Optimal design of passive energy dissipation systems based on H∞ and H2 performances

Passive energy dissipation devices (EDDs), such as viscous dampers, viscoelastic dampers, etc., have been used to effectively reduce the dynamic response of civil infrastructures, such as buildings and bridges, subject to earthquakes and strong winds. The design of these passive energy dissipation devices (EDDs) involves the determination of the optimal locations and the corresponding capacities. In this paper, we present two optimal design methodologies for passive EDDs based on active control theories, including H_∞ and H₂ performances, respectively. The optimal design methodologies presented are capable of determining the optimal locations and the corresponding capacities of EDDs. Emphasis is placed on the application of linear matrix inequality (LMI) for the effective design of passive EDDs using the popular MATLAB toolboxes. One important advantage of the proposed approaches is that the computation of the structural response is not needed in the design process. The proposed optimal design methodologies have been applied to: (i) a 10‐storey building and a 24‐storey building both subject to earthquake excitations, and (ii) a 76‐storey wind‐excited benchmark building, to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed design methodologies over the conventional equal capacity design. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecosystem Services in a Transitional Forest Landscape: Shifting Trajectories in Southeast Michigan,USA

North American forests provide multiple ecosystem services, such as carbon storage, biodiversity, and recreation. These services are often coordinated through multifunctional management, whereby various users and owners contribute to collective agendas. Forests in exurban “transition” zones are crucial components in the sustainability of broader metropolitan landscapes, but represent a particularly understudied confluence of ecosystem services and multifunctional management. In this paper, we develop a place-based approach to assess ecosystem services in transitional forests (those between rural and urban). We demonstrate how trajectories of forest composition are linked with shifting ecosystem services that both shape and are shaped by management activities. Sited in Stinchfield Woods, a forest in southeast Michigan, this study draws on a household survey, interviews, ecological data, and archival information. Given variations in priorities over time and among different users, we suggest that coordinated, adaptive management may improve provisioning of ecosystem services in ways that benefit multiple users.     

AstroSat: From Inception to Realization and Launch

The origin of the idea of AstroSat multi wavelength satellite mission and how it evolved over the next 15 years from a concept to the successful development of instruments for giving concrete shape to this mission, is recounted in this article. AstroSat is the outcome of intense deliberations in the Indian astronomy community leading to a consensus for a multi wavelength Observatory having broad spectral coverage over five decades in energy covering near-UV, far-UV, soft X-ray and hard X-ray bands. The multi wavelength observation capability of AstroSat with a suite of 4 co-aligned instruments and an X-ray sky monitor on a single satellite platform, imparts a unique character to this mission. AstroSat owes its realization to the collaborative efforts of the various ISRO centres, several Indian institutions, and a few institutions abroad which developed the 5 instruments and various sub systems of the satellite. AstroSat was launched on September 28, 2015 from India in a near equatorial 650 km circular orbit. The instruments are by and large working as planned and in the past 14 months more than 200 X-ray and UV sources have been studied with it. The important characteristics of AstroSat satellite and scientific instruments will be highlighted.     

Thermal and mass diffusion on MHD natural convective flow of a rarefied gas along vertical porous plate

The flow of an electrically conducting incompressible rarefied gas due to the combined buoyancy effects of thermal and mass diffusion past an infinite vertical porous plate with constant suction has been studied in the presence of uniform transverse magnetic field. The problem has been solved for velocity, temperature, and concentration fields. It has been observed that mean velocity and the mean temperature are affected by the Grashof numbersG ₁ andG ₂, the slip parameterh ₁, temperature jump coefficienth ₂, concentration jump coefficienth ₃ and magnetic field parameterM. The amplitude and the phase of skin-friction and the rate of heat transfer are affected by frequency in addition to the above parameters. They are shown graphically. The numerical values of the mean skin-friction and the mean rate of heat transfer are also tabulated.     

Urban land consolidation: a review of policy and procedures in Indonesia and other Asian countries

Many Asian mega-cities are growing rapidly and they face formidable urban problems: unplanned squatter settlements, inadequate infrastructure and basic amenities. Smaller Asian urban areas also need badly the provision of basic infrastructure and facilities. However, efforts to improve are often constrained by either nonavailability of suitable land or its exorbitant cost. Strategies such as land consolidation have shown considerable promise. Implementation of the strategy varies from country to country and from project to project. In general, the land consolidation approach is participatory in nature and places emphasis on in situ development with voluntary contribution of private assets by affected households in need of infrastructure and basic services. However, to make any significant impact of the land consolidation strategy on urban development, financial support from multilateral agencies such as the World Bank is necessary. To enable this it is necessary that the policy and implementation procedures fully conform to the objectives of the World Bank's safeguard policies such as OD 4.30 `Involuntary Resettlement'. This study reviews the land consolidation policies and procedures as applied in several Asian countries in general, and in Indonesia in particular. The objective is to identify the gaps that exist between the policy and procedures and that of the objectives of the World Bank's Policy of Involuntary resettlement and to recommend general policy and procedural guidelines for land consolidation projects that would enable financial support from multilateral agencies such as the World Bank. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Seismic site characterization and site response study of Nirsa (India)

Natural Hazards - The Nirsa block, a coal mining area, and an industrial town lies in the southern part of Dhanbad district, at the border between the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal....     

Assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas thermal power plants using life cycle approach

The importance of mitigation of climate change due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from various developmental and infrastructure projects has generated interest at global level to reduce environmental impacts. Life cycle assessment may be used as a tool to assess GHG emissions and subsequent environmental impacts resulting from electricity generation from thermal power plants. This study uses life cycle approach for assessing GHG emissions and their impacts due to natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) and imported coal thermal power plants using the IPCC 2001 and Eco-Indicator 99(H) methods in India for the first time. The total GHG emission from the NGCC thermal power plant was 584 g CO₂ eq/kWh electricity generation, whereas in case of imported coal, it was 1,127 g CO₂ eq/kWh electricity generation. This shows that imported coal has nearly ~2 times more impacts when compared to natural gas in terms of global warming potential and human health as disability-adjusted life years from climate change due to GHG emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O).