Search results for: building construction.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2097

Search results for: building construction.

1377 ‘Daily Speaking’: Designing an App for Construction of Language Learning Model Supporting ‘Seamless Flipped’ Environment

Authors: Zhou Hong, Gu Xiao-Qing, Lıu Hong-Jiao, Leng Jing

Abstract:

Seamless learning is becoming a research hotspot in recent years, and the emerging of micro-lectures, flipped classroom has strengthened the development of seamless learning. Based on the characteristics of the seamless learning across time and space and the course structure of the flipped classroom, and the theories of language learning, we put forward the language learning model which can support ‘seamless flipped’ environment (abbreviated as ‘S-F’). Meanwhile, the characteristics of the ‘S-F’ learning environment, the corresponding framework construction and the activity design of diversified corpora were introduced. Moreover, a language learning app named ‘Daily Speaking’ was developed to facilitate the practice of the language learning model in ‘S-F’ environment. In virtue of the learning case of Shanghai language, the rationality and feasibility of this framework were examined, expecting to provide a reference for the design of ‘S-F’ learning in different situations.

Keywords: Seamless learning, flipped classroom, seamless-flipped environment, language learning model.

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1376 Sustainable Upgrade of Existing Heritage Infrastructure: Strengthening and Rehabilitation of the LH Ford Bridge

Authors: Vince Scolaro, Lakshman Prasad, Ted Polley, Sanjivan Deshpande

Abstract:

The LH Ford Bridge, built in the 1960’s, comprises 28 spans, is 800 m long and crosses the Macquarie River at Dubbo, NSW. The main bridge spans comprise three spans with a 63 m centre span (25 m drop-in section) supported by halving joints from the main cantilevers and back spans of 28 m. The main bridge spans were built using complex construction staging (first of this type in NSW). They comprise twin precast boxes, in-situ reinforced concrete infills, and cantilevered outriggers stressed both longitudinally and transversely. Since construction, this bridge has undergone significantly increased design vehicle loads and showed signs of excessive shrinkage and creep leading to significant sagging of the centre span with evidence of previous failure and remediation of the halving joints. A comprehensive load rating assessment was undertaken taking account of the original complex construction staging. Deficiencies identified included, inadequate capacity of the halving joints, failure of the bearings at the halving joints, inadequate shear capacity of the girder webs and inadequate girder flexural capacity to carry B-Double design vehicles. A strengthening system comprising two new piers (under each of the halving joints), new bearings and installation of external prestressing to the soffit of both drop-in-span and back spans was adopted. A portion of dead load had to be transferred from the superstructure to the new piers via innovative soft/stiff bearing combinations to reduce new locked in stresses resulting from the new pier supports. Significant temporary works comprised a precast concrete shell beam forming the pile cap/pier structure, addition of temporary suspended scaffold (without overstressing the existing superstructure) and installation of jacking stays for new bearing top and bottom plates. This paper presents how this existing historic and socially important bridge was strengthened and updated to increase its design life without the need for replacement.

Keywords: Strengthening, creep, construction, box girder.

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1375 Seismic Assessment of Old Existing RC Buildings on Madinah with Masonry Infilled Using Ambient Vibration Measurements

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

Abstract:

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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1374 The Appraisal of Construction Sites Productivity: In Kendall’s Concordance

Authors: Abdulkadir Abu Lawal

Abstract:

For the dearth of reliable cardinal numerical data, the linked phenomena in productivity indices such as operational costs and company turnovers, etc. could not be investigated. This would not give us insight to the root of productivity problems at unique sites. So, ordinal ranking by professionals who were most directly involved with construction sites was applied for Kendall’s concordance. Responses gathered from independent architects, builders/engineers, and quantity surveyors were herein analyzed. They were responses based on factors that affect sites productivity, and these factors were categorized as head office factors, resource management effectiveness factors, motivational factors, and training/skill development factors. It was found that productivity is low and has to be improved in order to facilitate Nigerian efforts in bridging its infrastructure deficit. The significance of this work is underlined with the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance of 0.78, while remedial measures must be emphasized to stimulate better productivity. Further detailed study can be undertaken by using Fuzzy logic analysis on wider Delphi survey.

Keywords: Factors, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, magnitude of agreement, percentage magnitude of dichotomy, ranking variables.

