Influence of rooftop telecommunication tower on set back-step back building resting on different ground slopes

In the hilly region due to scarcity of the plain area, buildings like set back-step back are more often used and also as a big surge in the telecommunication industries, rooftop tower adaptation is very common story nowadays. In the present study an analogy has been drawn to find out the influence of the rooftop telecommunication tower on the setback-step back building resting on ground at 20° and 30° slopes. A dynamic analysis has been performed and compared on the 4 legged angled section telecommunication tower which is located on the roof top of set back-step back building by varying positions of tower with the existing host structure built up on ground slope of 20° and 30° in both directions(X and Y).     

Transport system management under extreme weather risks: views to project appraisal,asset value protection and risk-aware system management

Until recently, research on potential economic impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on transport infrastructure was scarce, but currently this area is rapidly expanding. Indeed, there is a growing international interest, including the European area, regarding the impacts of extreme weather and climate change on the management of various transportation modes. This paper reviews briefly the present status regarding the knowledge of financial aspects of extreme weather impacts on transportation, using recent research findings from Europe, and proposes some new views in cost-benefit analysis, project appraisal and asset value protection for the management of transport systems under extreme weather risks. Quite often, risk management is understood as a response to truly extreme impacts, but this constitutes a misunderstanding. Some values are more extreme than others, and in the context of extreme weather, some weather phenomena are more extreme in their intensity and resulting impacts. An analysis of the level of costs and risks to societies, as a result of extreme weather, reveals that the risks in different European Union member states deviate substantially from each other. Also, the preparedness of different societies to deal with extreme weather events is quite variable. Extreme weather and climate change costs and risks represent a new type of item, which has to be dealt with in project appraisal. Although a fully established procedure does not exist, some fundamental ideas of cost-benefit analysis under extreme weather scenarios are presented in this paper, considering accident costs, time costs and infrastructure-related costs (comprising physical damages to infrastructures and increased maintenance costs). Cost-benefit analysis is usually associated with capital investments, but the original idea of cost-benefit analysis is not restricted to investment appraisal. Therefore, activities such as enhanced maintenance, minor upgrades, adoption of new designs, improved information services and others may be subject to cost-benefit analysis. Extreme weather and climate change costs and risks represent a new type of item, which apparently has to be dealt with also in project appraisal. A fully established procedure does not exist, although some basic principles have been introduced in analytical format. There is a lack of models to estimate extreme weather impacts and consequences and how to adapt to those costs. Optimising the efforts in maintenance and new design standards is even further away, but constitutes an overwhelming task. In this respect, new approaches and ways of thinking in preserving asset’s residual value, return periods, sustainability and equity and formal methods supplementing cost-benefit analysis are put forward. The paper concludes with a call for the need for more integrated management of transport systems. In particular, it is recognised that the different stages of transport system planning pose their own challenges when assessing the costs and benefits of policy measures, strategies and operational decisions.     

Dynamic stress concentration in pre-stressed poroelastic media due to moving punch influenced by shear wave

During the occurrence of earthquake, the shear wave propagates in the rocks present inside/at the Earth’s crust. The propagation of shear wave may lead to the progression of punch present inside the rock medium. As a result of this, substantial stress accumulated at the vicinity of propagating punch inside rock medium which significantly affects the stability of various geological and human-made structure and, hence, may cause failure of structure. Therefore, the analysis of stress concentration at the vicinity of punch moving due to shear wave propagation has become prominent in the area of seismology. In the present paper, an analytical perspective has been employed to discuss the influence of velocity of moving punch associated with the propagation of shear wave on developed dynamic stress concentration (DSC) in three types of pre-stressed vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) poroelastic media viz. granite (an igneous rock); sandstone (a sedimentary rock); and marble (a metamorphic rock). The closed form expression of DSC for the force of constant intensity has been derived with the aid of Weiner-Hopf technique along with Galilean and two-sided Fourier integral transformations. The noticeable influence of different affecting parameters (viz. velocity of moving punch associated with the shear wave propagation, horizontal compressive/tensile initial stresses, vertical compressive/tensile initial stress, porosity, and anisotropy parameter) on dynamic stress concentration has also been reported. Numerical computation and graphical illustrations have been carried out for the aforementioned three different types of porous rocks to investigate the profound impact of affecting parameters on DSC. Moreover, some noteworthy peculiarities have also been derived from the obtained expression of dynamic stress concentration.     

Genesis and rapid weakening of tropical cyclone Lehar (2013)

Natural Hazards - Tropical cyclogenesis and rapid weakening are subjects of considerable interest in the literature. This paper addresses the genesis and rapid weakening of a North Indian Ocean...     

Multifractal Analysis of Earthquakes in the Southeastern Iran-Bam Region

Earthquakes in Iran and neighbouring regions are closely connected to their position within the geologically active Alpine-Himalayan belt. Modern tectonic activity is forced by the convergent movements between two plates: The Arabian plate, including Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf and the Zagros Ranges of Iran, and the Eurasian plate. The intensive seismic activity in this region is recorded with shallow focal depth and magnitude rising as high as M_w = 7.8. The study region can be attributed to a highly complex geodynamic process and therefore is well suited for multifractal seismicity analysis. Multifractal analysis of earthquakes (m_b ≥ 3) occurring during 1973 – 2006 led to the detection of a clustering pattern in the narrow time span prior to all the large earthquakes: M_w = 7.8 on 16.9.1978; M_w = 6.8 on 26.12.2003; M_w = 7.7 on 10.5.97. Based on the spatio-temporal clustering pattern of events, the potential for future large events can be assessed. Spatio-temporal clustering of events apparently indicates a highly stressed region, an asperity or weak zone from which the rupture propagation eventually nucleates, causing large earthquakes. This clustering pattern analysis done on a well-constrained catalogue for most of the fault systems of known seismicity may eventually aid in the preparedness and earthquake disaster mitigation.     

