Search results for: soft coastal structures

Authors: Mehrnaz Mostafavi

Abstract:

The current research aims to explore a method for creating nano-ring structures through chemical reduction. By employing a direct reduction process at a controlled, slow pace, and concurrently introducing specific reduction agents, the goal is to fabricate these unique nano-ring formations. The deliberate slow reduction of nanoparticles within this process helps prevent spatial hindrances caused by the reduction agents. The timing of the reduction of metal atoms, facilitated by these agents, emerges as a crucial factor influencing the creation of nano-ring structures. In investigation involves a chemical approach utilizing bovine serum albumin and human serum albumin as organic reducing agents to produce gold nano-rings. The controlled reduction of metal atoms at a slow pace and under specific pH conditions plays a pivotal role in the successful fabrication of these nanostructures. Optical spectroscopic analyses revealed distinctive plasmonic behavior in both visible and infrared spectra, owing to the collective movement of electrons along the inner and outer walls of the gold nano-rings. Importantly, these ring-shaped nanoparticles exhibit customizable plasmon resonances in the near-infrared spectrum, a characteristic absent in solid particles of similar sizes. This unique attribute makes the generated samples valuable for applications in Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology, leveraging the distinct optical properties of these nanostructures.

Keywords: nano-ring structure, nano-particles, reductant agents, plasmon resonace

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Hamid Goharnejad, Amir Hossein Eghbali

Abstract:

Recent investigations have demonstrated the global sea level rise due to climate change impacts. In this study climate changes study the effects of increasing water level in the strait of Hormuz. The probable changes of sea level rise should be investigated to employ the adaption strategies. The climatic output data of a GCM (General Circulation Model) named CGCM3 under climate change scenario of A1b and A2 were used. Among different variables simulated by this model, those of maximum correlation with sea level changes in the study region and least redundancy among themselves were selected for sea level rise prediction by using stepwise regression. One models of Discrete Wavelet artificial Neural Network (DWNN) was developed to explore the relationship between climatic variables and sea level changes. In these models, wavelet was used to disaggregate the time series of input and output data into different components and then ANN was used to relate the disaggregated components of predictors and predictands to each other. The results showed in the Shahid Rajae Station for scenario A1B sea level rise is among 64 to 75 cm and for the A2 Scenario sea level rise is among 90 to 105 cm. Furthermore the result showed a significant increase of sea level at the study region under climate change impacts, which should be incorporated in coastal areas management.

Keywords: climate change scenarios, sea-level rise, strait of Hormuz, forecasting

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Hamid Ahmadi, Amirreza Ghaffari

Abstract:

Fatigue life of tubular joints in offshore structures is not only dependent on the value of hot-spot stress, but is also significantly influenced by the through-the-thickness stress distribution characterized by the degree of bending (DoB). The DoB exhibits considerable scatter calling for greater emphasis in accurate determination of its governing probability distribution which is a key input for the fatigue reliability analysis of a tubular joint. Although the tubular X-joints are commonly found in offshore jacket structures, as far as the authors are aware, no comprehensive research has been carried out on the probability distribution of the DoB in tubular X-joints. What has been used so far as the probability distribution of the DoB in reliability analyses is mainly based on assumptions and limited observations, especially in terms of distribution parameters. In the present paper, results of parametric equations available for the calculation of the DoB have been used to develop probability distribution models for the DoB in the chord member of tubular X-joints subjected to four types of bending loads. Based on a parametric study, a set of samples was prepared and density histograms were generated for these samples using Freedman-Diaconis method. Twelve different probability density functions (PDFs) were fitted to these histograms. The maximum likelihood method was utilized to determine the parameters of fitted distributions. In each case, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to evaluate the goodness of fit. Finally, after substituting the values of estimated parameters for each distribution, a set of fully defined PDFs have been proposed for the DoB in tubular X-joints subjected to bending loads.

Keywords: tubular X-joint, degree of bending (DoB), probability density function (PDF), Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test

Procedia PDF Downloads 705

Authors: A. Yanik, U. Aldemir

Abstract:

This study investigates the benefits of implementing the semi-active devices in relation to passive viscous damping in the context of seismically isolated bridge structures. Since the intrinsically nonlinear nature of semi-active devices prevents the direct evaluation of Laplace transforms, frequency response functions are compiled from the computed time history response to sinusoidal and pulse-like seismic excitation. A simple semi-active control policy is used in regard to passive linear viscous damping and an optimal non-causal semi-active control strategy. The control strategy requires optimization. Euler-Lagrange equations are solved numerically during this procedure. The optimal closed-loop performance is evaluated for an idealized controllable dash-pot. A simplified single-degree-of-freedom model of an isolated bridge is used as numerical example. Two bridge cases are investigated. These cases are; bridge deck without the isolation bearing and bridge deck with the isolation bearing. To compare the performances of the passive and semi-active control cases, frequency dependent acceleration, velocity and displacement response transmissibility ratios T_a(w), T_v(w), and T_d(w) are defined. To fully investigate the behavior of the structure subjected to the sinusoidal and pulse type excitations, different damping levels are considered. Numerical results showed that, under the effect of external excitation, bridge deck with semi-active control showed better structural performance than the passive bridge deck case.

