Search results for: structural system

Authors: Lucia Carrion Gordon, Maria Gabriela Lopez Yanez

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This project focuses on heritage concepts and their importance in every evolving and changing Digital Era where system solutions have to be sustainable, efficient and suitable to the basic needs. The prototype has to cover the principal requirements for the case studies. How to preserve the sociological ideas of dances in Ecuador like ‘La Bomba’ is the best example and challenge to preserve the intangible data. The same idea is applicable with books and music. The History and how to keep it, is the principal mission of Heritage Preservation. The dance of La Bomba is rooted on a specific movement system whose main part is the sideward hip movement. La Bomba´s movement system is the surface manifestation of a whole system of knowledge whose principal characteristics are the historical relation of Chote˜nos with their land and their families.

Keywords: digital preservation, heritage, IT management, data, metadata, ontology, serendipity

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Authors: Qiankun Zhong

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In a global cultural context, film festival awards become authorities to define the aesthetic value of films. To study which genres and producing countries are valued by different film festivals and how those evaluations interact with each other, this research explored the interactions between the film festivals through their selection of movies and the factors that lead to the tendency of film festivals to nominate the same movies. To do this, the author employed a two-mode network on the movies that won the highest awards at five international film festivals with the highest attendance in the past ten years (the Venice Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival) and the film festivals that nominated those movies. The title, genre, producing country and language of 50 movies, and the range (regional, national or international) and organizing country or area of 129 film festivals were collected. These created networks connected by nominating the same films and awarding the same movies. The author then assessed the density and centrality of these networks to answer the question: What are the film festivals that tend to have more shared values with other festivals? Based on the Eigenvector centrality of the two-mode network, Palm Springs, Robert Festival, Toronto, Chicago, and San Sebastian are the festivals that tend to nominate commonly appreciated movies. In contrast, Black Movie Film Festival has the unique value of generally not sharing nominations with other film festivals. A homophily test was applied to access the clustering effects of film and film festivals. The result showed that movie genres (E-I index=0.55) and geographic location (E-I index=0.35) are possible indicators of film festival clustering. A blockmodel was also created to examine the structural roles of the film festivals and their meaning in real-world context. By analyzing the same blocks with film festival attributes, it was identified that film festivals either organized in the same area, with the same history, or with the same attitude on independent films would occupy the same structural roles in the network. Through the interpretation of the blocks, language was identified as an indicator that contributes to the role position of a film festival. Comparing the result of blockmodeling in the different periods, it is seen that international film festivals contrast with the Hollywood industry’s dominant value. The structural role dynamics provide evidence for a multi-value film festival network.

Keywords: film festivals, film studies, media industry studies, network analysis

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Authors: Ran Etgar, Yuval Cohen, Erel Avineri

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One of the major challenges of transportation in medium sized inner-cities (such as Tel-Aviv) is the last-mile solution. Personal rapid transit (PRT) seems like an applicable candidate for this, as it combines the benefits of personal (car) travel with the operational benefits of transit. However, the investment required for large area PRT grid is significant and there is a need to economically justify such investment by correctly evaluating the grid capacity. PRT main elements are small automated vehicles (sometimes referred to as podcars) operating on a network of specially built guideways. The research is looking at a specific concept of elevated PRT system. Literature review has revealed the drawbacks PRT modelling and simulation approaches, mainly due to the lack of consideration of technical and operational features of the system (such as headways, acceleration, safety issues); the detailed design of infrastructure (guideways, stations, and docks); the stochastic and sessional characteristics of demand; and safety regulations – all of them have a strong effect on the system performance. A highly detailed model of the system, developed in this research, is applying a discrete event simulation combined with an agent-based approach, to represent the system elements and the podecars movement logic. Applying a case study approach, the simulation model is used to study the capacity of the system, the expected throughput of the system, the utilization, and the level of service (journey time, waiting time, etc.).

Keywords: capacity, productivity measurement, PRT, simulation, transportation

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Authors: Sara T. K. Li, Belinda H. J. Chung, Jeffery C. N. Yip, Janet H. Hsiao

