Search results for: infrastructure and transportation engineering

Authors: Chia-Hsun Chang

Abstract:

Background: Combination of drug treatment, dietary management, and regular exercise can effectively control type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Performing daily physical activities other than structured exercise is much easier and whether daily physical activities including work, walking, housework, gardening, leisure exercise, or transportation have a similar effect on diabetes control is not well studied.Aims and Objectives: This study aims to determine whether daily physical activity undertaken by patients with T2DM is associated with their diabetes control. Design: A correlation study with prospective design. Methods: Purposive sampling of 206 patients with T2DM was recruited from a medical center in Central Taiwan. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess daily levels of physical activities, and the Diabetes Compliance Questionnaire was used to assess medication and dietary compliance. Data of diabetes control (hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c)were followed up every three months for one year after recruitment. Results: In this study, the average age of the participants was 62.5 years (±10.4 years), and the average duration of diabetes since diagnosis was 13.2 years (±7.8), 112 of the participants were women (54.4%) and 94 of the participants were men (45.6%). The mean HbA1c level was 7.8% (±1.4), and 78.2% of the participants presented with unsatisfactory diabetes control. Because the participants were distributed across a wide age range, and their physical health, activity levels, and comorbidities might have varied with age, the participants were divided into two groups: 121 participants who were younger than 65 years (58.7%) and 85 participants who were older than 65 years (41.3%). Both younger (< 65 years) and older (> 65 years) patients with diabetes engaged in more moderate and low levels of physical activity (89.3% and 87%, respectively). Results showed that the levels of daily physical activity were not significantly associated with diabetes control after adjustment for medication and dietary compliance in both groups. Conclusion: Performing daily physical activity is not significantly correlated with diabetes control. Daily physical activity cannot completely replace exercise. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Health personnel must encourage patients to engage in exercise that is planned, structured, and repetitive for improving diabetes control.

Keywords: daily physical activity, diabetes control, international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM)

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Authors: Muhammad Jum’at Dasuki

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This study investigates the ethical implications of post-fuel subsidy removal support initiatives in Kwara State, Nigeria, with a focus on the application of Islamic principles. The contentious issue of subsidy removal carries significant social and economic consequences, emphasizing the crucial role of ethical considerations in policy implementation. The research provides a comprehensive background on fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria and its implications. Examining post-fuel subsidy removal palliative measures in Kwara State, the study focuses on design and implementation challenges, ethical considerations, transparency, equity, and public trust. Utilizing a case study approach offers insights and best practices. The methodology includes primary sources through in-depth oral interviews and secondary sources like textbooks and journals, aiming for a holistic understanding of the ethical dimensions of support initiatives within the context of Islamic principles in Kwara State. The objective is to contribute to policy decisions and community development. The study recommends an ethically sound implementation of post-fuel subsidy removal support initiatives, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. It advocates for the inclusiveness of governmental palliatives, reaching both civil servants and common individuals in the state. Continuous distribution during fuel subsidy removal challenges is deemed vital. Additionally, extending free or subsidized transportation beyond higher institutions to the general populace is suggested. Consideration should also be given to reducing governmental hospital bills or providing free health services. The study underscores the importance of Islamic ethics in Nigerian governance and employs a case study approach to assess palliative measures in Kwara State, offering practical insights for policymakers and stakeholders.

Keywords: considerations, ethical, palliative, post-fuel subsidy removal

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Kimberley Adamek

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According to the Council on Tall Buildings, there has been a rapid increase in the construction of tall or “megatall” buildings over the past two decades. Simultaneously, the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that there has been a steady increase in climate related natural disasters since the 1970s; the eastern expansion of the USA's infamous Tornado Alley being just one of many current issues. In the future, this could mean that tall buildings, which already guide high speed winds down to pedestrian levels would have to withstand stronger forces and protect pedestrians in more extreme ways. Although many projects are required to be verified within wind tunnels and a handful of cities such as San Francisco have included wind testing within building code standards, there are still many examples where wind is only considered for basic loading. This typically results in and an increase of structural expense and unwanted mitigation strategies that are proposed late within a project. When building cities, architects rarely consider how each building alters the invisible patterns of wind and how these alterations effect other areas in different ways later on. It is not until these forces move, overpower and even destroy cities that people take notice. For example, towers have caused winds to blow objects into people (Walkie-Talkie Tower, Leeds, England), cause building parts to vibrate and produce loud humming noises (Beetham Tower, Manchester), caused wind tunnels in streets as well as many other issues. Alternatively, there exist towers which have used their form to naturally draw in air and ventilate entire facilities in order to eliminate the needs for costly HVAC systems (The Met, Thailand) and used their form to increase wind speeds to generate electricity (Bahrain Tower, Dubai). Wind and weather exist and effect all parts of the world in ways such as: Science, health, war, infrastructure, catastrophes, tourism, shopping, media and materials. Working in partnership with a leading wind engineering company RWDI, a series of tests, images and animations documenting discovered interactions of different building forms with wind will be collected to emphasize the possibilities for wind use to architects. A site within San Francisco (due to its increasing tower development, consistently wind conditions and existing strict wind comfort criteria) will host a final design. Iterations of this design will be tested within the wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamic systems which will expose, utilize and manipulate wind flows to create new forms, technologies and experiences. Ultimately, this thesis aims to question the amount which the environment is allowed to permeate building enclosures, uncover new programmatic possibilities for wind in buildings, and push the boundaries of working with the wind to ensure the development and safety of future cities. This investigation will improve and expand upon the traditional understanding of wind in order to give architects, wind engineers as well as the general public the ability to broaden their scope in order to productively utilize this living phenomenon that everyone constantly feels but cannot see.

