Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (493) (remove)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (493) (remove)
Institute
- Institut für Strukturmechanik (ISM) (56)
- Institut für Europäische Urbanistik (29)
- Promotionsstudiengang Kunst und Design-Freie Kunst-Medienkunst (Ph.D) (25)
- F. A. Finger-Institut für Baustoffkunde (FIB) (20)
- Professur Sozialwissenschaftliche Stadtforschung (16)
- Professur Baubetrieb und Bauverfahren (15)
- Professur Denkmalpflege und Baugeschichte (13)
- Professur Informatik im Bauwesen (12)
- Professur Informatik in der Architektur (12)
- Professur Bauchemie und Polymere Werkstoffe (11)
Keywords
- Architektur (25)
- Beton (21)
- Stadtplanung (18)
- Finite-Elemente-Methode (17)
- Optimierung (14)
- Stadtentwicklung (13)
- Denkmalpflege (12)
- Isogeometric Analysis (10)
- Kunst (10)
- Modellierung (10)
Die Altstadt von Sana´a ist von solchem außergewöhnlichen Interesse und hat durch die Aufnahme in die Welterbeliste einen derartig hohen Wert zugesprochen erhalten, daß ihr Schutz in der Verantwortlichkeit der gesamten Menschheit liegt; zugleich aber stehen Denkmalpfleger, Architekten, Stadtplaner und Betroffene vor einer äußertst komplizierten Aufgabe. In diesem Zusammenhang versucht der Verfasser, sich mit den realen Gegebenheiten in der Altstadt von Sana´a auseinanderzusetzen, und zwar unter denkmalpflegerischem Aspekt - das aber unter Beachtung der Problembreite, die dem modernen Denkmalbegriff entspricht. Das erfolgt mit der Zielstellung, über die mit "Sanierung" gesetzten Begrifflichkeiten hinaus einen Beitrag zu liefern, der tatsächlich einer Synthese von Erhaltungs- und Veränderungserfordernissen Aussicht auf Verwirklichung verleihen könnte. Die gegenwärtige Problematik der Bewahrung der Altstadt als lebendigen Organismus erfordert eine bestmögliche Behandlung nach den in der Arbeit formulierten Anregungen für die Theorie und Praxis denkmalpflegerischer Zielstellungen. Es werden die Ergebnisse der denkmalpflegerischen Analytik - der historiologischen, der axiologischen und Schadens- und Mangelanalyse - mit aktuellen Nutzungsanforderungen in konkrete Beziehung gesetzt und daraus Schlußfolgerungen für Zielstellungen einer Gesamtkonzeption gezogen. Erstmals erfolt eine Außeinandersetzung mit der denkmalpflegerischen Methodik in ihrer gesamten Breite mit konkretem Bezug auf die Stadt Sana´a, eine Auseinandersetzung mit dem vorhandenen "Altstadtprogramm", um Grundsätze und Erwägungen zu qualifizieren, eine Erhaltungskonzeption der Altstadt zu formulieren.
The reduction of the cement clinker content is an important prerequisite for the improvement of the CO2-footprint of concrete. Nevertheless, the durability of such concretes must be sufficient to guarantee a satisfactory service life of structures. Salt frost scaling resistance is a critical factor in this regard, as it is often diminished at increased clinker substitution rates. Furthermore, only insufficient long-term experience for such concretes exists. A high salt frost scaling resistance thus cannot be achieved by applying only descriptive criteria, such as the concrete composition. It is therefore to be expected, that in the long term a performance based service life prediction will replace the descriptive concept.
To achieve the important goal of clinker reduction for concretes also in cold and temperate climates it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms for salt frost scaling. However, conflicting damage theories dominate the current State of the Art. It was consequently derived as the goal of this thesis to evaluate existing damage theories and to examine them experimentally. It was found that only two theories have the potential to describe the salt frost attack satisfactorily – the glue spall theory and the cryogenic suction theory.
The glue spall theory attributes the surface scaling to the interaction of an external ice layer with the concrete surface. Only when moderate amounts of deicing salt are present in the test solution the resulting mechanical properties of the ice can cause scaling. However, the results in this thesis indicate that severe scaling also occurs at deicing salt levels, at which the ice is much too soft to damage concrete. Thus, the inability of the glue spall theory to account for all aspects of salt frost scaling was shown.
