The use of a virtual building design and construction model for developing an effective project concept in 5D environment

The growing diversity of disciplines, participants, tasks, tools and events associated with project management at the design and construction stages, the increasing pressure of costing competition and tighter production deadlines, as well as continually increasing quality requirements and the need for technological enhancements, are the driving force of information modeling and numerical simulation in the construction industry. When choosing the most effective investment project in construction, a major problem associated with the actual demand for resources is underestimated. In order to solve this problem in the most effective way, the application programs, covering virtually every phase of the specific construction product development, e.g. planning, design, cost estimation, scheduling, fabrication, construction, maintenance and facility management were developed and supplemented with the calculation of the demand for resources, comparison of alternatives and determination of the duration of all the stages of the project life. Theoretical principles and practical innovative applications of building information modeling and construction process simulation technique, used to determine the most effective alternative of the project by applying the appropriate multiple criteria evaluation methods, are considered in the article.     

Effect of sulfur on the synthesis and modification of carbon nanostructures

Sulfur-free and sulfur-containing carbon phases have been synthesized from methane using a carbonyl iron catalyst and modified by melting with sulfur. The particle size distribution measurements show that the particle radii are shifted to smaller values after the reaction with sulfur. The content of sulfur in the modified carbon fractions depends on the particle size. In AFM images of some fractions, thin platelets of graphite (thickness of ca. 10 nm) have been seen. XRD analysis points on the aggregation of the carbon particles, which occurs at once with the sedimentational fractionation. Taking into account a tendency to increase the sulfur content inverse proportional to the particle size in the fractions, one can suggest that the sulfur is more likely to react with the finest ingredients of synthesized carbon phase.