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Antico, F. C., De la Varga, I., Esmaeeli, H. S., Nantung, T. E., Zavattieri, P. D., & Weiss, W. J. (2015). Using accelerated pavement testing to examine traffic opening criteria for concrete pavements. Constr. Build. Mater., 96, 86–95.
Abstract: The risk of cracking in a concrete pavement that is opened to traffic at early ages is related to the maximum tensile stress sigma(I), that develops in the pavement and its relationship to the measured, age dependent, flexural strength of a beam,f(r). The stress that develops in the pavement is due to several factors including traffic loading and restrained volume change caused by thermal or hygral variations. The stress that develops is also dependent on the time-dependent mechanical properties, pavement thickness, and subgrade stiffness. There is a strong incentive to open many pavements to traffic as early as possible to allow construction traffic or traffic from the traveling public to use the pavement. However, if the pavement is opened to traffic too early, cracking may occur that may compromise the service life of the pavement. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (1) to examine the current opening strength requirements for concrete pavements (typically a flexural strength from beams, f(r)) and (2) to propose a criterion based on the time-dependent changes of sigma(I)/f(r), which accounts for pavement thickness and subgrade stiffness without adding unnecessary risk for premature cracking. An accelerated pavement testing (APT) facility was used to test concrete pavements that are opened to traffic at an early age to provide data that can be compared with an analytical model to determine the effective sigma(I)/f(r), based on the relevant features of the concrete pavement, the subgrade, and the traffic load. It is anticipated that this type of opening criteria can help the decision makers in two ways: (1) it can open pavement sections earlier thereby reducing construction time and (2) it may help to minimize the use of materials with overly accelerated strength gain that are suspected to be more susceptible to develop damage at early ages than materials that gain strength more slowly. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Aylwin, R., & Jerez-Hanckes, C. (2023). Finite-Element Domain Approximation for Maxwell Variational Problems on Curved Domains. SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 61(3), 1139–1171.
Abstract: We consider the problem of domain approximation in finite element methods for Maxwell equations on curved domains, i.e., when affine or polynomial meshes fail to exactly cover the domain of interest. In such cases, one is forced to approximate the domain by a sequence of polyhedral domains arising from inexact meshes. We deduce conditions on the quality of these approximations that ensure rates of error convergence between discrete solutions -- in the approximate domains -- to the continuous one in the original domain.
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Aylwin, R., Jerez-Hanckes, C., Schwab, C., & Zech, J. (2020). Domain Uncertainty Quantification in Computational Electromagnetics. SIAM-ASA J. Uncertain. Quantif., 8(1), 301–341.
Abstract: We study the numerical approximation of time-harmonic, electromagnetic fields inside a lossy cavity of uncertain geometry. Key assumptions are a possibly high-dimensional parametrization of the uncertain geometry along with a suitable transformation to a fixed, nominal domain. This uncertainty parametrization results in families of countably parametric, Maxwell-like cavity problems that are posed in a single domain, with inhomogeneous coefficients that possess finite, possibly low spatial regularity, but exhibit holomorphic parametric dependence in the differential operator. Our computational scheme is composed of a sparse grid interpolation in the high-dimensional parameter domain and an Hcurl -conforming edge element discretization of the parametric problem in the nominal domain. As a stepping-stone in the analysis, we derive a novel Strang-type lemma for Maxwell-like problems in the nominal domain, which is of independent interest. Moreover, we accommodate arbitrary small Sobolev regularity of the electric field and also cover uncertain isotropic constitutive or material laws. The shape holomorphy and edge-element consistency error analysis for the nominal problem are shown to imply convergence rates for multilevel Monte Carlo and for quasi-Monte Carlo integration, as well as sparse grid approximations, in uncertainty quantification for computational electromagnetics. They also imply expression rate estimates for deep ReLU networks of shape-to-solution maps in this setting. Finally, our computational experiments confirm the presented theoretical results.
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Baier, R. V., Raggio, J. I. C., Arancibia, C. T., Bustamante, M., Perez, L., Burda, I., et al. (2021). Structure-function assessment of 3D-printed porous scaffolds by a low-cost/ open source fused filament fabrication printer. Mater. Sci. Eng. C-Mater. Biol. Appl., 123, 111945.
Abstract: Additive manufacturing encompasses a plethora of techniques to manufacture structures from a computational model. Among them, fused filament fabrication (FFF) relies on heating thermoplastics to their fusion point and extruding the material through a nozzle in a controlled pattern. FFF is a suitable technique for tissue engineering, given that allows the fabrication of 3D-scaffolds, which are utilized for tissue regeneration purposes. The objective of this study is to assess a low-cost/open-source 3D printer (In-House), by manufacturing both solid and porous samples with relevant microarchitecture in the physiological range (100?500 ?m pore size), using an equivalent commercial counterpart for comparison. For this, compressive tests in solid and porous scaffolds manufactured in both printers were performed, comparing the results with finite element analysis (FEA) models. Additionally, a microarchitectural analysis was done in samples from both printers, comparing the measurements of both pore size and porosity to their corresponding computer-aided design (CAD) models. Moreover, a preliminary biological assessment was performed using scaffolds from our In-House printer, measuring cell adhesion efficiency. Finally, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy ? attenuated total reflectance (FTIR?ATR) was performed to evaluate chemical changes in the material (polylactic acid) after fabrication in each printer. The results show that the In-House printer achieved generally better mechanical behavior and resolution capacity than its commercial counterpart, by comparing with their FEA and CAD models, respectively. Moreover, a preliminary biological assessment indicates the feasibility of the In-House printer to be used in tissue engineering applications. The results also show the influence of pore geometry on mechanical properties of 3D-scaffolds and demonstrate that properties such as the apparent elastic modulus (Eapp) can be controlled in 3D-printed scaffolds.
