Evaluation of the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete structures with flat slab-column gravity frame and shear walls through nonlinear analysis methods

This paper presents an investigation of the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete(RC)structures in which shear walls are the main lateral load-resisting elements and the participation of flat slab floor systems is not considered in the seismic design procedure.In this regard,the behavior of six prototype structures(with different heights and plan layouts)is investigated through nonlinear static and time history analyses,implemented in the OpenSees platform.The results of the analyses are presented in terms of the behavior of the slab-column connections and their mode of failure at different loading stages.Moreover,the global response of the buildings is discussed in terms of some parameters,such as lateral overstrength due to the gravity flat slab-column frames.According to the nonlinear static analyses,in structures in which the slab-column connections were designed only for gravity loads,the slab-column connections exhibited a punching mode of failure even in the early stages of loading.However,the punching failure was eliminated in structures in which a minimum transverse reinforcement recommended in ACI 318(2019)was provided in the slabs at joint regions.Furthermore,despite neglecting the contribution of gravity flat slab-column frames in the lateral load resistance of the structures,a relatively significant overstrength was imposed on the structures by the gravity frames.

Rational Design of Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Ferrites as Air Electrode for Highly Active and Durable Reversible Protonic Ceramic Cells

Reversible protonic ceramic cells(RePCCs)hold promise for efficient energy storage,but their practicality is hindered by a lack of high-performance air electrode materials.Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite Sr_(3)Fe_(2)O_(7−δ)(SF)exhibits superior proton uptake and rapid ionic conduction,boosting activity.However,excessive proton uptake during RePCC operation degrades SF’s crystal structure,impacting durability.This study introduces a novel A/B-sites co-substitution strategy for modifying air electrodes,incorporating Sr-deficiency and Nb-substitution to create Sr_(2.8)Fe_(1.8)Nb_(0.2)O_(7−δ)(D-SFN).Nb stabilizes SF’s crystal,curbing excessive phase formation,and Sr-deficiency boosts oxygen vacancy concentration,optimizing oxygen transport.The D-SFN electrode demonstrates outstanding activity and durability,achieving a peak power density of 596 mW cm^(−2)in fuel cell mode and a current density of−1.19 A cm^(−2)in electrolysis mode at 1.3 V,650℃,with excellent cycling durability.This approach holds the potential for advancing robust and efficient air electrodes in RePCCs for renewable energy storage.

Project⁃based Pollutant Emission Control of Diesel Construction Equipment

This paper examines project⁃based policies and regulations implemented globally to control and mitigate emissions from diesel⁃powered construction equipment.This study systematically reviews and analyzes various managerial,regulatory,and technical measures adopted across countries and regions,mostly of advanced economy.Key strategies of control include setting emission thresholds,idling restrictions,perform remote online monitoring,operational time limits,setting low emission zones,and enforced registration systems.The review highlights the rationale,implementation details,and experiences gained from these localized approaches,reduces localized emission sources,improve urban air quality and environmental management efficiency.

Peat properties of a tropical forest reserve adjacent to a fire-break canal

Tropical peat comprises decomposed dead plant material and acts like a sponge to absorb water,making it fully saturated.However,drought periods dry it readily and increases its vulnerability to fire.Peat fires emit greenhouse gases and particles contributing to haze,and prevention by constructing fire-break canals to reduce fire spread into forest reserves is crucial.This paper aims to determine peat physical and chemical properties near a fire-break canal at different fire frequency areas.Peat sampling was conducted at two forest reserves in Malaysia which represent low fire frequency and high fire frequency areas.The results show that peat properties were not affected by the construction of a fire-break canal,however lignin and cellulose content increased significantly from the distance of the canal in both areas.The study concluded that fire frequency did not significantly influence peat properties except for porosity.The higher fibre content in the high frequency area did not influence moisture content nor the ability to regain moisture.Thus,fire frequency might contribute differently to changes in physical and chemical properties,hence management efforts to construct fire-break canals and restoration efforts should protect peatlands from further degradation.These findings will benefit future management and planning for forest reserves.

