Search results for: structural change.

Authors: M. O’Driscoll, M. Anwar, M. G. Rasul

Abstract:

The benefits of eco-roofs is quite well known, however there remains very little research conducted for the implementation of eco-roofs in subtropical climates such as Australia. There are many challenges facing Australia as it moves into the future, climate change is proving to be one of the leading challenges. In order to move forward with the mitigation of climate change, the impacts of rapid urbanization need to be offset. Eco-roofs are one way to achieve this; this study presents the energy savings and environmental benefits of the implementation of eco-roofs in subtropical climates. An experimental set-up was installed at Rockhampton campus of Central Queensland University, where two shipping containers were converted into small offices, one with an eco-roof and one without. These were used for temperature, humidity and energy consumption data collection. In addition, a computational model was developed using Design Builder software (state-of-the-art building energy simulation software) for simulating energy consumption of shipping containers and environmental parameters, this was done to allow comparison between simulated and real world data. This study found that eco-roofs are very effective in subtropical climates and provide energy saving of about 13% which agrees well with simulated results. 

Keywords: Climate Change, Eco/Green roof, Energy savings, Subtropical climate.

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Authors: Frank C. Pan, Chih-Hao Chen

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to discuss the effect of the intervention of exercise behavior change plan for high school students on study subjects- social and psychological factors and exercise stages. This research uses the transtheoretical model as the research framework. One experiment group and one control group were used in a quasi-experimental design research. The experimental group accepted health-related physical fitness course and the traditional course; the control group accepted traditional physical education course. There is a significant difference before and after the intervention in the experimental group. Karl-s test shows the experimental group gained a better improvement than that in the control group. The Analysis of Covariance had shown the exercise stages (F=7.62, p<0.05), and the perceived exercise benefit (F=16.91, p<0.05) of the experimental group were obviously larger than those of the control group. There was no major effect on the perceived exercise barrier (F=0.61, p>0.05) after the intervention of exercise behavior change plan. However, the rate of high school students the practical implementation of the exercise is not high, obviously influenced by the exercise barrier. The academic and examination pressure may be the major causes of the exercise barrier in the high school.

Keywords: Transtheoretical model (TTM), High school students, exercise behavior

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Authors: Miguel A. Orellana, Sonia E. Ruiz, Juan Bojórquez

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Optimal load factors (dead, live and seismic) used for the design of buildings may be different, depending of the seismic ground motion characteristics to which they are subjected, which are closely related to the type of soil conditions where the structures are located. The influence of the type of soil on those load factors, is analyzed in the present study. A methodology that is useful for establishing optimal load factors that minimize the cost over the life cycle of the structure is employed; and as a restriction, it is established that the probability of structural failure must be less than or equal to a prescribed value. The life-cycle cost model used here includes different types of costs. The optimization methodology is applied to two groups of reinforced concrete buildings. One set (consisting on 4-, 7-, and 10-story buildings) is located on firm ground (with a dominant period Ts=0.5 s) and the other (consisting on 6-, 12-, and 16-story buildings) on soft soil (Ts=1.5 s) of Mexico City. Each group of buildings is designed using different combinations of load factors. The statistics of the maximums inter-story drifts (associated with the structural capacity) are found by means of incremental dynamic analyses. The buildings located on firm zone are analyzed under the action of 10 strong seismic records, and those on soft zone, under 13 strong ground motions. All the motions correspond to seismic subduction events with magnitudes M=6.9. Then, the structural damage and the expected total costs, corresponding to each group of buildings, are estimated. It is concluded that the optimal load factors combination is different for the design of buildings located on firm ground than that for buildings located on soft soil.

Keywords: Life-cycle cost, optimal load factors, reinforced concrete buildings, total costs, type of soil.

