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Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Innovative Engineering Structures

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Materials Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 21082

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Rosa Lo Frano

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interests: nuclear energy; nuclear technology; safety design; long-term operation; aging; fusion/fission plants; external event
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue dedicated to the Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Innovative Engineering Structures will focus on the performance, safety, and reliability of engineering systems and structures.

This Special Issue will address crucial and decisive factors that can sustain long-term design and operation of the systems, structures, and components (SSCs), their safety and profitability, which can be achieved through a combination of applying optimum management strategies with an understanding of how safety-relevant SSCs perform and impact on plant availability, reliability, and performance with variable environmental.

It will be a forum to discuss and present recent and innovative research methodologies and results, advanced and innovative technologies, experiments, and best engineering practices to predict the behavior of materials subject to mechanical, chemical, thermal, or other stresses for durations far beyond the range of classical experiments. The Special Issue will also cover major aspects, such as, e.g., alteration, degradation, and aging of materials, which will progressively impact their functional properties, with cascading/conjunct consequences on the SSC fitness-for-service.

Finally, the Special Issue will also bridge research with educational programs, as well as engineering practices, in all disciplines related to engineering technology.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Rosa Lo Frano
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Material engineering and technology
Mechanics of materials
Long-term operation
Plant systems design and operation
Innovative engineering structures
Operating plant experience
Safety, reliability, risk, and safety margins
Models and experiments

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 6339 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanical Characterization and Thermodynamic Analysis of Laser-Polished Landscape Design Products Using 3D Printing

by Yue Ba, Yu Wen and Shibin Wu

Materials 2021, 14(10), 2601; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14102601 - 17 May 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1747

Abstract

Recent innovations in 3D printing technologies and processes have influenced how landscape products are designed, built, and developed. In landscape architecture, reduced-size models are 3D-printed to replicate full-size structures. However, high surface roughness usually occurs on the surfaces of such 3D-printed components, which requires additional post-treatment. In this work, we develop a new type of landscape design structure based on the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique and present a laser polishing method for FDM-fabricated polylactic acid (PLA) mechanical components, whereby the surface roughness of the laser-polished surfaces is reduced from over Ra 15 µm to less than 0.25 µm. The detailed results of thermodynamics and microstructure evolution are further analyzed during laser polishing. The stability and accuracy of the results are evaluated based on the standard deviation. Additionally, the superior tensile and flexural properties are examined in the laser-polished layer, in which the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) is increased by up to 46.6% and the flexural strength is increased by up to 74.5% compared with the as-fabricated components. Finally, a real polished landscape model is simulated and optimized using a series of scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Innovative Engineering Structures)

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14 pages, 3051 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preliminary Analysis of Long-Term Performance of a Piping: Aging and Creep Effects

by Salvatore Angelo Cancemi and Rosa Lo Frano

Materials 2021, 14(7), 1703; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14071703 - 30 Mar 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1879

Abstract

Combining global experience, comprehensive aging knowledge, and predictive methodologies provides ideal prerequisites for the long-term operation strategy (LTO) of a nuclear power plant (NPP). Applying management strategies with an understanding of the ways in which structures relevant for the plant safety perform and interact in their operating environments is of meaningful importance for operating the plant beyond its originally licensed service life. In performing aging studies on the nuclear systems, structure, and components (SSCs), the results are crucial for demonstrating the safety and reliability of the NPP beyond 30 years of nominal operation. In this study, the synergistic effect of a creep mechanism with the alteration suffered by piping material is analyzed by means of MSC©MARC finite element code. Nonlinear analyses were performed to calculate the effects of the long operational period on a primary pipe, assess its degradation, and determine its residual functionality. In these analyses, both homogeneous and inhomogeneous pipe wall thinning are considered, as well as the operating or expected thermal–mechanical loads. The obtained results indicate that thermo–mechanical loads are responsible for pipe deformation, which develops and increases as the transient progresses. Furthermore, an excessive (general or local) wall thinning may determine a dimensional change of the pipe, even causing bending or buckling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Innovative Engineering Structures)