Keywords: wind engineering, climate, visualization, architectural aerodynamics

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Authors: Mabel Usunobun Olanipekun, Henry Ogbemudia Omoregbee

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Anomalies such as water pipeline and hydraulic or petrochemical pipeline network leakages and bursts have significant implications for economic conditions and the environment. In order to ensure pipeline systems are reliable, they must be efficiently controlled. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have become a powerful network with critical infrastructure monitoring systems for water, oil and gas pipelines. The loss of water, oil and gas is inevitable and is strongly linked to financial costs and environmental problems, and its avoidance often leads to saving of economic resources. Substantial repair costs and the loss of precious natural resources are part of the financial impact of leaking pipes. Pipeline systems experts have implemented various methodologies in recent decades to identify and locate leakages in water, oil and gas supply networks. These methodologies include, among others, the use of acoustic sensors, measurements, abrupt statistical analysis etc. The issue of leak quantification is to estimate, given some observations about that network, the size and location of one or more leaks in a water pipeline network. In detecting background leakage, however, there is a greater uncertainty in using these methodologies since their output is not so reliable. In this work, we are presenting a scalable concept and simulation where a pressure-driven model (PDM) was used to determine water pipeline leakage in a system network. These pressure data were collected with the use of acoustic sensors located at various node points after a predetermined distance apart. We were able to determine with the use of correlation difference to determine the leakage point locally introduced at a predetermined point between two consecutive nodes, causing a substantial pressure difference between in a pipeline network. After de-noising the signal from the sensors at the nodes, we successfully obtained the exact point where we introduced the local leakage using the correlation difference model we developed.

Keywords: leakage detection, acoustic signals, pipeline network, correlation, wireless sensor networks (WSNs)

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Authors: Miao Li, Mengyuan Xu

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As a low-carbon travel mode, bicycling has drawn increasing political interest in the contemporary Chinese urban context, and the public sharing bikes have become the most popular ways of bike usage in China now. This research aims to explore the spatial-temporal relationship between sharing bike usage and different characteristics of the urban street built environment. In the research, street segments were used as the analytic unit of the street built environment defined by street intersections. The sharing bike usage data in the research include a total of 2.64 million samples that are the entire sharing bike distribution data recorded in two days in 2018 within a neighborhood of 185.4 hectares in the city of Wuhan, China. And these data are assigned to the 97 urban street segments in this area based on their geographic location. The built environment variables used in this research are categorized into three sections: 1) street design characteristics, such as street width, street greenery, types of bicycle lanes; 2) condition of other public transportation, such as the availability of metro station; 3) Street function characteristics that are described by the categories and density of the point of interest (POI) along the segments. Spatial Lag Models (SLM) were used in order to reveal the relationships of specific urban streets built environment characteristics and the likelihood of sharing bicycling usage in whole and different periods a day. The results show: 1) there is spatial autocorrelation among sharing bicycling usage of urban streets in case area in general, non-working day, working day and each period of a day, which presents a clustering pattern in the street space; 2) a statistically strong association between bike sharing usage and several different built environment characteristics such as POI density, types of bicycle lanes and street width; 3) the pattern that bike sharing usage is influenced by built environment characteristics depends on the period within a day. These findings could be useful for policymakers and urban designers to better understand the factors affecting bike sharing system and thus propose guidance and strategy for urban street planning and design in order to promote the use of sharing bikes.

Keywords: big data, sharing bike usage, spatial statistics, urban street built environment

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Authors: Chen Liu, Dawit Negussey

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EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) geofoam as light-weight material in geotechnical applications are made of pre-expanded resin beads that form fused cellular micro-structures. The strength and deformation properties of geofoam blocks are determined by unconfined compression of small test samples between rigid loading plates. Applied loads are presumed to be supported uniformly over the entire mating end areas. Predictions of field performance on the basis of such laboratory tests widely over-estimate actual post-construction settlements and exaggerate predictions of long-term creep deformations. This investigation examined the development of contact pressures at a large number of discrete points at low and large strain levels for different densities of geofoam. Development of pressure patterns for fine and coarse interface material textures as well as for molding skin and hot wire cut geofoam surfaces were examined. The lab testing showed that I-Scan tactile sensors are useful for detailed observation of contact pressures at a large number of discrete points simultaneously. At low strain level (1%), the lower density EPS block presents low variations in localized stress distribution compared to higher density EPS. At high strain level (10%), the dense geofoam reached the sensor cut-off limit. The imprint and pressure patterns for different interface textures can be distinguished with tactile sensing. The pressure sensing system can be used in many fields with real-time pressure detection. The research findings provide a better understanding of EPS geofoam behavior for improvement of design methods and performance prediction of critical infrastructures, which will be anticipated to guide future improvements in design and rapid construction of critical transportation infrastructures with geofoam in geotechnical applications.

Keywords: geofoam, pressure distribution, tactile pressure sensors, interface

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Authors: King Kumire, Amos Kubeka

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The synergy of machine learning and astronomical technology advancement is giving rise to the new space age, which is pronounced by better habitability assessments. To initiate this discussion, it should be recorded for definition purposes that the symbiotic relationship between astronomy and improved computing has been code-named the Cis-Astro gateway concept. The cosmological fate of this phrase has been unashamedly plagiarized from the cis-lunar gateway template and its associated LaGrange points which act as an orbital bridge to the moon from our planet Earth. However, for this study, the scientific audience is invited to bridge toward the discovery of new habitable planets. It is imperative to state that cosmic probes of this magnitude can be utilized as the starting nodes of the astrobiological search for galactic life. This research can also assist by acting as the navigation system for future space telescope launches through the delimitation of target exoplanets. The findings and the associated platforms can be harnessed as building blocks for the modeling of climate change on planet earth. The notion that if the human genus exhausts the resources of the planet earth or there is a bug of some sort that makes the earth inhabitable for humans explains the need to find an alternative planet to inhabit. The scientific community, through interdisciplinary discussions of the International Astronautical Federation so far has the common position that engineers can reduce space mission costs by constructing a stable cis-lunar orbit infrastructure for refilling and carrying out other associated in-orbit servicing activities. Similarly, the Cis-Astro gateway can be envisaged as a budget optimization technique that models extra-solar bodies and can facilitate the scoping of future mission rendezvous. It should be registered as well that this broad and voluminous catalog of exoplanets shall be narrowed along the way using machine learning filters. The gist of this topic revolves around the indirect economic rationale of establishing a habitability scoping platform.