The cryogenic suction theory is based on the eutectic behavior of salt solutions, which consist of two phases – water ice and liquid brine – between the freezing point and the eutectic temperature. The liquid brine acts as an additional moisture reservoir, which facilitates the growth of ice lenses in the surface layer of the concrete. The experiments in this thesis confirmed, that the ice formation in hardened cement paste increases due to the suction of brine at sub-zero temperatures. The extent of additional ice formation was influenced mainly by the porosity and by the chloride binding capacity of the hardened cement paste.
Consequently, the cryogenic suction theory plausibly describes the actual generation of scaling, but it has to be expanded by some crucial aspects to represent the salt frost scaling attack completely. The most important aspect is the intensive saturation process, which is ascribed to the so-called micro ice lens pump. Therefore a combined damage theory was proposed, which considers multiple saturation processes. Important aspects of this combined theory were confirmed experimentally.
As a result, the combined damage theory constitutes a good basis to understand the salt frost scaling attack on concrete on a fundamental level. Furthermore, a new approach was identified, to account for the reduced salt frost scaling resistance of concretes with reduced clinker content.
Die Verbreitung mobiler Smartphones und besonders deren allgegenwärtige Lokalisierungstechnologien verändern das Navigationsverhalten im Raum nachhaltig. Parallel zur schnell voranschreitenden Entwicklung alltäglicher Geräte, die mitgeführt werden, setzt der Übergang der bereits länger dauernden Entwicklung von Virtual-Reality-Technik in eine erweiterte und augmentierte Mixed Reality ein. In diesem Spannungsfeld untersucht die vorliegende Arbeit, inwieweit richtungsgebundene und binaural wiedergegebene Stereofonie die menschliche Bewegung im Raum beeinflussen kann und versucht zu erörtern, welche Potenziale in der Wiederentdeckung einer relativ lange bekannten Technik liegen. Der Autor hat im Rahmen dieser Arbeit eine binaurale mobile Applikation für richtungsgebundene Stereofonie entwickelt, mit der virtuelle bewegte oder statische Audio-Hotspots im Raum platziert werden können. So kann links, rechts oder 30 Meter vor einer Person ein virtueller oder tatsächlicher Klang im Raum verortet sein. Durch die in Echtzeit berechnete binaurale Wiedergabe der Klangquellen mit einem Stereo-Kopfhörer können diese räumlich verorteten Klänge mit zwei Ohren dreidimensional wahrgenommen werden, ähnlich dem räumlichen Sehen mit zwei Augen. Durch den Einsatz mehrerer lokalisierter Klangquellen als Soundscape entsteht eine augmentierte auditive Realität, die die physische Realität erweitert. Die Position und Navigation des Nutzers wird durch binaurale Lautstärkenmodulation (die Lautstärke nimmt bei abnehmender Distanz zur Quelle zu) und Stereopanning mit Laufzeitmodulation (die Richtung wird über ein Stereosignal auf beiden Ohren räumlich links-rechts-vorne verortet) interaktiv und kybernetisch beeinflusst. Die Nutzer navigieren — durch ihr Interesse an den hörbaren virtuellen Klangquellen geleitet — durch einen dynamisch erzeugten, dreidimensionalen akustischen Raum, der gleichzeitig ein virtueller und kybernetischer Raum ist, da die Repräsentation der Klänge an die Bewegung und Ausrichtung der Nutzer im Raum angepasst wird. Diese Arbeit untersucht, ob die Bewegung von Menschen durch (virtuelle) Klänge beeinflusst werden kann und wie groß oder messbar dieser Einfluss ist. Dabei können nicht alle künstlerischen, architektonischen und philosophischen Fragen im Rahmen der vorliegenden Schrift erörtert werden, obwohl sie dennoch als raumtheoretische Fragestellung von Interesse sind. Hauptgegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit liegt in der Erforschung, ob richtungsgebundene Stereofonie einen relevanten Beitrag zur menschlichen Navigation, hauptsächlich zu Fuß, in urbanen Gebieten — vorwiegend im Außenraum — leisten kann. Der erste Teil gliedert sich in »Raum und Klang«, es werden raumtheoretische Überlegungen zur menschlichen Bewegung im Raum, Raumvorstellungen, räumliche Klänge und Klangwahrnehmung sowie die Entwicklung stereofoner Apparaturen und Aspekte der Augmented Audio Reality besprochen. Im zweiten Teil werden drei Demonstratoren als Anwendungsszenarien und drei Evaluierungen im Außenraum vorgestellt. Die Tests untersuchen, ob sich das Verfahren zur Navigation für Fußgänger eignet und inwieweit eine Einflussnahme auf das Bewegungsverhalten von Nutzern getroffen werden kann. Die Auswertungen der Tests zeigen, dass sich stereofone Klänge grundsätzlich als Navigationssystem eignen, da eine große Mehrzahl der Teilnehmer die akustisch markierten Ziele leicht gefunden hat. Ebenso zeigt sich ein