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Authors: C. Malça, P. Gonçalves, N. Alves, A. Mateus

Abstract:

Regardless of the manufacturing process used, subtractive or additive, material, purpose and application, produced components are conventionally solid mass with more or less complex shape depending on the production technology selected. Aspects such as reducing the weight of components, associated with the low volume of material required and the almost non-existent material waste, speed and flexibility of production and, primarily, a high mechanical strength combined with high structural performance, are competitive advantages in any industrial sector, from automotive, molds, aviation, aerospace, construction, pharmaceuticals, medicine and more recently in human tissue engineering. Such features, properties and functionalities are attained in metal components produced using the additive technique of Rapid Prototyping from metal powders commonly known as Selective Laser Melting (SLM), with optimized internal topologies and varying densities. In order to produce components with high strength and high structural and functional performance, regardless of the type of application, three different internal topologies were developed and analyzed using numerical computational tools. The developed topologies were numerically submitted to mechanical compression and four point bending testing. Finite Element Analysis results demonstrate how different internal topologies can contribute to improve mechanical properties, even with a high degree of porosity relatively to fully dense components. Results are very promising not only from the point of view of mechanical resistance, but especially through the achievement of considerable variation in density without loss of structural and functional high performance.

Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, Internal topologies, Porosity, Rapid Prototyping, Selective Laser Melting.

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Authors: José Carlos Rodríguez, Mario Gómez

Abstract:

This paper analyzes innovation trends in Latin America countries by means of the number of patent applications filed by residents and non residents during the period 1965 to 2012. Making use of patent data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), we search for the presence of multiple structural changes in patent application series in Argentina, Brazil Chile, and Mexico. These changes may suggest that firms’ innovative activity has been modified as a result of implementing a particular science, technology and innovation (STI) policy. Accordingly, the new regulations implemented in these countries during 1980s and 1990s have influenced their intellectual property regimes. The question conducting this research is thus how STI policies in these countries have affected their innovation activity? The results achieved in this research confirm the existence of multiple structural changes in the series of patent applications resulting from STI policies implemented in these countries.

Keywords: Econometric methods, innovation activity, Latin America countries, patents, science, technology and innovation (STI) policy.

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Authors: Banaja Mohanty, Prakash Kumar Hota

Abstract:

This paper represents performance of particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm based integral (I) controller and proportional-integral controller (PI) for interconnected hydro-thermal automatic generation control (AGC) with generation rate constraint (GRC) and Thyristor controlled phase shifter (TCPS) in series with tie line. The control strategy of TCPS provides active control of system frequency. Conventional objective function integral square error (ISE) and another objective function considering square of derivative of change in frequencies of both areas and change in tie line power are considered. The aim of designing the objective function is to suppress oscillation in frequency deviations and change in tie line power oscillation. The controller parameters are searched by PSO algorithm by minimising the objective functions. The dynamic performance of the controllers I and PI, for both the objective functions, are compared with conventionally optimized I controller.

Keywords: Automatic generation control (AGC), Generation rate constraint (GRC), Thyristor control phase shifter (TCPS), Particle swarm optimization (PSO).

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Authors: Hosein Falahaty, Hitoshi Gotoh, Abbas Khayyer

Abstract:

Performance of a Hamiltonian based particle method in simulation of nonlinear structural dynamics is subjected to investigation in terms of stability and accuracy. The governing equation of motion is derived based on Hamilton's principle of least action, while the deformation gradient is obtained according to Weighted Least Square method. The hyper-elasticity models of Saint Venant-Kirchhoff and a compressible version similar to Mooney- Rivlin are engaged for the calculation of second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor, respectively. Stability along with accuracy of numerical model is verified by reproducing critical stress fields in static and dynamic responses. As the results, although performance of Hamiltonian based model is evaluated as being acceptable in dealing with intense extensional stress fields, however kinds of instabilities reveal in the case of violent collision which can be most likely attributed to zero energy singular modes.

Keywords: Hamilton's principle of least action, particle based method, hyper-elasticity, analysis of stability.

