• Wind and Structures
• /
• 제15권6호
• /
• pp.481-494
• /
• 2012

The greenhouse type metal structures are increasingly used in modern construction of livestock farms because they are less laborious to construct and they provide a more favorable microclimate for the growth of animals compared to conventional livestock structures. A key stress factor for metal structures is the wind. The external pressure coefficient ($c_{pe}$) is used for the calculation of the wind effect on the structures. A high pressure coefficient value leads to an increase of the construction weight and subsequently to an increase in the construction cost. The EC1 in conjunction with EN 13031-1:2001, which is specialized for greenhouses, gives values for this coefficient. This value must satisfy two requirements: the safety of the structure and a reduced construction cost. In this paper, the Navier - Stokes and continuity equations are solved numerically with the finite element method (Galerkin Method) in order to simulate the two dimensional, incompressible, viscous air flow over the vaulted roofs of single span and twin-span with eaves livestock greenhouses' structures, with a height of 4.5 meters and with length of span of 9.6 and 14 m. The simulation was carried out in a wind tunnel. The numerical results of pressure coefficients, as well as, the distribution of them are presented and compared with data from Eurocodes for wind actions (EC1, EN 13031-1:2001). The results of the numerical experiment were close to the values given by the Eurocodes mainly on the leeward area of the roof while on the windward area a further segmentation is suggested.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• 제2권2호
• /
• pp.109-123
• /
• 2014

This paper presents chloride induced corrosion durability of reinforcing steel in geopolymer concretes containing different contents of sodium silicate ($Na_2SiO_3$) and molarities of NaOH solutions. Seven series of mixes are considered in this study. The first series is ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete and is considered as the control mix. The rest six series are geopolymer concretes containing 14 and 16 molar NaOH and $Na_2SiO_3$ to NaOH ratios of 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5. In each series three lollypop specimens of 100 mm in diameter and 200 mm in length, each having one 12 mm diameter steel bar are considered for chloride induced corrosion study. The specimens are subjected to cyclic wetting and drying regime for two months. In wet cycle the specimens are immersed in water containing 3.5% (by wt.) NaCl salt for 4 days, while in dry cycle the specimens are placed in open air for three days. The corrosion activity is monitored by measuring the copper/copper sulphate ($Cu/CuSO_4$) half-cell potential according to ASTM C-876. The chloride penetration depth and sorptivity of all seven concretes are also measured. Results show that the geopolymer concretes exhibited better corrosion resistance than OPC concrete. The higher the amount of $Na_2SiO_3$ and higher the concentration of NaOH solutions the better the corrosion resistance of geopolymer concrete is. Similar behaviour is also observed in sorptivity and chloride penetration depth measurements. Generally, the geopolymer concretes exhibited lower sorptivity and chloride penetration depth than that of OPC concrete. Correlation between the sorptivity and the chloride penetration of geopolymer concretes is established. Correlations are also established between 28 days compressive strength and sorptivity and between 28 days compressive strength and chloride penetration of geopolymer concretes.

• Advances in Energy Research
• /
• 제5권2호
• /
• pp.179-205
• /
• 2017

This research presents an in-depth analysis of location planning of the solar-hydrogen power plants for electricity production in different cities situated in Kerman province of Iran. Ten cities were analyzed in order to select the most suitable location for the construction of a solar-hydrogen power plant utilizing photovoltaic panels. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology was applied to prioritize cities for installing the solar-hydrogen power plant so that one candidate location was selected for each city. Different criteria including population, distance to main road, flood risk, wind speed, sunshine hours, air temperature, humidity, horizontal solar irradiation, dust, and land costare used for the analysis. From the analysis, it is found that among the candidates' cities, the site of Lalezar is ranked as the first priority for the solar-hydrogen system development. A measure of validity is obtained when results of the DEA method are compared with the results of the technique for ordering preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). Applying TOPSIS model, it was found that city of Lalezar ranked first, and Rafsanjan gained last priority for installing the solar-hydrogen power plants. Cities of Baft, Sirjan, Kerman, Shahrbabak, Kahnouj, Shahdad, Bam, and Jiroft ranked second to ninth, respectively. The validity of the DEA model is compared with the results of TOPSIS and it is demonstrated that the two methods produced similar results. The solar-hydrogen power plant is considered for installation in the city of Lalezar. It is demonstrated that installation of the proposed solar-hydrogen system in Lalezar can lead to yearly yield of 129 ton-H2 which covers 4.3% of total annual energy demands of the city.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• 제7권2호
• /
• pp.139-159
• /
• 2018

