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Discussion of “Estimation of one-dimensional velocity distribution by measuring velocity at two points” by Yeganeh and Heidari (2020)
No full textThe concept of information entropy together with the principle of maximum entropy to open channel flow is essentially based on some physical consideration of the problem under consideration. This paper is a discussion on Yeganeh and Heidari (2020)’s paper, who proposed a new approach for measuring vertical distribution of streamwise velocity in open channels. The discussers argue that their approach is conceptually incorrect and thus leads to a physically unrealistic situation. In addition, the discussers found some wrong mathematical expressions (which are assumed to be typos) written in the paper, and also point out that the authors did not cite some of the original papers on the topic
A comparison between advanced hybrid machine learning algorithms and empirical equations applied to abutment scour depth prediction
No full textComplex vortex flow patterns around bridge piers, especially during floods, cause scour process that can result in the failure of foundations. Abutment scour is a complex three-dimensional phenomenon that is difficult to predict especially with traditional formulas obtained using empirical approaches such as regressions. This paper presents a test of a standalone Kstar model with five novel hybrid algorithm of bagging (BA-Kstar), dagging (DA-Kstar), random committee (RC-Kstar), random subspace (RS-Kstar), and weighted instance handler wrapper (WIHWKstar) to predict scour depth (ds) for clear water condition. The dataset consists of 99 scour depth data from flume experiments (Dey and Barbhuiya, 2005) using abutment shapes such as vertical, semicircular and 45◦ wing. Four dimensionless parameter of relative flow depth (h/l), excess abutment Froude number (Fe), relative sediment size (d50/l) and relative submergence (d50/h) were considered for the prediction of relative scour depth (ds/l). A portion of the dataset was used for the calibration (70%), and the remaining used for model validation. Pearson correlation coefficients helped deciding relevance of the input parameters combination and finally four different combinations of input parameters were used. The performance of the models was assessed visually and with quantitative metrics. Overall, the best input combination for vertical abutment shape is the combination of Fe, d50/l and h/l, while for semicircular and 45◦ wing the combination of the Fe and d50/l is the most effective input parameter combination. Our results show that incorporating Fe, d50/l and h/l lead to higher performance while involving d50/h reduced the models prediction power for vertical abutment shape and for semicircular and 45◦ wing involving h/l and d50/h lead to more error. The WIHW-Kstar provided the highest performance in scour depth prediction around vertical abutment shape while RC-Kstar model outperform of other models for scour depth prediction around semicircular and 45◦ wing
Reinterpreting Marzahn, Berlin & Petržalka, Bratislava: From Process of State Socialist Utopia to Utopia of State Capitalist Process
No full textHousing estates were fundamentally conceived upon state socialist utopia ideas to provide standard housing for citizens. While former state socialist housing estates have been extensively researched in the field of architecture, urban and sociology studies, there is still a gap in identifying how production processes affect morphological changes during the post-socialist era. This thesis compares the processes in the production of the largest housing estates of Marzahn in GDR and Petržalka in Czechoslovakia from 1970 to 1989 through contextual analysis of primary and secondary sources, which include visual maps, diagrams from professional architecture and planning journals, government documents and textbooks, as well as academic journals, books and newspaper articles. Then it discusses how these processes inadvertently created conducive conditions affecting their development in the market economy after 1989. It then interprets the results through application of Actor-Network Theory and Historical Institutionalism, while conceptualising them through David Harvey’s dialectical utopianism theory. Harvey (2000) delineates two types of utopia, one of spatial form and one of process. The former refers to materialised ideals in physical forms whereas the latter refers to the ongoing process of spatializing. The thesis aims to show how the production of Marzahn in GDR was more path dependent on policies established in 1950s and 1960s whereas Petržalka was a product of new Czechoslovakian policies in 1970s, changing aspects of the urban planning process, a manifestation of a more emphatic technocratic thinking on a wider scale. This ultimately influences the trajectories of development after 1989, showing more effects in Petržalka
Dual-horizon peridynamics and Nonlocal operator method
No full textIn the last two decades, Peridynamics (PD) attracts much attention in the field of fracture mechanics. One key feature of PD is the nonlocality, which is quite different from the ideas in conventional methods such as FEM and meshless method. However, conventional PD suffers from problems such as constant horizon, explicit algorithm, hourglass mode. In this thesis, by examining the nonlocality with scrutiny, we proposed several new concepts such as dual-horizon (DH) in PD, dual-support (DS) in smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), nonlocal operators and operator energy functional. The conventional PD (SPH) is incorporated in the DH-PD (DS-SPH), which can adopt an inhomogeneous discretization and inhomogeneous support domains. The DH-PD (DS-SPH) can be viewed as some fundamental improvement on the conventional PD (SPH). Dual formulation of PD and SPH allows h-adaptivity while satisfying the conservations of linear momentum, angular momentum and energy. By developing the concept of nonlocality further, we introduced the nonlocal operator method as a generalization of DH-PD. Combined with energy functional of various physical models, the nonlocal forms based on dual-support concept are derived. In addition, the variation of the energy functional allows implicit formulation of the nonlocal theory. At last, we developed the higher order nonlocal operator method which is capable of solving higher order partial differential equations on arbitrary domain in higher dimensional space. Since the concepts are developed gradually, we described our findings chronologically.
