Search results for: straight cable joint

Authors: Sam Yurdakul, Nick Baverstock, Jim Mills

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TDT 064 (FLEXISEQ®) is a drug-free gel used to treat osteoarthritis (OA)-associated pain and joint stiffness. It contains ultra-deformable phospholipid Sequessome™ vesicles, which can pass through the skin barrier intact. In six randomized OA studies, topical TDT 064 was well tolerated and improved joint pain, physical function and stiffness. In the largest study, these TDT 064-mediated effects were statistically significantly greater than oral placebo and equivalent to celecoxib. To understand the therapeutic effects of TDT 064, we investigated the localisation of the drug-free vesicles within rat synovial joints. TDT 064 containing DiO-labelled Sequessome™ vesicles was applied to the knees of four 6-week-old CD® hairless rats (10 mg/kg/ joint), 2–3 times/day, for 3 days (representing the recommended clinical dose). Eighteen hours later, the animals and one untreated control were sacrificed, and the knee joints isolated, flash frozen and embedded in Acrytol Mounting Media™. Approximately 15 sections (10 µm) from each joint were analysed by fluorescence microscopy. To investigate whether the localisation of DiO fluorescence was associated with intact vesicles, an anti-PEG monoclonal antibody (mAb) was used to detect Tween, a constituent of Sequessome™ vesicles. Sections were visualized at 484 nm (DiO) and 647 nm (anti-PEG mAb) and analysed using inForm 1.4 (Perkin Elmer, Inc.). Significant fluorescence was observed at 484 nm in sections from TDT 064-treated animals. No non-specific fluorescence was observed in control sections. Fluorescence was detected as discrete vesicles on the cartilage surfaces, inside the cartilaginous matrix and within the synovial space. The number of DiO-labelled vesicles in multiple fields of view was consistent and >100 in sections from four different treated knees. DiO and anti-PEG mAb co-localised within the collagenous tissues in four different joint sections. Under higher magnification (40x), vesicles were seen in the intercellular spaces of the synovial joint tissue, but no fluorescence was seen inside cells. These data suggest that the phospholipid vesicles in TDT 064 localize at the surface of the joint cartilage; these vesicles may therefore be supplementing the phospholipid deficiency reported in OA and acting as a biolubricant within the synovial joint.

Keywords: joint pain, osteoarthritis, phospholipid vesicles, TDT 064

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Authors: Pawitchaya Srijaiwong, Surin Khomfoi

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There are several solutions to supply electricity to an island in Thailand such as diesel generation, submarine power cable, and renewable energy power generation. However, each alternative has its own limitation like fuel and pollution of diesel generation, submarine power cable length resulting in loss of cable and cost of investment, and potential of renewable energy in the local area. This paper shows microgrid system which is a new alternative for power supply to an island. It integrates local power plant from renewable energy, energy storage system, and microgrid controller. The suitable renewable energy power generation on an island is selected from geographic location and potential evaluation. Thus, photovoltaic system and hydro power plant are taken into account. The capacity of energy storage system is also estimated by transient stability study in order to supply electricity demand sufficiently under normal condition. Microgrid controller plays an important role in conducting, communicating and operating for both sources and loads on an island so that its functions are discussed in this study. The conceptual design of microgrid operation is investigated in order to analyze the reliability and power quality. The result of this study shows that microgrid is able to operate in parallel with the main grid and in case of islanding. It is applicable for electricity supply to an island and a remote area. The advantages of operating microgrid on an island include the technical aspect like improving reliability and quality of power system and social aspects like outage cost saving and CO₂ reduction.

Keywords: energy storage, islanding, microgrid, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Lakshmana Ravi Raj Gali, K. Sridhar Reddy, M. Amaranatha Reddy

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Load transfer between adjacent slabs of the jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) system is inevitable for long-lasting performance. Dowel bars are generally used to ensure sufficient degree of load transfer, in addition to the load transferred by aggregate interlock mechanism at the joints. Joint efficiency is the measure of joint quality, a major concern and therefore the dowel bar system should be designed and constructed well. The interaction between dowel bars and concrete that includes various parameters of dowel bar and concrete will explain the degree of joint efficiency. The present study focuses on the methodology of selecting contact stiffness, which quantifies dowel-concrete interaction. In addition, a parametric study which focuses on the effect of dowel diameter, dowel shape, the spacing between dowel bars, joint opening, the thickness of the slab, the elastic modulus of concrete, and concrete cover on contact stiffness was also performed. The results indicated that the thickness of the slab is most critical among various parameters to explain the joint efficiency. Further displacement equivalency method was proposed to find out the contact stiffness. The proposed methodology was validated with the available field surface deflection data collected by falling weight deflectometer (FWD).