Green Leaf Volatiles (GLVs) is a class of biogenically emitted oxygenated hydrocarbons that have been identified as a potential source of Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA) via aqueous oxidation. The physico-chemical properties of GLVs are vital to understanding their fate and transport in the atmosphere via fog processing, but few experimental data are available. We studied the aqueous solubility, 1-octanol/water partition coefficient, and Henry's law constant ($K_H$) of five GLVs at $25^{\circ}C$: methyl jasmonate, methyl salicylate, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol, cis-3-hexen-1-ol, and cis-3-hexenyl acetate. Henry's law constant was also measured at temperatures and ionic strengths typical of fog. Experimental values are compared to scarcely-available literature values, as well as estimations using group and bond contribution methods, property-specific correlations and molecular dynamics simulations. From these values, the partition coefficients to the air-water interface were also calculated. The large Henry's law constant of methyl jasmonate ($8091{\pm}1121M{\cdot}atm^{-1}$) made it the most significant GLV for aqueous phase photochemistry. The HENRYWIN program's bond contribution method from the Estimation Programs Interface Suite (EPI Suite) produced the best estimate of the Henry's constant for GLVs. Estimations of 1-octanol/water partition coefficient and solubility are best when correlating an experimental value of one to find the other. Finally, the scavenging efficiency was calculated for each GLV indicating aqueous phase processing will be most important for methyl jasmonate.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• 제9권1호
• /
• pp.19-39
• /
• 2020

Urban heat island (UHI) is one of the most important climatic implications of urbanization and thus a matter of key concern for environmentalists of the world in the twenty-first century. The relationship between climate and urbanization has been better understood with the introduction of thermal remote sensing. So, this study is an attempt to understand the influence of urbanization on local temperature for a small developing city. The study focuses on the investigation of intensity of atmospheric and surface urban heat island for a small urbanizing district of Punjab, India. Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS satellite data and field observations were used to examine the spatial pattern of surface and atmospheric UHI effect respectively, for the month of April, 2018. The satellite data has been used to cover the larger geographical area while field observations were taken for simultaneous and daily temperature measurements for different land use types. The significant influence of land use/land cover (LULC) patterns on UHI effect was analyzed using normalized built-up and vegetation indices (NDBI, NDVI) that were derived from remote sensing satellite data. The statistical analysis carried out for land surface temperature (LST) and LULC indicators displayed negative correlation for LST and NDVI while NDBI and LST exhibited positive correlation depicting attenuation in UHI effect by abundant vegetation. The comparison of remote sensing and in-situ observations were also carried out in the study. The research concluded in finding both nocturnal and daytime UHI effect based on diurnal air temperature observations. The study recommends the urgent need to explore and impose effective UHI mitigation measures for the sustainable urban growth.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• 제1권2호
• /
• pp.183-195
• /
• 2014

Scour is one of the leading causes of overwater bridge failures worldwide. While monitoring systems have already been implemented or are still being developed, they suffer from limitations such as high costs, inaccuracies, and low reliability, among others. Also, most sensors only measure scour depth at one location and near the pier. Thus, the objective is to design a simple, low cost, scour hole topography monitoring system that could better characterize the entire depth, shape, and size of bridge scour holes. The design is based on burying a robust, waterproofed, piezoelectric sensor strip in the streambed. When scour erodes sediments to expose the sensor, flowing water excites it to cause the generation of time-varying voltage signals. An algorithm then takes the time-domain data and maps it to the frequency-domain for identifying the sensor's resonant frequency, which is used for calculating the exposed sensor length or scour depth. Here, three different sets of tests were conducted to validate this new technique. First, a single sensor was tested in ambient air, and its exposed length was varied. Upon verifying the sensing concept, a waterproofed prototype was buried in soil and tested in a tank filled with water. Sensor performance was characterized as soil was manually eroded away, which simulated various scour depths. The results confirmed that sensor resonant frequencies decreased with increasing scour depths. Finally, a network of 11 sensors was configured to form a distributed monitoring system in the lab. Their exposed lengths were adjusted to simulate scour hole formation and evolution. Results showed promise that the proposed sensing system could be scaled up and used for bridge scour topography monitoring.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• 제9권2호
• /
• pp.217-225
• /
• 2020

The recovery of waste proves a solution with two impacts: the environmental impact by the reduction of pollution and the gain of the occupied space by this waste, and the economic impact by the use of these lasts in the building and in the area of public works. The present research consists in recovering a waste marble (thrown powder exposed to the different meteorological phenomena) generated by the quarry marble of Fil-fila, located at the east side of Skikda in the north-east of Algeria, and add it, as sand in the composition of sand concrete. To carry out this research, we analyzed the evolution brought by the substitution of ordinary sand by marble waste sand, with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% on the properties in the fresh state (density, workability and air content) and in the cured state (compressive strength, tensile strength, surface hardness and sound velocity). For durability we tested water absorption by immersion and chloride penetration. The results obtained are compared with control samples of 0% of substitution rate. In order to have a good filling of the voids in the granular skeleton; we added a quantity of limestone recycled fines from the quarries and for a good workability a super-plasticizing additive. The results showed that the partial substitution modified both the fresh and the hardened characteristics of the tested concretes, the durability parameters also improved.