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Music notation and text reading both involve statistical learning of music or linguistic structures. However, it remains unclear how music reading expertise influences text reading behavior. The present study examined this issue through an eye-tracking study. Chinese-English bilingual musicians and non-musicians read English sentences, Chinese sentences, musical phrases, and sentences in Tibetan, a language novel to the participants, with their eye movement recorded. Each set of stimuli consisted of two conditions in terms of structural regularity: syntactically correct and syntactically incorrect musical phrases/sentences. They then completed a sentence comprehension (for syntactically correct sentences) or a musical segment/word recognition task afterwards to test their comprehension/recognition abilities. The results showed that in reading musical phrases, as compared with non-musicians, musicians had a higher accuracy in the recognition task, and had shorter reading time, fewer fixations, and shorter fixation duration when reading syntactically correct (i.e., in diatonic key) than incorrect (i.e., in non-diatonic key/atonal) musical phrases. This result reflects their expertise in music reading. Interestingly, in reading Tibetan sentences, which was novel to both participant groups, while non-musicians did not show any behavior differences between reading syntactically correct or incorrect Tibetan sentences, musicians showed a shorter reading time and had marginally fewer fixations when reading syntactically correct sentences than syntactically incorrect ones. However, none of the musicians reported discovering any structural regularities in the Tibetan stimuli after the experiment when being asked explicitly, suggesting that they may have implicitly acquired the structural regularities in Tibetan sentences. This group difference was not observed when they read English or Chinese sentences. This result suggests that music reading expertise facilities reading texts in a novel language (i.e., Tibetan), but not in languages that the readers are already familiar with (i.e., English and Chinese). This phenomenon may be due to the similarities between reading music notations and reading texts in a novel language, as in both cases the stimuli follow particular statistical structures but do not involve semantic or lexical processing. Thus, musicians may transfer their statistical learning skills stemmed from music notation reading experience to implicitly discover structures of sentences in a novel language. This speculation is consistent with a recent finding showing that music reading expertise modulates the processing of English nonwords (i.e., words that do not follow morphological or orthographic rules) but not pseudo- or real words. These results suggest that the modulation of music reading expertise on language processing depends on the similarities in the cognitive processes involved. It also has important implications for the benefits of music education on language and cognitive development.

Keywords: eye movement behavior, eye-tracking, music reading expertise, sentence reading, structural regularity, visual processing

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Authors: Rajat Mittal, Jung Hee Seo, Jacob Turner, Harshal Raut

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The perpetual advancement in computational capabilities, coupled with the continuous evolution of software tools and numerical algorithms, is creating novel avenues for research, exploration, and application at the nexus of computational fluid and structural mechanics. Fish leverage their remarkably flexible bodies and fins to harness energy from vortices, propelling themselves with an elegance and efficiency that captivates engineers. Bats fly with unparalleled agility and speed by using their flexible membrane wings. Wave-assisted propulsion (WAP) systems, utilizing elastically mounted hydrofoils, convert wave energy into thrust. Each of these problems involves a complex and elegant interplay between fluid dynamics and structural mechanics. Historically, investigations into such phenomena were constrained by available tools, but modern computational advancements now facilitate exploration of these multi-physics challenges with an unprecedented level of fidelity, precision, and realism. In this work, the author will discuss projects that harness the capabilities of high-fidelity sharp-interface immersed boundary methods to address a spectrum of engineering and biological challenges involving fluid-structure interaction.

Keywords: immersed boundary methods, CFD, bioflight, fluid structure interaction

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Authors: Junwon Seo, Bipin Adhikari, Euiseok Jeong

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This paper is intended to evaluate the structural performance of welded electronic road signs under various damage scenarios (DSs) using a finite element (FE) model calibrated with full-scale ultimate load testing results. The tested electronic road sign specimen was built with a back skin made of 5052 aluminum and two channels and a frame made of 6061 aluminum, where the back skin was connected to the frame by welding. The size of the tested specimen was 1.52 m long, 1.43 m wide, and 0.28 m deep. An actuator applied vertical loads at the center of the back skin of the specimen, resulting in a displacement of 158.7 mm and an ultimate load of 153.46 kN. Using these testing data, generation and calibration of a FE model of the tested specimen were executed in ABAQUS, indicating that the difference in the ultimate load between the calibrated model simulation and full-scale testing was only 3.32%. Then, six different DSs were simulated where the areas of the welded connection in the calibrated model were diminished for the DSs. It was found that the corners at the back skin-frame joint were prone to connection failure for all the DSs, and failure of the back skin-frame connection occurred remarkably from the distant edges.