Keywords: machine-learning, habitability, exoplanets, supercomputing

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: King Kumire, Amos Kubeka

Abstract:

The synergy of machine learning and astronomical technology advancement is giving rise to the new space age, which is pronounced by better habitability assessments. To initiate this discussion, it should be recorded for definition purposes that the symbiotic relationship between astronomy and improved computing has been code-named the Cis-Astro gateway concept. The cosmological fate of this phrase has been unashamedly plagiarized from the cis-lunar gateway template and its associated LaGrange points which act as an orbital bridge to the moon from our planet Earth. However, for this study, the scientific audience is invited to bridge toward the discovery of new habitable planets. It is imperative to state that cosmic probes of this magnitude can be utilized as the starting nodes of the astrobiological search for galactic life. This research can also assist by acting as the navigation system for future space telescope launches through the delimitation of target exoplanets. The findings and the associated platforms can be harnessed as building blocks for the modeling of climate change on planet earth. The notion that if the human genus exhausts the resources of the planet earth or there is a bug of some sort that makes the earth inhabitable for humans explains the need to find an alternative planet to inhabit. The scientific community, through interdisciplinary discussions of the International Astronautical Federation so far, has the common position that engineers can reduce space mission costs by constructing a stable cis-lunar orbit infrastructure for refilling and carrying out other associated in-orbit servicing activities. Similarly, the Cis-Astro gateway can be envisaged as a budget optimization technique that models extra-solar bodies and can facilitate the scoping of future mission rendezvous. It should be registered as well that this broad and voluminous catalog of exoplanets shall be narrowed along the way using machine learning filters. The gist of this topic revolves around the indirect economic rationale of establishing a habitability scoping platform.

Keywords: exoplanets, habitability, machine-learning, supercomputing

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Authors: Stanzin Gawa, Nalini Ranjan Kumar, Gohar Bilal Wani, Vinay Maruti Hatte, A. Vinay

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Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) are the two species of trout which were once introduced by British in waters of Kashmir has well adapted to favorable climatic conditions. Cold water fisheries are one of the emerging sectors in Kashmir valley and trout holds an important place Jammu and Kashmir fisheries. Realizing the immense potential of trout culture in Kashmir region, the state fisheries department started privatizing trout culture under the centrally funded scheme of RKVY in which they provide 80 percent subsidy for raceway construction and supply of feed and seed for the first year since 2009-10 and at present there are 362 private trout farms. To cater the growing demand for trout in the valley, it is important to understand the bottlenecks faced in the propagation of trout culture. Value chain analysis provides a generic framework to understand the various activities and processes, mapping and studying linkages is first step that needs to be done in any value chain analysis. In Kashmir, it is found that trout hatcheries play a crucial role in insuring the continuous supply of trout seed in valley. Feed is most limiting factor in trout culture and the farmer has to incur high cost in payment and in the transportation of feed from the feed mill to farm. Lack of aqua clinic in the Kashmir valley needs to be addressed. Brood stock maintenance, breeding and seed production, technical assistance to private farmer, extension services have to be strengthened and there is need to development healthier environment for new entrepreneurs. It was found that trout farmers do not avail credit facility as there is no well define credit scheme for fisheries in the state. The study showed weak institutional linkages. Research and development should focus more on applied science rather than basic science.

Keywords: trout, Kashmir, value chain, linkages, culture

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Authors: Ziwen Fang, Jianran Wang, Hongtao Liu, Weiguo Kong, Kefei Wang, Qi Luo, Haifeng Hong

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A 4-stage crash energy management (CEM) system for subway rail vehicles used by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in the USA is developed in this paper. The 4 stages of this new CEM system include 1) energy absorbing coupler (draft gear and shear bolts), 2) primary energy absorbers (aluminum honeycomb structured box), 3) secondary energy absorbers (crush tube), and 4) collision post and corner post. A sliding anti-climber and a fixed anti-climber are designed at the front of the vehicle cooperating with the 4-stage CEM to maximize the energy to be absorbed and minimize the damage to passengers and crews. In order to investigate the effectiveness of this CEM system, both finite element (FE) methods and crashworthiness test have been employed. The whole vehicle consists of 3 married pairs, i.e., six cars. In the FE approach, full-scale railway car models are developed and different collision cases such as a single moving car impacting a rigid wall, two moving cars into a rigid wall, two moving cars into two stationary cars, six moving cars into six stationary cars and so on are investigated. The FE analysis results show that the railway vehicle incorporating this CEM system has a superior crashworthiness performance. In the crashworthiness test, a simplified vehicle front end including the sliding anti-climber, the fixed anti-climber, the primary energy absorbers, the secondary energy absorber, the collision post and the corner post is built and impacted to a rigid wall. The same test model is also analyzed in the FE and the results such as crushing force, stress, and strain of critical components, acceleration and velocity curves are compared and studied. FE results show very good comparison to the test results.

Keywords: railway vehicle collision, crash energy management design, finite element method, crashworthiness test

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Authors: Rowland Brucken

Abstract:

This paper argues that nation-building theories that prioritize democratic governance best explain the successful post-independence development of Botswana. Three main competing schools of thought exist regarding the sequencing of policies that should occur to re-build weakened or failed states. The first posits that economic development should receive foremost attention, while democratization and a binding sense of nationalism can wait. A second group of experts identified constructing a sense of nationalism among a populace is necessary first, so that the state receives popular legitimacy and obedience that are prerequisites for development. Botswana, though, transitioned into a multi-party democracy and prosperous open economy due to the utilization of traditional democratic structures, enlightened and accountable leadership, and an educated technocratic civil service. With these political foundations already in place when the discovery of diamonds occurred, the resulting revenues were spent wisely on projects that grew the economy, improved basic living standards, and attracted foreign investment. Thus democratization preceded, and therefore provided an accountable basis for, economic development that might otherwise have been squandered by greedy and isolated elites to the detriment of the greater population. Botswana was one of the poorest nations in the world at the time of its independence in 1966, with little infrastructure, a dependence on apartheid South Africa for trade, and a largely subsistence economy. Over the next thirty years, though, its economy grew the fastest of any nation in the world. The transparent and judicious use of diamond returns is only a partial explanation, as the government also pursued economic diversification, mass education, and rural development in response to public needs. As nation-building has become a project undertaken by nations and multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Botswana may provide best practices that others should follow in attempting to reconstruct economically and politically unstable states.

