Frequency: Quarterly E- ISSN: 2230-8164 P- ISSN: 2249-1341 Abstracted/ Indexed in: Ulrich's International Periodical Directory, Google Scholar, SCIRUS, Genamics JournalSeek
Quarterly published in print and online "Inventi Impact: Structure & Design" publishes high quality unpublished as well as high impact pre-published research and reviews catering to the needs of researchers and professionals. This journal deals with all the aspects of structures and designs with particular emphasis on: infrastructure engineering, earthquake engineering, structure-fluid-soil interaction, wind engineering, fire engineering, blast engineering, structural reliability/stability, life assessment/integrity, structural health monitoring, multi-hazard engineering, structural dynamics, optimization, expert systems, experimental modelling, performance-based design, multiscale analysis, value engineering etc. Papers are especially encouraged in topics such as tall buildings, innovative structures, environmentally responsive structures, bridges, stadiums, commercial and public buildings, transmission towers, television and telecommunication masts, cooling towers, plates and shells, suspension structures, smart structures, nuclear reactors, dams, pressure vessels, pipelines, tunnels etc.
Electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures can help in the reduction of mutual coupling by their capabilities of suppressing surface wave's propagation in a specific frequency range. In this work, a dual-layer EBG structure, which had a lower resonant frequency than the single-layer one, is proposed in order to reduce the mutual coupling between E-plane coupled microstrip antenna array. As this EBG structure significantly made the series capacitance between neighbor cells larger, a drastic reduction of the unit cell size was achieved. The simulated and experimental results show that the proposed structure has a significant 19?dB mutual coupling reduction....
Recompression supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) Brayton Cycle for the Chinese Initiative Accelerator Driven System (CiADS)\nis taken into account, and flexible thermodynamic modeling method is presented. The influences of the key parameters on\nthermodynamic properties of SCO2 Brayton Cycle are discussed and the comparative analyses on genetic algorithm and pattern\nsearch algorithm are conducted. It is shown that the cycle parameters such as turbine inlet temperature, pressure ratio, outlet\ntemperature at the hot end of condenser, and terminal temperature difference of regenerator 1 and regenerator 2 have significant\neffects on the cycle thermal efficiency. The calculation results indicate that pattern search algorithm has better optimization\nperformance and quicker calculating speed than genetic algorithm. The result of optimization of the parameters for CiADS with\nsupercritical carbon dioxide Brayton Cycle is 35.97%. Compared with other nuclear power plants of SCO2 Brayton Cycle, CiADS\nwith SCO2 Brayton Cycle does not have the best thermal efficiency, but the thermal efficiency can be improved with the reactor\noutlet temperature increases....
The Moment Distribution Method is a quite powerful hand method of structural analysis, in which the solution is obtained\niteratively without even formulating the equations for the unknowns. It was formulated by Professor Cross in an era where\ncomputer facilities were not available to solve frame problems that normally require the solution of simultaneous algebraic\nequations. Its relevance today, in the era of personal computers, is in its insight on how a structure reacts to applied loads by\nrotating its nodes and thus distributing the loads in the form of member-end moments. Such an insight is the foundation of the\nmodern displacement method. This work has a main objective to present an exact solution for the Moment Distribution Method\nthrough a matrix formulation using only one equation. The initial moments at the ends of the members and the distribution and\ncarry-over factors are calculated from the elementary procedures of structural analysis. Four continuous beams are investigated to\nillustrate the applicability and accuracy of the proposed formulation. The use of a matrix formulation yields excellent results when\ncompared with those in the literature or with a commercial structural program....
Molecular dynamics simulations of the phase transformation from bodycentered-\ncubic (bcc) to face-centered-cubic (fcc) structures were performed.\nA Morse-type function was applied, and the parameters were determined so\nthat both fcc and bcc structures were stable for the perfectcrystal model.\nWhen the fcc structure was superior to the bcc structure, the bcc model\ntransformed to fcc. Two mechanisms, based on the Bain and Nishiyama-\nWasserman (NW) relationships, were considered. Then, point or linear lattice\ndefects, i.e. , randomly scattered or regularly aligned vacancies, were introduced.\nConsequently, bcc models tended to transform to an fcc structure,\nwhereas fcc models remained stable. The transformation process was also\ninvestigated in detail. BCC-to-FCC transformation is often considered as a\nhomogeneous process based on changes in the axis lengths, and such a\nprocess was observed for the perfectcrystal model. Conversely, for the defect\nmodels, local heterogeneous deformation patterns, including cylindrical\ndomain and planar interface formation, were observed. These behaviors are\nconsidered to be related to plastic deformation during phase transformation,\nand the validity of the presented model for further investigation was confirmed....
Damage pattern recognition research represents one of the most challenging tasks in structural health monitoring (SHM). The vagueness in defining damage and the significant overlap between damage states contribute to the challenges associated with proper damage classification. Uncertainties in the damage features and how they propagate during the damage detection process also contribute to uncertainties in SHM. This paper introduces an integrated method for damage feature extraction and damage recognition. We describe a robust damage detection method that is based on using artificial neural network (ANN) to compute the wavelet energy of acceleration signals acquired from the structure. We suggest using the wavelet energy as a damage feature to classify damage states in structures. A case study is presented that shows the ability of the proposed method to detect and pattern damage using the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCEs) benchmark structure. It is suggested that an optimal ANN architecture can detect damage occurrence with good accuracy and can provide damage quantification with reasonable accuracy to varying levels of damage....
