• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.603-625
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• 2019

Main cable configurations under final dead load and in the unloaded state and critical construction parameters (e.g. unstrained cable length, unstrained hanger lengths, and pre-offsets for tower saddles and splay saddles) are the core considerations in the design and construction control of a suspension bridge. For the purpose of accurate calculations, it is necessary to take into account the effects of cable strands over the anchor spans, arc-shaped saddle top, and tower top pre-uplift. In this paper, a method for calculating the cable configuration under final dead load over a main span, two side spans, and two anchor spans, coordinates of tangent points, and unstrained cable length are firstly developed using conditions for mechanical equilibrium and geometric relationships. Hanger tensile forces and unstrained hanger lengths are calculated by iteratively solving the equations governing hanger tensile forces and the cable configuration, which gives careful consideration to the effect of hanger weight. Next, equations for calculating the cable configuration in the unloaded state and pre-offsets of saddles are derived from the cable configuration under final dead load and the conditions for unstrained cable length to be conserved. The equations for the main span, two side spans and two anchor spans are then solved simultaneously. In the proposed methods, coupled nonlinear equations are solved by turning them into an unconstrained optimization problem, making the procedure simplified. The feasibility and validity of the proposed methods are demonstrated through a numerical example.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.116-122
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• 2019

Among the various wave power systems, Salter's duck (rotor) is one of the most effective wave absorbers for extracting wave energy. The rotor shape is designed such that the front part faces the direction of the incident wave, which forces it to bob up and down due to wave-induced water particle motion, whereas the rear part, which is mostly circular in shape, reflects no waves. The asymmetric geometric shape of the duck makes it absorb energy efficiently. In the present study, the rotor was investigated using WAMIT (a program based on the linear potential flow theory in three-dimensional diffraction/radiation analyses) in the frequency domain and verified using OrcaFlex (design and analysis program of marine system) in the time domain. Then, an experimental investigation was conducted to assess the performance of the rotor motion based on the model scale in a two-dimensional (2D) wave tank. Initially, a free decay test (FDT) was carried out to obtain the viscous damping coefficient. The pitch response was extracted from the experimental time series in a periodic regular wave for two different wave heights (1 cm and 3 cm). In addition, the viscous damping coefficient was calculated from the FDT result and fluid forces, obtained from WAMIT, are incorporated into the final response of the rotor. Finally, a comparative study based on experimental and numerical results (WAMIT & OrcaFlex) was performed to confirm the performance reliability of the designed rotor.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.391-399
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• 2020

In this study, the behaviors of a suction cap shaped as an arch were analyzed using finite element models. The fundamental structural behaviors of both flat- and arch-type caps were compared, and the advantages of the arch-shaped cap were explained. Moreover, the effects of geometric parameters and stiffener arrangements on the stress and deformation of the arch-shaped caps were investigated by comparisons of the changes in the behaviors of the caps. Additionally, the effects of boundary condition at the edge of the cap were analyzed to study the interactions between the cap and cofferdam walls; these results were used to derive the fundamental structural design of stiffened arch caps. Unlike flat caps, the results showed that ring stiffeners could improve the structural behaviors of arch caps remarkably, while the contributions of the radial stiffeners to the structural behaviors of the caps are dependent on constraints at the edges of the caps.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.74-89
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• 2021

For higher-level requirements of urban planning and management and the recent development of "digital earth" and "digital city", it is urgent to establish protocols for the construction of three-dimensional digital city models. However, some problems still exist in the digital technology of the three-dimensional city model, such as insufficient precision of the three-dimensional model, not optimizing the scene and not considering the constraints of building codes. In view of those points, a method to interactively simulate a virtual city scene based on building codes is proposed in this paper. Firstly, some constraint functions are set up to restrict the models to adhere to the building codes, and an improved directional bounding box technique is utilized to solve the problem that geometric objects may intersect in a virtual city scene. The three-dimensional model invocation strategy is designed to convert two-dimensional layouts to a three-dimensional urban scene. A Leap Motion hardware device is used to interactively place the 3D models in a virtual scene. Finally, the design and construction of the three-dimensional scene are completed by using Unity3D. The experiment shows that this method can simulate urban virtual scenes that strictly adhere to building codes in a virtual scene of the city environment, but also provide information and decision-making functions for urban planning and management.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.2
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• pp.167-177
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• 2021

Due to various benefits such as unlimited degrees of freedom, environment adaptability, and safety for humans, engineers have used soft materials with hyperelastic behavior in various industrial, medical, rescue, and other sectors. One of the applications of these materials in the fabrication of bending soft actuators (SA) is that they have eliminated many problems in the actuators such as production cost, mechanical complexity, and design algorithm. However, SA has complexities, such as predicting and monitoring behavior despite the many benefits. The first part of this paper deals with the prediction of SA behavior through mathematical models such as Ogden and Darijani, and its comparison with the results of experiments. At first, by examining different geometric models, the cubic structure was selected as the optimal structure in the investigated models. This geometrical structure at the same pressure showed the most significant bending in the simulation. The simulation results were then compared with experimental, and the final gripper model was designed and manufactured using a 3D printer with silicone rubber as for the polymer part. This geometrical structure is capable of bending up to a 90-degree angle at 70 kPa in less than 2 seconds. The second section is dedicated to monitoring the bending behavior created by the strain sensors with different sensitivity and stretchability. In the fabrication of the sensors, silicon is used as a soft material with hyperelastic behavior and carbon fiber as a conductive material in the soft material substrate. The SA designed in this paper is capable of deforming up to 1000 cycles without changing its characteristics and capable of moving objects weigh up to 1200 g. This SA has the capability of being used in soft robots and artificial hand making for high-speed objects harvesting.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.199-204
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• 2021

