• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.265-283
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• 2021

To ensure that fire induced collapse of a building is prevented it is important to understand the sequence of events that can lead to this event. In this paper, the initiation of collapse mechanisms of generic a multi-storey steel frame subjected to vertical and horizontal travelling fires are analysed computationally by tracking the formation of plastic hinges in the frame and generation of fire induced loads. Both uniform and travelling fires are considered. In total 58 different cases are analysed using finite element software LS-DYNA. For the frame examined with a simple and generic structural arrangement and higher applied fire protection to the columns, the results indicate that collapse mechanisms for singe floor and multiple floor fires can be each split into two main groups. For single floor fires (taking place in the upper floors of the frame (Group S1)), collapse is initiated by the pull-in of external columns when heated beams in end bays go into catenary action. For single floor fires occurring on the lower floors(Group S2), failure is initiated (i.e. ultimate strain of the material is exceeded) after the local beam collapse. Failure in both groups for single floor fires is governed by the generation of high loads due to restrained thermal expansion and the loss of material strength. For multiple floor fires with a low number of fire floors (1 to 3) - Group M1, failure is dominated by the loss of material strength and collapse is mainly initiated by the pull-in of external columns. For the cases with a larger number of fire floors (5 to 10) - Group M2, failure is dominated by thermal expansion and collapse is mainly initiated by swaying of the frame to the side of fire origin. The results show that for the investigated frame initiation of collapse mechanisms are affected by the fire type, the number of fire floors, and the location of the fire floor. The findings of this study could be of use to designers of buildings when developing fire protection strategies for steel framed buildings where the potential for a multifloor fire exists.

• Proceedings of the Korean Reliability Society Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.337-337
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• 2001

High voltage ceramic capacitors are widely applied in power electronic circuits, such as filters, snubbers, and resonant circuits, due to their excellent features of high voltage endurance and low aging. This paper presents a result of failure analysis and reliability evaluation for high voltage ceramic capacitors. The failure nodes and failure mechanisms were identified in order to understand the failure physics in a component. The causes of failure mechanisms for zero resistance phenomena under withstanding voltage test in high voltage ceramic capacitors molded by epoxy resin were studied by establishing an effective closed-loop failure analysis. Also, the condition for dielectric breakdown was investigated. Particular emphasis was placed on breakdown phenomena at the ceramic-epoxy interface. The validity of the results in this study was confirmed by the results of accelerated testing. Thermal shock test as well as pressure cooker test for high voltage ceramic capacitor mounted on a magnetron were implemented. Delamination between ceramic and epoxy, which, might cause electrical short in underlying circuitry, can occur during curing or thermal cycling. The results can be conveniently used to quickly identify defective lots, determine mean time to failure (MTTF) of each lot at the level of Inspection, and detect major changes in the vendors processes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.621-630
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• 2018

In the note a comprehensive and optimal passive-active mode for describing the limit failure of circular shallow tunnel with settlement is put forward to predict the catastrophic stability during the geotechnical construction. Since the surrounding soil mass around tunnel roof is not homogeneous, with tools of variation calculus, several different curve functions which depict several failure shapes in different soil layers are obtained using virtual work formulae. By making reference to the simple-form of Power-law failure criteria based on numerous experiments, a numerical procedure with consideration of combination of upper bound theorem and stochastic medium theory is applied to the optimal analysis of shallow-buried tunnel failure. With help of functional catastrophe theory, this work presented a more accurate and optimal failure profile compared with previous work. Lastly the note discusses different effects of parameters in new yield rule and soil mechanical coefficients on failure mechanisms. The scope of failure block becomes smaller with increase of the parameter A and the range of failure soil mass tends to decrease with decrease of unit weight of the soil and tunnel radius, which verifies the geomechanics and practical case in engineering.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.599-620
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• 2011

The investigation on possible causes of failures related to documented collapses is a complicated issue, primarily due to the scarcity and inadequacy of information available. Although several studies have tried to understand which are the inherent structural deficiencies or circumstances associated to failure of the main structural elements in a reinforced concrete frame, to the authors knowledge a uniform approach for the evaluation building static vulnerability, does not exist yet. This paper investigates, by means of a detailed case study, the potential failure mechanisms of an existing reinforced concrete building. The linear elastic analysis for the three-dimensional building model gives an insight on the working conditions of the structural elements, demonstrating the relevance of a number of structural faults that could sensibly lower the structure's safety margin. Next, the building's bearing capacity is studied by means of parametric nonlinear analysis performed at the element's level. It is seen that, depending on material properties, concrete strength and steel yield stress, the failure hierarchy could be dominated by either brittle or ductile mechanisms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.421-427
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• 1999

