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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT); Out-of-Plane Shear Stiffness; Timoshenko Beam Theory; Shear Analogy Method; Rolling Shear Modulus
Online: 23 September 2018 (01:07:52 CEST)
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The lay-up of cross laminated timber (CLT) leads to significant differences in properties over its cross-section. Particularly the out-of-plane shear behavior of CLT is effected by the changes in shear moduli over the cross-section. Results from laboratory shear tests are used to evaluate the shear stiffness of 3- and 5-layer CLT panels in their major and minor strength direction. The results are compared to calculated shear stiffness values on evaluated single-layer properties as well as commonly used property ratios using the Timoshenko beam theory and the shear analogy method. Differences between the two calculation approaches are pointed out. The shear stiffness is highly sensitive to the ratio of the shear modulus parallel to the grain to the shear modulus perpendicular to the grain. The stiffness values determined from two test measurements are compared with the calculated results. The level of agreement is dependent on the number of layers in CLT and the property axis of the CLT panels.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; road markings; glass microbeads; drop-on materials; retroreflectivity; skid resistance; road safety
Online: 20 September 2018 (08:05:33 CEST)
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Road markings play an important role in road safety because they provide significant information to drivers about the road. For that reason, they must be replaced when they are not correctly perceived by road users. To analyse which are the main factors that affect road marking perception over time, a test section was designed in a two-lane rural highway, running actual traffic over 18 different types of markings fabricated with different combinations of drop-on materials. Chromatic coordinates, luminance and retroreflectivity of each sample were measured during 18 months in order to study its evolution over time. The results obtained show different behaviours depending on the aggregates and application method used. An increment of the durability has been observed with the use of different layers and mixtures of glass microbeads with different sizes.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; initial water content; lean clay soil; compound calcium-based stabilizer; compressibility; strength; microstructure and composition
Online: 18 September 2018 (12:39:53 CEST)
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Initial water content significantly affects the efficiency of soil stabilization. In this study, the effects of initial water content on the compressibility, strength, microstructure and composition of a lean clay soil stabilized by compound calcium-based stabilizer were investigated by static compaction test, unconfined compression test, optical microscope observations, environment scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The results indicate that as the initial water content increases in the range studied, both the compaction energy and the maximum compaction force decrease linearly and there are less soil aggregates or agglomerations, and smaller proportion of large pores in the compacted mixture structure. In addition, for specimens cured with or without external water supply and under different compaction degrees, the variation law of the unconfined compressive strength with initial water content is different and the highest strength value is obtained at various initial water contents. With the increase of initial water content, the percentage of oxygen element tends to increase in the reaction products of the calcium-based stabilizer, whereas the crystalline mineral of the soil did not change obviously.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Scour; Bridges; Piers; Theoretically Derived Distribution (TDD)
Online: 12 September 2018 (03:33:42 CEST)
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Based on recent contributions regarding the treatment of unsteady hydraulic conditions into the state-of-the-art of scour literature, the theoretically derived probability distribution of bridge scour is introduced. The model is derived assuming a rectangular hydrograph shape with a given duration, and random flood peak following a Gumbel distribution. A model extension for a more complex flood event is also presented, assuming a synthetic exponential hydrograph shape. The mathematical formulation can be extended to any flood-peak probability distribution. The aim of the manuscript is to move forward the current approaches adopted for the bridge design coupling hydrological, hydraulic, and erosional models in a mathematical closed form.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; flood risk; copula; compound events; multivariate; storm surge; spatial dependence; coastal catchment; Bayesian Network.
Online: 11 September 2018 (16:19:43 CEST)
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Traditional flood hazard analyses often rely on univariate probability distributions; however, in many coastal catchments, flooding is the result of complex hydrodynamic interactions between multiple drivers. For example, synoptic meteorological conditions can produce considerable rainfall-runoff, while also generating wind-driven elevated sea levels. When these drivers interact in space and time, they can exacerbate flood impacts; this phenomenon is known as compound flooding. In this paper, we build a Bayesian Network based on Gaussian copulas to generate the equivalent of 500 years of daily stochastic boundary conditions for a coastal watershed in Southeast Texas. In doing so, we overcome many of the limitations of conventional univariate approaches and are able to probabilistically represent compound floods caused by riverine and coastal interactions. We calculate the resulting water levels using a 1D steady-state hydraulic model and find that flood stages in the catchment are strongly affected by backwater effects from tributary inflows and downstream water levels. By comparing with a bathtub modeling approach, we show that simplifying the multivariate dependence between flood drivers can lead to an underestimation of flood impacts, highlighting that accounting for multivariate dependence is critical for the accurate representation of flood risk in coastal catchments prone to compound events.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; radiator efficiency; energy; operative temperature; analytical model; computer simulations
Online: 7 September 2018 (17:28:47 CEST)
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Heat emitters constitute the primary devices used in space heating and cover a fundamental role in the energy efficient use of buildings. In the search for an optimized design, heating devices should be compared with a benchmark emitter with maximum heat emission efficiency. However, such an ideal heater still needs to be defined. In this paper we perform an analysis of heat transfer in a European reference room, considering room side effects of thermal radiation and computing the induced operative temperature both analytically and numerically. By means of functional optimization, we analyse trends such as the variation of operative temperature with radiator panel dimensions, finding optimal configurations. In order to make our definitions as general as possible, we address panel radiators, convectors, underfloor (UFH) and ceiling heating. We obtain analytical formulas for the operative temperature induced by panel radiators and identify the 10-type as our ideal radiator, while the UFH provides the best performance overall. Regarding specifically UFH and ceiling heaters, we find optimal sizes that identify the according ideal emitters. The analytical method and quantitative results reported in this paper can be generalized and adopted in most studies concerning the efficiency of different heat emitter types in building enclosures.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; safety; maintenance; reinforced concrete; heritage
Online: 6 September 2018 (02:30:57 CEST)
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The Canal of Aragon and Catalonia (CAC) is 134 km long and irrigates 105,000 ha (131 irrigation user communities) and it is own by the River Ebro’s Water Agency. The aqueducts are located between km 67 and 71 of the canal and were designed by the Civil Engineer Félix de los Ríos Martín in 1907. The cross-section of both aqueducts, Coll de Foix and Capedevila, was extended within the framework of the project by Fernando Hué Herrero in 1962 in order to reach design flows of 26.1 m3/s and 25.7 m3/s, respectively. The structural performance of the aqueducts has been satisfactory, nevertheless the hydraulic capacity has reduced over the years. As a result, the irrigation user communities have expressed the need to extend the cross-section of the aqueducts to meet the irrigation demands. Given the age of the structure and the different design considerations at the time, it is paramount to verify the structural reliability of the aqueducts in the new load configuration. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to present the structural safety analysis conducted and describe the new extended cross-section for both aqueducts (maintaining the original structural typology).
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; cross-laminated timber; structural composite lumber; hybrid; bending properties; shear properties
Online: 5 September 2018 (08:33:41 CEST)
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Cross-laminated timber (CLT) possesses both good shape stability and the possible two-way force transfer ability due to its crosswise lamination. However, the transverse layers in CLT are prone to rolling shear failure under an out-of-plane load. An innovative multi-layer composite laminated panel (CLP) was developed by combining structural composite lumber (SCL) and dimension lumber to overcome the rolling shear failure while maintaining high mechanical performance and aesthetic appearance of natural wood. The mechanical properties of 5-layer CLP consisted of laminated strand lumber (LSL) and dimension lumber with different layups were evaluated by both static and modal tests. The results showed that the shear resistance, bending stiffness and moment resistance of CLP were up to 143%, 43% and 87% higher than their counterparts of regular CLT, respectively. The failure modes observed in both shear and bending tests indicated that the use of LSL in transverse layers could eliminate the potential rolling shear failure in CLT. With the lamination properties from components tests as inputs, the validity of shear analogy method was assessed by test results. The mechanical properties can be well predicted by shear analogy method except for the bending moment resistance of CLP and CLT with either rolling failure in the cross layer or tension failure in the bottom layer.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; solid waste management; environmental pollution; agricultural waste; cassava waste; biogas generation; sustainable technology
Online: 5 September 2018 (07:32:59 CEST)
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Agricultural product like cassava produces huge amounts of waste when processed to consumable goods. The waste generated is generally considered to contribute largely to environmental pollution. This study therefore investigates the waste management practice that is adopted by cassava processors in Ogun State, Nigeria. Five (5) Local Government Areas (LGAs) dominant in processing cassava were selected for the study on the basis of spatial location distribution; landmass and population. The survey involved the use of structured questionnaires administered to cassava processors of the selected LGAs. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software application and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results of the analysis show that majority (70%) of the cassava processors are females. Cassava peel constitutes 10% of the waste produced, of which 91% are heaped at refuse dump in most communities. Results also reveal that 86.3% of cassava residues are used for animal feeds. Other findings show that the peels when dried are used as bio-fuel for cooking and there is a significant potential for biogas production. From the data captured from respondent during the study, most processors are willing to pay for an improved waste management system. The study therefore suggests proper waste management of cassava waste to minimize environmental pollution.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; climate change; energy policy; exergy analysis; exergetic intensity; greenhouse gases
Online: 5 September 2018 (07:11:11 CEST)
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Diverse factors may have an impact in Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions; thus, three main contributors, energy consumption, exergy indicator and gross domestic product (GDP) are examined in this work. This study explores the relationship between economic growth and energy consumption by means of the hypothesis postulated for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Panel data for 10 countries, from 1971 to 2014 have been studied. Despite all this wide gamma of research, the role of an exergy variable has not been tested to find the EKC; then exergy analysis is proposed. Exergy analyses were developed to propose an exergetic indicator as a control variable and a comparative empirical study is developed to study a multivariable framework with the aim to detect correlations between them. High correlation between CO2, GDP, energy consumption, energy intensity and trade openness are observed, conversely not statistically significant values for trade openness and energy intensity. The results do not support the EKC hypothesis, however exergy intensity opens the door for future research once it proves to be a useful control variable. Exergy provides opportunities to analyze and implement energy and environmental policies in these countries, with the possibility to link exergy efficiencies and the use of renewables.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; hydraulic transients; water-hammer; fluid-structure interaction; degrees-of-freedom; junction coupling; Poisson coupling; friction coupling; Bourdon coupling
Online: 4 September 2018 (05:38:31 CEST)
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The present review paper aims at collecting and discussing the research work, numerical and experimental, carried out in the field of Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) in one-dimensional (1D) pressurized transient flow in the time-domain approach. Background theory and basic definitions are provided for the proper understanding of the assessed literature. A novel frame of reference is proposed for the classification of FSI models based on pipe degrees-of-freedom. Numerical research is organized according to this classification, while an extensive review on experimental research is presented by institution. Engineering applications of FSI models are described and historical accidents and post-accident analyses documented.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; benchmarking; evaluation of performance; performance indicator; principal component analysis
Online: 30 August 2018 (07:16:30 CEST)
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The Inefficient water use, varying and low productivity in Kenya public irrigation schemes is a major concern. It is therefore necessary to periodically monitor and evaluate the performance of public irrigation schemes. The performance of public irrigation in western Kenya was assessed by combining benchmarking methodology and principal component analysis. The aim was to quantify and rank the performance of pumped public irrigation schemes in Kenya. Eleven benchmarking indicators were computed for the period from 2012 to 2016 and compared to global benchmark values. The indicators used fall under agricultural productivity, water supply and financial performance categories. The computed agricultural productivity was 36%–51% in Ahero, 23%–42% in West Kano and 26%–50% Bunyala irrigation scheme. Water supply performance in Ahero, West Kano and Bunyala irrigation schemes varied from 24% to 58%, 3% to 49% and 19% to 43% respectively. Financial performance varied from 46% to 54% in Ahero, 25% to 32% in West Kano and 54%–56% in Bunyala irrigation scheme. An average overall performance efficiency of 46%, 39% and 31% was obtained in Ahero, Bunyala and West Kano irrigation schemes respectively. The performance of the irrigation schemes is very poor and measures on improving performance are needed.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; mangroves, organic matter, roots, hydrodynamics, coastal ptotection
Online: 29 August 2018 (11:28:56 CEST)
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Recently, coastal swamps have been acknowledged for their capability to alleviate shorelines and defend coastal communities. Mangroves play a prominent role in obstructing water currents in riverbanks, shorelines, and coastal areas. Mangrove roots have the significant contribution to the resiliency of the vegetation structure. Yet, mangrove model has lately been called into question by lab experimental evidence. In this paper, the flow characteristics past root models are reviewed. coastal swamps are among the most fruitful and carbon‐rich ecosystems on the planet. Long‐term carbon putting away in coastal wetlands happens mostly below ground as soil organic matter. Mangrove servs as a carbon sink, impacts wetland ecosystem configuration, purpose, and firmness. To expect and ease the properties of climate change, there is a necessity to advance considerate of environmental controls on wetland. The impact of four soil formation factors are reviewed. Across the shorelines, soil organic matter was highest in mangrove forests and it was lower areas.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; digital construction; 3D-concrete-printing; buildabiltiy; additive manufacturing
Online: 27 August 2018 (08:37:13 CEST)
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Buildability, i.e. the ability of a deposited material bulk to retain its dimmensions under increasing load, is an inherent prerequisite for formwork-free digital construction (DC). Since DC processes are relatively new, no standard methods of characterization are available yet. The paper at hand presents practice-oriented buildabilty criteria by taking various process parameters and construction costs into consideration. In doing so, direct links between laboratory buildability tests and target applications are established. A systematic basis for calculating the time interval (TI) to be followed during laboratory testing is proposed for the full-width printing (FWP) and filament printing (FP) processes. The proposed approach is validated by applying it to a high-strength, printable, fine-grained concrete. Comparative analyses of FWP and FP revealed that to test the buildability of a material for FP processes, higher velocities of the printhead should be established for laboratory tests in comparison to those needed for FWP process, providing for equal construction rates.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; GFRP rebars; durability; bond; temperature; surface enhancement
Online: 27 August 2018 (07:47:18 CEST)
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Increased traffic in combination with growing environmental impacts, have led to accelerated degradation of the built infrastructure. In reinforced concrete structures, the corrosion of steel reinforcement is the predominant cause of deterioration. Thus, over the last years the use of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites as internal reinforcement bars (rebars) for concrete structures was evaluated, and has been proved to be a viable alternative to traditional steel reinforcement mainly due to its tensile strength and non-corrosive nature. However, thus far, the GFRP rebar market is diverse and manufacturers around the world produce GFRP rebar types with different surface enhancement to improve the bond to concrete characteristics. In this study, the bond performance of three dissimilar GFRP rebar types (sand coated, helically grooved and with surface lugs) was evaluated over time in seawater environments, with a focus on the bond strength. Accordingly, specimens were expose to seawater in circulating chambers, at three different temperatures (23 °C, 40 °C and 60 °C) for multiple time periods (60 and 120 days). To evaluate the bond performance, pullout tests were conducted according to ASTM D7913 [1]. The results showed that the bond strength varies with surface enhancement features. However, the bond strength didn’t vary significantly with exposure time and temperature for all three evaluated rebar types.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; fluctuating backwater area; reservoir; 2D shallow water equations; bed-load transport; Godunov-type scheme; FVM; non-uniformity sediment.
