Connections in timber beams loaded perpendicular to the wood grain are prone to brittle splitting failure. Different approaches can be found in the literature and design codes to account for the splitting capacity in the design of the structure. To study the splitting strength of timber beams loaded perpendicular to the wood grain by bolted steel-wood-steel connections, a total of 240 larch timber

Lightweight flooring system made up of cold-formed steel joist, and timber floorboard is widespread but the benefits of composite action that arise due to the interaction of top flange of cold-formed steel joist and the bottom surface of timber floorboard as a result of mobilising the shear connection are not considered in their design. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element model was developed and

Dynamic modelling of the faulty operation of chiller plants and boiler plants can help identify their impacts and support the development of fault detection methods. However, adequate models are seldom reported in the literature. In this study, we aim to develop high-fidelity models for approximating the dynamic behaviors of chiller plants and boiler plants under control-related faults. Specifically

This study presents the structural potentials of an entire restoration technique proposed for upgrading the strength and ductility of severely damaged non-seismic columns. Three columns were prepared under concentric axial loads to examine the axial load–axial strain relationship of restored columns. Additionally, five columns subjected to a constant axial load and cyclic lateral loads were prepared

Fixed shading devices (SDs) are still used as an essential and useful element in architectural design. Even with minor changes to be made when designing these devices, the energy performance of a building, especially in hot climate regions, can be significantly increased. In contrast to studies using one or a few parameters, this study aimed to make a comprehensive evaluation by considering more parameters

In this paper, a novel shape optimization method is proposed to improve the mechanical performance of the free-form grid structures while satisfying the architectural requirements. The height of control points are considered as the optimization variables, the structural strain energy and the comprehensive quantitative index are considered as optimization objectives. The sensitivity hybrid multi-objective

Students' performance is negatively influenced by poor indoor environments. In Sudan that is characterised by extreme climate, providing comfortable classrooms is required to improve the educational system that suffers from restricted budgets. To address this issue, the local government in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, and the Ministry of Education released a joint project to construct new schools'

Despite of being solar assisted, evaporative cooling devices in hot arid regions consume a substantial amount of electricity to produce sufficient cooling effect. This paper presents the design and performance analysis of a novel hybrid evaporative solar cooling system, aided by underground heat exchanger. A fan-assisted chamber composed of two vertical plenum space is intended to be cooling façade;

It is essential to predict the long-term deformation of partially enclosed steel reinforced concrete (PSRC) columns employed extensively in modern high-rise buildings. This study aims to evaluate the differences of drying shrinkage deformation between PSRC and plain concrete (PC) columns due to their different moisture diffusion, and propose a modified B3 model to predict the dry shrinkage of PSRC

The two most important parameters to affect the performance and fire safety of a chimney are its insulation properties and the temperature distribution across its layers. When designing a chimney, one needs to consider both the normal conditions of its everyday exploitation as well as such emergencies as soot fire. Soot fire may cause the temperature inside a chimney flue to reach 1000 °C. This is

Prestressed concrete double-Tee (PCDT) members are widely used in short-to-medium span structures, such as bridges, parking structures, industrial plants and warehouses. To closely investigate the cracking behavior of PCDT members with steel-wire meshes, four full-scale specimens with different spans and amount of prestress tendons were tested under monotonic loading in this paper. The distribution

The paper presents and discusses the results of a numerical study on post-fire (residual) behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with critical tension lap splices. It is based on the experimental findings and the validation of the numerical approach in the accompanying paper (Part I) and further analyzes the residual performance by varying most influencing parameters such as bond length, fire duration

The state-of-the-art energy management for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system uses a static clothing model that calculates the occupant’s clothing insulation as a fixed value based on outdoor air temperature measured at a particular time of the day. However, the static clothing model can hardly capture the occupant’s intra-day clothing behaviors, leading to inaccurate thermal

Sustainable building renovation is an important way to address energy and environmental problems. The paper uses CiteSpace, a visualized method to present a literature review based on 1090 papers from Web of Science core collection database. Overall, it analyzes the trends in the number of papers, contributing authors, countries and journals. Besides, it employs document citation analysis, keywords

