• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.116-124
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• 2017

The study makes an attempt to investigate the causal nexus between carbon dioxide emissions, GDP per capita, industrialization and population with an evidence from Rwanda by employing a time series data spanning from 1965 to 2011 using the autoregressive distributed lag model. Evidence from the study shows that carbon dioxide emissions, GDP per capita, industrialization and population are co-integrated and have a long-run equilibrium relationship. Evidence from the Granger-causality shows a unidirectional causality running from industrialization to GDP per capita, population to carbon dioxide emissions, population to GDP per capita and population to industrialization. Evidence from the long-run elasticities has policy implications for Rwanda; a 1% increase in GDP per capita will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 1.45%, while a 1% increase in industrialization will increase carbon dioxide emissions by 1.64% in the long-run. Increasing economic growth in Rwanda will therefore reduce environmental pollution in the long-run which appears to support the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. However, industrialization leads to more emissions of carbon dioxide, which reduces environment, health and air quality. It is noteworthy that the Rwandan Government promotes sustainable industrialization, which improves the use of clean and environmentally sound raw materials, industrial process and technologies.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.40-54
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• 2017

According to FAO, "agricultural sectors are particularly exposed to the effects of climate change and increases climate variability". As a result, the study makes an attempt to answer the question: Is there a causal effect between agricultural production and carbon dioxide emissions in Ghana? By employing a time series data spanning from 1960 to 2015 using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag method. There was evidence of a long-run equilibrium relationship running from copra production, corn production, green coffee production, milled rice production, millet production, palm kernel production and sorghum production to carbon dioxide emissions. The short-run equilibrium relationship shows that, a 1% increase in copra and green coffee production will increase carbon dioxide emissions by 0.22% and 0.03%, a 1% increase in millet and sorghum production will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 0.13% and 0.11% in the short-run while a 31% of future fluctuations in carbon dioxide emissions are due to shocks in corn production. There was bidirectional causality between milled rice production and carbon dioxide emissions, millet production and carbon dioxide emissions and, sorghum production and carbon dioxide emissions; and a unidirectional causality running from corn production to carbon dioxide emissions and carbon dioxide emissions to palm kernel production.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1223-1240
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• 2014

Seismic isolation has been established as an effective earthquake-resistant design method and the lead rubber bearings (LRBs) are among the most commonly used seismic isolation systems. In the scientific literature, a sharp bilinear model is often used for capturing the hysteretic behaviour of the LRBs in the analysis of seismically isolated structures, although the actual behaviour of the LRBs can be more accurately represented utilizing smoothed plasticity, as captured by the Bouc-Wen model. Discrepancies between these two models are quantified in terms of the computed peak relative displacements at the isolation level, as well as the peak inter-storey deflections and the absolute top-floor accelerations, for the case of base-isolated buildings modelled as multi degree-of-freedom systems. Numerical simulations under pulse-like ground motions have been performed to assess the effect of non-linear parameters of the seismic isolation system and characteristics of both the superstructure and the earthquake excitation, on the accuracy of the computed peak structural responses. Through parametric analyses, this paper assesses potential inaccuracies of the computed peak seismic response when the sharp bilinear model is employed for modelling the LRBs instead of the more accurate and smoother Bouc-Wen model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.205-215
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• 2017

The use of advanced fibre composite materials in bridge engineering offers alternative solutions to structural problems compared to traditional construction materials. Advanced composite or fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) materials have high strength to weight ratios, which can be especially beneficial where dead load or material handling considerations govern a design. However, the reduced weight and stiffness of FRP footbridges results in generally poorer dynamic performance, and vibration serviceability is likely to govern their design to avoid the footbridge being "too lively". This study investigates the dynamic behaviour of the 51.3 m span Wilcott FRP suspension footbridge. The assessment is performed through a combination of field testing and finite element analysis, and the measured performance of the bridge is being used to calibrate the model through an updating procedure. The resulting updated model allowed detailed interpretation of the results. It showed that non-structural members such as the parapets can influence the dynamic behaviour of slender, lightweight footbridges, and consequently their contribution must be included during the dynamic assessment of a structure. The test data showed that the FRP footbridge is prone to pedestrian induced vibrations, although the measured response levels were lower than limits specified in relevant standards.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.749-766
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• 2012

Structural control through integration of passive damping devices within the building structure has been increasingly implemented internationally in the last years and has proven to be a most promising strategy for earthquake safety. In the present paper an alternative configuration of an innovative energy dissipation mechanism that consists of slender tension only bracing members with closed loop and a hysteretic damper is investigated in its dynamic behavior. The implementation of the adaptable dual control system, ADCS, in frame structures enables a dual function of the component members, leading to two practically uncoupled systems, i.e., the primary frame, responsible for the normal vertical and horizontal forces and the closed bracing-damper mechanism, for the earthquake forces and the necessary energy dissipation. Three representative international earthquake motions of differing frequency contents, duration and peak ground acceleration have been considered for the numerical verification of the effectiveness and properties of the SDOF systems with the proposed ADCS-configuration. The control mechanism may result in significant energy dissipation, when the geometrical and mechanical properties, i.e., stiffness and yield force of the integrated damper, are predefined. An optimum damper ratio, DR, defined as the ratio of the stiffness to the yield force of the hysteretic damper, is proposed to be used along with the stiffness factor of the damper's- to the primary frame's stiffness, in order for the control mechanism to achieve high energy dissipation and at the same time to prevent any increase of the system's maximum base shear and relative displacements. The results are summarized in a preliminary design methodology for ADCS.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.495-521
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• 2016

