• Wind and Structures
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.61-78
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• 2005

This paper presents results from an investigation of the structural behaviour of a very slender 90 m high steel chimney erected at V$\ddot{a}$xj$\ddot{o}$ in southern Sweden in 1995. The chimney is equipped with a mechanical friction-type damper at the top. Due to a mistake during erection and installation of the chimney the transport fixings of the damper were not released properly and the chimney developed extensive oscillations in the very first period of service. This caused a great number of fatigue cracks to occur within a few months of service. After the functioning of the damper had been restored and the fatigue cracks were repaired an extensive program was initiated in 1996 to monitor the structural behaviour of the chimney under wind loading. In the investigation data were collected for more than six years of continuous measurements and regular observations of the chimney. The data obtained have some general relevance with respect to wind data, behaviour of a slender structure under wind loading, and the effect of a mechanical damper. Also some theoretical studies were performed as part of the investigation of the chimney.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.469-477
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• 2013

In order to investigate the influence of feed water inequity on the settling performance for parallel arranged upflow sedimentation basin in domestic G_WTP(Water Treatment Plant), CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation were employed and ADV(Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter) measurements were carried out. From the results of both CFD simulations and ADV measurements, the differences among inlet flow rates to each inlet structure make turbulent energy dissipation uneven overall sedimentation basin. Especially local velocities in the near of both side wall were observed over the design overflow rate(74.4 mm/min). Also, it was confirmed that this inequity of inlet flow would exert an serious influence on the turbidity of settled water which is out from 8 troughs. Even though experimental velocities in full scale basin about 20% higher than the simulated, the results of ADV measurement were in good accordance with those of CFD simulations.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.303-315
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• 1998

Full-scale measurements have been made to determine the increase in wind speed over two exposed embankments, one of $23^{\circ}$ slope and 4.7 m in height, the other of $24^{\circ}$ slope and 7.3 m in height. Measurements were made at heights of 5, 10 and 15 m above the upper edge of each embankment and at the same heights approximately 100 m upwind in the lower-level approach fetch. Despite the modest sizes of the embankments, the maximum recorded increase in mean wind speed was 28% and the minimum was 13%; these increase relate to increases in wind loads on structures erected at the top of the embankments of 64% and 28% respectively. The associated increases in gust speeds are estimated at 33% and 18%, which imply increases in gust loading of 77% and 39% respectively. These experimental results are compared with predictions obtained from a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, using three high Reynolds number eddy-viscosity models and estimates from the UK wind loading code, BS 6399: Part 2. The CFD results are generally in agreement with the experimental data, although near-ground effects on the embankment crest are poorly reproduced.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.365-386
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• 2013

Monitoring systems currently applied to concrete bridges include strain gauges, inclinometers, accelerometers and displacement transducers. In general, vertical displacements are one of the parameters that more often need to be assessed because their information reflects the overall response of the bridge span. However, the implementation of systems to continuously and directly observe vertical displacements is known to be difficult. On the other hand, strain gauges and inclinometers are easier to install, but their measurements provide no more than indirect information regarding the bridge deflection. In this context, taking advantage of the information collected through strain gauges and inclinometers, and the processing capabilities of current computers, a procedure to evaluate bridge girder deflections based on polynomial functions is presented. The procedure has been implemented in an existing software system - MENSUSMONITOR -, improving the flexibility in the data handling and enabling faster data processing by means of real time visualization capabilities. Benefiting from these features, a comprehensive analysis aiming at assessing the suitability of polynomial functions as an approximate solution for deflection curves, is presented. The effect of boundary conditions and the influence of the order of the polynomial functions on the accuracy of results are discussed. Some recommendations for further instrumentation plans are provided based on the results of the present analysis. This work is supported throughout by monitoring data collected from a laboratory beam model and two full-scale bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.663-679
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• 2009

The use of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometers in geotechnical instrumentation is relatively new but on the rise. This paper describes a new MEMS-based system for in situ deformation and vibration monitoring. The system has been developed in an effort to combine recent advances in the miniaturization of sensors and electronics with an established wireless infrastructure for on-line geotechnical monitoring. The concept is based on triaxial MEMS accelerometer measurements of static acceleration (angles relative to gravity) and dynamic accelerations. The dynamic acceleration sensitivity range provides signals proportional to vibration during earthquakes or construction activities. This MEMS-based in-place inclinometer system utilizes the measurements to obtain three-dimensional (3D) ground acceleration and permanent deformation profiles up to a depth of one hundred meters. Each sensor array or group of arrays can be connected to a wireless earth station to enable real-time monitoring as well as remote sensor configuration. This paper provides a technical assessment of MEMS-based in-place inclinometer systems for geotechnical instrumentation applications by reviewing the sensor characteristics and providing small- and full-scale laboratory calibration tests. A description and validation of recorded field data from an instrumented unstable slope in California is also presented.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.6 no.3
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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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1485-1494
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• 2023