The application of exhaust air heat pumps as an energy efficient heating technology to cover the heating and ventilation demand of highly efficient residential buildings is becoming popular. Available studies on exhaust air heat pumps tend mostly to focus only on comparing different technologies in efficient buildings. Most of the existing studies ignore the usual presence of the electrical heaters

This study investigates the structural response of a partially restrained, partially composite steel floor beam to a realistic or “natural” fire, which includes a rapid ramp-up to peak intensity followed by a decay phase to burnout. Thermo-structural finite element models are validated against a pair of experiments that were performed on the same unprotected specimen, which remained in place and undisturbed

Solving the matter of traditional energy consumption and finding the proper alternative resources are vital keys to a sustainable development policy. In recent years, many different thermal insulation materials have been developed for better energy efficiency and less environment damage. These products have confirmed their usefulness in buildings due to their benefits such as low density, high thermal

Decrease in the relative humidity (RH) of the indoor air causes cracks in the cross-laminated timber (CLT) surface resulting in air leakages in the CLT panel. The effect of construction moisture on CLT air tightness properties is not clearly defined, which is important for moisture safe construction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of high MC on CLT air tightness properties compared

Shape memory materials (SMMs) are an important group of intelligent multifunctional materials used in civil engineering applications whose popularity is due to their unique capability to memorize their original shape. After deformation they can return to their initial shape under stimuli, e.g. heat. SMMs are classified into four categories: shape memory alloys (SMAs), magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs)

The purpose of this paper is to develop an evaluation cloud model which could assess the development level of the regional industrialized building. The objectives are to understand which factors hinder the development of industrialized buildings and how to promote the development of industrialized buildings. The research was conducted in three stages. The first stage consisted of an extensive literature

Building Energy Management Systems provide users with desired environmental conditions by organizing air-conditioning and lighting systems. Many studies related to the energy management system in smart buildings have been conducted. However, the thermal comfort of occupants at lower energy consumption is a significant challenge to researchers. Therefore, in this study, a new smart approach is presented

In this paper, a novel type of precast concrete beam-column connection based on the ideal plastic hinge failure mechanism is proposed. This connection mainly includes a hinge shaft and multi-slit devices (MSDs). In order to investigate the seismic performance of the proposed precast concrete beam-column joint, the theoretical calculation method of MSD was first proposed, and its accuracy was verified

Property valuation contributes significantly to market economic activities, while it has been continuously questioned on its low transparency, inaccuracy and inefficiency. With Big Data applications in real estate domain growing fast, computer-aided valuation systems such as AI-enhanced automated valuation models (AVMs) have the potential to address these issues. While a plethora of research has focused

In order to eliminate the disadvantage of neat polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on cementitious composites, PVA hybrid fibers containing graphene oxide and dispersed silver nanoparticles were prepared and its effect on cementitious composites properties was investigated with the help of principal component analysis. Test results show that an increment ratio was obtained in fracture toughness and electrical

A new precast self-centering concrete wall structure is presented, namely a set of slip-friction energy dissipating devices is installed at the wall toe. The opening and closing of the walls’ corner joints under earthquakes drives slip-friction connectors to provide frictional energy dissipation capacities. In this paper, the influences of four parameters including bolt’s slot length (SL), friction

An evaporatively-cooled façade system, composed of a Photovoltaic thermal (PVT), evaporative cooler, and evaporatively-cooled façade, was previously developed. In this study, a control algorithm for the system parameters is implemented and applied on spaces with evaporatively-cooled façade to generate the least possible façade temperature, and consequently maximum possible energy savings. The optimization

A precast concrete frame structure with a new energy dissipative cladding panel connection system (EDCPCS) based on the damping concept is proposed, in which line connection is adopted on the top of the panels as the load bearing connection and U-shaped steel dampers are installed at the bottom of the panels as the energy dissipation connection. The feasibility and reliability of this structural system

