• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.185-197
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• 2019

Considering the increasing use of tubular profiles in civil construction, this paper highlights the study on the behavior of welded connections between square hollow section column and I-beam, with emphasis on the assessment of the joint stiffness. Firstly, a theoretical analysis of the welded joints has been done focusing on prescriptions of the technical literature for the types of geometries mentioned. Then, a numerical analysis of the proposed joints were performed by the finite element method (FEM) with the software ANSYS 16.0. In this study, two models were evaluated for different parameters, such as the thickness of the cross section of the column and the sizes of cross section of the beams. The first model describes a connection in which one beam is connected to the column in a unique bending plane, while the second model describes a connection of two beams to the column in two bending planes. From the numerical results, the bending moment-rotation ($M-{\varphi}$) curve was plotted in order to determine the resistant bending moment and classify each connection according to its rotational capacity. Furthermore, an equation was established with the aim of estimating the rotational stiffness of welded I beam-to-RHS column connections, which can be used during the structure design. The results show that most of the connections are semi-rigid, highlighting the importance of considering the stiffness of the connections in the structure design.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2023

Background: This study aimed to analyze the efficacy of single-dose corticosteroid injection (CSI) administered at 6 weeks postoperative to treat stiffness following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR). Methods: In this prospective, multicentric, case-control study, post-ARCR stiffness at 6 weeks was treated with either a single dose of intra-articular CSI (CSI group) or physical therapy with oral analgesics (non-CSI group). Pain intensity according to visual analog scale (VAS), functional outcome using the Constant Murley Shoulder Score, time to return to activities of daily living (ADLs), and retear rate were recorded at 6 weeks, 9 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months postoperatively in both groups. Results: A total of 149 patients (54.5%) in the CSI group and 124 patients (45.5%) in the non-CSI group were included in this study. Pain and function were significantly better in the CSI group at 9-week, 12-week, and 6-month (P<0.001) follow-up, whereas they were not significantly different when the groups were compared at 12- and 18-month follow-up. The mean duration to return to ADLs was significantly shorter (P<0.001) in the CSI group. The incidence of retears was not significantly different (P=0.36) between groups at the end of 18 months of follow-up. Conclusions: Single-dose intra-articular CSI administered at 6 weeks postoperative to treat post-ARCR stiffness significantly improved pain, function, and duration of return to ADLs without increasing the risk of retears compared to patients who did not receive intra-articular CSI. Level of evidence: III.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.390-396
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• 2023

Background: The subacromial (SA) space is a commonly used injection site for treatment of impingement syndrome. For shoulder stiffness, glenohumeral (GH) injections are commonly performed. However, in cases of impingement syndrome with mild shoulder stiffness, the optimal site of steroid injection has yet to be identified. Methods: This prospective, randomized study compared the short-term outcomes of ultrasound-guided GH and SA steroid injections in patients who were diagnosed with impingement syndrome and mild stiffness. Each group comprised 24 patients who received either a GH or SA injection of 40 mg of triamcinolone. Range of motion and clinical scores were assessed before and 3, 7, and 13 weeks after the injection. Results: GH and SA injections significantly improved the range of motion and clinical scores after 13 weeks of follow-up. Notably, targeting the GH joint resulted in an earlier gain of forward elevation, external rotation, and internal rotation in 3 weeks (P<0.001, P=0.012, and P=0.002, respectively) and of internal rotation and a Constant-Murley score in 7 weeks (P<0.001 and P=0.046). Subsequent measurements were similar between the groups and showed a steady improvement in all ranges of motion and clinical scores. Conclusions: GH injections may be more favorable than SA injections for treatment of impingement syndrome with mild stiffness, especially in improving the range of motion in the early period. However, the procedures showed similar outcomes after 3 months. Level of evidence: I.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.73-93
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• 2011

Large deck openings of ultra large container ships reduce their torsional stiffness considerably and hydroelastic analysis for reliable structural design becomes an imperative. In the early design stage the beam model coupled with 3D hydrodynamic model is a rational choice. The modal superposition method is ordinary used for solving this complex problem. The advanced thin-walled girder theory, with shear influence on both bending and torsion, is applied for calculation of dry natural modes. It is shown that relatively short engine room structure of large container ships behaves as the open hold structure with increased torsional stiffness due to deck effect. Warping discontinuity at the joint of the closed and open segments is compensated by induced distortion. The effective torsional stiffness parameters based on an energy balance approach are determined. Estimation of distortion of transverse bulkheads, as a result of torsion and warping, is given. The procedure is illustrated in the case of a ship-like pontoon and checked by 3D FEM analysis. The obtained results encourage incorporation of the modified beam model of the short engine room structure in general beam model of ship hull for the need of hydroelastic analysis, where only the first few natural modes are of interest.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.8 s.179
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• pp.2022-2031
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• 2000

