• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.307-320
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• 2003

This paper presents an efficient approach to the determination of the buckling loads of down-aisle, spliced, unbraced, pallet rack structures subjected to vertical and horizontal loads. A pallet rack structures is analysed by considering the stability equations of an equivalent free-sway column. The effects of semi-rigid beam-to-upright, splice-to-upright and base-plate-to-upright connections are fully incorporated into the analysis. Each section of upright between successive beam levels in the pallet rack is considered to be a single column element with two rotational degrees of freedom. A computer algebra package was used to determine modified stability equations for column elements containing splices. The influence of the position of splices in a pallet rack is clearly demonstrated.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.289-296
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• 2011

In most distribution centers, products are received from the suppliers in units of pallet, stored in a rack, moved to the picking area for replenishment, picked according to customer orders, and shipped to customers. In some distribution centers, however, replenishment is made in not a whole pallet but only a portion of a pallet load, mainly due to the limited space in the order-picking area; as a result, partially loaded pallets occupy cells in the rack. As the number of slow-moving items increases, more cells are occupied by partially loaded pallets so that fewer empty cells are available for storing full, incoming pallets. This will necessitate the construction or leasing of additional storage space, which will entail significant cost. As an alternative, we propose pallet consolidation, which involves moving a partial load to another partially-loaded pallet in order to create one empty cell in the rack. In this paper, we define three pallet consolidation problems; formulate each problem as a binary integer programming model; and present heuristic algorithms for the problems. The average performance of each of the proposed heuristics is evaluated using simulation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.955-967
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• 2014

Storage racks are used worldwide in industries and commercial outlets due to the advantage of lighter, faster erection and easy alteration of pallet level as required. The studies to understand the behaviour of cold formed steel pallet racks, under seismic action is one of the emerging area of research. The rack consists of perforated uprights and beams with hook-in end connector, which enables the floor height adjustments. The dynamic characteristics of these racks are not well established. This paper presents the dynamic characteristics of 3-D single bay two storey pallet rack system with hook-in end connectors, which is tested on shake table. The sweep sine test and El Centro earthquake acceleration is used to evaluate the seismic performance of the cold formed steel pallet racks. Also an attempt is made to evaluate the realistic dynamic characteristics by using STAAD Pro software. Modal analysis is performed by incorporating the effective moment of inertia of the upright, which considers the effect of presence of perforations and rotational stiffness of the beam-to-upright connection to determine the realistic fundamental frequency of pallet racks, which is required for carrying out the seismic design. Finite element model of the perforated upright section has been developed as a cantilever beam through which effective moment of inertia is evaluated. The stiffness of the hook-in connector is taken from the previous study by Prabha et al. (2010). The results from modal analysis are in good agreement with the respective experimental results.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.59-71
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• 2019

The distribution logistics center has its own inventory, so designing an efficient storage area is very important. The purpose of this study is to present the optimal storage area calculation method for distribution logistics center considering the use of standard pallet unit load, and the results of this study are as follows. First, standard rack modules for storing T-11 and T-12 type pallet, which is generally used in Korea, were defined. Second, a variety of pallet transport equipments were investigated and analyzed to define the standard transport equipment's work passageway by type. Finally, it has great implications in terms of suggesting measures to minimize unused space that may occur during placement of pallet rack modules within storage space, as well as the easy and optimal calculation of the storage area for the distribution logistics center. Future research require a study on the layout of the entire distribution logistics center, which reflects the latest logistics technologies, such as standard rack modules for Mini-Load and GTP picking system.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1254-1262
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• 2018

Many parallel lines may be shown in our real life and they are useful for analyzing structure of objects or buildings. In this paper, a vision based technique for estimating three-dimensional direction of parallel lines is suggested, which uses a calibrated camera and is applicable to an image being captured from the camera. Correctness of the technique is theoretically described and discussed in this paper. The technique is well applicable to measurement of orientation of a pallet in a warehouse, because a pair of parallel lines is well detected in the front plane of the pallet. Thereby the technique enables a forklift with a well-calibrated camera to engage the pallet automatically. Such a forklift in a warehouse can engage a pallet on a storing rack as well as one on the ground. Usefulness of the suggested technique for other applications is also discussed. We conducted an experiment of measuring a real commercial pallet with various orientation and distance and found for the technique to work correctly and accurately.