Keywords: Botswana, democratization, economic development, nation-building

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Authors: Chikwelu Edward Emenike, Ogbuagu Uchenna Fredrick

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About 34% of the solar radiant energy reaching the earth is immediately reflected back to space as incoming radiation by clouds, chemicals, dust in the atmosphere and by the earth’s surface. Most of the remaining 66% warms the atmosphere and land. Most of the incoming solar radiation not reflect away is degraded into low-quality heat and flows into space. The rate at which this energy returns to space as low-quality heat is affected by the presence of molecules of greenhouse gases. Gaseous emission was measured with the aid of Growen gas Analyzer with a digital readout. Total measurements of eight parameters of twelve selected sample locations taken at two different seasons within two months were made. The ambient air quality investigation in Anambra State has shown the overall mean concentrations of gaseous emission at twelve (12) locations. The mean gaseous emissions showed (NO2=0.66ppm, SO2=0.30ppm, CO=43.93ppm, H2S=2.17ppm, CH4=1.27ppm, CFC=1.59ppb, CO2=316.33ppm, N2O=302.67ppb and O3=0.37ppm). These values do not conform to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and thus contribute significantly to the global warming. Because some of these gaseous emissions (SO2, NO2) are oxidizing agents, they act as irritants that damage delicate tissues in the eyes and respiratory passages. These can impair lung function and trigger cardiovascular problems as the heart tries to compensate for lack of Oxygen by pumping faster and harder. The major sources of air pollution are transportation, industrial processes, stationary fuel combustion and solid waste disposal, thus much is yet to be done in a developing country like Nigeria. Air pollution control using pollution-control equipment to reduce the major conventional pollutants, relocating people who live very close to dumpsites, processing and treatment of gases to produce electricity, heat, fuel and various chemical components should be encouraged.

Keywords: ambient air, atmosphere, greenhouse gases, anambra state

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Authors: Kebron Asnake

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Water security and transboundary issues are critical concerns for countries, particularly in regions where shared water resources are significant. This Research focuses on exploring the challenges and opportunities related to water security and transboundary issues in Ethiopia, using the case of the Nile River. Ethiopia, as a riparian country of the Nile River, faces complex water security issues due to its dependence on this transboundary water resource. This abstract aims to analyze the various factors that affect water security in Ethiopia, including population growth, climate change, and competing water demands. The Study examines the challenges linked to transboundary water management of the Nile River. It delves into the complexities of negotiating water allocations and addressing potential conflicts among the downstream riparian countries. The paper also discusses the role of international agreements and cooperation in promoting sustainable water resource management. Additionally, the paper highlights the opportunities for collaboration and sustainable development that arise from transboundary water management. It explores the potential for joint investments in water infrastructure, hydropower generation, and irrigation systems that can contribute to regional economic growth and water security. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the need for integrated water management approaches in Ethiopia to ensure the equitable and sustainable use of the Nile River's waters. It highlights the importance of involving stakeholders from diverse sectors, including agriculture, energy, and environmental conservation, in decision-making processes. By presenting the case of the Nile River in Ethiopia, this Abstract contributes to the understanding of water security and transboundary issues. It underscores the significance of regional cooperation and informed policy-making to address the challenges and opportunities presented by transboundary water resources. The paper serves as a foundation for further research and policy in water management in Ethiopia and other regions facing similar challenges.

Keywords: water, health, agriculture, medicine

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Authors: Asif Zaman, Moinul Islam Zaber, Amin Ahsan Ali

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In recent years of industrialization, the South Asian countries are being affected by air pollution due to a severe increase in fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM₂.₅). Among them, Bangladesh is one of the most polluting countries. In this paper, statistical analyses were conducted on the time series of PM₂.₅ from various districts in Bangladesh, mostly around Dhaka city. Research has been conducted on the dynamic interactions and relationships between PM₂.₅ concentrations in different zones. The study is conducted toward understanding the characteristics of PM₂.₅, such as spatial-temporal characterization, correlation of other contributors behind air pollution such as human activities, driving factors and environmental casualties. Clustering on the data gave an insight on the districts groups based on their AQI frequency as representative districts. Seasonality analysis on hourly and monthly frequency found higher concentration of fine particles in nighttime and winter season, respectively. Cross correlation analysis discovered a phenomenon of correlations among cities based on time-lagged series of air particle readings and visualization framework is developed for observing interaction in PM₂.₅ concentrations between cities. Significant time-lagged correlations were discovered between the PM₂.₅ time series in different city groups throughout the country by cross correlation analysis. Additionally, seasonal heatmaps depict that the pooled series correlations are less significant in warmer months, and among cities of greater geographic distance as well as time lag magnitude and direction of the best shifted correlated particulate matter time series among districts change seasonally. The geographic map visualization demonstrates spatial behaviour of air pollution among districts around Dhaka city and the significant effect of wind direction as the vital actor on correlated shifted time series. The visualization framework has multipurpose usage from gathering insight of general and seasonal air quality of Bangladesh to determining the pathway of regional transportation of air pollution.

Keywords: air quality, particles, cross correlation, seasonality

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Authors: Nuo Xu, Sijing Chen

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Background: Childbirth is considered a critical traumatic event throughout our lives, positively or negatively impacting the mother's physiology, psychology, and even the whole family. Adverse birth experiences, such as labor pain, anxiety, and fear can negatively impact the mother. Studies had shown that the immersive nature of VR can distract attention from pain and increase focus on interventions for pain relief. However, the existing studies that applied VR to maternal delivery were still in their infancy and showed disparate results, and the small sample size is not representative, so this review analyzed the effects of VR in labor, such as on maternal pain and anxiety, with a view to providing a basis for future applications. Search strategy: We searched Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan-Fang database from the building to November 17, 2021. Selection Criteria: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that intervened the pregnant women aged 18-35 years with gestational >34 weeks and without complications with VR technology were contained within this review. Data Collection and Analysis: Two researchers completed the study selection, data extraction, and assessment of study quality. For quantitative data we used MD or SMD, and RR (risk ratio) for qualitative data. Random-effects model and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used. Main Results: 12 studies were included. Using VR could relieve pain during labor (MD=-1.81, 95% CI (-2.04, -1.57), P< 0.00001) and active period (SMD=-0.41, 95% CI (-0.68, -0.14), P= 0.003), reduce anxiety (SMD=-1.39, 95% CI (-1.99, -0.78), P< 0.00001) and improve satisfaction (RR = 1.32; 95% CI (1.10, 1.59); P = 0.003), but the effect on the duration of first (SMD=-1.12, 95% CI (-2.38, 0.13), P=0.08) and second (SMD=-0.22, 95% CI (-0.67, 0.24), P=0.35) stage of labor was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Compared with conventional care, VR technology can relieve labor pain and anxiety and improve satisfaction. However, extensive experimental validation is still needed.

