PURPOSES : This study aims to develop a congestion mitigation strategy at lane drop bottleneck with low Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) penetration. METHODS : The proposed strategy is designed to assign a role of a moving bottleneck to CAVs to reduce low-speed lane changes at bottleneck locations, which are the main cause of bottleneck capacity drop. Through this, it aims to induce proactive upstream lane changes for Human-Driven Vehicles (HDVs,). Therefore, this study includes the control algorithm for CAVs, and the evaluation of the strategy assumes penetration rates of 5% and 10% in a Microsimulation VISSIM environment. The assessment is conducted by comparing the capacity drop and total travel time. Additionally, a sensitivity test for the parameter of the CAV control algorithm, reduced speed, is performed to find the optimal parameter. RESULTS : In this study, three scenarios, a) Base, b) CAV with no control, and c) CAV with control, are designed to evaluate the effects of the CAV control strategy. Analysis of segment density and lane change distribution reveals that the control strategy effectively prevented vehicle congestion due to the bottleneck effect. Additionally, the analysis of capacity changes before and after the bottleneck and total travel time shows the effectiveness of the control strategy. The sensitivity test on CAV control speed emphasized the importance of selecting an appropriate speed for maintaining efficient traffic flow. Lastly, as the CAV penetration rate increased, the control strategy exhibited greater effectiveness in mitigating capacity drop. CONCLUSIONS : The proposed strategy is intended for use at low CAV penetration rates and is expected to provide assistance in mitigating congestion at bottlenecks during the early stages of CAV commercialization. Furthermore, since the role of CAV in the strategy can be performed by CVs or even HDVs, it can be applied not only immediately but also in the near future.

For safe and economical spent fuel management, assessing the integrity of the cladding, which is the first barrier to the escape of radioactive material, is very important. For the sake of risk assessment, it is essential to calculate the probability of failure of the spent fuel rods loaded inside the cask during the transportation or storage. However, due to the large amounts of calculations required, it is not practical to analyze every detail of the spent fuel rods and assemblies. This study presents a methodology to perform a cask-level analysis by sequentially simplifying the fuel rods and spent fuel assemblies for the calculation of fuel rod failure probability. A simplified single fuel rod model was generated by considering the material properties of a high burnup fuel rod stored in dry storage for approximately 5 years and the interfacial bonding conditions of the cladding tube. The simplified model produces the same deflection as the detailed model at the critical moment that produces a fracture plastic strain of 1%. The developed single fuel rod simplified model is assembled in a CE 16×16 configuration, and a methodology is presented in which the CE 16×16 assembly model is once again replaced by a simplified model with a cuboidal shape. Compression analyses were performed on each part of the CE 16×16 model to obtain isotropic property data, and a simplified model was created based on those data and the cross-sectional second moment values of the parts. A cask drop analysis was performed to validate the similarity of the CE 16×16 model and the simplified model by comparing important structural responses such as impact acceleration. The 20 simplified fuel assembly models and one detailed model were loaded into a cask to perform the drop analysis. For the detailed model, the impact acceleration was extracted for different loading positions and the corresponding impact load and pinch load were derived. The spring force and contact force corresponding to the pinch load were extracted by applying a Python script technique to extract the maximum value of them exerted on each fuel rod. The vulnerability of spent fuel rods to bending loads and the failure criteria were considered during the simplification process of a single fuel rod. From the extracted impact and pinch loads, the probability of failure of the spent fuel rods as a function of impact acceleration can be calculated.

The blockage rate for three kinds of nets commonly used in agricultural facilities was assessed by using the image acquisition and its relevant processing. By using both empirical relations presented by Idel’chik and Richards and Robinson, and the blockage rate obtained from the image processing, the pressure drop through the nets was predicted and also compared with wind tunnel experiment results. The results of the study showed that the blockage rate of the net was discriminated according to such factors as the magnitude of nets, the existence of inside threads, the thickness and number of threads. In addition, the blockage rate for the incident angle of 0° when the wind blew at the front had the range of 0.22－0.29 (0.22－0.32 when considering whole incident angles from 0° to 45° by 15°). For the nets with the blockage rate of about 30% or below, the prediction by the empirical relations of by Idel’chik and Richards and Robinson showed a little higher pressure drop overall than that of the wind tunnel test, but the use of the empirical relations and the blockage rate could be thought of as providing effectively meaningful guidelines for the safe design of agricultural facilities including nets because the wind tunnel test has been tedious and expensive. Further research and potential application on the prediction technique of the pressure drop, regarding both a subtle deformation by the wind and manufacturing methods with regard to the level of knots and the existence of inside threads, needs to be done for the nets with higher blockage rate.