Online: 22 August 2018 (16:43:45 CEST)
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Numerical modeling of sedimentation and erosion in reservoirs is an active field of reservoir research. However, simulation of bed-load transport phenomena has rarely been applied to other water bodies, in particular, the fluctuating backwater area. This is because the complex morphological processes between hydrodynamics and sediment transport are generally challenging to accurately predict. In this study, the refinement and application of a two-dimensional shallow-water and bed-load transport model to the fluctuating backwater area is described. The model employs the finite volume method of the Godunov scheme and saturated sediment transport equations. The model was verified against experimental data of a scaled physical model. It was then applied to actual reservoir operation, including reservoir storage, reservoir drawdown and continuous flood process, to predict the morphology of reservoir sedimentation and sediment transport rates and bed level changes in the fluctuating backwater area. It was found that the location and morphology of sedimentation effected by the downstream water level results in random evolution of the river bed, and bed-load sedimentation is transported from upstream to downstream with the slope of the longitudinal section of the river bed generally reduced. Moreover, the sediment is mainly deposited in the main channel and the elevation difference between the riverbank and channel decreases gradually.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; mortar; aerial lime; aggregates; experimental testing; performance
Online: 22 August 2018 (16:36:31 CEST)
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In order to fully perform their functions and be durable, mortars for renders and plasters are requested to have a set of characteristics that can vary with the type of exposure to external environmental actions and the type of substrate. Generally, they need moderate strength, high deformability, some water protection capability, good adhesion to the substrate, and compatibility with the pre-existent materials. The presence of water and its movement inside the pore structure of the mortars are among the most significant causes of degradation. Moreover, several authors consider that the main factors for durability and good performance of lime-based mortars are mostly related with the good quality of the binder and the use of adequate aggregates. This paper intends to study the effect of ageing on the properties and durability of air lime mortars, using aggregates of different mineralogy. For this purpose, different mortars compositions are exposed to an accelerated weathering test under defined conditions. The obtained characteristics are discussed and compared with the results obtained with the same mortars tested in laboratory conditions. The effects of the aggregate type on the durability of mortars seem to be linked to their effects on the mortars porous structure.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Y-shaped confluence channel; non-submerged rigid vegetation; longitudinal velocity; secondary flow; turbulent kinetic energy.
Online: 20 August 2018 (13:27:58 CEST)
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Vegetation has a significant influence on velocity distribution and turbulent energy in a confluence channel. A laboratory measurement with ADV was used to investigate the flow through a Y-shaped confluence channel partially covered with rigid vegetation on its inner bank. In this study, the flow velocities in cases with and without vegetation were measured by the ADV in a Y-shaped confluence channel. The results clearly show that the existence of non-submerged rigid plants has changed the internal flow structure, that the velocity in the non-vegetated area is greater than in the vegetated area, and that there is a large exchange of mass and momentum between the vegetated and non-vegetated areas. The velocity on both sides is significantly reduced when vegetation is present. In the vicinity of tributaries, due to the presence of vegetation, the high-velocity area moved rapidly to the middle of the non-vegetated area, and the secondary flow phenomenon disappeared. In the mainstream, when vegetation was present, circulation disappeared, and the degree of lateral mixing decreased. The presence of vegetation caused a great change in the internal flow structure and made the flow in non-vegetated areas more intense.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; rainwater harvesting; optimization; Rippl method; rainwater storage capacity
Online: 20 August 2018 (12:09:06 CEST)
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Water is essential for living organisms. The increase in world population, global climate change and rapid growth in industrialization and urbanization have brought with them water issues around the world in recent years. Not only should existing water resources be used reasonably and efficiently but alternative water resources should also be explored and secured. Rainwater harvesting, which is one of the alternative water resources, can provide economic and environmental solutions. For rainwater harvesting, the size of reservoirs in which rainwater captured from roof catchments is stored should be determined. Determining the optimum tank capacity depending on precipitation and consumption rates allows us to make maximum use of rainwater tanks. The aim of this study is to determine the optimum tank capacity for the storage of rainwater captured from roof catchments in order to meet the water demand for agricultural production. Precipitation data were collected from the city of Isparta and its districts. Rainwater tank capacity was determined using the Rippl, residual mass curve, minimum flow and particle swarm optimization methods. Storage capacities varying according to roof areas and consumption rates are shown in a graph. Results show that particle swarm optimization is the best method.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; preload monitoring; bolted connection; bolt-loosening; piezoelectric sensor; impedance response; smart interface
Online: 18 August 2018 (13:09:35 CEST)
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In this study, a preload monitoring method using impedance signatures obtained from a piezoelectric-based smart interface is presented for bolted girder connections. Firstly, the background theory of the piezoelectric-based smart interface and its implementation into health monitoring of bolted connections are outlined. A simplified electro-mechanical (EM) impedance model of a smart interface-embedded bolted connection system is formulated to interpret mechanistic understanding of EM impedance signatures under the effect of bolt preload. Secondly, finite element modeling of a bolted connection is carried out to show the numerical feasibility of the presented method and to predetermine the sensitive frequency band of impedance signatures. Finally, impedance measurements are conducted on a lab-scaled bolted girder connection to verify the predetermined sensitive frequency range and to assess the bolt preload changes in the test structure.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; EBPR; PAOs; GAOs; Side Stream EBPR
Online: 14 August 2018 (06:42:38 CEST)
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Side-stream EBPR process (S2EBPR) is a new alternative to address the common challenges in EBPR related to weak wastewater influent and to improve EBPR process stability. A systematic evaluation and comparison of the process performance and microbial community structure between four S2EBPR with conventional EBPR configurations in US was conducted. The statistical analysis suggested higher performance stability in S2EBPR than the conventional EBPRs, although possible bias is recognized due to variations in the target permit levels and plant-specific factors among the plants. Total and known PAOs and GAOs abundance and identities were investigated with FISH, DAPI, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and Raman microspectroscopy. The results suggested comparable relative PAO and Candidatus Accumulibacter abundances in S2EBPR and conventional EBPR systems. Tetrasphaera, a putative PAO, was also found at similar abundance in S2EBPR as in conventional facilities, whereas the relative abundance of known GAOs was lower in S2EBPR than those typically seen at conventional EBPRs. Microbial community analyses via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed differences in the community phylogenetic fingerprints between S2EBPR and conventional plants. Shannon and Inverse Simpson indices, which are combined measures of richness and evenness evaluation of the microbial communities, suggested that the microbial diversity in S2EBPR plants were higher than those in conventional EBPRs.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; porous asphalt pavement system; stormwater; stormwater runoff; heavy metals removal; geotextile membrane
Online: 9 August 2018 (12:07:29 CEST)
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Porous asphalt (PA) pavement systems with and without a geotextile layer were investigated in laboratory experiments to determine the impacts of the geotextile layer on processes leading to lead ion (Pb2+) removal from stormwater runoff. Two types of geotextile membranes placed separately at upper and lower levels within the PA systems were tested in an artificial rainfall experiment using synthetic rainwater. The effect of storage capacity within the system on Pb2+ removal was also investigated. Results indicated that the use of a geotextile layer resulted in a longer delay to the onset of effluent. The non-woven geotextile membrane placed below the reservoir course improved the Pb2+ removal rate by 20% over removal efficiency of the system using a woven geotextile placed just below the surface but before the choker course. Pb2+ ions were reduced by over 98% in the effluent after being held for 24 hours in reservoir storage. Results suggest that temporary storage of stormwater in the reservoir course of a PA system is essential to improving Pb2+ ion removal capability.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; drought; multi-purpose dam; water supply; reservoir operation criteria; standard water volume lines
Online: 6 August 2018 (16:05:54 CEST)
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Recently, torrential rain and drought have occurred in close temporal proximity and for similar durations due to changes in the spatiotemporal patterns of rainfall owing to climate change. In particular, when a drought occurs, it tends to be prolonged, making it necessary to improve the operation of multi-purpose dams that not only control flooding but also serve as water supplies. In this study, standard water volume lines and action plans by response stage were improved so that water could be stored in advance of a drought instead of reservoir operation criteria set based on data from the past. The minimum water demand by use (domestic water, industrial water, and agricultural water) was also calculated. The improved reservoir operation criteria were applied to multi-purpose dams in the Nakdong River Basin, and their effects were analyzed by calculating additionally secured water volumes. In the future, in case of lowered water volumes in multi-purpose dams owing to a drought, the application of these improved reservoir operation criteria is expected to contribute to water supply stability by delaying entry into the drought stage, and minimizing the damages caused by limited water supplies.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Passive Flux Meter, RDX, Cr(VI), Sulfate, 1,4-dioxane, contaminant mass flux
Online: 6 August 2018 (12:25:27 CEST)
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Passive flux meters (PFMs) have become invaluable tools for site characterization and evaluation of remediation performance at groundwater contaminated sites. To date, PFMs technology has been demonstrated in the field to measure low - to midrange hydrophobic contaminants (e.g., chlorinated ethenes, fuel hydrocarbons, perchlorate) and inorganic ions (e.g., uranium and nitrate). However, flux measurements of a low partitioning contaminant (e.g., 1,4-dioxane, hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-s-triazine (RDX)) and reactive ions-species (e.g., sulfate (SO42-), Chromium(VI) (Cr(VI)) are still challenging because of their low retardation during transport and quick transformation under highly reducing conditions, respectively. This study comprises the first application of PFMs for the in-situ mass flux measurements of 1,4-Dioxane, RDX, Cr(VI) and SO42- reduction rates. Laboratory experiments were performed to model kinetic uptake rates and extraction efficiency for sorbent selections. Silver impregnated granular activated carbon (GAC) was selected for capture of 1,4-Dioxane and RDX, whereas Purolite 300A was selected for chromium and SO42-. PFM field demonstrations measured 1,4-Dioxane fluxes ranging from 13.3 to 55.9 mg/m2/day, an RDX flux of 4.9 mg/m2/day, Cr(VI) fluxes ranging from 2.3 to 2.8 mg/m2/day, and SO42- consumption rates ranging from 20 to 100 mg/L/day. These data suggest other low-partitioning contaminates and reactive ion-species could be monitored using the PFM.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Municipal Solid Waste; Waste Management, Sustainable Technology, Recycling, Reuse, Waste to wealth
Online: 6 August 2018 (11:44:57 CEST)
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The practice of collecting, treating and management of solid waste prior to disposal has become a necessity in developing and modern societies. Over the years, it is known that most wastes that are disposed have a second hand value. However, the construction cost for conventional Material Recovery Facility(s) (MRFs) has been a major barrier for implementation. These technologies require considerable technical expertise, which is often not available in developing nations to successfully operate the MRFs. Covenant University; a private mission institution through her waste to wealth scheme is focused on managing and processing used materials to reusable products. These include Pet bottles, Paper wastes, Food wastes from cafeteria, plastic food packs, nylon, tin cans and others. Specific areas chosen for the Survey include the residential areas for staff and students and the two cafeterias. The waste generated was characterized based on the waste stream so as to quantify the amount of recyclable waste generated and most occurring. The survey involved the use of structured questionnaires, on-site observations and measurements. The study reveals an average amount of recyclable waste generated per day in the institution as 13.46% pet bottles, 4.03% paper, 55.56% food waste, 12.64% plastic, 9.63% nylon and 4.68% tin cans. The study established that adequate waste characterization is a requirement for effective integrated solid waste management which would boost resource recovery, reuse and recycling.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; unsteady flow; dynamic wave; finite differences method; Muskingum-Cunge
Online: 31 July 2018 (16:27:25 CEST)
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Comparison between hydraulic and hydrologic computational methods is conducted in this study, regarding prismatic open channels under unsteady subcritical flow conditions. One-dimensional unsteady flow continuity and momentum equations are solved using explicit and implicit finite difference schemes for a symmetrical trapezoidal cross section, where the flow discharge and depth are the dependent variables. The results have been compared to those derived from Muskingum-Cunge hydraulic/hydrologic method as well as the commercial software HEC-RAS. The results from explicit and implicit code compare well to those from commercial software and hydraulic/hydrologic methods for long prismatic channels, thus directing the hydraulic engineer to quick preliminary design of prismatic open channels for unsteady flow with satisfactory accuracy.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Panelised and Modular Prefabricated construction, Weatherproofing and Waterproofing, Sealing joints of façade components and walls, Finite Element Analysis, Implementation and Evaluation
Online: 31 July 2018 (14:38:00 CEST)
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Prefabricated forms of construction have led to the rapid onsite assembly of buildings however there are still on-site tasks and processes which can be reevaluated and redone specifically in keeping with the principles of prefabrication instead being adapted to fit its purpose. One such process is that of waterproofing between prefabricated panels and modules which come from the factory fully complete façade and all. Conventional means of waterproofing can be used however it results in more work done on site, potential delays and generally requires access from the external face of the building. This paper presents the Modelling, Implementation and Evaluation of purpose developed weatherproof seals specific for Prefabricated Construction. An overview is provided of the entire development process and specific focus is given to the modeling using FEA computer simulations, manufacturing and testing which then resulted in the implementation in a prefabricated panelised building which is used as a case study and the means of further evaluation. These strategies have enabled an efficient and robust prefabricated waterproofing solution specific for this form of construction to be understood and implemented. The resulting case study has successfully verified the time and cost savings when compared to conventional techniques whilst still providing a durable and effective weatherproof seal for prefabricated panelised and modular systems.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Panelised and Modular Prefabricated construction, Weatherproofing and Waterproofing, Sealing joints of façade components and walls, Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA), Design and Development
