• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2010

In this study, the optimal position for the backrest pivot of an office chair was investigated by evaluating its performance in terms of the lumbar support and sliding distance of the back from the backrest during tilting motions. The simulation was performed using a mathematical model, which included a human body and a chair. Forty-two backrest pivot points were selected on the sagittal plane around the hip joint of a sitting model. A motion analysis study was also performed using a prototype of an office chair (A-type) with a backrest pivot located on the hip joint of a normal Korean model and a typical office chair (B-type) with its pivot located under the seat. The simulation results showed that both the lordosis angle and the slide distance of the back were minimized when the backrest pivot was positioned close to the hip joint. The experimental results showed that the slide distance and gap between the sitter's lumbar and the backrest was smaller with the A-type than the B-type. Based on the simulation and experimental results, it can be concluded that the backrest can support the sitter's lumbar area more effectively as the pivot position for reclining approaches closer to the hip joint. In this position, the sitter can maintain a comfortable and healthy sitting posture. This paper presents the methods and guidelines for designing an office chair with ergonomic considerations.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.588-596
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• 2012

This paper presents a new semi-analytical annular Mindlin plate element with which out-of-plane natural vibration of thick disks can be analyzed simply, efficiently, and accurately through FEM by including effects of rotary inertia and transverse shear deformation. Using static deformation modes which are exact solutions of equilibrium equations of annular Mindlin plate, the element interpolation functions, stiffness and mass matrices corresponding to each number of nodal diameters are derived. The element is capable of representing out-of-plane rigid-body motions exactly and free from shear locking. Natural frequencies of uniform and multi-step disks with or without concentric ring support are analyzed by applying the presented element. Such results are compared with theoretical predictions of previous works or FEA results obtained by using two-dimensional shell element to investigate the convergence and accuracy of the presented element.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.415.2-415.2
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• 2016

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is one of ways to convert mechanical energy sound, waves, wind, vibrations, and human motions to available electrical energy. The principal mechanism to generate electrical energy is based on contact electrification on material surface and electrostatic induction between electrodes. The performance of TENG are dependent on amount of the input mechanical energy and characteristics of triboelectric materials. Furthermore, the whole TENG system including mechanical structure and electrical system can effect on output performance of TENG. In this work, we investigated the effect of gear train on output performance and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of TENG under a given input energy. We applied the gear train on mechanical structure to improve the contact rate. We measured the output energy under a constant input energy by controlling the size of the working gear. We prepared gears with gear ratios (rin/rw) of 1, 1.7, and 5. Under the constant input energy, the voltage and current from our gear-based TENG system were enhanced up to the maximum of 3.6 times and 4.4 times, respectively. Also, the PCE was increased up to 7 times at input frequency of 1.5 Hz. In order to understand the effect of kinematic design on TENG system, we performed a capacitor experiment with rectification circuit that provide DC voltage and current. Under the input frequency of 4.5 Hz, we obtained a 3 times enhanced rectifying voltage at a gear ratio of 5. The measured capacitor voltage was enhanced up to about 8 fold in using our TENG system. It is attributed that our gear-based TENG system could improve simultaneously the magnitude as well as the generation time of output power, finally enhancing output energy. Therefore, our gear-based TENG system provided an effective way to enhance the PCE of TENGs operating at a given input energy.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.75-86
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• 1999

An analysis model is developed to evaluate the dynamic responses of a bridge system under seismic excitations, in which pounding actions between girders are considered in addition to other phenomena such as nonlinear pier motion, rotational and translational motions of foundations. The model also considers the abutment and restrainers connecting adjacent girders to prevent the unseating failures. Using the developed model, the longitudinal dynamic behaviors of a bridge system are examined for various peak ground accelerations, and the effects of the applied restrainers are investigated. It is found that the restrainers reduce the relative displacement with the shorter clearance length as well as the higher stiffness of the restrainers for moderate excitations. However, in the region with strong excitations the restrainers may yield due to the large relative displacement. Therefore, the extension of support length in addition to restrainers may need to prevent the unseating failure more effectively.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.67-82
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• 2007

The basic building block of solar filaments/prominences is thin threads of cool plasma. We have studied the spectral properties of velocity threads, clusters of thinner density threads moving together, by analyzing a sequence of $H{\alpha}$ images of a quiescent filament. The images were taken at Big Bear Solar Observatory with the Lyot filter being successively tuned to wavelengths of -0.6, -0.3, 0.0, +0.3, and +0.6 ${\AA}$ from the centerline. The spectra of contrast constructed from the image data at each spatial point were analyzed using cloud models with a single velocity component, or three velocity components. As a result, we have identified a couple of velocity threads that are characterized by a narrow Doppler width($\Delta\lambda_D=0.27{\AA}$), a moderate value of optical thickness at the $H{\alpha}$ absorption peak($\tau_0=0.3$), and a spatial width(FWHM) of about 1". It has also been inferred that there exist 4-6 velocity threads along the line of sight at each spatial resolution element inside the filament. In about half of the threads, matter moves fast with a line-of-sight speed of $15{\pm}3km\;s^{-1}$, but in the other half it is either at rest or slowly moving with a line-of-sight velocity of $0{\pm}3km\;s^{-1}$. It is found that a statistical balance approximately holds between the numbers of blue-shifted threads and red-shifted threads, and any imbalance between the two numbers is responsible for the non-zero line-of-sight velocity determined using a single-component model fit. Our results support the existence not only of high speed counter-streaming flows, but also of a significant amount of cool matter either being at rest or moving slowly inside the filament.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.195-211
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• 2020

