Transient and spatial modeling and simulation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers reaction and transport in air, water and soil

The release of the wastes containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers into the environment is a worldwide major concern. Investigation of spatial and temporal variations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers concentrations due to different factors, especially the transport of these species between air and water as well as between air and soil is the purpose of present research. A model was developed and solved using the methods of finite difference and lines. Simulations were implemented for three dimensions of width, length, and height and also time for the air compartment, whereas for the soil and water compartments, variations were considered only with respect to height and time. Transport between water and soil was disregarded for simplicity at this stage. Vancouver’s landfill was considered as a case study. Lower concentrations in air and higher concentrations in water at the interface show that these pollutants tend to diffuse from air to water. Concentrations of all four pollutants decrease near the interface in soil as time passes, but they are predicted to be almost constant at other levels.     

Modified consecutive modal pushover procedure for seismic investigation of one-way asymmetric-plan tall buildings

The effects of higher modes and torsion have a significant impact on the seismic responses of asymmetric-plan tall buildings.A consecutive modal pushover(CMP) procedure is one of the pushover methods that have been developed to consider these effects.The aim of this paper is to modify the(CMP) analysis procedure to estimate the seismic demands of one-way asymmetric-plan tall buildings with dual systems.An analysis of 10-,15-and 20-story asymmetric-plan buildings is carried out,and the results from the modified consecutive modal pushover(MCMP) procedure are compared with those obtained from the modal pushover analysis(MPA) procedure and the nonlinear time history analysis(NLTHA).The MCMP estimates of the seismic demands of one-way asymmetric-plan buildings demonstrate a reasonable accuracy,compared to the results obtained from the NLTHA.Furthermore,the accuracy of the MCMP procedure in the prediction of plastic hinge rotations is better than the MPA procedure.The new pushover procedure is also more accurate than the FEMA load distribution and the MPA procedure.     

Evaluation of soil erodibility factor (k) for loess derived landforms of Kechik watershed in Golestan Province,North of Iran

The technique proposed by Wischmeier Smith for estimating the soil erodibility factor is among the most important methods in this regard.Given the high amounts of silt and lime content in loess soils of eastern parts of Golestan province in Iran,this study aims to evaluate the ability of Wischmeier Smith index to estimate the soil erodibility of this region.Soil erodibility was first obtained by Wischmeier nomograph and then was compared with the actual values obtained by selecting six plots and then performing physical and chemical tests on these samples.Using the nomograph,Wischmeier index was calculated to be about.0.5-0.092 Mg h MJ-1 mm-1.The results showed that Wischmeier index was 182,4.11,6 and 0.35 times than actual value in field with half-hour rainfall,Fournier index,SWAT value with half-hour rainfall and SWAT value with Fournier index,respectively.Obtained results showed that erodibility estimated by Wischmeier Smith index was higher than the actual measured value.Poor performance of this index in loess soils indicates the need for further research in this field.     

Intensity measures for the seismic response evaluation of buried steel pipelines under near-field pulse-like ground motions

Ground-motion Intensity Measures (IMs) are used to quantify the strength of ground motions and evaluate the response of structures. IMs act as a link between seismic demand and seismic hazard analysis and therefore, have a key role in performance-based earthquake engineering. Many studies have been carried out on the determination of suitable IMs in terms of efficiency, sufficiency and scaling robustness. The majority of these investigations focused on ordinary structures such as buildings and bridges, and only a few were about buried pipelines. In the current study, the optimal IMs for predicting the seismic demand of continuous buried steel pipelines under near-field pulse-like ground motion records is investigated. Incremental dynamic analysis is performed using twenty ground motion records. Using the results of the regression analysis, the optimality of 23 potential IMs are studied. It is concluded that specific energy density (SED) followed by \(\sqrt {VSI[{\omega _1}(PGD + RM{S_d})]} \) are the optimal IMs based on efficiency, sufficiency and scaling robustness for seismic response evaluation of buried pipelines under near-field ground motions.

     

ΛCDM, ΛDGP and extended phantom-like cosmologies

In this paper we compare outcomes of some extended phantom-like cosmologies with each other and also with ΛCDM and ΛDGP. We focus on the variation of the luminosity distances, the age of the universe and the deceleration parameter versus the redshift in these scenarios. In a dynamical system approach, we show that the accelerating phase of the universe in the f(R)-DGP scenario is stable if one consider the curvature fluid as a phantom scalar field in the equivalent scalar-tensor theory, otherwise it is a transient and unstable phenomenon. Up to the parameters values adopted in this paper, the extended F(R,ϕ)-DGP scenario is closer to the ΛCDM scenario than other proposed models. All of these scenarios explain the late-time cosmic speed-up in their normal DGP branches, but the redshift at which transition to the accelerating phase occurs are different: while the ΛDGP model transits to the accelerating phase much earlier, the F(R,ϕ)-DGP model transits to this phase much later than other scenarios. Also, within the parameter spaces adopted in this paper, the age of the universe in the f(R)-DGP model is larger than ΛCDM, but this age in F(G,ϕ)-DGP is smaller than ΛCDM.     

