• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.247-254
• /
• 2015

Changes in land-use type can affect soil and water properties in stream ecosystems. This study examined the effects of different land-use types on biogeochemical properties and microbial activities of a stream. We collected water and sediment samples in a stream at three different sites surrounded by varying land-use types; a forest, a radish field and a rice paddy. Nitrogen contents, such as nitrate, nitrite and total nitrogen in the stream water body, showed significant differences among the sampling sites. The highest nitrogen values were recorded at the site surrounded by cropland, as fertilizer runoff impacted the stream. Soil organic matter content in the sediment showed significant differences among sites, with the highest content exhibited at the forest mouth site. These differences might be due to the organic matter in surrounding terrestrial ecosystems. Microbial activities determined by extracellular enzyme activities showed similar values throughout all sites in the water body; however, the activities in the sediments exhibited the highest values near the forest site and mirrored the soil organic matter content values. From these results, we conclude that different land-use types are important factors affecting water and sediment properties in stream ecosystems.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.102-108
• /
• 2014

Studies of non-point pollutant treatment facilities have widely been conducted for a decade, but natural non-point pollutant treatment facilities implemented on roads have not been carried out for the removal efficiency of non-point pollution sources. This study analyzed the removal efficiency of non-point pollution sources from constructed wetlands using monitoring and event mean concentration method. As a result of this study, removal efficiency of general non-point pollution sources as TSS, COD, BOD is relatively good, but removal efficiency of TN, TP, Cr, Zn, Pb is very small or nothing.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.501-508
• /
• 2007

This paper presents the feasibility of using electromechanical impedance based active sensing technique for nondestructive strength gain monitoring of early-age concrete by employing piezoelectric lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) patches on concrete surface. The strength development of early age concrete is actively monitored by performing a series of experiments on concrete specimens under moist curing condition. The electrical admittance signatures are acquired for five different curing ages and compared with each other. The resonant frequency shifts of PZT patches with increasing days is observed which is on account of additional stiffening due to strength gain of concrete during curing and level of stiffening being related to strength obtained from compression tests on companion cylinder specimens. The proposed approach is found to be suitable for monitoring the development of compressive strength in early-age concrete. It is also observed in this study that root mean square deviation (RMSD) in admittance signatures of the PZT patches can also be used as an indicator of concrete strength development.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.85 no.5
• /
• pp.655-664
• /
• 2023

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall structures are one of the most widely used structural systems to resist seismic loading all around the world. Although there have been several efforts to provide conceptually simple procedures to reasonably assess the seismic demands of structures over recent decades, it seems that lesser effort has been put on a number of structural forms such as RC shear wall structures. Therefore, this study aims to represent a simple linear response spectrum-based method which can acceptably predict the nonlinear displacements of a non-ductile RC shear wall structure subjected to an individual ground motion record. An effective period and an equivalent damping ratio are introduced as the dynamic characteristics of an equivalent linear SDOF system relevant to the main structure. By applying the fundamental mode participation factor of the original MDOF structure to the linear spectral response of the equivalent SDOF system, an acceptable estimation of the nonlinear displacement response is obtained. Subsequently, the accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated by comparison with another approximate method which is based on linear response spectrum. Results show that the proposed method has better estimations for maximum nonlinear responses and is more utilizable and applicable than the other one.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.319-328
• /
• 2022

Ensuring the integrity of a country's infrastructure is necessary to protect surrounding communities in case of disaster. Embankment dam systems across the US are an essential component of infrastructure, referred to as lifeline structures. Embankment dams are crucial to the survival of life and if these structures were to fail, it is imperative that states be prepared. Southern California is particularly concerned with the stability of embankment dams due to the frequent seismic activity that occurs in the state. The purpose of this study was to create a numerical model of an existing embankment dam simulated under seismic loads using previously recorded data. The embankment dam that was studied in Los Angeles, California was outfitted with accelerometers provided by the California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program that have recorded strong motion data for decades and was processed by the Center for Engineering Strong Motion Data to be used in future engineering applications. The accelerometer data was then used to verify the numerical model that was created using finite element modeling software RS2. The results from this study showed Puddingstone Dam's simulated response was consistent with that experienced during previous earthquakes and therefore validated the predicted behavior from the numerical model. The study also identified areas of weakness and instability on the dam that posed the greatest risk for its failure. Following this study, the numerical model can now be used to predict the dam's response to future earthquakes, develop plans for its remediation, and for emergency response in case of disaster.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2024