Keywords: computational analysis, damage scenarios, electronic road signs, finite element, welded connections

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Authors: Charles Koduru, Parth Patel, M. Hassan Tanveer

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In this paper, the communication between a team of robots is used to sanitize an environment with germs is proposed. We introduce capabilities from a team of robots (most likely heterogeneous), a wheeled robot named ROSbot 2.0 that consists of a mounted LiDAR and Kinect sensor, and a modified prototype design of a unicycle-drive Roomba robot called the UV robot. The UV robot consists of ultrasonic sensors to avoid obstacles and is equipped with an ultraviolet light system to disinfect and kill germs, such as bacteria and viruses. In addition, the UV robot is equipped with disinfectant spray to target hidden objects that ultraviolet light is unable to reach. Using the sensors from the ROSbot 2.0, the robot will create a 3-D model of the environment which will be used to factor how the ultraviolet robot will disinfect the environment. Together this proposed system is known as the RME assistive robot device or RME system, which communicates between a navigation robot and a germ disinfecting robot operated by a user. The RME system includes a human-machine interface that allows the user to control certain features of each robot in the RME assistive robot device. This method allows the cleaning process to be done at a more rapid and efficient pace as the UV robot disinfects areas just by moving around in the environment while using the ultraviolet light system to kills germs. The RME system can be used in many applications including, public offices, stores, airports, hospitals, and schools. The RME system will be beneficial even after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kennesaw State University will continue the research in the field of robotics, engineering, and technology and play its role to serve humanity.

Keywords: multi robot system, assistive robots, COVID-19 pandemic, ultraviolent technology

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Authors: Qian Liu, Steve Furber

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To explore how the brain may recognize objects in its general,accurate and energy-efficient manner, this paper proposes the use of a neuromorphic hardware system formed from a Dynamic Video Sensor~(DVS) silicon retina in concert with the SpiNNaker real-time Spiking Neural Network~(SNN) simulator. As a first step in the exploration on this platform a recognition system for dynamic hand postures is developed, enabling the study of the methods used in the visual pathways of the brain. Inspired by the behaviours of the primary visual cortex, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are modeled using both linear perceptrons and spiking Leaky Integrate-and-Fire (LIF) neurons. In this study's largest configuration using these approaches, a network of 74,210 neurons and 15,216,512 synapses is created and operated in real-time using 290 SpiNNaker processor cores in parallel and with 93.0% accuracy. A smaller network using only 1/10th of the resources is also created, again operating in real-time, and it is able to recognize the postures with an accuracy of around 86.4% -only 6.6% lower than the much larger system. The recognition rate of the smaller network developed on this neuromorphic system is sufficient for a successful hand posture recognition system, and demonstrates a much-improved cost to performance trade-off in its approach.

Keywords: spiking neural network (SNN), convolutional neural network (CNN), posture recognition, neuromorphic system

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Authors: S. Gvazava, N. Khidasheli, G. Gordeziani, A. DL. Batako

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The work presented in this paper studied the tribological characteristics (wear resistance, friction coefficient) of austempered ductile iron (ADI) with different combinations of structural composition (upper bainite, lower bainite, retained austenite) in dry sliding friction. A range of structural states of the metal matrix was obtained by changing the regimes of isothermal quenching of high-strength cast iron. The tribological tests were carried out using two sets of isothermal quenched cast irons. After austenitization at 900°С for 60 minutes, the specimens from the first group were isothermally quenched at the 300°С temperature and the specimens from the second set – at 400°С. The investigations showed that the isothermal quenching increases the friction coefficient of high-strength cast irons. The friction coefficient was found to be in the range from 0.4 to 0.55 for cast irons, depending on the structures of the metal matrix. The quenched cast irons having lower bainite demonstrate higher wear resistance in dry friction conditions. The dependence of wear resistance on the amount of retained austenite in isothermal quenched cast irons has a nonlinear characteristic and reaches its maximum value when the content of retained austenite is about 15-22%. The boron micro-additives allowed to reduce the friction coefficient of ADI and increase their wear resistance by 1.5-1.7 times.

Keywords: wear resistance, dry sliding, austempering, ADI, friction coefficient, retained austenite, isothermal quenching

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Authors: Asad Naeem, Mohamed Nour Eldin, Jinkoo Kim

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In this study, the seismic performance and life cycle cost (LCC) are evaluated of the structure retrofitted with the damped cable system (DCS). The DCS is a seismic retrofit system composed of a high-strength steel cable and pressurized viscous dampers. The analysis model of the system is first derived using various link elements in SAP2000, and fragility curves of the structure retrofitted with the DCS and viscous dampers are obtained using incremental dynamic analyses. The analysis results show that the residual displacements of the structure equipped with the DCS are smaller than those of the structure with retrofitted with only conventional viscous dampers, due to the enhanced stiffness/strength and self-centering capability of the damped cable system. The fragility analysis shows that the structure retrofitted with the DCS has the least probability of reaching the specific limit states compared to the bare structure and the structure with viscous damper. It is also observed that the initial cost of the DCS method required for the seismic retrofit is smaller than that of the structure with viscous dampers and that the LCC of the structure equipped with the DCS is smaller than that of the structure with viscous dampers.

