• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.177-190
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• 2008

In this paper, both experimental measurement and theoretical analysis are used to investigate the out-of-plane resonant characteristics of a cantilevered piezoceramic plate in air and three different kinds of fluid. The experimental method, amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry (AF-ESPI), is the major technique used in this study to measure the resonant characteristics of the cantilivered piezoceramic plate. Both resonant frequencies and full-field mode shapes are obtained from this experimental technique. Numerical computations based on the finite element analysis are presented for comparison with the experimental results. Good quality of mode shapes for the cantilevered piezoceramic plate in air is obtained from the AF-ESPI technique. However, the quality decreases as the viscosity of fluids increases. From the results provided from experimental measurements and numerical computations, it is indicated that the resonant frequencies of the cantilevered piezoceramic plate in fluid decrease with the increase of the viscosity of fluids. Good agreements between the experimental measured data and the numerical calculated results are found for both resonant frequencies and mode shapes of the cantilevered piezoceramic plate in fluid.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2022

The key parameter that affects the consolidation process of soil is the coefficient of permeability. The common assumption in the consolidation analysis is that the coefficient of permeability is porosity-dependent. However, various authors suggest that the strain-dependency of the coefficient of permeability should also be taken into account. In this paper, we present results of experimental and numerical analyses, with an aim to determine the strain-dependency of the coefficient of permeability. We present in detail both the experimental procedure and the finite element formulation of the two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical model of the oedometer test (standard and modified). We perform a set of experimental standard and modified oedometer tests. We use these experimental results to validate our numerical model and to define the model input parameter. Finally, by combining the experimental and numerical results, we propose the expression for the strain-dependent coefficient of permeability.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.118-124
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• 2004

To investigate the mechanics of brake squeal noise, the sound and vibration of an actual brake system was measured using a brake dynamometer. The experimental results show that disk run-out due to the misalignment of brake disk varies with brake line pressure and becomes the important factor of brake squeal noise generation. Also, it was confirmed that the frequency of the squeal noise equals to the natural frequency of the disk bending mode.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.631-644
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• 1996

Geomaterials such as soil and rock are composed of discrete elements of microstructures with different grains and microcracks. The studies of these microstructures are of increasing interest in geophysics and geotechnical engineering relating to underground space development We first show experimental results undertaken for direct observation of microcrack initiation and propagation by using a newly developed experimental system, and next a homogenization method for treating a viscoelastic behavior of a polycrystalline rock.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.611-623
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• 2010

Excessive stay cable vibrations can cause severe problems for cable-stayed bridges. In this paper a semiactive Magnetorheological (MR) damper is investigated to reduce cable vibrations. The control-oriented cable-damper model is first established; a computer simulation for the cable-damper system is carried out; and finally a MR damper is experimentally used to reduce the cable vibration in a laboratory environment using a semiactive control algorithm. Both the simulation and experimental results show that the semiactive MR damper achieves better control results than the corresponding passive damper.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.229-265
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• 2012

Hygroexpansion of wood is a known and undesired characteristic in civil engineering. When wood is exposed to changing environmental humidity, it adsorbs or desorbs moisture and warps. The resulting distortions or - at restrained conditions - cracks are a major concern in timber engineering. We herein present a multiscale model for prediction of the macroscopic hygroexpansion behavior of individual pieces of softwood from their microstructure, demonstrated for spruce. By applying poromicromechanics, we establish a link between the swelling pressure, driving the hygroexpansion of wood at the nanoscale, and the resulting macroscopic dimensional changes. The model comprises six homogenization steps, which are performed by means of continuum micromechanics, the unit cell method and laminate theory, all formulated in a poromechanical framework. Model predictions for elastic properties of wood as functions of the moisture content closely approach corresponding experimental data. As for the hygroexpansion behavior, the swelling pressure has to be back-calculated from macroscopic hygroexpansion data. The good reproduction of the anisotropy of wood hygroexpansion, based on only a single scalar calibration parameter, underlines the suitability of the model. The multiscale model constitutes a valuable tool for studying the effect of microstructural features on the macroscopic behavior and for assessing the hygroexpansion behavior at smaller length scales, which are inaccessible to experiments. The model predictions deliver input parameters for the analysis of timber at the structural scale, therewith enabling to optimize the use of timber and to prevent moisture-induced damage or failure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.4
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• pp.415-424
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• 2020