Transport packages have been developed to transport the decommissioning waste from the nuclear power plant. The packages are classified with Type IP-2 package. The IAEA requirements for Type IP-2 packages include that a free drop test should be performed for normal conditions of transport. In this study, drop tests of the packages were performed to prove the structural integrity and to verify the reliability of the analysis results by comparing the test and analysis results. Half-scale models were used for the drop tests and drop position was considered as 0.3 m oblique drop on packages weighing more than 15 tons. The strain and impact acceleration data were obtained to verify the reliability of the analysis results. Before and after the drop tests, radiation shielding tests were performed to confirm that the dose rate increase was within 20% at the external surface of the package. Also, measurement of bolt torque, and visual inspection were performed to confirm the loss or dispersion of the radioactive contents. After each drop test, slight deformations occurred in some packages. However, there was no loss of pretension in the lid bolts and the shielding thickness was not reduced for metal shields. In the package with concrete shield, the surface dose rate did not increase and there was no cracks or damage to the concrete. Therefore, the transport packages met the legal requirements (no more than a 20% increase of radiation level and no loss or dispersion of radioactive contents). Safety verifications were performed using the measured strain and acceleration data from the test, and the appropriate conservatism for the analysis results and the validity of the analysis model were confirmed. Therefore, it was found that the structural integrity of the packages was maintained under the drop test conditions. The results of this study were used as design data of the transport packages, and the packages will be used in the NPP decommissioning project in the future.

Integrity evaluation scheme for Spent Fuel (SF) dry storage has been developed under transportation failure modes. This method especially considered the degradation characteristics of Spent Fuel (SF) during dry storage such as radial and circumferential hydride content, hydride volume fraction, oxide thickness, etc. Hydride and zircaloy cladding are considered as material composite system, using correlation models related to material properties. Critical Strain Energy Density (CSED) is compared with Strain Energy Density (SED), to evaluate cladding integrity. CSED serves as material characteristics, while SED can be considered as boundary condition. To calculate the CSED of cladding in the lateral failure mode, circumferential hydride concentration is used. SED is calculated considering both the bending moment and axial load. On the other hand, in the longitudinal failure case, fuel rod temperature, internal pressure, hoop stress, radial hydride concentration is used to calculate CSED. And pinch force (contact) was considered to evaluate SED. Model validations were conducted by comparing hot cell SF test and existing validated evaluation results. To separately handle normal transportation conditions from hypothetical accident conditions, SED according to stress-strain analysis results was separated into elastic and plastic regions. As a result of applying this scheme for 14×14 SF, failure probability of normal condition was zero, which is the similar result with DOE and same with EPRI. Regarding accident condition, lateral case showed similar result, but longitudinal case showed different but reasonable result, which was due to the different analysis conditions. The proposed methodology which was indigenously developed through this study is named as K-method.

Background: The weakness of the gluteus medius (GM) is associated with various musculoskeletal disorders. The increasing GM activity without synergistic dominance should be considered when prescribing pelvic drop exercise (PD). Isometric hip extension or flexion of the non-weight bearing leg using thera-band at the ankle during PD may influence hip abductor activities. Objects: To determine how isometric hip extension or flexion of the non-weight bearing leg using thera-band at the ankle during PD influences the activities of three subdivisions of GM (anterior, GMa; middle, GMm; posterior, GMp), tensor fasciae latae (TFL), contralateral quadratus lumborum (QL), and GMp/TFL, GMm/QL activity ratios in patients with GM weakness. Methods: Twenty-three patients with GM weakness were recruited. Three types of PD were performed: PD, PD with an isometric hip extension of the non-weight bearing leg (PDE), and PD with an isometric hip flexion of the non-weight bearing leg (PDF). Surface electromyography (SEMG) was used to measure hip abductor activities. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to assess the statistical significance of muscle activities and muscle activity ratios. Results: GMa, GMm, and GMp activities were significantly greater during PDF than during PD and PDE (p < 0.001, p = 0.001; p = 0.001, p = 0.005; p = 0.004, p = 0.004; respectively). TFL activity was significantly greater during PDE than during PD and PDF (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). QL activity was significantly greater during PDF than during PD (p = 0.003). GMp/TFL activity ratio was significantly lower during PDE than during PD and PDF (p = 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively). There were no significant differences in the GMm/QL activity ratio. Conclusion: PDF may be an effective exercise to increase the activities of all three GM subdivisions while minimizing the TFL activity in patients with GM weakness.

