Flexural retrofit of a bridge subjected to overweight trucks using CFRP laminates

The reinforced concrete spans of a bridge subjected to extreme vehicular loads are investigated and retrofitted with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates. A finite element model of the bridge superstructure was created to determine the forces resulting from extreme loads. A moment–curvature analysis was subsequently carried out to investigate the flexural characteristics of the reinforced concrete sections prior to and after strengthening with CFRP laminates. The analytical modeling concluded that significant strength can be gained at the ultimate limit state, while relatively small increase in strength is observed at service load levels. The increase in flexural resistance at ultimate does provide an adequate margin of safety against further overloading. The analytical investigation and the retrofitting work are presented herein.     

On the behaviour of hygroscopic wheels: Part I – channel modelling

In this paper a detailed mathematical formulation is developed for the numerical modelling of the behaviour of a channel of a hygroscopic compact matrix. A comparison between the detailed version and a simplified one is performed considering a two-dimensional airflow between desiccant parallel plates. The distinct heat and mass transfer phenomena are strongly coupled, and some properties of the airflow and of the desiccant medium exhibit important changes during the sorption processes. Both physical models take into account the gas side and solid side resistances to heat and mass transfer. The wall domain is treated similarly in both models, by taking into account the simultaneous heat and mass transfer together with the water adsorption/desorption process. Two phases co-exist in equilibrium inside the desiccant porous medium, the equilibrium being characterized by sorption isotherms without hysteresis. The detailed model is based on the solution of the differential equations for the conservation of mass, energy and momentum, assuming that no momentum transport exists in the porous wall domain. In the simplified model, the airflow is treated as a bulk flow, the interaction with the wall being evaluated by using appropriated convective coefficients.Both models are compared in the simulation of a parallel plate channel during an adsorption process. The results show a good agreement for channel lengths greater than 0.1 m. In part II of the paper, the simplified model is adapted to the simulation of the three-dimensional problem in the channel of a hygroscopic rotor, and it is used to perform parametric studies.     

LID改造对城市内涝与面源污染的影响

为了探究低影响开发(LID)措施对城市雨水-径流-污染过程的改善效果,以广州市某区域为例,提出了4种LID改造措施(绿色屋顶、生物滞留池、透水铺装、3种LID组合),并构建了SWMM模型来模拟分析5种暴雨重现期下不同LID改造措施的水文水质效应。结果表明：单一LID改造措施下,暴雨重现期较大时透水铺装效果最好,该情景下洪峰削减率、峰现时间延迟和总流量削减率都达到了最大;3种LID组合对总流量削减率最高,为26-12%~34-40%;单一LID改造措施下,透水铺装对COD与NH3-N质量浓度峰值削减和峰现时间延迟效果最佳;3种LID组合对COD和NH3-N总量削减率最高,分别为50-51%~60-83%和53-16%~58-47%。LID改造措施对城市内涝、COD和NH3-N都有不同程度的减轻或削减,其中LID组合改造措施的效果最好。     

Strength evaluation of granite block samples with different predictive models

Over the last decade, application of soft computing techniques has rapidly grown up in different scientific fields, especially in rock mechanics. One of these cases relates to indirect assessment of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of rock samples with different artificial intelligent-based methods. In fact, the main advantage of such systems is to readily remove some difficulties arising in direct assessment of UCS, such as time-consuming and costly UCS test procedure. This study puts an effort to propose four accurate and practical predictive models of UCS using artificial neural network (ANN), hybrid ANN with imperialism competitive algorithm (ICA–ANN), hybrid ANN with artificial bee colony (ABC–ANN) and genetic programming (GP) approaches. To reach the aim of the current study, an experimental database containing a total of 71 data sets was set up by performing a number of laboratory tests on the rock samples collected from a tunnel site in Malaysia. To construct the desired predictive models of UCS based on training and test patterns, a combination of several rock characteristics with the most influence on UCS has been used as input parameters, i.e. porosity (n), Schmidt hammer rebound number (R), p-wave velocity (V_p) and point load strength index (Is(50)). To evaluate and compare the prediction precision of the developed models, a series of statistical indices, such as root mean squared error (RMSE), determination coefficient (R²) and variance account for (VAF) are utilized. Based on the simulation results and the measured indices, it was observed that the proposed GP model with the training and test RMSE values 0.0726 and 0.0691, respectively, gives better performance as compared to the other proposed models with values of (0.0740 and 0.0885), (0.0785 and 0.0742), and (0.0746 and 0.0771) for ANN, ICA–ANN and ABC–ANN, respectively. Moreover, a parametric analysis is accomplished on the proposed GP model to further verify its generalization capability. Hence, this GP-based model can be considered as a new applicable equation to accurately estimate the uniaxial compressive strength of granite block samples.

