Analysis of the Performances of a New Type of Alumina Nanocomposite Structural Material Designed for the Thermal Insulation of High-Rise Buildings

The sol-gel method is used to prepare a new nano-alumina aerogel structure and the thermal properties of this nanomaterial are investigated comprehensively using electron microscope scanning,thermal analysis,X-ray and infrared spectrometer analysis methods.It is found that the composite aerogel alumina material has a multi-level porous nano-network structure.When employed for the thermal insulation of high-rise buildings,the alumina nanocomposite aerogel material can lead to effective energy savings in winter.However,it has almost no energy-saving effect on buildings where energy is consumed for cooling in summer.

Low Carbon Building Design Optimization Based on Intelligent Energy Management System

The construction of relevant standards for building carbon emission assessment in China has just started,and the quantitative analysis method and evaluation system are still imperfect,which hinders the development of low-carbon building design.Therefore,the use of intelligent energy management system is very necessary.The purpose of this paper is to explore the design optimization of low-carbon buildings based on intelligent energy management systems.Based on the proposed quantitative method of building carbon emission,this paper establishes the quota theoretical system of building carbon emission analysis,and develops the quota based carbon emission calculation software.Smart energy management system is a low-carbon energy-saving system based on the reference of large-scale building energy-saving system and combined with energy consumption.It provides a fast and effective calculation tool for the quantitative evaluation of carbon emission of construction projects,so as to realize the carbon emission control and optimization in the early stage of architectural design and construction.On this basis,the evaluation,analysis and calculation method of building structure based on carbon reduction target is proposed,combined with the carbon emission quota management standard proposed in this paper.Taking small high-rise residential buildings as an example,this paper compares and analyzes different building structural systems from the perspectives of structural performance,economy and carbon emission level.It provides a reference for the design and evaluation of low-carbon building structures.The smart energy management system collects user energy use parameters.It uses time period and time sequence to obtain a large amount of data for analysis and integration,which provides users with intuitive energy consumption data.Compared with the traditional architectural design method,the industrialized construction method can save 589.22 megajoules(MJ)per square meter.Based on 29270 megajoules(MJ)per ton of standard coal,the construction area of the case is about 8000 m2,and the energy saving of residential buildings is 161.04 tons of standard coal.This research is of great significance in reducing the carbon emission intensity of buildings.

The Structural Behavior of Low/Medium/High Rise Concrete Office Buildings in Kuwait

The main concern of this paper is to provide an extensive study for the structural behavior of low/medium/high rise office buildings aiming to deepen structure and architect designers understanding for such type of buildings. The study is performed on reinforced concrete and emphasized only on Kuwait city conditions for wind. Regular layout plan building with different heights ranging from five to fifty typical office stories are investigated in this study. Three dimensional finite element techniques through ETABS software are used in conducting analysis for structures presented here-in. A serviceability study is performed to ensure that buildings have sufficient stability to limit lateral drift and peak acceleration within the acceptable range of occupancy comfort. In addition, an ultimate strength study is carried out to design and verify that all the structural elements are designed to withstand factored gravity and lateral loadings in a safe manner according to the international building codes. The building slenderness ratio and the building core size and location are the studied parameters since they are the key drivers for the efficient structural design. Analysis results are presented and discussed and finally conclusions are summarized as guidelines for designers of concrete office buildings in Kuwait.

Influence of Choice of Structural System &In-Fill Masonry on the Embodied Energy &Cost of a Low-Rise Residential Urban-Building Indian Case Study

In the urban residential building stock, a major proportion is constituted by low-rise individual buildings. In addition to cost, quality and duration, energy consumed for the project needs to be accounted in the decision making process. Minimizing the cost of construction without compromising on the architectural and structural requirements is the primary objective of the residential buildings of stake-holders, especially the owners. The choice of structural system and the materials used for construction play a crucial role in this effort. This means that the use of expensive and/or voluminous materials such as cement, steel, masonry etc. is optimized. This could lead to significant reduction in embodied energy as well, if the choice of the structural system is prudently made. In this paper, an attempt has been made to quantify the cost and embodied energy benefits for a low-rise residential building by choosing two different structural systems, namely moment resisting framed (MRF) construction system and the partly load-bearing (PLB) system. The influence of choice of materials, contributing to reduction of cost and/or energy is discussed. It is clearly noticed that, when the structural system is re-configured as a PLB system from the existing MRF system there is significant reduction in cost and embodied energy without changing the architectural form.

