• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.629-640
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• 2019

The investigation of retaining wall structures behavior under dynamic loads is considered as one of important parts for designing such structures. Generally, the performance of these structures is under the influence of the environment conditions and their geometry. The aim of this research is to design retaining wall structures based on smart and optimal systems. The use of accuracy and speed to assess the structures under different conditions is one of the important parts sought by designers. Therefore, optimal and smart systems are able to have better addressing these problems. Using numerical and coding methods, this research investigates the retaining wall structure design under different dynamic conditions. More than 9500 models were constructed and considered for modelling design. These designs include height and thickness of the wall, soil density, rock density, soil friction angle, and peak ground acceleration (PGA) variables. Accordingly, a neural network system was developed to establish an appropriate relationship between data to obtain safety factor (SF) of retaining walls under different seismic conditions. Different parameters were analyzed and the effect of each parameter was assessed separately. According to these analyses, the structure optimization was performed to increase the SF values. The optimal and smart design showed that under different PGA conditions, the structure performance can be appropriately improved while utilization of the initial (or basic) parameters leads to the structure failure. Therefore, by increasing accuracy and speed, smart methods could improve the retaining structure performance in controlling the wall failure. The intelligent design process of this study can be applied to some other civil engineering applications such as slope stability.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.404-417
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• 2017

The present study numerically analyzed the dynamic behavior of 3D framed structures subject to impulsive slamming forces by violent breaking waves. The structures were modeled using multiple lumped masses for the vertical projections of each member, and the slamming forces from the breaking waves were concentrated on these lumped masses. A numerical algorithm was developed to properly incorporate the slamming forces into a dynamic analysis to numerically determine the structural responses. Then, the validity of the numerical analysis was verified using the results of an existing hydraulic experiment. The numerical and experimental results for various model structures were generally in good agreement. The uncertainties concerning the properties of the breaking waves used in the verification are also discussed here.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.225-230
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• 2016

Since the development of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO), extensive studies have been conducted ranging from fundamental research to the applications of AAO. Most of the research on AAO structures have focused on well-aligned nanoporous structures fabricated under specific conditions. This study investigated fabricable AAO structures with anodization performed with various temperatures, electrical potentials, and basal plane surfaces. As a result, nanoporous and nanofibrous structures were fabricated. The nanopores were formed at a relatively lower temperature and potential, and the nanofibers were formed at a relatively higher temperature and potential regardless of the basal plane surface. The shape of the base surface was found to influence the structural arrangement in nanoporous morphologies. These interesting findings relating to new morphologies have the potential to broaden the possible applications of AAO materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.667-667
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• 2013

Optimizing morphology of the front surface with three dimensional structures (3D) in solar cell is essential element for not only effectivelight harvesting but also carrier collection and separation without the cost burden in process. We designed a three-dimensionally ordered front surface with wet chemical etching. Wet chemical etching is a proper way to have three dimensional structures. The method efficiently transmits the incident light at the front surface to a Si absorber and has competitive price in manufacturing when comparing with reactive ion etching (RIE) to have three dimensional structures. This indicates that optimized front surface with three dimensional structures by wet chemical etching will bring effective light management in solar cells.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.147-165
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• 2010

Impact damage detection in composite structures has gained a considerable interest in many engineering areas. The capability to detect damage at the early stages reduces any risk of catastrophic failure. This paper compares two advanced signal processing methods for impact location in composite aircraft structures. The first method is based on a modified triangulation procedure and Genetic Algorithms whereas the second technique applies Artificial Neural Networks. A series of impacts is performed experimentally on a composite aircraft wing-box structure instrumented with low-profile, bonded piezoceramic sensors. The strain data are used for learning in the Neural Network approach. The triangulation procedure utilises the same data to establish impact velocities for various angles of strain wave propagation. The study demonstrates that both approaches are capable of good impact location estimates in this complex structure.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.19 no.4 s.65
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• pp.21-27
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• 2005

Large welded structures, including ships and offshore structures, are normally in operation under cyclic fatigue loadings. These structures include many geometric discontinuities, as well as material discontinuities due to weld joints. The fatigue strength at these hot spots is very important for the structural performance. In the past, various Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques have been developed to detect fatigue cracks and to estimate their location and size. However, an important limitation of most of the existing NDE methods is that they are off line; the normal operation of the structure has to be interrupted, and the device often has to be disassembled. This study explores the development of a structural health monitoring system, with a special interest in applying the technique to welded structural members in ship and offshore structures. In particular, the impedance based structural health monitoring technique that employs the coupling effect of piezoceramic (PZT) materials and structures is investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1245-1255
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• 2012

Effective elastic constants of biomimetic multilayer structures with hierarchical structures are evaluated based on the potential energy balance method. The effective anisotropic elastic constants are used in analyzing low-velocity impact of biomimetic multilayer structures consisting of mineral and protein. It is shown that displacements of biomimetic multilayer structures strongly depend on the volume fraction of mineral and hierarchical level. The effect of the volume fraction of mineral and hierarchical level on the contact force and stresses at the impact point are also discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.607-620
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• 2018

Vibration analysis of deep curved FG nano-beam has been carried out based on modified couple stress theory. Material properties of curved Timoshenko beam are assumed to be functionally graded in radial direction. Governing equations of motion and related boundary conditions have been obtained via Hamilton's principle. In a parametric study, influence of length scale parameter, aspect ratio, gradient index, opening angle, mode number and interactive influences of these parameters on natural frequency of the beam, have been investigated. It was found that, considering geometrical deepness term leads to an increase in sensitivity of natural frequency about variation of aforementioned parameters.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.575-597
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• 2006

Enhanced three-dimensional finite elements for geometrically nonlinear analysis of cable-supported structures are presented. The cable element, derived by using the concept of an equivalent modulus of elasticity and assuming the deflection curve of a cable as catenary function, is proposed to model the cables. The stability functions for a frame member are modified to obtain a numerically stable solution. Various numerical examples are solved to illustrate the versatility and efficiency of the proposed finite element model. It is shown that the finite elements proposed in this study can be very useful for geometrically nonlinear analysis as well as free vibration analysis of three-dimensional cable-supported structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.821-835
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• 2013

The acceleration that the electrical equipment experiences on a structure can be several times the ground acceleration. Currently, substation support structures are being designed according to ASCE (Substation Structure Design Guide 2008), without any consideration about effects of these structures on dynamic behavior of mounted equipment. In this paper, a parametric study is implemented in order to improve seismic design of candlestick substation structures based on this design guide. To do this, dynamic amplification factor (DAF) of different candlestick support-equipment combinations is evaluated and compared to the target DAF presented in IEEE STD 693 (2006). Based on this procedure, a new criterion is developed to restrict maximum acceleration at support-equipment intersection.