• Advances in environmental research
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.19-33
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• 2013

Microalgae are receiving an increasing attention because of their potential use as $CO_2$ capture method and/or as feedstock for biofuels production. On the other hand the current microalgae-based technology is still not widespread since it is characterized by technical and economic constraints that hinder its full scale-up. In such contest the growth kinetics of Nannochloris eucaryotum (a relatively unknown marine strain) in batch and semi-batch photobioreactors is quantitatively investigated with the aim of obtaining the corresponding kinetic parameters suitable for process engineering and its optimization. In particular the maximum growth rate was evaluated to be 1.99 $10^{-3}\;h^{-1}$. Half saturation concentrations for nitrates ($K_N$) and phosphates uptake ($K_P$) were evaluated as 5.4 $10^{-4}\;g_N\;L^{-1}$ and 2.5 $10^{-5}\;g_P\;L^{-1}$, respectively. Yield factors for nitrogen ($Y_N$) and phosphorus ($Y_P$) resulted to be 5.9 $10^{-2}\;g_N\;g^{-1}$ biomass and 6.0 $10^{-3}\;g_P\;g^{-1}{_{biomass}}$, respectively. The possibility of using 100% (v/v) $CO_2$ gas as carbon source is also evaluated for the first time in the literature as far as N. eucaryotum is concerned. The strain showed a good adaptability to high concentrations of dissolved $CO_2$ as well as to low pH. The lipid content under 100% $CO_2$ is about 16.16 %wt $wt^{-1}$ and the fatty acid methyl esters composition of the extracted oil is in compliance with the European regulation for quality biodiesel.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.853-862
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• 2020

In recent years, due to the many advantages cable-stayed bridges have often constructed in medium and long span. These advantages can be listed as an aesthetically pleasing appearance, economic and easy construction, etc. The main structural elements of cable-stayed bridges are listed as deck, pylon, cables and foundation. Perhaps one of the most vital and expensive of these structural elements is stay-cables. Stay-cables ensure the allowable displacement and distribution of bending moments along the bridge deck with prestressing force. Therefore the optimum design of the stay-cables and prestressing force are very important in achieving the performance expected from the cable-stayed bridges. This paper aims to obtain the stay-cables size and prestressing force optimization of the cable-stayed bridge. For this purpose, single pylon and fan type cable configuration Manavgat Cable-Stayed Bridge was selected as an example. The three dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) of the bridge was created with SAP2000. Analysis of the 3D FEM of the bridge was conducted under the different combined effects of the self-weight of the structural element, prestressing force of stay-cable and live load. Stay-cable stress and deck displacement were taken into account as constraints for the optimization problem. To optimize this existing bridge a metaheuristic algorithm named Jaya was used in the optimization process. 3D FEM of the selected bridge was repeatedly analyzed by using Open Applicable Programming Interface (OAPI) properties of SAP2000. To carry out the optimization process the developed program which integrates the Jaya algorithm and the required codes for calling SAP2000 is coded in MATLAB. At the end of the study, the total weight of the stay-cables was reduced more than 40% according to existing stay cables under loads taken into account.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.95-105
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• 2017

The use of superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) as reinforcements in concrete structures is gradually gaining interest among researchers. Because of different mechanical properties of SMAs compared to the regular steel bars, the use of SMAs as reinforcement in the concrete may change the response of structures under seismic loads. In this study, the effect of SMAs as reinforcement in concrete structures is analytically investigated for 3-, 6- and 8-story reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. For each concrete building, three different reinforcement details are considered: (1) steel reinforcement (Steel) only, (2) SMA bar used in the plastic hinge region of the beams and steel bar in other regions (Steel-SMA), and (3), beams fully reinforced with SMA bar (SMA) and steel bar in other regions. For each case, columns are reinforced with steel bar. Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) are performed using ten different ground motion records to determine the seismic performance of Steel, Steel-SMA and SMA RC buildings. Then fragility curves for each type of RC building by using IDA results for IO, LS and CP performance levels are calculated. Results obtained from the analyses indicate that 3-story frames have approximately the same spectral acceleration corresponding with failure of frames, but in the cases of 6 and 8-story frames, the spectral acceleration is higher in frames equipped with steel reinforcements. Furthermore, the probability of fragility in all frames increases by the building height for all performance levels. Finally, economic evaluation of the three systems are compared.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.277-290
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• 2020