Online: 31 July 2018 (14:27:23 CEST)
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Satisfactory weatherproofing of buildings is vital to maximise their design life and performance which requires the careful design of external sealing technologies. Systems commonly available have served well in conventional construction however with many prefabricated systems emerging in the building industry new and novel means of weatherproofing between panels and modules need to be developed purpose specific to this application. This paper presents a holistic and fundamental methodological approach to Design and Development of waterproof seals and has been applied specific for prefabricated panelised and modular systems. Two purpose specific weatherproof seals are finally presented. Flow charts of the overview of the suggested methodological approach and the processes within which include DfMA that have been incorporated into understanding and developing seals for this practical application. These strategies have enabled a resourceful and holistic set of processes that can be adapted and used for similar forms of product research in new and developing areas of construction such as prefabrication. The design and development process is thoroughly explored and has resulted in an exploration of the technical challenges and potential solutions which take into consideration factors from installation limitations to building tolerances.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Hexagon joint, Helical pile, Bearing capacity, Static pile load test, Dynamic pile load test
Online: 31 July 2018 (12:07:54 CEST)
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This study aims to improve the shaft with hexagon joints to be a type not requiring welding or bolts in the static load test . In order to evaluate the bearing capacity of helical piles, two sites were selected to conduct pile installation for the field test and the pile load test. For the pile load test, the static pile load test and the dynamic pile load test were carried out, and torque was measured during pile installation for the field test to compare and analyze expected bearing capacity and thus assess the feasibility of the method for estimating the bearing capacity. The field pile load test revealed the bearing capacity of the gravity grout pile was the same or greater than 600kN in the static pile load test in accordance with AC 358 Code. The non-grout pile showed the bearing capacity the same or smaller than 600kN, suggesting gravity grouting is required. Moreover, the field pile load test was used to establish the bearing capacity equation considering the torque in pile installation, and a small number of samples were used to establish the equation which can be used as a basic data.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; translucent textile membrane roof, climate-based daylight modelling, daylight performance, energy conservation, translucent thermal insulation, multi-layer membrane
Online: 31 July 2018 (10:58:49 CEST)
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Daylight usage in buildings improves visual comfort and lowers the final energy demand for artificial lighting. The question always occurs: how much conservation can you achieve? New upcoming or rare materials and constructions have a lack of information about their application. Therefore, the current work investigates the daylight performance of a multi-layer textile membrane roof with 2 300 m² on top of a sports hall. A translucent, thermal insulation with a glass fibre fleece between the roof membranes combines daylight usage and heating demand reduction. A sports hall with built year 2017 is selected as the case study building. The optical properties of the roof construction are measured. The (visual) light transmittance amounts to 0.72 % with a clean surface. An accordingly parametrized climate-based annual daylight modeling delivers daylight indicators for different construction scenarios. The results show that in comparison to only one glass facade, the additional translucent and thermally insulated membrane construction increases the annual daylight autonomy700/ continuous DA700 from 0/ 15 % to 1.5/ 38 %. In the roof covered areas of the sport field, this results in a reduction from 19.7 to 13.8 kWhel/m²/a electricity for the artificial lighting with dim control (30 % savings). Also, the influence of soiling on the light transmittance was determined with a relevant reduction of one layer about a factor 0.81. The novel results are of great value as a comparison and benchmark for planners and future buildings of similar type.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; building integrated photovoltaics; annual daylight simulation; reflection; RADIANCE ;photon mapping; BSDF; HDR; image processing; feature detection
Online: 31 July 2018 (10:34:37 CEST)
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With the increasing adoption of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), concerns arise about potential glare. While recommended criteria to assess glare exist, it is challenging to apply these in the spatial and temporal domains and communicate the complex data to planning authorities and clients. This paper presents a new computational workflow using annual daylight simulation, material modelling using bi-directional scattering distribution functions (BSDFs) and image-based postprocessing to obtain 3-dimensional renderings of cumulative annual irradiance and glare duration on the built environment. The annual daylight simulation considers relevant sun positions in high temporal resolution (15-minute timesteps) and measured BSDFs to model different PV materials. The postprocessing includes a relative irradiance visualisation comparing the impact of a proposed PV proportional to a reference material. It also includes a new spatio-temporal workflow to assess the glare duration based on recommended thresholds. This workflow is demonstrated with a case study of a proposed PV roof for a church, assessing the glare potential of two different PV materials. The visualisations indicate glare durations well below the thresholds with satinated PVs, and in noncritical zones outside observer positions with standard PVs. Thus the proposed PV roof does not cause any disturbing glare.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Reliability; FMEA; wind turbines; climatic conditions; wind turbine type
Online: 31 July 2018 (00:51:32 CEST)
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The wind industry is looking for ways to accurately predict the reliability and availability of newly installed wind turbines. Failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) is a technique utilized for determining the critical subsystems of wind turbines. There are several studies which applied FMECA for wind turbines in the literature, but no studies so far have considered different weather conditions or climatic regions. Furthermore, various design types of wind turbines have been analyzed applying FMECA but no study so far has applied FMECA to compare the reliability of geared and direct-drive wind turbines. We propose to fill these gaps by using Koppen-Geiger climatic regions and two different turbine models of direct-drive and geared-drive concepts. A case study is applied on German wind farms utilizing the WMEP database which contains wind turbine failure data from 1989 to 2008. This proposed methodology increases the accuracy of reliability and availability predictions and compares different wind turbine design types and eliminates underestimation of impacts of different weather conditions.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; panelised construction; lightweight frames; hybrid systems; cold formed steel; hot rolled steel; design for earthquake, lateral force resisting system
Online: 30 July 2018 (12:24:10 CEST)
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A new lateral force-resisting wall panel is presented for applications in mid-rise prefabricated lightweight steel construction in seismic prone regions. This panelised system is composed of a hot-rolled frame and cold-formed studs and tracks, which works as a lateral force resisting system in lightweight steel framing. The proposed hybrid panel system exhibits proper ductility and energy dissipation behaviour. The hysteretic responses of full-scale panel experiments demonstrate that the system can safely resist high cyclic loads. The hot-rolled steel part, on the other hand, can significantly improve the initial lateral stiffness of the total system that will control the maximum allowable drift of multi-story buildings. Finally, in a case study, by applying the proposed system to the design of a mid-rise building in a high seismic area, the performance of the hybrid panels, are compared with those of fully hot-rolled systems (moment resisting frames) and fully cold formed systems. The findings indicate that applying hybrid panels will result in lower weights and better performance in seismic prone regions.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; shaft plumbing; ventilation; plumb oscillation; gravity force and earth rotation
Online: 30 July 2018 (11:07:18 CEST)
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A proper transmission of the orientation between surface and underground workings, by means of vertical shafts, is an important challenge in the mining industry, especially when the mine exceeds 200 meters deep. In fact, this study is developed in a mine located to 700 meters deep. Likewise, this paper assesses the accuracy of this operation, in a case study, using the two shafts plumbing and gyroscope methods in order to compare and analyse the planimetric displacement of the base line due to different source of errors in each one. Upsides and downsides of both methods are analysed in the paper. Some disadvantages in each method have been reduced thanks to the technological progress, especially in the two shaft plumbing method. The different sources of error that affect the measures are thoroughly analysed in the study with the aim to compensate them and achieve the required precision for an underground infrastructure. Mine ventilation has been found as one of the most important sources of error in the plumbing method due to intake and return airflow. In this direction, the paper unfolds some measures to reduce the ventilation influence and details a compensation method to reduce ventilation errors.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Colebrook equation; Colebrook-White; iterative methods; three-point methods; turbulent flow; hydraulic resistances; pipes; explicit approximations; Newton-Rapson; Household’s methods
Online: 26 July 2018 (06:47:16 CEST)
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Empirical Colebrook equation from 1939 is still accepted as an informal standard to calculate friction factor during the turbulent flow (4000 < Re < 108) through pipes from smooth with almost negligible relative roughness (ε/D→0) to the very rough (up to ε/D = 0.05) inner surface. The Colebrook equation contains flow friction factor λ in implicit logarithmic form where it is, aside of itself; λ, a function of the Reynolds number Re and the relative roughness of inner pipe surface ε/D; λ = f (λ, Re, ε/D). To evaluate the error introduced by many available explicit approximations to the Colebrook equation, λ ≈ f(Re, ε/D), it is necessary to determinate value of the friction factor λ from the Colebrook equation as accurate as possible. The most accurate way to achieve that is using some kind of iterative methods. Usually classical approach also known as simple fixed point method requires up to 8 iterations to achieve the high level of accuracy, but does not require derivatives of the Colebrook function as here presented accelerated Householder’s approach (3rd order, 2nd order: Halley’s and Schröder’s method and 1st order: Newton-Raphson) which needs only 3 to 7 iteration and three-point iterative methods which needs only 1 to 4 iteration to achieve the same high level of accuracy. Strategies how to find derivatives of the Colebrook function in symbolic form, how to avoid use of the derivatives (Secant method) and how to choose optimal starting point for the iterative procedure are shown. Householder’s approach to the Colebrook’s equations expressed through the Lambert W-function is also analyzed. One approximation to the Colebrook equation based on the analysis from the paper with the error of no more than 0.0617% is shown.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; CFRP; double layers of CFRP; concrete repair; flexural behavior; load deflection curve
Online: 20 July 2018 (05:49:56 CEST)
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Concrete is a very common construction material. As time prevails, cracks often appear in structures that pose a threat to strength and durability, which ultimately affect the structural integrity of concrete. Extensive work has been carried out in past on utilization of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) as a repair material. But, this research particularly focuses on: multiple fiber layers i.e. single and double, traditional concrete mix ratio with locally available materials and varying flexural reinforcement. Furthermore, this work presents an experimental analysis to strengthen the Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams using SikaWrap- 230 C as a CFRP wrap, and Sikadur-330 as a bonding material. The comparison between single and double layers of CFRP is of major interest in this research. Six reinforced concrete beams were repaired with CFRP and tested under three-point bending test. For these specimens, load deflection behavior along with crack propagation and failure of beams were studied. Experimental results show that beams repaired using CFRP wrapping achieved higher flexural capacity and ductility as compared with reference beam. Moreover, results reveal that introduction of second layer of fiber caused around 4-5.2% increment in flexural strength and resulted in higher ductility of RCC beam.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; concrete structures; structure monitoring; optical fiber sensors; distributed sensors; Brillouin scattering
Online: 18 July 2018 (15:10:25 CEST)
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Optical fiber sensors have become a widely-used tool to perform life-long monitoring of large structures. Different set-ups of sensors can be used to obtain information at different scopes. In this paper, the application of a portable Brillouin optical time domain analysis sensor applied to reinforced concrete beams is presented. The sensor is made up of a single-mode optical fiber applied to the structure that enables the measurement of tensile and compressive axial strain along the beams. The fiber is embedded into a concrete casting and fixed along the reinforcement bars so that a complete correlation can be obtained regarding strain and displacements in linear and non-linear flexural response. The use of four sensing fibers positioned along the beam's length at different vertical positions makes it possible to read the strain variation within the cross-section. In accordance with Bernoulli’s hypothesis, this allows curvature diagrams to be obtained across the structure. The measured curvature is used to set up the moment–curvature relationship, which highlights the possibility of the sensor monitoring structures continuously in space and time.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; urban floods, stormwater pipe network, drainage density, flood risk
Online: 18 July 2018 (11:27:47 CEST)
