• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.743-752
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic evaluation of a smart farm investment for tomatoes and strawberries. In addition, the potential adoption rate of the smart farm was derived for different scenarios. This study analyzed the economic evaluation with the net present value (NPV) method and estimated the adoption potential of the smart farm with the trade-off analysis, minimum data (TOA-MD) model. The results were as follows: The analysis of the net present value shows that the smart farm investment for the two crops are economically feasible, and the minimum prices for the tomatoes and strawberries should be 1,179 and 3,797 won/kg to secure a sufficient economic feasibility for the smart farm investment. Next, the analysis of the potential adoption rates for smart farms through the TOA-MD model showed that when the support ratio for the adoption of a smart farm system was 50% and the price increase rates were, respectively, - 5, 2.5, 0, 2.5, and 5%, the conversion rates for tomato farms to switch to smart farms were 0.97, 1.78, 3.05, 4.91, and 7.47%, while the ratios of the strawberry farms to switch to smart farms were 0.12, 0.29, 0.65, 1.33, and 2.53%, respectively. This study has some known limitations, but it provides useful information on decision making about smart farm adoption and can contribute to government policies on smart farms.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.375-386
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• 2021

In this paper, a study of stability and health of a newly-built railway tunnel is presented. The field test was implemented to monitor the secondary lining due to the significant cracking behaviors influenced the stability and health of the tunnel structure. Surface strain gauges were installed for monitoring the status of crack openings, and the monitoring outputs demonstrated that the cracks were still in the developing stage. Additionally, adjacent tunnel and poor condition of surrounding rock were identified as the causes of the lining cracking by systematically characterizing the crack spatial distribution, tunnel site and surrounding rock conditions. Reconstruction of partial lining and reconstruction of the whole secondary lining were designed as the maintenance projects for different cracking regions based on the construction feasibility. For assessing the health conditions of the reinforced lining, embedded strain gauges were set up to continuously measure the strain and the internal force of the reconstructed structures. For the partially reconstructed lining, the outputs show the maximum tensile elongation is 0.018 mm during 227 days, which means the structure has no obvious deformation after maintenance. The one-year monitoring of full-section was implemented in the other two completely reconstructed cross-sections by embedded strain gauge. The outputs show the reconstructed secondary lining has undertaken the pressure of surrounding rock with the time passing. According to the calculated compressive and tensile safety factors, the completely reconstructed lining has been in reliable and safe condition during the past year after reinforcement. It can conclude that the aforementioned maintenance projects can effectively ensure the stability and health of this tunnel.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.413-420
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• 2020

In this study, a new lab-scale test equipment was developed to evaluate the variation of concrete workability after pumping. The equipment was designed to simulate the pressure and shearing applied to concrete during actual pumping. In order to examine the feasibility of evaluating variation of concrete workability through lab-scale test equipment, real-scale pumping tests and lab-scale tests were performed together. The design strength of concrete used in the both tests was 24, 35, and 60MPa, and the length of pipe used in pumping tests was 130, 304, and 518m. The lab-scale tests were performed in consideration of actual pumping conditions(pressure, shearing, and pumping duration time). The workability(slump or slum flow) of concrete was measured before test, after the pumping test, and after lab-scale test. In all tests, workability of all concrete mixtures decreased. In addition, the results of both tests were measured greatly similarly.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.157-169
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• 2021

Establishing an investment evaluation system for public ICT projects is ultimately to increase the success rate of public ICT projects in which government finances are invested and to revitalize the projects, thereby establishing a foundation for national economic growth and enhancing the competitiveness of the global ICT industry. This study tried to empirically verify the effect of public ICT project investment evaluation factors established according to the existing evaluation system on actual project success, and to suggest directions for future investment evaluation factors. Five evaluation factors such as public interest, economic feasibility, technology, policy and budget efficiency were derived through prior research, and the effect of these evaluation criteria on actual project success was verified through questionnaires from experts who directly participated in the actual project. In addition, it was confirmed whether the government's support system had a moderating effect between the investment evaluation factors and the project success of the ICT project. The reliability and validity of measurement tools, structural model analysis, and path analysis were empirically analyzed, and the significance of existing ICT investment evaluation factors was verified.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.6
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• pp.749-765
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• 2021