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Authors: Jinrui Ren, Li Wu

Abstract:

Anthropogenic activities and changes of underlying surface affect the temporal and spatial distribution of surface temperature in Kunming. Taking Kunming city as the research area, the surface temperature in 2000, 2010 and 2020 as the research object, using ENVI 5.3 and ArcGIS 10.8 as auxiliary tools, and based on the spatial autocorrelation method, this paper devoted to exploring the interactions among the changes of surface temperature, urban heat island effect and land use type, so as to provide theoretical basis and scientific basis for mitigating climate change. The results showed that: (1) The heat island effect was obvious in Kunming City, the high temperature area increased from 604 km2 in 2000 to 1269 km2 in 2020, and the sub-high temperature area reached 1099 km2 in 2020; (2) In terms of space, the spatial distribution of LST was significantly different with the change of underlying surface. The high temperature zone extended in three directions: south, north and east. The overall spatial distribution pattern of LST was high in the east and low in the west. (3) The inter-annual fluctuation of land surface temperature (LST) was large, and the growth rate was faster, from 2000 to 2010. The lowest temperature in 2000 was 13.45 ℃, which raised to 19.71 ℃ in 2010, and the temperature difference in 10 years was 6.26 ℃. (4) The land use/land cover type has a strong effect on the change of LST: the man-made land made a great contribution to the increase of LST, followed by grassland and farmland, while forest and water have a significant cooling effect on LST. To sum up, the variation of surface temperature in Kunming is the result of the interactions of human activities and climate change.

Keywords: Surface temperature, urban heat island effect, land use cover type, spatiotemporal variation.

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Authors: Charita Jashi

Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to explore the role of social marketing in changing the behavior of consumers on road safety, identify critical aspects and priority needs which impede the implementation of road safety program in Georgia. Given the goals of the study, a quantitative method was used to carry out interviews for primary data collection. This research identified the awareness level of road safety, legislation base, and marketing interventions to change behavior of drivers and pedestrians. During several years the non-governmental sector together with the local authorities and media have been very intensively working on the road safety issue in Georgia, but only seat-belts campaign should be considered rather successful. Despite achievements in this field, efficiency of road safety programs far from fulfillment and needs strong empowering.

Keywords: Road safety, social marketing interventions, behavior change, well-being.

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Authors: W. P. Hu, J. V. Kumar, Jeffrey J. P. Tsai

Abstract:

The inhibition of SH2 domain regulated protein-protein interactions is an attractive target for developing an effective chemotherapeutic approach in the treatment of disease. Molecular simulation is a useful tool for developing new drugs and for studying molecular recognition. In this study, we searched potential drug compounds for the inhibition of SH2 domain by performing structural similarity search in PubChem Compound Database. A total of 37 compounds were screened from the database, and then we used the LibDock docking program to evaluate the inhibition effect. The best three compounds (AP22408, CID 71463546 and CID 9917321) were chosen for MD simulations after the LibDock docking. Our results show that the compound CID 9917321 can produce a more stable protein-ligand complex compared to other two currently known inhibitors of Src SH2 domain. The compound CID 9917321 may be useful for the inhibition of SH2 domain based on these computational results. Subsequently experiments are needed to verify the effect of compound CID 9917321 on the SH2 domain in the future studies.

Keywords: Nonpeptide inhibitor, Src SH2 domain, LibDock, molecular dynamics simulation.

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Authors: J. M. de Luis Ruiz, P. M. Sierra García, R. P. García, R. P. Álvarez, F. P. García, E. C. López

Abstract:

Given the evolution of viaducts, structural health monitoring requires more complex techniques to define their state. two alternatives can be distinguished: experimental and operational modal analysis. Although accelerometers or Global Positioning System (GPS) have been applied for the monitoring of structures under exploitation, the dynamic monitoring during the stage of construction is not common. This research analyzes whether GPS data can be applied to certain dynamic geometric controls of evolving structures. The fundamentals of this work were applied to the New Bridge of Cádiz (Spain), a worldwide milestone in bridge building. GPS data were recorded with an interval of 1 second during the erection of segments and turned to the frequency domain with Fourier transform. The vibration period and amplitude were contrasted with those provided by the finite element model, with differences of less than 10%, which is admissible. This process provides a vibration record of the structure with GPS, avoiding specific equipment.