In chapter 2, we developed a DH-PD formulation that includes varying horizon sizes and solves the "ghost force" issue. The concept of dual-horizon considers the unbalanced interactions between the particles with different horizon sizes. The present formulation fulfills both the balances of linear momentum and angular momentum exactly with arbitrary particle discretization. All three peridynamic formulations, namely bond based, ordinary state based and non-ordinary state based peridynamics can be implemented within the DH-PD framework. A simple adaptive refinement procedure (h-adaptivity) is proposed reducing the computational cost. Both two- and three- dimensional examples including the Kalthoff-Winkler experiment and plate with branching cracks are tested to demonstrate the capability of the method.
In chapter 3, a nonlocal operator method (NOM) based on the variational principle is proposed for the solution of waveguide problem in computational electromagnetic field. Common differential operators as well as the variational forms are defined within the context of nonlocal operators. The present nonlocal formulation allows the assembling of the tangent stiffness matrix with ease, which is necessary for the eigenvalue analysis of the waveguide problem. The present formulation is applied to solve 1D Schrodinger equation, 2D electrostatic problem and the differential electromagnetic vector wave equations based on electric fields.
In chapter 4, a general nonlocal operator method is proposed which is applicable for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) of mechanical problems. The nonlocal operator can be regarded as the integral form, ``equivalent'' to the differential form in the sense of a nonlocal interaction model. The variation of a nonlocal operator plays an equivalent role as the derivatives of the shape functions in the meshless methods or those of the finite element method. Based on the variational principle, the residual and the tangent stiffness matrix can be obtained with ease. The nonlocal operator method is enhanced here also with an operator energy functional to satisfy the linear consistency of the field. A highlight of the present method is the functional derived based on the nonlocal operator can convert the construction of residual and stiffness matrix into a series of matrix multiplications using the predefined nonlocal operators. The nonlocal strong forms of different functionals can be obtained easily via the concept of support and dual-support. Several numerical examples of different types of PDEs are presented.
In chapter 5, we extended the NOM to higher order scheme by using a higher order Taylor series expansion of the unknown field. Such a higher order scheme improves the original NOM in chapter 3 and chapter 4, which can only achieve one-order convergence. The higher order NOM obtains all partial derivatives with specified maximal order simultaneously without resorting to shape functions. The functional based on the nonlocal operators converts the construction of residual and stiffness matrix into a series of matrix multiplication on the nonlocal operator matrix. Several numerical examples solved by strong form or weak form are presented to show the capabilities of this method.
In chapter 6, the NOM proposed as a particle-based method in chapter 3,4,5, has difficulty in imposing accurately the boundary conditions of various orders. In this paper, we converted the particle-based NOM into a scheme with interpolation property. The new scheme describes partial derivatives of various orders at a point by the nodes in the support and takes advantage of the background mesh for numerical integration. The boundary conditions are enforced via the modified variational principle. The particle-based NOM can be viewed a special case of NOM with interpolation property when nodal integration is used. The scheme based on numerical integration greatly improves the stability of the method, as a consequence, the operator energy functional in particle-based NOM is not required. We demonstrated the capabilities of current method by solving the gradient solid problems and comparing the numerical results with the available exact solutions.