Keywords: virtual reality, delivery, labor pain, anxiety, meta-analysis, systematic review

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Authors: Anetta Caplanova, Eva Sirakovova, Estera Szakadatova

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Non-payment of taxes and fees represents a problem, which occurs at national and local government levels in many countries. An effective tax collection is key for generating government and local government budget revenues to finance public services and infrastructure; thus, there is the need to address this problem. The standard approach considers as a solution raising taxes/fees to boost public revenues, which may be politically challenging and time-consuming to implement. An alternative approach is related to using behavioral interventions. These can be usually implemented relatively quickly, and in most cases, they are associated with low cost. In the paper, we present the results of the behavioral experiment focused on raising the level of compliance with the payment of garbage collection fees in a selected municipality in the Slovak Republic. The experiment was implemented using the leaflets sent to residential households together with the invoice for the garbage collection in the municipality Hlohovec, Western Slovakia, in Spring 2021. The sample of about 10000 households was divided into three random groups, a control group and two intervention groups. Households in intervention group 1 were sent a leaflet using the social norm nudge, while households in intervention group 2 were sent a leaflet using the deterrence nudge. The social norm framing leaflet pointed out that in the municipality, the prevailing majority of people paid the garbage collection fee and encouraged recipients to join this majority. The deterrent leaflet reminded the recipients that if they did not pay the fee on time, enforcement proceedings would follow. This was aimed to increase the subjective perception of citizens of the enforcement proceedings in case of noncompliance. In the paper, we present and discuss the results from the experiment and formulate relevant generalizations for other municipalities.

Keywords: municipal governments, garbage fee collection, behavioural intervention, social norm, deterrence nudge

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Authors: T. J. B. van Niekerk, J. Viviers, E. J. Cilliers

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Substantial efforts were made in South Africa, stemming from a historic political change in 1994, to remedy the inequality and injustice, resulting from a dispensation where spatial patterns were largely based on racial segregation. Spatially distorted patterns predominantly originated from colonialism in the beginning of the twentieth century, ensuing a physical imprint on South African cities relating to architecture, urban layout and planning, frequently reflecting European norms and standards. As a consequence of physical and land use barriers, and well-established dual cities, attempts to address spatial injustices, apart from limited occurrences in metropolitan areas, gravely failed. Interception of incessant segregated growth, combined with urban sprawl is becoming increasingly evident. Intervention is a prerequisite to duly address the impact of colonial planning and its legacy still prevalent in most urban areas. During 1998, the National Department of Transport prepared the “Moving South Africa” strategy; presenting the Corridor Densification Option Model for the first time, as it was deemed more fitting to the existing South African urban tenure patterns than more familiar planning approaches. Urban planners are progressively contemplating the Corridor Densification Option Model and its attributes, besides its transportation emphasis, as an alternative approach to address spatial imbalances and to attain the physical integration of contemporary urban forms. In attaining a clearer understanding of the Corridor Densification Option Model, its rationale was analysed in greater detail. This research further investigated the provisional applications of the model in spatially segregated cities and illustrated that viable options are present to effectively employ it. Research revealed that the application of the model will, however, be dependent on the occurrence of specific characteristics in spatially segregated cities to warrant augmentation thereof.

Keywords: corridor densification option model, spatially segregated settlements, integration, urban restructuring

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Authors: Fong-Zuo Lee, Jihn-Sung Lai, Yung-Bin Lin, Xiaoqin Liu, Kuo-Chun Chang, Zhi-Xian Yang, Wen-Dar Guo, Jian-Hao Hong

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In recent years, climate change is a major factor to increase rainfall intensity and extreme rainfall frequency. The increased rainfall intensity and extreme rainfall frequency will increase the probability of flash flood with abundant sediment transport in a river basin. The floods caused by heavy rainfall may cause damages to the bridge, embankment, hydraulic works, and the other disasters. Therefore, the foundation scouring of bridge pier, embankment and spur dike caused by floods has been a severe problem in the worldwide. This severe problem has happened in many East Asian countries such as Taiwan and Japan because of these areas are suffered in typhoons, earthquakes, and flood events every year. Results from the complex interaction between fluid flow patterns caused by hydraulic works and the sediment transportation leading to the formation of river morphology, it is extremely difficult to develop a reliable and durable sensor to measure river bed degradation and bridge pier scouring. Therefore, an innovative scour monitoring sensor using vibration-based Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) was developed. This vibration-based MEMS sensor was packaged inside a stainless sphere with the proper protection of the full-filled resin, which can measure free vibration signals to detect scouring/deposition processes at the bridge pier. In addition, a friendly operational system includes rainfall runoff model, one-dimensional and two-dimensional numerical model, and the applicability of sediment transport equation and local scour formulas of bridge pier are included in this research. The friendly operational system carries out the simulation results of flood events that includes the elevation changes of river bed erosion near the specified bridge pier and the erosion depth around bridge piers. In addition, the system is developed with easy operation and integrated interface, the system can supplies users to calibrate and verify numerical model and display simulation results through the interface comparing to the scour monitoring sensors. To achieve the forecast of the erosion depth of river bed and main bridge pier in the study area, the system also connects the rainfall forecast data from Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute. The results can be provided available information for the management unit of river and bridge engineering in advance.

Keywords: flash flood, river bed degradation, bridge pier scouring, a friendly operational system

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Authors: Briony Gray, Glenn Simpson, Hajira Dambha-Miller, Andrew Farmer

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Multimorbidity may be strongly affected by a variety of conditions, factors, and variables requiring higher demands on health and social care services, infrastructure, and expenses. Holding one or more conditions increases one’s risk for development of future conditions; with patients over 65 years old at highest risk. Psychosocial factors such as anxiety and depression are rising exponentially globally, which has been amplified by the COVID19 pandemic. These are highly correlated and predict poorer outcomes when held in coexistence and increase the likelihood of comorbid physical health conditions. While possible future reform of social and healthcare systems may help to alleviate some of these mounting pressures, there remains an urgent need to better understand the potential role health behaviours and psychosocial conditions - such as anxiety and depression – may have on aging populations. Using the UK healthcare scene as a lens for analysis, this study uses big data collected in the UK Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) to examine the role of anxiety and depression in ageing populations (65yrs+). Using logistic regression modelling, results identify the 10 most significant variables correlated with both anxiety and depression from data categorised into the areas of health behaviour, psychosocial, socioeconomic, and life satisfaction (each demonstrated through literature review to be of significance). These are compared with wider global research findings with the aim of better understanding the areas in which social and healthcare reform can support multimorbidity interventions, making suggestions for improved patient-centred care. Scope of future research is outlined, which includes analysis of 59 total multimorbidity variables from the ELSA dataset, going beyond anxiety and depression.

