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• A novel shear-type energy dissipation brace (SEDB) was proposed by combining the small shear steel plates. • Three configurations of SEDBs were cyclically tested to investigate the seismic performance. • The effect of the height-thickness and height-width ratio of steel plates on the performance of SEDBs were performed using finite element parametric analyses. In this study, a novel shear-type energy dissipation brace (SEDB) was proposed, which integrated multiple pieces of steel shear plates on a single brace. The brace stiffness and yield load can be adjusted by changing the number of pieces and layers of the steel shear plates, which is more flexible than the traditional shear-type dampers. Three configurations of SEDBs were developed, including the flat steel plate-SEDB (F-SEDB), F-SEDB without core tube and corrugated steel plate-SEDB (C-SEDB). The quasi-static cyclic tests were conducted on three SEDBs to investigate the seismic performance. Experimental results showed that the proposed SEDB can achieve a stable hysteretic behavior, especially by adopting the core tube to prevent global out-of-plane deformation. Meanwhile, the C-SEDB has a more stable energy dissipation performance due to the high out-of-plane stiffness of the corrugated steel plates. The design procedure of the SEDBs was developed. Meanwhile, a finite element model was established and verified by the experimental results. The influences of the height-thickness and height-width ratio of steel plates were systematically investigated, which benefited the application and offered suggestions in engineering design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To construct a 3D finite-element model of the craniofacial complex with the original DICOM data of CT and to investigate the preliminary biomechanical characteristics with different directions and magnitudes of retractive forces to the maxilla of rhesus monkeys. Methods A male rhesus monkey with mixed dentition was used. Spiral CT was performed to establish a 3D finite-element model of the craniofacial complex. The ANSYS 12.1 software was used to analyze craniofacial complex displacement. Results Each landmark showed larger displacement with increasing force value. The displacement values and force size exhibited a linear relationship. In the x-axis direction, all displacements were small. In the y-axis direction, all displacements showed significantly higher changes with increasing force value displacement. In the z-axis direction, the A-point and ANS point moved downward, but PNS moved upward. Conclusion Loading retractive force resultes in an apparent backward and clockwise rotation on the maxilla with no obvious effects on the width of the upper jaw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]