Keywords: contact stiffness, displacement equivalency method, Dowel-concrete interaction, joint behavior, 3D numerical simulation

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Authors: Marwa Ben Abdessalem, Amin Zribi, Ammar Bouallègue

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In this paper, a Joint Source Channel coding scheme based on LDPC codes is investigated. We consider two concatenated LDPC codes, one allows to compress a correlated source and the second to protect it against channel degradations. The original information can be reconstructed at the receiver by a joint decoder, where the source decoder and the channel decoder run in parallel by transferring extrinsic information. We investigate the performance of the JSC LDPC code in terms of Bit-Error Rate (BER) in the case of transmission over an Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel, and for different source and channel rate parameters. We emphasize how JSC LDPC presents a performance tradeoff depending on the channel state and on the source correlation. We show that, the JSC LDPC is an efficient solution for a relatively low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) channel, especially with highly correlated sources. Finally, a source-channel rate optimization has to be applied to guarantee the best JSC LDPC system performance for a given channel.

Keywords: AWGN channel, belief propagation, joint source channel coding, LDPC codes

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Authors: Rehan Waheed, Hasan Aftab Saeed, Wasim Tarar, Khalid Mahmood, Sajid Ullah Butt

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Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shielded doors made from brass extruded channels need to be welded with shielded enclosures to attain optimum shielding performance. Control of welding induced distortion is a problem in welding dissimilar metals like steel and brass. In this research, soldering of the steel-brass joint has been proposed to avoid weld distortion. The material used for brass channel is UNS C36000. The thickness of brass is defined by the manufacturing process, i.e. extrusion. The thickness of shielded enclosure material (ASTM A36) can be varied to produce joint between the dissimilar metals. Steel sections of different gauges are soldered using (91% tin, 9% zinc) solder to the brass, and strength of joint is measured by standard test procedures. It is observed that thin steel sheets produce a stronger bond with brass. The steel sections further require to be welded with shielded enclosure steel sheets through TIG welding process. Stresses and deformation in the vicinity of soldered portion is calculated through FE simulation. Crack formation in soldered area is also studied through experimental work. It has been found that in thin sheets deformation produced due to applied force is localized and has no effect on soldered joint area whereas in thick sheets profound cracks have been observed in soldered joint. The shielding effectiveness of EMI shielded door is compromised due to these cracks. The shielding effectiveness of the specimens is tested and results are compared.

Keywords: dissimilar metal, EMI shielding, joint strength, soldering

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Authors: Y. J. Chen, T. M. Yue, Z. N. Guo

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This paper reports the effects of laser energy on the characteristics of bubbles generated in the weld zone and the formation of new chemical bonds at the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)/Ti joint interface in laser joining of PET to Ti. The samples were produced by using different laser energies ranging from 1.5 J – 6 J in steps of 1.5 J, while all other joining parameters remained unchanged. The types of chemical bonding at the joint interface were analysed by the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth-profiling method. The results show that the characteristics of the bubbles and the thickness of the chemically bonded interface, which contains the laser generated bonds of Ti–C and Ti–O, increase markedly with increasing laser energy input. The tensile failure load of the joint depends on the combined effect of the amount and distribution of the bubbles formed and the chemical bonding intensity of the joint interface.

Keywords: laser direct joining, Ti/PET interface, laser energy, XPS depth profiling, chemical bond, tensile failure load

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Authors: Abbas Kamalibandpey, Alain Beland, Joseph Mukendi Kabuya