A New Dynamic and Vertical Photovoltaic Integrated Building Envelope for High-Rise Glaze-Facade Buildings

Substantially glazed facades are extensively used in contemporary high-rise buildings to achieve attractive architectural aesthetics.Inherent conflicts exist among architectural aesthetics,building energy consumption,and solar energy harvesting for glazed facades.In this study,we addressed these conflicts by introducing a new dynamic and vertical photovoltaic integrated building envelope(dvPVBE)that offers extraordinary flexibility with weather-responsive slat angles and blind positions,superior architectural aesthetics,and notable energy-saving potential.Three hierarchical control strategies were proposed for different scenarios of the dvPVBE:power generation priority(PGP),natural daylight priority(NDP),and energy-saving priority(ESP).Moreover,the PGP and ESP strategies were further analyzed in the simulation of a dvPVBE.An office room integrated with a dvPVBE was modeled using EnergyPlus.The influence of the dvPVBE in improving the building energy efficiency and corresponding optimal slat angles was investigated under the PGP and ESP control strategies.The results indicate that the application of dvPVBEs in Beijing can provide up to 131%of the annual energy demand of office rooms and significantly increase the annual net energy output by at least 226%compared with static photovoltaic(PV)blinds.The concept of this novel dvPVBE offers a viable approach by which the thermal load,daylight penetration,and energy generation can be effectively regulated.

Experimental Study on the Axial Compression Performance of Bamboo Scrimber Columns Embedded with Steel Reinforcing Bars

In this paper,a new type of bamboo scrimber column embedded with steel bars(rebars)was proposed,and the compression performance was improved by pre-embedding rebars during the preparation of the columns.The effects of the slenderness ratio and the reinforcement ratio on the axial compression performance of reinforced bamboo scrimber columns were studied by axial compression tests on 28 specimens.The results showed that the increase in the slenderness ratio had a significant negative effect on the axial compression performance of the columns.When the slenderness ratio increased from 19.63 to 51.96,the failure mode changed from strength failure to buckling failure,and the maximum bearing capacity decreased by 43.03%.The axial compression performance of the reinforced bamboo scrimber columns did not significantly improve at a slenderness ratio of 19.63,but the opposite was true at slenderness ratios of 36.95 and 51.96.When the reinforcement ratio increased from 0%to 4.52%,the bearing capacity of those with a slenderness ratio of 51.96 increased by up to 16.99%,and the stiffness and ductility were also improved.Finally,based on existing specifications,two modification parameters,the overall elastic modulus Ec and the combined strength fcc,were introduced to establish a calculation method for the bearing capacity of the reinforced bamboo scrimber columns.The calculation results were compared with the test results,and the results showed that the proposed calculation models can more accurately predict the bearing capacity.

Diverse experiences by active travel for carbon neutrality:A longitudinal study of residential context,daily travel and experience types

Two key goals for sustainable spatial planning are to promote low-carbon travel in daily life and to enhance human wellbeing through diverse human-environment interactions.Yet,the integration of these goals has been underexplored.This study investigates the potential for experiential diversity via active travel in different resi-dential contexts within the Gävle city-region,Sweden.Over 15 months,we collected spatiotemporal data from 165 participants,analyzing 4,362 reported experiences and 13,192 GPS-derived travel trajectories.Our analysis uncovered a significant spatial discrepancy:while the travelled distances to locations of positive experiences typ-ically ranged from 1.5 km to 5 km,active travel predominated only within 1.5 km.This discrepancy persisted across urban,suburban,and peripheral contexts.Although residents in different contexts reported the same types of experiences,urban dwellers travelled about 50%farther for nature experiences compared with other positive experiences,whereas peripheral dwellers travelled twice the distance for urbanicity experiences compared with other positive experiences.Consequently,urban residents mostly relied on active travel for urbanicity experiences and motorised travel for nature experiences,with the reverse trend observed among peripheral dwellers.These results illustrate the importance of spatial scale for promoting diverse positive experiences via active travel,re-gardless of residential context.Effective planning strategies may include enhancing environmental diversity near homes and developing infrastructure that favours active over motorised travel for short to moderate distances.