Exploring the sample size and replications scenarios effect on spatial prediction of flood,using MARS and MaxEnt methods case study: saliantape catchment,Golestan, Iran

Flood has always been a destructive natural hazard during the recent years. Hence, this research aimed to predict the potentiality and probability of flood phenomenon by using the two well-known models, i.e., the MARS algorithm (multivariate adaptive regression splines) and MaxEnt (maximum entropy) method in the Saliantapeh catchment, Golestan province, Iran, covering 4515.47 km². First, documentary sources report and field surveys were used to provide a flood database map. Then, to prepare the flood spatial potentiality map (FSPM), we select sixteen influential variables as predictors. Furthermore, the relative contributions of predicting factors are estimated using the MaxEnt method. For the analysis of data sensitivity and the uncertainty of the proposed models, different scenarios including the sample size (50%/50%, 80%/20%, and 70%/30%, respectively, for training and validation), and the number of replications (5, 10, and 20) were used. Along with the area under the ROC curve (AUC), the highest accuracy for both models corresponds to the first scenario of sample size (80/20%). Contrarywise, it can be concluded that for this scenario, the MARS technique indicated higher predictive skill (AUC?=?98.51%). Regarding the second scenario, which is corresponding to the replicate, the MARS model with 20 replications still has the highest accuracy (94.70%) compared to the other scenarios and the MaxEnt model. The findings of robustness demonstrated that the scenarios with the greatest AUC value have the highest robustness. This work demonstrates that the utilization of the best accurate model with high certainty along with FSPM may be useful to identify and manage the areas that are most susceptible to flood.

     

Sensitivity analysis of the seismic demands of RC moment resisting frames to different aspects of ground motions

A weight vector representing the relative importance of various characteristics of ground motions (GMs) and a conditioning intensity measure (IM) are required to be able to use the generalized conditional IM framework for the purpose of GM selection. An inappropriate weight vector may result in the biased distributions of some important characteristics of GMs and, consequently, the bias in the structural responses. This article aims to provide the analyst with the understanding of which properties of GMs are important in capturing the accurate structural responses, to specifically assign a suitable weight to them and to select an appropriate conditioning IM as well. To this end, 4 reinforced concrete buildings, located at the site in which the seismic hazard is dominated by shallow crustal earthquakes, are considered. The findings reveal that the appropriate weight vectors depend on the characteristics of the employed structural systems. In addition, the role played by each IM in capturing the true structural responses changes over different earthquake intensity levels implying that different weight vectors are required over different earthquake levels. Furthermore, this study shows that, even in case of shorter‐duration GMs from shallow events, GM duration should be incorporated in GM selection as it has effects on the peak‐based structural responses in the earthquake levels beyond the level of 2%‐in‐50‐years. Specifically, the findings reveal that in case of shallow events, unlike large magnitude earthquakes, the shorter the duration of GM the more rapid release of energy and, consequently, the larger the peak‐based structural responses.     

Seismic assessment of nature-inspired hexagrid lateral load-resisting system

This paper provides a general perspective of the seismic performance of a nature-inspired, honey-comb grid structural system, known as a hexagrid, under near-field ground motions. Seismic performance of this skeleton is then compared to that of a bundled-tube, as a conventional and efficient load-resisting system in order to provide a better perception of the seismic behavior of a hexagrid skeleton. Two 20-story buildings with bundled-tube and hexagrid skeleton were studied. Nonlinear behavior of the structures was investigated through 3-D finite element computer models and nonlinear time history analyses by subjecting the models to seven three-component records of scaled near-field ground motions. Distribution of peak inter story drift and corner beam-column joint rotations were calculated and compared. Results indicated that by replacing the exterior columns of the bundled-tube system with inclined beam-column elements of nature-inspired hexagons, lateral stiffness of the building increased and it would tolerate less deformations before global dynamic instability is reached. The presence of inclined columns in the hexagrid skeleton helped to concentrate local nonlinearities in ring beams rather than exterior columns.     

Framework and modeling structure of Exploration and Mining Cadastre system in Iran

In this paper we introduce a framework for developing the Exploration and Mining Cadastre System (EMCS), which involves all activities related to exploration areas, including registration and subsequent legal issues in a broader sense. It is built with two main purposes in mind: (1) enable necessary surveys, observe applicant’s reserved parcel, register the parcel online, and issue and follow up necessary permits/licenses in the field of exploration, (2) provide a mutual platform for data exchange among various service systems in the field of exploration and mining in Iran. The EMCS model is designed in Unified Modeling Language (UML) with three main sets of classes: (1) RegisterObject (2) ActivityLicense, and (3) Person. Other relevant features of the model are also specified at the class level. These include: conditional registered parcels, unregisterable areas such as prohibited or protected areas, legal borders around registered or serving parcels, reference documents such as legal survey results documents, responsibilities, and restrictions. The model also considers issues related to exploration cost, parcel code, tax, royalty, commodity, priorities, facilitations, evaluation, transfer of ownership, changing parameters, and temporal registration. The temporal aspects of the classes are also supported by the model to take care of the time periods that involve the general procedures in the registration of exploration and mining properties. We anticipate that the framework and model structure provide a platform for data storage, improve the supervision of exploration and mining process, change manual into online registration system, prevent administrative corruption, and reduce bureaucracy.