Recently, many structural damage detection (SDD) methods have been proposed to monitor the safety of structures. As an important modal parameter, mode shape has been widely used in SDD, and the difference of vectors was adopted based on sensitivity analysis and mode shapes in the existing studies. However, amplitudes of mode shapes in different measured points are relative values. Therefore, the difference of mode shapes will be influenced by their amplitudes, and the SDD results may be inaccurate. Focus on this deficiency, a multi-strategy SDD method is proposed based on the included angle of vectors and sparse regularization in this study. Firstly, inspired by modal assurance criterion (MAC), a relationship between mode shapes and changes in damage coefficients is established based on the included angle of vectors. Then, frequencies are introduced for multi-strategy SDD by a weighted coefficient. Meanwhile, sparse regularization is applied to improve the ill-posedness of the SDD problem. As a result, a novel convex optimization problem is proposed for effective SDD. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, numerical simulations in a planar truss and experimental studies in a six-story aluminum alloy frame in laboratory are conducted. The identified results indicate that the proposed method can effectively reduce the influence of noises, and it has good ability in locating structural damages and quantifying damage degrees.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.264-273
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• 2015

This presentation describes an experimental approach for the detection of cavitation in hydraulic machines by use of ultrasonic signal analysis. Instead of using the high frequency pulses (typically 1MHz) only for transit time measurement different other signal characteristics are extracted from the individual signals and its correlation function with reference signals in order to gain knowledge of the water conditions. As the pulse repetition rate is high (typically 100Hz), statistical parameters can be extracted of the signals. The idea is to find patterns in the parameters by a classifier that can distinguish between the different water states. This classification scheme has been applied to different cavitation sections: a sphere in a water flow in circular tube at the HSLU in Lucerne, a NACA profile in a cavitation tunnel and two Francis model test turbines all at LMH in Lausanne. From the signal raw data several statistical parameters in the time and frequency domain as well as from the correlation function with reference signals have been determined. As classifiers two methods were used: neural feed forward networks and decision trees. For both classification methods realizations with lowest complexity as possible are of special interest. It is shown that two to three signal characteristics, two from the signal itself and one from the correlation function are in many cases sufficient for the detection capability. The final goal is to combine these results with operating point, vibration, acoustic emission and dynamic pressure information such that a distinction between dangerous and not dangerous cavitation is possible.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.957-980
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• 2016

Structural damage detection (SDD) is a challenging task in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM). As an exploring attempt to the SDD problem, a hybrid self-adaptive Firefly-Nelder-Mead (SA-FNM) algorithm is proposed for the SDD problem in this study. First of all, the basic principle of firefly algorithm (FA) is introduced. The Nelder-Mead (NM) algorithm is incorporated into FA for improving the local searching ability. A new strategy for exchanging the information in the firefly group is introduced into the SA-FNM for reducing the computation cost. A random walk strategy for the best firefly and a self-adaptive control strategy of three key parameters, such as light absorption, randomization parameter and critical distance, are proposed for preferably balancing the exploitation and exploration ability of the SA-FNM. The computing performance of the SA-FNM is evaluated and compared with the basic FA by three benchmark functions. Secondly, the SDD problem is mathematically converted into a constrained optimization problem, which is then hopefully solved by the SA-FNM algorithm. A multi-step method is proposed for finding the minimum fitness with a big probability. In order to assess the accuracy and the feasibility of the proposed method, a two-storey rigid frame structure without considering the finite element model (FEM) error and a steel beam with considering the model error are taken examples for numerical simulations. Finally, a series of experimental studies on damage detection of a steel beam with four damage patterns are performed in laboratory. The illustrated results show that the proposed method can accurately identify the structural damage. Some valuable conclusions are made and related issues are discussed as well.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.181-195
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• 2022

Roughness and joint inclination angle are the important factors that affect the strength and deformation characteristics of jointed rock mass. In this paper, 3D printer has been employed to make molds firstly, and casting the jointed specimens with different joint roughness coefficient (JRC), and different joint inclination angle (α). Conventional triaxial compression tests were carried out on the jointed specimens, and the influence of JRC on the strength and deformation parameters was analyzed. At the same time, acoustic emission (AE) testing system has been adopted to reveal the AE characteristic of the jointed specimens in the process of triaxial compression. Finally, the morphological of the joint surface was observed by digital three-dimensional video microscopy system, and the relationship between the peak strength and JRC under different confining pressures has been discussed. The results indicate that the existence of joint results in a significant reduction in the strength of the joint specimen, JRC also has great influence on the morphology, quantity and spatial distribution characteristics of cracks. With the increase of JRC, the triaxial compressive strength increase, and the specimen will change from brittle failure to ductile failure.