Keywords: bridge structures, passive control, seismic, semi-active control, viscous damping

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: J.R.S.S. Kumara, M.A.R.M. Fernando, S.Venkatesh, D.K. Jayaratne

Abstract:

Protection of heritage monuments against lightning has become extremely important as far as their historical values are concerned. When such structures are large and tall, the risk of lightning initiated from both cloud and ground can be high. This paper presents a lightning risk analysis of three giant stupas in Anuradhapura era (fourth century BC onwards) in Sri Lanka. The three stupas are Jethawaaramaya (269-296 AD), Abayagiriya (88-76 BC) and Ruwanweliseya (161-137 BC), the third, fifth and seventh largest ancient structures in the world. These stupas are solid brick structures consisting of a base, a near hemispherical dome and a conical spire on the top. The ancient stupas constructed with a dielectric crystal on the top and connected to the ground through a conducting material, was considered as the hypothesis for their original lightning protection technique. However, at present, all three stupas are protected with Franklin rod type air termination systems located on top of the spire. First, a risk analysis was carried out according to IEC 62305 by considering the isokeraunic level of the area and the height of the stupas. Then the standard protective angle method and rolling sphere method were used to locate the possible touching points on the surface of the stupas. The study was extended to estimate the critical current which could strike on the unprotected areas of the stupas. The equations proposed by (Uman 2001) and (Cooray2007) were used to find the striking distances. A modified version of rolling sphere method was also applied to see the effects of upward leaders. All these studies were carried out for two scenarios: with original (i.e. ancient) lightning protection system and with present (i.e. new) air termination system. The field distribution on the surface of the stupa in the presence of a downward leader was obtained using finite element based commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics for further investigations of lightning risks. The obtained results were analyzed and compared each other to evaluate the performance of ancient and new lightning protection methods and identify suitable methods to design lightning protection systems for stupas. According to IEC standards, all three stupas with new and ancient lightning protection system has Level IV protection as per protection angle method. However according to rolling sphere method applied with Uman’s equation protection level is III. The same method applied with Cooray’s equation always shows a high risk with respect to Uman’s equation. It was found that there is a risk of lightning strikes on the dome and square chamber of the stupa, and the corresponding critical current values were different with respect to the equations used in the rolling sphere method and modified rolling sphere method.

Keywords: Stupa, heritage, lightning protection, rolling sphere method, protection level

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Jannika Dombrowski, Sabine Ambros, Ulrich Kulozik

Abstract:

Several drying techniques are used to preserve sensitive substances such as probiotic lactic acid bacteria. With the aim to better understand differences between these processes, this work gives new insights into structural variations resulting from different preservation methods and their impact on product quality and storage stability. Industrially established methods (freeze drying, spray drying) were compared to upcoming vacuum, microwave-freeze, and microwave-vacuum drying. For freeze and microwave-freeze dried samples, survival and activity maintained 100%, whereas vacuum and microwave-vacuum dried cultures achieved 30-40% survival. Spray drying yielded in lowest viability. The results are directly related to temperature and oxygen content during drying. Interestingly, most storage stable products resulted from vacuum and microwave-vacuum drying due to denser product structures as determined by helium pycnometry and SEM images. Further, lower water adsorption velocities were responsible for lower inactivation rates. Concluding, resulting product structures as well as survival rates and storage stability mainly depend on the type of water removal instead of energy input. Microwave energy compared to conductive heating did not lead to significant differences regarding the examined factors. Correlations could be proven for three investigated microbial strains. The presentation will be completed by an overview on the energy efficiency of the presented methods.

Keywords: drying techniques, energy efficiency, lactic acid bacteria, probiotics, survival rates, structure characterization

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: V. Mentl, V. Koula, P. Mazal, J. Volák

Abstract:

Nowadays, the acoustic emission is a widely recognized method of material damage investigation, mainly in cases of cracks initiation and growth observation and evaluation. This is highly important in structures, e.g. pressure vessels, large steam turbine rotors etc., applied both in classic and nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, the acoustic emission signals must be correlated with the real crack progress to be able to evaluate the cracks and their growth by this non-destructive technique alone in real situations and to reach reliable results when the assessment of the structures' safety and reliability is performed and also when the remaining lifetime should be evaluated. The main aim of this study was to propose a methodology for evaluation of the early manifestations of the fatigue cracks and their growth and thus to quantify the material damage by acoustic emission parameters. Specimens made of several steels used in the power producing industry were subjected to fatigue loading in the low- and high-cycle regimes. This study presents results of the crack growth rate measurement obtained by the classic compliance change method and the acoustic emission signal analysis. The experiments were realized in cooperation between laboratories of Brno University of Technology and West Bohemia University in Pilsen within the solution of the project of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Commerce: "A diagnostic complex for the detection of pressure media and material defects in pressure components of nuclear and classic power plants" and the project “New Technologies for Mechanical Engineering”.