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In mega cities such as Seoul in South Korea, it is very important to protect the city from the flooding even for the short time of period due to the enormous amount of economic damage. In impervious area of the city, stormwater pipe network is commonly applied to discharge rainfall to the outside of catchment. Therefore, the stormwater pipe network in urban catchment should be carefully designed to discharge the runoff quickly and efficiently. In this study, different types of structures in stormwater pipe network were evaluated using the relationship between the peaks rainfall and runoff in urban catchments in South Korea. More than 400 historical rainfall events were applied in five urban catchments to estimate peak runoff from different type of network structures. Linear regression analysis was implemented to estimate peak runoffs. The coefficient of determination of the regressions were higher than 0.9 which means the regression model represent very well the relationship between the two peaks. However, the variation of the prediction becomes large as the peak rainfall increases and the variation become even larger when the network structure is branched. Therefore, it depends on the structure of stormwater pipe network. When the water paths in the pipe network is unique (branched network), the increased amount of rainfall is congested around the rainwater inlets and the uncertainty of peak runoff prediction is increased. If there are many possible water paths depending on the amount of discharge (looped network), the increased rainfall is discharged more quickly through the many water paths. This can be a way to represent the reliability of the stormwater pipe network. The structures of stormwater pipe network is evaluated using drainage density which is the length of pipes over the unit catchment area and 95% confidence interval. As a result, the 95% confidence interval is increased as the drainage density is increased because the accuracy of peak runoff prediction is decreased. As mentioned earlier, because the looped networks have many alternative water flowing paths, elimination time of rainfall from the catchments become short, the 95% confidence interval become narrow, and the reliability of peak runoff prediction become high. Therefore, it is beneficial to install looped stormwater pipe network within the affordable budget. It is important factor to determine the amount of complexity in stormwater pipe network to decrease the risk of urban flooding.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; demographic change; barrier-free design; living space; quality of life; specific needs; modular home design
Online: 16 July 2018 (13:51:08 CEST)
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In Europe we can see a change in the social structure in the last period. Average life expectancy has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. Because of the improved life situation and advanced level of health care, older people are slower. With advancing age, the likelihood of experiencing a variety of constraints such as visual impairment, reduced hearing or physical ability increases. In such a life stage tenants are often forced to leave their long-term living space because these homes can not serve "new" individual needs and the resulting personal protection goal. This transition from the privacy of their home to the new environment often appears to be a painful change. They will take their familiar and well-known surroundings, because their homes can not be adapted to serve new needs. It must be the policy’s role to create a new inclusive social space and the requirement for architects and designers to create new goals for the design of an adaptable environment. This is a comprehensive approach to the design of the outer and inner space that could serve people even if there is an unexpected situation and changes in movement and physiological limitations of older people. The contribution shows the results of the survey conducted in Germany and Slovakia. In the survey respondents expressed their opinion on what they considered important in creating an adaptive environment. Results are processed graphically with explanation. The results were mainly for designers and developers of the indoor environment. Based on the results of the questionnaire survey, studies of possible modifications in the interior of the flats were then prepared. The contribution yielded these results in three age groups of respondents; i. people aged 35, 50 and over 50.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Freezing and thawing; Concrete; Durability; Spacing factor; Pore characterisation
Online: 14 July 2018 (19:23:13 CEST)
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The determination of the parameters that characterise the air-void system in hardened concrete elements becomes crucial for structures under freezing and thawing cycles. The ASTM C457 standard describes some procedures to accomplish this task, but they are not easy to apply, require specialised equipment such as a stereoscopic microscope and result in highly tedious tasks to be performed. This paper describes an alternative procedure to the modified point-count method described in the Standard that makes use of macro photography. This alternative procedure is successfully applied to a large set of samples and presents some advantages over the traditional method, since the required equipment is less expensive and provides a more comfortable and less tedious procedure for the operator.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; hydrologic modeling; TopModel; middle magdalena valley; nash sutcliffe efficiency; tropical regions
Online: 12 July 2018 (09:38:23 CEST)
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Hydrological modeling allows us to make a comprehensive assessment of the interaction between dynamics of the hydrological cycle, climate conditions, and land use. These modeling results are relevant in water resources management field. We use TopModel (TOPography based hydrological MODEL for the hydrological modeling of an area of 17 000 km2 in the Middle Magdalena Valley (MMV), a tropical basin located in Colombia. This study is located in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) which is characterized by special meteorological conditions and fast water fluxes over the year. This area has been subjected to significant land use changes, as a result of intense economic activities, e.g., agriculture, hydropower energy and oil & gas production (Avellaneda, 2003). The proposed model is based on a record of 12 years of: i.) daily precipitation data from observed gauges, ii.) daily evapotranspiration data from temperature data and iii.) daily streamflow data as observed data. A calibration process was performed using data from 2000 to 2008, and a validation was performed with data from 2009 to 2012. The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient was used as an objective function to assess the quality of these processes (values of this metric are between 0.74 and 0.73 respectively, for model calibration and validation). The results show us an adequate performance of the model in areas of the tropical region and allow us to analyze the relationship between water storage capacity in the soils of the area with subsurface runoff. This conclusion is consistent with the characteristics of the region. The calibrated model provides an idea about the hydrological functioning of the basin and estimates an approximation of the groundwater recharge in the region. The estimation of the recharge is important to quantify the interaction of surface water and groundwater, especially during the dry season, due to its importance in the analysis of scenarios with climate variability.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; finite element method (FEM); damage detection; surface rust; ultrasonic testing; short-time Fourier transform
Online: 10 July 2018 (13:22:00 CEST)
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Detection of early stage corrosion on slender steel members is crucial for preventing buckling failures of steel structures. An active photoacoustic fiber optic sensors (FOS) system has been reported for early stage steel corrosion detection of steel plates and rebars using surface ultrasonic waves. The objective of this paper is to investigate the surface corrosion/rust detection problem on steel rods using numerically simulated surface ultrasonic waves. The finite element method (FEM) is applied in simulating the propagation of ultrasonic waves on steel rod models. Transmission mode of damage detection is adopted, in which one source (transmitter) and one sensor (receiver) are considered. In this research, radial displacements at the receiver were simulated and analyzed by short-time Fourier transform (STFT) for detecting, locating, and quantifying a surface rust located between the transmitter and the receiver. From our time domain and frequency domain analyses, it is found that the presence, location, and dimensions (length, width, and depth) of surface rust can be estimated by ultrasonic waves propagating through the surface rust.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; complex terrain; terrain-induced turbulence, LES, spectral analysis
Online: 4 July 2018 (17:49:06 CEST)
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In the present study, field observation wind data from the time of the wind turbine blade damage accident on Shiratakiyama Wind Farm were analyzed in detail. In parallel, high-resolution LES turbulence simulations were performed in order to examine the model’s ability to numerically reproduce terrain-induced turbulence. The comparison of the observed and simulated time series (1 second average values) from a 10 minute period from the time of the accident led to the conclusion that the settings of the horizontal grid resolution and time increment are important to numerically reproduce the terrain-induced turbulence that caused the wind turbine blade damage accident on Shiratakiyama Wind Farm. A spectral analysis of the same set of observed and simulated data revealed that the simulated data reproduced the energy cascade of the actual terrain-induced turbulence well.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; ANCOVA; Blockage; Clogging; Efficient; Green infrastructure; Infiltration bed; Orifice; Perforation; Performance; Philadelphia; Pipe; Stormwater
Online: 4 July 2018 (17:18:14 CEST)
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Performance of flow through orifices on a perforated distribution pipe between periods with and without partial clogging (submersion of part of the distribution pipe) was compared. The distribution pipe directly receives runoff and delivers it to an underground infiltration bed. Partial clogging appeared in winter but reduced in summer. Performance was defined as flow rate divided by l_eff (h_(d,mean)^0.5) where h_(d,mean) is the mean pressure head that drives flow and l_eff is the effective pipe length (length of water column with pipe water volume and the pipe cross-sectional area). ANCOVA (ANalysis of COVAriance) was adopted to examine the clogging effects with flow rate plotted against l_eff (h_(d,mean)^0.5) . Partial clogging had a significant effect on pipe performance during periods of low or no rainfall. However, if only data during larger storms was considered, little evidence showed that partial clogging had effects on pipe delivery performance. Partial clogging might be caused by leaves accumulated in the lower section of the pipe in winter, and its effect was insignificant when water level rose in the pipe, utilizing significantly more orifices on the distribution pipe, thus the effect from the clogged portion had negligible impact on system performance. Larger storms might also provide the required flow rate to move the debris block thus exposing the orifices. Partial clogging did not increase the tendency of overflow; therefore, current maintenance schedule was sufficient to keep the distribution pipe at satisfactory performance even though partial clogging can exist.
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Foad Foolad,
Philip Blankenau,
Ayse Kilic,
Richard G. Allen,
Justin L. Huntington,
Tyler A. Erickson,
Doruk Ozturk,
Charles G. Morton,
Samuel Ortega,
Ian Ratcliffe,
Trenton E. Franz,
David Thau,
Rebecca Moore,
Noel Gorelick,
Baburao Kamble,
Peter Revelle,
Ricardo Trezza,
Wenguang Zhao,
Clarence W. Robison
Engineering, Civil Engineering; Google Earth Engine; EEFlux; METRIC; evapotranspiration; Landsat; water resources management
Online: 3 July 2018 (13:51:31 CEST)
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Reliable evapotranspiration (ET) estimation is a key factor for water resources planning, attaining sustainable water resources use, irrigation water management, and water regulation. During the past few decades, researchers have developed a variety of remote sensing techniques to estimate ET. The Earth Engine Evapotranspiration Flux (EEFlux) application uses Landsat imagery archives on the Google Earth Engine platform to calculate the daily evapotranspiration at the local field scale (30 m). Automatically calibrated for each Landsat image, the EEFlux application design is based on the widely vetted Mapping Evapotranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration (METRIC) model and produces ET estimation maps for any Landsat 5, 7 or 8 scene in a matter of seconds. In this research we evaluate the consistency and accuracy of EEFlux products that are produced when standard US and global assets are used. Processed METRIC products for 58 scenes distributed around the western and central United States were used as the baseline for comparison. The goal of this paper is to compare the results from EEFlux with the standard METRIC applications to illustrate the utility of the EEFlux products as they currently stand. Given that EEFlux is derived from METRIC, differences are expected to occur due to differing calibration methods (automatic versus manual) and differing input datasets. The products compared include the fraction of reference ET (ETrF), actual ET (ETa), and surface energy balance components net radiation (Rn), ground heat flux (G), and sensible heat flux (H), as well as Ts, albedo and NDVI. The product comparisons show that the intermediate products of Ts, Albedo, and NDVI, and also Rn have similar values and behavior for both EEFlux and METRIC. Larger differences were found for H and G. Despite the more significant differences in H and G, results show that EEFlux is able to calculate ETrF and ETa values comparable to the values from trained expert METRIC users for agricultural areas. For non-agricultural areas such as semi-arid rangeland and forests, the automated EEFlux calibration algorithm needs to be improved in order to be able to reproduce ETrF and ETa that is similar to the manually calibrated METRIC products.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; travel behavior analysis; cleaner cars; alternative fuel vehicles; diffusion of innovations; adoption; passive rejection
Online: 28 June 2018 (14:39:31 CEST)
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Alternative fuel vehicles, such as battery electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, support the imperative to decarbonise the transport sector, but are not yet at a stage in their development where they can successfully compete with conventional fuel vehicles. This paper examines the influence of knowledge and persuasion on the decision to adopt or reject alternative fuel vehicles, underpinned by Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory. A household questionnaire survey was undertaken with respondents in the Sutton Coldfield suburb of the United Kingdom city of Birmingham. This suburb was previously identified as having a strong spatial cluster of potential early adopters of alternative fuel vehicles. The results confirm that among respondents the knowledge of alternative fuel vehicles was limited and perceptions have led to the development of negative attitudes towards them. The reasons largely relate to three problems: purchase price, limited range, and poor infrastructure availability. The majority of respondents have passively rejected alternative fuel vehicles, such that they have never given consideration to adoption. This confirms that a concerted effort is required to inform the general public about alternative fuel vehicles.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; alkali activated materials; construction and demolition waste; brick powder; acid resistance; extruded polystyrene aggregates lightweight materials
Online: 25 June 2018 (14:26:06 CEST)
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The annual construction and demolition waste (CDW) generated from EU construction sector was 850 million tons, which represented 31% of the total waste generation and about 28% of CDW was ceramics (bricks and tiles). In this study, the feasibility of using CDW brick powder as the precursor of alkali activated mortar (AAM) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) as the lightweight aggregates to form lightweight brick powder AAM (LW-BP-AAM) for non-structural applications was investigated. The thermal conductivity of LP-BPAAM was 0.112 W/m·K with density of about 1,135 kg/m3 which was lower than the counterparts with similar density in literature. The acid resistance of LW-BP-AAM is comparable to conventional fly ash based AAM and superior than ordinary Portland cement. From the scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, there was no severe damage on the surface of LW-BP-AAM but aluminate was removed from the matrix which was further verified in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The mass and strength loss of LP-BP-AAM was 1.5% and 33%, respectively. Although the compressive strength of the LP-BP-AAM was low (about 1.8 MPa), it can be improved by optimising the particle size of the XPS aggregates.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; uncertainty; risk control; decision-making; tunnel engineering; entropy.
