• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.2
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• pp.197-215
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• 2021

Under a severe environment of multiple hazards such as earthquakes and winds, the life-cycle performance of engineering structures may inevitably be deteriorated due to the fatigue effect caused by long-term exposure to wind loads, which would further increase the structural vulnerability to earthquakes. This paper presents a framework for evaluating the lifetime structural seismic performance under the effect of wind-induced fatigue considering different sources of uncertainties. The seismic behavior of a high-rise steel-concrete composite frame with buckling-restrained braces (FBRB) during its service life is systematically investigated using the proposed approach. Recorded field data for the wind hazard of Fuzhou, Fujian Province of China from Jan. 1, 1980 to Mar. 31, 2019 is collected, based on which the distribution of wind velocity is constructed by the Gumbel model after comparisons. The OpenSees platform is employed to establish the numerical model of the FBRB and conduct subsequent numerical computations. Allowed for the uncertainties caused by the wind generation and structural modeling, the final annual fatigue damage takes the average of 50 groups of simulations. The lifetime structural performance assessments, including static pushover analyses, nonlinear dynamic time history analyses and fragility analyses, are conducted on the time-dependent finite element (FE) models which are modified in lines with the material deterioration models. The results indicate that the structural performance tends to degrade over time under the effect of fatigue, while the influencing degree of fatigue varies with the duration time of fatigue process and seismic intensity. The impact of wind-induced fatigue on structural responses and fragilities are explicitly quantified and discussed in details.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.437-454
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• 2022

Elliptic-braced simple resisting frame as a new lateral bracing system installed in the middle bay of frame in building facades has been recently introduced. This system not only creates a problem for opening space from the architectural viewpoint but also improves the structural behavior. Despite the researches on the seismic performance of lateral bracing systems, there are few studies performed on the effect of the stiffness parameters on the elastic story drift and calculation of period in simple braced steel frames. To overcome this shortcoming, in this paper, for the first time, an analytical solution is presented for calculating elastic lateral stiffness in a simple steel frame equipped with elliptic brace subjected to lateral load. In addition, for the first time, in this study, a precise formulation has been developed to evaluate the elastic stiffness variation in a steel frame equipped with a two-dimensional single-story single-span elliptic brace using strain energy and Castigliano's theorem. Thus, all the effective factors, including axial and shear loads as well as bending moments of elliptic brace could be considered. At the end of the analysis, the lateral stiffness can be calculated by an improved and innovative relation through the energy method based on the geometrical properties of the employed sections and specification of the used material. Also, an equivalent element of an elliptic brace was presented for the ease of modeling and use in linear designs. Application of the proposed relation have been verified through a variety of examples in OpenSees software. Based on the results, the error percentage between the elastic stiffness derived from the developed equations and the numerical analyses of finite element models was very low and negligible.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.4
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• pp.371-390
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• 2024

Investigating the impact of openings on the structural behavior of ferrocement I-beams with two distinct types of reinforcing metallic and non-metallic meshes is the primary goal of the current study. Up until failure, eight 250x200x2200 mm reinforced concrete I-beams were tested under flexural loadings. Depending on the kind of meshes used for reinforcement, the beams are split into two series. A control I-beam with no openings and three beams with one, two, and three openings, respectively, are found in each series. The two series are reinforced with three layers of welded steel meshes and two layers of tensar meshes, respectively, in order to maintain a constant reinforcement ratio. Structural parameters of investigated beams, including first crack, ultimate load, deflection, ductility index, energy absorption, strain characteristics, crack pattern, and failure mode were reported. The number of mesh layers, the volume fraction of reinforcement, and the kind of reinforcing materials are the primary factors that vary. This article presents the outcomes of a study that examined the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement reinforced concrete I-beams with and without openings reinforced with welded steel mesh and tensar mesh separately. Utilizing ANSYS-16.0 software, nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was applied to illustrate how composite RC I-beams with openings behaved. In addition, a parametric study is conducted to explore the variables that can most significantly impact the mechanical behavior of the proposed model, such as the number of openings. The FE simulations produced an acceptable degree of experimental value estimation, as demonstrated by the obtained experimental and numerical results. It is also noteworthy to demonstrate that the strength gained by specimens without openings reinforced with tensar meshes was, on average, 22% less than that of specimens reinforced with welded steel meshes. For specimens with openings, this value is become on average 10%.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.81-93
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• 2020

The fatigue characteristics of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites were studied under repeated loads using the finite element method (FEM). To realize the material characteristics of GFRP composites, Digimat, a mean-field homogenization tool, was employed. Additionally, the micro-structures and material models of GFRP composites were defined with it to predict the fatigue behavior of composites more realistically. Specifically, the fatigue characteristics of polybutylene terephthalate with short fiber fractions of 30wt% were investigated with respect to fiber orientation, stress ratio, and thickness. The injection analysis was conducted using Moldflow software to obtain the information on fiber orientations. It was mapped over FEM concerned with fatigue specimens. LS-DYNA, a typical finite element commercial software, was used in the coupled analysis of Digimat to calculate the stress amplitude of composites. FEMFAT software consisting of various numerical material models was used to predict the fatigue life. The results of coupled analysis of linear and nonlinear material models of Digimat were analyzed to identify the fatigue characteristics of GFRP composites using FEMFAT. Neuber's rule was applied to the linear material model to analyze the fatigue behavior in LCF regimen. Additionally, to evaluate the morphological and mechanical structure of GFRP composites, the coupled and fatigue analysis were conducted in terms of thickness.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.269-279
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• 1994

This paper concentrates on the finite element analysis of concrete structures considering the material nonlinearity and time-dependent structural behavior. Using the rotating crack model among the smeared cracking model, the structural behavior up to ultimate load is simulated, and concrete is assumed to be an orthotropic material. Especially to include the tension stiffening effect in bending behavior, a criterion based on the fracture mechanics concept is introduced and the numerical error according to the finite element mesh size can be minimized through the application of the proposed criterion. Besides, the governing equation for steel is systematized by embeded model to cope with the difficulty in modeling of complex geometry. Finally, to trace the structural behavior with time under cracked and/or uncracked section, an algorithm for the purpose of time-dependent analysis is formulated in plane stress-strain condition by the age-adjusted effective modulus method.

• Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.385-397
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• 2016

Scaffolds are essential in bone tissue engineering, as they provide support to cells and growth factors necessary to regenerate tissue. In addition, they meet the mechanical function of the bone while it regenerates. Currently, the multiple methods for designing and manufacturing scaffolds are based on regular structures from a unit cell that repeats in a given domain. However, these methods do not resemble the actual structure of the trabecular bone which may work against osseous tissue regeneration. To explore the design of porous structures with similar mechanical properties to native bone, a geometric generation scheme from a reaction-diffusion model and its manufacturing via a material jetting system is proposed. This article presents the methodology used, the geometric characteristics and the modulus of elasticity of the scaffolds designed and manufactured. The method proposed shows its potential to generate structures that allow to control the basic scaffold properties for bone tissue engineering such as the width of the channels and porosity. The mechanical properties of our scaffolds are similar to trabecular tissue present in vertebrae and tibia bones. Tests on the manufactured scaffolds show that it is necessary to consider the orientation of the object relative to the printing system because the channel geometry, mechanical properties and roughness are heavily influenced by the position of the surface analyzed with respect to the printing axis. A possible line for future work may be the establishment of a set of guidelines to consider the effects of manufacturing processes in designing stages.

• Composites Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.41-47
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• 2011

This paper deals with anisotropic property and structural analysis for short fiber reinforced plastic composites manufactured by the injection molding process. The common approach for modeling this type of material is the consideration of the material as homogenous and isotropic. However, the common isotropy approach often results in unexpected failure. To overcome this, new structure analysis methodology was developed in order to consider fiber orientation effect using injection mold flow analysis and Halpin-Tsai equations for unidirectional composites and taking an orientation average. The numerical predictions are compared to experimental data for tensile specimen. The predicted mechanical properties agree well with experimental data for fiber orientation and weld line effect. The analysis system was also applied to an automobile part. The proposed anisotropic model predicted different mechanical properties by position of the part and different mechanical performance of the part was changed according to injection gate position.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.116-117
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• 2006

We investigated selective emitter effect of Porous Silicon (PSI) as antireflection coatings (ARC). The thin PSi layer, less than 100nm, was electrochemically formed by electrochemical method in about $3{\mu}m$ thick $n^+$ emitter on single crystalline silicon wafer (sc-Si). The appropriate PSi formations for selective emitter effect were carried out a two steps. A first set of samples allowed to be etched after metal-contact processing and a second one to evaporate Ag front-side metallization on PSi layer, by evaluating the I-V features The PSi has reflectance less than 20% in wavelength for 450-1000nm and porosity is about 60%. The cell made after front-contact has improved cell efficiency of about in comparison with the one made after PSi. The observed increase of efficiency for samples with PSi coating could be explained not only by the reduction of the reflection loss and surface recombination but also by the increased short-circuit current (Isc) within selective emitter. The assumption was confirmed by numerical modeling. The obtained results point out that it would be possible to prepare a solar cell over 15% efficiency by the proposed simple technology.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.88-99
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• 1996

The explicit scheme for finite element analysis of sheet metal forming problems has been widely used for providing practical solutions since it improves the convergency problem, memory size and computational time especially for the case of complicated geometry and large element number. The explicit schemes in general use are based on the elastic-plastic modeling of material requiring large computataion time. In the present work, a basic formulation for rigid-plastic explicit finite element analysis of plain strain sheet metal forming problems has been proposed. The effect of some basic parameters involved in the dynamic analysis has been studied in detail. Thus, the effective ranges of parameters have been proposed for numerical simultion by the rigid-plastic explicit finite element method. A direct trial-and-error method is introduced to treat contact and friction. In computation, sheet material is assumed to possess normal anisotropy and rigid-plastic workhardening characteristics. In order to show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed explicit scheme, computations are carried out for cylindrical punch stretching and the computational results are compared with those by the implicit scheme as well as with a commercial code. The proposed rigid-plastic exlicit finite element method can be used as a robust and efficient computational method for analysis of sheet metal forming.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.75-85
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• 2016

A pyrotechnic system consisting of donor/acceptor pair separated by a gap relies on shock attenuation characteristics of the gap material and shock sensitivity of the donor and acceptor charges. Despite of its common use, numerical study of such pyrotechnic train configuration is seldom reported because proper modeling of the full process requires precise capturing of the shock wave attenuation in the gap prior to triggering a full detonation of high explosive and accurate description of the high strain rate dynamics of the explosively loaded inert confinements. We apply a Eulerian level-set based multimaterial hydrocode with reactive flow models for pentolite donor and heavily aluminized RDX as acceptor charge. The complex shock interaction, critical gap thickness, acoustic impedance, and go/no-go characteristics of the gap test are quantitatively investigated.