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18 pages, 8980 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Failure Mechanism of Hybrid Steel Beams with Trapezoidal Corrugated-Web Non-Welded Inclined Folds

by Ahmed S. Elamary, Yasir Alharthi, Osama Abdalla, Muwaffaq Alqurashi and Ibrahim A. Sharaky

Materials 2021, 14(6), 1424; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14061424 - 15 Mar 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1976

Abstract

Literature of Steel Beams with a thin-walled trapezoidal Corrugated Web (SBCWs) shows that the capacity of SBCWs is affected by both the fatigue cracks initiated along the inclined folds (IFs) and the maximal additional stress located in the middle of the IFs. An experimental investigation on the behaviour of hybrid SBCWs under flexure is presented in this paper. This study focuses on the effect of the welding IF between the web and flanges (IFs welded or non-welded), the horizontal-fold length (200, 260, and 350 mm), and transversal flange stiffeners on the failure mechanism of the SBCW under three line load. Accordingly, six hybrid specimens were fabricated, instrumented, and tested (five SBCW specimens and one specimen with a flat web). The test setup was designed to generate shear and a moment in the testing zone via three-point bending. The results indicated that non-welded IFs specimens with or without flange stiffeners failed owing to web tearing after web and flange local buckling. The failure mode of the specimen with continuous welding between the web and flanges was local flange buckling. Finally, the paper presents a comparison between the experimental results and the European Code to predict the capacity of the flange towards local buckling. It was concluded that the non-welding the IFs affected the inelastic behaviour and the capacity of the SBCWs. In addition, the bending resistance equations presented by EN 1993-1-5 can safely predict the test results of the non-welded inclined fold and yield a high safe variation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Innovative Engineering Structures)

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16 pages, 2305 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aircraft Impact Effects on an Aged NPP

by Rosa Lo Frano

Materials 2021, 14(4), 816; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14040816 - 8 Feb 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2298

Abstract

The impact of an aircraft is widely known to be one of the worst events that can occur during the operation of a plant (classified for this reason as beyond design). This can become much more catastrophic and lead to the loss of strength of/collapse of the structures when it occurs in the presence of ageing (degradation and alteration) materials. Therefore, since the performance of all plant components may be affected by ageing, there is a need to evaluate the effect that aged components have on system performance and plant safety. This study addresses the numerical simulation of an aged Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) subjected to a military aircraft impact. The effects of impact velocity, direction, and location were investigated together with the more unfavorable conditions to be expected for the plant. The modelling method was also validated based on the results obtained from the experiments of Sugano et al., 1993. Non-linear analyses by means of finite element (FE) MARC code allowed us to simulate the performance of the reinforced concrete containment building and its impact on plant availability and reliability. The results showed that ageing increases a plant’s propensity to suffer damage. The damage at the impact area was confirmed to be dependent on the type of aircraft involved and the target wall thickness. The greater the degradation of the materials, the lower the residual resistance capacity, and the greater the risk of wall perforation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Innovative Engineering Structures)

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Review

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25 pages, 4815 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Sustainable End-of-Life Management of Wind Turbine Blades: Overview of Current and Coming Solutions

by Leon Mishnaevsky

Materials 2021, 14(5), 1124; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14051124 - 27 Feb 2021

Cited by 64 | Viewed by 12561

Abstract

Various scenarios of end-of-life management of wind turbine blades are reviewed. “Reactive” strategies, designed to deal with already available, ageing turbines, installed in the 2000s, are discussed, among them, maintenance and repair, reuse, refurbishment and recycling. The main results and challenges of “pro-active strategies”, designed to ensure recyclability of new generations of wind turbines, are discussed. Among the main directions, the wind turbine blades with thermoplastic and recyclable thermoset composite matrices, as well as wood, bamboo and natural fiber-based composites were reviewed. It is argued that repair and reuse of wind turbine blades, and extension of the blade life has currently a number of advantages over other approaches. While new recyclable materials have been tested in laboratories, or in some cases on small or medium blades, there are remaining technological challenges for their utilization in large wind turbine blades. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Innovative Engineering Structures)

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