Online: 19 June 2018 (17:43:48 CEST)
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Uncertainty is the main source of risk of geological hazards in tunnel engineering. Uncertainty information not only affects the accuracy of evaluation results, but also affects the reliability of decision-making schemes. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate and control the impact of uncertainty on risk. In this study, the problems in existing entropy-hazard model such as inefficient decision-making and failure of decision-making are analysed, and an improved uncertainty evaluation and control process are proposed. Then the tolerance cost, the key factor in the decision-making model, is also discussed. It is considered that the amount of change in risk value (R1) can better reflect the psychological behaviour of decision-makers. Thirdly, common attribute decision models, such as the expected utility-entropy model, are analysed, and then the viewpoint of different types of decision-making issues that require different decision methods is proposed. The well-known Allais paradox is explained by the proposed methods. Finally, the engineering application results show that the uncertainty control idea proposed here is accurate and effective. This research indicates a direction for further research into uncertainty, and risk control, issues affecting underground engineering works.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; soil moisture; NARX neural networks; AMSR-E; SM2RAIN; Karkheh River Basin
Online: 19 June 2018 (11:32:11 CEST)
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Accurate estimates of daily rainfall are essential for understanding and modeling the physical processes involved in the interaction between the land surface and the atmosphere. In this study, daily satellite soil moisture observations from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) generated by implementing the standard NASA- algorithm are employed for estimating rainfall, firstly, through the use of recently developed approach, SM2RAIN (Brocca et al., 2013) and, secondly, the nonlinear autoregressive network with exogenous inputs (NARX) neural modelling at five climate stations in the Karkheh river basin (KRB), located in southwest Iran. In the SM2RAIN method, the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005 is used for the calibration of algorithm and the remaining 9 months from 1 January 2006 to 30 September 2006 is used for the validation of the rainfall estimates. In the NARX model, the full study period is split into a training (1 January 2003 to 31 September 2005) and a testing (1 September 2005 to 30 September 2006) stage. For the prediction of the rainfall as the desired target (output), relative soil moisture changes from AMSR-E and measured air temperature time series are chosen as exogenous (external) inputs in NARX. The quality of the estimated rainfall data is evaluated by comparing it with observed rainfall data at the five rain gauges in terms of the correlation coefficient R, the RMSE and the statistical bias. For the SM2RAIN method, R ranges between 0.44 and 0.9 for all stations, whereas for the NARX- model the values are generally slightly lower. Moreover, the values of the bias for each station indicate that although SM2RAIN is likely to underestimate large rainfall intensities, due to the known effect of soil moisture saturation, its biases are somewhat lower than those of NARX. In conclusion, the results of the present study show that with the use of AMSR-E soil moisture products in the physically based SM2RAIN- algorithm as well as in the NARX neural network, rainfall for poorly gauged regions can be fairly predicted.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Light detection and ranging (LiDAR)； Automation, Circle tunnel； Tunnel deformation monitoring
Online: 18 June 2018 (18:54:47 CEST)
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The application of 3D LiDAR technology has become increasingly extensive in tunnel monitoring due to the large density and high accuracy of the acquired spatial data. The proposed processing method aims at circle tunnels and provides a clear workflow to automatically process raw point data and easily interpretable results to analyze tunnel health state. The proposed automatic processing method employs a series of algorithms to extract point cloud of a single tunnel segment without obvious noise from entire raw tunnel point cloud mainly by three steps: axis acquisition, segments extraction and denoising. Tunnel axis is extracted by fitting boundaries of the tunnel point cloud rejection in plane with RANSAC algorithm. With guidance of axis, the entire preprocessed tunnel point cloud is segmented by equal division to get a section of tunnel point cloud which corresponds to a single tunnel segment. Then the noise in every single point cloud segment is removed by clustering algorithm twice, based on distance and intensity. Finally, clean point clouds of tunnel segments are processed by effective deformation extraction processor to get ovality and three-dimensional deformation nephogram.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; reservoir sediments; cullet; brick; sintering; orthogonal array
Online: 14 June 2018 (12:10:34 CEST)
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In view of increasing concerns over non-renewable resource depletion and waste management, this study aimed to apply the Taguchi optimization technique to determine the process conditions for producing bricks by incorporating thin film transition liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) waste glass powder with reservoir sediments. An orthogonal array L16(45) was adopted, which consisted of five controllable four-level factors (i.e., cullet content, drying method, preheat time, sintering temperature, and error). Moreover, the analysis of variance method was used to explore the effects of the experimental factors on the density, water absorption, shrinkage ratio, loss of ignition, porosity, and compressive strength of the fired bricks. The microstructures of the fired specimens were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Then, the large-scale production techniques for fired bricks containing recycled TFT-LCD glass cullet and reservoir sediments was developed in a commercially available tunnel kiln. The test results showed that the structure of fired specimen was loose at a sintering temperature ranged from 900–950 °C. However, the fired specimen showed a significant densification at the sintering temperature of 1050 °C. In addition, Taguchi method is a feasible approach for optimizing process condition of brick using recycled TFT-LCD glass cullet and reservoir sediments and it significantly reduces the number of tests. On the other hand, the characteristics of fired bricks developed in the tunnel kiln were in compliance with Chinese National Standards class Ι building bricks criteria.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; deep tunnel, high stresses, shear zone, rockburst, energy released
Online: 12 June 2018 (16:12:56 CEST)
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Rockburst is a hazardous phenomenon in deep tunnels influenced by geological structural planes like faults, joints, and shear planes. Small-scale shear-plane-like structures have damaging impact on the boundaries of the tunnel, which accumulate high stresses. Such a shear plane was exposed in the side wall of the right headrace tunnel in the Neelum-Jehlum Hydropower Project. This project is constructed in the tectonically active Himalayas with high stress conditions. A shear plane combined with high stress conditions is very dangerous in deep excavations. The influence of a shear zone on rockburst occurrence near a tunnel is studied. The FLAC3D explicit code simulated the shear zone in the right tunnel, revealing that the stresses are concentrated near the shear zone, with no stress concentration in the left tunnel, which has neither shear zone nor rockburst. Rock mass was displaced near this shear zone even before excavation. Modeling results confirm that the side wall shear zone of the tunnel has a major influence on rockburst occurrence. A shear slip along this plane released huge amounts of energy, causing human fatalities and property damage. A numerical simulation validates the actual conditions and helps us understand the phenomenon of stress concentration near the shear zone and its impact during deep tunneling.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; masonry shear walls; ST models; equilibrium models
Online: 12 June 2018 (12:26:48 CEST)
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This paper contains theoretical fundamentals of strut and tie models, used in unreinforced horizontal shear walls. Depending on support conditions and wall loading, we can distinguish models with discrete bars when point load is applied to the wall (type I model) or with continuous bars (type II model) when load is uniformly distributed at the wall boundary. The main part of this paper compares calculated results with the own tests on horizontal shear walls made of solid brick, silicate elements and autoclaved aerated concrete. The tests were performed in Poland. The model required some modifications due to specific load and static diagram.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; optical fiber; flat steel; bending test; fiber coating; adhesives; Rayleigh backscatter; distributed optical strain measurement
Online: 12 June 2018 (10:32:05 CEST)
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Optical fiber measurement systems have recently gained popularity following a multitude of intensive investigations. A new technique has been developed for these measurement systems that uses Rayleigh backscatter to determine the distributed strain measurement over the total length of a fiber. These measurement systems have great potential in civil engineering and structural health monitoring. This paper addresses some preliminary comparisons between three different fiber coatings and six different adhesives on steel structures. The results are based on a bending test with specimens made of precision flat steel; optical fiber strain measurements were compared with photogrammetric strain measurements. Analysis of the test data showed a strong correlation between the optical measurement system’s results and the theoretical results up to the yielding point of the steel. Furthermore, the results indicate that fibers with the Ormocer® and polyimide coatings have almost no loss in the strain measurements. The main results of this investigation are a guideline describing how to attach optical fibers to steel surfaces for distributed fiber optical strain measurements and recommendations for coatings to obtain realistic strain values. Additionally, the advantages of distributed strain measurements were revealed, which illustrates the potential of Rayleigh backscattering applications.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; deformation monitoring; distributed monitoring; single-cell box girder; long-gage strain; long-gage Fiber Bragg Grating; strain distribution; shear lag effect; shear action
Online: 12 June 2018 (07:47:08 CEST)
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Distributed deformation based on Fiber Bragg Grating sensors or other kinds of strain sensors can be used to evaluate safety in operating periods of bridges. However, most of the published researches about distributed deformation monitoring are focused on solid rectangular beam rather than box girder—a kind of typical hollow beam widely employed in actual bridges. Considering that the entire deformation of a single-cell box girder contains not only bending deflection but also two additional deformations respectively caused by shear lag and shearing action, this paper again revises the improved conjugated beam method (ICBM) based on the LFBG sensors to satisfy the requirements for monitoring two mentioned additional deformations. The best choice for the LFBG sensor placement in box gilder is also proposed in this paper due to strain fluctuation on flange caused by shear lag effect. Results from numerical simulations show that most of the theoretical monitoring errors of the revised ICBM are 0.3%~1.5%, and the maximum error is 2.4%. A loading experiment for a single-cell box gilder monitored by LFBG sensors show that most of the practical monitoring errors are 6%~8%, and the maximum error is 11%.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Integrated water resources management; support to decision-making process, streamflow forecast; simple and low-cost forecasting model; Guadalquivir River Basin; Genil River; Canales reservoir; Quéntar reservoir
Online: 11 June 2018 (18:40:22 CEST)
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Forecasting streamflow accurately is essential to achieve an efficient integrated water resources management strategy and provide consistent support to water decision-makers. We present a simple, low-cost and robust approach for forecasting monthly and yearly streamflow during the hydrological year in course, applicable to headwater catchments. It combines the use of regression analysis techniques, the two-parameter Gamma continuous cumulative probability distribution function and the Monte Carlo method. It is based on a probabilistic comparison of the progression of the current hydrological year with the historic observed series. The methodology has been successfully applied to two headwater reservoirs within the Guadalquivir River Basin in southern Spain. The root-mean-square error and correlation coefficient were used to measure the accuracy of the model and the results showed good levels of reliability. The outputs are the probabilistic monthly and yearly streamflow and 80% confidence interval. Further reductions in prediction errors may be achieved from increasing the number of observed years. These risk-based predictions are of great value, especially, before the intensive irrigation campaign starts (usually in April), when Water Authorities are to take responsible management decisions about the best allocation of the available water volume between the different water users and environmental needs.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; cost-efficiency; SHCC; ECC; PP fiber; hydrophilic PVA fiber; carbonation durability
Online: 7 June 2018 (17:43:17 CEST)
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Herein, the mechanical properties and carbonation durability of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) were studied. For cost-efficient utilization of ECC materials, polypropylene (PP) and hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers were employed to cast different types of specimens. The compressive strength, Poisson’s ratio, strength-deflection curves, cracking/post-cracking strength, impact index, and tensile strain-stress curves of the two types of ECC materials, with different fiber contents of 0 vol%, 1 vol%, 1.5 vol% and 2 vol%, were investigated by conducting compressive tests, four-point bending tests, drop weight tests, and uniaxial tensile tests. In addition, the matrix microstructure and failure morphology of the fiber in the ECC materials were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Furthermore, carbonation test and steel corrosion after carbonization were employed to study durability resistance. The results indicated that for both PP fiber- and hydrophilic PVA fiber-reinforced ECCs, the compressive strength first increases and then decreases as fiber content increases from 0 vol% to 2 vol% and reaches the maximum at 1 vol% fiber content. The bending strength, deformation capacity, and impact resistance show significant improvement with increasing fiber contents. The ECC material reinforced with 2 vol% PP fiber shows superior carbonized durability with maximum carbonation depth of only 0.8 mm.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; System Dynamics; Land Use; Transportation Systems; Access Management
Online: 31 May 2018 (19:15:58 CEST)
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The coordination planning between land use and transportation system is an important premise of solving urban transportation problems and realizing land use integration. This study investigates the interactive and feedback relationship between land use and transportation system from the perspective of access management. By integrating the land use and traffic data from Las Vegas Metropolitan area with the system dynamics model, the causal relationship and causal loop diagrams (CLDs) are introduced to analyze the cause-and-effect relationship and quantitative relationship between the factors of the combined system of land use and transportation, and then sub-models partition and system simulation are performed. The systems dynamics model is established by analyzing the relationship between a series of access management techniques, traffic characteristics, and land use features. The results show that system dynamics model can be used as an effective alternative to model the symbiosis relationship of land use and transportation system for urban planning and construction.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; temporary grandstand; lateral vibration experiment; vibration dose value; annoyance rate; human health risk
Online: 31 May 2018 (13:03:32 CEST)
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Excessive vibration of temporary grandstand owing to crowd has lateral rhythmic motions can cause human in panic, which attracted increasing attention in recent years. This paper focuses on experiments that a temporary grandstand occupied 20 participants is oscillated by a shaking table with a series of random waves and induced by crowd with rhythmic swaying motions at lateral direction, respectively. And then a series of vibration perception questionnaires about crowd reaction are obtained. Evaluation of annoying level derives in concept of degree of membership and annoying rate method is proposed, then the human health risk of vibration serviceability of temporary grandstand is assessed with acceleration vibration dose value(VDV). From these results it is clear that standing crowd is more tolerant to vibration than seated crowd. The measured vibrations generated by crowd activities on temporary grandstand can cause panic in crowd. New relationship between the annoyance rate and structural acceleration VDV at logarithmic coordinate is proposed. The findings of this study can be utilized to manage the vibration of temporary grandstand and assess the human health risk.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; illegal taxi; door to door service; local public transport; traffic congestion
Online: 28 May 2018 (13:05:42 CEST)
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The impact of an unlicensed low-cost taxi in Bangladesh is very severe, especially in municipal cities. Day by day the numbers of unlicensed low-cost taxi are increasing by jumping up and creating pressure on traffic and transportation system. The aim of this study is to find out the causes of increasing illegal taxi and the extent of this vehicle in the municipalities of Bangladesh. Pabna municipality is used as a case study due to the more activeness of illegal taxi then the other municipalities. To achieve the objectives, the researcher used a qualitative approach to acquire more depth about the problems. Besides a direct observation of the study area, an open-ended questionnaire survey and HIS survey were conducted. The illegal low-cost taxi is very active it was analyzed through the field survey. A statistical model was developed to understand the actual causes of increasing illegal low-cost taxi, where ten predicted hypotheses (age, education level, marital status and family member support of illegal drivers, and the variable of commuter satisfaction e.g. safety, comfort, continuous service, affordability of service, reliability of service and driver behavior) were tested. The model was run through the multiple regression analyses technique in SPSS and the result proved that education level of illegal low-cost taxi drivers, and the commuter satisfaction variable (safety and comfort) had a positive and significant effect of increasing illegal low-cost taxi in the study area. However other variable had no significant effect in case of increasing illegal low-cost taxi. Besides the safety and comfort, steady job for the operators, provision of continuous, individual and door to door service system are the main reasons for increasing the illegal low-cost taxi in the study area. Finally, the researcher concludes with the requirement of some necessary action from the responsible authority on vehicular regulation for the improvement of the local public transport system in Bangladesh.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; fracture grouting; cement-silicate grout; geophysical prospecting; seepage; Yellow River Embankment
Online: 28 May 2018 (07:45:00 CEST)
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Fracture grouting has been a widely used mitigation measure against seepage in the Yellow River Embankment. However, there is currently a lack of systematic investigation for evaluating the anti-seepage effectiveness of fracture grouting employed in this longest river embankment in China. Therefore, in this work, laboratory and in-situ experiments are carried out for investigating the reinforcement effect of fracture grouting in the Jinan Section of the Yellow River Embankment. In particular, firstly, the laboratory tests concentrate on studying the optimum strength improvement for cement-silicate grout by varying the content of backfilled fly ash and bentonite as admixtures. Flexural strength and Scanning Electron Microscope photographs are investigated for assessing the strength and compactness improvement. Subsequently, based on the obtained optimum admixtures content, in-situ grouting tests are carried out in the Jinan Section of the Yellow River Embankment to evaluate the anti-seepage effectiveness of fracture grouting, where geophysical prospecting and pit prospecting methods are employed. Laboratory results show that, compared with pure cement-silicate grouts, the gelation time of the improved slurry is longer and gelation time increases as fly ash content increases. The optimum mixing proportion of the compound cement-silicate grout is 70% cement, 25% fly ash and 5% bentonite, and the best volume ratio is 2 for the investigated cases. Geophysical prospecting using the Ground Penetrating Radar and High Density Resistivity methods can reflect the anti-seepage effectiveness of fracture grouting on site. It shows that the grouting material mainly flows along the axial direction of the embankment. The treatment that is used to generate directional fracture is proved to be effective. The injection hole interval distance is suggested to be 1.2 m, where the lapping effect of the grouting veins is relatively significant. For the investigated cases, the average thickness of the grouting veins is approximately 6.0 cm and the corresponding permeability coefficient is averagely 1.6 × 10−6 cm/s, which meets the anti-seepage criterion in practice.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; building information modeling; industry foundation classes; internet of things; smart campus; environmental sensors; Dynamo
Online: 25 May 2018 (14:29:54 CEST)
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Building information modeling (BIM) is the digital representation of physical and functional characteristics (such as geometry, spatial relationship, and geographic information) of a facility to support decisions during its life cycle. BIM has been extended beyond 3D geometrical representations in recent years, and now includes time as a fourth dimension and cost as a fifth dimension, as well as such other applications as virtual reality and augmented reality. The Internet of Things (IoT) has been increasingly applied in various products (smart homes, wearables) to enhance work productivity, living comfort, and entertainment. However, research addressing the integration of these two technologies (BIM and IoT) is still very limited, and has focused exclusively on the automatic transmission of sensor information to BIM models. This paper describes an attempt to represent and visualize sensor data in BIM with multiple perspectives in order to support complex decisions requiring interdisciplinary information. The study uses a university campus as an example and includes several scenarios, such as an auditorium with a dispersed audience and energy saving options for rooms with different functions (mechanical/electric equipment, classrooms, and laboratory). This paper also discusses the design of a common platform allowing communication among sensors with different protocols (Arduino, Raspberry Pi), the use of Dynamo to accept sensor data as input and automatically redraw visualized information in BIM, and how visualization may help in making energy-saving management decisions.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; CFD; LES; Complex terrai; actual wind speed; wind energy
Online: 24 May 2018 (07:14:27 CEST)
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This paper proposes a procedure for predicting the actual wind speed for flow over complex terrain with CFD. It converts a time-series of wind speed data acquired from field observations into a time-series of actual scalar wind speed by using non-dimensional wind speed parameters which are determined beforehand with the use of CFD output. The accuracy and reproducibility of the prediction procedure were examined by simulating the flow with CFD with the use of high resolution (5 m) surface elevation data for the Noma Wind Park in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The errors of the predicted average monthly wind speeds relative to the observed values were less than approximately 20%.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; site identification; electric charging infrastructure; electromobility; spatial analysis; modal split; public transport
Online: 22 May 2018 (12:49:04 CEST)
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The spread of charging infrastructure (CIS) for battery electric vehicles is crucial for coping with the increasing number of electric vehicles. Therefore, the selection of ideal (fast-) charging locations determines acceptance, utilization and, thus, the economic viability of a single site or the whole charging network. The methodology of the Integrated Model Approach STELLA[1] for site identification of CIS uses proven methods of traffic modeling such as the classic four-step traffic modeling in a new context to enable statements regarding the positioning of CIS. Based on different spatial analyzes and characterizations of urban quarters, traffic generated by individuals is calculated using the FGSV approach of 2010. Because only (electric) motorized individual traffic is of importance for CIS, the share of trips is calculated by differentiating the modal split between various transport groups. One approach is to concretize the modal split share of public transport based on analyzes of different criteria and data sets, e.g. the accessibility of stops. The model approach STELLA, which also combines various extensive data (e.g. transport networks and traffic volumes, settlement structures, vehicle characteristics, power supply data and user requirements), is currently developed for a planning area covering the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.
