| 1. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
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Crossing dichotomies and breaking mental patterns: Green business development when all else fails?
- 2017
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Ingår i: 8th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2017: Bioeconomy Challenges”, 23–24 November, 2017 Kaunas, Lithuania.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Obtaining sustainable and inclusive societal organization is not merely a simple matter of ‘doing it’ by subscribing to some winning formula. Given that conceptual frameworks always guide our thoughts, judgments and actions (Latour, 2013; Harvey, 1996; Dennett, 1993), the ways in which we relate to concepts chosen to serve as guiding forces for future development will eventually determine its outcome. As scholarly evidence continuously suggests the concepts ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ are increasingly recognized as artificial barriers for conducting sound and integrated development endeavors in a globalized reality of interconnectedness. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to eradicate poverty, shield the planet and safeguard prosperity for all, commitment to universal access to healthy food year round has become an important agenda point. This, however, has been exacerbated by binary thinking and separate ways of doing policy. This paper aims to share experiences from a unique project launched in the northern parts of Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city. While the area offers ample resources and immense opportunities for areal economies, it at the same time remains one of Gothenburg’s most segregated, with high levels of unemployment, ill health and crime. The uniqueness of the project lies not only in its way of abridging the rural-urban divide, but also by consciously deferring from the debilitating rhetoric of previous ‘immigrant policies’, and instead focusing on agricultural productivity, small-scale food producers and sustainable food strategies. Such exhortations to bridge between philosophical and material polarities, however, have not come without conceptual and practical challenges, something this paper aims to subsume and open up to debate.
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| 2. |
- Kuai, Le, et al.
(författare)
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A numerical and experimental investigation of non-linear deformation behaviours in light-frame timber walls
- 2022
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Ingår i: Engineering structures. - : Elsevier. - 0141-0296 .- 1873-7323. ; 252
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent decades, there is a trend in Scandinavian countries to build multi-storey residential houses using prefabricated timber modules. It is a highly efficient construction process with less environmental impact and less material waste. A significant building element in the timber modules is the light-frame timber wall, which has to be carefully analysed and optimized in this process. This paper presents a new parametric Finite Element (FE) model that can simulate both in-plane and out-of-plane deformations in the light-frame walls. A new and flexible (Eurocode based) approach to define the properties of the mechanical connections is introduced. A numerical model is presented through simulations of several walls that were verified with full-scale experiments. The results indicate that the numerical model could achieve fairly reasonable accuracy with the new approach. Furthermore, several parametric studies are presented and discussed from global and local points of view, to investigate the effects of certain parameters that are not considered in the design method according to Eurocode 5.
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| 3. |
- Charciarek, Marcin, et al.
(författare)
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A voice on Polish socialist Brutalist architecture : protection of concrete element surfaces in the context of sustainable development
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Heritage Conservation. - : Stowarzyszenie Konserwatorów Zabytków. - 0860-2395. ; 68:68S, s. 45-52
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Half a century after the dominance of Brutalist architecture, the majority of discussions about these buildings concern their continued existence. Sadly today, there is more talk about the demolition of Brutalist buildings than about their protection and preservation. And yet, many Brutalist buildings expressed a progressive vision of community living and sustainable public ownership. The effort to preserve them, therefore, is not merely a fight to defend heritage, but also the idea that through the necessary process of adaptive reuse, maintenance, and preservation of existing buildings, the trend of constant “replacement of the fabric of the building” should be halted. In the era of seeking “sustainable” solutions in architecture, this kind of re-evaluation of the meaning of Brutalism and its concrete matter seems to be more than a will to preserve the legacy of the past. One may say that restoring or even prolonging the life of these valuable reinforced concrete structures, primarily in the form of properly selected protection of the concrete surface, is the core of activities aimed at their conservation.
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| 4. |
- Gössling, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Subjectively safe cycling infrastructure : New insights for urban designs
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Transport Geography. - : Elsevier. - 0966-6923 .- 1873-1236. ; 101
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transportation infrastructure that accommodates the needs of active mode users is an essential element of sustainable and just urban mobility transitions. Safety is a major factor influencing bicyclist behavior, and understanding how safety is perceived by traffic participants can support urban designs that will attract greater shares of active travelers. This paper evaluates the stated preferences of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians for safe transport infrastructures. It relies on data collected by the non-governmental organization FixMyBerlin in cooperation with a German newspaper, Berliner Tagesspiegel. 21,401 participants assessed a total of 1900 different traffic situations, generating a sample of 468,379 opinions on street design elements including major streets, side streets and pavements. Results point at the importance of wide bicycle tracks and the separation of cyclists from motorized and pedestrian traffic. The removal of parking next to bicycle lanes also has great importance for improving perceptions of safety. The data offers detailed insight into key elements of urban safety design characteristics, which are remarkably similar irrespective of mode type preference. The study concludes that subjective safety is a novel starting point for urban transport designs.
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| 5. |
- Kans, Mirka, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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The development of a cloud-based information system for gravel road maintenance
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of COMADEM. - : COMADEM International. - 1363-7681. ; 25:2, s. 31-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The gravel road network is an essential function for rural residents and entrepreneurs. Traditional maintenance of gravel roads is well-functioning but provides a relatively high maintenance cost per unit length of the road. In addition, every maintenance action and extraction and transport of new gravel contribute to increased climate impact and resource depletion. Today, maintenance planning is carried out periodically based on the maintenance history, which also is reflected in the economic models and procurement methods. Current maintenance plans may be enhanced and will not be a reliable basis in the future, for instance due to climate change. Instead, real needs and conditions must be given greater consideration. Today, appropriate maintenance management systems are lacking, e.g., to be able to evaluate maintenance deficiencies, prioritize objects and choose the appropriate maintenance action. Moreover, the knowledge available at specific stakeholders is not shared with other actors. In this paper, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system for gravel road maintenance is proposed in the form of a cloud-based system covering the information needs of stakeholders in the gravel road maintenance ecosystem. Requirement specifications are given for the subsystems intended for the maintenance executioner and the maintenance planner. The specifications are based on workshops and interviews conducted with stakeholders, where requirements were acquired using techniques such as User stories, Use case scenarios, and mock-up prototypes. System examples corresponding to the requirements specifications are also given.
