Engineering Commons^™

Wind Field Measurements Around Photovoltaic Panel Arrays Mounted On Large Flat-Roofs, R Nicolas Pratt

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An investigation of the wind field around roof-mounted PV arrays has been undertaken, utilizing synchronized TR-PIV and pressure measurements, in order to better understand the mechanisms which result in the aerodynamic loads, most importantly uplift, which act on such arrays. The mean flow is not significantly altered above the array as compared to a bare roof, while Reynolds normal and shear stresses are markedly reduced. Increasing the tilt angle of the array results in a progression from uplifts driven by vortex induced suction, which cause peak uplifts on a bare roof, towards uplifts which are driven primarily by local flow …

Monotonic And Cyclic Behaviour Of Steel Fibre-Reinforced And Frp-Steel Fibre-Reinforced Helical Pulldown Micropiles, Mahmoud Meckkey M. El Sharnouby

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Helical piles are a deep foundation system that can be used to support pipelines, telecommunication and transmission towers, and low- and medium-rise buildings. Advantages of helical piles include: short installation time with minimal noise and vibration levels; can be installed with ease in limited accessibility site; and onsite quality control by measurement of installation torque.

The main objective of the current research is to assess the performance of steel fibre-reinforced helical pulldown micropiles (RHPM), and fibre-reinforced polymer-steel fibre- reinforced pulldown micropiles (FRP-RHPM) under axial and lateral monotonic and cyclic loading conditions.

The research methodology involved conducting full scale field testing …

Load-Sharing Of Toe-Nailed, Roof-To-Wall Connections Under Extreme Wind Loads In Wood-Frame Houses, Mohammad Khan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A typical wood frame house roof consists of trusses which are nailed to the top-plates of the wall assembly. These are known as roof-to-wall connections (RTWCs). A load-sharing mechanism is developed between adjacent RTWCs via roof elements such as roof-sheathing, fascia beams, etc., during high wind loads. An experimental setup was developed to observe the load-sharing behavior between seven connections. To mimic the roof bending stiffness in the direction perpendicular to the trusses, two steel beams with representative bending stiffness were connected across the RTWCs in a simple way. Identical ramp and identical fluctuating wind loads were applied to all …

Consistent Density Scanning And Information Extraction From Point Clouds Of Building Interiors, Kuldeep Kumar Sareen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Over the last decade, 3D range scanning systems have improved considerably enabling the designers to capture large and complex domains such as building interiors. The captured point cloud is processed to extract specific Building Information Models, where the main research challenge is to simultaneously handle huge and cohesive point clouds representing multiple objects, occluded features and vast geometric diversity. These domain characteristics increase the data complexities and thus make it difficult to extract accurate information models from the captured point clouds.

The research work presented in this thesis improves the information extraction pipeline with the development of novel algorithms for …

A Study On The Turbulent Characteristics Within The Hurricane Boundary Layer, Sunwei Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As the medium between the sea surface and the upper atmosphere in a hurricane, the Hurricane Boundary Layer (HBL) plays a key role in the overall dynamics of a tropical cyclone, and therefore turbulence exchanges within the HBL deserve a thorough investi- gation. However, since it is dangerous and difficult to take direct measurements within the HBL, studies of the HBL turbulence processes based on direct observations are rare. Thanks to the newly developed dropwindsonde equipped with a Global Position System (GPS) receiver, it is now possible to measure wind velocities and other meteorological variables with an unprecedented accuracy and …

Enhancement Of Local Buckling Behaviour Of Steel Structures Retrofitted Through Bonding Gfrp Plates, Mohammad Al Amin Siddique

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An effective technique involving the use of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) plates to enhance the local buckling behaviour of steel plates, beams, and moment resisting frames is presented in this Thesis. The enhancement in buckling capacity is achieved by bonding GFRP plates to the steel sections. These steel/GFRP joints have the advantages of ease of application, low cost, high strength-to-weight ratio, and resistance to corrosion. An interface element that simulates the behaviour of the adhesive bonding the steel and GFRP elements is developed and is implemented into an in-house developed finite element model to represent steel/GFRP joints. The model …

Investigation Of Bio-Hydrogen And Bio-Methane Production From Thin Stillage, Noha El-Sayed Nasr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An evaluation of single-stage and two-stage anaerobic digestion processes for biomethane and biohydrogen production using thin stillage was performed to assess the viability of biohydrogen production from thin stillage and the impact of separating the acidogenic and methanogenic stages on anaerobic digestion with hydrogen production in the first stage. A comparative evaluation of anaerobic digester sludge (ADS) and acclimatized anaerobic digester sludge (AADS) for biohydrogen production was performed at various S°/X° ratios. The optimum range of S°/X° ratio for hydrogen production was found to be 1 to 2 gCOD/gVSS using conventional ADS and 3 to 6 gCOD/gVSS using AADS. Maximum …