Influx of exotic fishes is the reason of the destruction of ecosystem and biodiversity on fishes habitats. This study was conducted to detect the movement of in grand ecological park along river and stream. Purpose of study is to realize the movement of exotic fishes. In this study, Monitoring was conducted in Daijeo ecological park. The movement of exotic fishes can indicate the habitats and the possible spread in Nakdong river and Daijeo ecological park.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2011.02a
• /
• pp.162-167
• /
• 2011

Construction projects are full of risks. This is particularly the case in civil construction projects that are often featured with large scale, complexity and involving a large number of participating parties. The eventuation of risks typically results in extended project durations leading to an increase in the total project budget. The consequence can be amplified considering the significant impacts of civil construction projects on the society, from economical, environmental and social perspectives. This research investigates the significance of risks within civil construction projects and approaches to deal with risks. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with local industry practitioners in South Australia on this matter. It is found that the industry is fairly aware of risks associated with civil construction projects and subsequently has procedures in place to attempt to minimize the impacts of these risks on the project outcomes. The interview results also indicate that there is limited utilization of software for the risk management purpose from the cost estimation perspective.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.559-594
• /
• 2015

A nonlinear creep function incorporated into the elastic visco-plastic model may describe the long-term soil deformation more accurately. However, by applying the conventional procedure, there are challenges to determine the model parameters due to limitation of suitable data points. This paper presents a numerical solution to obtain several parameters simultaneously for a nonlinear elastic visco-plastic (EVP) model using the available consolidation data. The finite difference scheme using the Crank-Nicolson procedure is applied to solve a set of coupled partial differential equations of the time dependent strain and pore water pressure dissipation. The model parameters are determined by applying the algorithm of trust-region reflective optimisation in conjunction with the finite difference solution. The proposed method utilises all available consolidation data during dissipation of the excess pore water pressure to determine the required model parameters. Moreover, the reference time in the elastic visco-plastic model can readily be adopted as a unit of time; denoting creep is included in the numerical predictions explicitly from the very first time steps. In this paper, the settlement predictions of thick soft clay layers are presented and discussed to evaluate and compare the accuracy and reliability of the proposed method against the graphical procedure to obtain the model parameters. In addition, comparison of the available experimental results to the numerical predictions confirms the accuracy of the numerical procedure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.429-448
• /
• 2016

This paper presents a finite element (FE) model for predicting the behaviour of steel column-column connections under axial compression and tension. A robustness approach is utilised for the design of steel column-column connections. The FE models take into account for the effects of initial geometric imperfections, material nonlinearities and geometric nonlinearities. The accuracy of the FE models is examined by comparing the predicted results with independent experimental results. It is demonstrated that the FE models accurately predict the ultimate axial strengths and load-deflection curves for steel column-column connections. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effects of slenderness ratio, contact surface imperfection, thickness of cover-plates, end-plate thickness and bolt position. The buckling strengths of steel column-column connections with contact surface imperfections are compared with design strengths obtained from Australian Standards AS4100 (1998) and Eurocode 3 (2005). It is found that the column connections with maximum allowable imperfections satisfy the design requirements. Furthermore, the steel column-column connections analysed in this paper can be dismantled and reused safely under typical service loads which are usually less than 40% of ultimate axial strengths. The results indicate that steel column-column connections can be demounted at 50% of the ultimate axial load which is greater than typical service load.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.29 no.6
• /
• pp.367-378
• /
• 2019

As the development of IT technology, the way to manage the underground construction site in real time using wireless network communication is being considered. Underground space is limited area compared to the ground site due to the enclosed communication environment and spatial characteristics. BMN (Bluetooth Mesh Networking) technology is a recently introduced wireless communication technology that bluetooth device acts as a repeater to form a networking mesh and monitor individual devices. This article examines the areas to be considered for analyzing the applicability of BMN technology to underground spaces, and the cases studies of wireless communication monitoring systems currently being developed. And the BMN technology which is being developed for the underground application is also introduced.