Ancient monuments of Greek and Roman classical architecture usually consist of multi-drum columns that are constructed of stone blocks placed on top of each other. Several research studies deal with the seismic behaviour of such structures, since earthquakes are common causes of destruction of such monuments. This paper investigates the effect of multiple earthquakes on the seismic performance of multi-drum columns, through numerical simulations and parametric analyses. The Discrete Element Method and an appropriate contact model have been implemented in a specially developed software application that is able to efficiently perform the necessary simulations in two dimensions. Specifically, various strong ground excitations are used in series for the computation of the collective final deformation of multi-drum columns. In order to calculate this cumulative deformation for a series of ground motions, the individual deformation of the column for each excitation is computed and then used as initial conditions for the next earthquake excitation. Various multi-drum columns with different dimensions are also considered in the analyses in order to examine how the geometric characteristics of columns can affect their seismic sequence behaviour, in combination with the excitation frequency content.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.457-471
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• 2012

Current code procedures for stress and stability analysis of new and existing concrete-gravity dams are primarily based on conventional methods of analysis. Such methods can be applied in a straightforward manner but there has been evidence that they may be inaccurate or, possibly, not conservative. This paper presents finite element modeling and analysis procedures and makes recommendations for local failure criteria at the dam-rock interface aimed at predicting more accurately the behavior of dams under hydraulic and anchoring loads.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.195-215
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• 2016

Rehabilitation of historical unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings is a priority in many parts of the world, since those buildings are a living part of history and a testament of human achievement of the era of their construction. Many of these buildings are still operational; comprising brittle materials with no reinforcements, with spatially distributed mass and stiffness, they are not encompassed by current seismic assessment procedures that have been developed for other structural types. To facilitate the difficult task of selecting a proper rehabilitation strategy - often restricted by international treaties for non-invasiveness and reversibility of the intervention - and given the practical requirements for the buildings' intended reuse, this paper presents a practical procedure for assessment of seismic demands of URM buildings - mainly historical constructions that lack a well-defined diaphragm action. A key ingredient of the method is approximation of the spatial shape of lateral translation, ${\Phi}$, that the building assumes when subjected to a uniform field of lateral acceleration. Using ${\Phi}$ as a 3-D shape function, the dynamic response of the system is evaluated, using the concepts of SDOF approximation of continuous systems. This enables determination of the envelope of the developed deformations and the tendency for deformation and damage localization throughout the examined building for a given design earthquake scenario. Deformation demands are specified in terms of relative drift ratios referring to the in-plane and the out-of-plane seismic response of the building's structural elements. Drift ratio demands are compared with drift capacities associated with predefined performance limits. The accuracy of the introduced procedure is evaluated through (a) comparison of the response profiles with those obtained from detailed time-history dynamic analysis using a suite of ten strong ground motion records, five of which with near-field characteristics, and (b) evaluation of the performance assessment results with observations reported in reconnaissance reports of the field performance of two neoclassical torsionally-sensitive historical buildings, located in Thessaloniki, Greece, which survived a major earthquake in the past.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.133-141
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• 2012

The impacts influenced on the performance and safety of a repository are classified as units of Features, Events, and Processes (FEP), for the total system performance assessment (TSPA) related to the permanent disposal of HLW. The importance is evaluated in consideration of the frequency, consequence, regulation, suitability of a specific site, etc. and then these are grouped as a similar FEP. A scenario describing the migration of radionuclide from the repository to the biosphere is derived from understanding the interaction among these groups. KAERI has developed the KAERI FEP lists by review and collation of the foreign studies. The KAERI FEP list has been reviewed by several Korean experts. The five major scenarios describing possible future evolutions of the geological disposal system have been developed by RES and PID methods. Also the CYPRUS which is a KAERI integrated database management system for the total system performance assessment (TSPA) related to the permanent disposal of HLW has been developed and the results of the FEP and scenario development have been uploaded in this system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.499-526
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• 2013

Seismic isolation is an effective method for the protection of buildings and their contents during strong earthquakes. This research work aims to assess the appropriateness of the linear and nonlinear models that can be used in the analysis of typical low-rise base isolated steel buildings, taking into account the inherent nonlinearities of the isolation system as well as the potential nonlinearities of the superstructure in case of strong ground motions. The accuracy of the linearization of the isolator properties according to Eurocode 8 is evaluated comparatively with the corresponding response that can be obtained through the nonlinear hysteretic Bouc-Wen constitutive model. The suitability of the linearized model in the determination of the size of the required seismic gap is assessed, under various earthquake intensities, considering relevant methods that are provided by building codes. Furthermore, the validity of the common assumption of elastic behavior for the superstructure is explored and the alteration of the structural response due to the inelastic deformations of the superstructure as a consequence of potential collision to the restraining moat wall is studied. The usage of a nonlinear model for the isolation system is found to be necessary in order to achieve a sufficiently accurate assessment of the structural response and a reliable estimation of the required width of the provided seismic gap. Moreover, the simulations reveal that the superstructure's inelasticity should be taken into account, especially if the response of the structure under high magnitude earthquakes is investigated. The consideration of the inelasticity of the superstructure is also recommended in studies of structural collision of seismically isolated structures to the surrounding moat wall, since it affects the response.