4,300 research outputs found
R.J. Sommers
No full textThe single-spaced paragraph on the “About the Author” page of R.J. Sommers’ latest novel says she lives in a one-story house on the edge of a city. It says she is renowned for writing relatable characters and compelling relationships. It says nothing about her own friends.
Gazing from a photo at the top of the page, R.J. Sommers appears to point a camera toward her readers..
Behaviour of reinforced concrete frames with lightweight blockwork infill panels.
No full textThe current investigation concerns the behaviour of lightweight
blockork infill panels bounded by reinforced concrete frames. A
detailed and comprehensive review of the literature on different
frame-inf ill combinations is presented. Details are given of tests
on sixteen third-scale infilled frames and four open frames. These
were tested under two types of loading: horizontal racking loading
only and combined vertical loads on columns and racking loading.
The complete load-deflection response is considered in detail including.
initial elastic behaviour, influence of cracking and the formation of
collapse mechanisms after the attainment of peak load. The variables
investigated include the overall effects of the infill, the infill
thickness, the vertical loads, the amount of reinforcement, the change
in stiffness and strength of beams and of columns and the effect of
reinforcement detailing. Those found to have a major influence are
the vertical loads, the infill thickness, the reinforcement detailing
particularly in the opening corners of the frame, and the workmanship.
The principal parameters obtained from the tests are the initial
racking stiffness, the infill cracking strength, the ultimate load and
the plastic collapse load. Their values are compared to the available
empirical and theoretical methods. None of these methods is found to
safely predict the initial racking stiffness and the ultimate carrying
capacity of this type of structure. A plastic analysis is presented
to predict the two plastic collapse mechanisms identified in the tests.
The penalty factor to allow for idealization of plasticity of the
infill is found as part of the solution. A second penalty factor is
introduced to allow for the limited ductility of the frame. The
proposed method is found to yield satisfactory and safe predictions for the plastic resistance of these infilled frames. In conclusion
some design recommendations are proposed for the initial racking
stiffness and the cracking infill strength
Author Co-Citation Analysis (ACA): a powerful tool for representing implicit knowledge of scholar knowledge workers
No full textIn the last decade, knowledge has emerged as one of the most important and valuable organizational assets. Gradually this importance caused to emergence of new discipline entitled ―knowledge management‖. However one of the major challenges of knowledge management is conversion implicit or tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. Thus Making knowledge visible so that it can be better accessed, discussed, valued or generally managed is a long-standing objective in knowledge management. Accordingly in this paper author co- citation analysis (ACA) will be proposed as an efficient technique of knowledge visualization in academia (Scholar knowledge workers)
Ontwerp van een school voor het Nieuwe Leren, Learn4life
No full textHet onderzoek met betrekking tot een schoolgebouw dat een architectonische ruimte geeft voor het nieuwe onderwijssysteen met all zijn eisen en wensen heeft geresulteerd in bruikbare ideeën voor bepaalde architecturale keuzes. Deze ideeën zijn afkomstig van structuralistisch gedachte en aspecten van het structuralisme in de afgelopen tijd. De keuze van een helder structureerend gebouw waarin hoge mate van flexibiliteit aanwezig zal zijn. Daarnaat wordt gekeken wat voor elementen uit het onderwijs systeem zelf voortkomen. De essentie van deze elementen het frame waarin het ontwerp van de school voor het leven moeten passen. De ideeën zijn vertaald naar een eigentijds design en de essentie is gereconstrueerd.ExplorelabArchitectureArchitecture and The Built Environmen
Progressive collapse analysis of steel structures under fire conditions
No full textThis is the post-print version of the final paper published in Engineering Structures. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2011 Elsevier B.V.In this paper a robust static-dynamic procedure has been developed. The development extends the capability of the Vulcan software to model the dynamic and static behaviour of steel buildings during both local and global progressive collapse of the structures under fire conditions. The explicit integration method was adopted in the dynamic procedure. This model can be utilized to allow a structural analysis to continue beyond the temporary instabilities which would cause singularities in the full static analyses. The automatic switch between static and dynamic analysis makes the Vulcan a powerful tool to investigate the mechanism of the progressive collapse of the structures generated by the local failure of components. The procedure was validated against several practical cases. Some preliminary studies of the collapse mechanism of steel frame due to columns’ failure under fire conditions are also presented. It is concluded that for un-braced frame the lower loading ratio and bigger beam section can give higher failure temperature in which the global structural collapse happens. However, the localised collapse of the frame with the higher loading ratio and smaller beam section can more easily be generated. The bracing system is helpful to prevent the frame from progressive collapse. The higher lateral stiffness of the frame can generate the smaller vertical deformation of the failed column at the re-stable position. However, the global failure temperature of the frame is not sensitive to the lateral stiffness of the frame