Keywords: Fourier transform, global position system, operational modal analysis, structural health monitoring.

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Authors: D. Benasciutti, M. Gallina, M. Gh. Munteanu, F. Flumian

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This paper presents a numerical approach for the static and dynamic analysis of hydrodynamic radial journal bearings. In the first part, the effect of shaft and housing deformability on pressure distribution within oil film is investigated. An iterative algorithm that couples Reynolds equation with a plane finite elements (FE) structural model is solved. Viscosity-to-pressure dependency (Vogel- Barus equation) is also included. The deformed lubrication gap and the overall stress state are obtained. Numerical results are presented with reference to a typical journal bearing configuration at two different inlet oil temperatures. Obtained results show the great influence of bearing components structural deformation on oil pressure distribution, compared with results for ideally rigid components. In the second part, a numerical approach based on perturbation method is used to compute stiffness and damping matrices, which characterize the journal bearing dynamic behavior.

Keywords: Journal bearing, finite elements, deformation, dynamic analysis

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Seyed Meisam Tabatabaie Nasab

Abstract:

Intellectual capital is one of the most valuable and important parts of the intangible assets of enterprises especially in knowledge-based enterprises. With respect to increasing gap between the market value and the book value of the companies, intellectual capital is one of the components that can be placed in this gap. This paper uses the value added efficiency of the three components, capital employed, human capital and structural capital, to measure the intellectual capital efficiency of Iranian industries groups, listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), using a 8 years period data set from 2005 to 2012. In order to analyze the effect of intellectual capital on the market-to-book value ratio of the companies, the data set was divided into 10 industries, Banking, Pharmaceutical, Metals & Mineral Nonmetallic, Food, Computer, Building, Investments, Chemical, Cement and Automotive, and the panel data method was applied to estimating pooled OLS. The results exhibited that value added of capital employed has a positive significant relation with increasing market value in the industries, Banking, Metals & Mineral Nonmetallic, Food, Computer, Chemical and Cement, and also, showed that value added efficiency of structural capital has a positive significant relation with increasing market value in the Banking, Pharmaceutical and Computer industries groups. The results of the value added showed a negative relation with the Banking and Pharmaceutical industries groups and a positive relation with computer and Automotive industries groups. Among the studied industries, computer industry has placed the widest gap between the market value and book value in its intellectual capital.

Keywords: Capital Employed, Human Capital, Intellectual Capital, Market-to-Book Value, Structural Capital, Value Added Efficiency.

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Authors: D. Erdenechimeg, T. Bujinlkham, N. Erdenepurev

Abstract:

The anti-corrosion performance of fatty acid coated mild steel samples is studied. Samples of structural steel coated with collector reagents deposited from surfactant in ethanol solution and overcoated with an epoxy barrier paint. A quantitative corrosion rate was determined by linear polarization resistance method using biopotentiostat/galvanostat 400. Coating morphology was determined by scanning electronic microscopy. A test for hydrophobic surface of steel by surfactant was done. From the samples, the main component or high content iron was determined by chemical method and other metal contents were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) method. Prior to measuring the corrosion rate, mechanical and chemical treatments were performed to prepare the test specimens. Overcoating the metal samples with epoxy barrier paint after exposing them with surfactant the corrosion rate can be inhibited by 34-35 µm/year.

Keywords: Corrosion, linear polarization resistance, coating, surfactant.

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Authors: S. Madhu, V. V. Subba Rao

Abstract:

In the implementation of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymer matrix Composites in structural applications, deflection and stress analysis are important considerations. In the present study, a multi scale analysis of deflection and stress analysis of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polymer composite plates is presented. A micromechanics model based on the Mori-Tanaka method is developed by introducing straight CNTs aligned in one direction. The effect of volume fraction and diameter of CNTs on plate deflection and the stresses are investigated using classical laminate plate theory (CLPT). The study is primarily conducted with the intention of observing the suitability of CNT reinforced polymer composite plates under static loading for structural applications.