Time-History Dynamic Characteristics of Reinforced Soil-Retaining Walls

Given the complexities of reinforced soil materials’constitutive relationships,this paper compares reinforced soil composite materials to a sliding structure between steel bars and soil and proposes a reinforced soil constitutive model that takes this sliding into account.A finite element dynamic time history calculation software for composite response analysis was created using the Fortran programming language,and time history analysis was performed on reinforced soil retaining walls and gravity retaining walls.The vibration time histories of reinforced soil retaining walls and gravity retaining walls were computed,and the dynamic reactions of the two types of retaining walls to vibration were compared and studied.The dynamic performance of reinforced earth retaining walls was evaluated.

Effects of Furniture Ergonomics on Student’s Satisfaction in a Library Facility

Building occupants are not immune to ill-health as a result of time they spend in a building.This paper seeks to examine the effects furniture ergonomics have on student’s satisfaction in the library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.A pilot survey was initially conducted in the library through a one-to-one interaction with students to fetch their opinions on the general effects of the furniture.An observation through several walkthroughs was also conducted by the researchers to compare and validate responses obtained.Two hundred and sixty-five students that come from fifteen nationalities are surveyed.A structured questionnaire is used to collect data on the respondents’opinions on the size,shape,arrangement and comfort of the furniture.Eta cross tabulation,Spearman’s rho and Kendall’s Tau-b are used to establish relationships.Results show that amongst the effects studied,there are significant positive relationships between students’satisfaction of furniture ergonomics as against back-strain and lack of concentration.This implies that the more the furniture arrangements,size and shape are perceived unsatisfactory,the more their effects on back-strain and lack of concentration towards the students.This paper further recommends that library management should see to designing IEQ(Indoor Environmental Quality)guidelines that will mitigate the effects of furniture ergonomics thus improving student’s satisfaction.

Software and Mobile Apps as a Strategy for Productivity Improvement in the Construction Industry

The construction industry, known for its low productivity, is increasingly utilising software and mobile apps to enhance efficiency. However, more comprehensive research is needed to understand the effectiveness of these technology applications. The PRISMA principles utilised a scoping review methodology to ascertain pertinent studies and extract significant findings. From 2013 onwards, articles containing data on mobile applications or software designed to enhance productivity in the construction sector were obtained from multiple databases, including Emerald Insight, Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar. After evaluating 2604 articles, 30 were determined to be pertinent to the study and were subsequently analysed for the review. The review identified five key themes: effectiveness, benefits, successful implementation examples, obstacles and limitations, and a comprehensive list of software and mobile apps. In addition, 71 software and mobile apps have shown potentially how these technologies can improve communication, collaboration, project management, real-time collaboration, document management, and on-the-go project information and estimating processes in the construction industry, increasing efficiency and productivity. The findings highlight the potential of these technologies such as Automation, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Building Information Modeling (BIM), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Internet of Things (IoT) to improve efficiency and communication in the construction industry. Despite challenges such as cost, lack of awareness, resistance to change, compatibility concerns, human resources, technological and security concerns and licensing issues, the study identifies specific mobile applications and software with the potential to enhance efficiency significantly, improve productivity and streamline workflows. The broader societal impacts of construction software and mobile app development include increased efficiency, job creation, and sustainability.

A simplified methd of evaluating the seismic performance of buildings

This paper presents a simplified method of evaluating the seismic performance of buildings. The proposed method is based on the transformation of a multiple degree of freedom (MDOF) system to an equivalent single degree of freedom (SDOF) system using a simple and intuitive process. The proposed method is intended for evaluating the seismic performance of the buildings at the intermediate stages in design, while a rigorous method would be applied to the final design. The performance of the method is evaluated using a series of buildings which are assumed to be located in Victoria in western Canada, and designed based on the upcoming version of the National Building Code of Canada which is due to be published in 2005. To resist lateral loads, some of these buildings contain reinforced concrete moment resisting frames, while others contain reinforced concrete shear walls. Each building model has been subjected to a set of site-specific seismic spectrum compatible ground motion records, and the response has been determined using the proposed method and the general method for MDOF systems. The results from the study indicate that the proposed method can serve as a useful tool for evaluation of seismic performance of buildings, and carrying out performance based design.

