• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.783-791
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• 2018

In consideration of the mesoscopic structure of soil-rock mixtures in which the rock aggregates are wrapped by soil at normal temperatures, a two-layer embedded model of single-inclusion composite material was built to calculate the shear modulus of soil-rock mixtures. At a freezing temperature, an interface ice interlayer was placed between the soil and rock interface in the mesoscopic structure of the soil-rock mixtures. Considering that, a three-layer embedded model of double-inclusion composite materials and a multi-step multiphase micromechanics model were then built to calculate the shear modulus of the frozen soil-rock mixtures. Given the effect of pore structure of soil-rock mixtures at normal temperatures, its shear modulus was also calculated by using of the three-layer embedded model. Experimental comparison showed that compared with the two-layer embedded model, the effect predicted by the three-layer embedded model of the soil-rock mixtures was better. The shear modulus of the soil-rock mixtures gradually increased with the increase in rock regardless of temperature, and the increment rate of the shear modulus increased rapidly particularly when the rock content ranged from 50% to 70%. The shear modulus of the frozen soil-rock mixtures was nearly 3.7 times higher than that of the soil-rock mixtures at a normal temperature.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.485-501
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• 2015

Cooling by the flow of water through an embedded cooling pipe has become a common and effective artificial thermal control measure for massive concrete structures. However, an extreme thermal gradient induces significant thermal stress, resulting in thermal cracking. Using a mesoscopic finite-element (FE) mesh, three-phase composites of concrete namely aggregate, mortar matrix and interfacial transition zone (ITZ) are modeled. An equivalent probabilistic model is presented for failure study of concrete by assuming that the material properties conform to the Weibull distribution law. Meanwhile, the correlation coefficient introduced by the statistical method is incorporated into the Weibull distribution formula. Subsequently, a series of numerical analyses are used for investigating the influence of the correlation coefficient on tensile strength and the failure process of concrete based on the equivalent probabilistic model. Finally, as an engineering application, damage and failure behavior of concrete cracks induced by a water-cooling pipe are analyzed in-depth by the presented model. Results show that the random distribution of concrete mechanical parameters and the temperature gradient near water-cooling pipe have a significant influence on the pattern and failure progress of temperature-induced micro-cracking in concrete.

• Bulletin of the Korean Mathematical Society
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.145-158
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• 2017

We present a finite difference method for solving the Ohta-Kawasaki model, representing a model of mesoscopic phase separation for the block copolymer. The numerical methods for solving the Ohta-Kawasaki model need to inherit the mass conservation and energy dissipation properties. We prove these characteristic properties and solvability and unconditionally gradient stability of the scheme by using Hessian matrices of a discrete functional. We present numerical results that validate the mass conservation, and energy dissipation, and unconditional stability of the method.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.221-240
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• 2017

The modeling of the mechanical behavior of quasi-brittle materials is still a challenge task, mainly in failure processes when fracture and plasticity phenomena become important actors in dissipative processes which occur in materials like concrete, as instance. Many homogenization-based approaches have been proposed to deal with heterogeneous materials in the last years. In this context, a computational homogenization modeling for concrete is presented in this work using the concept of Representative Volume Element (RVE). The material is considered as a three-phase material consisting of interface zone (ITZ), matrix and inclusions-each constituent modeled by an independent constitutive model. The Representative Volume Element (RVE) consists of inclusions idealized as circular shapes symmetrically and nonsymmetrically placed into the specimen. The interface zone is modeled by means of cohesive contact finite elements. The inclusion is modeled as linear elastic and matrix region is considered as elastoplastic material. A set of examples is presented in order to show the potentialities and limitations of the proposed modeling. The consideration of the fracture processes in the ITZ is fundamental to capture complex macroscopic characteristics of the material using simple constitutive models at mesoscopic level.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.12D no.6 s.102
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• pp.921-930
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• 2005

In this paper, a general purpose molecular simulation system which has been developed by the author, are described. One of the most advantageous features is that the molecular simulation system can handle a coarse-grained model as well as an all-atom mode. Therefore, we can simulate mesoscopic phenomena as well as microscopic phenomena with the help of Langevin dynamics simulation and dissipative particle dynamics simulation techniques. Thus we could study anesthesia, protein folding, biopolymer flow in microchannel with single framework, which spans from microscopic to mesoscopic scales. We expect that we can also simulate many other bio/nano systems of technological importance which are not feasible by means of molecular dynamics simulation technique. Finally, performance data are shown and a bottleneck is identified for future optimization.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.327-338
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• 2020