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Since a rock mass is a discontinuum medium, its behaviour is governed by discontinuities such as faults, joint sets, lithologic contact, and bedding planes. Thus, rock slope stability analysis in jointed rock masses is largely dependent upon discontinuities constitutive equations. This paper studies the difference between the Mohr-Coulomb (MC) and the Barton-Bandis (BB) joint constitutive numerical models for lithological contacts and joint sets. For the rock in these models, generalized Hoek-Brown criteria have been considered. The joint roughness coefficient (JRC) and the joint wall compressive strength (JCS) are vital parameters in the BB model. The numerical models are applied to the rock slope stability analysis in the Mont-Wright (MW) mine. The Mont-Wright mine is owned and operated by ArcelorMittal Mining Canada (AMMC), one of the largest iron-ore open pit operations in Canada. In this regard, one of the high walls of the mine has been selected to undergo slope stability analysis with RS2D software, finite element method. Three piezometers have been installed in this zone to record pore water pressure and it is monitored by radar. In this zone, the AMP-IF and QRMS-IF contacts and very persistent and altered joint sets in IF control the rock slope behaviour. The height of the slope is more than 250 m and consists of different lithologies such as AMP, IF, GN, QRMS, and QR. To apply the B-B model, the joint sets and geological contacts have been scanned by Maptek, and their JRC has been calculated by different methods. The numerical studies reveal that the JRC of geological contacts, AMP-IF and QRMS-IF, and joint sets in IF had a significant influence on the safety factor. After evaluating the results of rock slope stability analysis and the radar data, the B-B constitutive equation for discontinuities has shown acceptable results to the real condition in the mine. It should be noted that the difference in safety factors in MC and BB joint constitutive models in some cases is more than 30%.

Keywords: barton-Bandis criterion, Hoek-brown and Mohr-Coulomb criteria, open pit, slope stability

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Authors: P. Zamani, S. Mohajerzadeh, R. Masoudinejad, K. Farhangdoost

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The riveting process is one of the important ways to keep fastening the lap joints in aircraft structures. Failure of aircraft lap joints directly depends on the stress field in the joint. An important application of riveting process is in the construction of aircraft fuselage structures. In this paper, a 3D finite element method is carried out in order to optimize residual stress field in a riveted lap joint and also to estimate its fatigue life. In continue, a number of experiments are designed and analyzed using design of experiments (DOE). Then, Taguchi method is used to select an optimized case between different levels of each factor. Besides that, the factor which affects the most on residual stress field is investigated. Such optimized case provides the maximum residual stress field. Fatigue life of the optimized joint is estimated by Paris-Erdogan law. Stress intensity factors (SIFs) are calculated using both finite element analysis and experimental formula. In addition, the effect of residual stress field, geometry, and secondary bending are considered in SIF calculation. A good agreement is found between results of such methods. Comparison between optimized fatigue life and fatigue life of other joints has shown an improvement in the joint’s life.

Keywords: fatigue life, residual stress, riveting process, stress intensity factor, Taguchi method

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Authors: Farzaneh Khorram, Xavier Emery

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In this paper, it is aimed to create a crushing consumption energy (CCE) block model and determine the blocks with the potential to have the maximum grinding process energy consumption for the study area. For this purpose, a joint estimate (co-kriging) and joint simulation (turning band method and plurigaussian methods) to predict the CCE based on its correlation with SAG power index (SPI), A×B, and ball mill bond work Index (BWI). The analysis shows that TBCOSIM and plurigaussian have the more realistic results compared to cokriging. It seems logical due to the nature of the data geometallurgical and the linearity of the kriging method and the smoothing effect of kriging.

Keywords: plurigaussian, turning band, cokriging, geometallurgy

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Authors: Seyyed Mohammad Hasheminia, Heoung Jae Chun, Jong Chan Park, Hong Suk Chang

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Composite joints have been getting attention recently due to their high specific mechanical strength to weight ratio that is crucial for structures such as aircrafts and automobiles. In this study on hybrid joints, quasi-static experiments and finite element analysis were performed to investigate the failure mechanism of hybrid composite joint with respect to the joint properties such as the adhesive material, clamping force, and joint geometry. The outcomes demonstrated that the stiffness of the adhesive is the most imperative design parameter. In this investigation, two adhesives with various stiffness values were utilized. Regarding the joints utilizing the adhesive with the lower stiffness modulus, it was observed that the load was exchanged promptly through the adhesive since it was shared more proficiently between the bolt and adhesive. This phenomenon permitted the hybrid joints with low-modulus adhesive to support more prominent loads before failure when contrasted with the joints that utilize the stiffer adhesive. In the next step, the stress share between the bond and bolt as a function of various design parameters was studied using a finite element model in which it was understood that the geometrical parameters such as joint overlap and width have a significant influence on the load sharing between the bolt and the adhesive.

Keywords: composite joints, composite materials, hybrid joints, single-lap joint

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Authors: Ahmed Nour El Islam Ayad, Wafa Krika, Abdelghani Ayad, Moulay Larab, Houari Boudjella, Farid Benhamida

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the magnetic emission of underground electric cable of high voltage, because these power lines generate electromagnetic interaction with other objects near to it. The aim of this work shows a numerical simulation of the magnetic field of buried 400 kV line in three cases: permanent and transient states of short circuit and the last case with the presence of the harmonics at different positions as a function of time variation, with finite element resolution using Comsol Multiphysics software. The results obtained showed that the amplitude and distribution of the magnetic flux density change in the transient state and the presence of harmonics. The results of this work calculate the magnetic field generated by the underground lines in order to evaluate and know their impact on ecology and health.