Disasters, including earthquakes and landslides, have enormous economic and social losses besides their impact on environmental disruption. Iran, and particularly its Western part, is known as an earthquake susceptible area due to numerous strong ground motions. Studying ecological changes due to climate change can improve the public and expert sector's awareness and response to future disastrous events. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technologies are appropriate tools for modeling and surface deformation modeling. This paper proposes an efficient approach to detect ground deformation changes using Sentinel-1A. The focal point of this research is to map the ground surface deformation modeling is presented using InSAR technology over Sarpol-e Zahab on 25^th November 2018 as a study case. For surface deformation modeling and detection of the ground movement due to earthquake SARPROZ in MATLAB programming language is used and discussed. Results show that there is a general ground movement due to the Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake between -7 millimeter to +18 millimeter in the study area. This research verified previous researches on the advanced image analysis techniques employed for mapping ground movement, where InSAR provides a reliable tool for assisting engineers and the decision-maker in choosing proper policies in a time of disasters. Based on the result, 574 out of 682 damaged buildings and infrastructures due to the 2017 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake have moved from -2 to +17 mm due to the 2018 earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 Richter. Results show that mountainous areas have suffered land subsidence, where urban areas had land uplift.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제24권6호
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• pp.723-732
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• 2019

Globally road transport networks are subjected to continuous levels of stress from increasing loading and environmental effects. As the most popular mean of transport in the UK the condition of this civil infrastructure is a key indicator of economic growth and productivity. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems can provide a valuable insight to the true condition of our aging infrastructure. In particular, monitoring of the displacement of a bridge structure under live loading can provide an accurate descriptor of bridge condition. In the past B-WIM systems have been used to collect traffic data and hence provide an indicator of bridge condition, however the use of such systems can be restricted by bridge type, assess issues and cost limitations. This research provides a non-contact low cost AI based solution for vehicle classification and associated bridge displacement using computer vision methods. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been adapted to develop the QUBYOLO vehicle classification method from recorded traffic images. This vehicle classification was then accurately related to the corresponding bridge response obtained under live loading using non-contact methods. The successful identification of multiple vehicle types during field testing has shown that QUBYOLO is suitable for the fine-grained vehicle classification required to identify applied load to a bridge structure. The process of displacement analysis and vehicle classification for the purposes of load identification which was used in this research adds to the body of knowledge on the monitoring of existing bridge structures, particularly long span bridges, and establishes the significant potential of computer vision and Deep Learning to provide dependable results on the real response of our infrastructure to existing and potential increased loading.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.239-246
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• 2019

Substitution of natural fine aggregates with industrial by-products like precious slag balls (PS Balls) offers various advantages like technical, economic and environmental which are very important in the present era of sustainability in construction industry. PS balls are manufactured by subjecting steel slag to slag atomizing Technology (SAT) which imparts them the desirable characteristics of fine aggregates. The main objective of this research paper is to assess the feasibility of producing good quality concrete by using PS balls, to identify the potential benefits by their incorporation and to provide solution for increasing their utilization in concrete applications. The study investigates the effect of PS balls as partial replacement of fine aggregates in various percentages (20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%) on mechanical properties of concrete such as compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength. The optimum mix was found to be at 40% replacement of PS balls with maximum strength of 62.89 MPa at 28 days curing. Permeability of concrete was performed and it resulted in a more durable concrete with replacement of PS balls at 40% and 100% as fine aggregates. These two specific values were considered as optimum replacement is 40% and also the maximum possible replacement is 100%. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis was done and it was found that the PS balls in concrete were unaffected and with optimum percentage of PS balls as fine aggregates in concrete resulted in good strength and less cracks. Hence, it is possible to produce good workable concrete with low water to cement ratio and higher strength concrete by incorporating PS balls.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.177-201
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• 2014

With the increased size and flexibility of the tower and blades, structural vibrations are becoming a limiting factor towards the design of even larger and more powerful wind turbines. Research into the use of vibration mitigation devices in the turbine tower has been carried out but the use of dampers in the blades has yet to be investigated in detail. Mitigating vibrations will increase the design life and hence economic viability of the turbine blades and allow for continual operation with decreased downtime. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of Semi-Active Tuned Mass Dampers (STMDs) in reducing the edgewise vibrations in the turbine blades. A frequency tracking algorithm based on the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) technique is used to tune the damper. A theoretical model has been developed to capture the dynamic behaviour of the blades including the coupling with the tower to accurately model the dynamics of the entire turbine structure. The resulting model consists of time dependent equations of motion and negative damping terms due to the coupling present in the system. The performances of the STMDs based vibration controller have been tested under different loading and operating conditions. Numerical analysis has shown that variation in certain parameters of the system, along with the time varying nature of the system matrices has led to the need for STMDs to allow for real-time tuning to the resonant frequencies of the system.