Keywords: fatigue, crack growth rate, acoustic emission, material damage

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Ashkan Shafee, Masoud Ghodrati, Ahmad Fahimifar

Abstract:

Pervious concrete combines considerable permeability with adequate strength, which makes it very beneficial in pavement construction and also in ground improvement projects. In this paper, a single pervious concrete pile subjected to vertical and lateral loading is analysed using a verified three dimensional finite element code. A parametric study was carried out in order to investigate load bearing capacity of a single unreinforced pervious concrete pile in saturated soft soil and also gain insight into the failure mechanism of this rather new soil improvement technique. The results show that concrete damaged plasticity constitutive model can perfectly simulate the highly brittle nature of the pervious concrete material and considering the computed vertical and horizontal load bearing capacities, some suggestions have been made for ground improvement projects.

Keywords: concrete damaged plasticity, ground improvement, load-bearing capacity, pervious concrete pile

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Murada Alholy, Mengshi Lin, Omar Alhaj, Mahmoud Abugoush

Abstract:

Alicyclobacillus is a causative agent of spoilage in pasteurized and heat-treated apple juice products. Differentiating between this genus and the closely related Bacillus is crucially important. In this study, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to identify and discriminate between four Alicyclobacillus strains and four Bacillus isolates inoculated individually into apple juice. Loading plots over the range of 1350 and 1700 cm-1 reflected the most distinctive biochemical features of Bacillus and Alicyclobacillus. Multivariate statistical methods (e.g. principal component analysis (PCA) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA)) were used to analyze the spectral data. Distinctive separation of spectral samples was observed. This study demonstrates that FT-IR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis could serve as a rapid and effective tool for fruit juice industry to differentiate between Bacillus and Alicyclobacillus and to distinguish between species belonging to these two genera.

Keywords: alicyclobacillus, bacillus, FT-IR, spectroscopy, PCA

Procedia PDF Downloads 473

Authors: Raveendranath Veeramani, Sunil Jonathan Holla, Parkash Chand, Sunil Chumber

Abstract:

Gray’s Anatomy for Students has been a well-appreciated book among undergraduate students of anatomy in Asia. However, the current curricular requirements of anatomy require a more focused and organized approach. The editors of the first South Asia edition of Gray’s Anatomy for Students hereby highlight the modifications and importance of this edition. There is an emphasis on active learning by making the clinical relevance of anatomy explicit. Learning anatomy in context has been fostered by the association between anatomists and clinicians in keeping with the emerging integrated curriculum of the 21st century. The language has been simplified to aid students who have studied in the vernacular. The original illustrations have been retained, and few illustrations have been added. There are more figure numbers mentioned in the text to encourage students to refer to the illustrations while learning. The text has been made more student-friendly by adding generalizations, classifications and summaries. There are useful review materials at the beginning of the chapters which include digital resources for self-study. There are updates on imaging techniques to encourage students to appreciate the importance of essential knowledge of the relevant anatomy to interpret images, due emphasis has been laid on dissection. Additional importance has been given to the cranial nerves, by describing their relevant details with several additional illustrations and flowcharts. This new edition includes innovative features such as set inductions, outlines for subchapters and flowcharts to facilitate learning. Set inductions are mostly clinical scenarios to create interest in the need to study anatomy for healthcare professions. The outlines are a modern multimodal facilitating approach towards various topics to empower students to explore content and direct their learning and include learning objectives and material for review. The components of the outline encourage the student to be aware of the need to create solutions to clinical problems. The outlines help students direct their learning to recall facts, demonstrate and analyze relationships, use reason to explain concepts, appreciate the significance of structures and their relationships and apply anatomical knowledge. The 'structures to be identified in a dissection' are given as Level I, II and III which represent the 'must know, desirable to know and nice to know' content respectively. The flowcharts have been added to get an overview of the course of a structure, recapitulate important details about structures, and as an aid to recall. There has been a great effort to balance the need to have content that would enable students to understand concepts as well as get the basic material for the current condensed curriculum.

Keywords: Grays anatomy, South Asia, human anatomy, students anatomy

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Sze Wai Veera Fung, Peter W. Ferretto

Abstract:

Since the economic reform in 1980s, many men and women of the southern dialect Dong minority have migrated to coastal cities for employment. Responding to the outgoing providers of the families, women, especially those at the middle age, resort to the informal home-based services and goods production for income generation. Homework, therefore, becomes a key economic strategy in supporting the household expenses in rural China, where formal employment is often inadequate for local women. This paper seeks to examine the intersection between gender and household strategy in the broader economic context of rural China. Based on the interviews and site survey in Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, the study analyses the variety of the home-based production activities, the experience of women in the production process, and the impact on familial relation and gender division of labor at home. The objective of this research is to advance the understanding of the informal economic landscape in the contemporary rural China, through which an alternative and possibly a more appropriate mode of development can be investigated.