Keywords: underground, electric power cables, cables crossing, harmonic, emission

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Authors: Dong Wook Lee

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This paper presents a method to analyze the stiffness of the expansion joint with structural support using a hybrid method combining computational and analytical methods. Many expansion joints found in tubes and ducts of mechanical structures are designed to absorb thermal expansion mismatch between their structural members and deal with misalignments introduced from the assembly/manufacturing processes. One of the important design perspectives is the system’s vibrational characteristics. We calculate the stiffness as a characterization parameter for structural joint systems using a combined Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and an analytical method. We apply the methods to two sample applications: external configurations of aircraft engines and nuclear power plant structures.

Keywords: expansion joint, expansion joint stiffness, finite element analysis, nuclear power plants, aircraft engine external configurations

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Authors: Triloki Prasad, Subhankar Ghosh, Asis Goswami

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The information received from visual organ plays an important role in human locomotion and human beings generally veer from the straight line in the absence of visual cue. Since in case of visually impaired persons this support is unavailable they are expected to have a different type of locomotion behaviour than the sighted persons. Higher degree of veering can result in accident or injury during indoor and outdoor activities. Hence, it is important to know the degree of veering that may happen in case of a sighted individual loosing the visual input. The present study was conducted on fifty three volunteers who walked with open and closed eyes, at their comfortable pace, in a grid marked area of 17m by 10m space. The volunteers had to walk in a straight line from a central starting point during three trials and their walking path was marked with a pair of sponge absorbed with three different colours. All volunteers had walked expectedly in straight line during open eye condition but had varied degree of veering during closed eye state. The correlation between the first step side and the side of deviation was not significant in closed eye condition. The number of steps taken in open eye and closed eye condition were significantly different while travelling similar distances. This study reveals that sighted persons become cautious during walking if the visual cue is not available and they reduce the step length so there is increase in step number.

Keywords: Closed eye, Open eye, Footprint, Veering

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Authors: B. S. Abdelwahed, B. B. Belkassem

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Beam-column joints are a critical part in reinforced concrete RC frames designed for inelastic response to several external loads. Investigating the behaviour of the exterior RC beam-column joints has attracted many researchers in the past decades due to its critical influence on the overall behaviour of RC moment-resisting frames subjected to lateral loads. One of the most critical zones in moment-resistant frames is the knee joints because of restraints associated with providing limited anchorage length to the beam and column longitudinal reinforcement in it and consequentially causes a lot of damage in such building frames. Previous numerical simulations focussed mainly on the exterior and interior joints, for knee joint further work is still needed to investigate its behaviour and discuss its affecting parameters. Structural response for an RC knee beam-column joint is performed in this study using LS-DYNA. Three-dimensional finite element (FE) models of an RC knee beam-column joint are described and verified with experimental results available in literature; this is followed by a parametric study to investigate the influence of the concrete compressive strength, the presence of lateral beams and increasing beam reinforcement ratio. It is shown that the concrete compressive strength has a significant effect on shear capacity, load-deflection characteristics and failure modes of an RC knee beam-column joints but to a certain limit, the presence of lateral beams increased the joint confinement and reduced the rate of concrete degradation in the joint after reaching ultimate joint capacity, added to that an increase in the maximum load resistance. Increasing beam reinforcement ratio is found to improve the flexural resistance of the anchored beam bars and increase the joint maximum load resistance.

Keywords: beam reinforcement ratio, joint confinement, numerical simulation, reinforced concrete beam-column joints, structural performance

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Authors: A. Benhamena, L. Aminallah, A. Aid, M. Benguediab, A. Amrouche

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The goal of this work is to analyze the severity of interfacial stress distribution in the single lap adhesive joint under tensile loading. The three-dimensional and non-linear finite element method based on the computation of the peel and shear stresses was used to analyze the fracture behaviour of single lap adhesive joint. The effect of the loading magnitude and the overlap length on the distribution of peel and shear stresses was highlighted. A good correlation was found between the FEM simulations and the analytical results.

