Asymptotic Solution of a Nonlinear Equation

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The Elements of a Design Entity

Any type of organism can be identified by examination of DNA sequences unique to that species. DNA is a substance carrying an organism's genetic information. My definition of DNA is Designing New Architecture. The purpose is to examine the DesignInc entity to look for the specific features that make up the organisation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As human beings we are 99 per cent similar but the one per cent difference is so complex that it allows for us all to be unique. This is the same for design-based practices, where superficially many firms of architects and urban and interior designers look very similar. In fact, the process and opportunities of design initiatives are so complex that vast differences can be detected if a careful investigative analysis is undertaken.     

Can a landscape be a work of art?: an examination of Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe's theory of aesthetics.

The article focuses on the theory of landscape design put forward by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. Central to this is the extent to which a designed landscape can be considered a ‘work of art’. Jellicoe makes connections between landscape design and the projection of the psyche into its natural environment, and thus it seems appropriate to relate his exploration of the subconscious to Jung's ‘psychological system’. The theories of Tolstoy and Langer are also used as critical reference points for the analysis of Jellicoe's theories. Although Jellicoe's theories appear to be flawed, it is concluded that he is right to maintain that landscape architecture can produce works of art, and that his limitations as a philosopher do not diminish his design achievements.     

One & Other: a picture of the nation in a period of cosmopolitanism?

Is the form of the public monument viable today? A proliferation of monuments and memorials in Europe from the 1870s onwards articulated national identities for states of which many were either recently established or in decline. Representation of the nation was a unifying device. Today, the statues raised in past centuries fade into the urban landscape while a world of global capital and economic migration, in which cities compete globally regardless of the national territories in which they are situated, renders the idea of belonging fluid, and that of national identity perhaps defunct. A question arises as to whether the form of the monument (as a class of objects) retains currency, or can be democratised for a society of diverse publics and conflicting interests. This paper takes Antony Gormley's project for the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square, London in the summer of 2009—One & Other—as a case by which to investigate the viability of the monument today. After describing the project and its performative character, I draw on three connected frameworks: the monument as representation; constructions of national identity; and the expediency of culture in masking social divisions. I cite Matthew Arnold's claim that culture is a defence against anarchy (his term for social breakdown), and link this to nineteenth-century reformism. This leads me to ask whether a reformist ethos still applies, and whether there are parallels between such cultural strategies and public art as a renewal of the monument in a period of widening social divisions.     

On the Special Features of a City

1 .The Aesthetie Charaeteris-ties of a City Eaeh entity Possesses its unique eharae-teristies,and its Peeuliarities in its aPPear-anee whieh can easily lead to its reeognitionand dil'f七rentiation from others;the term,'featurel' 15 frequently used to refer to suchpercePtible eharacteristi     

luther's thesenportal: a case study of a “ritual-architectural event”

ABSTRACT

This article is part of a larger field-based study of contemporary festivity and religious tourism in Lutherland, a geographic and symbolic place associated with the life and work of Martin Luther. My aim, with reference to the work of Lindsay Jones and Victor Turner, is to develop an approach for studying the intersection of material culture and ritual. Material culture does not simply signify into empty space, shining meanings into its surrounding environment as a street lamp does light. Rather, material culture is produced, handled, used in a variety of ways. An exemplary case for studying how built space and ritual performance intersect is the Thesenportal of Wittenberg's Schlosskirche, an object and performative space commemorating the origin of the German Reformation.     

Triaxial shear behavior of a cement-treated sandegravel mixture

A number of parameters, e.g. cement content, cement type, relative density, and grain size distribution,can influence the mechanical behaviors of cemented soils. In the present study, a series of conventionaltriaxial compression tests were conducted on a cemented poorly graded sandegravel mixture containing30% gravel and 70% sand in both consolidated drained and undrained conditions. Portland cement usedas the cementing agent was added to the soil at 0%, 1%, 2%, and 3% （dry weight） of sandegravel mixture.Samples were prepared at 70% relative density and tested at confining pressures of 50 kPa, 100 kPa, and150 kPa. Comparison of the results with other studies on well graded gravely sands indicated moredilation or negative pore pressure in poorly graded samples. Undrained failure envelopes determinedusing zero Skempton抯 pore pressure coefficient 餉 ？0？criterion were consistent with the drained ones.Energy absorption potential was higher in drained condition than undrained condition, suggesting thatmore energy was required to induce deformation in cemented soil under drained state. Energy absorptionincreased with increase in cement content under both drained and undrained conditions.
2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.     

