• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.13 no.5 s.57
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• pp.101-108
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• 2009

Mathematical basis of interpretation of data from nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods in condition assessment of structures is presented. In structural inspection with NDE methods, NDE data are not directly used for the condition assessment. Instead, NDE data must be interpreted as condition of inspected element. Correct assessments of conditions depend on many factors such as the inaccuracy and the variability in NDE measurements and the uncertainty in correlation between attributes (what is measured) and conditions (what is sought in the inspection). A full description of the performance of NDE methods considers the relation of test data to conditions of elements. The quality of the test itself is important, but equally important is the interpretation that occurs after the test. The effects of variability in test data and uncertainty in correlations of attributes and conditions are presented in three examples of field testing methods.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.727-740
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• 2017

The present paper studies the stability analysis of the continuously graded CNT-Reinforced Composite (CNTRC) panel stiffened by rings and stringers. The Stiffened Panel (SP) subjected to axial and lateral loads is reinforced by agglomerated CNTs smoothly graded through the thickness. A two-parameter Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka (EMT) model is adopted to derive the effective material moduli of the CNTRC. The stability equations of the CNRTC SP are obtained by means of the adjacent equilibrium criterion. Notwithstanding most available literature in which the stiffener effects were smeared out over the respective stiffener spacing, in the present work, the stiffeners are modeled as Euler-Bernoulli beams. The Generalized Differential Quadrature Method (GDQM) is employed to discretize the stability equations. A numerical study is performed to investigate the influences of different types of parameters involved on the critical buckling of the SP reinforced by agglomerated CNTs. The results achieved reveal that continuously distributing of CNTs adjacent to the inner and outer panel's surface results in improving the stiffness of the SP and, as a consequence, inclining the critical buckling load. Furthermore, it has been concluded that the decline rate of buckling load intensity factor owing to the increase of the panel angle is significantly more sensible for the smaller values of panel angle.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.589-598
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• 2017

In this paper, dynamic response of the horizontal concrete beam subjected to seismic ground excitation is investigated. The structure is reinforced by $Fe_2O_3$ nanoparticles which have the magnetic properties. The hyperbolic shear deformation beam theory (HSDBT) is used for mathematical modeling of the structure. Based on the Mori-Tanaka model, the effective material properties of concrete beam is calculated considering the agglomeration of $Fe_2O_3$ nanoparticles. Applying energy method and Hamilton's principle, the motion equations are derived. Harmonic differential quadrature method (HDQM) along with Newmark method is utilized for numerical solution of the motion equations. The effects of different parameters such as volume fraction and agglomeration of $Fe_2O_3$ nanoparticles, magnetic field, boundary conditions and geometrical parameters of concrete beam are studied on the dynamic response of the structure. In order to validation of this work, an exact solution is used for comparing the numerical and analytical results. The results indicated that applying magnetic field decreases the of the structure up to 54 percent. In addition, increase too much the magnetic field (Hx>5e8 A/m) does not considerable effect on the reduction of the maximum dynamic displacement.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.483-491
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• 2018

Timoshenko beam model is widely exploited in the literature to examine the mechanical behavior of stubby beam-like components. Timoshenko beam theory is well-known to require the shear correction factor in order to recognize the nonuniform shear distribution at a section. While a variety of shear correction factors are appeared in the literature so far, there is still no consensus on the most appropriate form of the shear correction factor. The Saint-Venant's flexure problem is first revisited in the frame work of the classical theory of elasticity and a highly accurate approximate closed-form solution is presented employing the extended Kantorovich method. The resulted approximate solution for the elasticity field is then employed to introduce two shear correction factors consistent with the Cowper's and energy approaches. The mathematical form of the proposed shear correction factors are then simplified and compared with the results available in the literature over an extended range of Poisson's and aspect ratios. The proposed shear correction factors do not exhibit implausible issue of negative values and do not result in numerical instabilities too. Based on the comprehensive discussion on the shear correction factors, a piecewise definition of shear correction factor is introduced for rectangular cross-sections having excellent agreement with the numerical results in the literature for both shallow and deep cross-sections.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.215-235
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• 2020

Cracks and defects may occur anywhere in a plate under tension. Cracks can affect the buckling stability performance and even the failure mode of the plate. A search of the literature reveals that the reported research has mostly focused on the study of plates with central and small cracks. Considering the effectiveness of cracks on the buckling behavior of plates, this study intends to investigate the effects of some key parameters, i.e., crack size and location as well as the plate aspect ratio and support conditions, on the buckling behavior, stress intensity factor (SIF), and the failure mode (buckling or fracture) in cracked plates under tension. To this end, a sophisticated mathematical code was developed using MATLAB in the frame-work of extended finite element method (XFEM) in order to analyze the buckling stability and collapse of numerous plate models. The results and findings of this research endeavor show that, in addition to the plate aspect ratio and support conditions, careful consideration of the crack location and size can be quite effective in buckling behavior assessment and failure mode prediction as well as SIF evaluation of the cracked plates subjected to tensile loading.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.279-288
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• 2020

