• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.385-404
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• 2018

The study investigated an area of sustainable structural design that is often overlooked in practical engineering applications. Specifically, a novel method to simultaneously optimise the cost and embodied carbon performance of steel building structures was explored in this paper. To achieve this, a parametric design model was developed to analyse code compliant structural configurations based on project specific constraints and rigorous testing of various steel beam sections, floor construction typologies (precast or composite) and column layouts that could not be performed manually by engineering practitioners. Detailed objective functions were embedded in the model to compute the cost and life cycle carbon emissions of the different material types used in the structure. Results from a comparative numerical analysis of a real case study illustrated that the proposed optimisation approach could guide structural engineers towards areas of the solution space with realistic design configurations, enabling them to effectively evaluate trade-offs between cost and carbon performance. This significant contribution implied that the optimisation model could reduce the time required for the design and analysis of multiple structural configurations especially during the early stages of a project. Overall, the paper suggested that the deployment of automated design procedures can enhance the quality as well as the efficiency of the optimisation analysis.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.289-294
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• 2002

This paper presents first results of an interdisciplinary research project for the development of an "intelligent" welding helmet. Contrary to conventional welding helmets the system allows a detailed observation both of the welding process and the environment. By methods of virtual and augmented reality additional information can be supplied to the welder. The system can be used for welding preparation, welding process observation and quality assurance.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2007.03a
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• pp.721-728
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• 2007

The prediction of quality characteristics during the design phase of a construction project was fragmented, because no particular method exists. One of the most important key responses is the total displacements (horizontal and vertical). A brainstorming session produces the quality parameters i.e. the control factors which here are identified as: the steel joint, the pile's length, the excavation depth and angle, the distance between the piles, the anchor stretch and length to name just some of the most engaging in the design. The purpose of this study is to optimise these parameters to minimize the total displacements following a methodology based on Taguchi method. For this reason, a 2-level, L₈ orthogonal array has been employed to organize the experimentation. Data is obtained from a real-life excavation project designed on the Plaxis v.8 CAE package. Taguchi analysis is performed in the statistical package Minitab.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1294-1303
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• 2018

This study optimises the no-load voltage waveform of tubular hydro-generators by a simple design scheme. For different centerlines of the pole shoe and damper bar, the optimisation effects on the no-load voltage waveform are investigated in two tubular hydro-generators with different weighted powers (34 MW and 18 MW). The results are compared with those of the traditional stator-slots skewed design. The quality of the no-load voltage waveform was related to the shifting degree, and the different optimisation effects between the integer slot generator (q = 2) and the fractional slot generator (q = 11/2) were analysed. This research can improve the quality of the power output and no-load voltage waveform, and provide an effective reference for improving the industrial design and manufacture level of tubular hydro-generators.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.298-303
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• 1997

Over the last few year, there has been a growing interest in quantitative representation of heat transfer phenomena in weld pools in order to relate the processing conditions to the quality of the weldment produced and to use this information for the optimisation and robotization of the welding process. Normally, a theoretical model offers a powerful alternative to check out the physical concepts of the welding process and to calculate the effects of varying any of parameters. To solve this problem, a transient 2D(two-dimensional) heat conduction were developed for determining bead geometry and temperature distribution for the GMA welding process. The equation was solved using a general thermofluid-mechanics computer program, PHOENICS code, which is based on the SIMPLE algorithm. The simulation results showed that the calculated bead geometry from the developed models reasonablely agree with the experiment results.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.362-368
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• 2014

This paper proposes a harmonic reduction approach for a pulse width modulation (PWM) AC-AC converters using Bee Colony Optimization (BCO). The optimal switching angles are provided by BCO to minimize harmonic distortions. The sequences of the PWM switching angles are considered as a technical constraint. In this paper, simulation results from various optimization techniques including BCO, Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are compared. The test results indicate that BCO can provide a better solution than the others in terms of power quality and power factor improvement. Lastly, experiments on a 200W AC-AC converter confirm the performance of the proposed switching pattern in reducing harmonic distortions of the output waveform.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.77-94
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• 2015