Keywords: aluminum 2024-T3 alloy, single-lap adhesive joints, Interface stress distributions, material nonlinear analysis, adhesive, bending moment, finite element method

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Authors: Aasheesh Raturi, Vimal Kothiyal, P. D. Semalty

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We studied mechanical properties of Eucalyptus tereticornis using FT-NIR spectroscopy. Firstly, spectra were pre-processed to eliminate useless information. Then, prediction model was constructed by partial least squares regression. To study the influence of pre-processing on prediction of mechanical properties for NIR analysis of wood samples, we applied various pretreatment methods like straight line subtraction, constant offset elimination, vector-normalization, min-max normalization, multiple scattering. Correction, first derivative, second derivatives and their combination with other treatment such as First derivative + straight line subtraction, First derivative+ vector normalization and First derivative+ multiplicative scattering correction. The data processing methods in combination of preprocessing with different NIR regions, RMSECV, RMSEP and optimum factors/rank were obtained by optimization process of model development. More than 350 combinations were obtained during optimization process. More than one pre-processing method gave good calibration/cross-validation and prediction/test models, but only the best calibration/cross-validation and prediction/test models are reported here. The results show that one can safely use NIR region between 4000 to 7500 cm-1 with straight line subtraction, constant offset elimination, first derivative and second derivative preprocessing method which were found to be most appropriate for models development.

Keywords: FT-NIR, mechanical properties, pre-processing, PLS

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Authors: K. Zehouani, I. Oldal

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Purpose: In the human knee joint, degenerative joint disease may happen with time. The standard treatment of this disease is the total knee replacement through prosthesis implanting. The reason lies in the fact that this phenomenon causes different material abrasion as compare to pure sliding or rolling alone. This study focuses on developing a knee prosthesis geometry, which fulfills the mechanical and kinematical requirements. Method: The MSC ADAMS program is used to describe the rotation of the human knee joint as a function of flexion, and to investigate how the flexion and rotation movement changes between the condyles of a multi-body model of the knee prosthesis as a function of flexion angle (in the functional arc of the knee (20-120º)). Moreover, the multi-body model with identical boundary conditions is constituted, and the numerical simulations are carried out using the MSC ADAMS program system. Results: It is concluded that the use of the multi-body model reduces time and cost since it does not need to manufacture the tibia and the femur as it requires for the knee prosthesis of the test machine. Moreover, without measuring or by dispensing with a test machine for the knee prosthesis geometry, approximation of the results of our model to a human knee is carried out directly. Conclusion: The pattern obtained by the multi-body model provides an insight for future experimental tests related to the rotation and flexion of the knee joint concerning the actual average and friction load.

Keywords: biomechanics, knee joint, rotation, flexion, kinematics, MSC ADAMS

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Authors: Y. Lasbet, A. L. Boukhalkhal, K. Loubar

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The study of mixed convection is, usually, focused on the straight channels in which the onset of the mixed convection is well defined as function of the ratio between Grashof number and Reynolds number, Gr/Re. This is not the case for a complex channel wherein the mixed convection is not sufficiently examined in the literature. Our paper focuses on the study of the mixed convection in a complex geometry in which our main contribution reveals that the critical value of the ratio Gr/Re for the onset of the mixed convection increases highly in the type of geometry contrary to the straight channel. Furthermore, the accentuated secondary flow in this geometry prevents the thermal stratification in the flow and consequently the buoyancy driven becomes negligible. To perform these objectives, a numerical study in complex geometry for several values of the ratio Gr/Re with prescribed wall heat flux (H2), was realized by using the CFD code.

Keywords: complex geometry, heat transfer, laminar flow, mixed convection, Nusselt number

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Authors: L. M. Chinh

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Vam Cong Bridge beside Can Tho Bridge is the next cable-stayed bridge spanning the Hau River, connecting Lap Vo district with Thot Not district. After construction by the end of 2018, the Vam Cong Bridge with Cao Lanh Bridge will help to improve the road network in this region of Mekong Delta. For this bridge, the SHM system also had designed for two stages – construction stage and exploitation stage. At the moment over 65% of the bridge construction had completed, and the bridge will be completed at the end of 2018. During the construction stage, the SHM system had been install to monitor behaviors of the bridge. Based on the study of the design documentation of the SHM system of the Vam Cong Bridge and site visit during construction work, many designs and installation errors have been detected. In this paper author thoroughly analyzed the pros and cons of this SHM system, simultaneously make conclusions and recommendations for this system. Specially concentrated on the possibility of implementing the acoustic emission method (AE) into this SHM system, which is an alternative to the further development of the system, enabling a full and cost-effective solution for the bridge management, which is of utmost importance for the service life and safe operation of the bridge.