Keywords: multimorbidity, health behaviours, patient centred care, psychosocial factors

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Authors: M. Gomaa Abdoelatef, Robert M. Field, Lee, Yong-Kwan

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Growing human populations have placed increased demands on water supplies and a heightened interest in desalination infrastructure. Key elements of the economics of desalination projects are thermal and electrical inputs. With growing concerns over the use of fossil fuels to (indirectly) supply these inputs, coupling of desalination with nuclear power production represents a significant opportunity. Individually, nuclear and desalination technologies have a long history and are relatively mature. For desalination, Reverse Osmosis (RO) has the lowest energy inputs. However, the economically driven output quality of the water produced using RO, which uses only electrical inputs, is lower than the output water quality from thermal desalination plants. Therefore, modern desalination projects consider that RO should be coupled with thermal desalination technologies (MSF, MED, or MED-TVC) with attendant steam inputs to permit blending to produce various qualities of water. A large nuclear facility is well positioned to dispatch large quantities of both electrical and thermal power. This paper considers the supply of thermal energy to a large desalination facility to examine heat balance impact on the nuclear steam cycle. The APR1400 nuclear plant is selected as prototypical from both a capacity and turbine cycle heat balance perspective to examine steam supply and the impact on electrical output. Extraction points and quantities of steam are considered parametrically along with various types of thermal desalination technologies to form the basis for further evaluations of economically optimal approaches to the interface of nuclear power production with desalination projects. In our study, the thermodynamic evaluation will be executed by DE-TOP which is the IAEA desalination program, it is approved to be capable of analyzing power generation systems coupled to desalination systems through various steam extraction positions, taking into consideration the isolation loop between the APR-1400 and the thermal desalination plant for safety concern.

Keywords: APR-1400, desalination, DE-TOP, IAEA, MSF, MED, MED-TVC, RO

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Authors: Ira Irawati, Muhammad Rangga Sururi

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The expansion of built-up areas in many cities, particularly, as the consequences of urbanization process, is a common phenomenon in our contemporary world. As happened in many cities in developing world, this horizontal expansion let only a handful size of the area left for green open spaces, creating an extreme unbalance between built-up and green spaces. Combined with the high density and variety of human activities with its transportation modes; a process of urban heat island will occur, resulting in an increase in air temperature. This is one of the indicators of decreasing of the quality of urban microclimate. This paper will explore the effect of several variables of built-up areas and open spaces to the increase of air temperature using multiple linear regression analysis. We selected 11 zones within the radius of 1 km in Inner Bandung city center, and each zones measured within 300 m radius to represent the variety of land use, as well as the composition of buildings and green open spaces. By using a quantitative method which is multiple linear regression analysis, six dependent variables which are a) tree density-x1, b) shade level of tree-x2, c) surface area of buildings’ side which are facing west and east-x3, d) surface area of building side material-x4, e) surface area of pathway material, and f) numbers of motorized vehicles-x6; are calculated to find those influence to the air temperature as an independent variable-y. Finally, the relationship between those variables shows in this equation: y = 30.316 - 3.689 X1 – 6.563 X2 + 0.002 X3 – 2,517E6 X4 + 1.919E-9 X5 + 1.952E-4 X6. It shows that the existence of vegetation has a great impact on lowering temperature. In another way around, built up the area and motorized vehicles would increase the temperature. However, one component of built up area, the surface area of buildings’ sides which are facing west and east, has different result due to the building material is classified in low-middle heat capacity.

Keywords: built-up area, microclimate, vehicles, urban heat island, vegetation

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Authors: Saúl Rivero, Estefanya Marín, Katherine Bolaño, Elena Urán, Juan Yepes, Andrés Cossio

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Medellín is the Colombian city with the best public transport systems in the country, which is made up of two metro lines, five metrocables, two BRT-type bus lines, and a tram. But despite the above, the Aburrá Valley, the area in which the city is located, has about 3000 km of roads, which for the existing population of 3.2 million inhabitants, gives an indicator of 900 meters of road per 1000 inhabitants, which is lower than the country's average, which is approximately 3900 meters. In addition, given that in Medellín, there is approximately one vehicle for every three inhabitants, the problems of congestion and environmental pollution have worsened over the years. In this sense, due to the limitations of physical space, the low public investment in road infrastructure, it is necessary to opt for mobility alternatives according to the above. Among the options for the city, there is what is known as micromobility. Micromobility is understood to be those small and light means of transport that are used for short distances, that use electrical energy, such as skateboards and bicycles. Taking into account the above, in this work, the current state and future of micromobility in the city of Medellín were analyzed, carrying out a prospective analysis, supported by a PEST analysis, but also of the crossed impact matrices; of influence and dependence; and the technique of the actor's game. The analysis was carried out for two future scenarios: one normal and one optimistic. Result of the analysis, it was determined that micromobility as an alternative social practice to mobility in the city of Medellín has favorable conditions since the local government has adopted strategies such as the Metropolitan Bicycle Master Plan of Valle de Aburrá and the plan " Bicycle paths in the city: more public spaces for life,” where a projection of 400 kilometers of bicycle paths was estimated by the year 2030, as for that same year it is expected that 10% of all trips in the region will be in bike mode. The total trip indicator is an achievable goal, while that of the number of kilometers of bike paths would be close to being met.

