Architectural Engineering Commons^™

Survey Of Surface Fault Rupture And Structure Interation, Lucy Redmond

Master's Theses

This report aims to raise awareness of the hazards of surface fault rupture and to identify parameters that influence structural performance during earthquake fault rupture. In researching structures subject to surface rupture, both damaged and sound, guidelines and procedures to evaluate buildings in potential hazard areas are developed herein. Little to no guidance on how to design for surface fault offset exists in current codes and design guides. Thus it is important create tools for designers to appropriately analyze structures by developing guidance and requirements to aid designers in their strength assessment of a structure subject to this particular hazard. …

The Bridge Newsletter Winter 2012, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-Creating bridge beams that will last 100 years
-Great school, great price
-Recruiting technical minds
-Combatting obesity, diabetes

Computational Modeling Of Baffled Disinfection Tanks, Zachary H. Taylor, Qing Xu, Jordan M. Wilson, Subhas K. Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The present study focuses on understanding the flow dynamics of baffled disinfection contact tanks through the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In particular, we seek to address the key question: for a given footprint of a contact tank with a fixed inlet configuration, how does the hydraulic efficiency of the tank depend on the configuration of internal baffles? The benchmark contact tank geometry in our study is shown in Figure 1. In order to define guidelines for hydraulically efficient baffle tanks, we perform a total of 36 high-resolution three-dimensional simulations to quantify the efficiency of a laboratory scale tank …

Roof Drainage: Not My Problem ... Maybe, John Lawson

Architectural Engineering

Many structural engineers are surprised to learn that the International Building Code (IBC, 2009) requires the roof structure to be engineered for standing water weight in the vicinity of the drains and scuppers regardless of roof slope. In addition, some low-slope roofs also require special attention for water weight and stiffness for safety against ponding failures or protection against accelerated roofing deterioration. With a mixture of overlapping design disciplines between the architect, plumbing consultant and structural engineer, proper roof drainage is often not fully addressed in building design and can lead to catastrophic collapse.

The author has been involved as …

Investigating Self-Cooling Effects Of Ventilated Attics Under Different Roof And Ambient Temperatures In Summer, Zhigang Shen, Shimin Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

An unsteady computational fluid dynamics model is employed to simulate summer-time buoyancy-driven turbulent ventilation in gable-roof attics of residential buildings. The energy performance of vented attics is assessed by comparing their performance to sealed attics with the same geometry and insulation configurations. The simulated boundary conditions of the roof-top temperature ranging between 295.15 K and 345.15 K, coupled with an ambient temperature ranging between 295.15 K and 315.15 K, resemble the summer attic conditions with effects of solar irradiance on the roofs. Simulation results indicate that both the vented and sealed attics are dominated by thermal stratification. The cooling load …

Cal Viva: Assessing The Seismic Vulnerablility Of California's State-Owned Buildings, James Guthrie, Jill Nelson

Architectural Engineering

In the last 20 years, agencies and departments in the State of California have initiated seismic vulnerability programs for state-owned buildings with goals ranging from life safety to reduced post-earthquake disruption. Until now, there has not been an assessment of all state-owned buildings with the goal of identifying and assessing the seismic vulnerability of those buildings needed for response and recovery efforts after an earthquake.

The California Vital Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment Project (Cal VIVA), sponsored by the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) and funded through FEMA, has developed a statewide approach to assessing the vulnerability of the state-owned building …

Dendrochemistry Of Multiple Releases Of Chlorinated Solvents At A Former Industrial Site, Jean Christophe Balouet, Joel Gerard Burken, Frank Karg, Don Vroblesky, Kevin T. Smith, Håkan Grudd, Anders Rindby, François Beaujard, Michel Chalot

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Trees Can Take Up and Assimilate Contaminants from the Soil, Subsurface, and Groundwater. Contaminants in the Transpiration Stream Can Become Bound or Incorporated into the Annual Rings Formed in Trees of the Temperate Zones. the Chemical Analysis of Precisely Dated Tree Rings, Called Dendrochemistry, Can Be Used to Interpret Past Plant Interactions with Contaminants. This Investigation Demonstrates that Dendrochemistry Can Be Used to Generate Historical Scenarios of Past Contamination of Groundwater by Chlorinated Solvents at a Site in Verl, Germany. Increment Cores from Trees at the Verl Site Were Collected and Analyzed by Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Line Scanning. the …