Tubular light guides (TLGs) represent a solution for energy efficient performance of light during a day based on the daylight transport into building interiors. While daylight from windows sufficiently illuminates rooms close to building envelopes the light guides improve visual environment and perception of architectural space in deeper parts of interiors. The main aim of this study is focussed on

To study the influence of the wetting-drying cycles and loading rate on dynamic fracture toughness and energy dissipation of rocks under the dynamic loads, the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system was used to perform the dynamic impact tests on NSCB specimens of red sandstone after different wetting-drying cycles. The loading rate response characteristics of fracture toughness of specimens after

Controlled-rocking steel cores (CRSCs) effectively prevent earthquake-induced residual damage while may suffer large lateral displacements. This paper gives a particular emphasis on examining the seismic reliability of CRSCs. Accordingly, extensive nonlinear dynamic analyses are conducted for low- and mid-rise archetypes. A set of random variables (RV), including geometry parameters, material properties

Very limited attention has been directed to the application of nano-SiO2 (NS) in steel fiber reinforced reactive powder concrete (SFRRPC), and most of the past studies have examined the effects of up to three factors on the mechanical properties of reactive powder concretes. But, this study evaluated the effects of seven factors on the properties by the adoption of the Taguchi method. To fulfil such

Environmental shrinkage cracks are obviously observed in bolted-type glulam joints due to the material mechanical-physical properties and high moisture transport rate. The objective of ongoing research mainly presents an experimental study on the mechanical properties of bolted-type glulam joints with cracks. To shorten the test time and control the crack pattern, the outer moisture-induced shrinkage

This study is the first attempt to investigate the possibility of incorporating nano-activated carbon (nAC), prepared from residual biomass of olive trees, on the properties of alkali-activated slag (AAS) pastes. After suitable preparation of nAC, it was added into AAS pastes at various levels starting from 0.5 to 3.5, by weight. The results of workability, compressive strength, total porosity and

Nonlinear analyses are commonly used when evaluating the seismic performance of buildings. To produce reliable results in a seismic performance evaluation, the modeling parameters used in numerical models must be determined accurately for building components. In addition, proper values of acceptance criteria need to be used in the evaluation. In this study, modeling parameters and acceptance criteria

Marble dust (MD) and granite dust (GD) are generated during the processing (cutting and grinding) of marble and granite, respectively. The dust generated by the mentioned stones is non-biodegradable, which creates various environmental and health hazards. In view of this, incorporation of MD/GD as a replacement for cement to prepare sustainable cementitious composites (such as concrete and mortar)

The drop-weight impact behavior of the ductility enhanced high-strength strain-hardening cementitious composites (dHS-SHCC) is compared to that of conventional reactive powder concrete (RPC) to validate its super-impact resistance. All materials have an identical fiber volume fraction of 2%. The compressive strengths of RPC and dHS-SHCC are approximately 210 and 115 MPa, respectively. RPC has the highest

Natural stone is quite popular and is commonly used in building interiors, for its aesthetic appeal and for its performance, durability and environmentally-friendly composition. Natural stone also adds considerably to the real estate market value of houses. Different types of natural stone, including granite, can be used in interior design. The stones are thus exposed to staining and are affected differently

This study investigated deformation behavior of structural steel subjected to large strain. When structures experience powerful earthquakes, strain amplitudes at the fracture locations can be quite large, and the material fractures after few loading cycles. The Manson-Coffin relationship is commonly used to predict failure of metals subjected to cyclic loadings. However, the traditional Manson–Coffin

Activity recognition of construction equipment is vital for operational productivity and safety analysis. For automated equipment monitoring, many researchers have developed kinematic or visual sensing approaches and found that the two approaches have their own technical advantages and disadvantages in classifying different types of equipment activities. However, since previous methods adopted only

This research work encompassed the results of experimentation of an innovative composite (Plaster/white Vaseline) for indoor thermal regulation of physiological birth rooms using the Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) concept. The indoor temperatures of these specific sanitary rooms need to be continually stabilized approximately at 35 °C. Accordingly, white Vaseline (petroleum jelly) was recovered