Keywords: gender relation, home-based production, household strategy, informal economy, rural China, dong minority

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: K. Kong, E. Ferrier, L. Michel

Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to investigate the creep behaviour of the heterogeneous Timber-UHPFRC beams. New developments have been done to further improve the structural performance, such as strengthening of the timber (glulam) beam by bonding composite material combine with an ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) internally reinforced with or without carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars. However, in the design of wooden structures, in addition to the criteria of strengthening and stiffness, deformability due to the creep of wood, especially in horizontal elements, is also a design criterion. Glulam, UHPFRC and CFRP may be an interesting composite mix to respond to the issue of creep behaviour of composite structures made of different materials with different rheological properties. In this paper, we describe an experimental and analytical investigation of the creep performance of the glulam-UHPFRC-CFRP beams assembled by bonding. The experimental investigations creep behaviour was conducted for different environments: in- and outside under constant loading for approximately a year. The measured results are compared with numerical ones obtained by an analytical model. This model was developed to predict the creep response of the glulam-UHPFRC-CFRP beams based on the creep characteristics of the individual components. The results show that heterogeneous glulam-UHPFRC beams provide an improvement in both the strengthening and stiffness, and can also effectively reduce the creep deflection of wooden beams.

Keywords: carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars, creep behaviour, glulam, ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 393

Authors: Reza Ziaie Moayed, Naeem Gholampoor

Abstract:

Jet grouting strengthened pile (JPP) is one of composite piles used in soft ground improvement. It may improve the vertical and lateral bearing capacity effectively and it has been practically used in a considerable scale. In order to make a further research on load transfer mechanism of single JPP with and without cap under lateral loads, JPP is analyzed by means of FEM analysis. It is resulted that the JPP pile could improve lateral bearing capacity by compared with bored concrete pile which is higher for shorter pile and the biggest bending moment of JPP pile is located in the depth of around 48% of embedded length of the pile. Meanwhile, increase of JPP pile length causes to increase of peak mobilized bending moment. Also, by cap addition, JPP piles will have a much higher lateral bearing capacity and increasing in cohesion of soil layer resulted to increase of lateral bearing capacity of JPP pile. In addition, the numerical results basically coincide with the experimental results presented by other researchers.

Keywords: bending moment, FEM analysis, JPP pile, lateral bearing capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: V. G. Cappellesso, D. M. G. da Silva, J. A. Arndt, N. dos Santos Petry, A. B. Masuero, D. C. C. Dal Molin

Abstract:

Concrete elements are subject to cracking, which can be an access point for deleterious agents that can trigger pathological manifestations reducing the service life of these structures. Finding ways to minimize or eliminate the effects of this aggressive agents’ penetration, such as the sealing of these cracks, is a manner of contributing to the durability of these structures. The cementitious self-healing phenomenon can be classified in two different processes. The autogenous self-healing that can be defined as a natural process in which the sealing of this cracks occurs without the stimulation of external agents, meaning, without different materials being added to the mixture, while on the other hand, the autonomous seal-healing phenomenon depends on the insertion of a specific engineered material added to the cement matrix in order to promote its recovery. This work aims to evaluate the autogenous self-healing of concretes produced with different water/cement ratios and exposed to wet/dry cycles, considering two ages of crack openings, 3 days and 28 days. The self-healing phenomenon was evaluated using two techniques: crack healing measurement using ultrasonic waves and image analysis performed with an optical microscope. It is possible to observe that by both methods, it possible to observe the self-healing phenomenon of the cracks. For young ages of crack openings and lower water/cement ratios, the self-healing capacity is higher when compared to advanced ages of crack openings and higher water/cement ratios. Regardless of the crack opening age, these concretes were found to stabilize the self-healing processes after 80 days or 90 days.

Keywords: sealf-healing, autogenous, water/cement ratio, curing cycles, test methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Umar Sambo Umar, Ahmad Isah Haruna, Abubakar Sadik Maigari, Muhammad Bello Abubakar

Abstract:

Schist belts in Nigeria occur prominently west of longitude 80 E and sporadic to the east, they are upper Proterozioc low-medium grade deformed metasediments and metavolcanics that were intruded by Pan-African granitoids. The Wonaka schist belt, though reportedly distinctive in composition and metamorphism, is the least understood; the host for primary gold were not defined, structures which may control primary enrichment have not been delineated. The aim of this work is to determine the relationship between litho-structures and the gold around Wonaka schist belt through geological field mapping, petrographic studies and structural data analysis via ArcGis 10.2, Surfer 11.0 and Stereopro 2.0. The results show that the major rock types are mica schist and migmatites, muscovites detected during microstructural analysis suggests low-grade metamorphism in the metapelites. The shear zones identified were trending North Northeast – South Southwest (NNE-SSW), fractures trend mostly Northeast-Southwest (NE-SW) perpendicular to planes of gneissic foliations, these conform to the late Pan-African deformational episode. Pegmatite lodes, net self-cross cutting quartz veins as well as the quartz stringers hosted by both migmatites and schist are delineated as targets for primary gold mineralization, while major confluences of the streams serve as zones for secondary (placer) gold targets since the streams are dendritic and intermittent.

