Research on the Ground Subsidence Mechanism of Cross Passage Caused by Freezing Method Construction

At present, the built or newly built underground structures are mostly concentrated in developed areas along the coast, lakes, and rivers, while deep soft soil is widely distributed in these areas. The cold heat treatment method is one of the advanced foundation treatments and has broad application prospect. However, geothermal exchange and temperature field change are complex Stefan problems with mobile boundaries, internal heat sources, and phase changes. It is important to determine the freezing area and freezing temperature reasonably under the premise of ensuring the safety of the frozen construction. Therefore, this paper summarizes the research methods of freezing method construction of cross passage and introduces the research on the constitutive model of freezing undisturbed soil, the theory of freezing wall calculation, and the evolution mechanism of the temperature field. Then, a brief evaluation is made in view of the lack of research, and the development direction of this field is put forward with the research characteristics. It is to deepen the understanding of the deformation mechanism of cross passage embedded in soft soil caused by the freezing and melting.

Optimization of Stabilizing Systems in Protection of Cultural Heritage: The Case of the Historical Retaining Wall in the Wisłoujście Fortress

The aim of the paper is to propose new quantitative criteria for selecting the optimal method of securing and repairing a historical object, which take into account Structural, Conservation and Architectural aspects (the S–C–A method). Construction works on cultural heritage sites tend to be challenging and require an interdisciplinary approach. Therefore, they are strictly related to the philosophy of sustainable development which seeks adequate proportions between factors indicated on the natural and social environment. Optimization of several systems stabilizing retaining structure that are a historic object was considered in the paper. Appropriate formulas for scores meeting additional conservation and aesthetic requirements were proposed. The method is used in the stabilization of the brick retaining wall, a part of the Wisłoujście Fortress located in Gdańsk, Poland. In order to compute the displacement of the wall and its stability, numerical analysis was performed by the two-dimensional explicit Finite Difference Method (using the FLAC2D software). The algorithm proposed could be beneficial to the protection of cultural heritage since it could also be applied to other structures, such as roof trusses, masonry walls, pillars, etc.

Derivation of an Agile Method Construction Set to Optimize the Software Development Process

Today, IT and especially the development of customer-focused software, has become one of the most important elements for a company to remain competitive. The primary purpose of this article is to determine whether it is possible to improve the agile development of a company by adjusting its software development process in terms of cultural, technical, and managerial dimensions. Based on a literature analysis and practical experience in the company, different influencing factors and parameters, which affect the value creation throughout the software development process of a company were derived and clustered. Out of these clusters, a framework (Agile Method Construction Set) based on a Microsoft Excel questionnaire was created in order to analyze and identify optimization potential in the development process of a company. This construction set was adapted to meet the requirements of the development department of a large Swiss insurance company in order to validate and test the framework with real data.

Inducing Brazilian manufacturing SMEs productivity with Lean tools

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a method for assisting micro and small companies of the industrial sector with the adoption of Lean practices.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the method construction steps, which used a design science research approach.FindingsThis research led to the structuring of a method for implementing Lean Manufacturing tools in micro and small companies of the industrial sector. The developed method contributed to the knowledge in Lean Manufacturing by systematizing its tools in a heuristic approach that can be applied to an operation using overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) as a guiding indicator.Practical implicationsThis method can be used to guide the implementation of Lean tools in SMEs industries.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in the adoption of an operation-focused approach only (rather than an approach that begins with the mapping of an entire process) and the use of OEE as the basis for prioritization of improvements to be performed and operational control.