Single tooth finite element model is widely used to investigate tooth behaviors with reducing modeling process and computational time. This study aims to examine the validity of a single tooth model in clenching and chewing actions. The single tooth model consisting of tooth #16, the periodontal ligament (PDL), and bone was subjected to coronal-apical movements. The predicted strains from the analyses were validated with the in-vitro experimental results on tooth-PDL-bone specimen. The stress distributions of tooth root and PDL were compared to those from the full skull model to evaluate reasonability of the single tooth model. The results of this study indicate that the single tooth model is able to predict valid structural and mechanical behaviors in clenching and chewing activities.

The insertion of femoral implants is the most important phase for surgeons, given the characteristics of the cement during its mixing phase, generating residual stresses of thermal origin that increase the different stresses induced in the bone cement. The aim of our study is to determine the different stresses that affect the cement and more particularly at the cement-implant interface for different temperatures, and to make a comparison with the cement at ambient temperature. It was concluded that, there are a large concentration of stresses in the proximal part of the cement. For normal stresses, the bone cement is affected by stresses of tension and compression due to the effect of polymerization and the contraction of the cement.

Cementitious composites are multiphase heterogeneous materials with distinct dissimilarity in strength under compression and tension (high under compression and very low under tension). At macro scale, the phenomenon can be well-explained as the material contains physical heterogeneity and pores. But, it is interesting to note that this dissimilarity initiates at molecular level where there is no heterogeneity. In this regard, molecular dynamics based computational investigations are carried out on cement clinkers and calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) under tension and compression to trace out the origin of dissimilarity. In the study, effect of strain rate, size of computational volume and presence of un-structured atoms on the obtained response is also investigated. It is identified that certain type of molecular interactions and the molecular structural parameters are responsible for causing the dissimilarity in behavior. Hence, the judiciously modified or tailored molecular structure would not only be able to reduce the extent of dissimilarity, it would also be capable of incorporating the desired properties in heterogeneous composites. The findings of this study would facilitate to take step to scientifically alter the structure of cementitious composites to attain the desired mechanical properties.

In this article, the static behavior of non-prismatic sandwich beams composed of functionally graded (FG) materials is investigated for the first time. Two types of beams in which the variation of elastic modulus follows a power-law form are studied. The principle of minimum total potential energy is applied along with the Ritz method to derive and solve the governing equations. Considering conventional boundary conditions, Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind are used as auxiliary shape functions. The formulation is developed within the framework of well-known Timoshenko and Reddy beam theories (TBT, RBT). Since the beams are simultaneously tapered and functionally graded, bending and shear stress pushover curves are presented to get a profound insight into the variation of stresses along the beam. The proposed formulations and solution scheme are verified through benchmark problems. In this context, excellent agreement is observed. Numerical results are included considering beams with various cross sectional types to inspect the effects of taper ratio and gradient index on deflections and stresses. It is observed that the boundary conditions, taper ratio, gradient index value and core to the thickness ratio significantly influence the stress and deflection responses.

This paper shows optimal dimensioning for the corner combined footings to obtain the most economical contact surface on the soil (optimal area), due to an axial load, moment around of the axis "X" and moment around of the axis "Y" applied to each column. The proposed model considers soil real pressure, i.e., the pressure varies linearly. The classical model is developed by trial and error, i.e., a dimension is proposed, and after, using the equation of the biaxial bending is obtained the stress acting on each vertex of the corner combined footing, which must meet the conditions following: 1) Minimum stress should be equal or greater than zero, because the soil is not withstand tensile. 2) Maximum stress must be equal or less than the allowable capacity that can be capable of withstand the soil. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the validity of the optimization techniques to obtain the minimum area of corner combined footings under an axial load and moments in two directions applied to each column.

The AEC industry is highly interested in effective ICT adoption and deployment, including its utilization within the design process. However, its capabilities have not yet been fully exploited and it is an obvious area for further research. Architects and engineers tend to have some technological support to monitor and evaluate the possible impacts of decisions made throughout the design process. Many aspects are left out of consideration and the entire project is broken up into independent fragments or domains that are combined together at a later, post hoc stage. Impact of separate decisions on each others have to be interpreted on a person-to-person basis between the involved design stakeholders. This paper attempts to evaluate current design practice and associated challenges towards design integration with advanced technologies, such as BIM, by conducting an online survey targeted at designers and engineers, who are most affected by its emerging issues. The outcomes of this study are presented and analysed, concluding that the current design process fails to meet expectations and needs improvements. It goes further to propose the requirements for an integrated system as a means for an effective solution for the identified problem.

Over the past couple decades, externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have emerged as a repair and strengthening material for many concrete infrastructure applications. This paper presents an analytical investigation of the use of carbon FRP (CFRP) for a specific problem that occurs in concrete bridge girders wherein the girder ends are damaged by excessive exposure to deicing salts and numerous freezing/thawing cycles. A 3D finite element (FE) model of a full scale prestressed concrete (PC) I-girder is used to investigate the effect of damage to the cover concrete and stirrups in the end region of the girder. Parametric studies are performed using externally bonded CFRP shear laminates to determine the most effective repair schemes for the damaged end region under a short shear span-to-depth ratio. Experimental results on shear pull off tests of CFRP laminates that have undergone accelerated aging are used to calibrate a bond stress-slip model for the interface between the FRP and concrete substrate and approximate the reduced bond stress-slip properties associated with exposure to the environment that causes this type of end region damage. The results of these analyses indicate that this particular application of this material can be effective in recovering the original strength of PC bridge girders with damaged end regions, even after environmental aging.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of initial member length an imperfection in the load carrying capacity of double-layer domes space structures. First, for the member length imperfection of each member, a random number is generated from a normal distribution. Thereupon, the amount of the imperfection randomly varies from one member to another. Afterwards, based on the Push Down analysis, the collapse behavior and the ultimate capacity of the considered structure is determined using nonlinear analysis performed by the OpenSees software and this procedure is repeated numerous times by Monte Carlo simulation method. Finally, the reliability of structures is determined. The results show that the collapse behavior of double-layer domes space structures is highly sensitive to the random distribution of initial imperfections.