Seismic response of steel structures with seesaw systems using viscoelastic dampers

Vibration control systems are being used increasingly worldwide to provide enhanced seismic protection for new and retrofitted buildings. This paper presents a new vibration control system on the basis of a seesaw mechanism with viscoelastic dampers. The proposed vibration control system comprises three parts: brace, seesaw member, and viscoelastic dampers. In this system, only tensile force appears in bracing members. Consequently, the brace buckling problem is negligible, which enables the use of steel rods for bracing members. By introducing pre‐tension in rods, long steel rods are applicable as bracing between the seesaw members and the moment frame connections over some stories. Seesaw mechanisms can magnify the damper deformation according to the damper system configuration. In this paper, first, the magnification factor, that is, the ratio of the damper deformation to the story drift, is delivered, which includes the rod deformation. Results of a case study demonstrate that the magnification factor of the proposed system is greater than unity for some cases. Seismic response analysis is conducted for steel moment frames with the proposed vibration control system. Energy dissipation characteristics are examined using the time‐history response results of energy. The maximum story drift angle distributions and time‐history response results of displacement show that the proposed system can reduce the seismic response of the frames effectively. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical and experimental investigations on seismic performance of exterior beam–column subassemblages of existing RC‐framed building

Seismic performance of exterior beam–column subassemblages of reinforced concrete structure designed and detailed on the basis of the provisions of Eurocode and Indian Standards at different stages of their evolution is evaluated. Performance of the subassemblages designed and detailed according to the three different stages of codal evolution (gravity load design, ‘Nonductile’, and ‘Ductile’) is evaluated through analytical formulations and experimental investigations. In the ‘NonDuctile’ specimens, it has been observed that the shear distortion and degradation in stiffness and strength are significantly high. Performance of the ‘Ductile’ specimens based on Eurocode and Indian Standards is almost similar in terms of strength and stiffness degradation. Nevertheless, the specimen designed on the basis of Indian Standard shows higher energy dissipation at a given drift ratio. In the analytical study, shear and flexural failure of members of subassemblage and shear failure of the joint are considered as possible modes of failure of the beam–column subassemblage. For evaluating the shear strength of the joint region, a soften strut‐and‐tie model is used. Analytically obtained strengths based on the failure criteria of different components of the specimens have been first validated with experimental results and then used to determine the strength of the specimens. The investigation could indicate even the mode of failure at local level. It is utmost important to mention here that even the ductile specimens dissipate most of the energy through the development of damage in the joint region, which is neither desirable nor safe for the stability of whole structure. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Migration of volatile organic contaminations (VOCs) through a deforming clay liner

A fully coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical–chemical (THMC) model was proposed to describe the migration of volatile organic contaminations (VOCs) in unsaturated landfill liners. The vertical soil stress, capillary pressure, air pressure, temperature increase, and solute concentration were selected as the primary variables. Finite deformations were described using Lagrangian coordinates. Non-isothermal moisture transport was found to be dependent on both the temperature gradient and the concentration of the VOCs. The VOCs were assumed to exist and be transported in three phases in the soil: solid, liquid, and gas. An illustrative example of an unsaturated landfill with a compacted clay liner was presented. For the case considered, the transport of gas phase VOCs was found to dominate the migration progress. Moreover, the temperature gradient can accelerate the breakthrough of VOCs in an unsaturated liner, while the mechanical consolidation slowed down the motion of the VOCs.     

A vortex-tube model of eddies in the inertial range

Abstract

A vortex-tube geometry of the cascade of energy to small-scale eddies, in the inertial range of fully-developed turbulence, is proposed. The model is a special case of the beta model of Frisch, Sulem and Nelkin (1978). We require that the cascade conserve the principal invariants of inviscid, incompressible flow, namely volume, topological knottedness, circulation, and, at discrete times marking the termination of steps in the cascade, energy. The process terminates in a finite time, as in any beta model, leaving behind a self-similar network of “inactive” tubes. We associate a self-similar scaling dimension D with the structure, equal to the Hausdorff dimension of the set of “active” tubes at the termination of the cascade. Because circulation Λ plays a key role in the analysis of the cascade, we refer to these vortex-tube geometries as “gamma models”. The viewpoint throughout is entirely deterministic.

We describe two examples of gamma models. In the ring geometry, an eddy is a vortex ring, and the cascade produces “rings upon rings”, so we allow cutting and fusing of tubes while conserving total helicity. In the preferred helical model, no cutting is needed, and the cascade produces an infinite progression of braided “coils upon coils”. We suggest that latter geometry as a candidate for the topology of a singularity of the inviscid limit of a Navier-Stokes flow, when modeled by discrete vortex tubes.

A crucial ingredient of a gamma model, not explicitly present in a beta model, is the possibility of “splitting” a vortex tube into sub-tubes carrying smaller circulation. We suggest a dynamical basis for this process, as an instability of tubes whose cores violate the Rayleigh criterion.

The parameters describing a gamma model are not uniquely determined by our study, but there is a “simplest” helical gamma model, involving minimal splitting and distortion of tubes. The dimension D of the structure is 13/5, with a scale factor Λ = 2^?5/4. This value of D agrees with that suggested by Hentschel and Procaccia (1982), by analogy with established results for certain branched polymers.     

