• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.7 s.262
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• pp.777-783
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• 2007

Since the performance of the circuit breaker mainly depends on the spring operating mechanism, the analysis of the spring operating mechanism is required. The spring, especially closing spring, stores the deformation energy due to the compression and then accelerates the big loads rapidly in the circuit breaker. To accurately carry out the kinematic and dynamic analysis of the circuit breaker, the precise modeling of the spring behavior is necessary. In this paper, the static stiffness of the spring is captured by using the tester. A simple mechanism similar to the spring operating mechanism was designed to generate the release motion of the spring. A high speed camera was used to capture the behavior of the spring. Three types of spring models such as a linear spring model, modal spring model, and nodal spring model are suggested and compared with the experimental results.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.735-741
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• 2015

Piezoelectric materials are well-utilized for transforming mechanical vibrations into electrical energy that can be stored and used to power a diversity of devices. In this work, these materials have been studied to improve the efficiency of a piezoelectric system, whereby the shape and vibration mode of a piezoelectric module was changed. The basic shape of the piezoelectric module used in this work comprises a width of 10 mm, a length of 30 mm, and a thickness of 0.2 mm. The structural design of the piezoelectric module is optimized using a Taguchi method to increase the corresponding electrical-energy generation. The maximum terminal voltage was defined as a characteristic value to evaluate the optimal design parameters. Through this work, we propose an optimal structure with an eccentric and centric mass; furthermore, the voltage increase of approximately 26% was obtained by comparing a general plate-vibrating piezosystem with an optimal plate-vibrating piezosystem.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.555-560
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• 2007

This paper shows some achievements at bending of extruded aluminum profiles during the extrusion process. The conventional process for the production of bent profiles involves a successive extrusion, stretching, and bending of the profiles. Conventional bending methods can not meet demands far precision and cost-effective production in some cases, due to cross sectional deformation, irregular decrease of tube wall thickness and a complication of the process design. An estimation of spring-back required for precision of the bending radius can not always be achieved by the over bending of the profile. Since the profile is hot during the bending process, the spring-back phenomenon can be avoided. This means that an additional bending process is not necessary. Consequently, flexible bending can be achieved with cost reduction and quality improvement. Experimental tests were completed to study the relationship between curvature radius of profile and position of guide on the extrusion for vehicle bumper. A7108 is applied as a billet material in order to increase strength. The overall correlation between the experimental and numerical results is good. It is therefore concluded that the present method provides an efficient means for the constant curvature extrusion process.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.337-359
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• 2019

Shape Memory Polymer Composites (SMPC) have gained popularity over the last few decades due to its flexible shape memory behaviour over wide range of strains and temperatures. In this paper, non-linear bending analysis has been carried out for SMPC beam under the application of uniformly distributed transverse load (UDL). Simplified C⁰ continuity Finite Element Method (FEM) based on Higher Order Shear Deformation Theory (HSDT) has been adopted for flexural analysis of SMPC. The numerical solutions are obtained by iterative Newton Raphson method. Material properties of SMPC with Shape Memory Polymer (SMP) as matrix and carbon fibre as reinforcements, have been calculated by theory of volume averaging. Effect of temperature on SMPC has been evaluated for numerous parameters for instance number of layers, aspect ratio, boundary conditions, volume fraction of carbon fiber and laminate stacking orientation. Moreover, deflection profile over unit length and behavior of stresses across thickness are also presented to elaborate the effect of glass transition temperature (T_g). Present study provides detailed explanation on effect of different parameters on the bending of SMPC beam for large strain over a broad span of temperature from 273-373K, which encompasses glass transition region of SMPC.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.555-564
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• 2006

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the efficient design of traffic light poles involved in vehicle frontal collisions by developing a computer-based, finite-element model capable of capturing the impact characteristics. This is achieved by using the available non-linear dynamic analysis software "LS-DYNA3D", which can accurately predict the dynamic response of both the vehicle and the traffic light pole. The fiber reinforced polymer(FRP) as a new pole's material is proposed in this paper to increase energy absorption capabilities in the case of a traffic pole involved in a vehicle head-on collision. Numerical analyses are conducted to evaluate the effects of key parameters on the response of the pole embedded in soil when impacted by vehicles, including: soil type(clay and sand) and pole material type(FRP and steel). It is demonstrated from the numerical analysis that the FRP pole-soil system has favorable advantages over steel poles, where the FRP pole absorbed vehicle impact energy in a smoother behavior, which leads to smoother acceleration pulse and less deformation of the vehicle than those encountered with steel poles. Also, it was observed that clayey soil brings a slightly more resistance than sandy soil which helps reducing pole movement at ground level. Finally, FRP pole system provides more energy absorbing leading to protection during minor impacts and under service loading, and remain flexible enough to avoid influencing vehicle occupants, thus reducing fatalities and injuries resulting from the crash.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.49-63
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• 2020

