drop impact test was carried out under impact energy of 30 J at $20^{\circ}C$, $-163^{\circ}C$ to investigate the impact resistance. The measured thermal performance was compared with neat PUF through effective thermal conductivity theoretical value. The shock resistance was evaluated of contact force, contact time, and absorb energy. In experimental results, cryogel composite mat was the best performance in terms of thermal performance, and aerogel composite mat was the best performance in terms of impact resistance.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.449-466
• /
• 2019

Cable-stayed bridges are attractive due to their beauty, reducing material consumption, less harm to the environment and so on, in comparison with other kinds of bridges. As a massive structure with long period and low damping (0.3 to 2%) under many dynamic loads, these bridges are susceptible to fatigue, serviceability disorder, damage or even collapse. Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) is a suitable controlling system to reduce the vibrations and prevent the threats in such bridges. In this paper, Multi Tuned Mass Damper (MTMD) system is added to the Ahvaz cable stayed Bridge in Iran, to reduce its seismic vibrations. First, the bridge is modeled in SAP2000 followed with result verification. Dead and live loads and the moving loads have been assigned to the bridge. Then the finite element model is developed in OpenSees, with the goal of running a nonlinear time-history analysis. Three far-field and three near-field earthquake records are imposed to the model after scaling to the PGA of 0.25 g, 0.4 g, 0.55 g and 0.7 g. Two MTMD systems, passive and active, with the number of TMDs from 1 to 8, are placed in specific points of the main span of bridge, adding a total mass ratio of 1 to 10% to the bridge. The parameters of the TMDs are optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA). Also, the optimum force for active control is achieved by Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC). The results showed that the maximum displacement of the center of the bridge main span reduced 33% and 48% respectively by adding passive and active MTMD systems. The RMS of displacement reduced 37% and 47%, the velocity 36% and 42% and also the base shear in pylons, 27% and 47%, respectively by adding passive and active systems, in the best cases.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.159-167
• /
• 2019

2016 Gyeongju and 2017 Pohang earthquakes led Koreans to acknowledge that the Korean peninsula is not an earthquake-free zone anymore. Among various buildings crucial to after-shock recovery, general hospital buildings, especially existing old ones, are very significant so seismic retrofitting of those must be an important issue. Self-centering energy dissipative(SCED) brace is one of retrofitting methods, which consists of tendon with restoring force and friction device capable of dissipating seismic energy. The strength of the SCED brace is that the tendon forces a structure to go back to the original position, which means residual drift can be negligible. The residual drift is a very important parameter to determine usableness of general hospitals after shock. To the contrary, buckling-restrained braces(BRB) are also a very effective way to retrofit because they can resist both compressive and tensile, but residual drift may exist when the steel core yields. On this background, the seismic retrofitting effect of general hospitals reinforced with SCED braces was investigated and compared to that of the BRD in this study. As a result, although the floor acceleration cannot be reduced, the story drift and residual drift, and the shear demand of walls significantly decreased. Consequently, seismic retrofitting by SCED braces are very effective for domestic low-rise general hospitals.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.72-79
• /
• 2021

In this study, as part of the development of an autonomous flying personal aircraft, an equivalent model of the main wing assembly of an Optionally Piloted Personal Air Vehicle (OPPAV) was developed. Reliability of the developed equivalent model was verified by eigenvalue analysis. The main wing assembly consisted of a main wing, an inboard pod, and an outboard pod. First, for developing an equivalent model of each component, components to produce the equivalent model were divided into several sections. Nodes were then created on the axis of the equivalent model at both ends of each section. In addition, static analysis with unit force and unit moment was performed to calculate the deformation or the amount of rotation at the node to be used in the equivalent model. Equivalent axial, bending, and torsional stiffness of each section were calculated by applying the beam theory. Once the equivalent stiffness of each section was calculated, information of a mass and moment of inertia for each section was entered by creating a lumped mass in the center of each section. An equivalent model was developed using beam element. Finally, the reliability of the developed equivalent model was verified by comparison with results of mode analysis of the fine model.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.149-160
• /
• 2021

