• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.407-421
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• 2022

Prefabricated hybrid wind turbine towers (WTTs) are promising due to height increase. This study proposes the use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) to develop a new type of WTT without the need to use reinforcement. It is demonstrated that the UHPC WTT structure without reinforcing bars could achieve performance similar to that of reinforced concrete WTTs. To simplify the design of WTT, a design approach for the calculation of stresses at the horizontal joints of a WTT is proposed. The stress distribution near the region of the horizontal joint of the WTT structure under normal operating conditions and different load actions is studied using the proposed approach, which is validated by the finite element method. A further parametric study shows that the degree of prestressing and the bending moment both significantly affect the principal stress. The shear-to-torsion ratio also shows a significant influence on the principal tensile stress.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.251-262
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• 2023

There are many examples of steel structures subjected to severe environmental conditions with bolted connections directly exposed to extreme climatic agents such as freeze-thaw cycles or low temperatures. Some examples are: steel bridges, mining transfer towers, wind towers... These service conditions neither are included in Eurocode 3 or EN1090-2, nor there are references in other international standards. In this experimental research, 46 specimens of non-slip joints with HV M20 bolts and four different types of contact surfaces have been studied. Half of the specimens were subjected to fourteen twelve-hours freeze-thaw cycles, with periodic immersion in water and temperature oscillation. Subsequently, half of the connections were subjected to a slip test under monotonic load at temperature of -20 ± 0.5 ℃ and the other half at room temperature. The results were compared with others equal joints not subjected to freeze-thaw cycles and kept at room temperature for the same time. This finally resulted in 4 sets of joints by combining the freeze-thaw degradation or not with the low-temperature conditions or not in the slip testing. Therefore, a total of 16 different conditions were studied by also considering 4 different contact surfaces between the joined plates in each set. The results obtained show influence of environmental conditions on the slip resistant capacity of these joints.

• Journal of Urban Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2022

Waste to Energy Plant were recognized as hateful facilities, and there were many conflicts in the location due to social problems such as the NIMBY phenomenon due to problems such as damage to property in the surrounding area, odor, and image loss. Problems such as air pollution and odor are solved by the development of advanced prevention facilities such as electric dust collectors, wet cleaning systems, semi-dry reaction towers, bag filters, and catalyst towers (SCR: Selective Catalytic Reduction), and air recycling facilities in waste storage tanks. However, it is being avoided because of the perception that it is an incinerator. To resolve these conflicts, the government installs and operates resident convenience facilities to compensate residents near resource recovery facilities, provides green space and improves the environment, and supports heating expenses in accordance with the 「Waste Treatment Facility Support Act」. The purpose of this study is to derive implications through the analysis of domestic and overseas case studies for resident convenience facilities and environment improvement for the promotion of local communities in resource recovery facilities and use them as basic data for community promotion and environmental improvement when installing resource recovery facilities in the future.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.100-108
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• 2023

The aim of this study is to develop guidelines for predicting interference between drones and wakes during non-destructive blade inspections in wind power systems. The wake generated by wind towers and blades can affect the stability of drone flights, necessitating the establishment of guidelines to ensure safe and efficient inspections. In order to predict the interference between drones and blades, environmental variables must be considered, including quantification of turbulence intensity in the wake generated by the tower and blades, as well as determining the appropriate distance between the drone and the tower/blades for flight stability. To achieve this, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed using cross-sectional geometries corresponding to the main wind turbine blade and tower span locations. Based on the CFD analysis results, a safe flight path for drones is proposed, which minimizes the risk of collision and interference with towers and blades during maintenance operations of wind power systems. Implementation of the proposed guidelines is expected to enhance the safety and efficiency of maintenance work.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.23-36
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• 2024

In this study, a health monitoring system was developed for the two most vulnerable parts of a wind tower support structure: the connection between steel towers (L-Flange) and the concrete foundation-steel tower connection. To select assessment parameters for health monitoring, detailed FEM analysis was conducted using the ABAQUS program. Additionally, a testbed was established near the Jeju Woljeongri wind turbine farm to evaluate the applicability of measurement data by installing sensors. Through computational analysis and relevant criteria review, we defined limits for measurement parameters by vulnerable section. We categorized the structural safety evaluation into four stages: normal, caution, warning, and danger, and selected management criteria for each stage. From this, an algorithm to evaluate safety was developed, and a visualized monitoring platform based on the established critical parts monitoring system was developed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.3
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• pp.309-321
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• 2024