The critical fracture energy and failure mechanisms of GF/PP composites are investigated in the temperatures range of the ambient temperature to $-50^{\circ}C$ The critical fracture energy increase as fiber volume fraction ratio increased The critical fracture energy shows a maximum at ambient temperature and it tends to decrease as temperature goes up. Major failure mechanisms can be classfied such as fiber matrix debonding, fiber pull-out and/or delamination and matrix deformation.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1990.04a
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• pp.50-52
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• 1990

Although concrete pavements were successfully widespread throughout the nation due to the desirable surface characteristics, durability, and economy, it still causes several transverse cracking and joint failure problems in some areas. In this paper, the major emphasis was given to provide a rational analytical approach on joint failure mechanisms, considering several sets of joint stiffnesses on different subgrade moduli. Besides , load transfer mechanisms on concrete pavement joints were highlighted with finite element method and computer modeling.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.357-360
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• 2004

Estimation of deformation capacity of non-flexural reinforced concrete members is proposed using basic concepts of limit analysis and the virtual work method. This new approach starts with construction of admissible stress field as for an equilibrium set. Failure mechanisms compatible with admissible stress fields are postulated as for displacement set. It is assumed that the ultimate deformations as result of failure mechanisms are controlled by ultimate strain of concrete in compression. The derived formula for deformability of deep beams in shear shows reasonable range of ultimate displacement.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.481-496
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• 2024

Internal erosion around pipes can lead to the failure of earth dams through various mechanisms. This study investigates the displacement patterns in earth dam models under three different failure modes due to internal erosion, using digital image correlation (DIC) methods. Three failure modes—erosion along a pipe (FM1), pipe leakage leading to soil erosion (FM2), and erosion in a pipe due to defects (FM3)—are analyzed using two- and three-dimensional image- processing techniques. The internal displacement of the cross-sectional area and the surface displacement of the downstream slope in the dam models are monitored using an image acquisition system. Physical model tests reveal that FM1 exhibits significant displacement on the upper surface of the downstream slope, FM2 shows focused displacement around the pipe defect, and FM3 demonstrates increased displacement on the upstream slope. The variations in internal and surface displacements with time depend on the segmented area and failure mode. Analyzing the relationships between internal and surface displacements using Pearson correlation coefficients reveals various displacement patterns for the segmented areas and failure modes. Therefore, the image-based characterization methods presented in this study may be useful for analyzing the displacement distribution and behavior of earth dams around pipes, and further, for understanding and predicting their failure mechanisms.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.137-148
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• 2007

Rapid increase of embedded systems in electronic and mechanical control systems requires reliable and error-free embedded software. State-based testing methods like FSM are usually used to assure the reliability of embedded software. However, because of possibility of explosion of test cases, only partial test cases are considered in practical tests, which cannot guarantee that all the possible errors are investigated. This study proposes a test procedure based on failure mechanisms that may occur in embedded systems, which can not only assure that certain kinds of possible errors are detected but reduce the testing time. The proposed procedure is applied to vehicle air control system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1465-1486
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• 2016

Conventional plate I-girders are sensitive to local buckling of the web when they are subjected mainly to shear action because the slenderness of the web in out-of-plane direction is much bigger. The local buckling of the web can also cause the distorsion of the plate flange under compression as a thin-walled plate has very low torsional stiffness due to its open section. A new I-girder consisted of corrugated web, a concrete-filled rectangular tubular flange under compression and a plate flange under tension is presented to improve its resistance to local buckling of the web and distorsion of the flat plate flange under compression. Experimental tests on a conventional plate I-girder and a new presented I-girder are conducted to study the failure process and the failure mechanisms of the two specimens. Strain developments at some critical positions, load-lateral displacement curves, and load-deflection curves of the two specimens have all be measured and analyzed. Based on these results, the failure mechanisms of the two kinds of I-girders are discussed.