Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to select high performance concretes

This paper describes an application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to choose the best cement type and mixture for the production of high performance concrete. The decision process aimed at obtaining a concrete that would best meet the requirements of three hypothetical scenarios: (a) industrial concrete floors of a chemical plant, (b) structural elements of a thirty-floor building and (c) a massive foundation block of a green building. In this regard, six different concrete mixtures were evaluated (VR4, IIIR4, V280, III280, V200 and III210) according to four criteria: mechanical properties, durability, financial cost and environmental impact. The analysis results showed that the composition with CPV-ARI cement and content of 280 kg/m3 was the best alternative for scenario (a) and (b), while for scenario (c) the composition with cement CPIII and content of 210 kg/m3 was the best choice.

Economic Impact and Obstacles to Mainstream Biodiesel Integration

Active research is being conducted to enable the integration of an alternate energy sources so as to replace petroleum based fuels. However, this research has been confined primarily within the auspices of a research laboratory. Of the various alternate energy source available today, biodiesel constitutes perhaps the most dominant and promising alternate energy source. A comprehensive analysis of the processes and effects involved with its integration would need to be conducted before said transition could occur as efficiently and as seamlessly as possible. These processes can recognize the mass appeal of biodiesel and its viability as a dominant energy source. This information can be used to develop a comprehensive methodology to achieve large-scale transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace. Such a methodology needs to take into account the technological characteristics of the fuel production process, environmental effects of biodiesel emissions, and economic factors integral to the biodiesel supply chain. It is essential to analyze the characteristics and effects of this integration in order to successfully achieve the cost effective integration of this alternate fuel source into the marketplace. The aforementioned analysis would serve as a stepping stone or a foundation block to enable future research. This paper presents an overview of current practices and state of the art research focusing on integration of biodiesel into a mainstream marketplace.

A practise-based action research self-study : "how do I improve my practice as a bridal-gown designer in a highly-competitive market?"

In my practise-based action research self-study I have developed ways in which to improve my practice as a bridal-gown designer in a highly-competitive and import-driven bridal-gown market. My earnest intent was to improve my practice using action research methods whilst simultaneously developing a solution through critical reflection and practice-based approaches as an economically-sustainable designer of bespoke, cost-effective, competitively-priced bridal gowns. I realised the potential for professional influence and positive economic growth through entrepreneurial thinking, not only for me but for others; it was this which cemented a sense of values in me as an action researcher. I have displayed a healthy marriage between equally important views of practice as theory and the theory as practice. I explored relevant literature that would validate my practice and aid in answering my critical questions, which became evident as validation chapters in my study. Carrying out internships with three bridal gown designers opened my eyes to the real world of business, a sense of theory as practice, where I could see, first-hand, the effects the import industry had on local designers and what they were doing to survive. The conceptualisation of foundational bridal blocks was a solution to save time in my own creative process so that I could produce cost-effective bridal gowns at a competitive price, in a sustainable manner. Once I had explored and created my own interpretation of the foundation block concept that transformed into a small collection of bridal gowns, I used the foundation blocks as a starting point to design bridal gowns for ‘real’ bridal clients. My study is personal in nature; by way of using self-study methods and also the personal ‘one-on-one’ connection I have with my ‘real’ bridal clients. I extended this ‘personal factor’ by holding a public exhibition to which I invited my friends, family, the public and my peers to view and give critical feedback on my work as a bridal gown designer.

Experimental Study of Tsunami-Type Waves Impact on Soil near Foundation of Offshore Gravitational-Type Platforms

The need to study the problem of seabed local scour near offshore platforms has arisen in Russian Federation in connection with the activation of oil and gas production from fields located in coastal areas of seas (in accordance with the Energy Strategy for the period up to 2030, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on November 13, 2009, No1715-p). Operation of offshore platforms is characterized by a number of features: shallow water areas; severe storm conditions; large transverse dimensions of structures that cause waves diffraction; the variety of used structure forms; the way of platform mounting on the seabed. During platform operation in the shallow waters, its basement soil is under an intense impact of sea waves, currents, as well as jets from engine of coming and berthing ships. The structure disturbs the natural wave flow. Near the platform, flow velocity increases, there are vortexes breakaway from platform corner edges. Scour holes appear and progress near platform foundation. Their location and measure depend on the parameters of external impacts, on the water depth, on the shape and dimensions of the foundation block.

