• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1579-1587
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• 2022

The effects of hydride amount (20-850 wppm), orientation (circumferential and radial), and temperature (room temperature, 100 ℃, 200 ℃) on the axial mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 cladding were comprehensively examined. The fraction of radial hydride fraction in the cladding was quantified using PROPHET, an in-house radial hydride fraction analysis code. Uniaxial tensile tests (UTTs) were conducted at various temperatures to obtain the axial mechanical properties. Hydride orientation has a limited effect on the axial mechanical behavior of hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding. Ultimate tensile stress (UTS) and associated uniform elongation demonstrated limited sensitivity to hydride content under UTT. Statistical uncertainty of UTS was found small, supporting the deterministic approach for the load-failure analysis of hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding. These properties notably decrease with increasing temperature in the tested range. The dependence of yield strength on hydrogen content differed from temperature to temperature. The ductility-related parameters, such as total elongation, strain energy density (SED), and offset strain decrease with increasing hydride contents. The abrupt loss of ductility in UTT was found at ~700 wppm. Demonstrating a strong correlation between total elongation and offset strain, SED can be used as a comprehensive measure of ductility of hydrided zirconium alloy.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.819-830
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• 2022

This paper presented an experimental study of the bond-slip behavior of reactive powder concrete (RPC)-filled square steel tube. A total of 18 short composite specimens were designed forstatic push-out test, and information on their failure patterns, load-slip behavior and bond strength was presented. The effects of width-to-thickness ratio, height-to-width ratio and the compressive strength of RPC on the bond behavior were discussed. The experimental results show that:(1) the push-out specimens remain intact and no visible local buckling appears on the steel tube, and the interfacial scratches are even more pronounced at the internal steel tube of loading end; (2) the bond load-slip curves with different width-to-thickness ratios can be divided into two types, and the main difference is whether the curves have a drop in load with increasing slip; (3) the bond strength decreases with the increase of the width-to-thickness ratio and height-width ratio, while the influence of RPC strength is not consistent; (4) the slippage has no definite correlation with bond strength and the influence of designed parameters on slippage is not evident. On the basis of the above analysis, the expressions of interface friction stress and mechanical interaction stress are determined by neglecting chemical adhesive force, and the calculation model of bond strength for RPC filled in square steel tube specimens is proposed. The theoretical results agree well with the experimental data.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.263-278
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• 2022

The time-varying structural reliability of an aeroelastic launch vehicle subjected to stochastic parameters is investigated. The launch vehicle structure is under the combined action of several stochastic loads that include aerodynamics, thrust as well as internal combustion pressure. The launch vehicle's main body structural flexibility is modeled via the normal mode shapes of a free-free Euler beam, where the aerodynamic loadings on the vehicle are due to force on each incremental section of the vehicle. The rigid and elastic coupled nonlinear equations of motion are derived following the Lagrangian approach that results in a complete aeroelastic simulation for the prediction of the instantaneous launch vehicle rigid-body motion as well as the body elastic deformations. Reliability analysis has been performed based on two distinct limit state functions, defined as the maximum launch vehicle tip elastic deformation and also the maximum allowable stress occurring along the launch vehicle total length. In this fashion, the time-dependent reliability problem can be converted into an equivalent time-invariant reliability problem. Subsequently, the first-order reliability method, as well as the Monte Carlo simulation schemes, are employed to determine and verify the aeroelastic launch vehicle dynamic failure probability for a given flight time.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.627-643
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• 2022

Water-rock interactions have a significant influence on the mechanical behavior of rocks. In this study, uniaxial compression and tension tests on different water-treated sandstone samples were conducted. Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring and micro-pore structure detection were carried out. Water-rock interactions and their effects on rock mechanical behavior were discussed. The results indicate that water content significantly weakens rock mechanical strength. The sensitivity of the mechanical parameters to water treatment, from high to low, are Poisson ratio (𝜇), uniaxial tensile strength (UTS), uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus (E), and peak strain (𝜀). After water treatment, AE activities and the shear crack percentage are reduced, the angles between macro fractures and loading direction are minimized, the dynamic phenomenon during loading is weakened, and the failure mode changes from a mixed tensile-shear type to a tensile one. Due to the softening, lubrication, and water wedge effects in water-rock interactions, water content increases pore size, promotes crack development, and weakens micro-pore structures. Further damage of rocks in fractured and caved zones due to the water-rock interactions leads to an extra load on the adjoining coal and rock masses, which will increase the risk of dynamic disasters.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.95-107
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• 2022