Buildings made using the locally available clay materials are amongst the least expensive forms of construction in many developing countries, and therefore, widely popular in remote areas. It is despite the fact that these low-strength masonry structures are vulnerable to seismic forces. Since transporting imported materials like cement and steel in areas inaccessible by motorable roads is challenging and financially unviable. This paper presents, and experimentally investigates, adobe masonry structures that utilize the abundantly available local clay materials with moderate use of imported materials like cement, aggregates, and steel. Shake-table tests were performed on two 1:3 reduce-scaled adobe masonry models for experimental seismic testing and verification. The model AM1 was confined with vertical lightly reinforced concrete columns provided at all corners and reinforced concrete horizontal bands (i.e., tie beams) provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The model AM2 was confined only with the horizontal bands provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The models were subjected to sinusoidal base motions for studying the damage evolution and response of the model under dynamic lateral loading. The lateral forcedeformation capacity curves for both models were developed and bi-linearized to compute the seismic response parameters: stiffness, strength, ductility, and response modification factor R. Seismic performance levels, story-drift, base shear coefficient, and the expected structural damages, were defined for both the models. Seismic performance assessment of the selected models was carried out using the lateral seismic force procedure to evaluate their safety in different seismic zones. The use of vertical columns in AM1 has shown a considerable increase in the lateral strength of the model in comparison to AM2. Although an R factor equal to 2.0 is recommended for both the models, AM1 has exhibited better seismic performance in all seismic zones due to its relatively high lateral strength in comparison to AM2.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.235-246
• /
• 2022

A large number of MJO skill metrics and process-oriented MJO simulation metrics have been developed by previous studies including the MJO Working Group and Task Force. To assess models' successes and shortcomings in the MJO simulation, a standardized set of diagnostics with the additional set of dynamics-oriented diagnostics are applied. The Global Coupled (GC) model developed for the operation of the climate prediction system is used with the comparison between the GC2 and GC3.1. Two GC models successfully capture three-dimensional dynamic and thermodynamic structure as well as coherent eastward propagation from the reference regions of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific. The low-level moisture convergence (LLMC) ahead of the MJO deep convection, the low-level westerly and easterly associated with the coupled Rossby-Kelvin wave and the upper-level divergence are simulated successfully. The GC3.1 model simulates a better three-dimensional structure of MJO and thus reproduces more realistic eastward propagation. In GC2, the MJO convection following the LLMC near and east of the Maritime Continent is much weaker than observation and has an asymmetric distribution of both low and upper-level circulation anomalies. The common shortcomings of GC2 and GC3.1 are revealed in the shorter MJO periods and relatively weak LLMC as well as convective activity over the western Indian Ocean.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.113-131
• /
• 2022

A rockburst is a common disaster in deep-tunnel excavation engineering, especially for high-geostress areas. An anomalously low friction effect is one of the most important inducements of rockbursts. To elucidate the correlation between an anomalously low friction effect and a rockburst, we establish a two-dimensional prediction model that considers the discontinuous structure of a rock mass. The degree of freedom of the rotation angle is introduced, thus the motion equations of the blocks under the influence of a transient disturbing force are acquired according to the interactions of the blocks. Based on the two-dimensional discontinuous block model of deep rock mass, a rockburst prediction model is established, and the initiation process of ultra-low friction rockburst is analyzed. In addition, the intensity of a rockburst, including the location, depth, area, and velocity of ejection fragments, can be determined quantitatively using the proposed prediction model. Then, through a specific example, the effects of geomechanical parameters such as the different principal stress ratios, the material properties, a dip of principal stress on the occurrence form and range of rockburst are analyzed. The results indicate that under dynamic disturbance, stress variation on the structural surface in a deep rock mass may directly give rise to a rockburst. The formation of rockburst is characterized by three stages: the appearance of cracks that result from the tension or compression failure of the deformation block, the transformation of strain energy of rock blocks to kinetic energy, and the ejection of some of the free blocks from the surrounding rock mass. Finally, the two-dimensional rockburst prediction model is applied to the construction drainage tunnel project of Jinping II hydropower station. Through the comparison with the field measured rockburst data and UDEC simulation results, it shows that the model in this paper is in good agreement with the actual working conditions, which verifies the accuracy of the model in this paper.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.207-218
• /
• 2022