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Beltran, J. F., Nunez, E., Nunez, F., Silva, I., Bravo, T., & Moffat, R. (2018). Static response of asymmetrically damaged metallic strands: Experimental and numerical approach. Constr. Build. Mater., 192, 538–554.
Abstract: In this study, the effect of the presence of broken wires (damage) asymmetrically distributed on metallic strands surfaces on their static response is assessed. To this end, a general mechanical model for multi layered strands is presented, in which damaged strands are treated as a 1D nonlinear beam under uncoupled biaxial bending and axial load (NLBM). The NLBM is validated by comparisons with the results obtained from an experimental program especially designed for studying the effect of surface damage distribution on strands response and 3D nonlinear finite element simulations. Analyses are carried out on two strand constructions: 1 x 7 and 1 x 19, in which the damage levels and strand diameters vary from 5% to 40% and from 3.5 mm to 22.2 mm, respectively. Results indicate that the NLBM accurate predicts the static response (residual strength, stiffness, axial strain field, and deformed configuration) of the asymmetrically damaged strands, achieving good computational efficiency and numerical robustness. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Duran, M., Godoy, E., Roman-Catafau, E., & Toledo, P. A. (2022). Open-pit slope design using a DtN-FEM: Parameter space exploration. Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci., 149, 104950.
Abstract: Given the sustained mineral-deposits ore-grade decrease, it becomes necessary to reach greater depths when extracting ore by open-pit mining. Steeper slope angles are thus likely to be required, leading to geomechanical instabilities. In order to determine excavation stability, mathematical modelling and numerical simulation are often used to compute the rock-mass stress-state, to which some stability criterion needs to be added. A problem with this approach is that the volume surrounding the excavation has no clear borders and in practice it might be regarded as an unbounded region. Then, it is necessary to use advanced methods capable of dealing efficiently with this difficulty. In this work, a DtN-FEM procedure is applied to calculate displacements and stresses in open-pit slopes under geostatic stress conditions. This procedure was previously devised by the authors to numerically treat this kind of problems where the surrounding domain is semi-infinite. Its efficiency makes possible to simulate, in a short amount of time, multiple open-pit slope configurations. Therefore, the method potentiality for open-pit slope design is investigated. A regular open-pit slope geometry is assumed, parameterised by the overall-slope and bench-face angles. Multiple geometrically admissible slopes are explored and their stability is assessed by using the computed stress-field and the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Regions of stability and instability are thus explored in the parametric space, opening the way for a new and flexible designing tool for open-pit slopes and related problems.
Keywords: Dirichlet-to-Neumann map; Finite elements; Open-pit; Slope design
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Fuenzalida, C., Jerez-Hanckes, C., & McClarren, R. G. (2019). Uncertainty Quantification For Multigroup Diffusion Equations Using Sparse Tensor Approximations. SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 41(3), B545–B575.
Abstract: We develop a novel method to compute first and second order statistical moments of the neutron kinetic density inside a nuclear system by solving the energy-dependent neutron diffusion equation. Randomness comes from the lack of precise knowledge of external sources as well as of the interaction parameters, known as cross sections. Thus, the density is itself a random variable. As Monte Carlo simulations entail intense computational work, we are interested in deterministic approaches to quantify uncertainties. By assuming as given the first and second statistical moments of the excitation terms, a sparse tensor finite element approximation of the first two statistical moments of the dependent variables for each energy group can be efficiently computed in one run. Numerical experiments provided validate our derived convergence rates and point to further research avenues.
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Markou, G., & Genco, F. (2019). Seismic assessment of small modular reactors: NuScale case study for the 8.8 Mw earthquake in Chile. Nucl. Eng. Des., 342, 176–204.
Abstract: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy production sustainability is a paramount of Chile's 2050 energy policy. This though, is difficult to achieve without some degree of nuclear power involvement, given that the geography of the country consists of many areas that are practically off-grid, whereas cannot be developed and financially exploited due to the lack of basic commodities such as water and electricity. Recently small modular reactors (SMRs) have gained lots of attention by both researchers and world policy makers for their promised capabilities of enhanced safety systems, affordable costs and competitive scalability. SMRs can be located in remote areas and at this time are being actively developed in Argentina, USA, Brazil, Russia, China, South Korea, Japan, India and South Africa. Chile's 2010 earthquake and Fukushima's 2011 nuclear disaster have increased significantly both the population's fear and opposition to Nuclear Power Energy for the possible consequences of radiation on the lives of people. This paper aims to study the seismic resistance of a typical nuclear structure, being at time proposed in Small Modular Reactors, by using earthquake conditions typically seen in Chile. Since many designs are under study, a NuScale reactor from USA is analyzed under these extreme loading conditions. The major advantages of the NuScale reactor are in the power scalability (it can go from 1 to 12 reactor cores producing from 60 to 720 MWe), limited nuclear fuel concentration, modules allocated below grade and high strength steel containments fully immersed in water. The cooling effect beyond Design Basis Accident is ensured indefinitely, which induces a significant safety factor in the case of an accident. For the purpose of this study a detailed 3D detailed structural model was developed, reproducing the NuScale reactor's reinforced concrete framing system, where nonlinear analyses was performed to assess the overall mechanical response of the structure. The framing system has been tested under high seismic excitations typically seen in Chile (Mw > 8.0), showing high resistance and capability to cope with the developed forces due to its design. Based on a Soil-Structure Interaction analysis, it was also found that the NuScale framing system manages to maintain a low-stress level at the interaction surface between the foundation and the soil, where the structural system was found to be able to withstand significant earthquake loads. Finally, further investigation is deemed necessary in order to study the potential damages of the structure in the case of other hazards such as tsunami events, blast loads, etc.
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