Ultrafiltration membranes have several advantages over conventional drinking-water treatment. However, this technology presents major limitations, such as irreversible fouling and low removal of natural organic matter. Fouling depends heavily on the raw-water quality as well as on the operating conditions of the process, including flux, permeate recovery, pre-treatment, chemical cleaning, and backwashing. Starting with the premise that the optimisation of operating variables can improve membrane performance, different experiments were conducted in a pilot plant located in Granada (Spain). Several combinations of permeate and backwashing flow rates, backwashing frequencies, and aeration flow rates were tested for low-quality water coming from Genil River with the following results: the effluent quality did not depend on the combination of operating conditions chosen; and the membrane was effective for the removal of microorganisms, turbidity and suspended solids but the yields for the removal of dissolved organic carbon were extremely low. In addition, the threshold transmembrane pressure (-0.7 bar) was reached within a few hours and it was difficult to recover due to the low efficiency of the chemical cleanings. Moreover, greater transmembrane pressure due to fouling also increased the energy consumption, and it was not possible to lower it without compromising the permeate recovery. Finally, the intensification of aeration contributed positively to lengthening the operation times but again raised energy consumption. In light of these findings, the feasibility of ultrafiltration as a single treatment is questioned for low-quality influents.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.625-647
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• 2002

Parallel execution of computational mechanics codes requires efficient mesh-partitioning techniques. These mesh-partitioning techniques divide the mesh into specified number of submeshes of approximately the same size and at the same time, minimise the interface nodes of the submeshes. This paper describes a new mesh partitioning technique, employing Genetic Algorithms. The proposed algorithm operates on the deduced graph (dual or nodal graph) of the given finite element mesh rather than directly on the mesh itself. The algorithm works by first constructing a coarse graph approximation using an automatic graph coarsening method. The coarse graph is partitioned and the results are interpolated onto the original graph to initialise an optimisation of the graph partition problem. In practice, hierarchy of (usually more than two) graphs are used to obtain the final graph partition. The proposed partitioning algorithm is applied to graphs derived from unstructured finite element meshes describing practical engineering problems and also several example graphs related to finite element meshes given in the literature. The test results indicate that the proposed GA based graph partitioning algorithm generates high quality partitions and are superior to spectral and multilevel graph partitioning algorithms.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.317-325
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• 2020

A precise estimation of the natural time period of buildings improves design quality, causes a significant reduction of the buildings' weight, and eventually leads to a cost-effective design. In this study, in order to optimise the reinforced concrete frames design, some symmetrical and unsymmetrical buildings composed of solid and hollow members have been simulated using finite element software SAP 2000. In numerical models, different parameters such as overturning moment, story drift, deflection, base reactions, and stiffness of the buildings were investigated and the results have been compared with strength and serviceability limit criteria proposed by Australian Standard (AS 3600 2018). Comparing the results of the numerical modelling with existing standards and performing a cost analysis proved the merits of hollow box sections compared to solid sections. Finally, based on numerical simulation results, two equations for natural time period of moment resisting reinforced concrete buildings have been presented. Both derived equations reflected higher degree of correlation and reliability with different complexities of building when compared with existing standards and relationships provided by other scholars. Therefore, these equations will assist practicing engineers to predict elastic behaivour of structures more precisely.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.389-406
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• 2014

Optimal sensor placement techniques play a significant role in enhancing the quality of modal data during the vibration based health monitoring of civil structures, where many degrees of freedom are available despite a limited number of sensors. The literature has shown a shift in the trends for solving such problems, from expansion or elimination approach to the employment of heuristic algorithms. Although these heuristic algorithms are capable of providing a global optimal solution, their greatest drawback is the requirement of high computational effort. Because a highly efficient optimisation method is crucial for better accuracy and wider use, this paper presents an improved simulated annealing (SA) algorithm to solve the sensor placement problem. The algorithm is developed based on the sensor locations' coordinate system to allow for the searching in additional dimensions and to increase SA's random search performance while minimising the computation efforts. The proposed method is tested on a numerical slab model that consists of two hundred sensor location candidates using three types of objective functions; the determinant of the Fisher information matrix (FIM), modal assurance criterion (MAC), and mean square error (MSE) of mode shapes. Detailed study on the effects of the sensor numbers and cooling factors on the performance of the algorithm are also investigated. The results indicate that the proposed method outperforms conventional SA and Genetic Algorithm (GA) in the search for optimal sensor placement.