Experimental Research of Ratio between Residual and Elastic Strains eres/eE in High-Strength Concrete Beams Subjected to Bending

In the mechanics of concrete constructions, one distinguishes between residual and elastic strains. Cyclic loadings evoke changes mainly in the elastic strains; however, the total strains are decided by the sum of the residual and elastic strains. The knowledge of the ratio between the residual and total strains allows to predict the total deformations of a construction assuming it is made from an ideally elastic material. This paper presents the effect of the load level at the values of the residual strains for beams made of high-strength concretes and subjected to bending. The investigations showed that the share of residual strains for these concretes differed from the share of residual strains for concretes of lower classes. The investigations were made for cyclically loaded concrete samples and ferroconcrete beams for various relative load levels. The ratio between the residual and total strains was presented in the form of a dependence on the relative load level of the element. An important conclusion was that, after the crack formation, the share of residual stresses reduced, along with the increase in the concrete strength and elastic features of the construction which started to predominate.

Optimal Planning for Energy Stations and Networks in Distributed Energy Systems Based on Voronoi Diagram and Load Characteristics

In the existing station network planning of distributed energy systems (DESs), most of them determined the location of energy station in the alternative station site, there was a lack of a mature energy station location optimization method, and the factor load was not considered in the division of energy supply scope. This paper aimed to propose an optimal site approach for distributed energy stations based on Voronoi diagram, in which all possible candidates of energy station locations were considered. The candidate sites could be any point in the whole area. Simultaneously, after analyzing the limitations of the traditional energy supply partition method, we proposed a new energy supply partition optimization method, relative-load-distance. It was found that the annual cost of the whole system was significantly reduced by 1%, although the cost of the network in the optimized supply area was increased, compared with the supply area obtained by the partition method based on the principle of minimum distance. In addition, by adjusting the coefficient K in the relative-load-distance, the effectiveness of the optimization method in DES planning was verified.

Static Characteristics of a Linear Bipotentiometer Sensor

In this paper, the structure and the working principle of an existing linear potentiometer sensor are introduced; furthermore, the structure and circuit connection method of a new linear bipotentiometer sensor is proposed. The sensitivity, step error, and load characteristics of the existing potentiometer sensor and the linear bipotentiometer sensor are both studied and compared. The simulation results of their static characteristics show that the sensitivity of the linear bipotentiometer sensor is increased, the relative load error is greatly reduced, and the linearity is improved. Meanwhile, the measurement accuracy of the linear bipotentiometer sensor is effectively improved.

The relationship between relative aerobic load, energy cost, and speed of walking in individuals post-stroke

Background: Individuals post-stroke walk slower than their able-bodied peers, which limits participation. This might be attributed to neurological impairments, but could also be caused by a mismatch between aerobic capacity and aerobic load of walking. Research question: What is the potential impact of aerobic capacity and aerobic load of walking on walking ability post-stroke? Methods: In a cross-sectional study, forty individuals post-stroke (more impaired N=21; preferred walking speed (PWS)<0.8m/s, less impaired N=19), and 15 able-bodied individuals performed five, 5-minute treadmill walking trials at 70%, 85%, 100%, 115% and 130% of PWS. Energy expenditure (mlO2/kg/min) and energy cost (mlO2/kg/m) were derived from oxygen uptake (VO2). Relative load was defined as energy expenditure divided by peak aerobic capacity (%VO2peak) and by VO2 at ventilatory threshold (%VO2-VT). Relative load and energy cost at PWS were compared between groups with one-way ANOVAs. The effect of speed on these parameters was modeled with GEE. Results: Both more and less impaired individuals post-stroke showed lower PWS than able-bodied controls (0.44[0.19-0.76] and 1.04[0.81-1.43] vs 1.36[0.89-1.53] m/s) and higher relative load at PWS (50.2±14.4 and 51.7±16.8 vs 36.2±7.6 %VO2 peak and 101.9±20.5 and 97.0±27.3 vs 64.9±13.8 %VO2-VT). No differences in relative load were found between stroke groups. Energy cost at PWS of more impaired (0.30[.19-1.03] mlO2/kg/m) was higher than less-impaired (0.19[0.10-0.24] mlO2/kg/m) and able-bodied (0.15[0.13-0.18] mlO2/kg/m). For post-stroke individuals, increasing walking speed above PWS decreased energy cost, but resulted in a relative load above endurance threshold. Significance: Individuals post-stroke seem to reduce walking speed to prevent unsustainably high relative aerobic loads at the expense of reduced economy. When aiming to improve walking ability in individuals post-stroke, it is important to consider training aerobic capacity.