Effect of nonlinear soil-structure interaction on seismic response of low-rise SMRF buildings

The nonlinear behavior of a soil-foundation system may alter the seismic response of a structure by providing additional flexibility to the system and dissipating hysteretic energy at the soil-foundation interface. However, the current design practice is still reluctant to consider the nonlinearity of the soil-foundation system, primarily due to lack of reliable modeling techniques. This study is motivated towards evaluating the effect of nonlinear soil-structure interaction （SSI） on the seismic responses of low-rise steel moment resisting frame （SMRF） structures. In order to achieve this, a Winkler- based approach is adopted, where the soil beneath the foundation is assumed to be a system of closely-spaced, independent, nonlinear spring elements. Static pushover analysis and nonlinear dynamic analyses are performed on a 3-story SMRF building and the performance of the structure is evaluated through a variety of force and displacement demand parameters. It is observed that incorporation of nonlinear SSI leads to an increase in story displacement demand and a significant reduction in base moment, base shear and inter-story drift demands, indicating the importance of its consideration towards achieving an economic, yet safe seismic design.

Comparison of Low Rise Residential Industrialized Building Systems in Turkey

Industrialized building systems came into the agenda in response to requirements of earthquake resistance and rapid construction in Turkey after 1999 Izmit earthquake. CFS （cold-formed steel） framing system is able to meet the existing requirements in the field of low rise residential. But, objective comparison is required for the selection of structural systems used in low rise residentials. CFS system is compared with timber frame and reinforced concrete building systems in terms of design and applicability criterion in circumstances of Turkey, and the results of this comparison are presented in this study. In order to compare building systems objectively, a sample project, has been designed and studied on it. Three structural systems have been separately applied over this project designed in consideration of existing housing stock and preferences of the construction industry of Turkey Evaluation method with different values is selected in comparison and properties of three different structural systems are graded according to evaluation method. As a result of comparison, the CFS system is the most advantageous low rise residential prefabricated construction system in terms of design and applicability

Influence of Horizontal Flow on Atrium in High-Rise Residential Building

In this study a 10-storied residential building model was employed to clarify the ventilation characteristics of the atrium and the rooms,which were effected by the different forms of lateral openings.The experiment was conducted under the combined effect of wind force and thermal buoyancy,and the similarity requirements were satisfied.The results have shown that the different forms of lateral openings cause the different ventilation effect of the building,and also have some certain regularity.The conclusions provide a theoretical foundation for how to use the ventilation of atrium better in high-rise residential building.

Experimental study on thermal environment in large-space building with low sidewall air supply

The thermal environmental characteristics are experim-entally studied in terms of different air supply volumes and outdoor meteorological parameters in a large-space building which is air conditioned with a low sidewall air supply.The experimental results show that the indoor vertical temperature distributions under different condition are similar.The maximum vertical temperature difference（MVTD）is up to about 20 ℃,and it linearly changes with the sol-air temperature.The indoor vertical temperature gradients（VTGs）in the upper,central and lower zones are different.The influence of the sol-air temperature on the VTGs in the upper and the lower zones is greater than that in the central zone.The characteristics of the VTGs in the three zones affected by the air supply volume are the same as those affected by the sol-air temperature.Besides,because of the small air velocity,the predicted mean vote（PMV）on comfort in the occupied zone is slightly high and the air temperature difference between the head and the ankle is usually more than 3 ℃.

Preliminary investigation of building damage in Hatay under February 6,2023 Turkey earthquakes

On February 6,2023,an M_(w)7.8 earthquake hit the south of Kahramanmaras prefecture,Turkey,followed by another M_(w)7.5 earthquake after nine hours in the middle region of the Kahramanmaras prefecture.More than 84,000 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged,and more than 50,000 lives were lost in Turkey and Syria.Some of the authors,as members of Chinese rescue team,entered Antakya,Hatay prefecture,and investigated the damaged buildings.This paper first summarizes the damage patterns of buildings and provides three reasons for the massive number of collapsed buildings;i.e.,the lack of seismic measures for better ductility,site effects such as liquefaction and surface rupture,and pronounced low-frequency components of the ground motions.Next,the seismic responses of two typical buildings are calculated based on the geometric data estimated by visual inspection.The results imply that the resonance of the whole structure and the poorer ductility of key members resulted in the collapse of buildings.Finally,some conclusions are drawn.Note that although a large number of buildings were seriously damaged to collapse,the majority of buildings in the areas of extreme shaking were lightly or moderately damaged,which implies that well designed and constructed buildings were able to survive and protect human lives even in over-design earthquakes.

INVESTIGATION OF LOW CYCLE FATIGUE BEHAVIOROF BUILDING STRUCTURAL STEELS UNDEREARTHQUAKE LOADING

Based on the failure model of building structural steels under earthquake loading, the low cycle fatigue test at constant strain, the stochastical fatigue test under real earthquake load spectrum and the structural fatigue test are carried out. The experimental results show that microalloying of V Ti and Nb can improve the anti-seismic propersties of steel bars. In the high strain and shori life range, both the static strength and ductility of steels are very important to increasing the low cycle fatigue resistance of steels.