Keywords: electric vehicles, micromobilty, public transport, sustainable transport

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Authors: María Dolores Caro, Eugenio M. Fedriani, Ángel F. Tenorio

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The transportation of dangerous goods by lorries throughout Europe must be done by using the roads conforming the European Road Transport Network. In this network, there are several parking areas where lorry drivers can park to rest according to the regulations. According to the "European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road", parking areas where lorries transporting dangerous goods can park to rest, must follow several security stipulations to keep safe the rest of road users. At this respect, these lorries must be parked in adapted areas with strict and permanent surveillance measures. Moreover, drivers must satisfy several restrictions about resting and driving time. Under these facts, one may expect that there exist enough parking areas for the transport of this type of goods in order to obey the regulations prescribed by the European Union and its member countries. However, the already-existing parking areas are not sufficient to cover all the stops required by drivers transporting dangerous goods. Our main goal is, starting from the already-existing parking areas and the loading-and-unloading location, to provide an optimal answer to the following question: how many additional parking areas must be built and where must they be located to assure that lorry drivers can transport dangerous goods following all the stipulations about security and safety for their stops? The sense of the word “optimal” is due to the fact that we give a global solution for the location of parking areas throughout the whole European Road Transport Network, adjusting the number of additional areas to be as lower as possible. To do so, we have modeled the problem using graph theory since we are working with a road network. As nodes, we have considered the locations of each already-existing parking area, each loading-and-unloading area each road bifurcation. Each road connecting two nodes is considered as an edge in the graph whose weight corresponds to the distance between both nodes in the edge. By applying a new efficient algorithm, we have found the additional nodes for the network representing the new parking areas adapted for dangerous goods, under the fact that the distance between two parking areas must be less than or equal to 400 km.

Keywords: trans-european transport network, dangerous goods, parking areas, graph-based modeling

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Authors: Marriette Sakah, Samuel Gyamfi, Morkporkpor Delight Sedzro, Christoph Kuhn

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Ghana is experiencing rapid economic development and its cities command an increasingly dominant role as centers of both production and consumption. Cities run on energy and are extremely vulnerable to energy scarcity, energy price escalations and health impacts of very poor air quality. The overriding concern in Ghana and other West African states is bridging the gap between energy demand and supply. Energy efficiency presents a cost-effective solution for supply challenges by enabling more coverage with current power supply levels and reducing the need for investment in additional generation capacity and grid infrastructure. In Ghana, major issues for energy policy formulation in residential applications include lack of disaggregated electrical energy consumption data and lack of thorough understanding with regards to socio-economic influences on energy efficiency investment. This study uses a bottom up approach to estimate baseline electricity end-use as well as the energy consumption of best available technologies to enable estimation of energy-efficiency resource in terms of relative reduction in total energy use for Tema city, Ghana. A ground survey was conducted to assess the probable consumer behavior in response to energy efficiency initiatives to enable estimation of the amount of savings that would occur in response to specific policy interventions with regards to funding and incentives provision targeted at households. Results show that 16% - 54% reduction in annual electricity consumption is reasonably achievable depending on the level of incentives provision. The saved energy could supply 10000 - 34000 additional households if the added households use only best available technology. Political support and consumer awareness are necessary to translate energy efficiency resources into real energy savings.

Keywords: achievable energy savings, energy efficiency, Ghana, household appliances

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Authors: Ghulam Rasool Madni

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Global economies are prioritizing the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for well-being of their people. An emphasis lies on the concept of metagovernance when contemplating the role of government in SDGs, especially in the context of its influence and guidance. Existing literature acknowledges the pivotal role of metagovernance in achieving the SDGs, but aspects of metagovernance unclear that are important for 17 SDGs. Using data from 41 countries, a comparative analysis is conducted for the year 2022. Utilizing a multiple regression analysis, the impact of different dimensions of metagovernance to achieve SDGs is explored, with a particular focus on sustainable policies, strategic capacity, policy coherence, democratic institutions, reflexivity, and adaptation. It is found that sustainable policies have a positive and significant relationship with different SDGs, including no poverty, zero hunger, health, sanitation and clean water, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities while democratic institutions also have a positive relationship with no poverty, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, clean and affordable energy, and peace, justice, and strong institutions in these countries. Policymakers are suggested to ensure that sustainable policies are backed by legislation to provide them with a strong legal foundation. It is suggested to develop a long-term vision for sustainability that goes beyond short-term political cycles. Economies are encouraged to invest in building the capacity of government agencies, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to effectively implement sustainable policies. Moreover, democratic institutions may be established through a constitution providing a solid foundation for democratic governance, including protection of human rights, separation of powers, and mechanisms for accountability and transparency.

Keywords: metagovernance, sustainable development goals, sustainable policies, democratic institutions

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Authors: Warjito, Kevin Geraldo, Budiarso, Muhammad Mizan, Rafi Adhi Pranata, Farhan Rizqi Syahnakri

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According to data from 2021, the number of households in Indonesia that have access to on-grid electricity is claimed to have reached 99.28%, which means that around 0.7% of Indonesia's population (1.95 million people) still have no proper access to electricity and 38.1% of it comes from remote areas in Nusa Tenggara Timur. Remote areas are classified as areas with a small population of 30 to 60 families, have limited infrastructure, have scarce access to electricity and clean water, have a relatively weak economy, are behind in access to technological innovation, and earn a living mostly as farmers or fishermen. These people still need electricity but can’t afford the high cost of electricity from national on-grid sources. To overcome this, it is proposed that a hydroelectric power plant driven by a pico-hydro turbine with an undershot water wheel will be a suitable pico-hydro turbine technology because of the design, materials and installation of the turbine that is believed to be easier (i.e., operational and maintenance) and cheaper (i.e., investment and operating costs) than any other type. The comparative study of the angle of the undershot water wheel blades will be discussed comprehensively. This study will look into the best variation of curved blades on an undershot water wheel that produces maximum hydraulic efficiency. In this study, the blade angles were varied by 180 ̊, 160 ̊, and 140 ̊. Two methods of analysis will be used, which are analytical and numerical methods. The analytical method will be based on calculations of the amount of torque and rotational speed of the turbine, which is used to obtain the input and output power of the turbine. Whereas the numerical method will use the ANSYS application to simulate the flow during the collision with the designed turbine blades. It can be concluded, based on the analytical and numerical methods, that the best angle for the blade is 140 ̊, with an efficiency of 43.52% for the analytical method and 37.15% for the numerical method.

