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Ambient Vibration Based Model Updating Effects on the Earthquake Response of Tall Buildings
Get PDFThe study investigates ambient vibration based model updating effects on the seismic behaviour of a RC tall building subjected to far and near-fault ground motions. A 17-storey building built in Giresun, Turkey is selected as an application. Firstly, 3D initial finite element model of the selected building is created and determined analytical dynamic characteristics. Then, experimental dynamic characteristics of the building (frequencies, mode shapes, damping ratios) are determined by Operational Modal Analysis Method from the ambient vibration tests. According to experimental results, initial finite element model is calibrated by using boundary conditions and material properties. Initial and calibrated finite element models of the building are analysed under far and near-fault ground motions. The displacements, velocity and accelerations from the analyses are compared with each other
RUBACON Program
Get PDFEnergy, climate change, industrial development and air pollution are critical items on the international agenda. Addressing them in unison creates many win-win opportunities and is crucial for sustainable development.
RUBACON - Resource Utilization for Building And CONstruction is a unit of Arcilla Research that aims to counter climate change and poverty. Our policy is to provide a significant opportunity for communities to recycle their 'waste' materials and create sustainable systems of housing, energy, water and satisfy many other needs at little cost but with high benefit to the environment.
The final materials are neither cements nor ceramics yet offer many of the advantages of both. The chemical inertness, strength, thermal stability, hardness and aesthetic properties of fired ceramics can be obtained. At the same time, curing at ambient temperature, or slightly higher, saves a great deal of energy compared to conventional ceramic production. A further advantage is the ease with which the materials can be shaped either as large flat sheets, hollow beams, contoured shapes, expanded foam structures or fiber-reinforced composites. Their higher strength compared to cement means that thinner, lighter panels or entire structures can be produced. A study at Delft University of Technology, completed in 1988, demonstrated the credibility of this approach. The project, financed by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, made use of secondary resource materials from some 6 countries on 3 continents to produce the test specimens.
The Program includes a group of interrelated projects with the key project, advanced building materials and construction system, at the core. The materials are low to zero carbon and lightweight – gender-sensitive; they may be produced and assembled by women and older children. The construction system is designed to be energy autonomous and stable – providing extremely high resistance to earthquake, storm, fire and flood.
With innovative building technology and a commitment to sustainable development, this paper strives to address these twin problems in both rural and urban settings
Special Considerations in Design of Foundation in Problematic Soils
Get PDFThe ability of a structure to withstand stresses starts from the nature of the soil on which it is built and the suitability of the foundation adopted for the corresponding soil condition. There are different types of problematic soils mostly encountered in practice such as expansive, collapsible and dispersive soils. Expansive soil is highly problematic due to its high rate of swelling and shrinking when they come in contact with moisture. They range from minor cases to severe cases. The minor cases are situations where the depth of the expansive clay is small and the foundation footing can reach beyond it to more stable strata. The severe cases are situations where the expansive clay is considerably deep and would require most preferably the pile foundation. For the purpose of this study, emphasis was placed on the expansive soil. This type of soil is common in North Cyprus due to the nature of its soil and the extremes in its weather conditions. The Haspolat region in the capital Lefkosa was studied. Relevant data such as soil test data, and other documents related to the research subject were obtained and analyzed. A reconnaissance survey was conducted based on an in depth interview with public officials, private sector entities and the inhabitants of Haspolat. Data was obtained from on the spot observation of the site and recorded for analysis.
The extent of the depth of expansive soil in the soil strata required the use of raft foundations design in expansive soils. Its initial cost of construction is high but the maintenance cost of the building is minimal since the foundation resists any movement of the expansive soil which would have caused failure
Historiography of the restorations in Pompeii: from its discovery to the early nineteenth century. Digitization of the recent past to support the transmission of knowledge
Get PDFThe current research activity, carried out within the PhD Architettura: Innovazione e Patrimonio, Consorzio Argonauti, aims to retrace the history of the restoration of the ancient city of Pompeii in a defined period, from the second half of the eighteenth century (after its discovery in 1748) to the first half of the nineteenth century. The objectives of the present research include two main points: arrange systematically the events related to the restoration, in order to fill the knowledge gap, and provide a case study of restorative techniques in the past that the historian and the restorer can use as a tool for understanding the archaeological buildings and sites as they are today. Although Pompeii has always been the object of restorative methods, there are currently no organized publications to refer to, while previous publications calls for a thorough examination and reorganization.