Keywords: gold mineralization, Nigeria, migmatites, Wonaka schist belt

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Salami Akeem Olanrewaju

Abstract:

The transportation models or problems are primarily concerned with the optimal (best possible) way in which a product produced at different factories or plants (called supply origins) can be transported to a number of warehouses or customers (called demand destinations). The objective in a transportation problem is to fully satisfy the destination requirements within the operating production capacity constraints at the minimum possible cost. The objective of this study is to determine ways of minimizing transport cost in order to maximum profit. Data were gathered from the records of the Distribution Department of 7-Up Bottling Company Plc. Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) while applying the three methods of solving a transportation problem. The three methods produced the same results; therefore, any of the method can be adopted by the company in transporting its final products to the wholesale dealers in order to minimize total production cost.

Keywords: cost minimization, resources utilization, distribution system, allocation problem

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: R. Kandiah, K. Miyamoto

Abstract:

In Sri Lanka, the Jaffna area is a high drought affected area and depends mainly on groundwater aquifers for water needs. Water for daily activities is extracted from wells. As households manually extract water from the wells, it is not drawn from mid evening to early morning. The water inflow at night provides the maximum water level that decreases during the daytime due to extraction. The storage volume of water in wells is limited or at its lowest level during the dry season. This study analyzes the domestic water budget during the dry season in the Jaffna area. In order to evaluate the water inflow rate into wells, storage volume and extraction volume from wells over time, water pressure is measured at the bottom of three wells, which are located in coastal area denoted as well A, in nonspecific area denoted as well B, and agricultural area denoted as well C. The water quality at the wells A, B, and C, are mostly fresh, modest fresh, and saline respectively. From the monitoring, we can find that the daily inflow amount of water into the wells and daily water extraction depend on each other, that is, higher extraction yields higher inflow. And, in the dry season, the daily inflow volume and the daily extraction volume of each well are almost in balance.

Keywords: accessible volume, consumption volume, inflow rate, water budget

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Fatemeh Sadat Sharifi, A. A. Bidokhti, M. Ezam, F. Ahmadi Givi

Abstract:

This study focuses on the tidal oscillation and its speed to create a general pattern in seas. The purpose of the analysis is to find out the amplitude and phase for several important tidal components. Therefore, Regional Ocean Models (ROMS) was rendered to consider the correlation and accuracy of this pattern. Finding tidal harmonic components allows us to predict tide at this region. Better prediction of these tides, making standard platform, making suitable wave breakers, helping coastal building, navigation, fisheries, port management and tsunami research. Result shows a fair accuracy in the SSH. It reveals tidal currents are highest in Hormuz Strait and the narrow and shallow region between Kish Island. To investigate flow patterns of the region, the results of limited size model of FVCOM were utilized. Many features of the present day view of ocean circulation have some precedent in tidal and long- wave studies. Tidal waves are categorized to be among the long waves. So that tidal currents studies have indeed effects in subsequent studies of sea and ocean circulations.

Keywords: barotropic tide, FVCOM, numerical model, OTPS, ROMS

Procedia PDF Downloads 214

Authors: Ozlem Temiz Arpaci, Meryem Tasci, Hakan Goker

Abstract:

Benzimidazole, a structural isostere of indol and purine nuclei that can interact with biopolymers, can be identified as master key. So that benzimidazole compounds are important fragments in medicinal chemistry because of their wide range of biological activities including antimicrobial activity. We planned to synthesize some benzimidazole compounds for developing new antimicrobial drug candidates. In this study, we put some heterocyclic rings on second position and an amidine group on the fifth position of benzimidazole ring and synthesized them using a multiple step procedure. For the synthesis of the compounds, as the first step, 4-chloro-3-nitrobenzonitrile was reacted with cyclohexylamine in dimethyl formamide. Imidate esters (compound 2) were then prepared with absolute ethanol saturated with dry HCl gas. These imidate esters which were not too stable were converted to compound 3 by passing ammonia gas through ethanol. At the Pd / C catalyst, the nitro group is reduced to the amine group (compound 4). Finally, various aldehyde derivatives were reacted with sodium metabisulfite addition products to give compound 5-20. Melting points were determined on a Buchi B-540 melting point apparatus in open capillary tubes and are uncorrected. Elemental analyses were done a Leco CHNS 932 elemental analyzer. 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectra were recorded on a Varian Mercury 400 MHz spectrometer using DMSO-d6. Mass spectra were acquired on a Waters Micromass ZQ using the ESI(+) method. The structures of them were supported by spectral data. The 1H-NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectra and elemental analysis results agree with those of the proposed structures. Antimicrobial activity studies of the synthesized compounds are under the investigation.