In this study, cross-laminated timber (CLT) was manufactured from rubberwood via hot pressing. The effects of manufacturing parameters, such as resin content and clamping pressure, on the following properties of CLT panels were investigated: density (ρ), water absorption (WA), thickness swelling (TS), bonding strength (BS), compressive strength in the major strength direction of CLT (σmajor), compressive

In this research, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is run by the recovered heat from different commercial fuel cells and optimized to find the best configuration from the thermos-economic point of view for different refrigerants. We considered a multi-objective optimization approach based on teaching learning based optimization, referred to as the MOTLBO, which allows efficient and accurate determination

There is an increasing incidence of overheating in subway tunnels in recent years especially in old subways without air-conditioning e.g., London Underground. There is still lack of a clear understanding how tunnel-air temperature is determined by complex thermal processes in subway tunnels. In this study, a mathematical model that describes the thermal processes in deeply buried subway tunnels was

Evaporative cooling systems are the most important techniques used in the hot and dry climates of the Middle East. Scorching summer months exist for about five months of the year in Iraq. The outside temperature in this period sometimes exceeding 50oC. This study investigates an indirect/direct evaporative cooling system (IDEC) operated by PV panels utilizing underground water. Several parameters (number

The actual building energy performance essentially depends on the building occupant's behaviour, the real performance of the installed energy systems and the in-use performance of the building envelope. The thermal performance characterization of in-use building envelopes, based on monitored data, represents a crucial step towards bridging the gap between the designed and as-built energy performance

This paper describes an experimental study to evaluate the shear capacity of small to medium height old buildings constructed in Israel more than 50 years ago with poor materials and construction practices resulting in low performance concrete (LPC), also known as plum concrete. Such LPC is characterized by its low compressive strength and in many cases – by the inclusion of large stones (up to ~300 mm)

This paper investigates the time-dependent reliability of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) beams made with 50% incorporation of recycled coarse aggregates. A basic method based on the series system model is adopted to calculate the reliability index, and the case studies show that the reliability index decreases with the service time: the reliability indices decrease from the values of 3.27 and 3

In this paper, a novel adaptive viscous damping wall (A-VDW) system was developed to achieve a two-stage seismic mitigation. The A-VDW combines a viscous damping wall with lead dampers through working gaps. The A-VDW provides only damping but no extra stiffness for moderate or minor earthquakes, while for severe earthquakes, both stiffness and energy dissipation are provided. A numerical model which

An initial punching shear failure or column loss in a reinforced concrete flat-plate structure may lead to the dynamic load redistribution to the surrounding connections. The dynamic demand and capacity at these connections will determine if subsequent failures occur leading to collapse of the structure. Therefore, the effect of dynamic load needs investigation in order to evaluate the collapse potential

Correlations between compressive strength and modulus of elasticity resulted from cement-based materials of different geometries can help researchers to compare experimental data of studies that applied procedures described by different characterization standards. Due to the absence of systematic studies about the correlation between compressive strength, dynamic, and static modulus of cement-lime

This study aims to present an approach to investigate the reliability levels of reinforced concrete (RC) columns confined by Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) subjected to concentric loading. First, the statistical properties of random variables such as model error, FRP strain efficiency factor (FSE factor) and axial resistance of columns are investigated. Then in respect to the existing correlation

In this study, an improved random aggregate adding method was used to develop a microscopic model of glazed hollow bead insulation concrete (GHBIC), and the model’s effectiveness was verified through a test. In addition, the heat transfer performance of GHBIC was also studied using the model. The effect of shape, volume fraction, and gradation of coarse aggregate as well as the volume fraction and

Novel environment-friendly structural components having high thermal insulation performance were proposed, and their effect on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions was investigated in different climate regions for various fuels. The amount of CO2 and SO2 emissions of the fuels were calculated. The results show that the proposed component provides an energy saving of 11 kWh/m2-year in an insulated

Bamboo is a sustainable material with a high potential to replace high-contaminating materials such as steel and concrete in many uses. However, some properties, such as the resistance to pests and dimension stability, must be improved for bamboo to be accepted by the engineering community. A low-cost way to improve dimension stability and resistance against pests is to expose the material to heat