Investigating the Effect of Depth and Impedance of Foundation Rock in Seismic Analysis of Gravity Dams

The inhomogenieties of the foundation can be modeled explicitly in standard FEM procedure, however, the results vary significantly with the extent of foundation block modeled and mechanism of applying the input earthquake excitation. The substructure approach provides mathematically exact solution but assumes average properties for the entire foundation as viscoelastic half space. This paper has carried out detailed investigations with varying impedance contrasts and different size of foundation block to show that the results, with suitably deconvoluted free-field ground acceleration time-history applied at the base of foundation block in the FEM approach, are in good agreement with the substructure approach. However, the other variants of the FEM approach may lead to erroneous and overestimated stresses in the dam body. As the foundation of gravity dams can generally be approximated as an equivalent homogeneous half-space, the more accurate and efficient substructure approach can be used to model the dam-foundation rock interaction (SSI) effects in most practical situations.

A Victor’s Message

Carved on the bottom molding of one of the columns of the Temple of Artemis in Sardis is an inscription that declares: “My torus and my foundation block are carved from a single block of stone. … Of all the columns I am the first to rise.” In addition, the base is fashioned as a victory wreath. The torus—decorated by horizontal laurel leaves gathered by a fluttering ribbon—and a bronze medallion glorify the column as the winner of a competition. In A Victor’s Message: The Talking Column of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis, Fikret K. Yegül analyzes this phenomenon of competitive and celebratory inscriptions and decorative carvings, in particular the message and metaphor voiced by the victorious column of Sardis, to illustrate a wide web of cultural relationships connecting the city to its proud past and auspicious future. The transformation of an architectural element into a victory wreath, which was probably influenced by the base of Trajan’s Column in Rome, is unique in Asia Minor. Equally rare, perhaps even unique, is a column speaking in the first-person singular, using an archaizing mode and message, particularly appreciated in the memory-inspired urban culture of Asia Minor during the Second Sophistic.

On the Identification of the Modal Parameters for a Flexible Turbomachinery Foundation

The evaluation of the vibration behaviour of turbomachinery installations, where the model of the rotor support structure (foundation or casing) is unknown and the foundation has natural frequencies in or near the operating speed range, is still problematic. An attractive approach for identifying the foundation uses motion measurements of the rotor and the foundation at the bearing supports to indentify the parameters of an equivalent foundation, i.e. one which reproduces similar vibration responses over the operating speed range. Earlier work identified perfectly the modal parameters of a flexibly supported rigid foundation block, a situation involving only the six rigid body modes of the foundation, so that the equations of motion of the foundation could be written with a diagonal mass matrix. However, in practice, foundations such as gas turbine casings have flexural modes in or near the operating speed range, in which case it is unlikely that the foundation mass can be adequately represented by a diagonal mass matrix. Hence, this paper further develops the above identification technique to enable identification of a flexibly supported foundation block which has seven vibration modes in or near the operating speed range. It is shown by numerical experiments that the assumption of a diagonal mass matrix for the foundation does not result in a satisfactory equivalent foundation. On the other hand, when the identification procedure is enhanced to cater for a full symmetric foundation mass matrix, it is possible to identify the modal parameters of an equivalent foundation which, when substituted for the actual foundation of an unbalanced rotor bearing system, satisfactorily reproduces the system unbalance response. This is so even when the ‘measurement’ data used to identify the modal parameters is truncated to two digit accuracy to better represent practical measurement accuracy. It is concluded that the proposed foundation identification technique is likely to be applicable to practical field installations.