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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Challenges And Opportunities To Deep Retrofitting Of Traditional Fabric Buildings To Achieve Nearly Zero Energy Building (Nzeb), Maria Lopez Zambrano, Paul Kenny, Jamie Goggins Aug 2020

Challenges And Opportunities To Deep Retrofitting Of Traditional Fabric Buildings To Achieve Nearly Zero Energy Building (Nzeb), Maria Lopez Zambrano, Paul Kenny, Jamie Goggins

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Many of our traditional buildings are disappearing or in danger of being under utilised because they are not comfortable for modern day living and do not meet our present day needs. If a building does not have a use, inevitably it deteriorates and eventually becomes a ruin or gets demolished. It is important to retrofit these buildings, which are part of our identity and can be powerful tourist attractions even though most of them are not listed. Some owners want to apply for retrofitting schemes and grants, but they are rejected because there are no standard solutions to achieve low …


Can Deap Help Us To Predict The Energy Demand And Indoor Temperature Of Homes Before And After Renovation? A Case Study From Dublin, Paul Moran, Jamie Goggins Aug 2020

Can Deap Help Us To Predict The Energy Demand And Indoor Temperature Of Homes Before And After Renovation? A Case Study From Dublin, Paul Moran, Jamie Goggins

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Improving the energy efficiency of buildings via retrofitting is seen as one of the key mitigation measures to reducing the energy demand and carbon emissions of the built environment in Ireland. However, while energy efficiency retrofits for buildings are effective in theory, the energy savings estimated by statistical or engineering models can often be inaccurate. The Domestic Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) is the standard assessment procedure used for assessing the energy performance standard of residential buildings in Ireland. This paper examines the gas energy demand for space and water heating and the internal temperature profiles in contrast to DEAP estimates …


St. Mary And St. Anne Cathedral, Cork: An Optimum Heating Solution For Heritage Buildings?, Christopher Shiell, Roger P. West Aug 2020

St. Mary And St. Anne Cathedral, Cork: An Optimum Heating Solution For Heritage Buildings?, Christopher Shiell, Roger P. West

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Cathedrals and most churches are characterised by having large internal, undivided spaces and permeable building envelopes. They are often used little, intermittently, but predictably and, in spite of the fact that they are unique in still being largely used for the purpose for which they were built many centuries ago, they are now often used for additional purposes, for which they were never designed. These uses include concerts, graduation ceremonies, filming and a host of other uses all of which require a level of thermal comfort not envisaged by the original builders. Research was undertaken by the authors into the …


Art In Engineering: Evoking A Creative Response From Engineering Students And More, Jamie Goggins, Marta Fuente, Eamonn Madden Aug 2020

Art In Engineering: Evoking A Creative Response From Engineering Students And More, Jamie Goggins, Marta Fuente, Eamonn Madden

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

The concept of creativity being only associated with writers, painters, and artistic professions is outdated. The future engineer must embrace maths, art and creativity to unlock innovative solutions. Traditional engineering courses with an emphasis predominately on maths and science can produce graduates who are constrained in developing design solutions without creativity to unlock innovative solutions. This paper describes a short course introduced in the School of Engineering at NUIGalway in 2018 to expose students to creative thinking research and principles and engage in various forms of creative expression (photography, painting and essay writing) to articulate their response to a set …


Teaching Of Structural Analysis Into The Future, Dermot O'Dwyer Aug 2020

Teaching Of Structural Analysis Into The Future, Dermot O'Dwyer

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

The engineering curriculum has always been full. In the past civil and structural engineers studied a wide variety of technical subjects within the broad field of engineering science and spent many hours working on design projects. Modern engineering curricula try to cover these areas while also dedicating more time to structured group-work, report writing and communication skills. Although students spend longer in college the number and range of technical fields that students must master is considerably larger than in the past. As a result the time available to any one topic area has reduced. At the same time the work …