Suspension bridges bear large eccentric live loads in rush hours when most vehicles travel in one direction on the left or right side of the bridge. With the increasing number and weight of vehicles and the girder widening, the eccentric live load effect on the bridge behavior, including bending and distortion of the main girder, gets more pronounced, even jeopardizing bridge safety. This study proposes an analytical algorithm based on multi-catenary theory for predicting the suspension bridge responses to eccentric live load via the nonlinear generalized reduced gradient method. A set of governing equations is derived to solve the following unknown values: the girder rigid-body displacement in the longitudinal direction; the horizontal projection lengths of main cable's segments; the parameters of catenary equations and horizontal forces of the side span cable segments and the leftmost segments of middle span cables; the suspender tensions and the bearing reactions. Then girder's responses, including rigid-body displacement in the longitudinal direction, deflections, and torsion angles; suspenders' responses, including the suspender tensions and the hanging point displacements; main cables' responses, including the horizontal forces of each segment; and the longitudinal displacement of the pylons' tower top under eccentric load can be calculated. The response of an exemplar suspension bridge with three spans of 168, 548, and 168 m is calculated by the proposed analytical method and the finite element method in two eccentric live load cases, and their results prove the former's feasibility. The nonuniform distribution of the live load in the lateral direction is shown to impose a greater threat to suspension bridge safety than that in the longitudinal direction, while some other specific features revealed by the proposed method are discussed in detail.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.508-514
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• 2022

Piezoelectric composite films which are enabled by inorganic piezoelectric nanomaterials-embedded polymer, have attracted enormous attention as a sustainable power source for low powered electronics, because of their ease of fabrication and flexible nature. However, the absorption of applied stress by the soft polymeric matrices is a major issue that must be solved to expand the fields of piezoelectric composite applications. Herein, a flexible and porous piezoelectric composite (piezoelectric sponge) comprised of BaTiO₃ nanoparticles and polydimethylsiloxane was developed using template method to enhance the energy conversion efficiency by minimizing the stress that vanishes into the polymer matrix. In the porous structure, effective stress transfer can occur between the piezoelectric active materials in compression mode due to direct contact between the ceramic particles embedded in the pore-polymer interface. The piezoelectric sponge with 30 wt% of BaTiO₃ particles generated an open-circuit voltage of ~12 V and a short-circuit current of ~150 nA. A finite element method-based simulation was conducted to theoretically back up that the piezoelectric output performance was effectively improved by introducing the sponge structure. Furthermore, to demonstrate the feasibility of pressure detecting applications using the BaTiO₃ particles-embedded piezoelectric sponge, the composite was arranged in a 3 × 3 array and integrated into a single pressure sensor. The fabricated sensor array successfully detected the shape of the applied pressure. This work can provide a cost-effective, biocompatible, and structural strategy for realizing piezoelectric composite-based energy harvesters and self-powered sensors with improved energy conversion efficiency.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.113-127
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• 2022

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are commonly utilized to provide lateral stiffness in high-rise structures. The simplified model is frequently used instead of the fine-scale model in the design of buildings with SPSWs. To predict the lateral strength of steel plate shear walls with diagonal stiffeners (DS-SPSWs), a simplified model is presented, namely the cross brace-strip model (CBSM). The bearing capacity and internal forces of columns for DS-SPSWs are calculated. In addition, a modification coefficient is introduced to account for the shear action of the thin plate. The feasibility of the CBSM is validated by comparing the numerical results with theoretical and experimental results. The numerical results from the CBSM and fine-scale model, which represent the bearing capacity of the DS-SPSW with varied stiffened plate dimensions, are in good accord with the theoretical values. The difference in bearing capacity between the CBSM and the fine-scale model is less than 1.35%. The errors of the bearing capacity from the CBSM are less than 5.67% when compared to the test results of the DS-SPSW. Furthermore, the shear and axial forces of CBSM agree with the results of the fine-scale model and theoretical analysis. As a result, the CBSM, which reflects the contribution of diagonal stiffeners to the lateral resistance of the SPSW as well as the effects on the shear and axial forces of the columns, can significantly improve the design accuracy and efficiency of buildings with DS-SPSWs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.771-783
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• 2022