[1] STELLA is the acronym for the German term "STandortfindungsmodell für ELektrische LAdeinfrastruktur”.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; bridge maintenance and inspection; UAVs; machine vision
Online: 22 May 2018 (12:09:37 CEST)
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The economic development and infrastructure of a nation are closely interrelated. In addition, public trust in national infrastructure facilities is closely linked to the preservation of the advantages provided by these facilities to the public. Since the 1970s, Korea has achieved exponential economic growth over a short period of time and the number of infrastructure facilities has increased correspondingly. This compressed economic development has been underpinned by the national infrastructure, whose safety and usability have been excluded from the scope of the development. However, after around 30 years, structural deterioration coupled with general insensitivity to safety in today’s society has considerably reduced public trust in using the infrastructure. Realistically, policies that mainly focus on developing new technologies related to infrastructure construction have led to practical limitations that discourage the development of technologies for maintenance or inspection. Furthermore, current maintenance works face certain limitations caused by various reasons: insufficient budget, increasing number of infrastructure facilities requiring maintenance, shortage of manpower, and rapidly increasing number of aging infrastructure facilities. To overcome these limitations, a new approach is required that is different from general inspection methods under the existing rules and regulations. In this context, this study aimed to explore the efficiency of bridge inspection and maintenance by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that could observe inaccessible areas, could be conveniently and easily controlled, and could offer high economic benefits. To this end, various tests were performed on elevated bridges, and suitable UAV images were obtained. The obtained UAV images were inspected by using machine vision technology, thereby excluding subjective evaluations by humans. Methods for enhancing the objectivity of the inspection were also discussed. The test results showed that both the efficiency and objectivity of the proposed method were better than those of the existing bridge maintenance and inspection methods.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; microstructural modeling; cement hydration; Avrami constants; hydration kinetics; glass cullet; supplementary cementitious material (SCM)
Online: 17 May 2018 (10:07:24 CEST)
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Finely ground glass has the potential for pozzolanic reactivity and can serve as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). Glass reaction kinetics depends on both temperature and glass composition. Microstructural modeling is a helpful approach to get better understanding of cement hydration and microstructure development. Mechanical and performance properties of concrete are directly related to the development of concrete microstructure, which is the consequence of progress in cement hydration. This study initially provides a comprehensive background about cement hydration process and microstructural modeling of the hydration. It then utilizes results of experimental studies, i.e. isothermal calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, to find kinetics equation parameters called “Avrami Constants”. For the first time, these constants were found for three main components of cement, i.e. C3S, C2S, and C3A, and also for glass particles smaller than 25 µm. Although modeling of cement hydration and cementitious systems containing single glass particles showed promising results, simulations of combined glass types and sizes showed that more work on microstructural models is needed to properly model the reactivity of mixed glass particle systems.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Via Ferrata; anchorage points; fall factor; safety cable
Online: 17 May 2018 (07:37:19 CEST)
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A via ferrata (from the German “klettersteig”, hereinafter VF) is a sports route located on vertical rock walls equipped with steps, chains, artificial dams, bridges and other fixed elements and which have a steel cable (safety cable) all the way along allowing users to secure their progress and avoid possible falls [1]. This article aims to analyse the state of the art of the VF sector in Spain, especially in terms of the regulations of obligatory compliance, in addition to defining the basic characteristics of the installations to ensure that these are safe for users, providing a previously non-existent summary of the most important recommendations.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Layered double hydroxides; Hydrotalcite; Starch; Fluoride; Adsorption property; Thermodynamics
Online: 15 May 2018 (13:39:28 CEST)
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A novel starch stabilized Mg/Al LDHs material (S-LDH) was prepared in a facile approach and its fluoride ion removal performance was developed. Characterization of S-LDH was employed by using XRD, FTIR and particle size distribution. The adsorption property was studied through the assessment of adsorption isotherms, kinetic models, thermal dynamics and pH influence. The result shows that a low loading of starch of 10 mg onto LDH could obviously improve fluoride removal rate. The S-LDH had 3 times higher adsorption capacity to fluoride than that of Mg/Al LDH to fluoride. The particle size was smaller and the particle size distribution was narrower for S-LDH than that for Mg/Al LDH. Langmuir adsorption isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model fitted well with the experimental data. In thermodynamic parameters, the enthalpy (△H0) value was 35.63 kJ mol-1 and the entropy (△S0) value was 0.0806 kJ mol-1K-1. The values of △G0 were negative, implying the adsorption process is spontaneous. S-LDH reveals stable adsorption property in a wide pH range from 3 to 9. The mechanism for fluoride adsorption on S-LDH included surface adsorption and interaction ion exchange.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; urban flood; hydrologic and hydraulic modeling; retention structures
Online: 15 May 2018 (08:03:58 CEST)
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Flooding and overflows are recurring problems in several Brazilian cities, which usually undergo disorderly development. Their causes vary from increased impervious surface areas, deficiency/inefficiency of drainage structures and their maintenance, siltation of rivers, channel obstructions, and climatic factors. This situation is aggravated in the major cities. The Anhangabau watershed lies in the central portion of the city of Sao Paulo – Brazil and covers a drainage area of 5.4 km². The region is highly urbanized and crossed by a major north-south road connection. During heavy rain events, portions of this interconnection passage become compromised, disrupting the flow of vehicles, creating a chaotic situation for the population, as well as losses to the national economy. Observed rainfall records and an existing IDF (intensity duration frequency) curve for the region are used to obtain design storms. To account for climate change, a well know procedure, the equidistance quantile matching method for updating IDF curves under climate change, was applied to the existing historical data. Several different global climate models (GCM) and one regional model were applied to obtain and update rainfall design storm. The GCMs and future scenarios used were from the IPCC Assessment Report 5 (AR5) and two future projections: RCP (representative concentration pathway) 4.5 and 8.5. Alternatives previously proposed to solve to flooding issue are briefly reviewed. On one of the latest studies [1], a few modern concepts of water resources management are presented, and the linear retention measure was found to offer higher potential to mitigate the flooding problem in the lower valley of the watershed. Therefore, this alternative was used to evaluate different design storms scenarios combined with return periods of 25 and 100-years as well as the updated IDF under climate change for RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. To model the complex network, representing both road and drainage systems and their interconnections, PCSWMM/SWMM software was applied. Results are presented as flooding maps and show the impacts of the proposed linear retention measure based on the existing IDF curves and the updated IDF curves under climate change for two different drainage system conditions, current and improved with the use of linear retention reservoirs. Results show that the prosed changes on the drainage system help reduce the risk and damage to flooding. The climate change scenarios, however, impose a significant threat and need immediate attention from city planners and stakeholders.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Didessa sub basin; SWAT; simulated stream flow
Online: 9 May 2018 (16:34:35 CEST)
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Abstract: In this study the semi-distributed model SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), were applied to evaluate stream flow of Didessa sub basin, which is one of the major sub basins in Abay river basin of Ethiopia. The study evaluated the quality of observed meteorological and hydrological data, established SWAT hydrological model, identified the most sensitive parameters, evaluated the best distribution for flow and developed peak flow for major tributary in the sub basin. The result indicated that the SWAT model developed for the sub basin evaluated at multi hydro-gauging stations and its performance certain with the statistical measures, coefficient about determination (R2) and also Nash coefficient (NS) with values ranging 0.62 to 0.8 and 0.6 to 0.8 respectively at daily time scale. The values of R2 and NS increases at monthly time scale and found ranging 0.75 to 0.92 and 0.71 to 0.91 respectively. Sensitivity analysis is performed to identify parameters those were most sensitive for the sub basin. CN2, GWQMN, CH_K, ALPHA_BNK and LAT_TIME are the most sensitive parameters in the sub basin. Finally, the peak flow for 2-10000 returns periods were determined after the best probability distribution is identified in EasyFit computer program.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; river-connected lake; Cu, Jinshan lake; tidal action
Online: 7 May 2018 (10:22:55 CEST)
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A typical river-connected lake, Jinshan Lake, was selected as the study area. By the combination of field experiment, laboratory experiment and mathematical model, we plotted the relationship between the concentration of DCu-SCu and FDI, and constructed the mathematical model of the migration and transformation of HMCu in Jinshan Lake. We choose a typical diurnal tide to simulate and revealed the vertical migration characteristics of HMCu in Jinshan Lake during a diurnal tide. The results show that: (1) The release rate of DCu was proportional to FDI and background content, respectively. (2) Due to the nearby industrial enterprises and terrain characteristics, SA loads the most HMCu, the average concentration is 70.07mg/kg. According to the characteristics and geographical location of LC, the concentration of copper in the two states fluctuates greatly (DCu: 43.20~74.77 mg/kg, SCu: 53.63~74.67mg/kg). The fluctuation trend of SCu in ZA is significantly different from that in other areas, which mainly due to the complex hydraulic distribution and the sorption-desorption process of HMs in sediment particles. The hydraulic disturbance of JG is the least and relatively stable, which is the farthest from the inlet of the lake and is the least affected by the Yangtze river. (3) The FDI in a diurnal tide reaches the suspension condition of fine sediment particles in each region. FDI and sediment concentration on the vertical exchange of two - state Cu is significant.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; concrete; slag; valorization; cement; circular economy
Online: 3 May 2018 (11:00:22 CEST)
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Concrete consumption greatly exceeds the use of any other material in engineering. This is due to its good properties as construction material and the availability of its components. Nevertheless, the present worldwide construction increase and the high-energy consumption for cement production means a high environmental impact. On the other hand, one of the main problem in iron and steel industry is waste generation and by-products that must be properly processed or reused to promote the environmental sustainability. One of these by-products are blast furnace slag. Cement substitution by slag strategy achieves two goals, raw materials consumption reduction and waste management. In the present work, four different concrete mixtures are evaluated. 25% cement is substituted by different blast furnace slag. Tests are made to evaluate the advantages and drawbacks of each mixture. Depending on the origin, characteristics and treatment of the slag, concrete properties change. Certain mixtures provide proper concrete properties. Stainless steel slag produces a fluent mortar that reduces the water consumption whit a slight mechanical strength loss. Mixture with electric arc slag furnace properties are better to the reference concrete (without slag) when slag is treated similarly to the cement.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; climate projections; integrated modeling; flood modeling; nonstationarity
Online: 2 May 2018 (15:15:12 CEST)
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Flooding is a prevalent natural disaster with both short and long-term social, economic, and infrastructure impacts. Changes in intensity and frequency of precipitation (including rain, snow, and rain on snow) events create challenges for the planning and management of resilient infrastructure and communities. While there is general acknowledgement that new infrastructure design should account for future climate change, no clear methods or actionable information is available to community planners and designers to ensure resilient design considering an uncertain climate future. This research used climate projections to drive high-resolution hydrology and flood models to evaluate social, economic, and infrastructure resilience for the Snohomish Watershed, WA, U.S.A. The proposed model chain has been calibrated and validated. Based on the established model chain, the peaks of precipitation and streamflows were found to shift from spring and summer to earlier winter season. The nonstationarity of peak discharges was discovered with more frequent and severe flood risks projected. The peak discharges were also projected to decrease for a certain period in the near future, which might be due to the reduced rain-on-snow events. This research was expected to provide a clear method for the incorporation of climate science in flood resilience analysis and to also provide actionable information relative to the frequency and intensity of future precipitation events.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Steel-UHPC, Composite slab, Debonding detection, PZT technology, Clustering algorithm
Online: 30 April 2018 (21:31:18 CEST)
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A lightweight composite bridge deck system composed of steel orthotropic deck stiffened with thin Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) layer is developed to eliminate fatigue cracks in orthotropic steel decks. During the construction and operation period of the bridge, the debonding between the steel deck and the UHPC layer may introduce the several issues, such as crack-induced water invasion and distinct reduction of the shear resistance. In the study, an effective and novel non-destructive interface condition monitoring approach using piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-based technologies is proposed to detect interfacial delamination between steel deck and UHPC layer. Experimental tests are performed on several steel-UHPC composite slabs and a conventional steel-concrete composite slab. The thin styrofoam sheets with different sizes and thicknesses are set on different locations of the steel deck as the artificial debondings. The PZT ceramic patches are bonded on the surfaces of the steel deck and UHPC layer as the actuators/sensors. An improved PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization)-K-means clustering algorithms is proposed to obtain the debonding patterns based on the feature data set. The laboratory tests demonstrate that the proposed approach provides an effective and accurate way to detect interfacial debonding of steel-UHPC composite slab.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; economic regions; regional classification; classification methodology; construction industry; cluster analysis; accidents in construction
Online: 28 April 2018 (14:14:29 CEST)
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The article presents the methodology for classifying economic regions with regards to selected factors that characterize a region, such as: the economic structure of the region, and thus the share of individual sectors in the economy; employment; the dynamics of the development of individual sectors expressed as an increase or decrease in production value; the population density in the region and also the level of occupational safety. Cluster analysis, which is a method of multidimensional statistical analysis available in Statistica software, was used to solve the task. The proposed methodology was used to group Polish voivodships with regards to the speed of economic development and occupational safety in the construction industry. Data published by the Central Statistical Office was used for this purpose, such as the value of construction and assembly production, the number of people employed in the construction industry, the population of an individual region and the number of people injured in occupational accidents.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; pedestrian safety; crash severity; crash factors; ordered probit model; random parameter model
Online: 27 April 2018 (10:10:22 CEST)
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Background: According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 116 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle crashes in Ohio in 2015. However, no study to date has analyzed crashes in Ohio exploring the factors contributing to the pedestrian injury severity resulting from motor vehicle crashes. This study fills this gap by investigating the crashes involving pedestrians exclusively in Ohio. Materials and Methods: This study uses the crash data from the Highway Safety Information System, from 2009 to 2013. The explanatory factors include the pedestrian, driver, vehicle, crash, and roadway characteristics. Both fixed- and random-parameters ordered probit models of injury severity (where possible outcomes are major, minor, and possible/no injury) were estimated. Results: The model results indicate that being older pedestrian (65 and over), younger driver (less than 24), driving under influence (DUI), being struck by truck, dark-unlighted roadways, six-lane roadways, and speed limit of 40 mph and 50 mph were associated with more severe injuries to the pedestrians. Conversely, older driver (65 and over), passenger car, crash occurring in urban locations, daytime traffic off-peak (10 AM to 3:59 PM), weekdays, and daylight condition were associated with less severe injuries. Conclusion: This study provides specific safety recommendations so that effective countermeasures could be developed and implemented by the policy makers, which in turn will improve overall highway safety.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; IDF curves; urban drainage; regional climate model; bias correction; climate changes
Online: 4 April 2018 (10:26:21 CEST)
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Drainage systems are usually dimensioned for design storms based on intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves of extreme precipitation. For each location, different IDF curves are established based on local hydrological conditions. Recent research shows that these curves also vary with time, and should be updated with recent data. The purpose of this study is to evaluate IDF curves obtained from precipitation simulations from the Eta RCM, comparing them with IDF curves obtained from data of a rainfall station. Climate models can be a useful tool for assessing the impacts of climate changes on drainage systems, referring precipitation forecasts. In this study, the Eta RCM was forced by two global climate models: HadGEM2-ES and MIROC5. The bias of the precipitation data, generated by RCM models, was corrected using a Gamma distribution. The Juqueriquerê River Basin, in the cities of Caraguatatuba and São Sebastião, São Paulo State, Brazil, was chosen as a case study. The results show a good correlation between the IDF curves of simulated and observed rainfall for the control period (1960-2005), indicating the strong possibility of using the Eta RCM precipitation forecasts for 2007 - 2099 to establish future IDFs thereby, taking into account climate changes in urban drainage design.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; monitoring; SfM-MVS; photogrammetry; internet of things; M3C2
Online: 4 April 2018 (06:53:34 CEST)
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Multi-view stereo (MVS) employs multi-point photography for image point positioning and three-dimensional reconstruction technology. Recently, this technology has been introduced into the monitoring of road slopes due to advances in photography and computing technology. In general, the various phases of post-image processing procedures are applied to various photographic data. In this study a novel, automated image-monitoring system is proposed to improve the ability of automatic processing. First, an Internet of things (IoT)-based digital photography system architecture was constructed to provide automatic control of camera photography and real-time transmission of image data. In addition, a visual SfM-MVS 3D reconstruction technique was used to develop related software and hardware interfaces based on the built-in Python computing framework of Photoscan Pro. The software integrates fully automatic photography, image transmission, monitoring of data processing and product release programs. The experimental results show that the system architecture can be applied to fully automatic three-dimensional monitoring of road slopes.
