• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제65권2호
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• pp.183-190
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• 2018

The prestressed concrete (PSC) technology that was first developed by Freyssinet has significantly improved over the past century in terms of materials and structural design in order to build longer, slender, and more economic structures. The application of prestressing method in structures, which is determined by the pre-tension or post-tension processes, is also affected by the surrounding conditions such as the construction site, workforce skills, and local transportation regulations. This study proposes a prestressed concrete girder design based on a hybrid segment concept. The adopted approach combines both pre-tension and post-tension methods along a simple span bridge girder. The girder was designed using newly developed 2400 MPa PS strands and 60 MPa high-strength concrete. The new concept and high strength materials allowed longer span, lower girder depth, less materials, and slender design without affecting the lateral stability of the girder. In order to validate the applicability of the proposed hybrid prestressed segments girder, a full-scale 35 m girder was fabricated, and experimental tests were performed under various fatigue and static loading conditions. The experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the proposed long-span girder as its performance meets the railway girder standards. In addition, the comparison between the measured load-displacement curve and the simulation results indicate that simulation analysis can predict the behavior of hybrid segments girders.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.215-229
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• 2015

The emerging technology of self compacting concrete, fiber reinforcement together reduces vibration and substitute conventional reinforcement which help in improving the economic efficiency of the construction. The objective of this work is to find the regression model to determine the response surface of mix proportioning Steel Fiber Reinforced Self Compacting Concrete (SFSCC) using statistical investigation. A total of 30 mixtures were designed and analyzed based on Design of Experiment (DOE). The fresh properties of SCC and mechanical properties of concrete were studied using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The results were analyzed by limited proportion of fly ash, fiber, volume combination ratio of two steel fibers with aspect ratio of 50/35: 60/30 and super plasticizer (SP) dosage. The center composite designs (CCD) have selected to produce the response in quadratic equation. The model responses included in the primary stage were flowing ability, filling ability, passing ability and segregation index whereas in harden stage of concrete, compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength at 28 days were tested. In this paper, the regression model and the response surface plots have been discussed, and optimal results were found for all the responses.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제6권5호
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• pp.515-537
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• 2014

Current seismic codes (e.g. the NTC08 Italian code and the EC8 European code) adopt a performance-based approach for both the design of new buildings and the assessment of existing ones. Different limit states are considered by verifying structural members as well as non structural elements and facilities which have generally been neglected in practice. The key role of non structural elements on building performance has been shown by recent earthquakes (e.g. L'Aquila 2009) where, due to the extensive damage suffered by infills, partitions and ceilings, a lot of private and public buildings became unusable with consequent significant socio-economic effects. Furthermore, the collapse of infill panels, particularly in the case of out-of-plane failure, represented a serious source of risk to life safety. This paper puts forward an infill model capable of accounting for the effects arising from prior in-plane damage on the out-of-plane capacity of infill panels. It permits an assessment of the seismic performance of existing RC buildings with reference to both structural and non structural elements, as well as of their mutual interaction. The model is applied to a building type with RC framed structure designed only to vertical loads and representative of typical Italian buildings. The influence of infill on building performance and the role of the out-of-plane response on structural response are also discussed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.53-75
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• 2015

This paper provides an overview of the role of membranes in bioelectrochemical systems (BESs). Bioelectrochemical systems harvest clean energy from waste organic sources by employing indigenous exoelectrogenic bacteria. This energy is extracted in the form of bioelectricity or valuable biofuels such as ethanol, methane, hydrogen, and hydrogen peroxide. Various types of membranes were applied in these systems, the most common membrane being the cation exchange membrane. In this paper, we discuss three major bioelectrochemical technology research areas namely microbial fuel cells (MFCs), microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) and microbial desalination cells (MDCs). The operation principles of these BESs, role of membranes in these systems and various factors that affect their performance and economics are discussed in detail. Among the three technologies, the MFCs may be functional with or without membranes as separators while the MECs and MDCs require membrane separators. The preliminary economic analysis shows that the capital and operational costs for BESs will significantly decrease in the future due mainly to differences in membrane costs. Currently, MECs appear to be cost-competitive and energy-yielding technology followed by MFCs. Future research endeavors should focus on maximizing the process benefits while simultaneously minimizing the membrane costs related to fouling, maintenance and replacement.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.135-146
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• 2020

In developing countries especially in African continent, rapid population growth in cities is a major concern. Majority of governments in Africa have made more effort to develop urban areas as compared to the rural ones. Social and economic activities are more concentrated in urban areas. This is a pushing factor for the rapid population growth in cities as many people, especially young generation, tend to migrate from rural to urban. This growth leads to excessive exploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation and increased pressure on social services. Rapid increased population acts as an encouragement to construct smart cities for achieving needs for present and future generations. Tanzania as one of the developing countries in Africa has taken initiatives in establishing smart cities. The aim of this study therefore, is to examine opportunities and challenges in the development of Smart cities in Tanzania with a case study of Mbeya city. In addition, conceptualization about development of smart cities is proposed to prioritize the planning of smart grid among other smart city infrastructure systems. Conclusively, Mbeya city has a full potential of many strengths and opportunities for successful development as a smart city.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.85-100
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• 2020