Keywords: damped cable system, fragility curve, life cycle cost, seismic retrofit, self-centering

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Authors: Abdel-Aziz M. Mohamed

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This research proposes a methodology to estimate the customer order lead time in the supply chain based on the process capability index. The cases when the process output is normally distributed and when it is not are considered. The relationships between the system capability indices in both service and manufacturing applications, delivery system reliability and the percentages of orders delivered after their promised due dates are presented. The proposed method can be used to examine the current process capability to deliver the orders before the promised lead-time. If the system was found to be incapable, the method can be used to help revise the current lead-time to a proper value according to the service reliability level selected by the management. Numerical examples and a case study describing the lead time estimation methodology and testing the system capability of delivering the orders before their promised due date are illustrated.

Keywords: lead-time estimation, process capability index, delivery system reliability, statistical analysis, service achievement index, service quality

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Authors: Rym Sassi, Franck Fayon, Mohend Chaouche, Emmanuel Veron, Valerie Montouillout

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The chemical phenomena occurring during cement hydration are complex and interdependent, and even after almost two centuries of studies, they are still difficult to solve for complex mixtures combining different hydraulic binders. Powder-XRD has been widely used for characterizing the crystalline phases in both anhydrous and hydrated cement, but only limited information is obtained in the case of strongly disordered and amorphous phases. In contrast, local spectroscopies like solid-state NMR can provide a quantitative description of noncrystalline phases. In this work, the structural modifications occurring during hydration of a fast-setting ternary binder based on white Portland cement, white calcium aluminate cement, and calcium sulfate were investigated using advanced solid-state NMR methods. We particularly focused on the early stage of the hydration up to 28 days, working with samples whose hydration was controlled and stopped. ²⁷Al MQ-MAS as well as {¹H}-²⁷Al and {¹H}-²⁹Si Cross- Polarization MAS NMR techniques were combined to distinguish all of the aluminum and silicon species formed during the hydration. The NMR quantification of the different phases was conducted in parallel with the XRD analyses. The consumption of initial products, as well as the precipitation of hydraulic phases (ettringite, monosulfate, strätlingite, CSH, and CASH), were unambiguously quantified. Finally, the drawing of the consumption and formation of phases was correlated with mechanical strength measurements.

Keywords: cement, hydration, hydrates structure, mechanical strength, NMR

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Authors: M. Vieira, V. Infante, P. Serrão, A. Ribeiro

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The Portuguese guitar is a pear-shaped plucked chordophone particularly known for its role in Fado, the most distinctive traditional Portuguese musical style. The acknowledgment of the dynamic behavior of the Portuguese guitar, specifically of its modal and mode shape response, has been the focus of different authors. In this research, the experimental results of the dynamic behavior of the guitar, which were previously obtained, are correlated with a vibro-acoustic finite element model of the guitar. The modelling of the guitar offered several challenges which are presented in this work. The results of the correlation between experimental and numerical data are presented and indicate good correspondence for the studied mode shapes. The influence of the air inside the chamber, for the finite element analysis, is shown to be crucial to understand the low-frequency modes of the Portuguese guitar, while, for higher frequency modes, the geometry of the guitar assumes greater relevance. Comparison is made with the classical guitar, providing relevant information about the intrinsic differences between the two, such as between its tones and other acoustical properties. These results represent a sustained base for future work, which will allow the study of the influence of different location and geometry of diverse components of the Portuguese guitar, being as well an asset to the comprehension of its musical properties and qualities and may, furthermore, represent an advantage for its players and luthiers.

Keywords: dynamic behavior of guitars, instrument acoustics, modal analysis, Portuguese guitar

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Authors: Anandhi Santhosh

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In order to describe various real-world problems in physical and engineering sciences subject to abrupt changes at certain instants during the evolution process, impulsive differential equations has been used to describe the system model. In this article, the problem of approximate controllability for nonlinear impulsive integrodifferential equations with state-dependent delay is investigated. We study the approximate controllability for nonlinear impulsive integrodifferential system under the assumption that the corresponding linear control system is approximately controllable. Using methods of functional analysis and semigroup theory, sufficient conditions are formulated and proved. Finally, an example is provided to illustrate the proposed theory.