Seismic performance of high-rise buildings in selected regions in Saudi Arabia according to different seismic codes

The design code for each country is revised and updated based on an expected zone’s seismic intensities,geotechnical site classifications,structural systems,construction materials and methods of construction in order to provide more realistic considerations of seismic demand,seismic response,and seismic capacity.Based on the aforementioned provisions,structures designed according to different seismic codes may yield different performances for the same level of hazard.This study aims to investigate and compare the induced responses related to the earthquake-resistant design of reinforced concrete(RC)buildings according to the Saudi building code(SBC-301),American code(ASCE-7),uniform building code(UBC-97),and European code(EC-8).In order to account for the provision regarding the hazard specification and its effect on the induced seismic responses,four regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with different seismic levels are selected.The code provisions related to the specification of site classification and its effect on the induced design base shear are investigated as well.Significant differences are observed in the induced responses with the variation in seismic design codes for the considered seismic hazards and site classifications.

An Assessment of Thermal Comfort in Multi Storey Office Buildings in Ghana

Amidst the recent development in the usage of curtain walls for office buildings, high utilization of energy and poor thermal comfort issues have become paramount. This paper assesses thermal comfort in multi storey (naturally and mechanically ventilated) office buildings in Accra, the Capital city of Ghana using Fanger’s Predicted Mean Votes (PMV) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied persons (PPD) model. The model relates to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55 (which gives an acceptable temperature range of 23℃ - 26℃) and the International Standards Organization (ISO) 7730. Indoor environmental parameters (temperature and relative humidity) of 4 multi storey office buildings were recorded over a 10 month period. The environmental parameters were analyzed using PMVcalc_v2 software which resulted in the generation of PMV-PPD values. The findings reveal high PMV-PPD values in the Naturally Ventilated Building (NVB) whiles the Mechanically Ventilated Buildings (MVB) fall within the comfort zone. Meanwhile, the Actual Mean Votes (AMV) by the occupants suggest all four buildings are relatively comfortable with the mechanically ventilated offices being more comfortable. Additionally, it is recommended that buildings are orientated with their longer sides facing north-south, with enough shading in order to improve the thermal comfort conditions of work spaces.

Defects in Concrete Elements: A Study of Residential Buildings of 30 Years and above in Onitsha Metropolis, Anambra State, Nigeria

Building defect is an issue in existing buildings that needs urgent tackling to prevent further problems. This study assessed the defects in concrete elements in residential buildings of 30 years and above in the Onitsha metropolis of Anambra State, Nigeria. Data collection instruments in the study include structured questionnaire, interviews, visual inspection/observations, archival records, recordings, photographs;and non-destructive testing of the concrete elements in an existing building in the study area. The population of this study constituted of the construction registered professionals and the existing buildings in study area. The sample for the study was based on the calculated sample size using Taro Yamani Formula. A total of 158 registered professionals were sampled from the population of 260. The questionnaires were purposively distributed to the registered professionals up to the required sample sizes of 158 and 129 questionnaires were properly filled and returned. The study used the SPSS and Microsoft Excel to analyze the data. The results were analyzed in percentages and figures using descriptive statistics and presented in the form of pie charts and tables. The finding of the study revealed that the causes and effects of structural defects on the concrete elements in existing buildings in the study area according to the rating are;exposed/corrosion of the embedded metals, faulty workmanship, overload and impacts, chemical attack, freeze-thaw deterioration, fire/heat, restraint to volume change. The visual observation revealed that the structural elements are characterized by heavy defects such as deep vertical, horizontal and diagonal cracks, exposed/ corrosion of the embedded metals, spalling of the concrete slabs. The existence of defects in the concrete members led to the low compressive strength of the concrete elements and the structural instability of the existing buildings as revealed by the non-destructive test. The non-destructive test result revealed that most of the tested concrete elements have low compressive strength value and such were remarked poor as they did not satisfy the assumed value. Essentially, the study concluded by recommending that regular monitoring, inspections and non-destructive testing of concrete elements should be conducted on existing aged and defected buildings to detect the structural stability of the buildings;and it is imperative to evacuate occupants from heavy structurally deteriorated and defected buildings since most of them have lost their residual design life span and ability to sustain imposed loads.