klarer Einfluss auf die Bewegungsmuster, allerdings ist dieser abhängig von individuellen Interessen und Vorlieben. Abschließend werden die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen im Kontext der vorgestellten Theorien diskutiert und die Potenziale stereofoner Anwendungen in einem Ausblick behandelt. Bei der Gestaltung, Erzeugung und Anwendung mobiler Systeme sind unterschiedliche mentale und räumliche Modelle und Vorstellungen der Entwickler und Anwender zu beachten. Da eine umfassende transdisziplinäre Betrachtung klare Begrifflichkeiten erfordert, werden Argumente für ein raumtheoretisches Vokabular diskutiert. Diese sind für einen gestalterischen Einsatz von richtungsgebundener Stereofonie — besonders im Kontext mobiler Navigation durch akustisch augmentierte Räume — äußerst relevant.
Revisiting vernacular technique: Engineering a low environmental impact earth stabilisation method
(2022)
The major drawbacks of earth as a construction material — such as its low water stability and moderate strength — have led mankind to stabilize earth. Different civilizations developed vernacular techniques mainly focussing on lime, pozzolan or gypsum stabilization. Recently, cement has become the most commonly used additive in earth stabilization as it improves the strength and durability of plain earth. Also, it is a familiar and globally available construction material. However, using cement as an additive reduces the environmental advantages of earth and run counter to global targets regarding the reduction of CO2 emissions. Alternatives to cement stabilization are currently neither efficient enough to reduce its environmental impact nor allow the possibility of obtaining better results than those of cement. As such, this thesis deals with the rediscovery of a reverse engineering approach for a low environmental impact earth stabilization technique, aiming to replace cement in earth stabilization.
The first step in the method consists in a comprehensive review of earth stabilization with regards to earthen building standards and soil classification, which allows us to identify the research gap. The review showed that there is great potential in using other additives which result in similar improvements as those achieved by cement. However, the studies that have been conducted so far either use expansive soils, which are not suitable for earth constructions or artificial pozzolans that indirectly contribute to CO2 emissions. This is the main research gap.
The key concept for the development in the second step of the method is to combine vernacular additives to both improve the strength and durability of plain earth and to reduce the CO2 emissions. Various earth-mixtures were prepared and both development and performance tests were done to investigate the performance of this technique. The laboratory analyses on mix-design have proven a high durability and the results show a remarkable increase in strength performance. Furthermore, a significant reduction in CO2 emissions in comparison to cement stabilization could be shown.
The third step of the method discusses the results drawn from the experimental programme. In addition, the potential of the new earth mixture with regards to its usability in the field of building construction and architectural design is further elaborated on.
The method used in this study is the first of its kind that allows investors to avoid the very time-consuming processes such as finding a suitable source for soil excavation and soil classification. The developed mixture has significant workability and suitability for production of stabilized earthen panels — the very first of its kind. Such a panel is practically feasible, reasonable, and could be integrated into earthen building standards in general and in particular to DIN 18948, which is related to earthen boards and published in 2018.
The task-based view of web search implies that retrieval should take the user perspective into account. Going beyond merely retrieving the most relevant result set for the current query, the retrieval system should aim to surface results that are actually useful to the task that motivated the query.
This dissertation explores how retrieval systems can better understand and support their users’ tasks from three main angles: First, we study and quantify search engine user behavior during complex writing tasks, and how task success and behavior are associated in such settings. Second, we investigate search engine queries formulated as questions, and explore patterns in a large query log that may help search engines to better support this increasingly prevalent interaction pattern. Third, we propose a novel approach to reranking the search result lists produced by web search engines, taking into account retrieval axioms that formally specify properties of a good ranking.