Since the surface roughness of adherends affects much the strength of adhesivelybonded joints, the effect of surface roughness on the fatigue life of adhesively bonded tubular single lap joints was investigated analytically and experimentally by fatigue torsion test. The stiffness of the interfacial layer between adherends and adhesive was modeled as a normal statistical distribution function of surface roughness of adherends. From the investigation, it was found that the optimum surface roughness of adherends for the fatigue strength of tubular single lap joints was dependent on bondthickness and applied load.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.1300-1309
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• 2010

In the railway bridges, steel plate girder types are preferred due the high stability. Nevertheless, it has been pointed out that this type of bridge has problems such as, structural damages in the rail and girder seat, noise problem due to impact at the rail joint and excessive vibration. This vibration and/or deflection are mainly because insufficient stiffness of steel plate type of bridge. To resolve these problems, PC-Slab composite plate girder type which has simple process and economic cost, is proposed in this study. The static and dynamic experiment is performed by using the production of actual sized PC-Slab and abandoned steel plate girder. The object of this experiment is to verify the fact that girder stiffness increase and structural safety. The result of the experiment is used to analyze the effect of performance improvement of PC composite plate girder type. Using this method, economic rail maintainers, girder stiffness increase, and also speed/ride improvement even for existing rail could be expected by dynamic performance improvement. Additionally noise due to impact, deflection and vibration caused from long rails can be reduced.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.101-113
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• 2013

This paper intends to develop mechanical analysis models that are able to predict complete nonlinear behavior in the bolted connector subjected to cyclic loads. In addition, experimental data which were obtained from loading tests performed on the T-stub connections are utilized to validate the accuracy of analytical prediction and the adequacy of numerical modeling. The behavior of connection components including tension bolt uplift, bending of the T-stub flange, stem elongation, relative slip deformation, and bolt bearing are simulated by the multi-linear stiffness models obtained from the observation of their individual force-deformation mechanisms in the connection. The component springs, which involve the stiffness properties, are implemented into the simplified joint element in order to numerically generate the behavior of full-scale connections with considerable accuracy. The analytical model predictions are evaluated against the experimental tests in terms of stiffness, strength, and deformation. Finally, it can be concluded that the mechanical models proposed in this study have the satisfactory potential to estimate stiffness response and strength capacity at failure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.495-501
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• 2001

In this paper, a new technique which models the joints characteristics through reduction of DOFs of structures with joints using component mode synthesis (CMS) method is proposed. Bolt joints are modeled by mass-spring systems. Also generalized mass and stiffness matrices for this models are introduced. Because bolt joints have influence on eigenvalues of structures, exact eigenvalues from modal test are used. The results show that the behaviors of structures with bolt joints depend to a large extent on the translational DOFs and not on rotational DOFs of mass and stiffness matrices of bolts. Furthermore it is confirmed that lumped mass-spring systems as models of bolt joints are effective models considering the facts that joint characteristics converged to constant values in some iterations and eignevalues from proposed method are in good agreement with ones from modal test.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.757-771
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• 2013

We present a semi-rigid connection estimation method by using cross modal strain energy method. While rigid or pinned assumptions are adopted for steel frames in traditional modeling via finite element method, the actual behavior of the connections is usually neither. Semi-rigid joints enable connections to be modeled as partially restrained, which improves the quality of the model. To identify the connection stiffness and update the FE model, a newly-developed cross modal strain energy (CMSE) method is extended to incorporate the connection stiffness estimation. Meanwhile, the relations between the correction coefficients for the CMSE method are derived, which enables less modal information to be used in the estimation procedure. To illustrate the capability of the proposed parameter estimation algorithm, a four-story frame structure is demonstrated in the numerical studies. Several cases, including Semi-rigid joint(s) on single connection and on multi-connections, without and with measurement noise, are investigated. Numerical results indicate that an excellent updating is achievable and the connection stiffness can be estimated by CMSE method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.591-602
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• 2017

A cable-stiffened cylindrical single-layer latticed shell that is reinforced by cable-stiffened system has superior stability behaviour compared with the ordinary cylindrical latticed shell. The layouts of cable-stiffened system are flexible in this structural system, and different layouts contribute different stiffness to the structure. However, the existed few research primarily focused on the simplest type of cable layouts, in which the grids of the latticed shell are diagonally stiffened by prestressed cables in-plane. This current work examines the stability behaviour of the cable-stiffened cylindrical latticed shells with two different types of cable layouts using nonlinear finite element analysis. A parametric study on the effect of cross-sectional of the cables, pretension in cables, joint stiffness, initial imperfections, load distributions and boundary conditions is presented. The findings are useful for the reference of the designer in using this type of structural system.