Developing English domestic occupancy profiles

ABSTRACT

Occupancy patterns are necessary to estimate energy demand and evaluate thermal comfort in households. Because of this, many European countries are developing representative domestic schedules to replace outdated criteria. This paper evaluates the state of knowledge of UK domestic occupancy patterns and develops new domestic occupancy profiles for England. The presented research (1) characterizes methods for collecting occupancy data and inferring patterns; (2) identifies and assesses the quality of categories of occupancy patterns used in building simulation; and (3) develops updated occupancy profiles. A systematic scoping review identified social and monitoring surveys as the most deployed data-collection methods. A systematic literature review also established that the occupancy categories most frequently used in UK building simulation are (a) a family with dependent children where the parents work full time; and (b) a retired elderly couple who spend most of their time indoors. The interview sample from the English Housing Survey 2014–15 was used to map household typologies. Results show that categories (a) and (b) combined amount to only 19% of England’s households, which suggest models are over-reliant on these groups. Considering this result, the paper develops occupancy patterns for England derived from 2015 UK Time Use Survey diaries for each household typology previously identified.     

Tunable passively Q-switched thulium doped fluoride fibre (TDFF) laser using reduced graphene oxide-silver (rGO-Ag) as saturable absorber

A tunable, passively Q-switched thulium doped fluoride fibre (TDFF) laser using a reduced-graphene oxide-silver (rGO-Ag) thin film as a saturable absorber (SA) for S band operation is proposed and its efficacy demonstrated. Over a pump power range of 91.4?mW up to 158.6?mW, passively generated Q-switched pulses are observed with repetition rates from 20 to 34.5?kHz and pulse widths from 3.1 to 7.1?µs. The highest pulse energy observed is 101.2?nJ with a signal to noise ratio of ～42?dB. The proposed laser has a tuning range ～52?nm from 1458 to 1510?nm with a tunable bandpass filter (TBPF) introduced into the cavity.     

The analysis for morphological evolution and crystallography of degenerate pearlite in 100Mn13 steel

During approximate 773 K aging treatment of 100Mn13 steel, degenerate pearlite will occur and evolve into lamellar pearlite during growth process. The microstructures of degenerate pearlite and its evolutionary lamellar pearlite are observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that after 748 K, 773 K and 798 K aging, degenerate pearlites occur at grain boundary. At growth front of degenerate pearlite forming at 773 K and 798 K, pearlite presents a morphology of short lamellae of carbide and ferrite, indicating a trend of developing into lamellar pearlite. The higher the temperature is, the more obvious the trend is, and even a conventional lamellar pearlite has developed. However, there is no morphological evolution for degenerate pearlite forming at 748 K aging. Besides, the constituents of degenerate pearlite is identified as M₂₃C₆ and ferrite, and Kurdjumov-Sachs orientation relationship exists between them, (01 )_α//( 1 )_M23C6, [111]_α//[110]_M23C6. This orientation relationship maintains in morphological evolution from degenerate pearlite to lamellar pearlite.     

Coupled field formulation of exactly integrated membrane finite elements insensitive to distortion

Abstract

An efficient 4-noded membrane element tolerant and insensitive to mesh distortion is developed using kinematically coupling the in-plane displacements which satisfy the equilibrium equations in Cartesian coordinates and results in material-dependent coupled field interpolation functions making the element free from volumetric and shear locking. The proposed formulation provides a preliminary concept for the satisfaction of natural boundary conditions which is used to satisfy the strong patch test. The proposed element, passed several benchmark problems from the literature, compared well with elasticity solutions, passed the weak patch test and the inf-sup test for both compressible and incompressible cases.     

Mine inonoations

The paper describes the types of inundations affecting underground mining operations together with their safety, operational, and stability implications. A critical analysis has highlighted three major causes of inundations. These have been classified as event controlled, accidental or spontaneous. The event controlled inundations are associated with the development of fracture zones around a longwall working and followed by main and periodic roof falls in caved mine workings, particularly in coal mines. An approximate theory to predict the event of main and periodic roof falls in the goaf behind the long wall face is given. These types of inundations have been illustrated with several case histories.