In chapter 7, we derived the DS-SPH in solid within the framework of variational principle. The tangent stiffness matrix of SPH can be obtained with ease, and can be served as the basis for the present implicit SPH. We proposed an hourglass energy functional, which allows the direct derivation of hourglass force and hourglass tangent stiffness matrix. The dual-support is {involved} in all derivations based on variational principles and is automatically satisfied in the assembling of stiffness matrix. The implementation of stiffness matrix comprises with two steps, the nodal assembly based on deformation gradient and global assembly on all nodes. Several numerical examples are presented to validate the method
Vibration-based Monitoring of Concrete Catenary Poles using Bayesian Inference
No full textThis work presents a robust status monitoring approach for detecting damage in cantilever structures based on logistic functions. Also, a stochastic damage identification approach based on changes of eigenfrequencies is proposed. The proposed algorithms are verified using catenary poles of electrified railways track. The proposed damage features overcome the limitation of frequency-based damage identification methods available in the literature, which are valid to detect damage in structures to Level 1 only. Changes in eigenfrequencies of cantilever structures are enough to identify possible local damage at Level 3, i.e., to cover damage detection, localization, and quantification. The proposed algorithms identified the damage with relatively small errors, even at a high noise level
Photocatalytic ozonation in an immersion rotary body reactor for the removal of micro-pollutants from the effluent of wastewater treatment plants
No full textCarrier-bound titanium dioxide catalysts were used in a photocatalytic ozonation reactor for the degradation of micro-pollutants in real wastewater. A photocatalytic immersion rotary body reactor with a 36-cm disk diameter was used, and was irradiated using UV-A light-emitting diodes. The rotating disks were covered with catalysts based on stainless steel grids coated with titanium dioxide. The dosing of ozone was carried out through the liquid phase via an external enrichment and a supply system transverse to the flow direction. The influence of irradiation power and ozone dose on the degradation rate for photocatalytic ozonation was investigated. In addition, the performance of the individual processes photocatalysis and ozonation were studied. The degradation kinetics of the parent compounds were determined using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. First-order kinetics were determined for photocatalysis and photocatalytic ozonation. A maximum reaction rate of the reactor was determined, which could be achieved by both photocatalysis and photocatalytic ozonation. At a dosage of 0.4 mg /mg DOC, the maximum reaction rate could be achieved using 75% of the irradiation power used for sole photocatalysis, allowing increases in the energetic efficiency of photocatalytic wastewater treatment processes. The process of photocatalytic ozonation is suitable to remove a wide spectrum of micro-pollutants from wastewater
Optimization and semi-automatic evaluation of a frosting process for a soda lime silicate glass based on phosphoric acid
No full textChemical glass frosting processes are widely used to create visual attractive glass surfaces. A commonly used frosting bath mainly contains ammonium bifluoride (NH4HF2) mixed with hydrochloric acid (HCl). The frosting process consists of several baths. Firstly, the preliminary bath to clean the object. Secondly, the frosting bath which etches the rough light scattering structure into the glass surface. Finally, the washing baths to clean the frosted object. This is where the constituents of the preceding steps accumulate and have to be filtered from the sewage. In the present contribution, phosphoric acid (H3PO4) was used as a substitute for HCl to reduce the amount of ammonium (NH4+) and chloride (Cl−) dissolved in the waste water. In combination with magnesium carbonate (MgCO3), it allows the precipitation of ammonium within the sewage as ammonium magnesium phosphate (MgNH4PO4). However, a trivial replacement of HCl by H3PO4 within the frosting process causes extensive frosting errors, such as inhomogeneous size distributions of the structures or domains that are not fully covered by these structures. By modifying the preliminary bath composition, it was possible to improve the frosting result considerably. To determine the optimal composition of the preliminary bath, a semi-automatic evaluation method has been developed. This method renders the objective comparison of the resulting surface quality possible
Mathematical Modelling by Help of Category Theory: Models and Relations between Them
No full textThe growing complexity of modern practical problems puts high demand on mathematical modelling. Given that various models can be used for modelling one physical phenomenon, the role of model comparison and model choice is becoming particularly important. Methods for model comparison and model choice typically used in practical applications nowadays are computationbased, and thus time consuming and computationally costly. Therefore, it is necessary to develop other approaches to working abstractly, i.e., without computations, with mathematical models. An abstract description of mathematical models can be achieved by the help of abstract mathematics, implying formalisation of models and relations between them. In this paper, a category theory-based approach to mathematical modelling is proposed. In this way, mathematical models are formalised in the language of categories, relations between the models are formally defined and several practically relevant properties are introduced on the level of categories. Finally, an illustrative example is presented, underlying how the category-theory based approach can be used in practice. Further, all constructions presented in this paper are also discussed from a modelling point of view by making explicit the link to concrete modelling scenarios