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Emil-Sever Georgescu,
Mihaela Stela Georgescu,
Zina Macri,
Edoardo Michele Marino,
Giuseppe Margani,
Vasile Meita,
Radu Pana,
Horia Petran,
Pier Paolo Rossi,
Vincenzo Sapienza,
Marius Voica
Engineering, Civil Engineering; building rehabilitation; energy efficiency; seismic reinforcement
Online: 2 April 2018 (12:26:38 CEST)
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Most European cities are characterized by very large areas, often formed by buildings with low quality, from a series of point of view. The possibility of renovating them is strategic to improve both the quality of life and to the possibility of economic recovery for building companies. In the last decades, the attention of the scientific community has been addressed to the energy renovation, thanks to the strong activities of the European Community in this field. However, since a relevant part of the EC territory is at risk of earthquake, the possibility to combine both energy and seismic renovation actions may be strategic for many countries. In particular, Italy and Romania are linked by a common social tradition that springs from the Roman Empire. Nowadays, this link is stronger, thanks to common interests in social, cultural and business fields. Therefore, the investigation of possible synergies for seismic and energy renovation strategies may be really interesting for both countries. This paper represents the first step in this direction. After an overview of regulations and common practices for buildings with reinforced concrete structures, in both states, some key combined renovation interventions will be described and discussed, as well as advantages and perspectives of integrated renovation approaches.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; SEAWAT; multi-criteria decision-making; seawater intrusion; recharge pond; control groundwater use; location prioritization
Online: 30 March 2018 (10:53:05 CEST)
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Coastal areas are increasingly being damaged with the expansion of seawater intrusion areas. We suggest a three-step method for reducing seawater intrusion areas by predicting future damage to groundwater being used continuously. First, the area most vulnerable to seawater intrusion damage is selected from among 25 areas on the west coast of the Republic of Korea. Having identified the Taean area as the region in question in the second step, we use RCP 4.5 and 8.5 as future sea level rise scenarios and predict the future usage of groundwater using linear-regression analysis of data for the past 10 years. Consequently, for RCP 8.5 (groundwater-usage scenario 1.0), 68.5% of the total Taean area is projected to be influenced by seawater intrusion. In the third step, the effectiveness of seawater intrusion reduction measures is analyzed considering the projected future situation and the local characteristics of the Taean area. After considering the effects of alternative locations, as well as seawater intrusion related data, alternatives were prioritized using a multi-criteria decision-making method. Consequently, 3, 5, and 4 were prioritized in the listed order, and we judged that by applying seawater intrusion area reduction measures according to this result, we will achieve the biggest effect.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Reservoir operation; SWAT; Genetic Algorithm; Urbanisation; Ganga River
Online: 23 March 2018 (16:07:22 CET)
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Reservoirs are recognized as one of the most efficient infrastructure components in integrated water resources management and development. At present, with the ongoing advancement of social economy and requirement of water, the water resources shortage problem has worsened, and the operation of reservoirs, in terms of consumption of flood water, has become significantly important. Reservoirs perform both regulation of flood and integrated water resources management, in which the flood limited water level is considered as the most important parameter for trade-off between regulation of flood and conservation. To achieve optimal operating policies for reservoirs, large numbers of simulation and optimization models have been developed in the course of recent decades, which vary notably in their applications and working. Since each model has their own limitations, the determination of fitting model for derivation of reservoir operating policies is challenging and most often there is always a scope for further improvement as the selection of model depends on availability of data. Subsequently, assessment and evaluation associated with the operation of reservoir stays conventional. In the present study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) models and a Genetic Algorithm model has been developed and applied to two reservoirs in Ganga River basin, India to derive the optimal operational policies. The objective function is set to minimize the annual sum of squared deviation form desired irrigation release and desired storage volume. The decision variables are release for irrigation and other demands (industrial and municipal demands), from the reservoir. As a result, a simulation-based optimization model was recommended for optimal reservoir operation, such as allocation of water, flood regulation, hydropower generation, irrigation demands and navigation and e-flows using a definite combination of decision variables. Since the rule curves are derived through random search it is found that the releases are same as that of demand requirements. Hence based on simulated result, in the present case study it is concluded that GA-derived policies are promising and competitive and can be effectively used operation of the reservoir.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; extreme water level; hydrodynamic model; Monte Carlo; joint probability; model calibration and verification; Danshuei River system
Online: 12 March 2018 (08:56:58 CET)
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Estimates of extreme water level return periods in river systems are crucial for hydraulic engineering design and planning. Recorded historical water level data of Taiwan’s rivers are not long enough for traditional frequency analyses when predicting extreme water levels for different return periods. In this study, the integration of a one-dimensional flash flood routing hydrodynamic model with the Monte Carlo simulation was developed to predict extreme water levels in the Danshuei River system of northern Taiwan. The numerical model was calibrated and verified with observed water levels using four typhoon events. The results indicated a reasonable agreement between the model simulation and observation data. Seven parameters, including the astronomical tide and surge height at the mouth of the Danshuei River and the river discharge at five gauge stations, were adopted to calculate the joint probability and generate stochastic scenarios via the Monte Carlo simulation. The validated hydrodynamic model driven by the stochastic scenarios was then used to simulate extreme water levels for further frequency analysis. The design water level was estimated using different probability distributions in the frequency analysis at five stations. The design high-water levels for a 200-year return period at Guandu Bridge, Taipei Bridge, Hsin-Hai Bridge, Da-Zhi Bridge, and Chung-Cheng Bridge were 2.90 m, 5.13 m, 6.38 m, 6.05 m, and 9.94 m, respectively. The estimated design water levels plus the freeboard are proposed and recommended for further engineering design and planning.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; anfis; missing data; multiple regression; normal ratio method; Yeşilırmak
Online: 12 March 2018 (08:00:46 CET)
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Good data analysis is required for the optimal design of water resources projects. However, data are not regularly collected due to material or technical reasons, which results in incomplete-data problems. Available data and data length are of great importance to solve those problems. Various studies have been conducted on missing data treatment. This study used data from the flow observation stations on Yeşilırmak River in Turkey. In the first part of the study, models were generated and compared in order to complete missing data using ANFIS, multiple regression and Normal Ratio Method. In the second part of the study, the minimum number of data required for ANFIS models was determined using the optimum ANFIS model. Of all methods compared in this study, ANFIS models yielded the most accurate results. A 10-year training set was also found to be sufficient as a data set.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; ventilation; hybrid ventilation; indoor air quality; mycobiota; indoor air questionnaire; school building; Trichoderma citrinoviride
Online: 1 March 2018 (13:19:08 CET)
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This paper describes a case study of ventilation as well as measured and perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) in a Finnish comprehensive school with a hybrid ventilation system and reported IAQ problems. An operational error was found when investigating the ventilation system that prevented air from coming into classrooms, except for short periods of high carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. However, results indicated that hybrid ventilation system was able to provide adequate ventilation and sufficient IAQ once properly designed and maintained. After ventilation operation was improved, occupants reported less unpleasant odors and stuffy air. The amount of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and some single volatile organic compounds (VOCs) decreased. Indoor mycobiota was observed in settled dust in the classrooms, from which ventilation improvement eliminated the dominant, opportunistic human pathogen species Trichoderma citrinoviride found before improvement.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; multi-step ahead forecasting; neural networks; random forests; stochastic vs machine learning models; support vector machines; time series
Online: 20 February 2018 (14:32:47 CET)
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Research within the field of hydrology often focuses on comparing stochastic to machine learning (ML) forecasting methods. The comparisons performed are all based on case studies, while an extensive study aiming to provide generalized results on the subject is missing. Herein, we compare 11 stochastic and 9 ML methods regarding their multi-step ahead forecasting properties by conducting 12 large-scale computational experiments based on simulations. Each of these experiments uses 2 000 time series generated by linear stationary stochastic processes. We conduct each simulation experiment twice; the first time using time series of 100 values and the second time using time series of 300 values. Additionally, we conduct a real-world experiment using 405 mean annual river discharge time series of 100 values. We quantify the performance of the methods using 18 metrics. The results indicate that stochastic and ML methods perform equally well.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; water distribution; management; mechanical reliability; risk assessment
Online: 13 February 2018 (17:04:12 CET)
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The management of existing water distribution system (WDS) is challenged by ageing of infrastructure, population growth, increasing of urbanization, climate change impacts and environmental pollution. Therefore, there is a need for integrated solutions that support decision makers to plan today, while taking into account the effect of these factors in the mid and long term. The paper is part of a more comprehensive project, where advanced hydraulic analysis for WDS is coupled with a dynamic resources input-output analysis model. The proposed modeling solution can be used to optimize the performance of a water supply system while considering also the energy consumption and consequently the environmental impacts. Therefore, as a support tool in the management of a water supply system also in the intervention planning. Here a possible application is presented for rehabilitation/replacement planning while maximizing the network mechanical reliability and minimizing risk of unsupplied demand and pressure deficit, under given economic constraints.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; sustainable architecture; industrial building; indoor environment; lighting conditions; computational simulation; luminance
Online: 13 February 2018 (09:05:05 CET)
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This paper highlights the problems associated with daylight use in industrial facilities. In a case study of a multi-story textile factory, we report how to evaluate daylight (as part of integral light) in the production halls marked F and G. This study follows the article in the Buildings journal, where Hall E was evaluated (unilateral daylight). These two additional halls have large areas that are 54 × 54 meters and are more than 5 meters high. The daylight is only on the side through the attached windows in envelope structures in the vertical position. In this paper, we want to present two case studies of these two production halls in a textile factory in the eastern part of Slovakia. These are halls that are illuminated by daylight from two sides through exterior peripheral walls that are against or next to each other. The results of the case studies can be applied in similar production halls illuminated by a ‘double-sided’ (bilateral) daylight system. This means that they are illuminated by natural illumination through windows on two sides in a vertical position. Such a situation is typical for multi-storied industrial buildings. The proposed approximate calculation method for the daylight factor can be used to predict the daylight in similar spaces in other similar buildings.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; ADIS; LSPIV; surface velocity; discharge measurement; flash flood; typhoon event
Online: 12 February 2018 (13:27:09 CET)
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An automated discharge imaging system (ADIS), a non-intrusive and safe approach, was developed for measuring river flows during flash flood events. ADIS consists of dual cameras to capture complete surface images in the near and far fields. Surface velocities are accurately measured using the Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) technique. The stream discharges are then obtained from the depth-averaged velocity (based upon an empirical velocity-index relationship) and cross-section area. The ADIS was deployed at the Yu-Feng gauging station in Shimen Reservoir upper catchment, northern Taiwan. For a rigorous validation, surface velocity measurements were conducted using ADIS/LSPIV and other instruments. In terms of the averaged surface velocity, all measured results were in good agreement with small differences, i.e., 0.004 to 0.39 m/s and 0.023 to 0.345 m/s when compared to those from acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and surface velocity radar (SVR), respectively. The ADIS/LSPIV was further applied to measure surface velocities and discharges during typhoon events (i.e., Chan-Hom, Soudelor, Goni, and Dujuan) in 2015. The measured water level and surface velocity both showed rapid increases due to flash floods. The estimated discharges from ADIS/LSPIV and ADCP were compared, presenting good consistency with correlation coefficient R = 0.996 and normalized root mean square error NRMSE = 7.96%. The results of sensitivity analysis indicate that components till (τ) and roll (θ) of the camera are most sensitive parameter to affect the surface velocity using ADIS/LSPIV. Overall, the ADIS based upon LSPIV technique effectively measures surface velocities for reliable estimations of river discharges during typhoon events.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB); public bicycles; Structural Equation Model (SEM)
Online: 12 February 2018 (12:27:02 CET)
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Recently, the awareness of energy conservation, carbon emission reduction, and environmental protection in Taiwan has begun to gradually improve, and bicycles have become an important vehicle for residents. In 2009, Kaohsiung began promoting public bicycle sharing. The number of users in that year amounted to 140,000. By 2015, the accumulated number of users reached nine million. This study adopted the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explore the factors influencing the behavioral intentions of public bicycle users, including the three dimensions of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, and probed into the relationship between the factors influencing the behavioral intentions of public bicycle users in Kaohsiung City and the dimensions. This study used a questionnaire to collect data and SPSS & AMOS for statistical analysis. The empirical results demonstrated that the most prominent factors influencing the behavioral intentions of public bicycle users in Kaohsiung City included perceived behavioral control, attitude, and subjective norm, in order. Among the influencing factors in the three dimensions, personal interests, main groups, and self-competence had a positive and significant correlation. Administrators should provide more incentives related to the three influencing factors to encourage the public in Kaohsiung City to use public bicycles more frequently as their short-distance travel mode, so as to achieve the purposes of saving energy, reducing carbon emissions, and protecting the urban environment.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; non-destructive evaluation; hammering inspection; audio signal processing; machine learning; online learning
