Yeong-Soo Shin

Finite element modeling technique for predicting mechanical behaviors on mandible bone during mastication

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to propose finite element (FE) modeling methods for predicting stress distributions on teeth and mandible under chewing action. MATERIALS AND METHODS For FE model generation, CT images of skull were translated into 3D FE models, and static analysis was performed considering linear material behaviors and nonlinear geometrical effect. To find out proper boundary and loading conditions, parametric studies were performed with various areas and directions of restraints and loading. The loading directions are prescribed to be same as direction of masseter muscle, which was referred from anatomy chart and CT image. From the analysis, strain and stress distributions of teeth and mandible were obtained and compared with experimental data for model validation. RESULTS As a result of FE analysis, the optimized boundary condition was chosen such that 8 teeth were fixed in all directions and condyloid process was fixed in all directions except for forward and backward directions. Also, fixing a part of mandible in a lateral direction, where medial pterygoid muscle was attached, gave the more proper analytical results. Loading was prescribed in a same direction as masseter muscle. The tendency of strain distributions between the teeth predicted from the proposed model were compared with experimental results and showed good agreements. CONCLUSION This study proposes cost efficient FE modeling method for predicting stress distributions on teeth and mandible under chewing action. The proposed modeling method is validated with experimental data and can further be used to evaluate structural safety of dental prosthesis.

Structural damage evaluation of reinforced concrete beams exposed to high temperatures

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of temperature distribution, concrete strength, cover thickness, and heating time on the structural behavior of reinforced concrete beams. Toward this goal, reinforced concrete beams with different concrete compressive strength and cover thickness are fabricated and subjected to furnace heating for 60, 90, and 120 min under a loaded state. In order to analyze structural behavior based on the thermal behavior of the beams, transient temperature distribution is measured during the furnace heating. After furnace heating, spalling is observed. From loading tests performed on the damaged reinforced concrete beams, residual strength, maximum loads, and beam deflections are measured and examined. The experimental results show that significant damage occurs in the reinforced concrete beams under high temperatures. In addition, it is found that thermal and structural behavior of damaged reinforced concrete beams is dependent on cover thickness and concrete s...

Experimental Studies on the Effect of Various Design Parameters on Thermal Behaviors of High Strength Concrete Columns under High Temperatures

Although concrete is considered as fire proof materials, high strength concrete shows severe material and structural damages when exposed to fire. To understand such damages in high strength concrete structures, the effects of various design parameters and fire condition on the thermal behaviors of high strength concrete structures are investigated in this study. In order to achieve this goal, fire tests are performed on high strength concrete columns with different fire conditions and design parameters including cross sectional area, cover thickness, and reinforcement alignment. To investigate thermal behaviors, temperature distributions and amount of spalling are measured. In overall, the columns show rapidly increasing inner temperatures between 30~60 mins of the fire tests due to spalling. In detail, the higher temperature distributions are observed from the columns with the larger cross section and less cover thickness. Moreover, among the columns with same reinforcing ratio, larger number of reinforcements with the smaller diameter causes the higher temperature distribution. The findings from the experimental study allow not only understanding of thermal behaviors of high strength concrete columns under fire, but also guidance in revising fire safety design.

Temperature-Dependency Thermal Properties and Transient Thermal Analysis of Structural Frames Exposed to Fire

A research projects is currently being conducted to develop a nonlinear finite element analysis methods for predicting the structural behavior of reinforced concrete frame structures, exposed to fire. As part of this, reinforced concrete frames subjected to fire loads were analyzed using the nonlinear finite-element program DIANA. Two numerical steps are incorporated in this program. The first step carries out the nonlinear transient heat flow analysis associated with fire and the second step predicts the structural behavior of reinforced concrete frames subjected to the thermal histories predicted by first step. The complex features of structural behavior in fire conditions, such as thermal expansion, plasticity, cracking or crushing, and material properties changing with temperature are considered. A concrete material model based on nonlinear fracture mechanics to take cracking into account and plasticity models for concrete in compression and reinforcement steel were used. The material and analytical models developed in this paper are verified against the experimental data on simple reinforced concrete beams. The changes in thermal parameters are discussed from the point of view of changes of structure and chemical composition due to the high temperature exposure. Although, this study considers codes standard fire for reinforced concrete frame, any other time-temperature relationship can be easily incorporated.

Structural Capacity Evaluation of High Strength Concrete Short Columns with Various Design Parameters under High Temperatures

It is well known that high strength concrete with compressive strength higher than 50 MPa shows severe material and structural damages under fire due to spalling. To understand degradation of structural capacity of fire damaged high strength concrete structures, not only thermo-mechanical behavior needs to be defined, but also structural behavior of high strength concrete member under high temperature needs to be investigated. In this study, structural tests are performed by applying axial loads on high strength concrete columns exposed at elevated temperatures for assigned amount of time. The tested columns are prepared to have different concrete strength and polypropylene fiber percentage. The test results show that structural capacity of the columns decreased with increased compressive strength of concrete under same heating condition. Especially, it is interesting to note that high strength concrete columns with polypropylene fiber for spalling proof did not improve structural capacity compared to the columns without polypropylene fiber. The findings from the test are able to improve fire proof design of high strength concrete structural members and predicting structural performance of fire damaged structural members.

Development of Wide Connection Method for Vertical Joints of Precast Concrete Walls

This research analyzed the structural efficiency and application by improving the 100 mm width vertical joint to 150 mm and developing three connection methods to reduce the difficulty in assembling and handling PC walls. Moreover, nonlinear finite analysis was used for analyzing. From the analysis results, when double width connection was applied, the PC wall showed larger load capacity and ductility due to the steel bar sharing loads efficiently. Moreover, as the dimension of loops and the number of bars increased, the maximum load capacity increased as well. Also, among the double width connections, the largest capacity showed in the order of welding, ring and C type loop. However, in case of welding type loop connection, the ring type loop is more stable due to changes in different site conditions. Therefore, thorough quality control of welding is necessary.

Strain Monitoring of Strengthened RC Beams with Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Polymer(FRP) Laminates by FBG Sensor

The reinforced concrete(RC) structures strengthened with fiber reinforced plastic(FRP) has been accepted by the construction engineering community for rehabilitation. FRP composites can present many advantages like a corrosion resistance, strength-weight ratio, relatively short application time, and cost effectiveness. The beams under design load, however, are cracked and result in degrading the strength. It is difficult to recognize cracks and deflections on the surface of the concrete members retrofitted with FRP through the life cycle. For these reasons, if they result in the effects, which were below the expected strength, we must monitor the state of concrete structures all the time in order to take an appropriate measure. Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG) sensor excel as monitoring of investigating the stress state of the retrofitted beams with FRP. The main objective of this study is to measure strain by experiment and analyze the behavior of RC beams retrofitted with FRP using FBG sensor. The kinds of FRP which were used in research are carbon, glass and improved hybrid FRP(IFRP) that has capacity than any other FRP. Other variables are the length of FRP, the number of sheet.