The bow of the nuclear fuel assembly is a well-known phenomenon. One of the vital criteria during the history of nuclear fuel development has been fuel assembly's mechanical stability. Once present, the fuel assembly bow can lead to safety issues like excessive water gap and power redistribution or even incomplete rod insertion (IRI). The extensive bow can result in assembly handling and loading problems. This is why the fuel assembly's bow is one of the most often controlled geometrical factors during periodic fuel inspections for VVER when compared e.g. to on-site fuel rod gap measurements or other instrumental measurements performed on-site. Our proposed screening method uses existing video records for fuel inspection. We establish video frames normalization and aggregation for the purposes of bow measurement. The whole process is done by digital image processing algorithms which analyze rotations of video frames, extract angles whose source is the fuel set torsion, and reconstruct torsion schema. This approach provides results comparable to the commonly utilized method. We tested this new approach in real operation on 19 fuel assemblies with different campaign numbers and designs, where the average deviation from other methods was less than 2 % on average. Due to the fact, that the method has not yet been validated during full scale measurements of the fuel inspection, the preliminary results stand for that we recommend this method as a complementary part of standard bow measurement procedures to increase measurement robustness, lower time consumption and preserve or increase accuracy. After completed validation it is expected that the proposed method allows standalone fuel assembly bow measurements.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2024

Drift angle is a significant index for diagnosing post-event structures. A common way to estimate this drift response is by using modal parameters identified under natural excitations. Although the modal parameters of shear structures cannot be identified accurately in the real environment, the identification error has little impact on the estimation when measurements from several floors are used. However, the estimation accuracy falls dramatically when there is only one accelerometer. This paper describes the susceptibility of single sensor identification to modelling error and simulations that preliminarily verified this characteristic. To make a robust evaluation from measurements of one floor of shear structures based on imprecisely identified parameters, a novel scheme is devised to approximately correct the mode shapes with respect to fictitious frequencies generated with a genetic algorithm; in particular, the scheme uses constrained minimization to take both the mathematical aspect and the realistic aspect of the mode shapes into account. The algorithm was validated by using a full-scale shear building. The differences between single-sensor and multiple-sensor estimations were analyzed. It was found that, as the number of accelerometers decreases, the error rises due to insufficient data and becomes very high when there is only one sensor. Moreover, when measurements for only one floor are available, the proposed method yields more precise and appropriate mode shapes, leading to a better estimation on the drift angle of the lower floors compared with a method designed for multiple sensors. As well, it is shown that the reduction in space complexity is offset by increasing the computation complexity.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.230-237
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• 2021

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss is a well-known occupational disease that affects many fish harvesters from many fisheries worldwide, whose risk factor is prolonged exposure to hazardous noise levels. To date, academic research activities and regulatory bodies have not provided any comparative analysis among the existing methods to assess noise exposure levels of fish harvesters. This paper provides a comparison of four relevant assessment methods of noise exposure, examining the results of a measurement campaign performed onboard small fishing vessels from Newfoundland and Labrador. Methods: We traveled onboard 11 vessels engaged in multiple fisheries from Newfoundland and Labrador and performed extensive noise exposure surveys using the simplified International Maritime Organization method, the full-day measurement method, and the two methods provided by ISO 9612:2009, the task-based method and job-based method (JBM). Results: The results showed that the four methods yield similar values when the noise components are dominated by the engine and auxiliaries (steady-state sources); when noise components are dominated by the fishing gear, task-based method and the simplified International Maritime Organization method estimates are less accurate than JBM, using full-day measurements as baseline. Conclusion: The JBM better assesses noise exposure in small-scale fisheries, where noise exposure has significant variance and uncertainties on the exposure levels are higher.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.285-300
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• 2011

Researchers at the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC), Florida International University (FIU), are working in stages on the construction of a large state-of-the-art Wall of Wind (WoW) facility to support research in the area of Wind Engineering. In this paper, the challenges of simulating hurricane winds for the WoW are presented and investigated based on a scale model study. Three wind profiles were simulated using airfoils, and/or adjustable planks mechanism with and without grids. Evaluations of flow characteristics were performed in order to enhance the WoW's flow simulation capabilities. Characteristics of the simulated wind fields are compared to the results obtained from a study using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and also validated via pressure measurements on small-scale models of the Silsoe cube building. Optimal scale of the test model and its optimal distance from the WoW contraction exit are determined - which are two important aspects for testing using an open jet facility such as the WoW. The main objective of this study is to further the understanding of the WoW capabilities and the characteristics of its test section by means of intensive tests and validations at small scale in order to apply this knowledge to the design of the full-scale WoW and for future wind engineering testing.