The Broader Development Of The Student Engineer Through Industry Based Experiential Learning, Donogh Coleman, Ted Mckenna, Mary Moloney Aug 2020

The Broader Development Of The Student Engineer Through Industry Based Experiential Learning, Donogh Coleman, Ted Mckenna, Mary Moloney

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

The global drive for industry-aware and industry-ready engineering graduates, has led to the development and integration of experiential learning through work placements. Industry is looking to recruit graduates with not just the requisite technical engineering skills, but also graduates with inter alia high levels of teamwork and communications skills. This has been recognised by CIT with the integration of work placement in most of its undergraduate programmes. This paper provides an overview of the student placement process in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at CIT, includes the work placement alternative which was implemented due to the COVID-19 …


Operational And Embodied Energy Analysis Of 8 Single-Occupant Dwellings Retrofit To Nzeb Standard, Richard O'Hegarty, Shane Colclough, Oliver Kinnane, Donal Lennon, Etienne Rieux Aug 2020

Operational And Embodied Energy Analysis Of 8 Single-Occupant Dwellings Retrofit To Nzeb Standard, Richard O'Hegarty, Shane Colclough, Oliver Kinnane, Donal Lennon, Etienne Rieux

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

In line with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, Irish dwellings are being retrofit to near Zero Energy Building (nZEB) standards - with a number of the deep energy retrofits classified as A-rated. As a result of the low operational energy, the embodied energy share of an nZEB's life cycle energy is significantly increased. Therefore, to obtain a holistic picture of the change in energy profile of buildings, the embodied energy of the material added to achieve that low performance should also be taken into account. This paper presents results from a case study of 8 single-occupant terrace bungalows retrofit …


Loading On Long Span Bridges In Heavily Trafficked Areas, Michael Quilligan, Eugene O'Brien Aug 2020

Loading On Long Span Bridges In Heavily Trafficked Areas, Michael Quilligan, Eugene O'Brien

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

The critical traffic loading condition for long-span bridges is congestion when vehicles may be closely spaced together. Data on very high traffic flows is limited however, as induction loops which are typically used to collect traffic data, are ineffective when traffic flow breaks down. A number of long span bridges are located in areas of high traffic with periods of recurring congestion occurring daily. While the inter-vehicle gap distances are greater than those occurring during non-recurring full stop accident type events, the high frequency of the recurring congestion events can increase the probability of a critical load case occurring.


A Numerical Study Of The Effect Of Wind Barriers On Traffic And The Bridge Deck, Yuxiang Zhang, Philip Cardiff, Jennifer Keenahan Aug 2020

A Numerical Study Of The Effect Of Wind Barriers On Traffic And The Bridge Deck, Yuxiang Zhang, Philip Cardiff, Jennifer Keenahan

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Wind actions can have a great impact on both bridges and traffic on bridges. However, structures designed to shelter the traffic from wind can influence the aerodynamic performance of the bridge deck, especially for long-span bridges. This study compares the effect of non-perforated walls and perforated walls used as wind barriers for traffic by conducting Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations on three-dimensional geometries of a four-lane bridge deck. Steady-state simulations employ the Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) method with the k-epsilon turbulence model and all simulations use parallel computing. An open-sourced software OpenFOAM is used.


Repair & Rehabilitation Of Daly's (Shakey) Bridge, Cork City, Michael Minehane, John Gamble Aug 2020

Repair & Rehabilitation Of Daly's (Shakey) Bridge, Cork City, Michael Minehane, John Gamble

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

This paper describes the rehabilitation of (Shakey) Bridge, an existing single-span suspension bridge crossing the northern channel of the River Lee in Cork City. The bridge was opened in 1927 to replace an earlier ferry crossing at the same location. Daly’s bridge is included on the Record of Protected Structures and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. It remains the only suspension bridge in Cork City and is the only surviving bridge of its kind in Ireland. It is considered to be a significant contributor to the architectural heritage of the city. This case study describes the project development including …