Keywords: Carbon Nanotube, Micromechanics, Composite plate, Multi-scale analysis, Classical Laminate Plate Theory.

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Authors: Richard Ji

Abstract:

Nondestructive deflection testing has been accepted widely as a cost-effective tool for evaluating the structural condition of airfield pavements. Backcalculation of pavement layer moduli can be used to characterize the pavement existing condition in order to compute the load bearing capacity of pavement. This paper presents an improved best-fit backcalculation methodology based on deflection predictions obtained using finite element method (FEM). The best-fit approach is based on minimizing the squared error between falling weight deflectometer (FWD) measured deflections and FEM predicted deflections. Then, concrete elastic modulus and modulus of subgrade reaction were back-calculated using Heavy Weight Deflectometer (HWD) deflections collected at the National Airport Pavement Testing Facility (NAPTF) test site. It is an alternative and more versatile method in considering concrete slab geometry and HWD testing locations compared to methods currently available.

Keywords: Nondestructive testing, Pavement moduli backcalculation, Finite Element Method, FEM, concrete pavements.

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Authors: Sungho Kim, Chaehoon Park, Yukyung Choi, Soon Kwon, In So Kweon

Abstract:

In this paper, a novel corner detection method is presented to stably extract geometrically important corners. Intensity-based corner detectors such as the Harris corner can detect corners in noisy environments but has inaccurate corner position and misses the corners of obtuse angles. Edge-based corner detectors such as Curvature Scale Space can detect structural corners but show unstable corner detection due to incomplete edge detection in noisy environments. The proposed image-based direct curvature estimation can overcome limitations in both inaccurate structural corner detection of the Harris corner detector (intensity-based) and the unstable corner detection of Curvature Scale Space caused by incomplete edge detection. Various experimental results validate the robustness of the proposed method.

Keywords: Feature, intensity, contour, hybrid.

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Authors: A. Saghaei, R. Ghasemi

Abstract:

Through 1980s, management accounting researchers described the increasing irrelevance of traditional control and performance measurement systems. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a critical business tool for a lot of organizations. It is a performance measurement system which translates mission and strategy into objectives. Strategy map approach is a development variant of BSC in which some necessary causal relations must be established. To recognize these relations, experts usually use experience. It is also possible to utilize regression for the same purpose. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), which is one of the most powerful methods of multivariate data analysis, obtains more appropriate results than traditional methods such as regression. In the present paper, we propose SEM for the first time to identify the relations between objectives in the strategy map, and a test to measure the importance of relations. In SEM, factor analysis and test of hypotheses are done in the same analysis. SEM is known to be better than other techniques at supporting analysis and reporting. Our approach provides a framework which permits the experts to design the strategy map by applying a comprehensive and scientific method together with their experience. Therefore this scheme is a more reliable method in comparison with the previously established methods.

Keywords: BSC, SEM, Strategy map.

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Authors: Suby Khanam, Jamshed Siddiqui, Faisal Talib

Abstract:

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a managerial approach that improves the competitiveness of the industry, meanwhile Information technology (IT) was introduced with TQM for handling the technical issues which is supported by quality experts for fulfilling the customers’ requirement. Present paper aims to utilise AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) methodology to priorities and rank the hierarchy levels of TQM enablers and IT resource together for its successful implementation in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry. A total of 17 TQM enablers (nine) and IT resources (eight) were identified and partitioned into 3 categories and were prioritised by AHP approach. The finding indicates that the 17 sub-criteria can be grouped into three main categories namely organizing, tools and techniques, and culture and people. Further, out of 17 sub-criteria, three sub-criteria: top management commitment and support, total employee involvement, and continuous improvement got highest priority whereas three sub-criteria such as structural equation modelling, culture change, and customer satisfaction got lowest priority. The result suggests a hierarchy model for ICT industry to prioritise the enablers and resources as well as to improve the TQM and IT performance in the ICT industry. This paper has some managerial implication which suggests the managers of ICT industry to implement TQM and IT together in their organizations to get maximum benefits and how to utilize available resources. At the end, conclusions, limitation, future scope of the study are presented.

Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process, Information Technology, Information and Communication Technology, Prioritization, Total Quality Management.

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Authors: Anju Shri, Parvinder S. Sandhu, Vikas Gupta, Sanyam Anand

Abstract:

In literature, there are metrics for identifying the quality of reusable components but the framework that makes use of these metrics to precisely predict reusability of software components is still need to be worked out. These reusability metrics if identified in the design phase or even in the coding phase can help us to reduce the rework by improving quality of reuse of the software component and hence improve the productivity due to probabilistic increase in the reuse level. As CK metric suit is most widely used metrics for extraction of structural features of an object oriented (OO) software; So, in this study, tuned CK metric suit i.e. WMC, DIT, NOC, CBO and LCOM, is used to obtain the structural analysis of OO-based software components. An algorithm has been proposed in which the inputs can be given to K-Means Clustering system in form of tuned values of the OO software component and decision tree is formed for the 10-fold cross validation of data to evaluate the in terms of linguistic reusability value of the component. The developed reusability model has produced high precision results as desired.

Keywords: CK-Metric, Desicion Tree, Kmeans, Reusability.

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Authors: R. Malisa, E. Schwella, K. I. Theletsane

Abstract:

Due to climate change, population growth and rapid urbanization, the demand for water in South Africa is inevitably surpassing supply. To address similar challenges globally, there has been a paradigm shift from conventional urban waste water management “government” to a “governance” paradigm. From the governance paradigm, Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) principle emerged. This principle emphasizes efficient urban waste water treatment and production of high-quality recyclable effluent. In so doing mimicking natural water systems, in their processes of recycling water efficiently, and averting depletion of natural water resources.  The objective of this study was to investigate drivers of shifting the current urban waste water management approach from a “government” paradigm towards “governance”. The study was conducted through Interactive Management soft systems research methodology which follows a qualitative research design. A case study methodology was employed, guided by realism research philosophy. Qualitative data gathered were analyzed through interpretative structural modelling using Concept Star for Professionals Decision-Making tools (CSPDM) version 3.64.  The constructed model deduced that the main drivers in shifting the Stellenbosch municipal urban waste water management towards IUWM “governance” principles are mainly social elements characterized by overambitious expectations of the public on municipal water service delivery, mis-interpretation of the constitution on access to adequate clean water and sanitation as a human right and perceptions on recycling water by different communities. Inadequate public participation also emerged as a strong driver. However, disruptive events such as draught may play a positive role in raising an awareness on the value of water, resulting in a shift on the perceptions on recycled water. Once the social elements are addressed, the alignment of governance and administration elements towards IUWM are achievable. Hence, the point of departure for the desired paradigm shift is the change of water service authorities and serviced communities’ perceptions and behaviors towards shifting urban waste water management approaches from “government” to “governance” paradigm.

Keywords: Integrated urban water management, urban water system, waste water governance, waste water treatment works.

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Authors: Tarek M. Alguhane, Ayman H. Khalil, M. N. Fayed, Ayman M. Ismail

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Early pre-code reinforced concrete structures present undetermined resistance to earthquakes. This situation is particularly unacceptable in the case of essential structures, such as healthcare structures and pilgrims' houses. Amongst these, an existing old RC building in Madinah city (KSA) is seismically evaluated with and without infill wall and their dynamic characteristics are compared with measured values in the field using ambient vibration measurements (AVM). After updating the mathematical models for this building with the experimental results, three dimensional pushover analysis (Nonlinear static analysis) was carried out using commercial structural analysis software incorporating inelastic material properties for concrete, infill and steel. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the expected performance of structural systems by estimating, strength and deformation demands in design, and comparing these demands to available capacities at the performance levels of interest. The results summarized and discussed.