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1373 Effect of Natural Fibres Inclusion in Clay Bricks: Physico-Mechanical Properties

Authors: Chee-Ming Chan

Abstract:

In spite of the advent of new materials, clay bricks remain, arguably, the most popular construction materials today. Nevertheless the low cost and versatility of clay bricks cannot always be associated with high environmental and sustainable values, especially in terms of raw material sources and manufacturing processes. At the same time, the worldwide agricultural footprint is fast growing, with vast agricultural land cultivation and active expansion of the agro-based industry. The resulting large quantities of agricultural wastes, unfortunately, are not always well managed or utilised. These wastes can be recycled, such as by retrieving fibres from disposed leaves and fruit bunches, and then incorporated in brick-making. This way the clay bricks are made a 'greener' building material and the discarded natural wastes can be reutilised, avoiding otherwise wasteful landfill and harmful open incineration. This study examined the physical and mechanical properties of clay bricks made by adding two natural fibres to a clay-water mixture, with baked and non-baked conditions. The fibres were sourced from pineapple leaves (PF) and oil palm fruit bunch (OF), and added within the range of 0.25-0.75 %. Cement was added as a binder to the mixture at 5-15 %. Although the two fibres had different effects on the bricks produced, cement appeared to dominate the compressive strength. The non-baked bricks disintegrated when submerged in water, while the baked ones displayed cement-dependent characteristics in water-absorption and density changes. Interestingly, further increase in fibre content did not cause significant density decrease in both the baked and non-baked bricks.

Keywords: natural fibres, clay bricks, strength, water absorption, density.

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1372 Enhancement of Visual Comfort Using Parametric Double Skin Façades

Authors: Ahmed Ashraf Khamis, Sherif A. Ibrahim, Mahmoud ElKhatieb, Mohamed A. Barakat

Abstract:

Parametric design deemed to be one of icons of the modern architectural trends that facilitates taking complex design decisions counting on altering various design parameters. Double skin façades are one of the parametric applications that are used in parametric designs. This paper opts to enhance different daylight parameters of a selected case study office building in Cairo using a parametric double skin façade. First, the design and optimization process was executed utilizing Grasshopper parametric design software package, in which the daylighting performance of the base case building model was compared with the one used in the double façade showing an enhancement in task plane illuminance by 180%. Second, execution drawings are made for the optimized design using Revit software. Finally, computerized digital fabrication stages of the designed model with various scales are demonstrated to reach the final design decisions using Simplify 3D for mock-up digital fabrication.

Keywords: Parametric design, Double skin façades, Digital Fabrication, Grasshopper, Simplify 3D.

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1371 Adaptive Design of Large Prefabricated Concrete Panels Collective Housing

Authors: Daniel M. Muntean, Viorel Ungureanu

Abstract:

More than half of the urban population in Romania lives today in residential buildings made out of large prefabricated reinforced concrete panels. Since their initial design was made in the 1960’s, these housing units are now being technically and morally outdated, consuming large amounts of energy for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, while failing to meet the needs of the contemporary life-style. Due to their widespread use, the design of a system that improves their energy efficiency would have a real impact, not only on the energy consumption of the residential sector, but also on the quality of life that it offers. Furthermore, with the transition of today’s existing power grid to a “smart grid”, buildings could become an active element for future electricity networks by contributing in micro-generation and energy storage. One of the most addressed issues today is to find locally adapted strategies that can be applied considering the 20-20-20 EU policy criteria and to offer sustainable and innovative solutions for the cost-optimal energy performance of buildings adapted on the existing local market. This paper presents a possible adaptive design scenario towards sustainable retrofitting of these housing units. The apartments are transformed in order to meet the current living requirements and additional extensions are placed on top of the building, replacing the unused roof space, acting not only as housing units, but as active solar energy collection systems. An adaptive building envelope is ensured in order to achieve overall air-tightness and an elevator system is introduced to facilitate access to the upper levels.

Keywords: Adaptive building, energy efficiency, retrofitting, residential buildings, smart grid.

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1370 Research Topic Map Construction

Authors: Hei-Chia Wang, Che-Tsung Yang

Abstract:

While the explosive increase in information published on the Web, researchers have to filter information when searching for conference related information. To make it easier for users to search related information, this paper uses Topic Maps and social information to implement ontology since ontology can provide the formalisms and knowledge structuring for comprehensive and transportable machine understanding that digital information requires. Besides enhancing information in Topic Maps, this paper proposes a method of constructing research Topic Maps considering social information. First, extract conference data from the web. Then extract conference topics and the relationships between them through the proposed method. Finally visualize it for users to search and browse. This paper uses ontology, containing abundant of knowledge hierarchy structure, to facilitate researchers getting useful search results. However, most previous ontology construction methods didn-t take “people" into account. So this paper also analyzes the social information which helps researchers find the possibilities of cooperation/combination as well as associations between research topics, and tries to offer better results.