The methodology involves three main phases: literature search, archival research and field verification of the data collection. A mapping of the restoration works carried out in Pompeii in the period this research refers to is being conducted in order to provide the Superintendence with a practical, immediate and concise tool that experts can easily manage.
For this purpose, starting from the geo-referenced map data the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni archeologici di Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia has provided, I am defining a land information system (LIS) supported by GIS tools aiming at displaying a detailed data sheet, which contains restoration interventions relevant to the single building. The shape files processed during this study will be made available to the Siav (Sistema Informativo Archeologico Vesuviano) of the Superintendence in order to perform database queries created and any spatial analysis
Consolidation and Upgrading of Historic Earth Block Masonry Constructions
Get PDFEarth structures constitute a great part of European Monumental Heritage and are closely related to the wider historic, socioeconomic and environmental aspects of each region. They have been constructed with various materials and techniques which depict the regional constructional traditions, with respect to economy of resources and energy consumption in building. Many techniques of building with earth have been developed, while in South Eastern Europe the mostly encountered type is buildings with earth-blocks.
Nowadays there is no policy for their retrofitting, maintenance and upgrading, since the tradition of manufacturing earth masonry has vanished and there is lack of relevant regulations. As a result, earth-block houses have been abandoned and destroyed due to damages from earthquakes, ageing or unsuitable interventions (use of concrete members, cement based mortars) and many historic centers with earth houses have been marginalized and demolished.
In this paper, a methodology is presented regarding the analysis of building materials and techniques of historic earth block houses situated in Northern Greece, as well as the design and testing of compatible repair materials for their rehabilitation. A series of laboratory tests have been performed to the historic materials, in order to define their microstructural characteristics and their physico-mechanical and chemical properties. Results have been evaluated and led to the design of compatible repair materials based on earth. A series of soil based grouts were manufactured and tested, while their properties were enhanced by the use of specific additives and admixtures.
Experimental results showed that the development of compatible repair materials for the stabilization and restoration of historic earth-block buildings should be based in scientific criteria. This means that proper mortar and grout compositions based on earth could sufficiently fill joints, cracks and lacunae and could therefore lead to the maintenance and upgrading of historic earth block buildings
Investigating the accuracy of fabricated rebar and rebar’s placement in beams, and their impact in weight and cost of a building
Get PDFThe inspection of rebar in different structural elements has the goal to ensure that contract documents between investitor and contractor, rebar placing drawings, and technical specification of building codes are followed. The quality – control programs also ensure structural safety and architectural aesthetic compliance. Inspection procedure consists of material inspections and quality during construction. Regarding these, the engineer’s site representative verify if the test report by the material producer meet the requirements of the structural project. Reinforcing bar inspection is achieved by the contractor's inspectors and the field supervisors mandated by the investitor.
This paper introduces the rebar inspection procedures in beams of the residential building “Dorado”, part of the residential complex “Magnet ” in Tirana. Reports from a testing laboratory state the grade of steel, tensile properties, chemical composition of the material used in this structure. The in – place inspection of rebar consisted in visually check bar diameter and shape, measure of bar lengths, measure of hook lengths, measure of spacing between rebar, the number of ties and stirrups and their spacing, measure of lap splices and their location in conjuction with the structural drawings. Also is checked the tying of the rebar, that assure the remain in their specified position.