Green building index is considered as the rating tool for evaluating the siting, design and performance of\r\nbuildings and infrastructures based on worldwide acceptable six main criteria�s It was invented after the Kyoto\r\nprotocol, Japan, on 11th of December 1997 and the adoption in Marrakesh in 2001 by the United Nations and her\r\nsubcommittee. It was developed in the built environment industry by the Government support of each country to\r\ncombat the issue of green house gas emission. Carbon dioxide is acclaimed as one of the main greenhouse gas\r\nemission which is mainly through the activities of human race in the world resulting into global warming hence\r\nthe effort to make the environment lighter enough to inhabit. Construction industry was assessed through studies\r\nto be contributing 5% of the world total carbon dioxide emitted through cement production. It was also claimed\r\nthat a tonne of concrete produces carbon dioxide in the range of 0.05 to 0.13 tonnes. Foam concrete being a new\r\ninnovative green technology material for sustainable building and civil construction needs to fulfill the criteria�s\r\nof this rating tools for it to be considered as sustainable materials. This paper study the assessment of this\r\nlightweight concrete material in view of green building index criteria�s and the result are hereby analyze and\r\nconcluded that foam concrete can be effectively used as sustainable material for building and civil engineering\r\nconstruction....
An overall review of the structural behaviors of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) elements\nsubjected to various loading conditions needs to be conducted to prevent duplicate research and to promote its practical applications.\nThus, in this study, the behavior of various UHPFRC structures under different loading conditions, such as flexure, shear,\ntorsion, and high-rate loads (impacts and blasts), were synthetically reviewed. In addition, the bond performance between\nUHPFRC and reinforcements, which is fundamental information for the structural performance of reinforced concrete structures,\nwas investigated. The most widely used international recommendations for structural design with UHPFRC throughout the world\n(AFGC-SETRA and JSCE) were specifically introduced in terms of material models and flexural and shear design. Lastly,\nexamples of practical applications of UHPFRC for both architectural and civil structures were examined....
Expansive soils can pose tough issues to civil engineering applications. In a typical year, expansive soils can cause a greater financial loss than earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined. Various means have been studied to tackle problems associated with expansive soils. The majority of the methods are based on treatment of the soils. While the methods may be effective in some cases, their limitations are also obvious: The treatment normally involves complex processes and may not be eco-friendly in the long run. In many cases, the effectiveness of the treatment is uncertain. A retaining system that maintains a constant lateral pressure is proposed, which consists of three components: the retaining sheet, the slip-force device and the bracing column. The retaining sheet bears the pressure exerted by expansive backfills and is not embedded into the soils. Placed between the retaining sheet and bracing column, the slip-force device permits displacement of the retaining sheet but keeps the force on the sheet and the bracing column constant. The governing equation of the motion of the piston in the slip-force device is derived and a numerical simulation of a practical case is conducted based on the derived governing equation. Numerical results show that as the expansive soil swell, the spring force will increase and the piston will move accordingly. When the pressure of the oil in chamber reaches the open threshold of the unidirectional relief valve, the valve will open and the spring force and the oil pressure in the chamber will keep constant. The results also show that some parameters, such as damping ratio, have very slight influences on the device behavior, say 2 × 10−6 or even 4.8 × 10−9. Theoretical and numerical studies prove the effectiveness of the proposed retaining system....
There is significant concern in the engineering community regarding the safety and effectiveness of fiber-reinforced\r\npolymer (FRP) strengthening of RC structures because of the potential for brittle debonding failures. In this paper, previous\r\nresearch programs conducted by other researchers were reviewed in terms of the debonding failure of FRP laminates externally\r\nattached to concrete. This review article also discusses the influences on bond strength and failure modes as well as the existing\r\nexperimental research and developed equations. Based on the review, several important conclusions were re-emphasized, including\r\nthe finding that the bond transfer strength is proportional to the concrete compressive strength; that there is a certain bond\r\ndevelopment length that has to be exceeded; and that thinner adhesive layers in fact lower the chances of a concrete-adhesive\r\ninterface failure. It is also found that there exist uncertainty and inaccuracy in the available models when compared with the\r\nexperimental data and inconsistency among the models. This demonstrates the need for continuing research and compilation of\r\ndata on the topic of FRP�s bond strength....
A structural analysis method is proposed in this paper for cable-beam composite structure with a large number of cable elements;\nit can improve computational efficiency and accuracy. Firstly, we use a structural division method to divide the whole cable-beam\nstructure into inner cablenet system and edge cablenet-beam system. Because inner cablenet is a pure cablenet structure with given\nshape and topology, balance matrix analysis method is used to help obtain the best pretension distribution of it with the evenness\nas objective. For edge cablenet-beam system, with obtaining equilibrium forces of inner cablenetâ??s pretensions as goal, an iterative\npretension losses compensation calculation combined with nonlinear finite element method and balance matrix analysis method\nis used for edge cablenet to adjust its pretension distribution and make the whole cablenet system keep its preset ideal shape under\ninfluence of beamsâ?? deformations. Because edge cablenet-beam system has a lot less cable elements than overall structure, its\nnonlinear finite element calculations are much easier and faster than those for the whole cable-beam composite structure. In order\nto verify the above methodâ??s validity, it is used for a spaceborne cablenet deployable antenna example, and the computed results\nindicate that the method is feasible....
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