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE ANALYSIS

The ability of materials to retain the required set of properties under the action of operational loads on the structure is determined by the structural changes that occur under such loads. From the first days of operation, under the influence of force factors, the environment and time, the strength and deformation properties of structures of buildings and structures change. The solution to the main task of construction science - reducing material consumption in construction, is inextricably linked with the need for constant study and refinement of the strength and deformation characteristics of building materials and structures, as well as a change in their bearing capacity over time and an assessment of the working capacity (resource) reserve when setting an external power load. Based on the fundamental position that under the action of a load, a deformation process occurs in the construction material, which is accompanied by irreversible processes of their appearance, development and accumulation of damage to the structure of the material, and, as a result, leads to destruction, we come to the conclusion that it is necessary to carefully study the strength of wooden designs taking into account this phenomenon. There is a need to comprehensively study the issues of damage accumulation in wooden structures under the action of loads and the related processes of changing the cross-sectional area and bearing capacity, to use the research results when calculating structures. This makes it possible to reduce material consumption and make the sections of wooden structures more economical and avoid excessive safety margins. Therefore, an important manifestation is the fixation of cracks and internal interfaces, which allows one to quantify the integral damage of the structure material to predict their safe functioning. The authors considered analytical dependences for the description of disseminated injuries that follow from physical considerations or are constructed from some mechanical models of the process of long-term damage. Three main types of models have been identified: force, deformation and energy. Experimental studies of normal stress diagrams make it possible to visually record the formation of folds in the compressed zone, as well as calculate the value of the instantaneous elastic and viscoelastic components of total deformation. A measure of the accumulation of damage in a material is damage. In this work, the damage was calculated based on the known specific parameters of the material: deflections, relative deformations and changes in the number of acoustic emission signals. The graphs of the dependence of damage on the load were built: - on the development of deflections; - on the development of fibrous deformations; - on the development of deflections and acoustic emission (relative load); - on the development of fibrous deformations (relative load); This scientific work is a logical continuation of previous studies of damage to wooden structures. The article presents the results of experimental studies of the strength, deformability of wooden beams under the influence of a static load. The direction of improving the methodology for designing wooden structures and determining the residual resource has not been reflected in the technical literature. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study of them.

Movement Velocity as A Measure of Exercise Intensity in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis: A Validity Study

Objectives: This study aims to analyse the validity (agreement between two methods) of the movement propulsive velocity (MPV) as an indicator of relative load in leg press (LP) and bench press (BP) exercises in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: 18 persons with MS (sex = 55% male; age (mean ± SD) = 44.88 ± 10.62 years; body mass = 67.19 ± 10.63 kg; height = 1.66 ± 0.07 m; Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) = 3.12 ± 1.73) performed an incremental loading test in BP and LP exercises in two separate sessions. Individual determination of the one-repetition maximum (1RM) and full load-velocity profile were obtained for each participant. Results: a significant linear relationship was observed between the %1RM load and the MPV in LP (%1RM = −133.58 × MPV + 117.44; r2 = 0.84; standard error of the estimate (SEE) = 9.38%1RM) and BP (%1RM = −95.66 × MPV + 115.26; r2 = 0.86; SEE = 9.82%1RM). In addition, no significant differences were found between the %1RM achieved directly and the %1RM obtained by the equation calculated from the linear regression (LP, p = 0.996; BP, p = 0.749). Conclusions: these results indicate that movement velocity can estimate the relative load in bench press and leg press exercises in persons MS.

Validity of Using Velocity to Estimate Intensity in Resistance Exercises in Men and Women

This study aimed to examine the validity of using bar velocity to estimate relative load in squat and bench-press exercises for both young men and women. Twenty-five men and 25 women performed a progressive loading test up to 1-RM in the squat and bench-press exercises, which were repeated after 2-weeks. Relationships between mean propulsive velocity and%1-RM were analysed. A second-order polynomial equation for predicting the corresponding velocity of each percentage of 1-RM was developed for men (validation). This equation was then applied in women (cross-validation). Moreover, a specific equation for women was developed (validation) and was also applied in a sub-sample of women (cross-validation). Close relationships (R2: 0.91–0.95) between bar velocity and relative load were observed in both sexes for squat and bench press. Men’s equation applied to women showed a high level of agreement, although lower bias and higher level of agreement was observed when a sex-specific equation was applied in women, both validation and cross-validation samples. In conclusion, lifting velocity can be used to accurately prescribe the relative load regardless of sex in both upper-body and lower-body exercises, although when estimating load from velocity measures it will be necessary to use the sex-specific equation for each exercise.

Analysis of one type of communication systems using software and probabilistic methods

The study is devoted to one of the tasks related to information and computer systems with a different discipline of establishing connections between its nodes. Cases of systems with and without queues are considered. The efficiency of the systems (the relative load, the number of busy nodes, etc.) is calculated. To calculate the probability of the communication system being in one of the possible enlarged states, the corresponding Markov process is introduced and its asymptotic characteristics are determined.