• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.198-204
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• 2020

In this study, we employ the full atomistic molecular dynamics simulation and finite element homogenization method to predict the thermo-mechanical properties of nanocomposites including carbon nanotube bundle. As the number of carbon nanotubes within the single bundle increases, the effective in-plane Young's modulus and in-plane shear modulus decrease, and in-plane thermal expansion coefficient increases, despite the same volume fraction of carbon nanotubes. To investigate the thickness of interphase zone, we employ the radial density distribution. It is investigated that the interphase thickness is almost independent on the number of carbon nanotubes within the single bundle. It is assumed that the matrix and interphase are isotropic materials. According to the predicted thermo-mechanical properties of interphase zone, the Young's modulus and shear modulus of interphase zone clearly decrease, and the thermal expansion coefficient increases. Based on the thermo-mechanical interphase behavior, we developed the multiscale homogenization model to predict the thermo-mechanical properties of PLA nanocomposites that include the carbon nanotube bundle.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.63-70
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• 2000

The quantitative analyses and the mechanical interpretation of discontinuity planes are the most important factor for the study of strength and deformation properties of rock masses containing discontinuity planes. However, the relationship between the factors investigated in the field and the actual mechanical properties of discontinuity planes is not fully understood. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of density, length, and spacing of joints on elastic modulus of rock masses as these values vary. A new parameter which has a direct relation with the elastic modulus of discontinuity planes is also preposed in this study. The combination of finite element methods and homogenization methods has been used for the numerical analyses of a uintcell with discontinuity planes, which is generated using random-number generation methods. The elastic modulus of the discontinuity plane is found from the numerical analyses. The final results propose not only the relation between the investigation parameters of discontinuity planes and the elastic modulus of rock masses but also a new parameter, an effect area ratio having a linear relation with the elastic modulus of rock masses.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2003

The cell modeling homogenization method to derive the constitutive equation considering the microstructures of the fiber reinforced composites has been previously developed for composites with simple microstructures such as 2D plane composites and 3D rectangular shaped composites. Here, the method has been further extended for 3D circular braided com-posites, utilizing B-spline curves to properly describe the more complex geometry of 3D braided composites. For verification purposes, the method has been applied for orthotropic elastic properties of the 3D circular braided glass fiber reinforced com-posite, in particular for the tensile property. Prepregs of the specimen have been fabricated using the 3D braiding machine through RTM (resin transfer molding) with epoxy as a matrix. Experimentally measured uniaxial tensile properties agreed well with predicted values obtained for two volume fractions.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.213-234
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• 2010

A multiscale method is presented for analysis of thin slab structures in which the microstructures can not be reduced to two-dimensional plane stress models and thus three dimensional treatment of microstructures is necessary. This method is based on the classical asymptotic expansion multiscale approach but with consideration of the special geometric characteristics of the slab structures. This is achieved via a special form of multiscale asymptotic expansion of displacement field. The expanded three dimensional displacement field only exhibits in-plane periodicity and the thickness dimension is in the global scale. Consequently by employing the multiscale asymptotic expansion approach the global macroscopic structural problem and the local microscopic unit cell problem are rationally set up. It is noted that the unit cell is subjected to the in-plane periodic boundary conditions as well as the traction free conditions on the out of plane surfaces of the unit cell. The variational formulation and finite element implementation of the unit cell problem are discussed in details. Thereafter the in-plane material response is systematically characterized via homogenization analysis of the proposed special unit cell problem for different microstructures and the reasoning of the present method is justified. Moreover the present multiscale analysis procedure is illustrated through a plane stress beam example.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2016

In this paper, a projection method is introduced which is used in topology design optimization. In the projection method, each active design variable is projected onto the design domain depending on the shape and size of the projection functions, and the finite element under this projection receives a solid material. Furthermore, the size of the projection function defines the minimum length scale of the structural members. Therefore, a designer can easily apply design constraints without complicated post-processing procedure. In addition, the projection method can be combined with the homogenization theory, and applied to material design problem for composite materials. Topology design optimization for the unit-cell of the periodic structures can maximize the effective material properties, which yields the optimal material distribution with maximum bulk or shear moduli under a given volume fraction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.3543-3562
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• 2021

