• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.523-539
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• 2017

Clay soils are typical for their swelling properties upon absorption of water during rains and development of cracks during summer time owing to the profile desorption of water through the inter-connected soil pores by water vapour diffusion leading to evaporation. This type of unstable soil phenomenon by and large poses a serious threat to the strength and stability of structures when rest on such type of soils. Even as lime and cement are extensively used for stabilization of clay soils it has become imperative to find relatively cheaper alternative materials to bring out the desired properties within the clay soil domain. In the present era of catastrophic environmental degradation as a side effect to modernized manufacturing processes, industrialization and urbanization the creative idea would be treating the waste products in a beneficial way for reuse and recycling. Bottom ash and ecosand are construed as a waste product from cement industry. An optimal combination of bottom ash-eco sand can be thought of as a viable alternative to stabilize the clay soils by means of an effective dispersion dynamics associated with the inter connected network of pore spaces. A CATIA model was created and imported to ANSYS Fluent to study the dispersion dynamics. Ion migration from the bottom ash-ecosand pile was facilitated through natural formation of cracks in clay soil subjected to atmospheric conditions. Treated samples collected at different curing days from inner and outer zones at different depths were tested for, plasticity index, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), free swell index, water content, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), pH and ion concentration to show the effectiveness of the method in improving the clay soil.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.6
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• pp.743-765
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• 2022

Near-surface excavations may cause the tilting and destruction of the adjacent superstructures in big cities. The stability of a huge excavation and its nearby superstructures was studied in this paper. Some test instruments monitored the deformation and loads at the designed location. Then the numerical models of the excavation were made in FLAC3D (a three-dimensional finite difference code) and Plaxis-3D (a three-dimensional finite element code). The effects of different supporting and reinforcement tools such as nails, piles, and shotcretes on the stability and bearing capacity of the foundation were analyzed through different numerical models. The numerically approximated results were compared with the corresponding in-field monitored results and reasonable compatibility was obtained. It was concluded that the displacement in excavation and the settlement of the nearby superstructure increases gradually as the depth of excavation rises. The effects of support and reinforcements were also observed and modeled in this study. The settlement of the structure gradually decreased as the supports were installed. These analyses showed that the pile significantly increased the bearing capacity and decreased the settlement of the superstructure. As a whole, the monitoring and numerical simulation results were in good consistency with one another in this practically important project.

• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.9-17
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• 2009

Nanoindentation behaviours on the films of softer Ag film/harder Cu substrate structure were studied by the molecular dynamics method. As a result, it was shown that the stiffness and hardness of films were strongly dependent on the thickness of films. The stiffness and hardness increased with the thickness of film within a critical range as an inverse Hall-Petch relation. The stiffness and hardness of Cu substrate with Ag film less than 5 nm were observed to be lower than those of bulk silver. In particular, the flower-like dislocation loop was created on the interface by the interaction between dislocation pile-up and misfit dislocation during the indentation of Ag film/Cu substrate with film thickness less than 4 nm, which seemed to be associated with the drop of load in the indentation load versus displacement curve.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2009.04a
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• pp.416-422
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• 2009

Offshore wind turbine are subjected to more various loads than general land structures and the stability of structures is supported by the piles driven deeply in the subsoil. So it is more important for offshore structures to consider seabed soil-structure interaction than land structures. And the response of a fixed offshore structure supported by pile foundations is affected by resist dynamics lateral loading due to wave forces and ocean environmental loads. In this study, offshore wind tower response are calculated in the time domain using a finite element package(ANSYS 11.0). Several parameters affecting the vibration characteristics of the natural frequency and mode shape and the tower response have been investigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.549-562
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• 2017

The US railroad network carries 40% of the nation's total freight. Railroad bridges are the most critical part of the network infrastructure and, therefore, must be properly maintained for the operational safety. Railroad managers inspect bridges by measuring displacements under train crossing events to assess their structural condition and prioritize bridge management and safety decisions accordingly. The displacement of a railroad bridge under train crossings is one parameter of interest to railroad bridge owners, as it quantifies a bridge's ability to perform safely and addresses its serviceability. Railroad bridges with poor track conditions will have amplified displacements under heavy loads due to impacts between the wheels and rail joints. Under these circumstances, vehicle-track-bridge interactions could cause excessive bridge displacements, and hence, unsafe train crossings. If displacements during train crossings could be measured objectively, owners could repair or replace less safe bridges first. However, data on bridge displacements is difficult to collect in the field as a fixed point of reference is required for measurement. Accelerations can be used to estimate dynamic displacements, but to date, the pseudo-static displacements cannot be measured using reference-free sensors. This study proposes a method to estimate total transverse displacements of a railroad bridge under live train loads using acceleration and tilt data at the top of the exterior pile bent of a standard timber trestle, where train derailment due to excessive lateral movement is the main concern. Researchers used real bridge transverse displacement data under train traffic from varying bridge serviceability levels. This study explores the design of a new bridge deck-pier experimental model that simulates the vibrations of railroad bridges under traffic using a shake table for the input of train crossing data collected from the field into a laboratory model of a standard timber railroad pile bent. Reference-free sensors measured both the inclination angle and accelerations of the pile cap. Various readings are used to estimate the total displacements of the bridge using data filtering. The estimated displacements are then compared to the true responses of the model measured with displacement sensors. An average peak error of 10% and a root mean square error average of 5% resulted, concluding that this method can cost-effectively measure the total displacement of railroad bridges without a fixed reference.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.85-112
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• 2011

Wind turbine structures are long slender columns with a rotor and blade assembly placed on the top. These slender structures vibrate due to dynamic environmental forces and its own dynamics. Analysis of the dynamic behavior of wind turbines is fundamental to the stability, performance, operation and safety of these systems. In this paper a simplied approach is outlined for free vibration analysis of these long, slender structures taking the soil-structure interaction into account. The analytical method is based on an Euler-Bernoulli beam-column with elastic end supports. The elastic end-supports are considered to model the flexible nature of the interaction of these systems with soil. A closed-form approximate expression has been derived for the first natural frequency of the system. This new expression is a function of geometric and elastic properties of wind turbine tower and properties of the foundation including soil. The proposed simple expression has been independently validated using an exact numerical method, laboratory based experimental measurement and field measurement of a real wind turbine structure. The results obtained in the paper shows that the proposed expression can be used for a quick assessment of the fundamental frequency of a wind turbine taking the soil-structure interaction into account.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.70-77
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• 2012

In this study, a numerical analysis of offshore installation using a floating crane with heave compensator is carried out in time domain. The motion analysis of crane vessels is based on floating body dynamics using convolution integral and the crane wire is treated as simple spring. The lifted structure is assumed as a rigid body with 3 degree-of-freedom translational motion. The heave compensator is numerically modelled by the generalized spring-damper system. Firstly, forced motion simulations of crane wire system are carried out to figure out the basic principle of heave compensator. The transfer function of crane wire system is obtained and effective wave period of heave compensator are found. Then, coupled analysis of crane vessel, crane wire, and lifted structure are performed in regular and irregular sea conditions. Two different crane vessels and two lifted structures (suction pile and manifold) are considered in this study. Through a series of numerical calculations, the effective zone of heave compensator is investigated with respect to wave period and crane wire length.