Long-Run Traffic Simulations For Multi-Lane Road Bridges, Róisín Donnelly, Lorcan Connolly, Ilaria Bernardini Aug 2020

Long-Run Traffic Simulations For Multi-Lane Road Bridges, Róisín Donnelly, Lorcan Connolly, Ilaria Bernardini

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

The maintenance and repair of ageing bridges is a concern for road infrastructure managers. This issue is amplified by the increasing weights and frequency of travel of freight vehicles in recent times. In order to accurately assess the risk of damage for road bridges, it is essential to have knowledge of both historical and current bridge loading. When available, site-specific Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) data can be effective in creating representative load models for a structure. However, for cases where WIM data is not available and in cases where future damage must be predicted, it is necessary to simulate appropriate data using …


Simulation Of Traffic Loading On Long Span Bridges, Hang Zhang, Michael Quilligan Aug 2020

Simulation Of Traffic Loading On Long Span Bridges, Hang Zhang, Michael Quilligan

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Existing long span load models have typically been developed using a number of conservative assumptions, and as such are more applicable to the design of new bridges rather than the assessment of existing structures. Excessive conservatism in such assumptions can lead to expensive and unnecessary interventions in existing bridges. Furthermore, existing load models do not always allow for correlations in traffic weights and vehicle positions on the bridge.


Development And Testing Of A Deployable Double Layer Tensegrity Grid, Michael Quilligan, Valentin Gomez-Jauregui, Cristina Manchado, Cesar Otero Aug 2020

Development And Testing Of A Deployable Double Layer Tensegrity Grid, Michael Quilligan, Valentin Gomez-Jauregui, Cristina Manchado, Cesar Otero

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Tensegrity is a structural principle based on the use of isolated or contiguous pin jointed components in compression inside a net of continuous tension. Although the concept has been studied for many decades, relatively few examples of tensegrity structures have been used for civil engineering purposes.


Reinforcement Of Timber Elements In Compression Perpendicular To The Grain Using Compressed Wood Dowels, Michael Conway, Conan O'Ceallaigh, Sameer Mehra, Annette M. Harte Aug 2020

Reinforcement Of Timber Elements In Compression Perpendicular To The Grain Using Compressed Wood Dowels, Michael Conway, Conan O'Ceallaigh, Sameer Mehra, Annette M. Harte

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

In the past decade, there has been an increased focus on the environmental impacts of construction and a movement towards more sustainable construction products. Timber is one such sustainable product that can achieve these environmental targets but, while timber has a high strength-to-weight ratio parallel to the grain, it demonstrates poor strength perpendicular to the grain. As a result, stress perpendicular to the grain is an important factor in the design of timber structures, especially in areas of concentrated loading, such as supports. This paper describes a study, which examines the use of compressed wood dowels as a sustainable alternative …


An Evaluation Of Design Issues Identified During Reviews Of Structural Designs Of Buildings From 2015 To 2020, Patrick Crean, Richard Osborne Aug 2020

An Evaluation Of Design Issues Identified During Reviews Of Structural Designs Of Buildings From 2015 To 2020, Patrick Crean, Richard Osborne

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

A recent study on failures of structures in Ireland indicated that approximately 40% could be apportioned to designer error. A 2019 report into recent structural cracking of a high-rise building in Sydney Australia recommended that Independent third party checking by a Chartered Engineer should be a requirement on all major projects prior to construction. The report also stated that the critical elements of the design on these projects should be identified. It is obvious that a certain percentage of buildings constructed each year contain design flaws and only a small proportion of these ever result in a failure. However there …


A Review Of The Engineering Constraints And Project Management Challenges Involved In Utilising Scot’S Church As A Heritage Asset Through Responsible Adaptive Reuse And Conservation Strategies, Óisín Smith Aug 2020

A Review Of The Engineering Constraints And Project Management Challenges Involved In Utilising Scot’S Church As A Heritage Asset Through Responsible Adaptive Reuse And Conservation Strategies, Óisín Smith