In this study, an isogoemetric analysis (IGA) method that uses NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline) basis functions in computer-aided design (CAD) systems is employed to account for the geometric exactness of curved electrodes constituting an electro-adhesive pad in electrostatic problems. The IGA is advantageous for obtaining precise normal vectors when computing the electro-adhesive forces on curved surfaces. By performing parametric studies using numerical examples, we demonstrate the superior performance of the curved electrodes, which is attributed to the increase in the normal component of the electro-adhesive forces. In addition, concave curved electrodes exhibit better performance than their convex counterparts.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.225-245
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• 2022

More and more shipping containers are falling into the sea due to bad weather. Containers lost at sea negatively affect the shipping line, the trader and the consumer, and the environment. The question of locating and recovering dropped containers is a challenging engineering problem. Model-testing of small-scaled container models is proposed as an efficient way to investigate their falling trajectories to salvage them. In this study, we first build a standard 20-ft container model in SOLIDWORKS. Then, a three-dimensional (3D) geometric model in the STL (Standard Tessellation Language) format is exported to a Stratasys F170 Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printer. In total, six models were made of acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) and printed for the purpose of testing. They represent three different loading conditions with different densities and center of gravity (COG). Two samples for each condition were tested. The physical models were dropped into the towing tank of University of New Orleans (UNO). From the experimental tests, it is found that the impact of the initial position after sinking can cause a certain initial rolling velocity, which may have a great impact on the lateral displacement, and subsequently affect the final landing position. This series of model tests not only provide experimental data for the study of the trajectory of box-shape objects but also provide a valuable reference for maritime salvage operations and for the pipeline layout design.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.345-360
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• 2021

This paper presents an analytical approach to calculate the buckling load of the cylindrical ring structures subjected to both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures. Based on the conservative law of energy and Timoshenko beam theory, a theoretical formula, which can be used to evaluate the critical pressure of buckling, is first derived for the simplified cylindrical ring structures. It is assumed that the hydrodynamic pressure can be treated as an equivalent hydrostatic pressure as a cosine function along the perimeter while the thickness ratio is limited to 0.2. Note that this paper limits the deformed shape of the cylindrical ring structures to an elliptical shape. The proposed analytical solutions are then compared with the numerical simulations. The critical pressure is evaluated in this study considering two possible failure modes: ultimate failure and buckling failure. The results show that the proposed analytical solutions can correctly predict the critical pressure for both failure modes. However, it is not recommended to be used when the hydrostatic pressure is low or medium (less than 80% of the critical pressure) as the analytical solutions underestimate the critical pressure especially when the ultimate failure mode occurs. This implies that the proposed solutions can still be used properly when the subsea vehicles are located in the deep parts of the ocean where the hydrostatic pressure is high. The finding will further help improve the geometric design of subsea vehicles against both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures to enhance its strength and stability when it moves underwater. It will also help to control the speed of the subsea vehicles especially they move close to the sea bottom to prevent a catastrophic failure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.821-837
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• 2022

This research is devoted to study the effects of humidity and temperature on the bending behavior of functionally graded (FG) ceramic-metal porous plates resting on Pasternak elastic foundation using a quasi-3D hyperbolic shear deformation theory developed recently. The present plate theory with only four unknowns, takes into account both transverse shear and normal deformations and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the surfaces of the functionally graded plate without using shear correction factors. Material properties of porous FG plate are defined by rule of the mixture with an additional term of porosity in the through-thickness direction. The governing differential equations are obtained using the "principle of virtual work". Analytically, the Navier method is used to solve the equations that govern a simply supported FG porous plate. The obtained results are checked by comparing the results determined for the perfect and imperfect FG plates with those available in the scientific literature. Effects due to material index, porosity factors, moisture and thermal loads, foundation rigidities, geometric ratios on the FG porous plate are all examined. Finally, this research will help us to design advanced functionally graded materials to ensure better durability and efficiency for hygro-thermal environments.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2022

Section model test, as the most commonly used method to evaluate the aerostatic and aeroelastic performances of long-span bridges, may be carried out under different conditions of incoming wind speed, geometric scale and wind tunnel facilities, which may lead to potential Reynolds number (Re) effect, model scaling effect and wind tunnel scale effect, respectively. The Re effect and scale effect on aerostatic force coefficients and aeroelastic characteristics of streamlined bridge decks were investigated via 1:100 and 1:60 scale section model tests. The influence of auxiliary facilities was further investigated by comparative tests between a bare deck section and the deck section with auxiliary facilities. The force measurement results over a Re region from about 1×10⁵ to 4×10⁵ indicate that the drag coefficients of both deck sections show obvious Re effect, while the pitching moment coefficients have weak Re dependence. The lift coefficients of the smaller scale models have more significant Re effect. Comparative tests of different scale models under the same Re number indicate that the static force coefficients have obvious scale effect, which is even more prominent than the Re effect. Additionally, the scale effect induced by lower model length to wind tunnel height ratio may produce static force coefficients with smaller absolute values, which may be less conservative for structural design. The results with respect to flutter stability indicate that the aerodynamic-damping-related flutter derivatives 𝘈^*₂ and 𝐴^*₁𝐻^*₃ have opposite scale effect, which makes the overall scale effect on critical flutter wind speed greatly weakened. The most significant scale effect on critical flutter wind speed occurs at +3° wind angle of attack, which makes the small-scale section models give conservative predictions.