• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.229-239
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• 2003

The design process of machine tools is regarded as a sequential, discrete, and inefficient works as it requires various kinds of design tools and many working hours. This paper describes an integrated design system embedding a design methodology that can support efficiently and systematically the conceptual structural design of machine tools. The system is a knowledge-based design system and has four machine-tool-specific functional modules including configuration design, configuration analysis, structure design, and structural analysis support module. Through the configuration design and analysis module, a machine configuration appropriate for design requirements is selected, and then the arrangement of ribs fer each structural part is decided in the structure design module. Also, the structural analysis support module is used to evaluate design result by utilizing structural analysis software, ANSYS. The system is applied to design of a tapping machine, and shows that the machine structure can be designed fast and conveniently by processing each design step interactively.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.340-347
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• 2003

The aim of regularization of a structural configuration is to obtain a structure that consists of elements with identical or nearly identical length. And it is also possible to modify the configuration in a manner that the size of the elements vary in accordance with a specified pattern. For practical purpose, geodesic dome is cut off at a suitable place in order to make it fit on horizontal. Inevitably this pattern effects a change of element lengths. The purpose of this study is to verify a method for regularization of structural configuration by genetic algorithms and modify the element lengths of the dome. As a result of regularization of domes with various rise-span ratio, modified configurations have more regular element lengths and are more economical than initial configurations.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.650-658
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• 2021

Flexible risers are usually used as conveying systems to bring ocean resources from sea bed up to onshore. Under ocean environments, risers need to bear complex loads and it is crucial to comprehensively examine riser's configurations and to analyze structural dynamic performances under excitation of bottom vehicle motions, to guarantee structural safe operation and required service lives. In this study, considering a saddle-shaped riser, the influences of some important design parameters, including installation position of buoyancy modules, buoyancy ratio and motion of mining vehicle, on riser's configuration and response are carefully examined. Through our FEM simulations, the spatial distributions of structural tensions and curvatures along of riser length, under different configurations, are compared. Then, the impacts of mining vehicle motion on riser dynamic response are discussed, and structural tolerance performance is assessed. The results show that modules installation position and buoyancy ratio have significant impacts on riser configurations. And, an appropriate riser configuration is obtained through comprehensive analysis on the modules positions and buoyancy ratios. Under this proposed configuration, the structural tension and curvature could moderately change with buoyancy modules and bottom-end conditions, in other words, the proposed saddle-shaped riser has a good tolerance performance to various load excitations.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.533-543
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and resolve the causes of defects in the unmanned aerial vehicle launch system(propulsion wire fracture, rear rail deformation) and to prevent recurrence. Methods: The causes of the two defects were derived through fault tree analysis for each of the two defects and fault reproduction tests. In the case of propulsion wire, the installation of a high speed camera to check the behavior of wire was the driving force behind the defect resolution. Results: The results of this study are as follows; It was determined that the thickness of the washer was less than the maximum tolerance of the pulley was the cause of the propulsion wire fracture defect. Failure to comply with the launch procedure and insufficient safety margin were judged as the cause of the rear rail deformation defect. Accordingly, the configuration was changed to remove each defect. Conclusion: The case of this study was conducted to eliminate defects in the launch system for UAV. The causes of defects were estimated through fault tree analysis. After the configuration change, Structural analysis and launch tests were performed to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the modified configuration. As a result, the effect of the modified configuration was verified.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.197-210
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• 2017

This paper focuses on the regularization of structural configurations by employing meta-heuristic optimization algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Biogeography-Based Optimization (BBO). The regularization of structural configuration means obtaining a structure whose members have equal or almost equal lengths, or whose member's lengths are based on a specific pattern; which in this case, by changing the length of these elements and reducing the number of different profiles of needed members, the construction of the considered structure can be made easier. In this article, two different objective functions have been used to minimize the difference between member lengths with a specific pattern. It is found that by using a small number of iterations in these optimization methods, a structure made of equal-length members can be obtained.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.17-37
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• 2022

This paper discusses an improved unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, configuration characterized by telescopic booms to optimize the flight mechanics and fuel consumption of the aircraft at various loading/flight conditions.The starting point consists of a full-composite smaller UAV which was derived by a general aviation ultralight motorized aircraft ULM. The present design, named ToBoFlex, extends the two-booms configuration to a three tons aircraft. To adapt the design to needs relevant to different applications, new solutions were proposed in aerodynamic fields and materials and structural areas. Different structural solutions were reported. To optimize aircraft endurance, the innovative concept of Telescopic Tail Boom was considered along with two different tails architecture. A new structural configuration of the fuselage was proposed. Further consideration of hydrogen fuel cell electric propulsion is now being studied in collaboration between the Polytechnic of Turin and Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University which could be the starting point of future investigations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.877-895
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• 2015