Keywords: Seismic Assessment, Pushover Analysis, Ambient vibration, Modal update.

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Authors: Limin Zhao, Xingfa Gu, C. Tao Yu

Abstract:

one of the significant factors for improving the accuracy of Land Surface Temperature (LST) retrieval is the correct understanding of the directional anisotropy for thermal radiance. In this paper, the multiple scattering effect between heterogeneous non-isothermal surfaces is described rigorously according to the concept of configuration factor, based on which a directional thermal radiance model is built, and the directional radiant character for urban canopy is analyzed. The model is applied to a simple urban canopy with row structure to simulate the change of Directional Brightness Temperature (DBT). The results show that the DBT is aggrandized because of the multiple scattering effects, whereas the change range of DBT is smoothed. The temperature difference, spatial distribution, emissivity of the components can all lead to the change of DBT. The “hot spot" phenomenon occurs when the proportion of high temperature component in the vision field came to a head. On the other hand, the “cool spot" phenomena occur when low temperature proportion came to the head. The “spot" effect disappears only when the proportion of every component keeps invariability. The model built in this paper can be used for the study of directional effect on emissivity, the LST retrieval over urban areas and the adjacency effect of thermal remote sensing pixels.

Keywords: Directional thermal radiance, multiple scattering, configuration factor, urban canopy, hot spot effect

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Authors: Md. Sharif Imam Ibne Amir, Mohammad Masud Kamal khan, Mohammad Golam Rasul, Raj H Sharma, Fatema Akram

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Future flood can be predicted using the probable maximum flood (PMF). PMF is calculated using the historical discharge or rainfall data considering the other climatic parameters remaining stationary. However climate is changing globally and the key climatic variables are temperature, evaporation, rainfall and sea level rise are likely to change. To develop scenarios to a basin or catchment scale these important climatic variables should be considered. Nowadays scenario based on climatic variables is more suitable than PMF. Six scenarios were developed for a large Fitzroy basin and presented in this paper.

Keywords: Climate change, rainfall, potential evaporation, scenario, sea level rise (SLR), sub-catchment.

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Authors: R. Eslami Farsani, R. Fazaeli

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Carbon fibers have specific characteristics in comparison with industrial and structural materials used in different applications. Special properties of carbon fibers make them attractive for reinforcing and fabrication of composites. These fibers have been utilized for composites of metals, ceramics and plastics. However, it-s mainly used in different forms to reinforce lightweight polymer materials such as epoxy resin, polyesters or polyamides. The composites of carbon fiber are stronger than steel, stiffer than titanium, and lighter than aluminum and nowadays they are used in a variety of applications. This study explains applications of carbon fibers in different fields such as space, aviation, transportation, medical, construction, energy, sporting goods, electronics, and the other commercial/industrial applications. The last findings of composites with polymer, metal and ceramic matrices containing carbon fibers and their applications in the world investigated. Researches show that carbon fibers-reinforced composites due to unique properties (including high specific strength and specific modulus, low thermal expansion coefficient, high fatigue strength, and high thermal stability) can be replaced with common industrial and structural materials.

Keywords: Polyacrylonitrile Fibers, Carbon Fibers, Application

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Authors: Mohamed Amine Ouddan, Hassane Essafi

Abstract:

Source code retrieval is of immense importance in the software engineering field. The complex tasks of retrieving and extracting information from source code documents is vital in the development cycle of the large software systems. The two main subtasks which result from these activities are code duplication prevention and plagiarism detection. In this paper, we propose a Mohamed Amine Ouddan, and Hassane Essafi source code retrieval system based on two-level fingerprint representation, respectively the structural and the semantic information within a source code. A sequence alignment technique is applied on these fingerprints in order to quantify the similarity between source code portions. The specific purpose of the system is to detect plagiarism and duplicated code between programs written in different programming languages belonging to the same class, such as C, Cµ, Java and CSharp. These four languages are supported by the actual version of the system which is designed such that it may be easily adapted for any programming language.