Summary of Research on Use of Sediment in Building Materials

Based on the recent research at home and abroad,this paper summarizes the preparation of cement clinker,baking-free brick,subgrade filler and ceramsite from sediment,and puts forward relevant suggestions and prospects for the future research direction of sediment.

Quantitative investigation on collapse margin of steel high-rise buildings subjected to extremely severe earthquakes

Reponses of structures subjected to severe earthquakes sometimes significantly surpass what was considered in the design.It is important to investigate the failure mechanism and collapse margin of structures beyond design,especially for high-rise buildings.In this study,steel high-rise buildings using either square concrete-filled-tube（CFT） columns or steel tube columns are designed.A detailed three-dimensional（3 D） structural model is developed to analyze the seismic behavior of a steel high-rise towards a complete collapse.The effectiveness is verified by both component tests and a full-scale shaking table test.The collapse margin,which is defined as the ratio of PGA between the collapse level to the design major earthquake level（Level 2）,is quantified by a series of numerical simulations using incremental dynamic analyses（IDA）.The baseline building using CFT columns collapsed with a weak first story mechanism and presented a collapse margin ranging from 10 to 20.The significant variation in the collapse margin was caused by the different characteristics of the input ground motions.The building using equivalent steel columns collapsed earlier due to the significant shortening of the locally buckled columns,exhibiting only 57% of the collapse margin of the baseline building.The influence of reducing the height of the first story was quite significant.The shortened first story not only enlarged the collapse margin by 20%,but also changed the collapse mode.

A review on research of fire dynamics in high-rise buildings

Since serious fire occurred frequently in recent years, fire safety of high-rise building has attracted extensive attention. A National Basic Research Program （973 program） of China has been set up by Ministry of Science and Technology （MOST） of China in 2012 to meet the research requirements of fire safety in high-rise buildings. This paper reviews the current state of art of research on fire dynamics of high-rise buildings, including the up-to-date progress of this project. The following three subjects on fire dynamics of high-rise buildings are addressed in this review： the ejected flame and fire plume behavior over facade out of the compartment window, the flame spread behavior over facade thermal insulation materiMs, and the buoyancy-driven smoke transportation characteristics along long vertical channels in high-rise buildings. Prospective future works are discussed and summarized.

Multi-hazard performance assessment of a transfer-plate high-rise building

Many urban areas are located in regions of moderate seismicity and are subjected to strong wind. Buildings in these regions are often designed without seismic provisions. As a result, in the event of an earthquake, the potential for damage and loss of lives may not be known. In this paper, the performance of a typical high-rise building with a thick transfer plate （TP）, which is one type of building structure commonly found in Hong Kong, is assessed against both earthquake and wind hazards. Seismic- and wind-resistant performance objectives are first reviewed based on relevant codes and design guidelines for high-rise buildings. After a brief introduction of wind-resistant design of the building, various methodologies, including equivalent static load analysis （ESLA）, response spectrum analysis （RSA）, pushover analysis （POA）, linear and nonlinear time-history analysis （LTHA and NTHA）, are employed to assess the seismic performance of the building when subjected to frequent earthquakes, design based earthquakes and maximum credible earthquakes. The effects of design wind and seismic action with a common 50-year return period are also compared. The results indicate that most performance objectives can be satisfied by the building, but there are some objectives, such as inter-story drift ratio, that cannot be achieved when subjected to the frequent earthquakes. It is concluded that in addition to wind, seismic action may need to be explicitly considered in the design of buildings in regions of moderate seismicity.

Effects of high modes on the wind-induced response of super high-rise buildings

For super high-rise buildings, the vibration period of the basic mode is several seconds, and it is very close to the period of the fluctuating wind. The damping of super high-rise buildings is low, so super high-rise buildings are very sensitive to fluctuating wind. The wind load is one of the key loads in the design of super high-rise buildings. It is known that only the basic mode is needed in the wind-response analysis of tall buildings. However, for super high-rise buildings, especially for the acceleration response, because of the frequency amplification of the high modes, the high modes and the mode coupling may need to be considered. Three typical super high-rise projects with the SMPSS in wind tunnel tests and the random vibration theory method were used to analyze the effect of high modes on the wind-induced response. The conclusions can be drawn as follows. First, for the displacement response, the basic mode is dominant, and the high modes can be neglected. Second, for the acceleration response, the high modes and the mode coupling should be considered. Lastly, the strain energy of modes can only give the vibration energy distribution of the high-rise building, and it cannot describe the local wind-induced vibration of high-rise buildings, especially for the top acceleration response.