Keywords: SHM system, design and installation, Vam Cong bridge, construction stage, acoustic emission method (AE)

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Authors: Hasan Farahneh, Xavier Fernando

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Leaky Feeder (LF) has been a proven technology for many decades and its promises broadband wireless access in short range but being overlooked until now. The LF is a natural MIMO transceiver ideal for micro and pico cells. In this work, the LF is considered as a linear antenna array MultiInput-Single-Output (MISO) and derive the average bit error rate (BER) in Rayleigh fading channel considering ideal and independent paths (iid) which consider there is no correlation and mutual coupling between transmit antennas (slots) or receiver antenna considering QPSK modulation with imperfect phase estimation. We consider maximal ratio transmission (MRT) at the transmit end and maximal ratio combining (MRC) at the receiving end. Analytical expressions are derived for the BER with radiating cable transmitters. The effects of slot spacing and carrier frequency on the BER are also studied. Numerical evaluations show the radiating cable transmitter offer much lower BER than a single antenna transmitter with same SNR.

Keywords: leaky feeder, BER, QPSK, rayleigh fading, channel gain, phase mismatch

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Authors: Alò Roberta, Bottiglione Francesco, Mantriota Giacomo

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The efficiency of the actuation system of lower limb exoskeletons and of active orthoses is a significant aspect of the design of such devices because it affects their efficacy. F-IVT is an innovative actuation system to power artificial knee joint with energy recovery capabilities. Its key and non-conventional elements are a flywheel, that acts as a mechanical energy storage system, and an Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT). The design of the F-IVT can be optimized for a certain walking condition, resulting in a heavy reduction of both the electric energy consumption and of the electric peak power. In this work, by means of simulations of level ground walking at different speeds, it is demonstrated how F-IVT is still an advantageous actuator, even when it does not work in nominal conditions.

Keywords: active orthoses, actuators, lower extremity exoskeletons, knee joint

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Authors: Roy Y. C. Huang, J. S. Kuang, Hamdolah Behnam

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Beam-column connections play an important role in the reinforced concrete moment resisting frame (RCMRF), which is one of the most commonly used structural systems around the world. The premature failure of such connections would severely limit the seismic performance and increase the vulnerability of RCMRF. In the past decades, researchers primarily focused on investigating the structural behaviour and failure mechanisms of conventional beam-column joints, the beam width of which is either smaller than or equal to the column width, while studies in wide beam-column joints were scarce. This paper presents the preliminary experimental results of two full-scale exterior wide beam-column connections, which are mainly designed and detailed according to ACI 318-14 and ACI 352R-02, under reversed cyclic loading. The ratios of the design shear force to the nominal shear strength of these specimens are 1.0 and 1.7, respectively, so as to probe into differences of the joint shear strength between experimental results and predictions by design codes of practice. Flexural failure dominated in the specimen with ratio of 1.0 in which full-width plastic hinges were observed, while both beam hinges and post-peak joint shear failure occurred for the other specimen. No sign of premature joint shear failure was found which is inconsistent with ACI codes’ prediction. Finally, a modification of current codes of practice is provided to accurately predict the joint shear strength in wide beam-column joint.

Keywords: joint shear strength, reversed cyclic loading, seismic vulnerability, wide beam-column joints

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Authors: Yana Xiao

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The invention of Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs) provides an effective approach to the sustainable power of energy. Liquid-solid interfaces-based TENGs have been researched in virtue of less friction for harvesting energy from raindrops, rivers, and oceans in the form of water flows. However, TENGs based on droplets have rarely been investigated. In this study, we have proposed a new kind of droplet tube-based TENG (DT-TENG) with free-standing and reformative grating electrodes. Both straight and curved DT-TENGs were designed, fabricated, and evaluated, including straight tubes TENG with 27 electrodes and curved tubes TENG of 25cm radius curvature- at the inclination of 30°, 45° and 60° respectively. Different materials and hydrophobicity treatments for the tubes have also been studied, together with a discussion on the mechanism and applications of DT-TENGs. As different types of liquid discrepant energy performance, this kind of DT-TENG can be potentially used in laboratories to identify liquid or solvent. In addition, a smart fishing float is contrived, which can recognize different levels of movement speeds brought about by different weights and generate corresponding electric signals to remind the angler. The electric generation performance when using a PVC helix tube around a cylinder is similar in straight situations under the inclination of 45° in this experiment. This new structure changes the direction of a water drop or flows without losing kinetic energy, which makes utilizing Helix-Tube-TENG to harvest energy from different building morphologies possible.