Connections to circular hollow steel sections (CHS) are considered one of the most complex and time consuming connections in steel construction. Such connections are usually composed of gusset plates welded to the outside of the steel tube or penetrating the steel tube. Design guides, accounting for the effect of connection configuration on the strength of the connection, are not present. This study aims to investigate, through experimental testing and a parametric study, the influence of connection configuration on the strength of one sided branch plate-to-CHS members. A notable effect was observed on the behavior of the connections due to its detailing changes with respect to capacity, failure mode, ductility, and stress distribution. A parametric study is performed using the calibrated analytical model to include a wider range of parameters. The study involves 26 numerical analyses of finite element models including parameters of the diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratio, length of gusset plate, and connection configuration. Accordingly, a modification to the formulas provided by the current design recommendations was suggested to include connection configuration effects for the one sided branch plate-to-CHS members.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.3 s.168
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• pp.146-153
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• 2005

In this paper, a multi-step optimization using genetic algorithm with variable penalty function is introduced to the structural design optimization of a grinding machine. The design problem, in this study, is to find out the optimum configuration and dimensions of structural members which minimize the static compliance, the dynamic compliance, and the weight of the machine structure simultaneously under several design constraints such as dimensional constraints, maximum deflection limit, safety criterion, and maximum vibration amplitude limit. The first step is shape optimization, in which the best structural configuration is found by getting rid of structural members that have no contributions to the design objectives from the given initial design configuration. The second and third steps are sizing optimization. The second design step gives a set of good design solutions having higher fitness for lightweight and minimum static compliance. Finally the best solution, which has minimum dynamic compliance and weight, is extracted from the good solution set. The proposed design optimization method was successfully applied to the structural design optimization of a grinding machine. After optimization, both static and dynamic compliances are reduced more than 58.4% compared with the initial design, which was designed empirically by experienced engineers. Moreover the weight of the optimized structure are also slightly reduced than before.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1218-1228
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• 1997

The move limit strategy is used to avoid the excessive approximation in the structural optimization. The size of move limit has been obtained by engineering experience. Recently, efforts based on analytic methods are performed by some researchers. These methods still have problems, such as prematurity or oscillation of the move limit size. The existing methods usually control the bound of design variables based on the magnitude. Thus, they can not properly handle the configuration variables based on the geometry in the configuration optimization. In this research, the size of move limit is calculated based on the accuracy of approximation. The method is coded and applied to the two-point reciprocal quadratic approximation method. The efficiency is evaluated through examples.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.117-144
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• 2019

High Altitude and Long Endurance (HALE) aircraft are capable of providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities over vast geographic areas when equipped with advanced sensor packages. As their use becomes more widespread, the demand for additional range, endurance and payload capability will increase and designers are exploring non-conventional configurations to meet the increasing demands. One such configuration is the joined-wing concept. A joined-wing aircraft is one that typically connects a front and aft wings in a diamond shaped planform. One such example is the Boeing SensorCraft configuration. While the joined-wing configuration offers potential benefits regarding aerodynamic efficiency, structural weight, and sensing capabilities, structural design requires careful consideration of elastic buckling resulting from the aft wing supporting, in compression, part of the forward wing structural loading. It has been shown already that this is a nonlinear phenomenon, involving geometric nonlinearities and follower forces that tend to flatten the entire configuration, leading to structural overload due to the loss of the aft wing's ability to support the forward wing load. Severe gusts are likely to be the critical design condition, with flight control system interaction in the form of Gust Load Alleviation (GLA) playing a key role in minimizing the structural loads. The University of Victoria Center for Aerospace Research (UVic-CfAR) has built a 3-meter span scaled and flexible wing UAV based on the Boeing SensorCraft design. The goal is to validate the nonlinear structural behavior in flight. The main objective of this research work is to perform Ground Vibration Tests (GVT) to characterize the dynamic properties of the scaled flight vehicle. Results from the experimental tests are used to characterize the modal dynamics of the aircraft, and to validate the numerical models. The GVT results are an important step towards a safe flight test program.