The role of precise prediction of subsurface fluids and discrimination among them cannot be ignored in reservoir characterization and petroleum prospecting. A suitable rock physics model should be build for the extraction of valuable information form seismic data. The main intent of current work is to present a rock physics model to analyze the characteristics of seismic wave propagating through a cracked porous rock saturated by a three phase fluid. Furthermore, the influence on wave characteristics due to variation in saturation of water, oil and gas were also analyzed for oil and water as wet cases. With this approach the objective to explore wave attenuation and dispersion due to wave induce fluid flow (WIFF) at seismic and sub-seismic frequencies can be precisely achieved. We accomplished our proposed approach by using BISQ equations and by applying appropriate boundary conditions to incorporate heterogeneity due to saturation of three immiscible fluids forming a layered system. To authenticate the proposed methodology, we compared our results with White's mesoscopic theory and with the results obtained by using Biot's poroelastic relations. The outcomes reveals that, at low frequencies seismic wave characteristics are in good agreement with White's mesoscopic theory, however a slight increase in attenuation at seismic frequencies is because of the squirt flow. Moreover, our work crop up as a practical tool for the development of rock physical theories with the intention to identify and estimate properties of different fluids from seismic data.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.136-141
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• 2005

Analytical model to calculate the contact fatigue life of rough surface is presented in this paper. The effect of surface roughness can be calculated by this model. Computational method and the theoretical basis are also discussed. Contact stresses are obtained by contact analysis of a semi-infinite solid based on the use of influence functions; the subsurface stress field is obtained using rectangular patch solutions. Mesoscopic multiaxial fatigue criterion which can yield satisfactory results for non-proportional loading is then applied to predict fatigue damage. Suitable counting method and damage rule were used to calculate the fatigue life of random loading caused by rough surface. As a result of analysis the relationship between the life and the roughness as well as the most probable depth of the crack initiation is calculated.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.797-806
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• 2009

The mechanical and thermal behaviors of polyamide-6/clay nanocomposites were studied using the continuum-based, micromechanical models such as Mori-Tanaka, Halpin-Tsai and shear lag. Mechanic-based model prediction provides a better understanding regarding the dependence of the nanocomposites' reinforcement efficiency on conventional filler structural parameters such as filler aspect ratio ($\alpha$), filler orientation (S), filler weight fraction (${\Psi}_f$), and filler/matrix stiffness ratio ($E_f/E_m$). For an intercalated and exfoliated nanocomposite, an effective, filler-based, micromechanical model that includes effective filler structural parameters, the number of platelets per stack (n) and the silicate inter-layer spacing ($d_{001}$), is proposed to describe the mesoscopic intercalated filler and the nanoscopic exfoliated filler. The proposed model nicely captures the experimental modulus behaviors for both intercalated and exfoliated nanocomposites. In addition, the model prediction of the heat distortion temperature is examined for nanocomposites with different filler aspect ratio. The predicted heat distortion temperature appears to be reasonable compared to the heat distortion temperature obtained by experimental tests. Based on both the experimental results and model prediction, the reinforcement efficiency and heat resistance of the polyamide-6/clay nanocomposites definitely depend on both conventional (${\alpha},\;S,\;{\Psi}_f,\;E_f/E_m$) and effective (n, $d_{001}$) filler structural parameters.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.735-758
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• 2015

This work deals with unilateral effect of quasi-brittle materials, such as concrete. For this propose, a two-dimensional meso-scale model is presented. The material is considered as a three-phase material consisting of interface zone, matrix and inclusions - each constituent modeled by an appropriate constitutive model. The Representative Volume Element (RVE) consists of inclusions idealized as circular shapes randomly placed into the specimen. The interface zone is modeled by means of cohesive contact finite elements developed here in order to capture the effects of phase debonding and interface crack closure/opening. As an initial approximation, the inclusion is modeled as linear elastic as well as the matrix. Our main goal here is to show a computational homogenization-based approach as an alternative to complex macroscopic constitutive models for the mechanical behavior of the quasi-brittle materials using a finite element procedure within a purely kinematical multi-scale framework. A set of numerical examples, involving the microcracking processes, is provided. It illustrates the performance of the proposed model. In summary, the proposed homogenization-based model is found to be a suitable tool for the identification of macroscopic mechanical behavior of quasi-brittle materials dealing with unilateral effect.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2016

Changes in chemical structure have profound effects on the physical properties of epoxy-based materials, and eventually affect the durability of the entire system. Microscopic structural voids generally existing in the epoxy cross-linked networks have a detrimental influence on the epoxy mechanical properties, but the relation remains elusive, which is hindered by the complex structure of epoxy-based materials. In this paper, we investigate the effect of structural voids on the epoxy-based materials by using our developed mesoscale model equipped with the concept of multiscale modeling, and SU-8 photoresist is used as a representative of epoxy-based materials. Developed from the results of full atomistic simulations, the mesoscopic model is validated against experimental measurements, which is suitable to describe the elastic deformation of epoxy-based materials over several orders of magnitude in time- and length scales. After that, a certain quantity of the structure voids is incorporated in the mesoscale model. It is found that the existence of structural voids reduces the tensile stiffness of the mesoscale epoxy network, when compared with the case without any voids in the model. In addition, it is noticed that a certain number of the structural voids have an insignificant effect on the epoxy elastic properties, and the mesoscale model containing structural voids is close to those found in real systems.