Ausgangspunkt dieser Studie ist die >Welt<, und zwar als Präfix. In beinahe inflationärer Verwendung zeigt sie sich 'um 1900' so unterschiedlichen Projekten vorangestellt wie der Durchsetzung einer Welt-Hilfssprache, der Verbreitung und Zirkulation von Welt-Geld oder der Standardisierung unserer Zeit zur Welt-Zeit. Bei der technischen Entwicklung von frühen (Mobil)Funksystemen (das world system des Medienmagiers Nikola Tesla) findet sich diese anspruchsvolle Vorsilbe ebenso wie beim Aufbau eines globalen Netzwerks von Floristen, das verspricht, Blumengrüße unverzüglich in alle Welt zu liefern. In drei Teilen wird diese Konjunktur von Welt-Bildungen umkreist, beschrieben und analysiert. Der erste Teil >Welt um 1900< widmet sich zum einen der begrifflichen Präparation von >Welt<, "Projekt" sowie einer Analyse des "Weltprojektmachers 1900" und dessen Herkunft und Tradition aus der Projektemacherei in der Frühen Neuzeit. Zum anderen wird anhand des sich allmählich etablierenden Weltverkehrs diskutiert, welchen besonderen Bedingungen und Situationen, welchen Kontexten und Entwicklungen die Initatoren folgen oder unterworfen sind, was sie also zu ihren mitunter waghalsigen Projekten ermutigt. Der zweite Teil besteht aus drei charakteristischen Fallstudien, drei Projekten, die nach einer jeweils eigenen Logik "Welt" erschließen (Wilhelm Ostwald und seine Initiativen) bzw. abbilden (Franz Maria Feldhaus und seine Weltgeschichte der Technik) bzw. organisieren (Walther Rathenau in der Kriegsrohstoffabteilung 1914). Im dritten Teil schließlich wird danach gefragt, was diese drei Fallbeispiele eint. Welchen gemeinsamen Strukturen und Prädispositionen folgen die Weltprojektmacher? Es läßt sich dabei eine spezifische Formation von Vorstellungen und Determinanten ausmachen, ein gemeinsames Dispositiv, das unter der Bezeichnung >Restlosigkeit< erörtert wird, um schließlich zu einer kleinen Theorie des Übrigen zu führen.
Housing estates were fundamentally conceived upon state socialist utopia ideas to provide standard housing for citizens. While former state socialist housing estates have been extensively researched in the field of architecture, urban and sociology studies, there is still a gap in identifying how production processes affect morphological changes during the post-socialist era. This thesis compares the processes in the production of the largest housing estates of Marzahn in GDR and Petržalka in Czechoslovakia from 1970 to 1989 through contextual analysis of primary and secondary sources, which include visual maps, diagrams from professional architecture and planning journals, government documents and textbooks, as well as academic journals, books and newspaper articles. Then it discusses how these processes inadvertently created conducive conditions affecting their development in the market economy after 1989. It then interprets the results through application of Actor-Network Theory and Historical Institutionalism, while conceptualising them through David Harvey’s dialectical utopianism theory. Harvey (2000) delineates two types of utopia, one of spatial form and one of process. The former refers to materialised ideals in physical forms whereas the latter refers to the ongoing process of spatializing. The thesis aims to show how the production of Marzahn in GDR was more path dependent on policies established in 1950s and 1960s whereas Petržalka was a product of new Czechoslovakian policies in 1970s, changing aspects of the urban planning process, a manifestation of a more emphatic technocratic thinking on a wider scale. This ultimately influences the trajectories of development after 1989, showing more effects in Petržalka.
Environmental and operational variables and their impact on structural responses have been acknowledged as one of the most important challenges for the application of the ambient vibration-based damage identification in structures. The damage detection procedures may yield poor results, if the impacts of loading and environmental conditions of the structures are not considered.
The reference-surface-based method, which is proposed in this thesis, is addressed to overcome this problem. In the proposed method, meta-models are used to take into account significant effects of the environmental and operational variables. The usage of the approximation models, allows the proposed method to simply handle multiple non-damaged variable effects simultaneously, which for other methods seems to be very complex. The input of the meta-model are the multiple non-damaged variables while the output is a damage indicator.