In this study, the feasibility of alternative tractor Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) designed to evaluate conditions required for testing was confirmed. In accordance with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) code 4, the required load energy of the tractor ROPS was determined. First, the tractor ROPS test was performed and a repeated test was performed using a simplified ROPS as an alternative tractor ROPS. The test procedure is first rearward, second lateral, and last forward based on ROPS. The load test device consists of a load cell that measures force and a LVDT that measures deformation. Precision was confirmed by calculating the relative standard deviation of the simplified ROPS repeated test. Accuracy was analyzed by calculating the mean relative error between the mean measured values in the simplified ROPS test and the tractor ROPS test. As a result, the relative standard deviation was less than 2.5% for force and 3.3% for maximum deformation overall, showed the highest precision in lateral load. The mean relative error value for force measured at the lateral load of simplified ROPS was 0.5%, showing the highest accuracy. In the front load test, the mean relative error of maximum deformation was 20.5%, showing the lowest accuracy. The mean relative error (MRE) was high in the forward load test was because of structural factors of the ROPS. The simplified ROPS model is expected to save money and time spent preparing tractors.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.335-349
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• 2023

Bridges constantly undergo deterioration and damage, the most common ones being concrete damage and exposed rebar. Periodic inspection of bridges to identify damages can aid in their quick remediation. Likewise, identifying components can provide context for damage assessment and help gauge a bridge's state of interaction with its surroundings. Current inspection techniques rely on manual site visits, which can be time-consuming and costly. More recently, robotic inspection assisted by autonomous data analytics based on Computer Vision (CV) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been viewed as a suitable alternative to manual inspection because of its efficiency and accuracy. To aid research in this avenue, this study performs a comparative assessment of different architectures, loss functions, and ensembling strategies for the autonomous segmentation of bridge components and damages. The experiments lead to several interesting discoveries. Nested Reg-UNet architecture is found to outperform five other state-of-the-art architectures in both damage and component segmentation tasks. The architecture is built by combining a Nested UNet style dense configuration with a pretrained RegNet encoder. In terms of the mean Intersection over Union (mIoU) metric, the Nested Reg-UNet architecture provides an improvement of 2.86% on the damage segmentation task and 1.66% on the component segmentation task compared to the state-of-the-art UNet architecture. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that incorporating the Lovasz-Softmax loss function to counter class imbalance can boost performance by 3.44% in the component segmentation task over the most employed alternative, weighted Cross Entropy (wCE). Finally, weighted softmax ensembling is found to be quite effective when used synchronously with the Nested Reg-UNet architecture by providing mIoU improvement of 0.74% in the component segmentation task and 1.14% in the damage segmentation task over a single-architecture baseline. Overall, the best mIoU of 92.50% for the component segmentation task and 84.19% for the damage segmentation task validate the feasibility of these techniques for autonomous bridge component and damage segmentation using RGB images.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.700-706
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• 2009

Bridges are vital components of any road network which demand crucial and timely decision-making for Maintenance, Repair and Rehabilitation (MR&R) activities. Bridge Management Systems (BMSs) as a decision support system (DSS), have been developed since the early 1990's to assist in the management of a large bridge network. Historical condition ratings obtained from biennial bridge inspections are major resources for predicting future bridge deteriorations via BMSs. Available historical condition ratings in most bridge agencies, however, are very limited, and thus posing a major barrier for obtaining reliable future structural performances. To alleviate this problem, the verified Backward Prediction Model (BPM) technique has been developed to help generate missing historical condition ratings. This is achieved through establishing the correlation between known condition ratings and such non-bridge factors as climate and environmental conditions, traffic volumes and population growth. Such correlations can then be used to obtain the bridge condition ratings of the missing years. With the help of these generated datasets, the currently available bridge deterioration model can be utilized to more reliably forecast future bridge conditions. In this paper, the prediction accuracy based on 4 and 9 BPM-generated historical condition ratings as input data are compared, using deterministic and stochastic bridge deterioration models. The comparison outcomes indicate that the prediction error decreases as more historical condition ratings obtained. This implies that the BPM can be utilised to generate unavailable historical data, which is crucial for bridge deterioration models to achieve more accurate prediction results. Nevertheless, there are considerable limitations in the existing bridge deterioration models. Thus, further research is essential to improve the prediction accuracy of bridge deterioration models.