Background: The lateral step down (LSD) is a form of stair negotiation used by the elderly because it requires less movement of the lower extremity. Although it is necessary to study the amount of pelvic drop and the strength of a hip abductor during LSD for intervention, limited studies have investigated the relationship between the amount of pelvic drop and strength of a hip abductor during LSD in elderly people. Objects: This study aimed to determine the relationship between the amount of pelvic drop on an unsupported leg and the strength of the hip abductor during LSD in the elderly. Methods: Thirty elderly people (male: 17, female: 13) were recruited. Subjects performed the LSD task, and the evaluator measured and the amount of pelvic drop on an unsupported side. Also, the isometric strength of the hip abductor was measured in a supine position. Results: We found significant relationships between the strength of the hip abductor and the amount of pelvic drop (r = –0.386). The average hip abductor strength normalized by body weight was 1.06 N/kg (max: 1.99, min: 0.52) and the average contralateral pelvic drop (CPD) angle was 4.16° (max: 15.3, min: 0). Conclusion: Our results indicated that the strength of the hip abductor had a moderate correlation with the CPD during a LSD in the elderly. Hip abductor weakness could translate into altered movement of the pelvis.

In order to analyze the pressure drop of the fluid passing through the hydraulic coupler, a flow model using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis technique was developed and the fluid flow rate and pressure distribution inside the coupler were analyzed. The analysis model was corrected by comparing the pressure drop measurement using a 6.35mm hydraulic coupler with the ISO reference value and the simulation prediction value. Using the calibrated model, the flow rate and pressure drop of 13 types of hydraulic couplers distributed on the market were analyzed, and their performance was determined by comparing them with ISO reference values. In the case of type A coupler, the pressure drop was generally higher than the ISO reference value, and in the case of type B coupler, the pressure drop was similar to or lower than the ISO reference value. It was confirmed that the complex flow analysis inside the hydraulic coupler could be easily performed through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, and based on this, problems could be identified and performance could be improved performance.

For transport containers for radioactive wastes, a drop test should be performed at a height of 0.3– 1.2 m on a rigid target depending on the weight as a normal condition in the regulation. In the drop test, a strain gauge is commonly used to measure the local strain, and the position of the strain gauges is determined by the experiences of the engineer in advance of the test. For this reason, the strains can be measured at only predetermined points. The DIC (Digital Image Correlation) method using highspeed cameras can be used to measure the change in strain over the region of interest. In addition, it is possible to measure effectively even in areas with high strain gradients that are difficult to measure with strain gauges. Therefore, the DIC method can measure the strain change according to time over the entire load path. When the drop test of the transport container is performed, the impact load is delivered through the lower corner fittings-corner posts-upper corner fittings-lids. In this study, white spray was sprayed on these main load path, and black speckles were created on the spayed surface to trace the rigid motion of speckles. The images taken during the drop test can be used to create a strain field over region of interest.

In this study, a drop analysis of metallic disposal containers for radioactive wastes is performed according to accident scenarios at the disposal site. The weight of the disposal container is about 8 tons, and the ingot-type wastes are loaded in the disposal container. To simulate the floor of the disposal site as the impact target, the reinforced concrete pad is modeled. High impact energy of the disposal container due to their heavy weight and high drop height causes excessive deformation and failure of the concrete target having relatively weak strength. Dynamic growth of cracks due to such failures causes penetration and delamination of concrete. Since the impact force delivered to the container strongly depends on the failure of the concrete pad, it is important to properly simulate the failure of the concrete in the drop analysis. A material erosion method can be used to simulate the concrete failure. In the case of applying erosion based on the finite element method (FEM), the element is deleted when the element exceeds a certain criterion, which causes material and energy loss problem. To solve this problem, mesh-free methods such as smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) can be commonly used, but the mesh-free method has the disadvantage of incurring high numerical cost. Therefore, an adaptive method combining SPH and FEM-based SOLID elements is used for concrete target modeling to simulate excessive deformation and failure of the concrete target. In the adaptive coupling method of SPH and SOLID, the concrete target is first modeled as a solid element. When the damage of concrete exceeds the failure criterion, the solid element is eroded and the SPH element replacing the solid element is activated. Since the activated SPH element continues to participate in the impact, the problem of loss of materials and energy can be effectively solved. In this way, analysis results consistent with actual physical phenomena can be obtained.