This paper introduces a novel, rigorous, and efficient probabilistic methodology for the performance-based optimal design (PBOD) of semi-active tuned mass damper (SATMD) for seismically excited nonlinear structures. The proposed methodology is consistent with the modern performance-based earthquake engineering framework and aims to design reliable control systems. To this end, an optimization problem has been defined which considers the parameters of control systems as design variables and minimization of the probability of exceeding a targeted structural performance level during the lifetime as an objective function with a constraint on the failure probability of stroke length damage state associated with mass damper mechanism. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is illustrated through a numerical example of performance analysis of an eight-story nonlinear shear building frame with hysteretic bilinear behavior. The SATMD with variable stiffness and damping have been designed separately with different mass ratios. Their performance has been compared with that of uncontrolled structure and the structure controlled with passive TMD in terms of probabilistic demand curves, response hazard curves, fragility curves, and exceedance probability of performance levels during the lifetime. Numerical results show the effectiveness, simplicity, and reliability of the proposed PBOD method in designing SATMD with variable stiffness and damping for the nonlinear frames where they have reduced the exceedance probability of the structure up to 49% and 44%, respectively.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.173-178
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• 2022

The present study employed two different machine-learning approaches, the extreme gradient boosting (XGB) and light gradient boosting machine (LGBM), to predict a compressive deformation behavior of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V. Such approaches have rarely been verified in the field of metallurgy in contrast to artificial neural network and its variants. XGB and LGBM provided a good prediction for elongation to failure under an extrapolated condition of processing parameters. The predicting accuracy of these methods was better than that of response surface method. Furthermore, XGB and LGBM with optimum hyperparameters well predicted a deformation behavior of Ti-6Al-4V additively manufactured under the extrapolated condition. Although the predicting capability of two methods was comparable, LGBM was superior to XGB in light of six-fold higher rate of machine learning. It is also noted this work has verified the LGBM approach in solving the metallurgical problem for the first time.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.523-540
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• 2023

The failure of slope can cause remarkable damage to either human life or infrastructures. Stabilizing piles are widely utilized to reinforce slope as a slip-resistance structure. The workability of pile-stabilized slopes is affected by various parameters. In this study, the performance of earth slope reinforced with piles and the behavior of piles under static load, by shear reduction strength method using the finite difference software (FLAC^3D) has been investigated. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the role of pile length (L), different pile distances from each other (S/D), pile head conditions (free and fixed head condition), the effect of sand density (loose, medium, and high-density soil) on the pile behavior, and the performance of pile-stabilized slopes. The performance of the stabilized slopes was analyzed by evaluating the factor of safety, lateral displacement and bending moment of piles, and critical slip mechanism. The results depict that as L increased and S/D reduced, the performance of slopes stabilized with pile gets better by raising the soil density. The greater the amount of bending moment at the shallow depths of the pile in the fixed pile head indicates the effect of the inertial force due to the structure on the pile performance.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.749-766
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• 2022

This paper investigates the seismic performance of exposed RCFST column-base joints, in which the high-strength steel bars (USD 685) are set through the column and reinforced concrete foundation without any base plate and anchor bolts. Three specimens with different axial force ratios (n = 0, 0.25, and 0.5) were tested under cyclic loadings. Finite element analysis (FEA) models were validated in the basic indexes and failure mode. The hysteresis behavior of the exposed RCFST column-base joints was studied by the parametrical analysis including six parameters: width of column (D), width-thickness ratio (D/t), axial force ratio (n), shear-span ratio (L/D), steel tube strength (f_y) and concrete strength (f_c). The bending moment of the exposed RCFST column-base joint increased with D, f_y and f_c. But the D/t and L/D play a little effect on the bending capacity of the new column-base joint. Finally, the calculation formula is proposed to assess the bending moment capacities, and the accuracy and stability of the formula are verified.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.89-98
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• 2008

In this study, the behaviour of an unsaturated soil was analyzed by performing $K_0$ consolidated triaxial tests. Unsaturated triaxial tests were performed with matric suctions for weathered soils and stress paths under consolidation and stress-strain relationships under shear were obtained. As a result, the $K_0$ value decreased as the matric suction increased. Besides, both isotropic and $K_0$ conditions had similar shear strength envelopes at the same matric suction. Especially, strength parameters could be obtained by stress variables used in the critical state theory more reasonably than by those of Mohr circles at failure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.103-117
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• 2023

This paper presents an investigation on the shear resistance of corrugated web steel beams (CWBs) with a circular web opening. A total of five specimens with different diameters of web openings were designed and tested with vertical load applied on the top flange at mid-span. The ultimate strengths, failure modes, and load versus middle displacement curves were obtained from the tests. Following the tests, numerical models of the CWBs were developed and validated against the test results. The influence of the web plate thickness, steel grade, opening diameter, and location on the shear strength of the CWBs was extensively investigated. An XGBoost machine learning model for shear resistance prediction was trained based on 256 CWB samples. The XGBoost model with optimal hyperparameters showed excellent accuracy and exceeded the accuracy of the available design equations. The effects of geometric parameters and material properties on the shear resistance were evaluated using the SHAP method.