Framework For Formative Assessment Learning Strategies In Built Environment Higher Education Programmes, Lloyd Scott, Christopher Fortune

Conference papers

Formative assessment has begun to be recognized as a driving force for enhancing student learning. This paper addresses the context of Built Environment (BE) undergraduate programmes and the findings from a research project in the context of the changing Higher Education (HE) environment. The analysis of the literature on formative assessment shows that there is a common concern among the educational researchers about the function and position of assessment in HE today. The overall aim of this research is to contribute to an improvement in the quality of student learning in BE undergraduate education through the development of a theoretical …

An Experimental Study On Bond Strength Of Reinforcing Steel In Self-Consolidating Concrete, Trevor J. Looney, Mahdi Arezoumandi, Jeffery S. Volz, John J. Myers

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An experimental investigation was conducted to compare the bond strength of reinforcing steel in self-consolidating concrete (SCC) with conventional concrete (CC). This study investigated two different compressive strengths of SCC as well as CC. the experimental program consisted of 24 pull-out specimens as well as 12 full-scale beams (three for each concrete type and strength). the pull-out specimens were based on RILEM recommendations, and the beam specimens were tested under a simply supported four-point loading condition. the CC test results served as a control and were used to evaluate the results from the SCC pull-out and beam specimen tests. Furthermore, …

Behavior Of Segmental Precast Posttensioned Bridge Piers Under Lateral Loads, Haitham Dawood, Mohamed Elgawady, Joshua Hewes

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Abstract a segmental precast posttensioned (SPPT) bridge pier is an economic recentering structural system. Understanding the seismic behavior of a SPPT system is an important step toward its application in high seismic zones. This paper presents a detailed three-dimensional finite-element (FE) model that was developed using the ABAQUS platform. a brief description and discussion of cyclic tests on eight large-scale SPPT piers is also presented. Four of the piers were constructed and tested to a predefined degree of damage. Then, these piers were retrofitted and retested. the FE models developed and presented in this paper predicted the backbone curves of …

An Innovative Solution Set Of Algorithm For Converting Architectural Drawings To Vector-Based Computer Graphics, Yuye Peng

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Appraisal Floor Plan Sketch (AFPS) as a simplified architectural floor plan shows the bird's eye view of a building’s spatial arrangement. An efficient automated vectorization system of AFPS not only fulfills AFPS’s preservation and dissemination purposes but also helps extract the building’s geometric information, which can be used to create 3D models of the building and improve building energy efficiency. The purpose of this study is to develop an automated system for converting scanned AFPS into vector based computer graphics.

Text/graphic separation and corner detection are two essential components in this vectorization system. Text/graphic separation ensures that only graphic data …

Instruction Manual: Photogrammetry As A Non-Contact Measurement System In Large Scale Structural Testing, Anahid A. Behrouzi, Rhu Li

Architectural Engineering

Photogrammetry is a non-contact measurement method that is being used in large scale structural experimentation to extract information about the overall geometry of the specimen as well as the XYZ motion of select points on the structure during testing. This is possible through the use of high-resolution still cameras that capture several photographs of the specimen and are processed using photogrammetric software. The following document will focus specifically on the application of PhotoModeler® as the image post-processing tool. This instruction manual aims to provide guidance to researchers who would like to adopt photogrammetric techniques to acquire experimental test data, especially …

Technology Portal For Energy Efficient Buildings, Larry D. Hermanson, Daniel Studer, Annie Mroz

STAR Program Research Presentations

Project: Technology Portal for Energy Efficient Buildings

Date: August 2, 2012

Author: Larry Hermanson

Mentor: Daniel Studer

Cohort: Annie Mroz

Lab site: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Buildings account for 71% of the electricity demand and 39% of the primary energy consumption in the United States. The Commercial Buildings Group at NREL provides builders, designers and building owners accurate information to significantly improve the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings. The Technology Portal for Energy Efficient Buildings will increase the accessibility of standardized and credible energy performance data for all building systems, thereby allowing building owners to better evaluate …

Experimental Determination Of The Stiffness And Strength Of Continuity Tie Connections In Large Wood Roof Dipahragms, And Impact On The Collective Chord Model, Caroline Nicole Yarber

Master's Theses

The goal of this thesis is to determine whether continuity ties in large wood diaphragms are stiff enough to engage and provide diaphragm flexural stiffness in a collective chord model. Four series of continuity tie assemblies using Simpson Strong-Tie steel connectors were tested to determine the stiffness of each assembly. The results found from testing were applied to an example building and then analyzed using both the traditional chord method and the collective chord method.