Using X-ray observations to explore the binary interaction in Eta Carinae

We study the usage of the X-ray light curve, column density towards the hard X-ray source, and emission measure (density square times volume), of the massive binary system η Carinae to determine the orientation of its semimajor axis. The source of the hard X-ray emission is the shocked secondary wind. We argue that, by itself, the observed X-ray flux cannot teach us much about the orientation of the semimajor axis. Minor adjustment of some unknown parameters of the binary system allows to fit the X-ray light curve with almost any inclination angle and orientation. The column density and X-ray emission measure, on the other hand, impose strong constrains on the orientation. We improve our previous calculations and show that the column density is more compatible with an orientation where for most of the time the secondary – the hotter, less massive star – is behind the primary star. The secondary comes closer to the observer only for a short time near periastron passage. The 10-week X-ray deep minimum, which results from a large decrease in the emission measure, implies that the regular secondary wind is substantially suppressed during that period. This suppression is most likely resulted by accretion of mass from the dense wind of the primary luminous blue variable star. The accretion from the equatorial plane might lead to the formation of a polar outflow. We suggest that the polar outflow contributes to the soft X-ray emission during the X-ray minimum; the other source is the shocked secondary wind in the tail. The conclusion that accretion occurs at each periastron passage, every five and a half years, implies that accretion had occurred at a much higher rate during the Great Eruption of η Car in the 19th century. This has far reaching implications for major eruptions of luminous blue variable stars.     

Corona-like atmospheric escape from KBOs: II. The behavior of aerosols

In Levi and Podolak (Levi, A., Podolak, M. [in press] Icarus) we applied the theory of coronal expansion to gas escape from a small, cold, object such as those found in the Kuiper belt. Here we extend the theory to include aerosols that are lifted off the surface by the escaping gas. Aerosols carried by the gas but still gravitationally bound, tend to be lifted to a height above the surface that is dependent on the aerosol radius, so that in steady state the variation of aerosol radius with height is well-defined. We develop an extension of Parker’s coronal flow theory to include the effect of aerosols carried along by the gas and use this to estimate the optical depth of such an atmosphere. For KBOs with CO evaporation from the surface and with radii in the range 245-334 km, line-of-site optical depths through the atmosphere can exceed one at heights of a few hundred kilometers above the surface. Such aerosol layers should be observable, and might be used to infer the flow proprieties of the escaping gas.     

Corona-like atmospheric escape from KBOs: I. Gas dynamics

We show that for low temperatures (T∼30 K) and small, but non-negligible, gravitational fields the hydrodynamic escape of gas can be treated by Parker's theory of coronal expansion [Parker, E.N., 1963. Interplanetary Dynamical Processes. Interscience Publishers, New York]. We apply this theory to gas escape from Kuiper belt objects. We derive limits on the density and radius of the bodies for which this theory is applicable, and show how the flow depends on the mean molecular weight and internal degrees of freedom of the gas molecules. We use these results to explain the CH₄ dichotomy seen on KBOs [Schaller, E.L., Brown, M.E., 2007. Astrophys. J., 659, L61-L64].     

Uplift Capacity of Single Bent Pile and Pile Group Considering Arching Effects in Sand

In this paper an analytical method has been proposed to predict the net ultimate uplift capacity of the single bent pile and pile group with a bent embedded in sand considering arching effects. Arching develops due to relative compressibility of sand relative to pile which activates the soil-pile friction. The method takes into consideration the embedded length (L), diameter of the pile (d), bent angle, surface characteristics of pile, group configuration, spacing of the pile group and the soil properties. Log spiral failure surface with parabolic arch shape was assumed in the analysis. Theoretical investigation for uplift capacity was been carried out for the single bent pile and group of pile (2 × 1, 2 × 2) embedded in sand. The variable used in the analysis were embedded length to pile diameter (L/d = 15, 20 and 25), spacing in the group (3d, 4d and 6d) and angle of bent (6°, 14° and 20°). Typical charts for evaluation of net ultimate uplift capacity for pile groups are presented through the figures. Comparison of theoretical results shows good agreement with established experimental results.     

Abrasion-derived sediments under intensified winds at the latest Pleistocene leading edge of the advancing Sinai-Negev erg

Quaternary desert loess and sandstone-loessite relationships in the geological record raise questions regarding causes and mechanisms of silt formation and accretion. In the northern Sinai-Negev desert carbonate terrain, only sand abrasion in active erg could have produced the large quantities of quartzo-feldspathic silts constituting the late Quaternary northwestern Negev loess. In the continuum of source (medium to fine sand of dunes) to sink (silts in loess) the very fine sand is unaccounted for in the record. This weakens the sand abrasion model of silt formation as a global process. Here, we demonstrate that, as predicted by experiments, abrasion by advancing dunes generated large quantities of very fine sand (60-110 μm) deposited within the dune field and in close proximity downwind. This very fine sand was generated 13-11 ka, possibly synchronous with the Younger Dryas under gusty sand/dust storms in the southeastern Mediterranean and specifically in the northern Sinai-Negev erg. These very fine sands were washed down slope and filled small basins blocked by the advancing dunes; outside these sampling basins it is difficult to identify these sands as a distinct product. We conclude that ergs are mega-grinders of sand into very fine sand and silt under windy Quaternary and ancient aeolian desert environments.