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

In the field of structural building, there has been a rising popularity in adaptive reuse of older structures, which stems from a variety of stimuli. Apart from preserving built heritage, providing old buildings with new functions promotes sustainability while preventing and containing urban sprawl. Target 11.4 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2030 explicitly outlines that “more efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage” are required. In order to valorise and regenerate obsolescent structures, intervention is often required. The dissertation provides a comprehensive overview of conservation engineering and demonstrates the importance of an engineer’s …


Potential Of A Low-Calcium Fly Ash (Fa) For The Production Of Alkali-Activated Materials., Omar Alelweet, Sara Pavia Aug 2020

Potential Of A Low-Calcium Fly Ash (Fa) For The Production Of Alkali-Activated Materials., Omar Alelweet, Sara Pavia

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Coal-FA from power stations is an industrial waste abundantly produced in the world. FA can be used as a silicate precursor, and activated with an alkali-metal source to produce alkali-activated materials (AAMs). AAMs are more sustainable than other traditional products, as the use of waste for their production, reduces carbon emissions, and raw materials and energy consumption. This paper studies the properties, composition and reactivity of an Irish FA to establish its potential for the production of AAMs. The results clearly evidenced that the FA is reactive. It is ultrafine, it has a high specific surface area and is partially …


Durability And Sustainability Of Pavement Quality Concrete In Airfields, Aidan Fogarty, Mark Richardson Aug 2020

Durability And Sustainability Of Pavement Quality Concrete In Airfields, Aidan Fogarty, Mark Richardson

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Direct emissions from the aviation industry accounts for 2% of global emissions. If global aviation was a country it would be in the top 10 emitters. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) forecasts that emissions could grow by a further 300-700% by 2050. In 2010 global cement manufacture released 3270 million metric tonnes of CO2 into our atmosphere. In 2020 that amount is estimated to be 4370 million metric tonnes of CO2. This will account for around 8% of global CO2. Replacing Portland cement with 70% GGBS in concrete reduces the carbon footprint associated with the cement content in concrete. …


Preliminary Investigation On The Use Of Dolomitic Quarry By-Product Powders In Grout For Self-Compacting Concrete Applications, Ahmed Abdalqader, Katrina Wilson, Neil Thornton, Kieran Mchugh, Mohammed Sonebi, Su Taylor Aug 2020

Preliminary Investigation On The Use Of Dolomitic Quarry By-Product Powders In Grout For Self-Compacting Concrete Applications, Ahmed Abdalqader, Katrina Wilson, Neil Thornton, Kieran Mchugh, Mohammed Sonebi, Su Taylor

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) flows under its own weight without requiring external vibration for compaction. This is very useful in applications where normal vibrated concrete cannot be used such as narrow forms and reinforcement congested members. To attain the self-compacting property, it is required that the concrete have adequate viscosity, high deformability and high resistance to segregation. This is can be achieved by adding mineral admixtures (fillers) and/or viscosity modifying agents (VMAs). The former is the main practice in Europe and processed limestone powder is the most commonly used filler in the production of SCC. However, the quarrying process of the …


Predicting Mortar Compressive Strength Using Hydcem, Ewoma Ogoro, Niall Holmes, Denis Kelliher, Mark Tyrer Aug 2020

Predicting Mortar Compressive Strength Using Hydcem, Ewoma Ogoro, Niall Holmes, Denis Kelliher, Mark Tyrer

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

The compressive strength of mortar is a significant property that will influence its performance in concrete or masonry. Being able to accurately model and predict the mortar compressive strength would be of great benefit to suppliers and end users alike that could possibly reduce the need for multiple physical testing.


