EVALUATION OF MOUNTAIN AREA AS NON-POINT SOURCE OF NITROGEN FOR SETO INLAND SEA: THE NORTHERN SHIKOKU REGION, JAPAN

The northern Shikoku region is located in the Western part of Japan and faces towards the Seto Inland Sea. The forest area, which is one of the non-point sources in the Seto Inland Sea watershed, occupies 75% of the land use in the watershed of the northern Shikoku region. The amount of loadings of nutrients and COD in the Seto Inland Sea has been estimated by the unit load method but actually the data has not been investigated. It is however, necessary to know the real concentration of nitrogen in mountain streams to evaluate the role which is the mountain area plays as non-point sources. Therefore, more water samples of mountain streams in the watershed need to be taken and the concentrations of nitrogen analyzed. The mountain streams in the northern Shikoku area were investigated from April, 2015 to November, 2015. The number of sampling sites was 283, in addition to the past data by Kunimatsu et al. The average concentration of nitrate nitrogen in Ehime, Kagawa, and Tokushima was 0.61mg/L, 0.78mg/L and 0.34mg/L, respectively. The environmental standard range for nitrogen in the Seto Inland Sea is from between less than 0.2mg/L and less than 1mg/L. Therefore, the average concentration of nitrogen in these regions was over category II, and those of mountain streams in Kagawa Prefecture exceeded category III. About 20% of mountain streams were more than 1mg/L. It has become clear that mountain areas occupy an important position as non-point sources for the Seto Inland Sea.

EVALUATION OF MOUNTAIN AREA AS NON-POINT SOURCE OF NITROGEN FOR SETO INLAND SEA: THE NORTHERN SHIKOKU REGION, JAPAN

The northern Shikoku region is located in the Western part of Japan and faces towards the Seto Inland Sea. The forest area, which is one of the non-point sources in the Seto Inland Sea watershed, occupies 75% of the land use in the watershed of the northern Shikoku region. The amount of loadings of nutrients and COD in the Seto Inland Sea has been estimated by the unit load method but actually the data has not been investigated. It is however, necessary to know the real concentration of nitrogen in mountain streams to evaluate the role which is the mountain area plays as non-point sources. Therefore, more water samples of mountain streams in the watershed need to be taken and the concentrations of nitrogen analyzed. The mountain streams in the northern Shikoku area were investigated from April, 2015 to November, 2015. The number of sampling sites was 283, in addition to the past data by Kunimatsu et al. The average concentration of nitrate nitrogen in Ehime, Kagawa, and Tokushima was 0.61mg/L, 0.78mg/L and 0.34mg/L, respectively. The environmental standard range for nitrogen in the Seto Inland Sea is from between less than 0.2mg/L and less than 1mg/L. Therefore, the average concentration of nitrogen in these regions was over category II, and those of mountain streams in Kagawa Prefecture exceeded category III. About 20% of mountain streams were more than 1mg/L. It has become clear that mountain areas occupy an important position as non-point sources for the Seto Inland Sea.

Optimization for Large or Linear Tunable Stiffness Control With a Concentric Circular Tapered Beam Design

Most examples of structure controlled Tunable Stiffness Mechanisms (TSM) systems have two predefined settings of stiffness, e.g. bi-stiffness behavior, or they have a low range in tunable stiffness. In this research, this problem of control is overcome though optimization of a novel concentric circular tapered spring beam design with the novel design concept of changing the mode of deformation from bending to axial or shear. A Monte Carlo (MC) function is used with an analytical model — the unit load method of virtual work, to determine the optimum shape of two concentric tapered beams where the minimum stiffness is set, and the objective is to achieve linear and/or large stiffness change control. Three optimum designs were 3D printed, tested, and the stiffness vs. loading angle of control was validated with excellent correlation. The optimum design was obtained by changing the dominant loading modes.

Optimization of Pre-Tensioning Cable Forces in Highly Redundant Cable-Stayed Bridges

Cable-stayed bridges have been developing rapidly in the last decade and have become one of the most popular types of long-span bridges. One of the important issues in the design and analysis of cable-stayed bridges is determining the pre-tensioning cable forces that optimize the structural performance of the bridge. Appropriate pre-tensioning cable forces improve the damaging effect of unbalanced loading due to the deck dead load. Because the cable-stayed structure is a highly undetermined system, there is no unique solution for directly calculating the initial cable forces. Numerous studies have been conducted on the specification of cable pre-tensioning forces for cable-stayed bridges. However, most of the proposed methods are limited in their ability to optimize the structural performance. This paper presents an effective multi-constraint optimization strategy for cable-stayed bridges based on the application of an inverse problem through unit load method (ULM). The proposed method results in less stresses in the bridge members, more stability and a shorter simulation time than the existing approaches. The finite element (FE) model of the Tatara Bridge in Japan is considered in this study. The results show that the proposed method successfully restricts the pylon displacement and establishes a uniform deck moment distribution in the simulated cable-stayed bridge; thus, it might be a useful tool for designing other long-span cable-stayed bridges.

A New Multiconstraint Method for Determining the Optimal Cable Stresses in Cable-Stayed Bridges

Cable-stayed bridges are one of the most popular types of long-span bridges. The structural behaviour of cable-stayed bridges is sensitive to the load distribution between the girder, pylons, and cables. The determination of pretensioning cable stresses is critical in the cable-stayed bridge design procedure. By finding the optimum stresses in cables, the load and moment distribution of the bridge can be improved. In recent years, different research works have studied iterative and modern methods to find optimum stresses of cables. However, most of the proposed methods have limitations in optimising the structural performance of cable-stayed bridges. This paper presents a multiconstraint optimisation method to specify the optimum cable forces in cable-stayed bridges. The proposed optimisation method produces less bending moments and stresses in the bridge members and requires shorter simulation time than other proposed methods. The results of comparative study show that the proposed method is more successful in restricting the deck and pylon displacements and providing uniform deck moment distribution than unit load method (ULM). The final design of cable-stayed bridges can be optimised considerably through proposed multiconstraint optimisation method.

Bearing Capacity Analysis for Statically Indeterminate Attachment System of Tower Crane Considering Single Limb Instability

The tower cranes need constantly attaching to rise in the construction of high-rise buildings. The tower body which sets attached frames combined with the four-rod-type unilateral statically indeterminate attachment system is a common form. With the attachment height and distance increasing, the attachment rods become more delicate and flexible. It is necessary to check the overall and local stability of the attachment structure. When a single limb instability happens, the reduced-order variation structure brings about the redistribution of internal forces. The anti-buckling capability depends on the structure of variation. To the condition that the single limb instability occurrs on the component which has the weakest stiffness, an exact internal force expression of the structure under composite loads has been deduced in terms of the moment equilibrium method. At the same time, the decoupling support stiffnesses of the attachment device in each direction have been obtained by the unit load method. Based on the refined calculation model, the internal forces are further analyzed under the condition that the instability rod bears the fixed Euler critical force, and the structural strength and stability capacity has been judged. The calculation result proves that the whole structure has great bearing potential after a local buckling.