Keywords: approximate controllability, impulsive differential system, fixed point theorem, state-dependent delay

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Authors: Willie Eselebor

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Environmental governance is not new, but may consist of a series of actions taken to establish sanity and ensure sustainable environment. While there is a growing accord linking disaster risk reduction with the management of environment and natural resources, little is known about failure to act which constitute vulnerability and how improved governance reduces risk globally. The paper reviews emerging trends in the field of application of governance tools and approaches for reducing disaster risk. The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) enjoin all stakeholders to stimulate the sustainable use and management of ecosystems, which promote the implementation of integrated environmental and natural resource planning that incorporate disaster risk reduction, including structural and non-structural measures, such as integrated management of fragile ecosystems. The methodology adopted is a case study of disaster-prone sites, prompting guided analysis on which hazards are traceable to environmental degradation, why a degraded environment reduces community resilience; how healthy ecosystems provide natural defense, and which opportunities exist to address gaps in reduction of disasters in Nigeria. The paper further analyses the interaction between disaster risk and environmental change. It is established that environmental governance remains a challenge; which implies that there is the need for a shift in traditional approaches to disaster risk management; exploring new initiatives and allowing environmental managers to be docketed as disaster risk managers in context, potentially opening up a window of dialogue on disaster risk management.

Keywords: disaster, ecosystem, environment, risk

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Authors: Lele Zhang, Hui Leng Choo, Alexander Konyukhov, Shuguang Li

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China is currently the world's largest producer and distributor of electric bicycle (e-bike). The increasing number of e-bikes on the road is accompanied by rising injuries and even deaths of e-bike drivers. Therefore, there is a growing need to improve the safety structure of e-bikes. This 3D frictionless contact analysis is a preliminary, but necessary work for further structural design improvement of an e-bike. The contact analysis between e-bike and the ground was carried out as follows: firstly, the Penalty method was illustrated and derived from the simplest spring-mass system. This is one of the most common methods to satisfy the frictionless contact case; secondly, ANSYS static analysis was carried out to verify finite element (FE) models with contact pair (without friction) between e-bike and the ground; finally, ANSYS transient analysis was used to obtain the data of the penetration p(u) of e-bike with respect to the ground. Results obtained from the simulation are as estimated by comparing with that from theoretical method. In the future, protective shell will be designed following the stability criteria and added to the frame of e-bike. Simulation of side falling of the improved safety structure of e-bike will be confirmed with experimental data.

Keywords: frictionless contact, penalty method, e-bike, finite element

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Authors: Khamis Al-Gharbi, Said M. Gattoufi, Ali H. Al-Badi, Ali Al-Hashmi

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The case study presents the progression of a project management of Al-Shifa, a healthcare information system in Oman. The case study describes the evolution of the implementation of a healthcare information system tailored to meet the needs of the healthcare units under the supervision of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Oman. A focus group methodology was used for collecting the relevant information from the main project's stakeholders. In addition reports about the project made available for the researchers. The case analysis is made based on the Project Management approach developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The main finding that there was no formal project management approach adopted by the MOH for the development and implementation of the herewith mentioned healthcare information system project. Furthermore, the project had suffered a scope creep in terms of features, cost and time-schedule. The recommendations of the authors, for the rescue of the project from its current dilemma, consist of technological, administrative and human resources development actions.

Keywords: project management, information system, healthcare, Al-Shifa, Oman

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Authors: Na Li, Yunwei Zhang, Yuhong Niu

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The study discussed the patent protections of health system and enterprises in Shanghai. The comparisons of technical distribution and scopes of patent protections between Shanghai health system and enterprises were used by the methods of IPC classification, co-words analysis and visual social network. Results reflected a decreasing order within IPC A61 area, namely A61B, A61K, A61M, and A61F. A61B required to be further investigated. The highest authorized patents A61B17 of A61B of IPC A61 area was found. Within A61B17, fracture fixation, ligament reconstruction, cardiac surgery, and biopsy detection were regarded as common concerned fields by Shanghai health system and enterprises. However, compared with cardiac closure which Shanghai enterprises paid attention to, Shanghai health system was more inclined to blockages and hemostatic tools. The results also revealed that the scopes of patent protections of Shanghai enterprises were relatively centralized. Shanghai enterprises had a series of comprehensive strategies for protecting core patents. In contrast, Shanghai health system was considered to be lack of strategic patent protections for core patents.

Keywords: co-words analysis, IPC classification, patent protection, technical distribution

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Authors: Ehsan Soleymaninejadian

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As the field of immunology is growing day by day, and its chaotic system amazes more people, greed of research in this area is growing; however dealing with human or mammalian cells such as mice make the research expensive. Although there are some differences between higher animals with insects, importance of innate immunity during evolution made it untouched. So, for understanding the innate immunity insects can be good models. They are cheap; reproduction is fast and in the case genetics, less complicated. In this review, we tried to briefly tackle with important factors in insects’ innate immunity such as melanization, encapsulation, JAK-STAT, IMD, and Toll pathways. At the end, we explained how hormones and nerve system also can impact on immune system and make it more beautiful. In concluding remarks, the possibility of taking help from insect immune system to fight against diseases such as cancer has been considered.

