The Great Hanshin Earthquake had affected seriously on many highway bridges in Hanshin area. From a lot of investigations about the failure mechanisms on the highway bridges during strong earthquake, it was found that the consideration as a highway bridge system which consists of many structural elements such as piles, footings, piers, bearings, restrainers, super structures, etc. is very impor...

We are developing structural polymeric composites with battery functionality. These devices carry structural loads while simultaneously storing electrochemical energy. If designed with sufficient structural and energy efficiency, these materials could enable significant system-level weight reductions by replacing inert structural components while providing supplementary power for light load app...

The rolling surface for railroad wheels can be a heat source that may have an impact on the performance of the wheel bearing. In this study, experimental data from an electrically-heated railroad wheel set is analyzed by constructing thermal models of the wheel set. A steady finite-element model, a steady-analytical model, and a transient lumped-parameter model are discussed. Model parameters a...

Abstract: Thin-walled integrated flexible support structures are the major trend in the development of current rolling bearing technology. A thin-walled, integrated, squirrel-cage flexible support roller bearing, quasi-dynamic iterative finite element analysis (FEA) model is established in this paper. The FEA model is used to calculate the structural deformation of the thin-wall rings and suppo...

Lightweight ice-class vessels offer the possibility of increasing payload capacity while making them comparable in energy consumption with non-ice-class during ice-free periods. We approach development a lightweight hull by dividing ice–hull interactions into quasi-static loading and impact phases. Then, investigative outcomes concepts for each phase may be combined to develop ice-going hull. I...