Keywords: Ontology, topic maps, social information, co-authorship.

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1369 Analysis of the Visual Preference of Patterns in Pedestrian Roads

Authors: Kang, Eun Sung, Song, Hyeong Wook, Kim, Hong Kyu

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to analyze the visual preference of patterns in pedestrian roads. In this study, animation was applied for the estimation of dynamic streetscape. Six patterns of pedestrian were selected in order to analyze the visual preference. The shapes are straight, s-curve, and zigzag. The ratio of building's height and road's width are 2:1 and 1:1. Twelve adjective pairs used in the field investigation were selected from adjectives which are used usually in the estimation of streetscape. They are interesting-boring, simple-complex, calm-noisy, open-enclosed, active-inactive, lightly-depressing, regular-irregular, unique-usual, rhythmic-not rhythmic, united-not united, stable-unstable, tidy-untidy. Dynamic streetscape must be considered important in pedestrian shopping mall and park because it will be an attraction. So, s-curve pedestrian road, which is the most beautiful as a result of this study, should be designed in this area. Also, the ratio of building's height and road's width along pedestrian road should be reduced.

Keywords: Visual preference, streetscape, animation, simulation, pedestrian.

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1368 Simulation of Thermal Storage Phase Change Material in Buildings

Authors: Samira Haghshenaskashani, Hadi Pasdarshahri

Abstract:

One of the potential and effective ways of storing thermal energy in buildings is the integration of brick with phase change materials (PCMs). This paper presents a two-dimensional model for simulating and analyzing of PCM in order to minimize energy consumption in the buildings. The numerical approach has been used with the real weather data of a selected city of Iran (Tehran). Two kinds of brick integrated PCM are investigated and compared base on outdoor weather conditions and the amount of energy consumption. The results show a significant reduction in maximum entering heat flux to building about 32.8% depending on PCM quantity. The results are analyzed by various temperature contour plots. The contour plots illustrated the time dependent mechanism of entering heat flux for a brick integrated with PCM. Further analysis is developed to investigate the effect of PCM location on the inlet heat flux. The results demonstrated that to achieve maximum performance of PCM it is better to locate PCM near the outdoor.

Keywords: Building, Energy Storage, PCM, Phase Change Material

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1367 Establishing a Change Management Model for Precision Machinery Industry in Taiwan

Authors: Feng-Tsung Cheng, Shu-Li Wang, Mei-Fang Wu, Hui-Yu Chuang

Abstract:

The rapid development technology and widespread Internet make business environment changing a lot. In order to stand in the global market and to keep subsistence, “changing” is unspoken rule for the company’s survival. The purpose of this paper is building up change model by using SWOT, strategy map, KPI and change management theory. The research findings indicate that the company needs to deal with employee’s resistance emotion firstly before building up change model. The ways of providing performance appraisal reward, consulting and counseling mechanisms that will great help to achieve reducing staff negative emotions and motivate staff’s efficiencies also. To revise strategy map, modify corporate culture, and improve internal operational processes which is based on change model. Through the change model, the increasing growth rate of net income helps company to achieve the goals and be a leading brand of precision machinery industry.

Keywords: Organizational change, SWOT analysis, strategy maps, performance indicators.

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1366 RASPE – Risk Advisory Smart System for Pipeline Projects in Egypt

Authors: Nael Y. Zabel, Maged E. Georgy, Moheeb E. Ibrahim

Abstract:

A knowledge-based expert system with the acronym RASPE is developed as an application tool to help decision makers in construction companies make informed decisions about managing risks in pipeline construction projects. Choosing to use expert systems from all available artificial intelligence techniques is due to the fact that an expert system is more suited to representing a domain’s knowledge and the reasoning behind domain-specific decisions. The knowledge-based expert system can capture the knowledge in the form of conditional rules which represent various project scenarios and potential risk mitigation/response actions. The built knowledge in RASPE is utilized through the underlying inference engine that allows the firing of rules relevant to a project scenario into consideration. Paper provides an overview of the knowledge acquisition process and goes about describing the knowledge structure which is divided up into four major modules. The paper shows one module in full detail for illustration purposes and concludes with insightful remarks.

