Full-Scale Structural Testing Of Wind And Tidal Turbine Blades,
2020
Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland; MaREI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
Full-Scale Structural Testing Of Wind And Tidal Turbine Blades, William Finnegan, Patrick Meier, Yadong Jiang, Afrooz Kazemi Vanhari, Edward Fagan, Le Chi Hung, Jamie Goggins
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
In recent years wind energy has been established as a leading source of renewable energy and, now, tidal energy is nearing commercial viability. In both cases, the reliability and longevity of certain key components of energy converters is paramount. The blades of these turbines are such key components. The turbine blades convert the energy of the resource into mechanical energy, encountering high variations in loading. In order to ensure that tidal turbine blades have the required structural capacity, mechanical static and fatigue testing of the blades is performed. This study examines the performance of wind and turbine blades as they …
Equivalent Load Profile Development For Fatigue Testing Of A 13-Metre Wind Turbine Blade,
2020
Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland; MaREI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
Equivalent Load Profile Development For Fatigue Testing Of A 13-Metre Wind Turbine Blade, Afrooz Kazemi Vanhari, Edward Fagan, Yadong Jiang, Patrick Meier, William Finnegan, Jamie Goggins
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
As blades are a key component of wind turbines, blade manufacturers are required to carry out static and fatigue tests of full-scale blades as part of the certification process prior to their deployment for commercial use. A 13-meter turbine blade is existing in the Large Structure Research Laboratory located in the Alice Perry Engineering Building, NUI Galway. We are going to test the blade (static and fatigue) in both the edgewise and flatwise directions. The blade is constructed from a novel glass-fibre reinforced powder epoxy composite material and consists of a double internal shear web. The blade is supported at …
Static And Fatigue Testing Of A Full Scale Helical River Turbine Foil,
2020
Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland; MaREI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
Static And Fatigue Testing Of A Full Scale Helical River Turbine Foil, Patrick Meier, William Finnegan, Patrick Cronin, James Donegan, Matthew Barrington, Le Chi Hung, Jamie Goggins
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Despite opposition from some sectors, the imminent impact of increased hydrocarbon emissions on climate is generally accepted. Alternative energies from as many different sources must be exploited, in order to reduce the dominating market share of fossil fuels on the global energy budget. One such potential source is the capture of hydro-mechanical energy harnessed from river or tidal flows. The former is a mature industry in the case of large permanent hydroelectric plants, but smaller mobile, moored systems are of special interest in remote locations where grid connection is less widespread. Since servicing of these remote installations becomes costly, the …
Performance Based Design Approach For Reinforced Concrete Precast Structures,
2020
Department of Building and Civil Engineering, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Dublin Road, Galway, Ireland
Performance Based Design Approach For Reinforced Concrete Precast Structures, Suhaib Salawdeh, Naveed Ahmad
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Precast concrete structures are becoming one of the most popular constructions in the world. They are expected to lead the global construction because they are fast, cheap and simple to construct with precast concrete elements produced in tightly controlled conditions. Moreover, they are sustainable products with high durability. Minimal waste is produced during manufacture and precast elements can be fully recycled at the end of their life. In this paper, a Performance Based Design (PBD) approach is proposed for multi-storey precast concrete frame structures. A full review of Direct Displacement Based Design (DDBD) methodology to design precast concrete structures is …
Design Of Reinforced Concrete Beams With Web Openings,
2020
Chartered Engineer, Main St, Loughrea, Co Galway, Ireland
Design Of Reinforced Concrete Beams With Web Openings, Gerry Sweeney, Suhaib Salawdeh
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Web openings in Reinforced Concrete (RC) beam construction are common place. An extensive review of the current research on RC beams with web openings is conducted. It is identified that a numerical model could be developed for RC beams with openings and validated against existing experimental research data. The Finite Element (FE) application, Ansys, is used to develop five different FE models. The numerical results compared well with experimental and analytical data. Overall model results are provided and discussed, with key findings and recommendations for future work presented.