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| 6. |
- Abbas, Nada, et al.
(författare)
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Information Needs of Gravel Road Stakeholders
- 2022
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Ingår i: Infrastructures. - : MDPI. - 2412-3811. ; 7:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Within any ecosystem, information sharing is essential. In this paper, the Swedish gravel road ecosystem is studied, where information plays a crucial role for the effective management of operations and maintenance. However, efficient information sharing is not enabled due to the lack of appropriate information systems. For addressing this issue, this paper intends to elicit information needs of gravel road stakeholders to support the design of a cloud-based information system. The main purpose is to explore the information needs of stakeholders within the Swedish gravel road ecosystem. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 11 participants representing key stakeholders in the ecosystem. Template analysis was used for analyzing the interview results. The major findings were a set of information needs covering road identification and condition, weather conditions, accessibility and traffic, maintenance policy, and sensor data. The results form a comprehensive information model for the further development of a cloud-based gravel road management system that would contribute to increased traffic safety and comfort, lower maintenance and management costs, and better decision-making abilities.
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| 7. |
- Abdeljaber, Osama, et al.
(författare)
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Dynamic Testing of a Laboratory Stadium Structure
- 2016
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Ingår i: Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Congress 2016. - Reston, VA : American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). - 9780784479742 ; , s. 1719-1728
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Studies with large physical models are a vital link between the theoretical work and field applications provided that these models are designed to represent real structures where various types and levels of uncertainties can be incorporated. While comprehensive analytical and laboratory joint studies are ongoing at Qatar University, University of Central Florida and University of Alberta, this paper presents the initial findings of dynamic testing at Qatar University. A laboratory stadium structure (grandstand simulator) has been constructed at Qatar University. Capable of housing thirty spectators, Qatar University grandstand simulator is arguably the largest laboratory stadium in the world. The structure is designed in a way that several different structural configurations can be tested in laboratory conditions to enable researchers to test newly developed damage detection algorithms. The study presented in this paper covers the finite element modeling and modal testing of the test structure.
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| 8. |
- Alabbasi, Sateh, et al.
(författare)
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A numerical and experimental investigation of a special type of floating-slab tracks
- 2020
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Ingår i: Engineering structures. - : Elsevier. - 0141-0296 .- 1873-7323. ; 215, s. 1-16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Floating-Slab Tracks (FST) are predominantly used for mitigating railway-induced vibrations where the concrete slab is mounted on soft resilient bearings to provide vibration isolation. This paper presents a research study on the dynamic behavior of a special type of FST used in the recently built subway system in Doha, Qatar. The special FST has a continuous concrete slab with periodic grooves. Therefore, the track can be modeled as a periodic structure with a slab unit having two elements with different cross-sections. Extensive numerical and experimental investigations were conducted on a multi-unit full-scale mockup track representing the special FST. A fast running model based on the Dynamic Stiffness Method was developed and examined, in an initial numerical exercise, against a detailed Finite Element model for a track with a finite length. In the experimental campaign, a test was performed with an impact hammer to identify the actual vibration response of the mockup track. Results from the experimental investigations were then used for model updating of the fast running model. The model updating process was carried out according to an automated hybrid optimization approach that combines genetic algorithms with a local search method. Finally, the updated model was extended to an infinite model to investigate the influence of varying grooves thickness on the dynamic behavior of the special track with infinite length for both bending and torsion scenarios. The investigations suggested that reducing the thickness below 50% of the full thickness of the slab significantly affects the dynamic behavior of the special FST.
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| 9. |
- Avci, Onur, et al.
(författare)
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An Overview of Deep Learning Methods Used in Vibration-Based Damage Detection in Civil Engineering
- 2022
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Ingår i: Dynamics of Civil Structures, Volume 2. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series.. - Cham : Springer. - 9783030771430 - 9783030771423 ; , s. 93-98
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a brief overview of vibration-based damage identification studies based on Deep Learning (DL) in civil engineering structures. The presence, type, size, and propagation of structural damage on civil infrastructure have always been a topic of research. In the last couple of decades, there has been a significant shift in the damage detection paradigm when the advancements in sensing and computing technologies met with the ever-expanding use of artificial neural network algorithms. Machine-Learning (ML) tools enabled researchers to implement more feasible and faster tools in damage detection applications. When an artificial neural network has more than three layers, it is typically considered as a “deep†learning network. Being an important accomplishment of the ML era, DL tools enable complex systems which are made of several layers to learn implementations of data with outstanding categorization and compartmentalization capability. In fact, with proper training, a DL tool can operate directly with the unprocessed raw data and help the algorithm produce output data. Competitive capabilities like this led DL algorithms perform very well in complicated problems by dividing a relatively large problem into much smaller and more manageable portions. Specifically for damage identification and localization on civil infrastructure, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Unsupervised Pretrained Networks (UPNs) are the known DL tools published in the literature. This paper presents an overview of these studies. © 2022, The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.
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