Maximising The Potential Use Of Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (Ggbs) In Cement: An Irish Investigation, Brendan Higgins, Michael Curran, John P. Spillane Aug 2020

Maximising The Potential Use Of Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (Ggbs) In Cement: An Irish Investigation, Brendan Higgins, Michael Curran, John P. Spillane

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

The production of cement is estimated to account for around 8% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide, and the Irish construction industry yields fifteen million tonnes of CO2 annually. Measures must be employed to reduce these emissions by incorporating less CO2 intensive admixtures such as blast-furnace slag, however, the Irish construction industry can often be resistant to change. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the potential implementation of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) into the use of cement in Ireland, on the basis of maximisation over optimisation. This research is based on the hypothesis that if GGBS produces drastically less …


Thermodynamic Cement Hydration Modelling Using Hydcem, Niall Holmes, Denis Kelliher, Mark Tyrer Aug 2020

Thermodynamic Cement Hydration Modelling Using Hydcem, Niall Holmes, Denis Kelliher, Mark Tyrer

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Thermodynamics have been successfully applied to the field of cement hydration science to predict the formation of phase assemblages and pore solution chemistry. For any cement hydration model to be accepted, it must provide accurate forecasts of which solids may form and how the cement will dissolve over time. This is particularly important for the ongoing development of new sustainable cements and understanding their hydration behaviour in service.


Computational Modelling Of Next Generation Materials For Steel Catenary Risers In The Offshore Industry, Padraic O'Donoghue, Ronan Devaney, Seán B. Leen Aug 2020

Computational Modelling Of Next Generation Materials For Steel Catenary Risers In The Offshore Industry, Padraic O'Donoghue, Ronan Devaney, Seán B. Leen

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Production risers are used to conduct oil or gas from the wellhead to an offshore production facility. Due to technical challenges with flexible marine pipe at large depths, there has been a move to steel catenary risers (SCRs) in recent years, due to the availability of high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, such as bainitic X100. HSLA steels make SCRs a viable option for deep water due to the reduction in complexity and hence cost, compared to flexible pipes. However fatigue response is an important factor in their design, particularly in the vicinity of welded connections.


Instrumented Trains As A Probe For Structural Health Monitoring Of Railway Infrastructure, Vikram Pakrashi, Claire Mcgeown, Rohit Chawla, David Hester, Alexandra Micu, Eugene O'Brien Aug 2020

Instrumented Trains As A Probe For Structural Health Monitoring Of Railway Infrastructure, Vikram Pakrashi, Claire Mcgeown, Rohit Chawla, David Hester, Alexandra Micu, Eugene O'Brien

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Railway infrastructure throughout the world is degrading and the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of this infrastructure can be effective. As a part of INTERREG project SIRMA, it is being investigated in instrumented trains can be used as a moving sensor for SHM of bridges and rail lines. Off-the-shelf calibrated sensors will be connected to trains and the instrumentation regime will be decided based on each SHM need. Output-only algorithms for anomaly detection and system identification will be implemented. Damage Sensitive Features (DSF) will be investigated to assess the best markers for the proposed SHM. A combined set of instrumentation and …


Environmental Impact On Corrosion Rates Of Steel Piles Employed In Marine Environment, Rebecca Galvin, Ciaran Hanley, Kieran Ruane, John J. Murphy, Vesna Jaksic Aug 2020

Environmental Impact On Corrosion Rates Of Steel Piles Employed In Marine Environment, Rebecca Galvin, Ciaran Hanley, Kieran Ruane, John J. Murphy, Vesna Jaksic

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Steel piles employed in a marine environment will deteriorate over their lifetime owing to corrosive effects of the sea. The focus of this research are the causes, effects, and magnitude of the corrosion of steel piles, supporting an on shore jetty. The governing codes of practice in Ireland for designing steel piles are: (i) European Standard I.S. EN 1993-5 – Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures - Part 5: Piling, and (ii) I.S. EN 1993-1-1 – Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures - Part 1-1: General rules and rules for buildings. These codes are discussed, including all aspects of the …


Implementation Of A Low-Cost Rtk Positioning System For Drone-Assisted Structural Inspections, Aidan Keaveney, Patrick Mcgetrick Aug 2020