On the growth of disturbances to forced and dissipated barotropic flows

Abstract

We consider the growth of disturbances to large-scale zonally-asymmetric steady states in a truncated spectral model for forced and dissipated barotropic flow. A variant of the energy method is developed to optimize the instantaneous disturbance energy growth rate. The method involves solving a matrix eigenvalue problem amenable to standard numerical techniques. Two applications are discussed. (1) The global stability of a family of steady states is assessed in terms of the Ekman damping coefficient r. It is shown that monotonic global stability (i.e., every disturbances energy monotonically decays to zero) prevails when r≥r_c . (2) Initially fastest-growing disturbances are constructed in the r<r_c regime. Particular attention is paid to a subregion of the r<r_c regime where initially-growing disturbances exist despite stability with respect to normal modes. Nonlinear time-dependent simulations are performed in order to appraise the time evolution of various disturbances.     

Prediction of the consumption rates for juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) on the scale of habitat patches: Development of empirical models based on stomach contents

Rivers and streams are unstable environments in which estimation of energetic costs and benefits of habitat utilization are the daunting exercise. Empirical models of food consumption may be used to estimate energetic benefits based on abiotic and biotic conditions in patches of habitat. We performed thirty daily surveys of fish stomach contents to estimate the consumption rates for juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in a river. The data were used to assess whether variations of daily consumption rates existed within the river, and to develop empirical models that could predict fish consumption rates using abiotic and biotic conditions as independent variables. Daily consumption rates based on stomach content surveys in the field (range: 0.15–1.49 g dry/(100 g wet day)) varied significantly depending on habitat patch (500–1000 m²), summer period, and sampling year. Variables such as water temperature, numerical density of salmon, water depth and moon phase explained 83–93% of the variations in daily food consumption rates. Daily consumption rates tended to increase with water temperature and depth, and were also higher near a full moon. However, they tended to decrease with the numerical density of salmon. Our work suggests that empirical models based on independent variables that are relatively simple to estimate in the field may be developed to predict fish consumption rates in different habitat patches in a river.     

Discussion of “Challenges in operationalizing the water–energy–food nexus”*

ABSTRACT

We greatly enjoyed reading the paper by Liu et al., which is both timely and rich in insight, as it discusses the challenges in operationalizing the water–energy–food security (WEF) nexus. The nexus approach is gaining increasing attention, both in research and in policy documents, as reflected in the number and content of published documents in the past years and highlighted by the authors.     

近45年全球海域波浪能资源研究及等级区划

基于来自ECMWF的资料将1957年09月---2002年08月风浪、涌浪分离的ERA-40 wave reanalysis,对全球海域的波浪能资源进行重新审视．充分依据涌浪具有能量大、稳定性好等优点,利于波浪能的采集与转换,从提高波浪能资源有效利用率的角度出发,综合考虑能流密度的大小、能级频率、能流密度的稳定性和长期变化趋势等,对全球海域的波浪能资源进行系统性研究,并构建一套波浪能资源评估系统,对全球海域的波浪能资源进行功能区划,为海浪发电、海水淡化等波浪能资源开发工作提供科学依据．     

中国生物质能产业发展面临的矛盾和挑战

本文在分析中国生物质能产业发展现状的基础上,认为当前中国生物质能产业发展受到资源家底不清、政策环境不完善和生态保护压力等因素制约,存在着产业发展总体水平低,产业体系不健全,生产成本高,产业技术水平低,行业发展无序等问题。结合这些问题,立足我国资源环境承载能力,适应市场需求变化和科技进步趋势,本文提出今后重点加强生物质能产业发展政策扶持,生物质能原料资源调查评估,生物质能转化利用技术开发和能源产业示范基地建设,以期促进生物质能产业健康快速发展。     

Laboratory experiments of sediment transport from bare soil with a rill

Abstract

Mathematical models developed for quantification of sediment transport in hydrological watersheds require data collected through field or laboratory experiments, but these are still very rare in the literature. This study aims to collect such data at the laboratory scale. To this end, a rainfall simulator equipped with nozzles to spray rainfall was constructed, together with an erosion flume that can be given longitudinal and lateral slopes. Eighty experiments were performed, considering microtopographical features by pre-forming a rill on the soil surface before the start of each experiment. Medium and fine sands were used as soil, and four rainfall intensities (45, 65, 85 and 105 mm h^-1) were applied in the experiments. Rainfall characteristics such as uniformity, granulometry, drop velocity and kinetic energy were evaluated; flow and sediment discharge data were collected and analysed. The analysis shows that the sediment transport rate is directly proportional to rainfall intensity and slope. In contrast, the volumetric sediment concentration stays constant and does not change with rainfall intensity unless the slope changes. These conclusions are restricted to the conditions of experiments performed under rainfall intensities between and 105 mm h^-1 for medium and fine sands in a 136-cm-wide, 650-cm-long and 17-cm-deep erosion flume with longitudinal and lateral slopes varying between 5 and 20%.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor G. Mahé

Citation Aksoy, H., Unal, N.E., Cokgor, S., Gedikli, A., Yoon, J., Koca, K., Inci, S.B., Eris, E., and Pak, G., 2013. Laboratory experiments of sediment transport from bare soil with a rill. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (7), 1505–1518.