For economic and safe management of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), it is very important to maintain the structural integrity of SNF and to keep the fuel undamaged and handleable. The cladding surrounding nuclear fuel must be protected from physical and mechanical deterioration. The structural evaluation of SNF is very complicated and numerically demanding and it is essential to develop a simplified model for the fuel rod. In this study, a simplified model was developed using a new cladding failure criterion. The simplified model was developed considering only the horizontal or lateral static load utilizing the cladding material properties of irradiated Zirclaoy-4, and applicability in horizontal and vertical drop impacts was investigated. When a fuel rod is subject to bending, a very complicated 3D stress state is generated within the vicinity of the pellet–pellet interface. A very localized stress concentration is observed in the area where the edges of the pellets contact the cladding. If the failure strain criteria obtained from the uniaxial tension test or biaxial tube test is applied, failure is predicted at the beginning stage of loading with premature through-thickness stress or strain development. The localized contact stress or strain is self-limiting and is not a good candidate for the cladding failure criteria. In this work, a new cladding failure criterion is proposed, which can account for the localized stress concentration and the through-thickness stress development. The failure of the cladding is determined by the membrane plus bending stress generated through the thickness of the cladding, which can be calculated by a process called stress linearization along the stress classification line. The failure criterion for SNF was selected as the membrane plus bending stress through stress linearization in the cross-sections through the thickness of the cladding. Because the stress concentration in the cladding around the vicinity of the pellet–pellet interface cannot be simulated in a simplified beam model, a stress correction factor is derived through a comparison of the simplified model and detailed model. The applicability of the developed simplified model is checked through horizontal and vertical drop impact simulations. It is shown that the stress correction factor derived considering static bending loading can be effectively applied to the dynamic impact analyses in both horizontal and vertical orientations.

Some Spent Fuel Pools (SFPs) will be full of Spent Nuclear Fuels (SNFs) within several years. Because of this reason, transporting the SNF from SFP to interim storage facilities or permanent disposal facilities should be considered. There are two ways to transport the SNF from a site to other site, one is the land transportation with truck or train, and the other is the maritime transportation with ship. The maritime transportation has some advantages compared with the land transportation. The maritime transportation method uses safer route which is far from populated area than land transportation method, and transport more weight than land transportation method. However, the cask should be loaded into the ship for the maritime transportation, and there is a possibility of a drop accident of the cask onto the ship. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the structural integrity of the cask and ship for the drop accident during the loading process. To evaluate the structural integrity of the cask and ship, it is necessary to determine the analysis conditions that caused the greatest damage in the drop accident. There may be various conditions such as the drop angle of the cask, the initial falling speed, the drop position onto the ship, the size of the ship, etc. This study set the drop angle of the cask and the drop position onto the ship as the simulation variables, which have high possibility to occur during cask drop. However, the others are excluded since they are controllable by worker. In this paper, various drop angle (0, 15, 30, 45, and 70 degree) of the cask were simulated to define the greatest damage condition. KORAD-21 cask model was used for Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and FEA was performed to simulate a horizontal drop (1 m drop). The strain-hardening material properties for the deck were used as HT36 steel. The Cowper-Symonds constitutive model for HT36 was used to consider the strain rate effect. A Tie-down structure for supporting the cask was modeled with the cask model which contained inner structures like canister, basket, etc. Structural integrity of the cask and tie-down structure were evaluated using the von-Mises stress and equivalent plastic strain (PEEQ), and one of the ship deck was evaluated using deflection of ship deck and equivalent plastic strain. Compared with each cask drop angle conditions, 45 degree of the cask drop angle showed the highest deflection and PEEQ values, but did not exceed ultimate strain of HT36. In the ship deck, the corner of deck showed the highest PEEQ value in all simulation cases. As the result, the 45 degree of the cask drop angle condition results was more conservative than other conditions, and the corners of deck failure was able to evaluate ship safety.