In this paper, the effect of semi-rigid connections on the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings in steel tubular transmission towers is investigated. Herein, a prediction method based on the hybrid model which is a combination of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and backpropagation neural network (BPNN) is proposed to accurately predict the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections and to efficiently conduct its probabilistic assessment. Firstly, the establishment of the finite element (FE) model of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections is developed on the basis of the development of the mechanical model. Then, a dataset of 7425 samples generated by the FE model is used to train and test the PSO-BPNN model, and the accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated. Finally, the probabilistic assessment for the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections is conducted based on the proposed method and the Monte Carlo simulation, in which the geometric and material properties including the outer diameter and thickness of cross-sections and the yield strength of steel are considered as random variables. The results indicate that the proposed method based on the PSO-BPNN model has high accuracy in predicting the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections. Meanwhile, the semi-rigid connections could enhance the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings and the reliability of cross-bracings would significantly increase after considering semi-rigid connections.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.669-677
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• 2011

The multi-span suspension bridge generally has more than three towers and two main spans. To economically and effectively design a multi-span suspension bridge, the proper stiffness ratio of the center tower to the side tower must be determined. This study was conducted to propose a method of figuring out briefly the structural behavior of the towers in a multi-span suspension bridge. In the equivalent suspension bridge model, the main cable of the multi-span suspension bridge is idealized as an equivalent cable spring, and the external loads of horizontal and vertical forces that were calculated using the tensile forces of the main cable were applied on top of the towers. The equilibrium equations of the equivalent multi-span suspension bridge model were derived and the equations were solved via nonlinear analysis. To verify the proposed method, a sample four-span suspension bridge with a main span length of 3,000 m was analyzed using thefinite element method. The displacements and moment reactions of each tower in the proposed method were compared with the FEM analysis results. Consequently, the results of the analysis of the equivalent suspension bridge model tended to be consistent with the results of the FEM analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2020

The desulfurizers facility is cylindrical shape. To operate properly it needs nozzles cleaned, get rid of lime adhesion and sludge, repair the wear and corrosion of facility regularly. For this purpose, workers shall access the ceiling or vertical wall at high place. Ordinary scaffoldings such as steel pipe scaffolding or system scaffolding have been using so that workers can access them. With these ordinary scaffoldings, openings around cylindrical wall are inevitable which make workers can expose always to the risk of falling. The purpose of this study is to develop customized scaffolding to minimize the openings to prevent workers form falling during maintenance it. It consists of a hexagonal central tower and six trapezoidal outer towers. And the bracing among the towers have connected each other for self-standing and for maintaining the structure of towers. Span decks, the circumference footstools, steps, etc. are laid on each floor. The safety is reviewed by structural analysis and performance test. With this study, openings each floor of this scaffold are removed. The gap between the cylindrical wall and the edge of the work stage is approximately 100 mm. Therefore, we expect that workers can work safely and efficiently.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.25-33
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• 2012

In electric power transmission tower structures on offshore, implementation of life management using the event data of regular safety inspections for structural and material damages is strongly recommended. In this study, six tower structures in Sihwa Lake around Yeoungheung island were target bodies for the safety inspections. safety inspections for deterioration about each of six towers were performed about three items for steel member, five items for concrete foundation, and four items for steel-pipe pile in seawater and seawater itself. Safety inspections for steel members included the visual observations of surface appearances, the measurements of member thicknesses, and the checks of painting states. Also safety inspections for concrete foundations comprised the estimation of crack features, the evaluation of non-destructive compression strengths, and the measurements of neutralization depths and chlorides contents. For steel-pipe piles in seawater the inspections comprised the surveys of corrosion states in accordance with potential levels tests and anode tests, the analyses of photos taken on surfaces of the piles as well as the evaluation of seawater quality. A set of deterioration inspections was performed at the same positions around october of each year for three consecutive years. As a result in this study, Newly developed deterioration indexes have been applied profitably to maintain structural safety for electric power transmission towers by utilizing these event data systematically.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.42
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• pp.287-326
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• 2014

Documenting environmental conflicts will be a priority target for documenting localities, because those conflicts are critical events that make intensive 'place experiences' of local residents. This study is to design a narrative structure for documenting conflicts in the process of Transmission Towers Construction in Miryang. This study begins with analysing the characteristics of environmental conflicts, and draws a conflicts documentation model including basic rules, narrative structure and development process. Basic rules are set up as mixed documentation of memory and evidence, application of 'frame', and dynamic description. Based on the rules, this study suggests a dynamic and open narrative framework adopting the metadata model of ISO 23081. This model is applied to documenting Transmission Towers Construction Conflicts in Mi-ryang. The full narrative and 'frame' of the conflicts are set after analysing development and issues of the conflicts, stakeholder, and properties of each conflict problem. Records descriptions are related to the context(each event occurred in the conflicting conditions, mandates, and stakeholder) descriptions to make multiple narratives in digital environments. Event description contains elements for articulating the 'frame' of each party of the conflict. The merits of this model are; i) to accumulate the adequate context information systematically by adopting dynamic narrative model, and ii) to acquire the new items and connect them to related items easily and consistently through multi-entity description. This documentation model of environmental conflicts may support to shape the collective memory of community, and to achieve good governance by managing conflicts in the process of locating non-preferred facilities with due regard to values and perceptions of residents and communities.