Keywords: Source code retrieval, plagiarism detection, clonedetection, sequence alignment.

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Authors: Abbas Nasir, Xiong Zhang, Sohail Ahmad, Yiping Cui

Abstract:

Non-polar a-plane AlGaN epilayers of high structural quality have been grown on r-sapphire substrate by using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A graded non-polar AlGaN buffer layer with variable aluminium concentration was used to improve the structural quality of the non-polar a-plane AlGaN epilayer. The characterisations were carried out by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Hall effect measurement. The XRD and AFM results demonstrate that the Al-composition-graded non-polar AlGaN buffer layer significantly improved the crystalline quality and the surface morphology of the top layer. A low root mean square roughness 1.52 nm is obtained from AFM, and relatively low background carrier concentration down to 3.9×  cm^-3 is obtained from Hall effect measurement.

Keywords: Non-polar AlGaN epilayer, Al composition-graded AlGaN layer, root mean square, background carrier concentration.

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Authors: Seung-Kyung Kye, Sang-Seung Lee, Dooyong Cho, Sun-Kyu Park

Abstract:

Although many studies on the assembly technology of the bridge construction have dealt mostly with on the pier, girder or the deck of the bridge, studies on the prefabricated barrier have rarely been performed. For understanding structural characteristics and application of the concrete barrier in the modular bridge, which is an assembly of structure members, static loading test was performed. Structural performances as a road barrier of the three methods, conventional cast-in-place(ST), vertical bolt connection(BVC) and horizontal bolt connection(BHC) were evaluated and compared through the analyses of load-displacement curves, strain curves of the steel, concrete strain curves and the visual appearances of crack patterns. The vertical bolt connection(BVC) method demonstrated comparable performance as an alternative to conventional cast-in-place(ST) while providing all the advantages of prefabricated technology. Necessities for the future improvement in nuts enforcement as well as legal standard and regulation are also addressed.

Keywords: Modular Bridge, Concrete Barrier, Bolt Connection

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Authors: Jian Du, Shui Hong Hong, Lu Meng, Qing Wei Meng

Abstract:

This work addresses the problem of optimizing completely batch water-using network with multiple contaminants where the flow change caused by mass transfer is taken into consideration for the first time. A mathematical technique for optimizing water-using network is proposed based on source-tank-sink superstructure. The task is to obtain the freshwater usage, recycle assignments among water-using units, wastewater discharge and a steady water-using network configuration by following steps. Firstly, operating sequences of water-using units are determined by time constraints. Next, superstructure is simplified by eliminating the reuse and recycle from water-using units with maximum concentration of key contaminants. Then, the non-linear programming model is solved by GAMS (General Algebra Model System) for minimum freshwater usage, maximum water recycle and minimum wastewater discharge. Finally, numbers of operating periods are calculated to acquire the steady network configuration. A case study is solved to illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Completely batch process, flow change, multiple contaminants, water-using network.

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Authors: P. Hajyalikhani, B. Hudson, D. Boll, L. Boren, Z. Sparks, M. Ward

Abstract:

Wood Light frame construction is one of the most common types of construction methods for residential and light commercial building in North America and parts of Europe. The typical roof framing for wood framed building is sloped and consists of several structural members such as rafters, hips, and valleys which are connected to the ridge and ceiling joists. The common slopes for roofs are 3/12, 8/12, and 12/12. Wood framed residential roof failure is most commonly caused by wind damage in such buildings. In the recent study, one of the weaknesses of wood framed roofs is long unsupported structural member lengths, such as hips and valleys. The purpose of this research is to find the critical support location for long hips and valleys with different slopes. ForteWeb software is used to find the critical location. The analysis results demonstrating the maximum unbraced hip and valley length are from 8.5 to 10.25 ft. dependent on the slope and roof type.

Keywords: Light wood framed, bracing, construction, hip, valley, slope.

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