Keywords: triboelectric nanogenerator, energy harvest, liquid tribomaterial, structure innovation

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Authors: Xi Wang, Xiaoming Tao, Raymond C. H. So

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As one of the convenient and noninvasive sensing approaches, the automatic limb girth measurement has been applied to detect intention behind human motion from muscle deformation. The sensing validity has been elaborated by preliminary researches but still need more fundamental study, especially on kinetic contraction modes. Based on the novel fabric strain sensors, a soft and smart limb girth measurement system was developed by the authors’ group, which can measure the limb girth in-motion. Experiments were carried out on elbow isometric flexion and elbow isokinetic flexion (biceps’ isokinetic contractions) of 90°/s, 60°/s, and 120°/s for 10 subjects (2 canoeists and 8 ordinary people). After removal of natural circumferential increments due to elbow position, the joint torque is found not uniformly sensitive to the limb circumferential strains, but declining as elbow joint angle rises, regardless of the angular speed. Moreover, the maximum joint torque was found as an exponential function of the joint’s angular speed. This research highly contributes to the application of the automatic limb girth measuring during kinetic contractions, and it is useful to predict the contraction level of voluntary skeletal muscles.

Keywords: fabric strain sensor, muscle deformation, isokinetic contraction, joint torque, limb girth strain

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Authors: Milan Podlena, Stepan Hysek, Jiri Prochazka, Martin Bohm, Jan Bomba

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Corner joints are the weakest part of windows, where the members are connected together. Since the dimensions of the windows started become bigger, the strength requirements for corner joints started to increase as well. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the samples of corner joints of wooden windows. Moisture content of test specimens was stabilized in the climate chamber. After conditioning, test specimens were loaded in the laboratory conditions onto an universal testing machine and the failure load was measured. Data was recalculated by using goniometric, bending moment and stiffness equation to the stiffness coefficients and the bending moments were investigated. The results showed difference that was observed for the mortise with tenon joint and the dowel joint. This difference was explained by a varied adhesive bond area, which is related to the dimensions of dowels (diameter and length) as well. The bending moments and stiffness ware (except of type of corner joint) also affected by type of used adhesive, type of dowels and wood species.

Keywords: corner joint, wooden window, bending moment, stiffness

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Pengfan Wu, Xiaoan Chen, Ye He, Tianchi Chen

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This paper introduces the design of an unpowered knee exoskeleton to assist human walking by redistributing the moment of the knee joint during stair descent (SD). Considering the knee moment varying with the knee joint angle and the work of the knee joint is all negative, the custom-built spring was used to convert negative work into the potential energy of the spring during flexion, and the obtained energy work as assistance during extension to reduce the consumption of lower limb muscles. The human-machine adaptability problem was left by traditional rigid wearable due to the knee involves sliding and rotating without a fixed-axis rotation, and this paper designed the two-direction grooves to follow the human-knee kinematics, and the wire spring provides a certain resistance to the pin in the groove to prevent extra degrees of freedom. The experiment was performed on a normal stair by healthy young wearing the device on both legs with the surface electromyography recorded. The results show that the quadriceps (knee extensor) were reduced significantly.

Keywords: unpowered exoskeleton, stair descent, knee compliant joint, energy redistribution

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Authors: A. Lubis, S. S. Pasulu, Z. Hikmah, A. Endaryanto, A. Harsono

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Infection by group A streptococci (GAS) can trigger an autoantibody that cause a poststreptococcal reactive arthritis (PSRA). Four patients with PSRA aged 10 years to 14 years old with the main complaint of joint pain for five days to 10 days after suffering a fever and sore throat. The joint pain was persistent, additive, and non migratory. All patients revealed an increase in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and anti-streptolysin O (ASLO), but the chest x-ray, electrocardiography, and echocardiography were normal. Bone imaging showed no destruction on the affected joint. Jones Criteria were not fulfilled in all patients. Erythromycin and ibuprofen were given in all patients and an improvement was shown. Erythromycin was continued for one year and routine controls were conducted for cardiac evaluation. The prognosis of all the patients was good.