Assessing the adequacy and sustainability performance of multi-family residential buildings in Anambra State,Nigeria

The proliferation of multi-family residential building in Anambra State of Nigeria due to increasing demand without recourse to performance has broughtconcerns about the adequacy and sustainability of this housing type.This study therefore,assessed the adequacy and sustainability performance of multi-family residential buildings in urban areas of Anambra State.The study sampled the opinions of 384 households living in multi-family residential buildings through a questionnaire survey.We conducted data analysis based on 214 responses that were useful for analysis.The study found that internal and building component variables and supporting neigh-borhood variables were adequate,but the surrounding environment variables were inadequate based on Mean Score Index.However,based on Sustainability Performance Index,the occupant sperceived social sustainability performance of the buildings as satisfactory,while environmental and economic sustainability performance were perceived as fairly satisfactory.The Pearson correlation coefficient result further established that adequacy of internal and building component variables was significantly and positively related to the residents'perceived social sustainability performance.Adequacy of the surrounding environmental variables was also found to be positively and significantly related to the residents'perceived environmental sustainability performance,whereas adequacy of supporting neighborhood facilities was found to be negatively and significantly related to the residents’perceived economic sustainability performance.This sug-gested that investors and owners of multi-family residential buildings should direct more efforts towards improving the surrounding environment to supplements other facilities and increase the economic benefit of the renters or occupiers with increasing economic sustainability performance in terms of value for money.

New Approach and Alternate Criterion for Heat-transfer Analysis of Building Walls and Its Applications

Energy consumed by buildings accounts for approximately one-third of the total energy consumption of the society.Moreover,energy systems employed in buildings emit hazardous pollutants,such as,NOx,PM2.5 and CO2,into the environment.Consequently,increasing the energy efficiency of buildings constitutes an important problem concerning the field of building-energy and environment conservation.Thermal resistance and capacitance are two important thermophysical properties of building walls significantly impacting their heat-transfer performance.Traditional theories concerning these properties,however,face certain limitations:(1)the concept of thermal resistance is only valid for one-dimensional,steady heat conduction without existence of an internal heat source;(2)thermal resistance and capacitance are relevant,and can,therefore,not be used to analyze heat-transfer and storage performance,respectively,of building walls.Based on the entransy-dissipation-based impedance theory,a new approach towards realization of heat-transfer analysis and optimization has been proposed in this study.The weightiness of thermal resistance and capacitance with regard to heat-transfer performance has been described along with deduction of the corresponding substitutional relation via illustrative examples.The proposed approach has been demonstrated to effectively overcome aforementioned limitations of building energy conservation problems.

Impact of lateral force-resisting system and design/construction practices on seismic performance and cost of tall buildings in Dubai, UAE

The local design and construction practices in the United Arab Emirates （UAE）, together with Dubai＇s unique rate of development, warrant special attention to the selection of Lateral Force-Resisting Systems （LFRS）. This research proposes four different feasible solutions for the selection of the LFRS for tall buildings and quantifies the impact of these selections on seismic performance and cost. The systems considered are： Steel Special Moment-Resisting Frame （SMRF）, Concrete SMRF, Steel Dual System （SMRF with Special Steel Plates Shear Wall, SPSW）, and Concrete Dual System （SMRF with Special Concrete Shear Wall, SCSW）. The LFRS selection is driven by seismic setup as well as the adopted design and construction practices in Dubai. It is found that the concrete design alternatives are consistently less expensive than their steel counterparts. The steel dual system is expected to have the least damage based on its relatively lesser interstory drifts. However, this preferred performance comes at a higher initial construction cost. Conversely, the steel SMRF system is expected to have the most damage and associated repair cost due to its excessive flexibility. The two concrete alternatives are expected to have relatively moderate damage and repair costs in addition to their lesser initial construction cost.