The completed analysis on a typical size warehouse building showed that the collective chord model will act inadvertently on an existing building designed with a …

The Latest Homebond House Building Manual : A Critique, Joseph Little

Articles

The Homebond House Building Manual had the distinction of being called the ‘bible’ for many building during the boom. It was a commonly‐used reference book, even for many builders and architects who never built housing estates and therefore had little need of a Homebond guarantee. One might design a construction detail of a dwelling differently, but one did it with an awareness of what the manual showed. It gave the insurance scheme great credibility and standing. This architect remembers reluctantly getting involved with an external wall insulation self‐build project in rural Ireland in 2006 (far beyond his normal travel distance) …

Effects Of Acoustic Environments On Speech Comprehension By Native-English-Speaking Listeners, Zhao Peng, Lily M. Wang, Siu Kit Lau

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

This study investigates the effects of acoustic conditions on speech comprehension, rather than speech intelligibility as often reported in existing literature. Sets of 15-minute-long listening comprehension tests were developed based on the format of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). Each test set includes four types of tasks: matching aural phrases to photographs, selecting appropriate responses to aural questions, and answering questions after listening to conversations (between two talkers) and talks (single talker). Within the Nebraska acoustics test chamber, native-English-speaking participants are asked to perform these tests under 15 acoustic conditions, from combinations of three background noise levels …

Effects Of Short Noise Bursts On Human Performance And Perception, Christopher Ainley

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The goal of this research project is to better quantify human reactions to short bursts of noise, to complement research at NASA Langley Research Center on evaluating human response inside buildings to low-level sonic booms. The project involved exposing participants over 30-minute sessions to a number of 250 ms broadband noise bursts of certain levels, presented in a controlled yet randomized fashion throughout the session, and gathering responses on human perception and performance on an arithmetic task dealing with short-term memory. While previous research has demonstrated effects of noise bursts of varying amplitudes on other types of tasks that study …

Use Of Building Information Modelling In Responding To Low Carbon Construction Innovations: An Irish Perspective., Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

At present the Irish construction industry is facing one of its most uncertain and challenging periods and will see major cuts in all areas of the economy in 2012. Despite this, Ireland pushes forward in sustainability initiatives with the Government ruling that environmentally-friendly policies are to get priority in competing for State contracts worth up to €16 billion a year. This and further initiatives are in place, so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20% by the year 2020.By the end of 2018 the public sector must own or rent only buildings with high energy-saving standards and …

Implementing Building Information Modeling In Public Works Projects In Ireland, Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

The Irish State in recent years has suffered huge financial losses in the public works sector, which has now pushed the Irish Government to explore new ways of controlling cost. This background lead to the introduction of the Capital Works Management Framework in 2007 which aimed to support the certainty of outcome in terms of cost and quality, as well as improved risk management, through the implementation of fixed price contracts. In order to successfully compete within this framework it is recommended by the authors, that Irish Government moves towards the legal mandating of BIM. This can ensure a greater …

Behavior Of Full-Scale Rc T-Beams Strengthened In Shear With Externally Bonded Frp Sheets, Abdeldjelil Belarbi, Sang Wook Bae, Antonio Brancaccio

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recently many research studies have investigated the shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. However, most were conducted on small-scale specimens. Thus, analytical models and design equations developed from those studies may not predict the actual behavior of large-scale RC beams strengthened with FRPs. in this study, an experimental study was performed on this topic using full-scale RC T-beams in order to understand the behavior of full-scale bridge beams strengthened in shear with FRP. the main parameters investigated in this study were the transverse steel reinforcement ratio and the effect of mechanical anchorage systems. …