Keywords: insects, innate immunity, melanization, intracellular pathways, hormones

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Authors: Ebrahim H. Kapeel, Ehab Safwat, Hossam Hendy, Ahmed M. Kamel, Yehia Z. Elhalwagy

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Motivated by the problem of the availability of high-fidelity flight simulation models for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This paper focuses on the geometric-mass inertia modeling and the actuation system modeling for the small fixed-wing UAVs. The UAV geometric parameters for the body, wing, horizontal and vertical tail are physically measured. Pendulum experiment with high-grade sensors and data analysis using MATLAB is used to estimate the airplane moment of inertia (MOI) model. Finally, UAV’s actuation system is modeled by estimating each servo transfer function by using the system identification, which uses experimental measurement for input and output angles through using field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Experimental results for the designed models are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology. It also gives a very promising result to finalize the open-loop flight simulation model through modeling the propulsion system and the aerodynamic system.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle, geometric-mass inertia model, system identification, Simulink

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Authors: Caje F. Pinto, Jivan S. Parab, Gourish M. Naik

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This paper is about the development of non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation in human blood using Altera NIOS II soft-core processor system. In today's world, monitoring oxygen saturation and heart rate is very important in hospitals to keep track of low oxygen levels in blood. We have designed an Embedded System On Peripheral Chip (SOPC) reconfigurable system by interfacing two LED’s of different wavelengths (660 nm/940 nm) with a single photo-detector to measure the absorptions of hemoglobin species at different wavelengths. The implementation of the interface with Finger Probe and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) was carried out using NIOS II soft-core system running on Altera NANO DE0 board having target as Cyclone IVE. This designed system is used to monitor oxygen saturation in blood and heart rate for different test subjects. The designed NIOS II processor based non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation was verified with another Operon Pulse oximeter for 50 measurements on 10 different subjects. It was found that the readings taken were very close to the Operon Pulse oximeter.

Keywords: heart rate, NIOS II, oxygen saturation, photoplethysmography, soft-core, SOPC

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Authors: Eakarat Boonreang, Anothai Harasarn

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The objectives of this study are to investigate the flood disaster management capacity of communities in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand, and to recommend the sustainable flood management approaches of communities in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand. The selected population consisted of the community leaders and committees, the executives of local administrative organizations, and the head of Ubon Ratchathani provincial office of disaster prevention and mitigation. The data was collected by in-depth interview, focus group, and observation. The data was analyzed and classified in order to determine the communities’ capacity in flood disaster management. The results revealed that communities’ capacity were as follows, before flood disaster, the community leaders held a meeting with the community committees in order to plan disaster response and determined evacuation routes, and the villagers moved their belongings to higher places and prepared vehicles for evacuation. During flood disaster, the communities arranged motorboats for transportation and villagers evacuated to a temporary evacuation center. Moreover, the communities asked for survival bags, motorboats, emergency toilets, and drinking water from the local administrative organizations and the 22nd Military Circle. After flood disaster, the villagers cleaned and fixed their houses and also collaborated in cleaning the temple, school, and other places in the community. The recommendation approaches for sustainable flood disaster management consisted of structural measures, such as the establishment of reservoirs and building higher houses, and non-structural measures such as raising awareness and fostering self-reliance, establishing disaster management plans, rehearsal of disaster response procedures every year, and transferring disaster knowledge among younger generations. Moreover, local administrative organizations should formulate strategic plans that focus on disaster management capacity building at the community level, particularly regarding non-structural measures. Ubon Ratchathani provincial offices of disaster prevention and mitigation should continually monitor and evaluate the outcomes of community based disaster risk management program, including allocating more flood disaster management-related resources among local administrative organizations and communities.

Keywords: capacity building, community based disaster risk management, flood disaster management, Thailand

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Authors: Amir Kavousifard, Lan Lin

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The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of the detailing in the seismic design of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns on the blast load resistance. A generic two-span continuous RC bridge located in Victoria, British Columbia, which represents the highest seismicity in Canada, was examined in the study. The bridge superstructure consists of a single cell box girder while the substructure consists of two circular columns. The bridge was designed according to the 2006 Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code. More specifically, response spectrum analysis was performed to determine the seismic demands using CSI Bridge. The 3D blast load analysis is carried out in the platform of LS-DYNA. Two charge heights, i.e., one at the mid-height of the column and the other at the bottom of the column, are considered. For each height, three cases are analyzed in order to investigate the effects of standoff and charge weight on the structural response. The blast load resistance of the column is assessed in terms of the concrete failure mechanism, steel stress distribution, and column lateral displacement. The results from the study indicate that a column designed in accordance with the code requirements could survive during the blast attack. Spiral columns perform much better than tied columns. The results also show that the charge weight has more impact on the structural response than the standoff. These results are beneficial for the development of the Canadian standards for the design of bridges under blast loads.