• Journal of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.119-130
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• 1989

This paper presents average travel time models automated warehousing system where the stacker crane transports only one pallet at a time with the tchebychev travel, I/O point is located at the cornor of the rack, and items are stored by the class-based storage assignment rule. In this study, the racks are treated as the continuous rectangle in time and a statistical approach was used to develop the models. In order to test the proposed models, average travel times determined by the models are compared with the true values for various rack shapes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2023

This paper describes the experimental investigation of steel pallet rack beam-to-column connec-tions. Total behavior of moment-rotation (M-φ) curve and the effect of particular characteristics on the behavior of connection were studied and the associated load strain relationship and corre-sponding failure modes are presented. In this respect, an estimation of SPRBCCs moment and rotation are highly recommended in early stages of design and construction. In this study, a new approach based on Support Vector Machines (SVMs) coupled with discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is designed and adapted to estimate SPRBCCs moment and rotation according to four input parameters (column thickness, depth of connector and load, beam depth,). Results of SVM-WAVELET model was compared with genetic programming (GP) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) models. Following the results, SVM-WAVELET algorithm is helpful in order to enhance the accuracy compared to GP and ANN. It was conclusively observed that application of SVM-WAVELET is especially promising as an alternative approach to estimate the SPRBCCs moment and rotation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2024

This paper introduces a system allows for seismic isolation of the pallet from the rack in the down-aisle direction, occupies minimal vertical space (5 cm) and ±7.5 cm of deformation range. A conceptual model of the isolation system is presented, leading to a constitutive equation governing its behavior. A first experimental campaign studying the response of the isolation system's components was conducted to calibrate the parameters of its constitutive equation. A second experimental campaign evaluated the response of the isolation system with mass placed on it, subjected to cyclic loading. The results of this second campaign were compared with the numerical predictions using the pre-calibrated constitutive equation, allowing a double-blind validation of the constitutive equation of the isolation system. Finally, a numerical evaluation of the isolation system subjected to a synthetic earthquake of one component. This evaluation allowed verifying attributes of the proposed isolation system, such as its self-centering capacity and its effectiveness in reducing the absolute acceleration of the isolated mass and the shear load transmitted to the supporting beams of the rack.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2017

This paper focuses on the seismic performance of pallet-type steel storage rack structures in their down aisle direction. As evidenced by experimental research, the seismic response of storage racks in the down-aisle direction is strongly affected by the nonlinear moment-rotation response of the beam-to-column connections. In their down-aisle direction, rack structures are designed to resist lateral seismic loads with typical moment frames utilizing proprietary beam-to-column moment-resisting connections. These connections are mostly boltless hooked type connections and they exhibit significantly large rotations resulting in large lateral frame displacements when subjected to strong ground motions. In this paper, typical hooked boltless beam-to-column connections are studied experimentally to obtain their non-linear reversed cyclic moment-rotation response. Additionally, a compound type connection involving the standard hooks and additional bolts were also tested under similar conditions. The simple introduction of the additional bolts within the hooked connection is considered to be a practical way of structural upgrade in the connection. The experimentally evaluated characteristics of the connections are compared in terms of some important performance indicators such as maximum moment and rotation capacity, change in stiffness and accumulated energy levels within the cyclic loading protocol. Finally, the obtained characteristics were used to carry out seismic performance assessment of rack frames incorporating the tested beam-to-column connections. The assessment involves a displacement based approach that utilizes a simple analytical model that captures the seismic behavior of racks in their down-aisle direction. The results of the study indicate that the proposed method of upgrading appears to be a very practical and effective way of increasing the seismic performance of hooked connections and hence the rack frames in their down-aisle direction.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.6
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• pp.745-756
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• 2022

This study aims to determine the cause of the load resistance loss in storage racks that can be attributed to external forces such as earthquakes and to improve safety by developing reinforcement systems that can prevent load resistance loss. To this end, a static cyclic loading test was performed on pallet racks commonly used in logistics warehouses. The test results indicated that a pallet rack exposed to an external force loses more than 50% of its load resistance owing to the damage caused to column-beam joints. Three reinforcement systems were developed for preventing load resistance loss in storage racks exposed to an external force and for performing differentiated target functions: column reinforcement device, seismic damper, and viscoelastic damper. Shake table testing was performed to evaluate the earthquake response and verify the performance of these reinforcement systems. The results confirmed that, the maximum displacement, which causes the loss of load resistance and the permanent deformation of racks under external force, is reduced using the developed reinforcement devices. Thus, the appropriate selection of the developed reinforcement devices by users can help secure the safety of the storage racks.