Demountable Reinforced Concrete Structures: A Review And Future Directions,
2020
Tracey concrete Ltd, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, UK
Demountable Reinforced Concrete Structures: A Review And Future Directions, Tahreer Fayyad, Ahmed Abdalqader
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Consuming about 60% of natural resources, construction industry recently has been under a continuous pressure to ensure an efficient consumption of natural resources. Recent decades have witnessed some valuable steps toward making the construction industry more sustainable. This includes the trials to change the linear life cycle model to cyclic one by the consideration of the 3Rs; recycling, reusing and reducing to help in closing the material loop. However, recent studies have showed that the reason for demolition is not really the end-of-life span of structures but actually the lack of adaptability, also, demolition and recycling demand huge energy. So …
Community-Engaged Learning: A Building Engineering Case Study,
2020
School of Engineering, National University of Ireland, Galway;Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway; SFI MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Community-Engaged Learning: A Building Engineering Case Study, Jamie Goggins, Magdalena Hajdukiewicz
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Community engaged learning is a form of experiential education with a civic underpinning. Community engaged learning is embedded with the civil engineering curriculum at NUI Galway and is framed by a research orientation, commitments to civic engagement and building university-community partnerships, city-university partnerships and partnerships with other official agencies, so that community users can provide real learning problems and contexts for students and researchers and benefit from the results. This paper presents the positive experience of the authors in facilitating over 300 community engaged learning projects undertaken by undergraduate students in civil engineering at NUI Galway. The paper highlights how …
The Powerful Impact Of Role Models And Workshops On The Future Direction Of Females In Stem – Cit Campus Week Model,
2020
Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology
The Powerful Impact Of Role Models And Workshops On The Future Direction Of Females In Stem – Cit Campus Week Model, Mary Moloney, Norma Welch
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
The Faculty of Engineering and Science (FES) at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) recognises the overwhelming evidence of a severe shortage in the uptake of female students of STEM courses and ultimately STEM careers. In its attempt to turn this tide, the faculty has pioneered a ‘female only’ campus week showcasing science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to TY students. This campus week commenced with a one-day event at CIT, in 2015 supporting the launch of the ‘I Wish’ initiative at Cork City Hall. The ‘I Wish’ (Initiative for women in STEM) is a not-for-profit group founded by three visionary …
Embedment Of Un Sustainable Development Goals (Sdg) Within Engineering Degree Programmes,
2020
School of Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland
Embedment Of Un Sustainable Development Goals (Sdg) Within Engineering Degree Programmes, Thomas Adams, Sriram Kishore Kumar, Jamie Goggins, Richard Manton
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established by the United Nations in 2015, are having a significant influence on policy development worldwide. However, there is a key question about whether current and future engineering graduates will be equipped to contribute significantly to the achievement of these goals and provide sustainable solutions. One way to consider this is to better understand the level of focus within existing curricula of engineering degrees towards the SDGs.
Teaching Engineering Materials Through Experiential Learning,
2020
Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Teaching Engineering Materials Through Experiential Learning, Roger P. West, David Taylor, Martin Burke, Michael Grimes, Shane Hunt
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
An opportunity was afforded to the authors to design and implement a semester-long laboratory-based project to complement a traditional first year materials engineering lecture module. The examinable lecture component involved the customary description of physical, mechanical, and electrical properties of materials, exemplified by studying real examples of different materials used in solving design problems, such as the challenges of concrete’s weakness in tension, brittleness, creep, shrinkage and vulnerability to corrosion, bamboo’s unique sustainability and tensile strength, or in the electronic properties of semiconductor components. Comprising equal civil, mechanical and electrical elements, the project involved the development of an understanding of …
Examining Large Student Cohorts - A Question Of Questions,
2020
Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Examining Large Student Cohorts - A Question Of Questions, Roger P. West, Michael A. Wride
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
With pressure to increase student numbers on academic courses worldwide, the trends in exam marks distribution for subject modules become more acute, with more distinct pattern characteristics reflecting student choices, topic and exam question difficulty, and lecturer marking severity, refinement and consistency. The practice of representing the overall exam results in a module through histograms enables normality, skewness and randomness to be identified, interrogated and understood. However, when dealing with large numbers of exam candidates (of the order of 1000 or more), an investigation of the averages and histograms for individual exam questions can further reveal refined explanations for poor …
Effect Of Casting Method And Test Setup On Flexural Characterization Of Uhpfrc,
2020
School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland; College of Architecture Engineering, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
Effect Of Casting Method And Test Setup On Flexural Characterization Of Uhpfrc, Yuanye He, Esmaeel Esmaeeli, Marios Soutsos
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Ultra-High-Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) has received extensive attention due to its excellent mechanical properties. UHPFRC not only offers a very high compressive strength, but also a unique tensile strain-hardening behaviour. Casting method is critical as it determines the fibre alignment, which in turn affects the performance of UHPFRC. In practice, casting in one single pour requires large equipment, large volume of concrete and it is time consuming and in general difficult to achieve. To evaluate the flexural behaviour, 3PB (three-point bending) and 4PB (four-point bending) tests are generally carried out following the methodologies recommended by the material testing standards, …
Finite Element Appraisal Of The Strut And Tie Method For The Design Of Reinforced Concrete Structures,
2020
RPS Group, West Pier Business Campus, Old Dunleary Rd., Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin A96 N6T7
Finite Element Appraisal Of The Strut And Tie Method For The Design Of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Seán Quinn, Kieran Ruane
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
The Strut-and-Tie Method (STM) can be used for the design of reinforced concrete elements such as deep beams and pile caps. STM allows the reduction of complex states of stress, which are known as D- or Discontinuity regions, within a structure to an assembly of simple stress states. Normal beam theory where B- or Bernoulli regions occur, does not apply. Up until recent times, design for deep beams was generally on simple rules and empirical formulas, however STM is now included in most modem design code provisions. Yet, there still remains a lack of clear understanding of the STM.