Keywords: Expert System, Knowledge Management, Pipeline Projects, Risk Mismanagement.

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1365 The Role of Brand Loyalty in Generating Positive Word of Mouth among Malaysian Hypermarket Customers

Authors: S. R. Nikhashemi, L. Haj Paim, Ali Khatibi

Abstract:

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test a hypothesized model explaining Malaysian hypermarket customers’ perceptions of brand trust (BT), customer perceived value (CPV) and perceived service quality (PSQ) on building their brand loyalty (CBL) and generating positive word-of-mouth communication (WOM). Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from 374 Malaysian hypermarket customers from Mydin, Tesco, Aeon Big and Giant in Kuala Lumpur, a metropolitan city of Malaysia. The data strongly supported the model exhibiting that BT, CPV and PSQ are prerequisite factors in building customer brand loyalty, while PSQ has the strongest effect on prediction of customer brand loyalty compared to other factors. Besides, the present study suggests the effect of the aforementioned factors via customer brand loyalty strongly contributes to generate positive word of mouth communication.

Keywords: Brand trust, perceived value, perceived service quality, brand loyalty, positive word of mouth communication.

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1364 The Development of the Quality Management Processes for the Building and Environment of the Basic Education Schools

Authors: Suppara Charoenpoom

Abstract:

The objectives of this research was to design and develop a quality management of the school buildings and environment. A quantitative and qualitative mixed research methodology was used. The population sample included 14 directors of primary schools. Two research tools were used. The first research tool included an in-depth interview and questionnaire. The second research tool included the Quality Business Process and Quality Work Procedure, and a Key Performance Indicator of each activity. The statistics included mean and standard deviation. The findings for the development of a quality management process of buildings and environment administration of the basic schools consisted of one quality business process (QBP) and seven quality work processes (QWP). The result from the experts’ evaluation revealed that the process and implementation of quality management of the school buildings and environment has passed the inspection process with consensus. This implies that the process of quality management of the school buildings and environment is suitable for implementation. Moreover, the level of agreement in the feasibility of the implementation of this plan had the mean in the range of 0.64-1.00 which suggests the design of the new plan is acceptable.

Keywords: Process, Building, Environment.

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1363 Expanding Affordable Housing through Inclusionary Zoning in the City of Toronto

Authors: Sam Moshaver

Abstract:

Reasonably priced and well-constructed housing must be an integral and element supporting a healthy society. The absence of housing everyone in society can afford negatively affects the people's health, education, ability to get jobs, develop their community. Without access to decent housing, economic development, integration of immigrants and inclusiveness, the society is negatively impacted. Canada has a sterling record in creating housing compared to many other nations around the globe. Canadian housing gets support from a mature and responsive mortgage network and a top-quality construction industry as well as safe and excellent quality building materials that are readily available. Yet 1.7 million Canadian households occupy substandard abodes. During the past hundred years, Canada's government has made a wide variety of attempts to provide decent residential facilities every Canadian can afford. Despite these laudable efforts, today Canada is left with housing that is inadequate for many Canadians. People who own their housing are given all kinds of privileges and perks, while people with relatively low incomes who rent their apartments or houses are discriminated against. To help solve these problems, zoning that is based on an "inclusionary" philosophy is tool developed to help provide people the affordable residences that they need. No, thirty years after its introduction, this type of zoning has been shown effective in helping build and provide Canadians with a houses or apartments they can afford to pay for. Using this form of zoning can have different results +depending on where and how it is used. After examining Canadian affordable housing and four American cases where this type of zoning was enforced in the USA, this makes various recommendations for expanding Canadians' access to housing they can afford.

Keywords: Affordable Housing, Inclusionary Zoning Low- Income Housing, Toronto Housing.

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1362 Experimental Results about the Dynamics of the Generalized Belief Propagation Used on LDPC Codes

Authors: Jean-Christophe Sibel, Sylvain Reynal, David Declercq

Abstract:

In the context of channel coding, the Generalized Belief Propagation (GBP) is an iterative algorithm used to recover the transmission bits sent through a noisy channel. To ensure a reliable transmission, we apply a map on the bits, that is called a code. This code induces artificial correlations between the bits to send, and it can be modeled by a graph whose nodes are the bits and the edges are the correlations. This graph, called Tanner graph, is used for most of the decoding algorithms like Belief Propagation or Gallager-B. The GBP is based on a non unic transformation of the Tanner graph into a so called region-graph. A clear advantage of the GBP over the other algorithms is the freedom in the construction of this graph. In this article, we explain a particular construction for specific graph topologies that involves relevant performance of the GBP. Moreover, we investigate the behavior of the GBP considered as a dynamic system in order to understand the way it evolves in terms of the time and in terms of the noise power of the channel. To this end we make use of classical measures and we introduce a new measure called the hyperspheres method that enables to know the size of the attractors.