• 청정기술
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.357-364
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• 2018

미세조류 및 거대조류 등 3세대 바이오매스로부터 바이오가스를 생산하는 연구는 다양한 규모의 실험을 통해 수행된 바 있다. 이 논문에서는 3세대 바이오매스 중 거대조류, 즉 해조류 바이오매스로부터 유래된 바이오가스를 이용하는 복합 열병합 발전의 상용화 가능성을 살펴보았다. 이를 위해 고체산화물 연료전지와 가스터빈, 그리고 유기랭킨사이클로 이루어진 산업 스케일의 통합 열병합발전을 상용 공정모사기를 이용하여 설계, 모사하였고, 계산된 열 및 물질수지를 통해 장치의 가격을 추정하고 경제성을 분석하였다. 모사 결과 설계된 열병합발전 공정은 시간당 62.5톤의 건조 갈조류 원료로부터 생산된 36톤의 바이오가스를 이용하여 68.4 MW의 전력을 생산한다. 이 결과를 토대로 다양한 시나리오에 대해 경제적으로 평가하고 균둥화 발전비용(levelized electricity cost, LEC)을 계산하였는데, SOFC의 수명이 5년, 스택 가격이 $$225kW^{-1}$일 때 LEC는 12.26 ¢ $kWh^{-1}$로 기존의 고정 발전과 동등한 수준으로 나타났다.

• 디지털융복합연구
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• 제17권6호
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• pp.185-192
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• 2019

본 연구에서는 일본 기업의 사회적 책임(CSR) 현황을 알아보고 CSR과 관련한 시사점을 제시하기 위하여 CSR을 구성하는 요소들이 기업이미지, 그리고 고객만족과 고객시민행동에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지에 대해 검증하였다. 가설검증을 위해 일본 휴대폰 단말기 시장 점유율 Top 4 인 애플, 소니, 샤프, 쿄세라의 휴대폰을 사용하는 대학생들을 대상으로 설문조사를 시행하여 294부를 대상으로 구조방정식모형 분석을 활용하였다. 분석 결과, 기업의 사회적 책임에서는 네 요인, 경제적 책임, 법적 책임, 윤리적 책임, 자선적 책임이 도출되었으며 윤리적 책임 요인을 제외한 나머지 세 요인은 기업이미지에 긍정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 검증되었다. 또한 기업이미지는 고객만족과 고객시민행동에 모두 긍정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 시사점으로 일본 기업들은 관련 이해관계자들의 CSR에 대한 이해를 돕고 소비자들이 공감할 수 있는 CSR의 수준을 향상시킬 수 있도록 CSR에 대한 체계적인 방안들을 강구할 필요가 있을 것이다.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.333-341
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• 2021

Steel slag, an industrial reject from the steel rolling process, has been identified as one of the suitable, environmentally friendly materials for concrete production. Given that the coarse aggregate portion represents about 70% of concrete constituents, other economic approaches have been found in the use of alternative materials such as steel slag in concrete. Unfortunately, a standard framework for its application is still lacking. Therefore, this study proposed functional model equations for the determination of strength properties (compression and splitting tensile) of steel slag aggregate concrete (SSAC), using gene expression programming (GEP). The study, in the experimental phase, utilized steel slag as a partial replacement of crushed rock, in steps 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%, respectively. The predictor variables included in the analysis were cement, sand, granite, steel slag, water/cement ratio, and curing regime (age). For the model development, 60-75% of the dataset was used as the training set, while the remaining data was used for testing the model. Empirical results illustrate that steel aggregate could be used up to 100% replacement of conventional aggregate, while also yielding comparable results as the latter. The GEP-based functional relations were tested statistically. The minimum absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean square error (RMSE) for compressive strength are 6.9 and 1.4, and 12.52 and 0.91 for the train and test datasets, respectively. With the consistency of both the training and testing datasets, the model has shown a strong capacity to predict the strength properties of SSAC. The results showed that the proposed model equations are reliably suitable for estimating SSAC strength properties. The GEP-based formula is relatively simple and useful for pre-design applications.