Validation Of Finite Element Light Rail Bridge Model Using Dynamic Bridge Deflection Measurement,
2020
Murphy Surveys, Global House, Kilcullen Business Campus, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare
Validation Of Finite Element Light Rail Bridge Model Using Dynamic Bridge Deflection Measurement, Paraic Quirke, António Barrias
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Use of finite element modelling (FEM) to predict structural behaviour under static and dynamic loading conditions is a well-established aspect of the bridge design process. The Cherrywood Luas viaduct carries the Luas light rail system through proposed development lands at Cherrywood, South County Dublin. As part of development plans in the area it is proposed to create a new street adjacent and parallel to the existing viaduct with associated footpaths and landscaping. It is proposed to integrate the new structure supporting the street into the existing light rail bridge structure.
Probabilistic System Analysis – Practical Examples For Railway Bridges,
2020
Roughan & O'Donovan Innovative Solutions
Probabilistic System Analysis – Practical Examples For Railway Bridges, Lorcan Connolly, Marko Duranovic, Róisín Donnelly
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
The issue of maintenance of ageing bridges with insufficient budget allocations is well documented throughout Europe and beyond. To combat the issue of out of date assessment standards, insufficient structural information and deteriorating bridges, probabilistic assessment bridge techniques have evolved significantly over the past number of years. Previously, probabilistic analysis methods have been applied at the element level, where the highest element failure probability is assumed to govern for the structure. This fails to account for inherent redundancy which is often present in bridge structures. For example, the development of a plastic hinge due to elastic failure in a steel …
Beam-To-Column Minor Axis Moment Connections,
2020
Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
Beam-To-Column Minor Axis Moment Connections, Ali Purcell, John J. Murphy, Kieran Ruane
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Steel moment connections are used where continuity is required between beam and columns. Research on moments connections has primarily focussed on major-axis connections. An in-depth investigation of I.S. EN 1993-1-8 was completed to identify the design rules of connections. Simple connections such as cleats, fin plates and splices were investigated briefly in order to gain a greater understanding of how they behave and transfer load before researching two types of minor axis moment connections; one where the end plate is connected directly to the column web and one where the end plate is bolted to another plate which is welded …
Effective Measures To Improve Road Safety At Toll Plazas In Ireland,
2020
Civil Engineering and Construction Department, School of Engineering Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ash Lane, Sligo, Ireland
Effective Measures To Improve Road Safety At Toll Plazas In Ireland, David Collery, Grzegorz Gorecki
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Road safety statistics from toll plazas, show that the occurrence of collisions in their vicinity is often disproportionally higher than on other sections of the same roads. Despite the presence of lower speed limits in these locations, various manoeuvres, especially on the approaches to toll plazas, pose higher risk of collisions. A lack of strictly unified design standard for Irish toll plazas is the reason for different road safety approach in various locations. The standards are mainly focused on toll plazas operation (Abuzwidah & Abdel-Aty, 2015). Also Abdel-Aty et al. (2016) mentions a clear lack of design codes or guidelines …
Implementing Sustainable Transport Strategies In Ireland,
2020
Civil Engineering and Construction Department, School of Engineering, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ash Lane, Sligo, Ireland
Implementing Sustainable Transport Strategies In Ireland, Kevin Gallagher, Brian Mccann
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) provide a concept and process for the planning, development and implementation of urban transport strategies. EU SUMP guidelines have not been utilised in Ireland. The research question asks if there is any benefit in developing Irish urban transport strategies as SUMPs. The literature review examines the historical development of EU and Irish transport policy and reviews academic reports and journal articles on SUMPs. The EU SUMP process is reviewed in detail before reviewing recently published Irish urban transport strategies and a European SUMP case study. The research methodology involved collecting qualitative data from primary sources, …
Analysis Of Inclement Weather On Traffic Flow – An Irish National Roads Case Study,
2020
School of Civil Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.
Analysis Of Inclement Weather On Traffic Flow – An Irish National Roads Case Study, Beatriz Martinez-Pastor, Páraic Carroll
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
Transportation networks and infrastructure are increasingly exposed to and effected by inclement weather. The rise in the frequency and intensity of these events is increasingly affecting the normal operation, performance and functionality of roads and highways, leading to costly losses. Inclement weather creates risky and hazardous situations not only on the main roads, such as motorways, but also, on the smaller roads connecting rural parts of the country that experience lower traffic volumes. The effects of weather events, such as rainfalls or snowfalls, have been primarily addressed in main roads, leaving, smaller roads on hold. This has created a lack …
Identifying Damage In A Bridge By Analysing Rotation Response To A Moving Load,
2020
School of Civil Engineering, University College Dublin
Identifying Damage In A Bridge By Analysing Rotation Response To A Moving Load, Claire Mcgeown, Farhad Huseynov, David Hester, Patrick Mcgetrick, Eugene O'Brien, Vikram Pakrashi
Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020
A recent survey of Europe’s highway infrastructure has concluded that almost half of Europe’s bridges are nearing the end of their design live. Work in the wider Structural Health Monitoring sector is aiming to develop reliable and cost-effective methods for verifying condition, remaining service life and safety of ageing structures. Most bridge condition assessment methods are based on deflection, acceleration or strain measurements. This paper looks at the possibility of using rotation measurements as a main parameter to identify damage. This study looks at numerical analyses of a moving point load on a one-dimensional bridge model to provide the theoretical …