The methods and performance of a 3D pin-by-pin neutronics code based on the 2D/1D decoupling method are presented. The code was newly developed as an effort to achieve enhanced accuracy and high calculation performance that are sufficient for the use in practical nuclear design analyses. From the 3D diffusion-based finite difference method (FDM) formulation, decoupled planar formulations are established by treating pre-determined axial leakage as a source term. The decoupled axial problems are formulated with the radial leakage source term. To accelerate the pin-by-pin calculation, the two-level coarse mesh finite difference (CMFD) formulation, which consists of the multigroup node-wise CMFD and the two-group assembly-wise CMFD is implemented. To enhance the accuracy, both the discontinuity factor method and the super-homogenization (SPH) factor method are examined for pin-wise cross-section homogenization. The parallelization is achieved with the OpenMP package. The accuracy and performance of the pin-by-pin calculations are assessed with the VERA and APR1400 benchmark problems. It is demonstrated that pin-by-pin 2D/1D alternating calculations within the two-level 3D CMFD framework yield accurate solutions in about 30 s for the typical commercial core problems, on a parallel platform employing 32 threads.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.231-245
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• 2023

In the cosmetics industry, it is important to develop new materials for functional cosmetics such as whitening, wrinkles, anti-oxidation, and anti-aging, as well as technology to increase absorption when applied to the skin. Therefore, in this study, we tried to optimize the nanoemulsion formulation by utilizing response surface methodology (RSM), an experimental design method. A nanoemulsion was prepared by a high-pressure emulsification method using Glabridin as an active ingredient, and finally, the optimized skin absorption rate of the nanoemulsion was evaluated. Nanoemulsions were prepared by varying the surfactant content, cholesterol content, oil content, polyol content, high-pressure homogenization pressure, and cycling number of high-pressure homogenization as RSM factors. Among them, surfactant content, oil content, high-pressure homogenization pressure, and cycling number of high-pressure homogenization, which are factors that have the greatest influence on particle size, were used as independent variables, and particle size and skin absorption rate of nanoemulsion were used as response variables. A total of 29 experiments were conducted at random, including 5 repetitions of the center point, and the particle size and skin absorption of the prepared nanoemulsion were measured. Based on the results, the formulation with the minimum particle size and maximum skin absorption was optimized, and the surfactant content of 5.0 wt%, oil content of 2.0 wt%, high-pressure homogenization pressure of 1,000 bar, and the cycling number of high-pressure homogenization of 4 pass were derived as the optimal conditions. As the physical properties of the nanoemulsion prepared under optimal conditions, the particle size was 111.6 ± 0.2 nm, the PDI was 0.247 ± 0.014, and the zeta potential was -56.7 ± 1.2 mV. The skin absorption rate of the nanoemulsion was compared with emulsion as a control. As a result of the nanoemulsion and general emulsion skin absorption test, the cumulative absorption of the nanoemulsion was 79.53 ± 0.23%, and the cumulative absorption of the emulsion as a control was 66.54 ± 1.45% after 24 h, which was 13% higher than the emulsion.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2005

In order to simulate the powder compaction process and to assess the effects of packing randomness and particle arrangement 2-dimensional model of rod array compaction using quasi-random multiparticle array is introduced. The elastic modulus of porous ceramics is computed by the homogenization method. With 3 Al₂O₃ and 3 Al particles the compaction processes associated with the porosities are simulated by the explicit finite element method, based on the elastic modulus found by the homogenization method. The simulation results are compared with both previous analytical ones and experimental measurements. Finally, in order to find the relationship between the friction coefficient of powder particles and the relative density, the sensitivity analysis is performed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.105-114
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• 2018

In this paper, the computer simulations are carried out by using the peridynamic theory model with various conditions including quasi-static loads, dynamic loads and crack propagation, branching crack pattern and isotropic materials, orthotropic materials. Three examples, a plate with a hole under quasi-static loading, a plate with a pre-existing crack under dynamic loading and a lamina with a pre-existing crack under quasi-static loading are analyzed by computational simulations. In order to simulate the quasi-static load, an adaptive dynamic relaxation technique is used. In the orthotropic material analysis, a homogenization method is used considering the strain energy density ratio between the classical continuum mechanics and the peridynamic. As a result, crack propagation and branching cracks are observed successfully and the direction and initiation of the crack are also captured within the peridynamic modeling. In case of applying peridynamic used homogenization method to a relatively complicated orthotropic material, it is also verified by comparing with experimental results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.202-216
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• 1984

The success of coarse-mesh nodal solution methods provides strong motivation for finding homogenized parameters which, when used in global nodal calculation, will reproduce exactly all average nodal reaction rates for large nodes. Two approximate theories for finding these ideal parameters, namely, simplified equivalence theory and approximate node equivalence theory, are described herein and then applied to the PWR benchmark problem. Nodal code, ANM, is used for the global calculation as well as for the homogenization calculation. From the comparative analysis, it is recommended that homogenization be carried out only for the unique type of fuel assemblies and for core boundary color-sets. The use of approximate homogenized cross-sections and approximate discontinuity factors predicts nodal powers with maximum error of 0.8% and criticality within 0.1% error relative to the fine-mesh KIDD calculations.