Report on industrial attachment with R.J. Crocker Consultants Pte Ltd
No full textThis report documents the undertaking of the author’s six months of industrial attachment. It was the industrial attachment that gave him the opportunity to discover the innovative skills and expertise from his fellow colleagues working the organization. Throughout the attachment, the author had learnt a great deal from various trained and experienced engineers. He had been exposed to a variety of training namely (1) reinforcement concrete design, (2) steel and connection design, (3) modelling structures for design and analysis using software, (4) visual inspections for buildings, (5) preparing tender documents, (6) drawing, presentation and attending and (7) handling online submissions for building inspections, structural plans, design calculations, etc. Furthermore, by attending project meetings, preparing materials for presentations, tendering documents and drawings to privatized companies and public sectors all bestowed the author a concrete understanding of the type and quality of work required of and produced by a qualified engineer. Without the industrial attachment, all these practical skills and knowledge might not have been attainable by learning in the university alone. It was overall a fruitful experience
Normalisation of shear test data for rate-independent compressible fabrics
No full textThis article describes a method of using both picture frame (PF) and bias extension (BE) tests together to characterize accurately the trellis shearing resistance of engineering fabrics under low in-plane tension conditions. Automated image analysis software has been developed to reduce the amount of laborious manual analysis required to interpret BE data accurately. Normalization methods for both PF and BE tests on rate-independent compressible fabrics are presented. Normalization of PF test results is relatively straightforward while normalization of BE test results for direct comparison with PF data is more complicated. The normalization method uses a number of simple assumptions to account for the nonuniform shear strain field induced across BE samples during testing. Normalized results from BE tests on samples of different aspect ratios are compared and provide validation of the theory
Design optimization of cold-formed steel portal frames taking into account the effect of building topology
No full textCold-formed steel portal frames are a popular form of construction for low-rise commercial, light industrial and agricultural buildings with spans of up to 20 m. In this article, a real-coded genetic algorithm is described that is used to minimize the cost of the main frame of such buildings. The key decision variables considered in this proposed algorithm consist of both the spacing and pitch of the frame as continuous variables, as well as the discrete section sizes. A routine taking the structural analysis and frame design for cold-formed steel sections is embedded into a genetic algorithm. The results show that the real-coded genetic algorithm handles effectively the mixture of design variables, with high robustness and consistency in achieving the optimum solution. All wind load combinations according to Australian code are considered in this research. Results for frames with knee braces are also included, for which the optimization achieved even larger savings in cost
Feeding back Information on Ineligibility from Sample Surveys to the Frame
No full textIt is usually discovered in the data collection phase of a survey that some units in the sample are ineligible even if the frame information has indicated otherwise. For example, in many business surveys a nonnegligible proportion of the sampled units will have ceased trading since the latest update of the frame. This information may be fed back to the frame and used in subsequent surveys, thereby making forthcoming samples more efficient by avoiding sampling nonnegligible units. We investigate what effect on survey estimation the process of feeding back information on ineligibility may have, and derive an expression for the bias that can occur as a result of feeding back. The focus is on estimation of the total using the common expansion estimator. We obtain an estimator that is nearly unbiased in the presence of feed back. This estimator relies on consistent estimates of the number of eligible and ineligible units in the population being available
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