Among anti-seismic technologies, base isolation is a very effective means of mitigating damage to structural and nonstructural components, such as equipment. However, most seismic isolation systems are designed for mitigating only horizontal seismic responses because the realization of a vertical isolation system (VIS) is difficult. The difficulty is primarily due to conflicting isolation stiffness demands in the static and dynamic states for a VIS, which requires sufficient rigidity to support the self-weight of the isolated object in the static state, but sufficient flexibility to lengthen the isolation period and uncouple the ground motion in the dynamic state. To overcome this problem, a semi-active VIS, called the piezoelectric inertia-type vertical isolation system (PIVIS), is proposed in this study. PIVIS is composed of a piezoelectric friction damper (PFD) and a leverage mechanism with a counterweight. The counterweight provides an uplifting force in the static state and an extra inertial force in the dynamic state; therefore, the effective vertical stiffness of PIVIS is higher in the static state and lower in the dynamic state. The PFD provides a controllable friction force for PIVIS to further prevent its excessive displacement. For experimental verification, a shaking table test was conducted on a prototype PIVIS controlled by a simple controller. The experimental results well agree with the theoretical results. To further investigate the isolation performance of PIVIS, the seismic responses of PIVIS were simulated numerically by considering 14 vertical ground motions with different characteristics. The responses of PIVIS were compared with those of a traditional VIS and a passive system (PIVIS without control). The numerical results demonstrate that compared with the traditional and passive systems, PIVIS can effectively suppress isolation displacement in all kinds of earthquake with various peak ground accelerations and frequency content while maintaining its isolation efficiency. The proposed system is particularly effective for near-fault earthquakes with long-period components, for which it prevents resonant-like motion.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.771-779
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• 2010

Sketch-based interface is used more and more in developing animation contents. Particularly, there has been a system where the user's sketch inputs are interpreted and presented as live motions. In this study¸ it is to design an animated flight learning system using sketch-based interface. Most of the flights include movements in three-dimensional space and have unique and complex flight patterns. In other words, the actual flight movements not only include acceleration and deceleration, rising and falling, straight or circular flying, but also may include combinations of two or more movements as they simultaneously occur such as accelerating while falling, or slowing down while rising, and so forth. And, currently existing flight learning animation system cannot present such complex flight patterns to the pilots of aircrafts or to those personnel for air-traffic controllers. Hence, it is to be shown in this study that unit-path sketch animation method can support quicker ways to create animations to present those complex flight movements, and requires lesser inputs compared to the existing frame-based animation method. Also, the flight learning system suggested uses the flight-route realization tasks to reflect complex flight patterns, and therefore creates animations close to real as possible.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 2006

A large interindividual variability and some abnormally kinematic patterns at the lower extremity were the main features of the gait in children with Down syndrome. The purposes of this study were to investigate the gait asymmetry and biomechanical difference between dominant leg and non dominant leg in children with Down syndrome. Seven boys with Down Syndrome(age: $120{\pm}0.9yrs$, weight $34.4{\pm}8.4kg$, leg length: $68.7{\pm}5.0cm$) participated in this study. A 10.0 m ${\times}$ 1.3 m walkway with a firm dark surface was built and used for data collection. Three-dimensional motion analyses were performed to obtain the joint angles and range of motions. The vertical ground reaction forces(%BW) and impulses($%BW{\cdot}s$) were measured by two force plates embedded in the walkway. Asymmetry indices between the legs were computed for all variables. After decision the dominant leg and the non dominant leg with max hip abduction angle, paired samples t-test was employed for selected kinematic and ground reaction force variables to analyze the differences between the dominant leg and the non dominant leg. The max hip abduction angle during the swing phase showed most asymmetry, while the knee flexion angle at initial contact showed most symmetry in walking and running. The dominant leg showed more excessive abduction of hip in the swing phase and more flat-footed contact than the non dominant leg. Vertical peak force in running showed more larger than those of in walking, however, vertical impulse showed more small than walking due to decrease of support time. In conclusion, the foot of dominant leg contact more carefully than those of non dominant leg. And also, there are no significant difference between the dominant leg and the non dominant leg in kinematic variables and ground reaction force due to large interindividual variability.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.245-255
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to analyzed the coordination of lower limb of elderly women who experienced a fall to present basic information for sports science and to deal with the factors that make elderly women fall more effectively. Twenty elderly women were divided into two groups of 10. The mechanisms of balancing lower limb during walk and differences were compared and analyzed using motion analysis and electromyography. The findings of this study are as follows. The first, walking patterns of these women were unstable as their hip joints did not provide sufficient support because of aging. Second, the left and right knee joints showed different walking patterns. The third, the motions of ankle joints became abnormal with increased age. As for the activation of major lower limb muscles, rectus fermois muscle and biceps fermois muscle contracted more to prevent the bending of knees and moved forward while anterior tibial muscle and inner gastrocnemius muscle were demanded highly during walk and the rate of plantar flexion was reduced.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1627-1633
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• 2017

Human dance is difficult to learn since there is no effective way to imitate an expert's motion, a sequence of complicated body movements, without taking an actual class. In this paper, we propose a dance learning system using human depth information. In the proposed system, a set of example motions are captured from various expert dancers through a marker-free motion capture and archived into a motion database server for online dance lessons. Given the end-user devices such as tablet and kiosk PCs, a student can learn a desired motion selected from the database and send one's own motion to an instructor for online feedback. During this learning process, our system provides a posture-based motion search and multi-mode views to support the efficient exchange of motion data between the student and instructor under a networked environment. The experimental results demonstrate that our system is capable to improve the student's dance skills over a given period of time.