Numerical evaluation of buckling behavior in space structure considering geometrical parameters with joint rigidity

The buckling behavior of single layer space structure is very sensitive. The joint rigidity, moreover, is one of the main factors of stability which may determine the entire failure behavior. Thus, the reasonable stiffness of joint system, which is neither total pin assumption nor perfect fix condition, is very important to apply to the real single layer space one. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to investigate the buckling behavior of single layer space structure, using the development of the upgraded stiffness matrix for the joint rigidity. To derive tangential stiffness matrix, a displacement function was assumed using translational and rotational displacement at the node. The geometrical nonlinear analysis was simulated not only with perfect model but also with imperfect one. As a result, the one and two free nodal numerical models were investigated using derived stiffness matrix. It was figured out that the buckling load increases in proportion to joint rigidity with rise-span ratio. The stability of numerical model is very sensitive with the initial imperfection, responding of bifurcation in the structure.

Short-circuit Current Characteristics of Wind Generators

To study the effects of wind generators on distribution system protection,the short-circuit current(SCC) characteristics of wind generators is important.Although there are many researches on the issue,a clear agreement has not been reached so far.The SCC characteristics for different wind generators are studied.PSCAD simulation is performed in the same system integrated with different kinds of wind generators,and their results are compared with those reported in IEEE papers.The detection possibility by overcurrent relay(OCR)is discussed based on the simulation results.

The Impact of Ecosystem Functional Type Changes on the La Plata Basin Climate

In this paper, the effects of land cover changes on the climate of the La Plata Basin in southern South America are investigated using the Weather and Research Forecasting （WRF） Model configured on a 30/10- km two-way interactive nested grid. To assess the regional climate changes resulting from land surface changes, the standard land cover types are replaced by time-varying Ecosystem Functional Types （EFTs）, which is a newly devised land-cover classification that characterizes the spatial and interannual variability of surface vegetation dynamics. These variations indicate that natural and anthropogenic activities have caused changes in the surface physical parameters of the basin, such as albedo and roughness length, that contributed to regional climate changes. EFTs are obtained from functional attributes of vegetation computed from properties of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index （NDVI） to represent patches of the land surface with homogeneous energy and gas exchanges with the atmosphere. Four simulations are conducted, each experimental period ranging from September to November in two contrasting years, 1988 and 1998. The influence of an identical EFT change on the surface heat fluxes, 2-m temperature and humidity, 10-m winds, convective instabilities and large-scale moisture fluxes and precipitation are explored for 1988 （a dry year） and 1998 （a wet year）. Results show that the surface and atmospheric climate has a larger response to the same EFT changes in a dry year for 2-m temperature and 10-m wind; the response is larger in a wet year for 2-m water vapor mixing ratio, convective available potential energy, vertically integrated moisture fluxes and surface precipitation. For EFTs with high productivity and a weak seasonal cycle, the near- surface temperature during the spring of 1988 and 1998 increased by as much as I^C in the central and western portions of La Plata Basin. Additionally, for higher productivity EFTs, precipitation differences were generally positive in both dry and wet years, although the patterns are not uniform and exhibit certain patchiness with drier conditions.

Effect of Implementing Ecosystem Functional Type Data in a Mesoscale Climate Model

In this paper, we introduce a new concept of land-surface state representation for southern South America, which is based on ＂functional＂ attributes of vegetation, and implement a new land-cover （Ecosystem Functional Type, hereafter EFT） dataset in the Weather and Research Forecasting （WRF） model. We found that the EFT data enabled us to deal with functional attributes of vegetation and time-variant features more easily than the default land-cover data in the WRF. In order to explore the usefulness of the EFT data in simulations of surface and atmospheric variables, numerical simulations of the WRF model, using both the US Geological Survey （USGS） and the EFT data, were conducted over the La Plata Basin in South America for the austral spring of 1998 and compared with observations. Results showed that the model simulations were sensitive to the lower boundary conditions and that the use of the EFT data improved the climate simulation of 2-m temperature and precipitation, implying the need for this type of information to be included in numerical climate models.

Development of a Powder Extruder System for Dual-pore Tissue-engineering Scaffold Fabrication

In this study,we developed a powder extruder system that can extrude and deposit powder mixtures to overcome the reported limitations of conventional dualpore scaffold manufacturing methods.To evaluate the extrusion and deposition capability of the powder extruder system,3D tissue-engineering scaffolds with dual-pore characteristics were fabricated with a PCL/PEO/NaCl(polycaprolactone/polyethylene oxide/sodium chloride)powder mixture.In addition,to evaluate the fabricated scaffolds,their compressive modulus,morphology,and in-vitro cell activity were assessed.Consequently,it was confirmed that the proposed powder extruder system can fabricate dual-pore scaffolds with well-interconnected pores as well as arbitrary 3D shapes shown by the fabrication of a 3D femur-shape scaffold similar to the femur model.The results of the cell proliferation and Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8)assays,DNA content analysis and viability assays confirm that the dual-pore scaffold fabricated by the powder extruder system improves cell attachment,proliferation,and viability.

Characteristics of bifurcation and buckling load of space truss in consideration of initial imperfection and load mode

This study investigated characteristics of bifurcation and critical buckling load by shape imperfection of space truss,which were sensitive to initial conditions.The critical point and buckling load were computed by the analysis of the eigenvalues and determinants of the tangential stiffness matrix.The two-free-nodes example and star dome were selected for the case study in order to examine the nodal buckling and global buckling by the sensitivity to the eigen buckling mode and the analyses of the influence,and characteristics of the parameters as defined by the load ratio of the center node and surrounding node,as well as rise-span ratio were performed.The sensitivity to the imperfection of the initial shape of the two-free-nodes example,which occurs due to snapping at the critical point,resulted in bifurcation before the limit point due to the buckling mode,and the buckling load was reduced by the increase in the amount of imperfection.The two sensitive buckling patterns of the numerical model are established by investigating the displaced position of the free nodes,and the asymmetric eigenmode greatly influenced the behavior of the imperfection shape whether it was at limit point or bifurcation.Furthermore,the sensitive mode of the two-free-nodes example was similar to the in-extensional basis mechanism of a simplified model.The star dome,which was used to examine the influence among several nodes,indicated that the influence of nodal buckling was greater than that of global buckling as the rise-span ratio was higher.Besides,global buckling is occurred with reaching bifurcation point as the value of load ratio was higher,and the buckling load level was about 50%-70% of load level at limit point.