Keywords: iterative decoder, LDPC, region-graph, chaos.

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1361 A Book Cover as an Expression of Conceptualization and a Tool of Social Identity Construction: The Interpretation Based on the Example of G. Ritzer's book McDonaldization of Society

Authors: Jiří Pavelka

Abstract:

The study is based on the assumption that media products are appropriate subjects for the exploration of social and cultural identities as a keystone of value orientations of their authors, producers and target audiences. The research object of the study is the title page of the book cover of a professional publication that serves as a medium of marketing, scientific and intercultural communication, which is the result of semiotic and intercultural transfer. The study aims to answer the question whether the book cover is an expression of conceptualization and tool for social identity construction. It attempts to determine what value orientations and what concepts of social and cultural identities are hidden in the narrative structures of the book cover of the Czech translation of the book by G. Ritzer The McDonaldization of Society (1993), issued after the fall of the iron curtain in 1996 in the Czech Republic.

Keywords: Social and cultural identity, book cover, marketing communication, semiotic and intercultural transfer, narrative structure, the McDonaldisation of Society.

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1360 An Enhanced AODV Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks

Authors: Apidet Booranawong, Wiklom Teerapabkajorndet

Abstract:

An enhanced ad-hoc on-demand distance vector routing (E-AODV) protocol for control system applications in wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) is proposed. Our routing algorithm is designed by considering both wireless network communication and the control system aspects. Control system error and network delay are the main selection criteria in our routing protocol. The control and communication performance is evaluated on multi-hop IEEE 802.15.4 networks for building-temperature control systems. The Gilbert-Elliott error model is employed to simulate packet loss in wireless networks. The simulation results demonstrate that the E-AODV routing approach can significantly improve the communication performance better than an original AODV routing under various packet loss rates. However, the control performance result by our approach is not much improved compared with the AODV routing solution.

Keywords: WSANs, building temperature control, AODV routing protocol, control system error, settling time, delay, delivery ratio.

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1359 Seismic Base Shear Force Depending on Building Fundamental Period and Site Conditions: Deterministic Formulation and Probabilistic Analysis

Authors: S. Dorbani, M. Badaoui, D. Benouar

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the building fundamental period of reinforced concrete buildings of (6, 9, and 12-storey), with different floor plans: Symmetric, mono-symmetric, and unsymmetric. These structures are erected at different epicentral distances. Using the Boumerdes, Algeria (2003) earthquake data, we focused primarily on the establishment of the deterministic formulation linking the base shear force to two parameters: The first one is the fundamental period that represents the numerical fingerprint of the structure, and the second one is the epicentral distance used to represent the impact of the earthquake on this force. In a second step, with a view to highlight the effect of uncertainty in these parameters on the analyzed response, these parameters are modeled as random variables with a log-normal distribution. The variability of the coefficients of variation of the chosen uncertain parameters, on the statistics on the seismic base shear force, showed that the effect of uncertainty on fundamental period on this force statistics is low compared to the epicentral distance uncertainty influence.

Keywords: Base shear force, fundamental period, epicentral distance, uncertainty, lognormal variable, statistics.

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1358 'Performance-Based' Seismic Methodology and Its Application in Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures

Authors: Jelena R. Pejović, Nina N. Serdar

Abstract:

This paper presents an analysis of the “Performance-Based” seismic design method, in order to overcome the perceived disadvantages and limitations of the existing seismic design approach based on force, in engineering practice. Bearing in mind, the specificity of the earthquake as a load and the fact that the seismic resistance of the structures solely depends on its behaviour in the nonlinear field, traditional seismic design approach based on force and linear analysis is not adequate. “Performance-Based” seismic design method is based on nonlinear analysis and can be used in everyday engineering practice. This paper presents the application of this method to eight-story high reinforced concrete building with combined structural system (reinforced concrete frame structural system in one direction and reinforced concrete ductile wall system in other direction). The nonlinear time-history analysis is performed on the spatial model of the structure using program Perform 3D, where the structure is exposed to forty real earthquake records. For considered building, large number of results were obtained. It was concluded that using this method we could, with a high degree of reliability, evaluate structural behavior under earthquake. It is obtained significant differences in the response of structures to various earthquake records. Also analysis showed that frame structural system had not performed well at the effect of earthquake records on soil like sand and gravel, while a ductile wall system had a satisfactory behavior on different types of soils.