The data from the in place inspection and measurements of rebar are compared with the tolerances given in ACI standards and European standards ( Eurocodes ). This comparison has been used for the purpose of estimating the accuracy of the fabricating rebar and the placing operation by the ironworkers in this building. Their degree of accuracy has a direct impact on the cost of the structure. As the result of rebar’s greater lengths, greater number of ties and stirrups , is calculated the increase in the weight of the structure resulting in increased cost of the building
Privacy and data protection: Legal aspects in the Republic of Macedonia
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical assessment of the existing Law on Personal Data Protection in the Republic of Macedonia. The paper aims to analyse whether there is a need for additional legal tools in order to achieve a balance between maintaining data integrity in the digital age and the use of modern technology. The paper discusses the meaning of “information privacy” in the age of big data, cyber threats and the domestic and international response to these issues. Special focus is dedicated to privacy policy enforcement in European Union Law. Having regard to the development of new technologies, prevailing data protection legislation may no longer be able to provide effective protection for individuals’ personal information. Therefore, existing laws should be continuously adapted to respond to new challenges and situations deriving from different online activities and communications
TEACHER’S ATTITUDES TOWARD EFL IN GUJARAT, INDIA
No full textEnglish as an International language (EIL) has captured attention of many linguistics research topics and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) education for many years. It is a fact that majority of the English language users in the world are non-native speakers known as NNS. Many studies have been conducted on how to teach English as an international or foreign language. EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers’ and learners’ attitude towards EIL calls for prime focus in countries such as India, which is divided into rural and urban areas. The English language education in India is dominated by male community. In this developing country, women are acquiring good position in the language education field. However, India has a strong social, caste and creed system; hence women from different strata may not be gaining equal an opportunity at language teaching level. Women are having good opportunity for teaching in metro cities; however, the picture in rural India is different although the situation is gradually changing. The social, caste and creed system has a strong impact in rural India. The society is divided into caste categories like SC, ST, SEBC and Open/General; hence it is very interesting to study the English language education from both social and geographical context. The researcher has endeavored to study the attitude of English language teachers towards the English language education in India. Attempts have been made to focus on the relative importance of attitude towards English language factors in Indian education. It also investigates the impacts of gender, educational qualification, residential area, area of institute and category on the attitude of English language teachers towards the English language education in India. It has been attempted to study the attitude of English language teachers towards the English language education in Gujarat, India from 8 different components: Reading, Writing, Pronunciation, Speaking, Listening, Grammar, Error Correction, and Text Book. The researcher has also tried to study the interactive effect of gender, educational qualification, residential area, area of institute and category on the attitude of English language teachers towards the English language education in Gujarat, India. A questionnaire on attitude towards English language was developed for the study. The questionnaire is based on a three-point scale. The impact of various variables like gender, educational qualification, the residential area, area of institute and category on the attitude of English language teachers towards the English language education in India has been studied with the aid of ANOVA
Philology Rereading Playback of Nezim Frakulla (Berati)
Get PDFLiterature in Arabic script is again looked to the exclusion of marginalized, it left a void; in culture. It should reread to assess, without judging. By establishing a new relationship these poetic assessment code of poets, it will test that remains an open literary works poetic structure. Empirical research that has not escaped the desire teoritizim, even the need for assessment of general commitment of systematization tries to bring a modest contribution to resolving concerns that brings demand the objective quality assessment of tradition, in support of a 'literary story' absent. The choice of empirical grounding method created original approach in interpreting the evolution of poetic figures this pioneering poetry. ‘Its systematic study and critical edition of certain texts would show that it represents an important part of the Albanian cultural heritage and artistic literature startup must be requested at least a hundred years earlier than it was thought until now. It would also provide the opportunity for comparative studies varied.’ Now that literature define as sign language, we must recognize that the Albanian literature and poets, who began as a genre a sort of poetic import, failed to become literature Albanian prove firmly supported on rooted ethnocultural, to settle deserved it highlights E. Koliqi
“WE ARE MAKING ONE STORY, YES?” THE POETICS OF INTERCONNECTION IN POSTMODERN LITERATURE IN A GLOBAL AGE
No full textDuring the last decades, theories of interconnection and linking have been in the centre of many academic discourses: what goes back to the ancient hermetic worldview that regards everything as connected has been taken up in studies on our globalised world, for example as relationality in the form of cosmodernism. Thus, society has been regarded as linked in areas as different as social networks or globalised markets. In this paper, it is shown how such interconnections are created by storytelling. For this purpose, three metafictional novels with a multiplot structure are analysed. In Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Everything is Illuminated (2002), storytelling helps two very different characters to search for their identity and a traumatic family past influenced by the Holocaust. In the novel, three textual levels and several narrators make it visible that the search for identity and the past is only possible by interlinked stories and a process of co-authorship. The intricate structure of Catherynne M. Valente's fantastic novel Palimpsest (2009) thematises the connection between human beings and their stories which even spans different worlds. Metafictional structures – especially the structure of the palimpsest – illustrate how the whole world consists of stories written on other stories. David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas (2004) consists of six narratives set in different times and places which are connected by symbols, intertextual links, or intermedial adaptations. Hence, in the novel it is shown that despite wars, violence, and the struggle for power throughout history, human beings are connected across time and space – by their stories. By analysing these literary devices, a postmodern poetics of interconnection becomes visible that shows how human history is created by transglobal storytelling