Numerical Simulation of Wind Field Characteristics around Two Adjacent High-Rise Buildings

This paper based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations standard ?model [1];the surface pressure on the wind field around two adjacent high-rise buildings was numerically simulated with software Fluent. The results show that with the influence of adjacent high-rise building, numerical simulation is a good way to study the wind field around high-rise building and the distribution of wind pressure on building’ surface. The pressures on the windward surface are positive with the maximum at 2/3 H height and have lower values on the top and bottom. The pressures on the leeward surface and two sides were negative. Due to the serious flow separation at the corner of building’s windward, the wind field has a high turbulent kinetic energy.

Preparation of Styrene-acrylate Latex Used in Ultralow VOC Building Internal Wall Coating

Styrene-acrylate latex with high glass transition temperature （T）, low minimum film forming temperature（MFT） and good stability was prepared via core-shell emulsion polymerization. With semicontinuous process, high conversion rate of monomer and low gel rate were achieved. The weight ratio of core monomer to shell monomer was approximately 1.35. It is found that many factors such as emulsifiers, initiators, reaction temperature, pH value and polymerization technology have influences on the permormance of styrene-acrylate latex. The prepared latex was characterized by TEM and FTIR. The obtained latex with T of 20.57 ℃, MFT or5.0 ℃, and good stability, had good stability of film forming.

Evaluation of Disaster Risks, Vulnerabilities and Response Strategies of High Rise Buildings in Lagos Municipality

Although disasters can occur anywhere, certain types of disasters are more likely to have more effects on some buildings than others, especially on those in urban areas. Buildings in Lagos have had nasty experiences from both natural and artificial disasters, claiming lives and properties in the past. This study aims at evaluating the disaster risks, vulnerabilities and response strategies in the high rise buildings in Lagos municipality. Structured questionnaire was administered to building owners, estate managers and disaster managers who manage the high rise buildings. The information obtained was supplemented by personal interviews conducted with tenants and rescue organizations. The study identified collapse of building, fire out break, and communication and power failure as the most likely potential disasters, power failure and collapse had the highest severity of impact, and the degree of preparedness achieved to confront the disasters was below satisfaction. However, the specific status of the response strategies was as expected, but there was room for improvements. The potential disasters were natural, human and environmental and the most vulnerable sectors were other properties rather than the high rise buildings themselves. The magnitude of risk levels could be contained with the level of response strategies already achieved if coordinated.

High-rise building fire pre-warning model based on the support vector regression

Aiming at reducing the deficiency of the traditional fire pre-warning algorithms and the intelligent fire pre-warning algorithms such as artificial neural network,and then to improve the accuracy of fire prewarning for high-rise buildings,a composite fire pre-warning controller is designed according to the characteristic（ nonlinear,less historical data,many influence factors）,also a high-rise building fire pre-warning model is set up based on the support vector regression（ SV R）. Then the wood fire standard history data is applied to make empirical analysis. The research results can provide a reliable decision support framework for high-rise building fire pre-warning.

A Multi-Criteria Decision Support System for the Selection of Low-Cost Green Building Materials and Components

The necessity of having an effective computer-aided decision support system in the housing construction industry is rapidly growing alongside the demand for green buildings and green building products. Identifying and defining financially viable low-cost green building materials and components, just like selecting them, is a crucial exercise in subjectivity. With so many variables to consider, the task of evaluating such products can be complex and discouraging. Moreover, the existing mode for selecting and managing, often very large information associated with their impacts constrains decision-makers to perform a trade-off analysis that does not necessarily guarantee the most environmentally preferable material. This paper introduces the development of a multi-criteria decision support system (DSS) aimed at improving the understanding of the principles of best practices associated with the impacts of low-cost green building materials and components. The DSS presented in this paper is to provide designers with useful and explicit information that will aid informed decision-making in their choice of materials for low-cost green residential housing projects. The prototype MSDSS is developed using macro-in-excel, which is a fairly recent database management technique used for integrating data from multiple, often very large databases and other information sources. This model consists of a database to store different types of low-cost green materials with their corresponding attributes and performance characteristics. The DSS design is illustrated with particular emphasis on the development of the material selection data schema, and application of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) concept to a material selection problem. Details of the MSDSS model are also discussed including workflow of the data evaluation process. The prototype model has been developed with inputs elicited from domain experts and extensive literature review, and refined with feedback obtained from selected expert builder and developer companies. This paper further demonstrates the application of the prototype MSDSS for selecting the most appropriate low-cost green building material from among a list of several available options, and finally concludes the study with the associated potential benefits of the model to research and practice.