Keywords: Ductile wall, frame system, nonlinear time-history analysis, performance-based methodology, RC building.

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1357 Analysis of Seismic Waves Generated by Blasting Operations and their Response on Buildings

Authors: S. Ziaran, M. Musil, M. Cekan, O. Chlebo

Abstract:

The paper analyzes the response of buildings and industrially structures on seismic waves (low frequency mechanical vibration) generated by blasting operations. The principles of seismic analysis can be applied for different kinds of excitation such as: earthquakes, wind, explosions, random excitation from local transportation, periodic excitation from large rotating and/or machines with reciprocating motion, metal forming processes such as forging, shearing and stamping, chemical reactions, construction and earth moving work, and other strong deterministic and random energy sources caused by human activities. The article deals with the response of seismic, low frequency, mechanical vibrations generated by nearby blasting operations on a residential home. The goal was to determine the fundamental natural frequencies of the measured structure; therefore it is important to determine the resonant frequencies to design a suitable modal damping. The article also analyzes the package of seismic waves generated by blasting (Primary waves – P-waves and Secondary waves S-waves) and investigated the transfer regions. For the detection of seismic waves resulting from an explosion, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and modal analysis, in the frequency domain, is used and the signal was acquired and analyzed also in the time domain. In the conclusions the measured results of seismic waves caused by blasting in a nearby quarry and its effect on a nearby structure (house) is analyzed. The response on the house, including the fundamental natural frequency and possible fatigue damage is also assessed.

Keywords: Building structure, seismic waves, spectral analysis, structural response.

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1356 Brand Position Communication Channel for Rajabhat University

Authors: Narong Anurak

Abstract:

The objective of this research was to study Brand Position Communication Channel in Brand Building in Rajabhat University Affecting Decision Making of Higher Education from of qualitative research and in-depth interview with executive members Rajabhat University and also quantitative by questionnaires which are personal data of students, study of the acceptance and the finding of the information of Rajabhat University, study of pattern or Brand Position Communication Channel affecting the decision making of studying in Rajabhat University and the result of the communication in Brand Position Communication Channel. It is found that online channel and word of mount are highly important and necessary for education business since media channel is a tool and the management of marketing communication to create brand awareness, brand credibility and to achieve the high acclaim in terms of bringing out qualified graduates. Also, off-line channel can enable the institution to survive from the high competition especially in education business regarding management of the Rajabhat University. Therefore, Rajabhat University has to communicate by the various communication channel strategies for brand building for attractive student to make decision making of higher education.

Keywords: Brand Position, Communication Channel, Rajabhat University.

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1355 Manufacturing of Full Automatic Carwash Using with Intelligent Control Algorithms

Authors: Amir Hossein Daei Sorkhabi, Bita Khazini

Abstract:

In this paper the intelligent control of full automatic car wash using a programmable logic controller (PLC) has been investigated and designed to do all steps of carwashing. The Intelligent control of full automatic carwash has the ability to identify and profile the geometrical dimensions of the vehicle chassis. Vehicle dimension identification is an important point in this control system to adjust the washing brushes position and time duration. The study also tries to design a control set for simulating and building the automatic carwash. The main purpose of the simulation is to develop criteria for designing and building this type of carwash in actual size to overcome challenges of automation. The results of this research indicate that the proposed method in process control not only increases productivity, speed, accuracy and safety but also reduce the time and cost of washing based on dynamic model of the vehicle. A laboratory prototype based on an advanced intelligent control has been built to study the validity of the design and simulation which it’s appropriate performance confirms the validity of this study.

Keywords: Automatic Carwash, Dimension, PLC.