     

Application of deep learning algorithms in geotechnical engineering: a short critical review

Artificial Intelligence Review - With the advent of big data era, deep learning (DL) has become an essential research subject in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). DL algorithms are...     

Prediction of highway asphalt pavement performance based on Markov chain and artificial neural network approach

The Journal of Supercomputing - In order to study the problems of inadequate maintenance measures, inappropriate maintenance time, and unreasonable use of funds in asphalt pavement maintenance of...     

Public key distribution scheme for delay tolerant networks based on two-channel cryptography

A delay tolerant network (DTN) is a store carry and forward network characterized by highly mobile nodes, intermittent connectivity with frequent disruptions, limited radio range and physical obstructions. Emerging applications of DTN include rural DTN, vehicular DTN and pocket DTN. The development of DTN raises a number of security-related challenges due to inconsistent network access and unreliable end-to-end network path. One of the challenges is initial secure context establishment as it is unrealistic to assume that public key infrastructure (PKI) is always globally present and available, hence, the public key management becomes an open problem for DTN. In this paper, for the first time, we propose a dynamic virtual digraph (DVD) model for public key distribution study by extending graph theory and then present a public key distribution scheme for pocket DTN based on two-channel cryptography. By distinguishing between owners and carriers, public key exchange and authentication issues in the decentralized pocket DTN environment can be solved by a two-channel cryptography process and our simulation results have proven it.     

A structural approach for modelling the hierarchical dynamic process of Web workload in a large-scale campus network

A new structural approach based on hidden Markov model is proposed to describe the hierarchical nature of dynamic process of Web workload. The proposed approach includes two latent Markov chains and one observable process. One of the latent Markov chains is called macro-state process which is used to describe the large-scale trends of Web workload. The remaining latent Markov chain is called sub-state process which is used to describe the small-scale fluctuations that are happening within the duration of a given macro-state. An efficient parameter re-estimation algorithm and a workload simulation algorithm are derived for the proposed discrete model. Experiments based on a real workload of a large-scale campus network are implemented to validate the proposed model.     

基于LCZ的湿热地区典型城市局部空间格局特性研究

城市化建设的快速发展使得城市街区尺度区域形成了复杂多样的空间格局, 影响了城市局部区域的微气候特性。本文从量化城市地表要素对局地气候影响的视角出发, 提出了基于街区边界和区域内空间特性指标计算的局部气候分区(Local Climate Zone, LCZ)划分方法, 该方法面向街区单元, 较好地描述了街区尺度局部区域的精细化空间格局。以湿热地区典型的人工生态城区(广州大学城)及典型中心商务区(珠江新城)为例, 利用所提出的LCZ划分法构建了两个案例区域的LCZ分布图, 以及建筑空间形态与下垫面布局特性指标分布图集。从图集对比结果可知, 大学城主要以开敞式中层建筑为主, 而珠江新城则以紧凑型高层建筑为主。城市区域LCZ空间特性参数的可视化表达将为街区小气候分布规律的量化研究和气候适宜型生态城市建设提供数据基础和理论依据。     

不同地形条件下的AW3D30、SRTM3和ASTER GDEM高程精度分析

以广东部分山地丘陵为研究区域, 分析了数字高程模型AW3D30、SRTM3 V4.1和ASTER GDEM V3的高程精度。利用车载动态PPP技术对沿广州、惠州、韶关、清远约730 km的线路进行了数据采集, 并由CSRS-PPP定位服务系统解算得到动态点的WGS84坐标, 再通过重力场模型EIGEN-6C4将动态点的大地高转换为正常高, 最后对3种数字高程模型进行高程检核。结果表明: AW3D30、SRTM3 V4.1和ASTER GDEM V3的平均误差分别为0.55、0.17、1.59 m, 均方根误差分别为3.78、5.84、8.88 m。3种数字高程模型的平均误差在不同海拔区间差异明显, 其中AW3D30在不同海拔区间的平均误差振幅相对较小, 在2.18 m以内; SRTM3 V4.1的平均误差与海拔为负相关关系, 平均误差随着海拔的升高由正值逐渐转为负值; ASTER GDEM V3的平均误差在(0 m, 250 m]海拔区间为2 m左右, 在(250 m, 800 m]区间为-2.28 m。AW3D30的均方根误差与标准差整体上随着海拔的升高而减小, SRTM3 V4.1随着海拔的升高而增大, ASTER GDEM V3无显著规律, 在(100 m, 250 m]区间优于7.69 m, 在其余区间优于9.86 m。