The computational post-buckling strength of the tilted sandwich composite shell structure is evaluated in this article. The computational responses are obtained using a mathematical model derived using the higher-order type of polynomial kinematic in association with the through-thickness stretching effect. Also, the sandwich deformation behaviour of the flexible soft-core sandwich structural model is expressed mathematically with the help of a generic nonlinear strain theory i.e. Green-Lagrange type strain-displacement relations. Subsequently, the model includes all of the nonlinear strain terms to account the actual deformation and discretized via displacement type of finite element. Further, the computer code is prepared (MATLAB environment) using the derived higher-order formulation in association with the direct iterative technique for the computation of temperature carrying capacity of the soft-core sandwich within the post-buckled regime. Further, the nonlinear finite element model has been tested to show its accuracy by solving a few numerical experimentations as same as the published example including the consistency behaviour. Lastly, the derived model is utilized to find the temperature load-carrying capacity under the influences of variable factors affecting the soft-core type sandwich structural design in the small (finite) strain and large deformation regime including the effect of tilt angle.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.719-730
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• 2020

Recently, population based optimization algorithms are developed to deal with a variety of optimization problems. In this paper, the salp swarm algorithm (SSA) is dramatically enhanced and a new algorithm is named Enhanced Salp Swarm Algorithm (ESSA) which is effectively utilized in optimization problems. To generate the ESSA, an opposition-based learning and merit function methods are added to standard SSA to enhance both exploration and exploitation abilities. To have a clear judgment about the performance of the ESSA, firstly, it is employed to solve some mathematical benchmark test functions. Next, it is exploited to deal with engineering problems such as optimally designing the benchmark buildings equipped with multiple tuned mass damper (MTMD) under earthquake excitation. By comparing the obtained results with those obtained from other algorithms, it can be concluded that the proposed new ESSA algorithm not only provides very competitive results, but also it can be successfully applied to the optimal design of the MTMD.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.427-434
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• 2019

This study investigates the structural integrity of the amphibious tour bus under the rollover condition. The multi-purpose bus called Dual Mode Tour Bus (DMTB) which explores on land and water has been designed on top of a truck platform. Prior to the fabrication of new upper body and sailing equipment of DMTB, computational analysis investigates the rollover protection of the proposed structure including superstructure, wheels, and axles. The Computer-Aided Design (CAD) of the whole vehicle model is meshed and preprocessed under high performance using the Altair HyperMesh to attain the best mesh model suited for finite element analysis (FEA) on the proposed system. Meanwhile, the numerical model is analyzed by employing LS-DYNA to evaluate the superstructure strength. The numerical model includes detail information about the microstructure and considers wheels and axles as rigid bodies but excludes window glasses, seats, and interior parts. Based on the simulation analysis and proper modifications especially on the rear portion of the bus, the local stiffness significantly increased. The vehicle is rotated to the contact point on the ground based on the mathematical method presented in this study to save computational cost. The results show that the proposed method of rollover analysis is highly significant not only in bus rollover tests but in crashworthiness studies for other application. The critical impartments in our suggested dual-purpose bus accepted and passed "Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) R66".

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.67-90
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• 2017

The interdisciplinary research area of small scale energy harvesting has attracted tremendous interests in the past decades, with a goal of ultimately realizing self-powered electronic systems. Among the various available ambient energy sources which can be converted into electricity, wind energy is a most promising and ubiquitous source in both outdoor and indoor environments. Significant research outcomes have been produced on small scale wind energy harvesting in the literature, mostly based on piezoelectric conversion. Especially, modeling methods of wind energy harvesting techniques plays a greatly important role in accurate performance evaluations as well as efficient parameter optimizations. The purpose of this paper is to present a guideline on the modeling methods of small-scale wind energy harvesters. The mechanisms and characteristics of different types of aeroelastic instabilities are presented first, including the vortex-induced vibration, galloping, flutter, wake galloping and turbulence-induced vibration. Next, the modeling methods are reviewed in detail, which are classified into three categories: the mathematical modeling method, the equivalent circuit modeling method, and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. This paper aims to provide useful guidance to researchers from various disciplines when they want to develop and model a multi-way coupled wind piezoelectric energy harvester.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.5
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• pp.553-562
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• 2019

This paper presents the results of a study into the dynamic behaviour of a support structure of a mobile elevating work platform. The vibrations of the mechanical system of the observed structure are examined analytically, numerically, and experimentally. Within the analytical examination, a simple mathematical model is developed to describe free and forced vibrations. The dynamic analysis of the mechanical system is conducted using a discrete dynamic model with a reduced number of vibrational degrees of freedom. On the basis of the expression for the system energy, and by applying Lagrange's equations of the second kind, differential equations are derived for system vibrations, frequencies are determined, and the laws of forced platform vibration are established. At the same time, a nonlinear FEM model is developed and the laws of free and forced vibration are determined. The experimental and numerical part of the study deal with the examination of the real structure in extreme conditions, taking into account: the lowest eigenfrequency, forced actions that could endanger the general stability, the maximal amplitudes, and the acceleration of the work platform. The obtained analytical and numerical results are compared with the experiments. The experimental verification points to the adverse behaviour of the platform in excitation cases - swaying. In such a situation, even a relatively small physical force can lead to unacceptably high amplitudes of displacement and acceleration - exceeding the usual work values.