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1354 Prioritization Assessment of Housing Development Risk Factors: A Fuzzy Hierarchical Process-Based Approach

Authors: Yusuf Garba Baba

Abstract:

The construction industry and housing subsector are fraught with risks that have the potential of negatively impacting on the achievement of project objectives. The success or otherwise of most construction projects depends to large extent on how well these risks have been managed. The recent paradigm shift by the subsector to use of formal risk management approach in contrast to hitherto developed rules of thumb means that risks must not only be identified but also properly assessed and responded to in a systematic manner. The study focused on identifying risks associated with housing development projects and prioritisation assessment of the identified risks in order to provide basis for informed decision. The study used a three-step identification framework: review of literature for similar projects, expert consultation and questionnaire based survey to identify potential risk factors. Delphi survey method was employed in carrying out the relative prioritization assessment of the risks factors using computer-based Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) software. The results show that 19 out of the 50 risks significantly impact on housing development projects. The study concludes that although significant numbers of risk factors have been identified as having relevance and impacting to housing construction projects, economic risk group and, in particular, ‘changes in demand for houses’ is prioritised by most developers as posing a threat to the achievement of their housing development objectives. Unless these risks are carefully managed, their effects will continue to impede success in these projects. The study recommends the adoption and use of the combination of multi-technique identification framework and AHP prioritization assessment methodology as a suitable model for the assessment of risks in housing development projects.

Keywords: Risk identification, risk assessment, analytical hierarchical process, multi-criteria decision.

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1353 Collision Detection Algorithm Based on Data Parallelism

Authors: Zhen Peng, Baifeng Wu

Abstract:

Modern computing technology enters the era of parallel computing with the trend of sustainable and scalable parallelism. Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) is an important way to go along with the trend. It is able to gather more and more computing ability by increasing the number of processor cores without the need of modifying the program. Meanwhile, in the field of scientific computing and engineering design, many computation intensive applications are facing the challenge of increasingly large amount of data. Data parallel computing will be an important way to further improve the performance of these applications. In this paper, we take the accurate collision detection in building information modeling as an example. We demonstrate a model for constructing a data parallel algorithm. According to the model, a complex object is decomposed into the sets of simple objects; collision detection among complex objects is converted into those among simple objects. The resulting algorithm is a typical SIMD algorithm, and its advantages in parallelism and scalability is unparalleled in respect to the traditional algorithms.

Keywords: Data parallelism, collision detection, single instruction multiple data, building information modeling, continuous scalability.

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1352 Gendered Power Relations in the School:Construction of Schoolgirl Femininities in a Turkish High School

Authors: Alev Ozkazanc, Fevziye Sayılan

Abstract:

In this paper our aim is to explore the construction of schoolgirl femininities, drawing on the results of an ethnographic study conducted in a high school in Ankara, Turkey. In this case study which tries to explore the complexities of gender discourses, we were initially motivated by the questions that have been put forward by critical and feminist literature on education which emphasize the necessarily conflicting and partial nature of both reproduction and resistance and the importance of gendered power relations in the school context. Drawing on this paradigm our research tries to address to a more specific question: how are multiple schoolgirl femininities constructed within the context of gendered school culture, and especially in relation to hegemonic masculinity? Our study reveals that the general framework of multiple femininities is engendered by a tension between two inter-related positions. The first one is different strategies of accommodation and resistance to the gender-related problems of education. The second one is the school experience of girls which is conditioned by their differential position vis-à-vis the masculine resistance culture that is dominant in the school.

Keywords: Femininity, gender relations, masculinity, school, education in Turkey

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1351 Barriers to Competitive Tenders in Building Conservation Works

Authors: Yoke-Mui Lim, Yahaya Ahmad

Abstract:

Conservation works in Malaysia that is procured by public organisation usually follow the traditional approach where the works are tendered based on Bills of Quantities (BQ). One of the purposes of tendering is to enable the selection of a competent contractor that offers a competitive price. While competency of the contractors are assessed by their technical knowledge, experience and track records, the assessment of pricing will be dependent on the tender amount. However, the issue currently faced by the conservation works sector is the difficulty in assessing the competitiveness and reasonableness of the tender amount due to the high variance between the tenders amount. Thus, this paper discusses the factors that cause difficulty to the tenderers in pricing competitively in a bidding exercise for conservation tenders. Data on tendering is collected from interviews with conservation works contractors to gain in-depth understanding of the barriers faced in pricing tenders of conservation works. Findings from the study lent support to the contention that the variance of tender amount is very high amongst tenderers. The factors identified in the survey are the format of BQ, hidden works, experience and labour and material costs.

Keywords: Building Conservation, Malaysia, Bill of Quantities, Tender.