Keywords: benzimidazoles, synthesis, structure elucidation, antimicrobial

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Sara A. Ben Lashihar

Abstract:

The heritage building information modelling (HBIM) of the historical masonry buildings has expanded lately to meet the urgent needs for conservation and structural analysis. The masonry structures are unique features for ancient building architectures worldwide that have special cultural, spiritual, and historical significance. However, there is a research gap regarding the reliability of the HBIM modeling process of these structures. The HBIM modeling process of the masonry structures faces significant challenges due to the inherent complexity and uniqueness of their structural systems. Most of these processes are based on tracing the point clouds and rarely follow documents, archival records, or direct observation. The results of these techniques are highly abstracted models where the accuracy does not exceed LOD 200. The masonry assemblages, especially curved elements such as arches, vaults, and domes, are generally modeled with standard BIM components or in-place models, and the brick textures are graphically input. Hence, future investigation is necessary to establish a methodology to generate automatically parametric masonry components. These components are developed algorithmically according to mathematical and geometric accuracy and the validity of the survey data. The main aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the state of the art of the existing researches and papers that have been conducted on the HBIM modeling of the masonry structural elements and the latest approaches to achieve parametric models that have both the visual fidelity and high geometric accuracy. The paper reviewed more than 800 articles, proceedings papers, and book chapters focused on "HBIM and Masonry" keywords from 2017 to 2021. The studies were downloaded from well-known, trusted bibliographic databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Dimensions, and Lens. As a starting point, a scientometric analysis was carried out using VOSViewer software. This software extracts the main keywords in these studies to retrieve the relevant works. It also calculates the strength of the relationships between these keywords. Subsequently, an in-depth qualitative review followed the studies with the highest frequency of occurrence and the strongest links with the topic, according to the VOSViewer's results. The qualitative review focused on the latest approaches and the future suggestions proposed in these researches. The findings of this paper can serve as a valuable reference for researchers, and BIM specialists, to make more accurate and reliable HBIM models for historic masonry buildings.

Keywords: HBIM, masonry, structure, modeling, automatic, approach, parametric

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Sung-Won Yoo, Chul-Hyeon Kang, Kyoung-Tae Park, Hae-Sik Woo

Abstract:

Numerous studies were dedicated on the High Volume Fly-Ash (HVFA) concrete using high volume fly ash. The material properties of HVFA concrete have been the primordial topics of early studies, and interest shifted gradually toward the structural behavior of HVFA concrete such as elasticity modulus, stress-strain relationship, and structural behavior. However, structural studies consider small-scale members limited to the scope of reinforced concrete only. Therefore, in this paper, on the basis of recent studies on the structural behavior, 2 full-scale test members were manufactured with 7.5 m span length, fly ash replacement ratio of 50 % and concrete compressive strength of 50 MPa in order to evaluate the practicability of HVFA to real structures. In addition, 2 steel composite test members were also manufactured with span length of 3 m and using the same HVFA concrete for the same purpose. The test results of full-scale RC members showed that the practical use of HVFA on such structures is not hard despite small differences between test results and existing research results on the stress-strain relationship. The flexural test revealed very little difference between 50% fly ash concrete and general concrete in view of the similarity exhibited by the displacement and strain patterns. The experimental concrete shear strength being very close to that of design code, the existing design code can be applied. From the flexural test results of steel girder composite members, the composite behavior can be secured as much as that using normal concrete under the condition of sufficient arrangement of reinforcing bar.

Keywords: composite, fly ash, full-scale, high volume

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Seyyed Abbas Mojtabavi, Mojtaba Fatzaneh Moghadam, Masoud Mahdavi

Abstract:

Steel Metal Shear Wall is one of the most common and widely used energy dissipation systems in structures, which is used today as a damping system due to the increase in the construction of metal structures. In the present study, the shear wall of the steel plate with dimensions of 5×3 m and thickness of 0.024 m was modeled with 2 floors of total height from the base level with finite element method in Abaqus software. The loading is done as a concentrated load at the upper point of the shear wall on the second floor based on step type buckle. The mesh in the model is applied in two directions of length and width of the shear wall, equal to 0.02 and 0.033, respectively, and the mesh in the models is of sweep type. Finally, it was found that the steel plate shear wall with cavity (CSPSW) compared to the SPSW model, S (Mises), Smax (In-Plane Principal), Smax (In-Plane Principal-ABS), Smax (Min Principal) increased by 53%, 70%, 68% and 43%, respectively. The presence of cavities has led to an increase in the estimated stresses, but their presence has caused critical stresses and critical deformations created to be removed from the inner surface of the shear wall and transferred to the desired sections (regular cavities) which can be suggested as a solution in seismic design and improvement of the structure to transfer possible damage during the earthquake and storm to the desired and pre-designed location in the structure.

Keywords: steel plate shear wall, abacus software, finite element method, , boundary element, seismic structural improvement, von misses stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Dionyssia Lyra, Shoaib Ismail

Abstract:

Salinization of natural resources constitutes a significant component of the degradation force that leads to depletion of productive lands and fresh water reserves. The global extent of salt-affected soils is approximately 7% of the earth’s land surface and is expanding. The problems of excessive salt accumulation are most widespread in coastal, arid and semi-arid regions, where agricultural production is substantially hindered. The use of crops that can withstand high saline conditions is extremely interesting in such a context. Salt-loving plants or else ‘halophytes’ thrive when grown in hostile saline conditions, where traditional crops cannot survive. Salicornia bigelovii, a halophytic crop with multiple uses (vegetable, forage, biofuel), has demonstrated remarkable adaptability to harsh climatic conditions prevailing in dry areas with great potential for its expansion. Since 2011, the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) with Masdar Institute (MI) and King Abdul Aziz University of Science & Technology (KAUST) to look into the potential for growing S. bigelovii under hot and dry conditions. Through the projects undertaken, 50 different S. bigelovii genotypes were assessed under high saline conditions. The overall goal was to select the best performing S. bigelovii populations in terms of seed and biomass production for future breeding. Specific objectives included: 1) evaluation of selected S. bigelovii genotypes for various agronomic and growth parameters under field conditions, 2) seed multiplication of S. bigelovii using saline groundwater and 3) acquisition of inbred lines for further breeding. Field trials were conducted for four consecutive years at ICBA headquarters. During the first year, one Salicornia population was evaluated for seed and biomass production at different salinity levels, fertilizer treatments and planting methods. All growth parameters and biomass productivity for the salicornia population showed better performance with optimal biomass production in terms of both salinity level and fertilizer application. During the second year, 46 Salicornia populations (obtained from KAUST and Masdar Institute) were evaluated for 24 growth parameters and treated with groundwater through drip irrigation. The plant material originated from wild collections. Six populations were also assessed for their growth performance under full-strength seawater. Salicornia populations were highly variable for all characteristics under study for both irrigation treatments, indicating that there is a large pool of genetic information available for breeding. Irrigation with the highest level of salinity had a negative impact on the agronomic performance. The maximum seed yield obtained was 2 t/ha at 20 dS/m (groundwater treatment) at 25 cm x 25 cm planting distance. The best performing Salicornia populations for fresh biomass and seed yield were selected for the following season. After continuous selection, the best performing salicornia will be adopted for scaling-up options. Taking into account the results of the production field trials, salicornia expansion will be targeted in coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. As a crop with high biofuel and forage potential, its cultivation can improve the livelihood of local farmers.

Keywords: biosaline agriculture, genotypes selection, halophytes, Salicornia bigelovii

Procedia PDF Downloads 390

Authors: G. Venkata Rao, P. Kalpana, R. Srinivasa Rao

Abstract:

Adequate and reliable estimates of aquifer parameters are of utmost importance for proper management of vital groundwater resources. At present scenario the ground water is polluted because of industrial waste disposed over the land and the contaminants are transported in the aquifer from one area to another area which is depending on the characteristics of the aquifer and contaminants. To know the contaminant transport, the accurate estimation of aquifer properties is highly needed. Conventionally, these properties are estimated through pumping tests carried out on water wells. The occurrence and movement of ground water in the aquifer are characteristically defined by the aquifer parameters. The pumping (aquifer) test is the standard technique for estimating various hydraulic properties of aquifer systems, viz, transmissivity (T), hydraulic conductivity (K), storage coefficient (S) etc., for which the graphical method is widely used. The study area for conducting pumping test is Pydibheemavaram Industrial area near the coastal belt of Srikulam, AP, India. The main objective of the present work is to estimate the aquifer properties for developing contaminant transport model for the study area.

Keywords: aquifer, contaminant transport, hydraulic conductivity, industrial waste, pumping test

Procedia PDF Downloads 430

Authors: Bashiru Olayinka Adisa, Najeem Lateef

Abstract:

The integrated knowledge in the application of mechanical engineering, microprocessor and electronic sensor technologies is becoming the basic skill of a modern engineer in machinery based processes. To meet this objective, we have developed a cross-disciplinary industrial training to teach essential hard technical and soft project skills to the mechanical engineering students in mid-curriculum. Ten groups of students were selected to participate in a 150 hour program. The students were required to design and build a robot with ability to follow tracks and pick/place target blocks in specific locations. The students were trained to integrate the knowledge of computer aid design, electronics, sensor theories and motor technology to fabricate a workable robot as a major outcome of this course. On completion of the project, students competed for top robot honors by demonstrating their robots' movements and performance in pick/place to a panel of judges.

Keywords: electronics, sensor theories and motor, robot, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 268

Authors: Christine Pichler

Abstract:

The German word Bildung in a comprehensive understanding can be defined as the development of the personality and as a process, which lasts from birth, or even before birth, until death. Gaining experience, acquiring abilities and knowledge as a lifelong learning process is what Bildung means. The development of the personality is intransitive because of the personality’s development itself, and transitive because of influences on the formation of a person by individuals and institutions. In public and political discussions, the term Bildung is understood with a constricted usage as education at schools. This leads to the research question, which consequences this limited comprehension of the term Bildung implies and how a comprehensive term of Bildung has to be defined. In discussions, Bildung is limited to its formal part. The limited understanding prevents from accurate analyses and discussions as well as adequate actions. This hypothesis and the research issue will be processed by theoretical analyses of the factors of Bildung, guideline-controlled expert interviews and a qualitative content analysis. The limited understanding on the term Bildung is a methodological problem. This results in inaccuracies in the analysis of the processes of Bildung and their effects on the development of personality structures. On the one hand, an individual is influenced by formal structures in the system of Bildung (e.g. schools) and on the other hand an individual is influenced by gained individual and informal personality and character attributes. In general, too little attention is given to these attributes and individual qualifications. The aim of this work is to demonstrate informative terms so the educational process with all its facets could be considered and applicable analyses can be made. If the informative terms can be defined, it´s also possible to identify and discuss the components of a comprehensive term Bildung to enable correct action.