Evaluation of a permeability–porosity relationship in a low-permeability creeping material using a single transient test

A method is presented for the evaluation of the permeability–porosity relationship in a low-permeability porous material using the results of a single transient test. This method accounts for both elastic and non-elastic deformations of the sample during the test, and is applied to a hardened class G oil well cement paste. An initial hydrostatic undrained loading is applied to the sample. The generated excess pore pressure is then released at one end of the sample while monitoring the pore pressure at the other end and the radial strain in the middle of the sample during the dissipation of the pore pressure. These measurements are back-analysed to evaluate the permeability and its evolution with porosity change. The effect of creep of the sample during the test on the measured pore pressure and volume change is taken into account in the analysis. This approach permits to calibrate a power law permeability–porosity relationship for the tested hardened cement paste. The porosity sensitivity exponent of the power–law is evaluated equal to 11, and is shown to be mostly independent of the stress level and of the creep strains.     

Geotechnical characterization of a clay–cement mix

Soft clay deposits are highly plastic, normally consolidated fine grained soils characterized by their low inherent shear strength. The mixing of soft clays with cement as a chemical stabilizer has become a well-known stabilization technique. The resulting strength of the clay–cement mix is controlled by different factors, but mainly the water to cement ratio, the cement content, and the curing conditions. It is crucial to develop a clear understanding of the changes in engineering behavior of the clay–cement mix that result from changes in controlling factors. A phase diagram was established to define the initial conditions of the mass–volume relationships of air, cement, clay, and water of a typical clay–cement mix. This phase diagram was then used to determine the total dry density, void ratio, and specific gravity of the clay–cement mix as a function of the cement content and water to cement ratio. The main objective of this work was to develop generalized trends for the geotechnical properties of clay–cement mixes. These trends were evaluated based on unconfined compressive strength as well as consistency tests carried out on soft clay samples before and after mixing with cement and at different curing times. A reduction in the plasticity index (PI) of 16 % and an increase in the unconfined shear strength of more than 200 kPa were obtained from the addition of 15 % cement. The reduction in the PI of the clay–cement mix was found to be an efficient tool to represent the improvement in the strength of the clay after mixing with cement.     

Plain Resiliency — Toward a Meridian of Fertility

With current models predicting aquifer depletion as early as 2080, the American Great Plains region approaches a critical threshold that will test the resilience of its productive landscape. In response, this project challenges the Jeffersonian grid by speculating that the future landscape will be annually reorganized by hyper-local climate prediction that responds to micro-topography and soil typologies. A series of dynamic landscape infrastructures collect and interpret data to define a Meridian of Fertility where short grass prairie ends and insurable productivity begins.     

The feasibility of new design of hybrid photovoltaic-thermal system – a theoretical approach

Hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) collectors have been evaluated according to the physical features of commercial photovoltaic (PV) cells; therefore, their commercial application is limited. The Tedlar collector has good electrical insulating properties, resulting in reduction in electrical efficiency. A researcher found that a glazed PVT system without Tedlar was the best among others, showing a significant increase in the overall efficiency. Inspired by this finding, we thought to study, for the first time, the feasibility of a new PVT that has been built by modifying a commercial PV panel and retrofitting it with the integration of two tubes in glass above the PV cell pasted on a thin metal ribbon before PV encapsulation. A heat transfer modelling/simulation in 3D was performed using COMSOL Multiphysics software.

The results show that under the no-cooling situation, the PV cell temperature reaches 74.87°C and the electrical power dropped significantly to 0.113 for electrical efficiency of 0.15 at the reference conditions. The water flow velocity is determined so that the cell can be effectively cooled. The cell temperature variation reaches to 45.9°C for a flow velocity of 0.5m/s, an irradiation of 1000W/m² and ambient temperature equal to 20.15°C.     