Studying the critical response characteristics of box culverts with diverse geometrical configurations under seismic excitations is a necessary step to develop a reasonable design method. In this work, a numerical parametric study is conducted on various soil-culvert systems, aiming to highlight the critical difference in the seismic performances between three- and four-sided culverts. Two-dimensional numerical models consider a variety of burial depths, flexibility ratios and foundation widths, assuming a visco-elastic soil condition, which permits to compare with the analytical solutions and previous studies. The results show that flexible three-sided culverts at a shallow depth considerably amplify the spectral acceleration and Arias intensity. Larger racking deformation and rocking rotation are also predicted for the three-sided culverts, but the bottom slab influence decreases with increasing burial depth and foundation width. The bottom slab combined with the burial depth and structural stiffness also significantly influences the magnitude and distribution of the dynamic earth pressure. The findings of this work shed light on the critical role of the bottom slab in the seismic responses of box culverts and may have a certain reference value for the preliminary seismic design using R-F relation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.689-707
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• 2008

This study presents a method to evaluate the seismic risk of an extradosed bridge with seismic isolators of lead rubber bearings (LRBs), and also to show the effectiveness of the LRB isolators on the extradosed bridge, which is one of the relatively flexible and lightly damped structures in terms of seismic risk. Initially, the seismic vulnerability of a structure is evaluated, and then the seismic hazard of a specific site is rated using an earthquake data set and seismic hazard maps in Korea. Then, the seismic risk of the structure is assessed. The nonlinear seismic analyses are carried out to consider plastic deformation of bridge columns and the nonlinear characteristics of soil foundation. To describe the nonlinear behaviour of a column, the ductility demand is adopted, and the moment-curvature relation of a column is assumed to be bilinear hysteretic. The fragility curves are represented as a log-normal distribution function for column damage, movement of superstructure, and cable yielding. And the seismic hazard at a specific site is estimated using the available seismic hazard maps. The results show that in seismically-isolated extradosed bridges under earthquakes, the effectiveness of the isolators is much more noticeable in the columns than the cables and girders.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.285-296
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• 2020

Dams are important structures for management of water supply for irrigation or drinking, flood control, and electricity generation. In seismic regions, the structural safety of concrete gravity dams is important due to the high potential of life and economic loss if they fail. Therefore, the seismic analysis of existing dams in seismically active regions is crucial for predicting responses of dams to ground motions. In this paper, earthquake response of concrete gravity dams is investigated using the finite element (FE) method. The FE model accounts for dam-water-foundation rock interaction by considering compressible water, flexible foundation effects, and absorptive reservoir bottom materials. Several uncertainties regarding structural attributes of the dam and external actions are considered to obtain the fragility curves of the dam-water-foundation rock system. The structural uncertainties are sampled using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method. The Pine Flat Dam in the Central Valley of Fresno County, California, is selected to demonstrate the methodology for several limit states. The fragility curves for base sliding, and excessive deformation limit states are obtained by performing non-linear time history analyses. Tensile cracking including the complex state of stress that occurs in dams was also considered. Normal, Log-Normal and Weibull distribution types are considered as possible fits for fragility curves. It was found that the effect of the minimum principal stress on tensile strength is insignificant. It is also found that the probability of failure of tensile cracking is higher than that for base sliding of the dam. Furthermore, the loss of reservoir control is unlikely for a moderate earthquake.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.637-648
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• 2020

In this study, a new steel cylindrical shell configuration of the dissipative energy device is proposed to improve lateral ductility and to reduce the damage of the structures against seismic forces. Four nested-eccentric- cylindrical shells are used to constructing this device; therefore, this proposed device is named nested-eccentric-cylindrical shells damper (NECSD). The particular configuration of the nested-eccentric-cylindrical shells is applied to promote the mechanical characteristics, stability, and overall performance of the damper in cyclic loads. Shell-type components are performed as a combination of series and parallel non-linear springs into the in-plan plastic deformation. Numerical analysis with respect to dimensional variables are used to calculate the mechanical characteristics of the NECSD, and full-scale testing is conducted for verifying the numerical results. The parametric study shows the NECSD with thin shells were more flexible, while devices with thick shells were more capacious. The results from numerical and experimental studies indicate that the NECSD has a stable behavior in hysteretic loops with highly ductile performance, and can provide appropriate dissipated energy under cyclic loads.

• Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.261-267
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• 2015

Free-form blades are widely used in different industries, such as aero-engine and steam turbine. Blades that are damaged during service or have production deficiencies are usually replaced with new ones. This leads to the waste of expensive material and is not sustainable. However, material and costs can be saved by repairing of locally damaged blades or blades with localized production deficiencies. The blade needs to be further machined after welding process to reach the aerodynamic performance requirements. This paper outlines an adaptive location approach of repaired blade for model reconstruction and NC machining. Firstly, a mathematical model is established to describe the localization problem under constraints. Secondly, by solving the mathematical model, localization of repaired blade for NC machining can be obtained. Furthermore, a more flexible method based on the proposed mathematical model and the continuity of the deformation process is developed to realize a better localization. Thirdly, by rebuilding the model of the repaired blade and extracting repair error, optimized tool paths for NC machining is generated adaptively for each individual part. Finally, three examples are given to validate the proposed method.