Keywords: blast, bridge, charge, height, seismic, standoff

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Authors: Anas M. Fares

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Reinforced concrete shear walls are the most frequently used forms of lateral resisting structural elements. These walls may take many forms due to their functions and locations in the building. In Palestine, the most lateral resisting forces construction forms is the cantilever shear walls system. It is thus of prime importance to study the rigidity of these walls. The virtual work theorem is used to derive the total lateral deflection of cantilever shear walls due to flexural and shear deformation. The case of neglecting the shear deformation in the walls is also studied, and it is found that the wall height to length aspect ratio (H/B) plays a major role in calculating the lateral deflection and the rigidity of such walls. When the H/B is more than or equal to 3.7, the shear deformation may be neglected from the calculation of the lateral deflection. Moreover, the walls with the same material properties, same lateral load value, and same aspect ratio, shall have the same of both the lateral deflection and the rigidity. Finally, an equation to calculate the total rigidity and total deflection of such walls is derived by using the virtual work theorem for a cantilever beam.

Keywords: cantilever shear walls, flexural deformation, lateral deflection, lateral loads, reinforced concrete shear walls, rigidity, shear deformation, virtual work theorem

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Authors: Rifqi Irvansyah, Abdullah Abdullah, Yunita Idris, Bunga Raihanda

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Banda Aceh is particularly susceptible to heightened vulnerability during natural disasters due to its concentrated exposure to multi-hazard risks. Despite urgent priorities during the aftermath of natural disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, several public facilities, including school buildings, sustained damage yet continued operations without adequate repairs, even though they were submerged by the tsunami. This research aims to evaluate the consequences of column damage induced by tsunami inundation on the structural integrity of buildings. The investigation employs interaction diagrams for columns to assess their capacity, taking into account factors such as rebar deterioration and corrosion. The analysis result shows that one-fourth of the K1 columns on the first floor fall outside of the column interaction diagram, indicating that the column structure cannot handle the load above it, as evidenced by the presence of Pu and Mu, which are greater than the column's design strength. This suggests that the five columns of K1 should be cause for concern, as the column's capacity is decreasing. These results indicate that the structure of the building cannot sustain the applied load because the column cross-section has deteriorated. In contrast, all K2 columns meet the design strength, indicating that the column structure can withstand the structural loads.

Keywords: tsunami inundation, column damage, column interaction diagram, mitigation effort

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Authors: A. A. Hassani, M. Nasri Nasrabadi

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According to population growth and increasing water needs of industrial and agricultural sections and lack of existing water sources, also increases of wastewater and new wastewater treatment plant construction’s high costs, it is inevitable to reuse wastewater with the approach of increasing wastewater treatment capacity and output sewage quality. In this regard, the first sewage reuse plan in industrial uses was designed with the approach of qualitative and quantitative improvement due to the increased organic load of the output sewage of Qom Shokohieh city’s’ in wastewater treatment plant. This research investigated qualitative factors COD, BOD, TSS, TDS, and input and output heavy metal of MBR-RO system and ability of increase wastewater acceptance capacity by existing in wastewater treatment plant. For this purpose, experimental results of seven-month navigation system have been used from 07/01/2013 to 02/01/2014. Existing data analysis showed that MBR system is able to remove 93.2% COD, 94.4% BOD, 13.8% TDS, 98% heavy metals and RO system is able to remove 98.9% TDS. This study showed that MBR-RO integration system is able to increase the capacity of refinery by 30%.

Keywords: industrial wastewater, wastewater reuse, MBR, RO

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: S. R. A. Rahim, I. Musirin, M. M. Othman, M. H. Hussain

Abstract:

Loss minimization is a long progressing issue mainly in distribution system. Nevertheless, its effect led to temperature rise due to significant voltage drop through the distribution line. Thus, compensation scheme should be proper scheduled in the attempt to alleviate the voltage drop phenomenon. Distributed generation has been profoundly known for voltage profile improvement provided that over-compensation or under-compensation phenomena are avoided. This paper addresses the issue of voltage improvement through different type DG installation. In ensuring optimal sizing and location of the DGs, predeveloped EMEFA technique was made to be used for this purpose. Incremental loading condition subjected to the system is the concern such that it is beneficial to the power system operator.