Keywords: pico hydro, undershot waterwheel, blade angle, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Thierry Sammour Sawaya, Heikki Deschacht

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In commercial aircraft operations, almost half of the accidents happen during approach or landing phases. Automatic guidance and automatic landings have proven to bring significant safety value added for this challenging landing phase. This is why Airbus and ScioTeq have decided to work together to explore the capability of image-based landing solutions as additional landing aids to further expand the possibility to perform automatic approach and landing to runways where the current guiding systems are either not fitted or not optimum. Current systems for automated landing often depend on radio signals provided by airport ground infrastructure on the airport or satellite coverage. In addition, these radio signals may not always be available with the integrity and performance required for safe automatic landing. Being independent from these radio signals would widen the operations possibilities and increase the number of automated landings. Airbus and ScioTeq are joining their expertise in the field of Computer Vision in the European Program called Clean Sky 2 Large Passenger Aircraft, in which they are leading the IMBALS (IMage BAsed Landing Solutions) project. The ultimate goal of this project is to demonstrate, develop, validate and verify a certifiable automatic landing system guiding an airplane during the approach and landing phases based on an onboard camera system capturing images, enabling automatic landing independent from radio signals and without precision instrument for landing. In the frame of this project, ScioTeq is responsible for the development of the Image Processing Platform (IPP), while Airbus is responsible for defining the functional and system requirements as well as the testing and integration of the developed equipment in a Large Passenger Aircraft representative environment. The aim of this paper will be to describe the system as well as the associated methods and tools developed for validation and verification.

Keywords: aircraft landing system, aircraft safety, autoland, avionic system, computer vision, image processing

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Authors: Sergey V. Vinogradov

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Coastal communities are presently facing increased vulnerabilities due to rising sea levels and shifts in global climate patterns, a trend expected to escalate in the long run. To address the needs of government entities, the public sector, and private enterprises, there is an urgent need to thoroughly investigate, assess, and manage the present and projected risks associated with coastal flooding, including storm surges, sea level rise, and nuisance flooding. In response to these challenges, a practical approach to evaluating storm surge inundation risks has been developed. This methodology offers an integrated assessment of potential flood risk in targeted coastal areas. The physical modeling framework involves simulating synthetic storms and utilizing hydrodynamic models that align with projected future climate and ocean conditions. Both publicly available and site-specific data form the basis for a risk assessment methodology designed to translate inundation model outputs into statistically significant projections of expected financial and operational consequences. This integrated approach produces measurable indicators of impacts stemming from floods, encompassing economic and other dimensions. By establishing connections between the frequency of modeled flood events and their consequences across a spectrum of potential future climate conditions, our methodology generates probabilistic risk assessments. These assessments not only account for future uncertainty but also yield comparable metrics, such as expected annual losses for each inundation event. These metrics furnish stakeholders with a dependable dataset to guide strategic planning and inform investments in mitigation. Importantly, the model's adaptability ensures its relevance across diverse coastal environments, even in instances where site-specific data for analysis may be limited.

Keywords: climate, coastal, surge, risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Frazer G. Thompson

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Israel is a nation of cultural and historical diversity, yet the success factors for a modern Bedouin-Arab high-tech entrepreneur seem to be different from those of other Jewish-Israeli citizens. The purpose of this descriptive narrative case study is to explore how an Arab-Israeli all Negev-Bedouin technology company has succeeded in the Israeli high-tech industry by utilizing technology and engineering career opportunities available to Bedouin youth for ‘Sadel Tech,’ at Be’er-Sheva, the Negev, Israel. Methods: The strategy of inquiry seeks to explore real-life contextual understandings, multi-level perspectives, and the cultural influences of personal, community, educational, and entrepreneurial factors. The research methodology includes in-depth one-on-one interviews, focus group sessions, and overt observation to explore the meaning and understanding of the constructs toward determining the effect all or a few of the elements may have on the overall success factors of the company. Results: Study results indicate that the state-run educational system in Israel fails to adequately integrate important aspects of Bedouin culture into the learning environment. However, Bedouin entrepreneurs are finding ways to compensate for these inadequacies by utilizing non-traditional methods of teaching, learning, and doing business. Government incentives for Bedouin start-ups are also recognized as contributors. Employees of Sadel live and work in the Negev, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, further informing the study that the traditions of tribal etiquette continue to contribute to modern Bedouin-Arab business culture. Conclusion: Bedouin's business success in Israel is a multi-dimensional concept. While cultural acumen plays a prominent and unique role for both Arab-Israelis and Jewish-Israelis in economic and entrepreneurial pursuits, the marginalization of the Bedouin continues to contribute to the lack of educational and professional opportunities for Bedouin in Israel. Although recognized as important at the government level, programs necessary to implement the infrastructure required to support Bedouin entrepreneurship in Israel remain infantile. The Israeli Government is providing opportunities through grants and other incentives for Bedouin entrepreneurial start-ups, indicating that Israel has recognized the impact of this growing demographic. However, although many Bedouin graduates from University each year with advanced degrees, opportunities for Bedouin within the Israeli high-tech sector remain scarce.

Keywords: Bedouin education, Bedouin entrepreneur, economic anthropology, ethnic business opportunities, Israeli tech, Silicon Wadi

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Authors: Marija Vitanova, Aleksandra Bogdanovic, Kemal Edip, Viktor Hristovski, Vlado Micov

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Bridges represent critical structures in lifeline systems. They provide reliable modes of transportation, so their failure can seriously obstruct relief and rehabilitation work. Earthquake ground motions can cause significant damages in bridges, so during the strong earthquakes, they can easily collapse. The base isolation technique has been quite effective in seismic response mitigation of the bridges in reducing the piers base shear. The effect of soil structure interaction on the dynamic responses of seismically isolated three span girder bridge with viscous dampers is investigated. Viscous dampers are installed in the mid span of the bridge to control bearing displacement. The soil surrounding the foundation of piers has been analyzed by applying different soil densities in order to consider the soil stiffness. The soil medium has been assumed as a four layered infill as dense and loose medium. The boundaries in the soil medium are considered as infinite elements in order to absorb the radiating waves. The formulation of infinite elements is the same as for the finite elements in addition to the mapping of the domain. Based on the iso-parametric concept, the infinite element in global coordinate is mapped onto an element in local coordinate system. In the formulation of the infinite element, only the positive direction extends to infinity thus allowing the waves to propagate outside of the soil medium. Dynamic analyses for two levels of earthquake intensity are performed in time domain using direct integration method. In order to specify the effects of the SSI, the responses of the isolated and controlled isolated bridges are compared. It is observed that the soil surrounding the piers has significant effects on the bearing displacement of the isolated RC bridges. In addition, it is observed that the seismic responses of isolated RC bridge reduced significantly with the installation of the viscous dampers.

Keywords: viscous dampers, reinforced concrete girder bridges, seismic response, SSI

Procedia PDF Downloads 125