Implementation Of A Low-Cost Rtk Positioning System For Drone-Assisted Structural Inspections, Aidan Keaveney, Patrick Mcgetrick

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Technological developments of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been rapid and significant in recent years, and thus the scope of use has increased across a broad spectrum of industries, including the fields of structural and civil engineering. A key part of structural engineering is ensuring that a structure can be inspected during its service life to determine if there is any defect that could diminish its structural integrity. In practice, the procedures involved in such inspections to locate defects can be dangerous, time consuming and expensive to conduct. The aim of this study is to establish a system that is …


Fish Farm Monitoring For Blue Growth, Vikram Pakrashi, Wenliang Qiu, Michael O'Byrne, Paul Cahill, Basuraj Bhowmik, Bidisha Ghosh Aug 2020

Fish Farm Monitoring For Blue Growth, Vikram Pakrashi, Wenliang Qiu, Michael O'Byrne, Paul Cahill, Basuraj Bhowmik, Bidisha Ghosh

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Fish farms are structures which require unique monitoring. There are problems related to marine growth and overloading, along with breaks in nets. These can lead to damage in fish or attacks of worms, which in turn is responsible for loss of fish. Such loss can be extremely expensive.


A Review Of The Data Held On 3,437 Masonry Arch Bridges In Northern Ireland, Kristopher Campbell, Nicola Ann Stevens, Myra Lydon, Thomas Neeson, Su Taylor, Alan O'Connor Aug 2020

A Review Of The Data Held On 3,437 Masonry Arch Bridges In Northern Ireland, Kristopher Campbell, Nicola Ann Stevens, Myra Lydon, Thomas Neeson, Su Taylor, Alan O'Connor

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Queens University of Belfast and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), who are the local road authority in Northern Ireland, have undertaken a joint project to develop a new bridge management system to cover the inspection and maintenance of DfI bridges and associated structures. An initial review of the asset data held by DfI, including bridge properties and current and legacy inspection data has been undertaken for the entire network. This paper primarily focuses on 3,437 masonry arch bridges which make up nearly 53% of the total bridge stock in NI. It presents data which has been classified into groups in …


Caha Tunnel Rock Repairs And Improvements Including Non-Destructive Testing, Roy Costello, Liam Duffy Aug 2020

Caha Tunnel Rock Repairs And Improvements Including Non-Destructive Testing, Roy Costello, Liam Duffy

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

This paper describes Caha Tunnel, a 180m long rock tunnel of siltstone and sandstone formation located along the N71 between Kenmare, Co. Kerry and Glengarriff Co. Cork. The tunnel was formed in the mid-19th century through blasting methods, thus giving it its inhomogeneous cross-sectional shape throughout and exposing the natural face of the rock. In recent years there has been numerous reports of rock falls within the tunnel which is causing uncertainty of the safety of the tunnel amongst road users. Calls for rehabilitation works are sought amongst the public to ensure the long-term safety of the tunnel is provided …


Developing A Common Framework For A Bridge Management System At National Level, Thomas Neeson, Myra Lydon, Kristopher Campbell, Nicola Ann Stevens, Adelle Marshall, Aleksander Novakovic Aug 2020

Developing A Common Framework For A Bridge Management System At National Level, Thomas Neeson, Myra Lydon, Kristopher Campbell, Nicola Ann Stevens, Adelle Marshall, Aleksander Novakovic

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Transport infrastructure is directly impacted by climate change as extreme weather conditions account for 10-35% of delays/service interruptions to road and rail infrastructure. The current reactive method of maintaining bridges within these infrastructure systems results in a lack of contingency capacity and ultimately a reduced ability to adapt to uncertain future needs. To allow infrastructure providers to prepare for future events, there is a need to develop asset management systems (AMS) with embedded decision-making support which considers factors such as climate change and population growth. A National approach would enable strategic risk assessment to mitigate the consequences of climate change …