Keywords: distributed generation, EMEFA, power loss, voltage profile

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: K. C. Apil, Keshab Sharma, Bigul Pokharel

Abstract:

Kathmandu Valley, capital city of Nepal houses numerous historical monuments as well as religious structures which are as old as from the 4th century A.D. The city alone is home to seven UNESCO’s world heritage sites including various public squares and religious sanctums which are often regarded as living heritages by various historians and archeological explorers. Recently on April 25, 2015, the capital city including other nearby locations was struck with Gorkha earthquake of moment magnitude (Mw) 7.8, followed by the strongest aftershock of moment magnitude (Mw) 7.3 on May 12. This study reports structural failures and collapse of heritage structures in Kathmandu Valley during the earthquake and presents preliminary findings as to the causes of failures and collapses. Field reconnaissance was carried immediately after the main shock and the aftershock, in major heritage sites: UNESCO world heritage sites, a number of temples and historic buildings in Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, and Bhaktapur Durbar Square. Despite such catastrophe, a significant number of heritage structures stood high, performing very well during the earthquake. Preliminary reports from archeological department suggest that 721 of such structures were severely affected, whereas numbers within the valley only were 444 including 76 structures which were completely collapsed. This study presents recorded accelerograms and geology of Kathmandu Valley. Structural typology and architecture of the heritage structures in Kathmandu Valley are briefly described. Case histories of damaged heritage structures, the patterns, and the failure mechanisms are also discussed in this paper. It was observed that performance of heritage structures was influenced by the multiple factors such as structural and architecture typology, configuration, and structural deficiency, local ground site effects and ground motion characteristics, age and maintenance level, material quality etc. Most of such heritage structures are of masonry type using bricks and earth-mortar as a bonding agent. The walls' resistance is mainly compressive, thus capable of withstanding vertical static gravitational load but not horizontal dynamic seismic load. There was no definitive pattern of damage to heritage structures as most of them behaved as a composite structure. Some structures were extensively damaged in some locations, while structures with similar configuration at nearby location had little or no damage. Out of major heritage structures, Dome, Pagoda (2, 3 or 5 tiered temples) and Shikhara structures were studied with similar variables. Studying varying degrees of damages in such structures, it was found that Shikhara structures were most vulnerable one where Dome structures were found to be the most stable one, followed by Pagoda structures. The seismic performance of the masonry-timber and stone masonry structures were slightly better than that of the masonry structures. Regular maintenance and periodic seismic retrofitting seems to have played pivotal role in strengthening seismic performance of the structure. The study also recommends some key functions to strengthen the seismic performance of such structures through study based on structural analysis, building material behavior and retrofitting details. The result also recognises the importance of documentation of traditional knowledge and its revised transformation in modern technology.

Keywords: Gorkha earthquake, field observation, heritage structure, seismic performance, masonry building

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Waqas A. Toor, Anis U. Baig, Nuaman Shafqat, Raafia Irfan, Muhammad Ashraf

Abstract:

A 2.45GHz microwave plasma system and its few applications have been developed. Argon and helium plasma is produced by metallic nozzle and also in a quartz tube at atmospheric pressure, using WR-340 waveguide and its tapered version. The waveguide applicator is also simulated in HFSS and field patterns are analyzed for maximum power absorption in the load. The system is tuned to operate at less than 10% reflected power. Various experimental techniques are used to initiate and sustain the plasma at atmospheric pressure. Plasma of atmospheric air is also produced without using any other shielding gas. The plasma flame is also characterized by its spectrum. Spectral analyses of plasma flame can be used for online analysis of combustion gases produced in industry. The applications of the system include glass and quartz processing, vitrification, emission spectroscopy, plasma coating. Low pressure plasma applications of the system include intense UV light for water purification and ozone generation.

Keywords: HFSS high frequency structure simulator, Microwave plasma, UV ultraviolet, WR rectangular waveguide

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Hyeon-seoung Kim, Sang-mi Park, Sun-ju Han, Leen-seok Kang

Abstract:

The visualization technology of construction information using 3D and nD modeling can satisfy the visualization needs of each construction project participant. The nD CAD system is a tool that the construction information, such as construction schedule, cost and resource utilization, are simulated by 4D, 5D and 6D object formats based on 3D object. This study developed a methodology and simulation engine for nD CAD system for construction project management. It has improved functions such as built-in schedule generation, cost simulation of changed budget and built-in resource allocation comparing with the current systems. To develop an integrated nD CAD system, this study attempts an integrated method to link 5D and 6D objects based on 4D object.

Keywords: building information modeling, visual simulation, 3D object, nD CAD augmented reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 312