Cooling Load Distribution of Large Space Building

The cooling and heating load distribution of large area air-conditioned room such as “open” offices, shopping malls and waiting rooms is usually assumed to be even in air conditioning system design. However, it is not the case in reality, and a low efficient air conditioning system results from this assumption. A simulation and analysis of the cooling load distribution of an office building in Hong Kong with TRANSYS software is provided in this paper. A typical office is divided into 13 zones for simulation, including external zone, medial zone and internal zone in the north, the south, the east and the west respectively and a central zone, instead of 4 directional zone. The result shows there is much cooling load difference between each zone, and more attention should be paid to uneven indoor cooling and heating load distribution to further guide the design.

Insights into the adsorption performance and mechanism of Cr(Ⅵ)onto porous nanocomposite prepared from gossans and modified coal interface:Steric,energetic,and thermodynamic parameters interpretations

Herein,iron oxide/hydroxides deposits(gossans)were utilized,for the first time,in the fabrication of magnetite nanoparticles(MNPs)to load modified coal(MC).The as-synthesized MNPs@MC composite was characterized via different techniques and utilized for the Cr(Ⅵ)remediation.Experimental studies supported by theoretical treatment were applied to offer a new overview of the Cr(Ⅵ)adsorption geometry and mechanism at 25-45℃.Experimental results suggested that the Cr(Ⅵ)uptake was mainly governed by adsorption-reduction coupled mechanism.The Langmuir model fitted well the Cr(Ⅵ)adsorption data with maximum adsorption capacities extended from 115.24 to 129.63 mg·g^(-1).Theoretical calculations indicated that Cr(Ⅵ)ions were adsorbed on the MNPs@MC following the theory of the advanced monolayer statistical model.The number of ions removed per site ranged from 1.88 to1.23 suggesting the involvement of vertical geometry and multi-ionic mechanism at all temperatures.The increment of the active sites density and the adsorption capacity at saturation with improving temperature reflected an endothermic process.Energetically,the Cr(Ⅵ)adsorption was controlled by physical forces as the adsorption energies were less than 40 kJ·mol^(-1).The calculated free enthalpy,entropy.and internal energy explained the spontaneous nature and the viability of Cr(Ⅵ)adsorption on the MNPs@MC adsorbent.These results offer a new approach in utilizing the iron-rich deposits as gossans in the preparation of magnetic and low-cost adsorbents for wastewater remediation.

Relative Importance Analysis of Factors Influencing Unauthorized Siting of Residential Buildings in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana

The act of unauthorized siting of buildings has persisted in most developing countries. Despite numerous efforts at local levels to address this problem, its existence and effects keep on rising in various metropolises in Ghana. This research explores the causes of unauthorized siting of buildings in Asakae, a suburb of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, and suggests measures to curb them. In view of this, a sample size of 182 house-owners was chosen for the study. Accordingly, the sample size was determined using Fisher et al. formula and questionnaire survey approach was adopted for the study. More so, data generated from the survey were further analyzed, using Relative Importance Index. The findings of the survey indicated that ignorance on planning and building regulations, inadequate housing schemes, unrealistic zonings and the location of land are critical variables which influence unauthorized siting of buildings. It is recommended that the populace should be given regular public education on land-use planning and the building regulations of Ghana. More so, the Assemblies should automate their systems, with respect to monitoring and detection of buildings under construction;so that buildings that were being located at unapproved places could be quickly detected, and appropriate measures could be taken before their completion.