Although recent scholarship has emphasized the importance of examining the rewards of raising children in understanding variations in psychological consequences of parenthood, empirical research remains focused on the demands of parenthood. Using a sample of parents with children aged 0-22 in the National Survey of Families and Households (N=6228), this paper examines the association between ag...

The nonverbal content of speech carries information about the physiological and psychological condition of the speaker. Psychological stress is a pathological element of this condition, of which the cause is accepted to be “workload”. Objective, quantifiable correlates of stress are searched for by means of measuring the acoustic modifications of the voice brought about by workload. Different v...

We present a non-dimensional analytical model for crack propagation in a z-pinned double cantilever beam specimen (DCB) under mode I loading. Effect of various design parameters on the crack bridging length and apparent fracture toughness are investigated using this model. The efficacy of the analytical model is evaluated by comparing the results with 3D finite element (FE) simulations of the D...

Geogrids provide reinforcement for aggregate materials through interlocking between granular particles and geogrid apertures. The reinforcement or stabilization effect of a geogrid can be quite different when used with similar aggregate types but having different particle size distributions. This paper describes recent research efforts at the University of Illinois focused on triaxial compressi...

This paper presents a detailed Finite Element Analysis study of the formation and evolution of wrinkle pattern that observed in stretched thin membranes. The model problem is set up under the various load conditions. As a precondition for wrinkling, development of compressive stresses in the transverse direction is found to depend on both the length-to-width aspect ratio & thickness of the rect...

A new modeling approach is proposed for predicting the bulk electromechanical properties of piezoelectric composites. The proposed model offers the same level of convenience as the wellknown Mori-Tanaka method. The electromechanical properties of four piezoelectric polymer composite materials are predicted with the proposed, Mori-Tanaka, Self-consistent methods, and detailed finite element anal...

A finite element model is developed to analyse, as a function of volume fraction, the effects of reinforcement geometry and arrangement within a timber beam. The model is directly validated against experimental equivalents and found to never be mismatched by more than 8% in respect to yield strength predictions. Yield strength increases linearly as a function of increasing reinforcement volume ...

In the traditional buckling analysis of rectangular plates the classical thin plate theory is generally applied, so neglecting the plating shear deformation. It seems quite clear that this method is not totally appropriate for the analysis of thick plates, so that in the following the two variable refined plate theory proposed by Shimpi (2006), that permits to take into account the transverse s...

In engineering practice, slots of different shapes and orientations are made with a view to satisfy the functional requirements. The presence of slots increases the complexity of the analysis (by stress concentration) of structural members/elements. Studies have been commonly done on plain concrete slab with rectangular and circular opening, while only few studies have been done on slots of lar...