Keywords: Bildung, development of personality, education, formative process, organized and non-organized Bildung

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Hatem Diaf, Patrice Melinon, Antonio Pereira, Bernard Moine, Nicholas Blanchard, Florent Bourquard, Florence Garrelie, Christophe Donnet

Abstract:

Glassy carbon exhibits excellent biological compatibility with live tissues meaning it has high potential for applications in life science. Moreover, glassy carbon has interesting properties including 'high temperature resistance', hardness, low density, low electrical resistance, low friction, and low thermal resistance. The structure of glassy carbon has long been a subject of debate. It is now admitted that glassy carbon is 100% sp2. This term is a little bit confusing as long sp2 hybridization defined from quantum chemistry is related to both properties: threefold configuration and pi bonding (parallel pz orbitals). Using plasma laser deposition of carbon clusters combined with pulsed nano/femto laser annealing, we are able to synthesize thin films of glassy carbon of good quality (probed by G band/ D disorder band ratio in Raman spectroscopy) without thermal post annealing. A careful inspecting of Raman signal, plasmon losses and structure performed by HRTEM (High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy) reveals that both properties (threefold and pi orbitals) cannot coexist together. The structure of the films is compared to models including schwarzites based from negatively curved surfaces at the opposite of onions or fullerene-like structures with positively curved surfaces. This study shows that a huge collection of porous carbon named vitreous carbon with different structures can coexist.

Keywords: glassy carbon, cluster deposition, coating, electronic structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 305

Authors: Arif Almutairi, Monjur Mourshed

Abstract:

Due to varying geographical and tectonic factors, the region of Saudi Arabia has been subjected to numerous natural and man-made maritime disasters during the last two decades. Natural maritime disasters, such as cyclones and tsunamis, have been recorded in coastal areas of the Indian Ocean (including the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden). Therefore, the Indian Ocean is widely recognised as the potential source of future destructive natural disasters that could affect Saudi Arabia’s coastline. Meanwhile, man-made maritime disasters, such as those arising from piracy and oil pollution, are located in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, which are key locations for oil export and transportation between Asia and Europe. This paper provides a brief overview of maritime disasters surrounding Saudi Arabia’s coastline in order to classify them by frequency of occurrence and location, and discuss their future impact the region. Results show that the Arabian Gulf will be more vulnerable to natural maritime disasters because of its location, whereas the Red Sea is more vulnerable to man-made maritime disasters, as it is the key location for transportation between Asia and Europe. The results also show that with the aid of proper classification, effective disaster management can reduce the consequences of maritime disasters.

Keywords: disaster classification, maritime disaster, natural disasters, man-made disasters

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Samim Khair Mohammad, Takeshi Tsuji, Chanmaly Chhun

Abstract:

The Afghan Tajik (foreland) basin, located in the depression zone between mountain axes, is under compression and deformation during the collision of India with the Eurasian plate. The southern part of the Afghan Tajik basin in the Northern part of Afghanistan has not been well studied and explored, but considered for the significant potential for oil and gas resources. The Afghan Tajik basin depositional environments (< 8km) resulted from mixing terrestrial and marine systems, which has potential prospects of Jurrasic (deep) and Tertiary (shallow) petroleum systems. We used 2D regional seismic profiles with a total length of 674.8 km (or over an area of 2500 km²) in the southern part of the basin. To characterize hydrocarbon systems and structures in this study area, we applied advanced seismic attributes such as spectral decomposition (10 - 60Hz) based on time-frequency analysis with continuous wavelet transform. The spectral decomposition results yield the (averaging 20 - 30Hz group) spectral amplitude anomaly. Based on this anomaly result, seismic, and structural interpretation, the potential hydrocarbon accumulations were inferred around the main thrust folds in the tertiary (Paleogene+Neogene) petroleum systems, which appeared to be accumulated around the central study area. Furthermore, it seems that hydrocarbons dominantly migrated along the main thrusts and then concentrated around anticline fold systems which could be sealed by mudstone/carbonate rocks.

Keywords: The Afghan Tajik basin, seismic lines, spectral decomposition, thrust folds, hydrocarbon reservoirs

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Ajay Kumar

Abstract:

Using data from census of India, sample registration system and national family health survey (NFHS-3), this paper traces spatial pattern, trends and the factors which have played their role differently in fertility transition in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. For the purpose spatial variation analysis, trend line and binary logistic regression analysis has been carried out. There exist considerable regional disparities in terms of fertility decline in northern and southern states. The pace of fertility decline has been faster in southern and coastal regions, and at a slow pace in backward northern state. In Tamil Nadu fertility declined substantially among the women of lower and higher age groups in comparison to Uttar Pradesh characterized by low literacy, low female age at marriage, poor health infrastructure and low status of women. The Study shows that Fertility rates have been higher among the most vulnerable and deprived sections of the society like Illiterate women, women belong to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and women residing in rural areas.

Keywords: age specific fertility rate, fertility transition, replacement level, total fertility rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 271