Natural Urban Resilience: Understanding general urban resilience through Addis Ababa’s inner city
No full textThis dissertation describes the urban actors and spatial practices that contribute to natural urban resilience in Addis Ababa’s inner city. Natural urban resilience is a non-strategical and bottom-up, everyday form of general urban resilience – an urban system’s ability to maintain its essential characteristics under any change. This study gains significance by exposing conceptual gaps in the current un-derstanding of general urban resilience and highlighting its unconvincing applicability to African cities. This study attains further relevance by highlighting the danger of the ongoing large-scale redevelopment of the inner city. The inner city has naturally formed, and its urban memory, spaces, and social cohesion contribute to its primarily low-income population’s resilience. This thesis argues that the inner city’s demolition poses an incalculable risk of maladaptation to future stresses and shocks for Addis Ababa. The city needs a balanced urban discourse that highlights the inner city’s qualities and suggests feasible urban transformation measures. “Natural Urban Resilience” contributes an empirical study to the debate by identifying those aspects of the inner city that contribute to general resilience and identifies feasible action areas. This study develops a qualitative research design for a single case study in Addis Ababa. The data is obtained through expert interviews, interviews with resi-dents, and the analysis of street scene photos, which are abstracted using Grounded Theory. That way, this thesis provides first-time knowledge about who and what generates urban resilience in the inner city of Addis Ababa and how. Furthermore, the study complements existing theories on general urban resilience. It provides a detailed understanding of the change mechanisms in resilience, of which it identifies four: adaptation, upgrading, mitigation, and resistance. It also adapts the adaptive cycle, a widely used concept in resilience thinking, conceptually for urban environments. The study concludes that the inner city’s continued redevelopment poses an incalculable threat to the entire city. Therefore, “Natural urban resilience” recommends carefully weighing any intervention in the inner city to promote Addis Ababa’s overall resilience. This dissertation proposes a pattern language for natural urban resilience to support these efforts and to translate the model of natural urban resilience into practice
Denkmalzugänge zwischen Abgrenzen, Genießen, Erinnern und Teilhaben
No full textDie interdisziplinäre Dissertationsschrift lässt sich im Horizont internationaler Forschungen zu Denkmalwerten, neuer Ansätze in der Kultur- und Wissensvermittlung rund um Baudenkmale sowie künstlerisch- ethnographischem Forschen an und mit Denkmalen verorten.
Der erste Teil der Arbeit widmet sich Denkmalen und der Denkmalpflege im Kontext künstlerischer und sozialwissenschaftlicher Allianzen. Ausgangspunkt ist die Feststellung, dass die Denkmalpflege zwar sehr vieles über Denkmale weiß, aber kaum etwas über deren Rezeption beim breiten Publikum. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Frage, wie hier Praktiken der bildenden Kunst und Arbeitsweisen der Kulturanthropologie die Disziplin der Denkmalpflege bereichern können, oder sogar müssen.
Den zweiten Teil bildet eine empirische Studie, in der die populäre Wahrnehmung von Denkmalen qualitativ erforscht wird. Das Schloss und Rittergut Bedheim im südlichen ländlichen Thüringen dient dabei als konkreter Untersuchungsort. Reaktionen von Besucherinnen und Besuchern werden mit Hilfe von drei künstlerischen Eingriffen angeregt und diese dann ethnographisch-offen dokumentiert und ausgewertet.
Auf dieser Basis werden Zugänge zum Denkmal ermittelt. Während die meisten BesucherInnen das Denkmal als „Arbeit“ wahrnehmen, geraten einige ins „Träumen“ oder „Erinnern“, man „genießt“ das Ensemble als authentische und ästhetische Ressource, oder findet Zugang über das spontane „Erklären“ baukonstruktiver oder baulicher Situationen. Für andere bedeutet der Besuch die „Teilhabe“ an einem Prozess. Schloss Bedheim wird als Ort stetiger Veränderung geschätzt. In der Wahrnehmung der BesucherInnen verquicken sich Aspekte des Bewunderns mit solchen des Abgrenzens. Die eigene Alltagswelt und das eigene Zuhause bilden hierbei Bezugspunkte. Schloss Bedheim wird auf diese Weise zum Imaginationsraum, zur Energietankstelle und zur gern besuchten Problemwelt.
Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit liegen in zwei Erkenntnisfeldern: Auf einer methodischen Ebene zeigt sie, wie in der Denkmalpflege vertiefte Fachlichkeit mit einer tatsächlichen Kontaktaufnahme mit dem Publikum verbunden werden kann und damit soziale Gefüge an Baudenkmalen qualitativ ermittelt werden können. Ebenso wird deutlich, dass künstlerische Eingriffe Auslöser von Gesprächen sind, als Kontaktflächen zur Alltagswelt dienen und so zu einer vielfältigen Auseinandersetzung mit Denkmalen führen.
Auf einer inhaltlichen Ebene liefert die Arbeit Erkenntnisse zu Wahrnehmungsweisen von Denkmalen. Neben den erwähnten Zugängen, wird die Existenz und Bedeutung einer regional vernetzten Wahrnehmung von Denkmalen aufgedeckt. Des Weiteren zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass das Öffnen von Baudenkmalen als und im Prozess ungenutzte Potentiale birgt und es wird angeregt, dies in zukünftigen denkmalpflegerischen Konzepten eine größere Rolle spielen zu lassen. Die Vision eines „Kompendiums der Zugänge“ wird entwickelt, mit dessen Hilfe sich ein enormes Wissen über Rollen und Bedeutungen die Baudenkmale in unserer Gesellschaft spielen, sammeln ließe