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1350 Comparison of Double Unit Tunnel Form Building before and after Repair and Retrofit under in-Plane Cyclic Loading

Authors: S. A. Anuar, N. H. Hamid, M. H. Hashim, S. M. D. Salleh

Abstract:

This paper present the experimental work of double unit tunnel form building (TFB) subjected to in-plane lateral cyclic loading. A one third scale of 3-storey double unit of TFB is tested until its strength degradation. Then, the TFB is repaired and retrofitted using additional shear wall, steel angle and CFRP sheet. The crack patterns, lateral strength, stiffness, ductility and equivalent viscous damping (EVD) were analyzed and compared before and after repair and retrofit. The result indicates that the lateral strength increases by 22% in pushing and 27% in pulling direction. Moreover, the stiffness and ductility obtained before and after retrofit increase tremendously by 87.87% and 39.66%, respectively. Meanwhile, the energy absorption measured by equivalent viscous damping obtained after retrofit increase by 12.34% in pulling direction. It can be concluded that the proposed retrofit method is capable to increase the lateral strength capacity, stiffness and energy absorption of double unit TFB.

Keywords: Crack pattern, stiffness, ductility, equivalent viscous damping.

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1349 A Novel Design in the Use of Planar Transformers for LDMOS Based Amplifiers in Bands II, III, DRM+, DVB-T and DAB+

Authors: Antonis Constantinides, Christos Yiallouras

Abstract:

The coaxial transformer-coupled push-pull circuitry has been used widely in HF and VHF amplifiers for many decades without significant changes in the topology of the transformers. Basic changes over the years concerned the construction and turns ratio of the transformers as has been imposed upon the newer technologies active devices demands. The balun transmission line transformers applied in push-pull amplifiers enable input/output impedance transformation, but are mainly used to convert the balanced output into unbalanced and the input unbalanced into balanced. A simple and affordable alternative solution over the traditional coaxial transformer is the coreless planar balun. A key advantage over the traditional approach lies in the high specifications repeatability; simplifying the amplifier construction requirements as the planar balun constitutes an integrated part of the PCB copper layout. This paper presents the performance analysis of a planar LDMOS MRFE6VP5600 Push-Pull amplifier that enables robust operation in Band III, DVB-T, DVB-T2 standards but functions equally well in Band II, for DRM+ new generation transmitters.

Keywords: Amplifier, balun, complex impedance, LDMOS, planar-transformers.

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1348 Mathematical Model of Smoking Time Temperature Effect on Ribbed Smoked Sheets Quality

Authors: Rifah Ediati, Jajang

Abstract:

The quality of Ribbed Smoked Sheets (RSS) primarily based on color, dryness, and the presence or absence of fungus and bubbles. This quality is strongly influenced by the drying and fumigation process namely smoking process. Smoking that is held in high temperature long time will result scorched dark brown sheets, whereas if the temperature is too low or slow drying rate would resulted in less mature sheets and growth of fungus. Therefore need to find the time and temperature for optimum quality of sheets. Enhance, unmonitored heat and mass transfer during smoking process lead to high losses of energy balance. This research aims to generate simple empirical mathematical model describing the effect of smoking time and temperature to RSS quality of color, water content, fungus and bubbles. The second goal of study was to analyze energy balance during smoking process. Experimental study was conducted by measuring temperature, residence time and quality parameters of 16 sheets sample in smoking rooms. Data for energy consumption balance such as mass of fuel wood, mass of sheets being smoked, construction temperature, ambient temperature and relative humidity were taken directly along the smoking process. It was found that mathematical model correlating smoking temperature and time with color is Color = -169 - 0.184 T4 - 0.193 T3 - 0.160 0.405 T1 + T2 + 0.388 t1 +3.11 t2 + 3.92t3 + 0.215 t4 with R square 50.8% and with moisture is Moisture = -1.40-0.00123 T4 + 0.00032 T3 + 0.00260 T2 - 0.00292 T1 - 0.0105 t1 + 0.0290 t2 + 0.0452 t3 + 0.00061 t4 with R square of 49.9%. Smoking room energy analysis found useful energy was 27.8%. The energy stored in the material construction 7.3%. Lost of energy in conversion of wood combustion, ventilation and others were 16.6%. The energy flowed out through the contact of material construction with the ambient air was found to be the highest contribution to energy losses, it reached 48.3%.

Keywords: RSS quality, temperature, time, smoking room, energy

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