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are essential for coping with growing multiple energy demands. A microgrid (MG) is a small-scale version of the power system which makes possible the integration of DERs as well as achieving maximum demand-side management utilization. Hence, this study focuses on the analysis of optimal power dispatch considering economic aspects in a multi-carrier microgrid (MCMG) with price-responsive loads. This paper proposes a novel time-based demand-side management in order to reshape the load curve, as well as preventing the excessive use of energy in peak hours. In conventional studies, energy consumption is optimized from the perspective of each infrastructure user without considering the interactions. Here, the interaction of energy system infrastructures is considered in the presence of energy storage systems (ESSs), small-scale energy resources (SSERs), and responsive loads. Simulations are performed using GAMS (General Algebraic modeling system) to model MCMG, which are connected to the electricity, natural gas, and district heat networks for supplying multiple energy demands. Results show that the simultaneous operation of various energy carriers, as well as utilization of price-responsive loads, lead to better MCMG performance and decrease operating costs for smart distribution grids. This model is examined on a typical MCMG, and the effectiveness of the proposed model is proven.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.1-14
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• 2015

China accounts for nearly half of the global steel production. As a waste material or a by-product in the manufacture process, a large amount of blast furnace slag is generated every year. The majority of recycled blast furnace slag is used as an additive in low-grade blended cement in China (equivalent to the UK CEM II or CEM III depending on the slag content). The cost of using ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in such low-grade applications may not be entirely reimbursed based on market research. This paper reports an on-going project at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) which investigates the feasibility of using GGBS in long-span concrete structures by avoiding/reducing the use of crack control reinforcement. Based on a case study investigation, with up to 50% of CEM I cement replaced with GGBS, a beneficiary effect of reduced thermal contraction is achieved in long-span concrete slabs with no significant detrimental effect on early-age strengths. It is believed that this finding may be transferable from China to other Asian countries with similar climates and economic/environmental concerns.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제6권3호
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• pp.255-268
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• 2019

Civil infrastructures, such as bridges and tunnels are most important assets and their failure during service will have significant economic and social impact in any country. Behavior of a bridge can be evaluated only through actual monitoring/measurements of bridge members under the loads of interest. Theoretical analysis alone is not a good predictor of the ability of a bridge. In some cases, theoretical analyses can give less effect than actual since theoretical analyses do not consider the actual condition of the bridge, support conditions, level of corrosion and damage in members and connections etc. Hence actual measurements of bridge response should be considered in making decisions on structural integrity, especially in cases of high value bridges (large spans and major crossings). This paper describes in detail the experimental investigations carried out on an open web type steel railway bridge. Strain gages and displacement transducers were installed at critical locations and responses were measured during passage of locomotives. Stresses were evaluated and extrapolated to maximum design loading. The responses measured from the bridge were within the permissible limits. The methodology adopted shall be used for assessing the structural integrity of the bridge for the design loads.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제77권3호
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• pp.417-439
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• 2021

The geometric nonlinearity has been successfully integrated with the design of steel structural system. Thus, the tubular lattice girder, one application of steel structural systems have already been optimized to obtain an economic design following the completion of computationally expensive design procedure. In order to decrease its computing cost, this study proposes to employ five multi-objective metaheuristics for the design optimization of geometrically nonlinear tubular lattice girder. Then, the employed multi-objective optimization algorithms (MOAs), NSGAII, PESAII, SPEAII, AbYSS and MoCell are evaluated considering their computing performances. For an unbiased evaluation of their computing performance, a tubular lattice girder with varying size-shape-topology and a benchmark truss design with 17 members are not only optimized considering the geometrically nonlinear behavior, but three benchmark mathematical functions along with the four benchmark linear design problems are also included for the comparison purpose. The proposed experimental study is carried out by use of an intelligent optimization tool named JMetal v5.10. According to the quantitative results of employed quality indicators with respect to a statistical analysis test, MoCell is resulted with an achievement of showing better computing performance compared to other four MOAs. Consequently, MoCell is suggested as an optimization tool for the design of geometrically nonlinear tubular lattice girder than the other employed MOAs.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.305-321
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• 2022

Bridge structural health monitoring with the aim of continuously assessing structural safety and reliability represents a topic of major importance for worldwide infrastructure managers. In the last two decades, due to their potential economic and operational advantages, drive-by approaches experienced growing consideration from researcher and engineers. This work addresses two technical topics regarding indirect frequency estimation methods: bridge and vehicle dynamics overlapping, and bridge expansion joints impact. The experimental campaign was conducted on a mixed multi-span bridge located in Lombardy using a Ford Galaxy instrumented with a mesh of wireless accelerometers. The onboard time series were acquired for a number of 10 passages over the bridge,performed at a travelling speed of 30 km/h, with no limitations imposed to traffic. Exploiting an ad-hoc sensors positioning, pitch vehicle motion was compensated, allowing to estimate the first two bridge bending frequencies from PSD functions; moreover, the herein adopted approach proved to be insensitive to joints disturbance. Conclusively, a sensitivity study has been conducted to trace the relationship between estimation accuracy and number of trips considered in the analysis. Promising results were found, pointing out a clear positive correlation especially for the first bending frequency.