Background: Foot drop is a common symptom in stroke patients. Tape applications are widely used to manage foot drop symptoms. Previous studies have evaluated the effects of static and dynamic balance and gait on foot drop using kinesiology tape; however, only few studies have used dynamic tape application in stroke patients with foot drop. Objects: The purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of dynamic taping, which facilitates the dorsiflexor muscle, on static and dynamic balance and gait speed in stroke patients with foot drop. Methods: The study included 34 voluntary patients (17 men, 17 women) with stroke. The patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 17), wherein dynamic taping was used to facilitate the dorsiflexor muscle, or the control group (n = 17), wherein kinesiology taping was used. Before the taping application, velocity average, path-length average, Berg balance scale, and timed up and go test (TUG) were recorded to measure static and dynamic balance, whereas the 10-meter walk test (10MWT) was used to measure gait speed. After the taping application, these parameters were re-evaluated in both groups. Repeated measure analysis of variance was used. Statistical significance levels were set to α = 0.05. Results: Except for the 10MWT scores in the control group, significant differences were noted in all the parameters measured for static and dynamic balance and gait speed between the pre and post-test (p < 0.05). However, the parameters showed significant interaction effects between group and time in the TUG and 10MWT (p < 0.01). Conclusion: These results indicate that compared with kinesiology taping, dynamic taping used in chronic stroke patients with foot drop had a more significant effect on dynamic balance and gait speed.

In this study, high temperature wetting analysis and AZ80/Ti interfacial structure observation are performed for the mixture of AZ80 and Ti, and the effect of Al on wetting in Mg alloy is examined. Both molten AZ80 and pure Mg have excellent wettability because the wet angle between molten droplets and the Ti substrate is about 10° from initial contact. Wetting angle decreases with time, and wetting phenomenon continues between droplets and substrate; the change in wetting angle does not show a significant difference when comparing AZ80-Ti and Mg-Ti. As a result of XRD of the lower surface of the AZ80-Ti sample, in addition to the Ti peak of the substrate, the peak of TiAl3, which is a Ti-Al intermetallic compound, is confirmed, and TiAl3 is generated in the Al enrichment region of the Ti substrate surface. EDS analysis is performed on the droplet tip portion of the sample section in which pure Mg droplets are dropped on the Ti substrate. Concentration of oxygen by the natural oxide film is not confirmed on the Ti surface, but oxygen is distributed at the tip of the droplet on the Mg side. Molten AZ80 and Ti-based compound phases are produced by thickening of Al in the vicinity of Ti after wetting is completed, and Al in the Mg alloy does not affect the wetting. The driving force of wetting progression is a thermite reaction that occurs between Mg and TiO2, and then Al in AZ80 thickens on the Ti substrate interface to form an intermetallic compound.

The extended slip-weakening model was investigated by using a compiled set of source-spectrum-related parameters, i.e. seismic moment Mo, S-wave velocity Vs, corner-frequency fc, and source-controlled high-cut frequency fmax, for 113 shallow crustal earthquakes (focal depth less than 25 km, MW 3.0~7.5) that occurred in Japan from 1987 to 2016. The investigation was focused on the characteristics of stress drop, radiation energy-to-seismic moment ratio, radiation efficiency, and fracture energy release rate, Gc. The scaling relationships of those source parameters were also investigated and compared with those in previous studies, which were based on generally used singular models with the dimensionless numbers corresponding to fc given by Brune and Madariaga. The results showed that the stress drop from the singular model with Madariaga’s dimensionless number was equivalent to the breakdown stress drop, as well as Brune’s effective stress, rather than to static stress drop as has been usually assumed. The scale dependence of stress drop showed a different tendency in accordance with the size category of the earthquakes, which may be divided into small-moderate earthquakes and moderate-large earthquakes by comparing to Mo = 1017~1018 Nm. The scale dependence was quite similar to that shown by Kanamori and Rivera. The scale dependence was not because of a poor dynamic range of recorded signals or missing data as asserted by Ide and Beroza, but rather it was because of the scale dependent Vr-induced local similarity of spectrum as shown in a previous study by the authors. The energy release rate Gc with respect to breakdown distance Dc from the extended slip-weakening model coincided with that given by Ellsworth and Beroza in a study on the rupture nucleation phase; and the empirical relationship given by Abercrombie and Rice can represent the results from the extended slip-weakening model, the results from laboratory stick-slip experiments by Ohnaka, and the results given by Ellsworth and Beroza simultaneously. Also the energy flux into the breakdown zone was well correlated with the breakdown stress drop,   and peak slip velocity of the fault faces. Consequently, the investigation results indicate the appropriateness of the extended slip-weakening model.