• Advances in Computational Design
• /
• 제5권4호
• /
• pp.417-443
• /
• 2020

Tunnels have been an integral part of human civilization. Due to complexity in its design and structure, the stability of underground structures under extreme loading conditions has utmost importance. Increased terrorism and geo-political conflicts have forced the engineers and researchers to study the response of underground structures, especially tunnels under blast loading. The present study has been carried out to seek the response of tunnel structures under blast load using the finite element technique. The tunnel has been considered in quartzite rock of northern India. The Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model has been adopted for the elastoplastic behaviour of rock. The rock model surrounding the tunnel has dimensions of 30 m x 30 m x 35 m. Both unlined and lined (concrete) tunnel has been studied. Concrete Damage Plasticity model has been considered for the concrete lining. Four different parameters (i.e., tunnel diameter, liners thickness, overburden depth and mass of explosive) have been varied to observe the behaviour under different condition. To carry out blast analysis, Coupled-Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) modelling has been adopted for modelling of TNT (Trinitrotoluene) and enclosed air. JWL (Jones-Wilkins-Lee) model has been considered for TNT explosive modelling. The paper concludes that deformations in lined tunnels follow a logarithmic pattern while in unlined tunnels an exponential pattern has been observed. The stability of the tunnel has increased with an increase in overburden depth in both lined and unlined tunnels. Furthermore, the tunnel lining thickness also has a significant effect on the stability of the tunnel, but in smaller diameter tunnel, the increase in tunnel lining thickness has not much significance. The deformations in the rock tunnel have been decreased with an increase in the diameter of the tunnel.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
• /
• 제6권4호
• /
• pp.377-400
• /
• 2016

Dropped objects are among the top ten causes of fatalities and serious injuries in the oil and gas industry (DORIS, 2016). Objects may accidentally fall down from platforms or vessels during lifting or any other offshore operation. Proper planning of lifting operations requires the knowledge of the risk-free zone on the sea bed to protect underwater structures and equipment. To this end a three-dimensional (3D) theory of dynamic motion of dropped cylindrical object is expanded to also consider ocean currents. The expanded theory is integrated into the authors' Dropped Objects Simulator (DROBS). DROBS is utilized to simulate the trajectories of dropped cylinders falling through uniform currents originating from different directions (incoming angle at $0^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$, $180^{\circ}$, and $270^{\circ}$). It is found that trajectories and landing points of dropped cylinders are greatly influenced by the direction of current. The initial conditions after the cylinders have fallen into the water are treated as random variables. It is assumed that the corresponding parameters orientation angle, translational velocity, and rotational velocity follow normal distributions. The paper presents results of DROBS simulations for the case of a dropped cylinder with initial drop angle at $60^{\circ}$ through air-water columns without current. Then the Monte Carlo simulations are used for predicting the landing point distributions of dropped cylinders with varying drop angles under current. The resulting landing point distribution plots may be used to identify risk free zones for offshore lifting operations.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
• /
• 제36권2호
• /
• pp.179-186
• /
• 2012

자동차 산업에서 대기오염을 줄이고 연비를 향상시키기 위해 경량화가 중요한 과제로 여겨지고 있다. 이를 위해 알루미늄 소재의 적용이 증가하고 있다. 판재를 차체에 적용하기 위해서는 주로 프레스 가공 공정을 거치게 된다. 이때, 재료, 제품설계 및 프레스 공정의 부적절한 가공 변수의 사용으로 인하여 파단, 주름, 및 스프링 백 등에 의한 다양한 형태의 가공 불량이 발생한다. 따라서 이들 변수들의 적절한 조화 뿐 만 아니라 엄격한 공정 관리가 요구된다. 이에 본 연구에서는 자동차 판재에 주로 사용되는 Al5454 재료에 대한 이론적으로 유도한 소성 불안정 조건을 구하고, MATLAB을 이용하여 성형 한계도를 도출하였다. 또한, 장출 인장 실험을 통해 얻어진 실험값과 이론적으로 도출한 성형 한계도와의 비교를 수행하였다.