Online: 9 February 2018 (07:55:24 CET)
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Developing efficient Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled system to substitute human role in non-destructive testing is an emerging topic of considerable interest. In this study, we propose a novel impact-echo analysis system using online machine learning, which aims at achieving near-human performance for assessment of concrete structures. Current computerized impact-echo systems commonly employ lab-scale data to validate the models. In practice, however, the echo patterns can be far more complicated due to varying geometric shapes and materials of structures. To deal with a large variety of unseen data, we propose a sequential treatment for echo characterization. More specifically, the proposed system can adaptively update itself to approaching human performance in impact-echo data interpretation. To this end, a two-stage framework has been introduced, including echo feature extraction and the model updating scheme. Various state-of-the-art online learning algorithms have been reviewed and evaluated for the task. To conduct experimental validation, we collected 10,940 echo instances from multiple inspection sites with each sample had been annotated by human experts with healthy/defective condition labels. The results demonstrated that the proposed scheme achieved favorable echo pattern classification accuracy with high efficiency and low computation load.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; smart concrete sensors; self-sensing materials; structural health monitoring; strain sensitivity; carbon nanotubes; cement-based materials
Online: 7 February 2018 (14:00:33 CET)
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The availability of new self-sensing cement-based strain sensors allows the development of dense sensor networks for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of reinforced concrete structures. These sensors are fabricated by doping cement-matrix materials with conductive fillers, such as Multi Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs), and can be embedded into structural elements made of reinforced concrete prior to casting. The strain sensing principle is based on the multifunctional composites outputting a measurable change in their electrical properties when subjected to a deformation. Previous work by the authors was devoted to material fabrication, modeling and applications in SHM. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of several sensors fabricated with and without aggregates and with different MWCNTs content. The strain sensitivity of the sensors, in terms of fractional change in electrical resistivity for unit strain, as well as their linearity are investigated through experimental testing under both static and dynamically varying compressive loadings. Moreover, the responses of the sensors when subjected to destructive compressive tests are evaluated. Overall, the presented results contribute to improving the scientific knowledge on the behavior of smart concrete sensors and to furthering their understanding for SHM applications.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; road tunnel; fire; Ansys Fluent; smoke movement; temperature distribution
Online: 28 January 2018 (18:10:18 CET)
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This paper presents the results of hot smoke tests, conducted in a real road tunnel. The tunnel is located within the expressway S69 in southern Poland between cities Żywiec and Zwardoń. Its common name is Laliki tunnel. It is a bi-directional non-urban tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 678 m and it is inclined by 4%. It is equipped with the longitudinal ventilation system. Two hot smoke tests have been carried out according to Australian Standard AS 4391-1999. Hot smoke tests corresponded to a HRR (Heat Release Rate) equal to respectively 750 kW and 1500 kW. The fire source was located in the middle of the road lane imitating an initial phase of a car fire (respectively 150 m and 265 m from S portal). The temperature distribution was recorded during both tests using a set of fourteen thermocouples mounted at two stand poles located at the main axis of the tunnel on windward. The stand poles were placed at distances of 5 m and 10 m. The recorded data were applied to validate of a numerical model built and solved using Ansys Fluent. The calculated temperature distribution matched the measured values.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Building Information Modeling; Case Based Reasoning; cost estimating; information management
Online: 28 January 2018 (17:43:50 CET)
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Information regarding the cost of a construction project is available to the investor and project participants in order to determine the subsequent success of a project, given that the information they collect has an impact on the decisions they make. Cost calculations, especially in the initial phase of a project, often generate large errors. This paper presents the new approach based on a combination of the Case Based Reasoning method (CBR) with the originally selected criteria for the description of a construction project (as a result of Pearson correlation coefficient and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology. The CBR method fulfils expectations for a simple and fast system supporting the cost estimation process. It does not require any specialist knowledge, so it will be comprehensible to cost estimation practitioners. The BIM-based model gives the opportunity for the calculation of quantity take-offs and enables the use of the information contained in the BIM model in the cost estimation process. In order to prepare the model an appropriate relational database had to be developed. With extensive research, a database of 173 construction projects, including the construction of a sports field, was obtained. There were 14 variables defined originally by authors; however, only 10 (as a result of the correlation analysis) were used for the calculation. Data related to the project were collected in the BIM model. Results estimating the project’s unit price, using the CBR method, were presented and discussed. The Mean Absolute Estimate Error was used to evaluate the model.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; infrastructure inspection; computer vision; structure from motion; dam inspection; 3D scene reconstruction; aerial robots; remote sensing; structural health monitoring; unmanned aerial vehicles
Online: 25 January 2018 (06:00:51 CET)
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Dams are a critical infrastructure system for many communities, but they are also one of the most challenging to inspect. Dams are typically very large and complex structures, and the result is that inspections are often time-intensive and require expensive, specialized equipment and training to provide inspectors with comprehensive access to the structure. The scale and nature of dam inspections also introduces additional safety risks to the inspectors. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have the potential to address many of these challenges, particularly when used as a data acquisition platform for photogrammetric three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and analysis, though the nature of both UAV and modern photogrammetric methods necessitates careful planning and coordination for integration. This paper presents a case study on one such integration at the Brighton Dam, a large-scale concrete gravity dam in Maryland, USA. A combination of multiple UAV platforms and multi-scale photogrammetry was used to create two comprehensive and high-resolution 3D point clouds of the dam and surrounding environment at intervals. These models were then assessed for their overall quality, as well as their ability to resolve flaws and defects that were artificially applied to the structure between inspection intervals. The results indicate that the integrated process is capable of generating models that accurately render a variety of defect types with sub-millimeter accuracy. Recommendations for mission planning and imaging specifications are provided as well.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; steel slag; EOS (Electric Arc Furnace Oxidizing Slag); ERS (Electric Arc Furnace Reduction Slag); cement mortar; Length change rate
Online: 24 January 2018 (09:04:44 CET)
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Recently many researches of EOS (Electric Arc Furnace Oxidizing Slag) on application to construction industry have been carried out with increasing its production and limited reclamation site. EOS can be used as a fine aggregate for construction material, however, its engineering properties vary with the manufacturing process and producing district, causing a quality differences in material performance. In the work, EOS is obtained from steel manufacturing plants in South Korea and the engineering properties are evaluated for EOS and the cement mortar with EOS, respectively. From the tests, EOS is mainly made up of CaO, SiO2, and FeO with 18.2% of larnite which has a crystal structure of β-C2S with similar cement mineral. EOS mortar shows an increasing compressive strength with more EOS content, which is affected by a considerable amount of larnite (β-C2S) in EOS. The EOS based mortar with ERS (Electric Arc Furnace Reduction Slag) shows unsatisfactory results over the criteria for rate of change, which implies that more consideration must be taken for the usage of the mixed ERS and EOS for cement mortar due to swelling effect of ERS on dimensional stability.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; curved surface slider; elastic response spectrum; friction; optimization; sensitivity
Online: 22 January 2018 (11:33:23 CET)
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The design of curved surface sliders (CSS) based on the elastic response spectrum is done by iteration to find the combination of friction coefficient and displacement capacity which satisfies the condition that the maximum horizontal CSS force is equal to the horizontal force of the structure. Although this CSS design is valid it does not necessarily minimize structural acceleration. This paper therefore describes the optimum CSS design for minimum structural acceleration. All valid CSS designs and the optimum CSS design are represented by their associated trajectory in the elastic response spectrum plane which visualizes the optimization problem. The results demonstrate that the optimum CSS design is not obtained at maximum tolerated effective damping ratio. The subsequent sensitivity analysis describes how much the structural acceleration increases if the actual friction coefficient of the real CSS deviates from its optimum design value. The analysis points out that the increase in structural acceleration is approximately one order of magnitude smaller than the deviation in friction. The sensitivity data may be used by structural engineer to determine tolerable deviations in friction coefficient which still results in acceptable structural accelerations.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Coagulation; Desalination; Salton Sea; Sea Water Reverse Osmosis; Treatability
Online: 17 January 2018 (13:09:05 CET)
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As freshwater sources of drinking water become limited cities and urban areas must consider higher-salinity waters as potential sources of drinking water. The Salton Sea in the Imperial Valley of California has a very high salinity (43 ppt), total dissolved solids (70,000 mg/L) and color (1440 CU). Proposals to desalinate the Salton Sea are expected to lower the equilibrium salinity from 45 ppt to 3 ppt yielding significant benefits for ecological restoration. High salinity eutrophic waters such as the Salton Sea are difficult to treat yet more desirable sources of drinking water are not always available. Jar tests were performed to evaluate the treatability of Salton Sea water for potential urban water use by coagulation using aluminum chlorohydrate, ferric chloride and alum. Coagulation-sedimentation proved to be relatively ineffective for lowering turbidity with no clear optimum dose for any of the coagulants tested. Alum was most effective for color removal (28 percent) at a dose of 40 mg/L. Turbidity was removed effectively with 0.45 m and 0.1 m microfiltration. Bench tests of Salton Sea water using Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) achieved rejections of 99 percent salinity, 97.7 percent conductivity, 98.6 percent total dissolved solids, 98.7 percent chloride, 65 percent sulfate, and 99.3 percent turbidity.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; clay ball; asphalt pavement; pattern and density; infrared image collection system; field core
Online: 16 January 2018 (06:00:02 CET)
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Clay ball is a pavement surface defect which refers to a clump in which clay or dirt is mixed with hot asphalt mixture. Clay ball is typically caused by a combination of aggregate contamination of clay or soil, high aggregate moisture, and low production temperature at the asphalt plant. It usually appears a few weeks or months after paving under traffic load, after being liquefied and knocked from the pavement surface. Clay balls can be the source of potholing, raveling, and other issues such as moisture infiltration and reduced ride quality. This paper presents an investigation of the clay balls on US-31 one winter after construction in Hamilton County, Indiana. In order to understand the pavement condition, their severity was measured using both visual observation and infrared image collection system. In addition, a clay ball distribution pattern, its density, and cores condition were evaluated. A precipitation effect on clay ball formation was investigated for finding a cause of the clay balls. The investigation found that infrared image collection system was appropriate in detecting the clay balls. The clay balls were elliptic in shape with 1 inch to 4 inches in diameter, and the maximum clay ball depth is almost penetrating the entire surface course. It was also found that the asphalt paving on the raining days or right after raining could increase the potential of clay balls. Monitoring of aggregate moisture during construction on or after raining days should be able to reduce the risk of clay balls.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; energy dissipation; dissipative braces; design criteria; seismic retrofit; frame structures
Online: 10 January 2018 (09:52:30 CET)
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Direct sizing criteria represent useful tools in the design of dissipative bracing systems for the advanced seismic protection of existing frame structures, especially when incorporated dampers feature a markedly non-linear behaviour. An energy-based procedure is proposed herein to this aim, focusing attention on systems including fluid viscous devices. The procedure starts by assuming prefixed reduction factors of the most critical response parameters in current conditions, which are evaluated by means of a conventional elastic finite element analysis. Simple formulas relating the reduction factors to the equivalent viscous damping ratio of the dissipaters, ξeq, are proposed. These formulas allow calculating the ξeq values that guarantee the achievement of target factors. Finally, the energy dissipation capacity of the devices is deduced from ξeq, finalizing their sizing process. A detailed description of the procedure is presented in the article, by distinguishing the cases where the prevailing structural deficiencies are represented by poor strength of the constituting members, from the cases having excessive horizontal displacements. A demonstrative application to the retrofit design of a reinforced concrete gym building is then offered to explicate the steps of the sizing criterion in practice, as well as to evaluate the enhancement of seismic response capacities generated by the installation of the dissipative system.
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Engineering, Civil Engineering; Sapanca Lake Basin; suspended sediment amount; artificial neuron networks; sediment rating curve; multiple linear regression
Online: 8 January 2018 (05:47:41 CET)
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This paper is about to estimate the suspended sediment transport amount in the streams flowing into the Sapanca Lake Basin. There are 12 subsidiary streams flowing into the Sapanca Lake Basin. With the aim of estimating the suspended sediment transport in 2012-204 in these subsidiary streams, measurements belonging the parameters such as level, cross sectioning, flow rate, temperature and suspended sediment were made monthly. Along the measurement period, weather conditions were above seasonal normal and precipitations decreased. In order to estimate the suspended sediment amount by using results of the measurement obtained, Artificial Neuron Network (ANN), Sediment Rating Curve (SRC) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models were used for different scenarios. It was seen that artificial neuron networks yielded the most accurate results among the models.