A study on the spread of fire caused by the stack effects of patio—A computer modeling and a reconstruction of a fire scenario

This study reported an actual building fire incidence for a ten-story building that occurred in Taiwan in 2008. Due to the stack effects the fire occurred on the third floor spread through the patio in a short time to the upper floors and caused three deaths in a tenth floor apartment. This study also attempted to reconstruct the actual fire scenario using computer simulation. The spread of the fire to the combustibles due to hot smoke was accounted for in the simulation. Variation of the fire scenario and the factors causing the fire spread were studied. It was found that an initial fire size below 1.0 MW would not generate sufficient hot smoke to cause fire spread despite the stack effects. However, any obstructions in the patio such as window shading has been found to cause heat accumulation that would aggravate the fire spread problem. The presence of a canopy at the top of the patio can cause higher concentration of smoke for the upper floors. The simulation results are found to be in good agreement with the actual incidence. Moreover the simulation results also show that when the fire spread through the patio the initial fire size of 1.0 MW at the fire site can grow to a building fire of 300 MW.     

Towards a geography of displacement. Moving out of Brussels’ gentrifying neighbourhoods

This paper takes up recent calls for re-invigorating research activity on the socio-spatial effects of gentrification, and on gentrification-induced displacement in particular. It does so by analysing the socio-economic profiles and destination municipalities of individuals who moved out of Brussels’ gentrifying neighbourhoods in the early 2000s. Findings clearly indicate that highly contrasted residential mobility patterns are conflated in this set of migrants. Surely, the majority of these out-migrants do not match the idea of low-status residents forced out of their neighbourhoods as gentrification develops. Yet, results also highlight a specific residential mobility pattern associated with low-status individuals moving out of gentrifying neighbourhoods. I argue that these findings outline a believable picture of the geography of displacement, that is, they show where former inhabitants displaced by gentrification are most likely to relocate. These movements are mostly over short distances, and directed towards impoverished working-class neighbourhoods within the city. Nevertheless, others leave the city as a whole. These findings echo earlier comments on the growing social-spatial polarisation of the Brussels’ urban landscape, and validate to some extent appraisals by local community organisations that stress that part of the urban poor are being “exported” from gentrifying inner neighbourhoods in Brussels towards generally depressed, old industrial regions in the rest of the country.

India and alternative sources of energy – a review

India should rely on its abundant renewable energy sources to not only facilitate steady and high economic growth but also enable it to meet its commitment to reduce pollution up to 35% less than the 2005 level. On this platform It can expect financial and technological support from the world community.     

Infrastructure Planning: in a State of Panic?

Abstract

Infrastructure is routinely framed in contemporary urban policy as a vehicle to grow the economy through the creation of jobs. In periods of economic downturn and when ongoing fiscal uncertainty ensues, governments may look to the construction and maintenance of social and public infrastructure such as social housing and public transport. Cities and communities that have endured infrastructure deficits in the past may become the beneficiaries of adjusted national and state-level policy to support economic prosperity through expedient infrastructure implementation programs. Yet in the post-GFC policy environment urban infrastructure has recentred the role of infrastructure in driving urban economic recovery in terms of economic prosperity. Drawing from the state of exception literature, I call on the notion of urgency to explore infrastructure planning as it manifests at the juncture between strategic planning and implementation. This paper will contribute to the critical urban planning literature by examining how infrastructure prioritisation and implementation is shaped through a characterisation of urgency which subverts the relationship between urban infrastructure planning, implementation and planning process.     

CFD simulations of a tunnel fire—Part I

This paper concerns sensitivity studies of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a fire in a tunnel. The simulations were of an experimental fire in a tunnel carried out by the Fire and Thermofluids Section of the Health and Safety Executive, Buxton, UK. The fuel used in the experiment was kerosine, the heat output rate was 2.7 MW and the tunnel was longitudinally ventilated. During the period of the experiment studied in the simulations, there was an upstream layer of approximate length 11 m. Simulations were carried out for two areas of the tunnel: the area around the fire and the area downstream of the fire. This paper describes the simulations of the area around the fire, whilst the accompanying Part II paper describes the area downstream of the fire. In the fire area simulations, the upstream propagating smoke layer length was found to be sensitive to the ventilation velocity, the ventilation velocity profile, the turbulence model used and the heat input rate. This case, in which the fire did not extend over the width of the tunnel, gave an upstream layer at higher ventilation velocities than those found in the literature. While reduction of the heat input rate to allow for radiative heat transfer from the flame caused a significant change in results, neither radiative heating of the tunnel ceiling nor the distribution of the fuel across the fuel pan had a significant effect on the results.