In submerged floating tunnels (SFTs), a next-generation maritime transportation infrastructure, the tunnel module floats in water due to buoyancy. For the effective and economical use of SFTs, connection with the ground is inevitable, but the stability of the shore connection is weak due to stress concentration caused by the displacement difference between the subsea bored tunnel and the SFT. The use of an elastic joint has been proposed as a solution to solve the stability problem, but it changes the dynamic characteristics of the SFT, such as natural frequency and mode shape. In this study, the finite element method (FEM) was used to simulate the elastic joints in shore connections, assuming that the ground is a hard rock without displacement. In addition, a small-scale model test was performed for FEM model validation. A parametric study was conducted on the resonance behavior such as the natural frequency change and velocity, stress, and reaction force distribution change of the SFT system by varying the joint stiffness under loading conditions of various frequencies and directions. The results indicated that the natural frequency of the SFT system increased as the stiffness of the elastic joint increased, and the risk of resonance was the highest in the low-frequency environment. Moreover, stress concentration was observed in both the SFT and the shore connection when resonance occurred in the vertical mode. The results of this study are expected to be utilized in the process of quantitative research such as designing elastic joints to prevent resonance in the future.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.465-479
• /
• 2021

One of the important causes of building and infrastructure failure, such as bridges on pile foundations, is the placement of the piles in liquefiable soil that can become unstable under seismic loads. Therefore, the overarching aim of this study is to investigate the seismic behavior of a soil-pile system in liquefiable soil using three-dimensional numerical FEM analysis, including soil-pile interaction. Effective parameters on concrete pile response, involving the pile diameter, pile length, soil type, and base acceleration, were considered in the framework of finite element non-linear dynamic analysis. The constitutive model of soil was considered as elasto-plastic kinematic-isotropic hardening. First, the finite element model was verified by comparing the variations on the pile response with the measured data from the centrifuge tests, and there was a strong agreement between the numerical and experimental results. Totally 64 non-linear time-history analyses were conducted, and the responses were investigated in terms of the lateral displacement of the pile, the effect of the base acceleration in the pile behavior, the bending moment distribution in the pile body, and the pore pressure. The numerical analysis results demonstrated that the relationship between the pile lateral displacement and the maximum base acceleration is non-linear. Furthermore, increasing the pile diameter results in an increase in the passive pressure of the soil. Also, piles with small and big diameters are subjected to yielding under bending and shear states, respectively. It is concluded that an effective stress-based ground response analysis should be conducted when there is a liquefaction condition in order to determine the maximum bending moment and shear force generated within the pile.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.75-88
• /
• 2022

Engineering structures in operation essentially belong to time-varying or nonlinear structures and the resultant response signals are usually non-stationary. For such time-varying structures, it is of great importance to extract time-dependent dynamic parameters from non-stationary response signals, which benefits structural health monitoring, safety assessment and vibration control. However, various traditional signal processing methods are unable to extract the embedded meaningful information. As a newly developed technique, variational mode decomposition (VMD) shows its superiority on signal decomposition, however, it still suffers two main problems. The foremost problem is that the number of modal components is required to be defined in advance. Another problem needs to be addressed is that VMD cannot effectively separate non-stationary signals composed of closely spaced or overlapped modes. As such, a new method named generalized adaptive variational modal decomposition (GAVMD) is proposed. In this new method, the number of component signals is adaptively estimated by an index of mean frequency, while the generalized demodulation algorithm is introduced to yield a generalized VMD that can decompose mode overlapped signals successfully. After that, synchrosqueezing wavelet transform (SWT) is applied to extract instantaneous frequencies (IFs) of the decomposed mono-component signals. To verify the validity and accuracy of the proposed method, three numerical examples and a steel cable with time-varying tension force are investigated. The results demonstrate that the proposed GAVMD method can decompose the multi-component signal with overlapped modes well and its combination with SWT enables a successful IF extraction of each individual component.