Keywords: arthritis, group a streptococcus, autoantibody, Jones criteria

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Authors: S. Daneshi, G. Shahcheraghi, F. Ghaffarinejad

Abstract:

Back ground: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people around the world during the aging process. Knee joint proprioception sense decrease with OA and Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) surgery may affect them. We investigated two parameters of proprioception sense (the joint position sense and kinesthesia) and standing balance in affected limbs before and after TKA, in patient with Knee OA. Methods and Materials: In this Analytic study, 10 patients who were candidate for TKA during two months in Dena Hospital of Shiraz, selected for further analysis. All of cases were female in range of 55-70 years old. Participants assessed before and two weeks after TKA using three instruments: electrogoniometer and continuous passive motion (CPM) to assess Knee joint position sense and kinesthesia in 20 and 45 degrees; and chronometer to assess duration of standing balance on affected leg with open and closed eyes. Results: To examine differences between before and after of TKA scorings Willcoxon Signed Rank and Mann-Whitney was performed which indicated no significant differences between knee joint position sense and kinesthesia in 20 and 45 degrees (P>0.05) and no significant differences between Standing Balance in a patient with knee OA before and after TKA (P>0.05). Conclusion: The study indicates that, OA can affect proprioception sense and standing balance but TKA doesn’t have any effect on these parameters. Intra articular structures such as cruciate ligaments and mines are responsible for proprioception sense in normal knee joint. Since in severe knee OA the number of mechanoreceptors in these intra articular structures decrease and their function reduce more than normal knee joint, so the anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) become defected, thus after TKA surgery which this ligament is removed no significant change was found in proprioception sense. As a result of involving proprioception sense, muscles strength and the function of vestibular system in balance, standing balance did not show significant difference before and after TKA.

Keywords: knee joint, proprioception sense, standing balance, rehabilitation sciences

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Authors: Iva Hereitova, Miroslav Svatek, Vit Novacek

Abstract:

Background and Aim: Autonomic imbalance is one of the complications for immobilized patients in the acute stage after a stroke. The predominance of sympathetic activity significantly increases cardiac activity. The technique of glenohumeral joint approximation may contribute in a non-pharmacological way to the regulation of blood pressure and heart rate in patients in this risk group. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of glenohumeral joint approximation on the change in heart rate and blood pressure in immobilized patients in the acute phase after a stroke. Methods: The experimental study bilaterally evaluated heart rate, systolic and diastolic pressure values before and after glenohumeral joint approximation in 40 immobilized participants (72.6 ± 10.2 years) in the acute phase after stroke. The experimental group was compared with 40 healthy participants in the control group (68.6 ± 14.2 years). An SpO2 vital signs monitor and a validated Microlife WatchBP Office blood pressure monitor were used for evaluation. Statistical processing and evaluation were performed in MATLAB R2019 (The Math Works®, Inc., Natick, MA, USA). Results: Approximation of the glenohumeral joint resulted in a statistically significant decrease in systolic and diastolic pressure. An average decrease in systolic pressure for individual groups ranged from 8.2 to 11.3 mmHg (p <0.001). For diastolic pressure, the average decrease ranged from 5.0 - 14.2 mmHg (p <0.001). There was a statistically significant reduction in heart rate (p <0.01) only in patients after ischemic stroke in the inferior cerebral artery. There was the average decrease in heart rate of 3.9 beats per minute (median 4 beats per minute). Conclusion: Approximation of the glenohumeral joint leads to a statistically significant decrease in systolic and diastolic pressure in immobilized patients in the acute phase after stroke.

Keywords: Aproximation technique, Cardiovaskular system, Glenohumeral joint, Stroke

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Mohammad Mehdi Bagheri, Tianying Ma, Meng Gong

Abstract:

Nail laminated timber (NLT) is widely used for constructing timber bridge decks in North America. Butt joints usually exist due to the length limits of lumber, leading to concerns about the decrease of structural performance of NLT. This study aimed at investigating the provisions incorporated in Canadian highway bridge design code on the use of but joints in wooden bridge decks. Three and five layers NLT specimens with various configurations were tested under 3-point bending test. It was found that the standard equation is capable of predicting the bending stiffness reduction due to butt joints and 1-m band limit in which, one but joint in every three adjacent lamination is allowed, sounds reasonable. The strength reduction also followed a pattern similar to stiffness reduction. Also reinforcement of the butt joint through nails and steel side plates was attempted. It was found that nail reinforcement recovers the stiffness slightly. In contrast, reinforcing the butt joint through steel side plate improved the flexural performance significantly when compared to the nail reinforcement.

Keywords: nail laminated timber, butt joint, bending stiffness, reinforcement

Procedia PDF Downloads 185