The reference-surface-based method diminishes the effect of the non-damaged variables to the vibration based damage detection results. Hence, the structure condition that is assessed by using ambient vibration data at any time would be more reliable. Immediate reliable information regarding the structure condition is required to quickly respond to the event, by means to take necessary actions concerning the future use or further investigation of the structures, for instance shortly after extreme events such as earthquakes.
The critical part of the proposed damage detection method is the learning phase, where the meta-models are trained by using input-output relation of observation data. Significant problems that may encounter during the learning phase are outlined and some remedies to overcome the problems are suggested.
The proposed damage identification method is applied to numerical and experimental models. In addition to the natural frequencies, wavelet energy and stochastic subspace damage indicators are used.
Focusing on the neoliberal symbolic urban reconstruction of the Macedonian capital, known as “Skopje 2014”, the PhD work deals with urban space production through storytelling. Embracing the criticism put forward in the political, cultural and social debates that have spun around Skopje’s reconstruction, the artistic-based research sought to relate and analyze the symbolic narratives of “Skopje 2014” and the vernacular and civic narratives of Skopje and locate overlapping, divergent, complementary or conflictual aspects of their respective narrative structures. Informed by subjective citizens’ stories and experiences of the urban as well as binaural sonic observations of the city, the research findings were presented in the form of an interactive audio guided walk through the city. The thesis is organized in three chapters, preceded by an INTRODUCTION and followed by a CONCLUSION. CHAPTER ONE sets the theoretical context, presents the case study “Skopje 2014”, and discusses the research design. The audio guided walk is presented in CHAPTER TWO. Its content consists of five tracks, or subchapters, conceptualized and named as five different aspects of the city: THE MODERNIST CITY, THE FEMALE CITY, THE MEMORY CITY, THE POSTCOMMUNIST CITY and THE TOURIST CITY, according to the discourses related to these tracks. CHAPTER THREE, the EPILOGUE, is the final discussion of the research project, in which several meta-conclusions are drawn.
Living heritage sites are strongly connected to their historical, geographical, socio-political and cultural context. A descriptive narrative of the evolutionary process of the living heritage site of a Sufi shrine is undertaken in this research. It focuses on the changing relationship between the spatial and socio-cultural aspects over time. The larger or macro regional context is interrelated to the micro architectural context. The tangible heritage is defined by and intimately tied to the intangible aspects of the heritage. It is these constituting macro and micro elements and their interrelationships particularly through space and architecture that the research thesis explores in its documentation and analysis.
The Sufi shrine in the South Asian Pakistani context is representative of a larger culture in the precolonial era. It is an expression of an indigenous modernity, belonging to a certain time period, place and community. The Sufi shrine as a building type has evolved from the precolonial time period, particularly starting at the golden ages of the Muslim Empire in the world (9th – 12th century), through the colonial age when western modernity arrived until the current neoliberal paradigm within the post independence period. Continued and evolved use of space, ritualistic performances, multiple social groups using the site are various elements whose documentation and analysis can establish the essential co-relations that contribute to continuity of its historical living. Physical and social relation of the historic site to its immediate settlement context is also a significant element that preserves the socio-cultural context.
The chosen case of the Shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, situated in the small town of Bhitshah in the province of Sindh, Pakistan forms a unique example where the particular physical and socio-cultural environment forms the context within which the Sufi heritage lives and survives. It is well integrated within its context at multiple levels. What are these levels and how do the constituting elements integrate is a major subject of research? These form the background to defining some of the basic issues and questions addressed in this doctoral thesis.
Given that living heritage sites are unique due to their particular association to the context, the case study method was used to gain deeper insight and understanding on the topic.
Since the end of the 1950s, Italy has focused part of its modernization on the erection of public works. Due to corruption, mafia, and further malpractice, this form of development has occasionally failed, producing a high number of constructions that have remained unfinished for decades. In 2007, the group of artists Alterazioni Video constructed an informal survey in the form of an on-line tool open to public contributions, which revealed that there are 395 unfinished public works in Italy from which 156, approximately 39.5%, are located in Sicily alone. In view of such a statistic, Alterazioni Video opted to coin the term ‘Incompiuto Siciliano’ – literally ‘Sicilian Incompletion’ – to refer to unfinished public works as a formal architectural style. This re-interpretation, which aims to convey the recovered dignity of these ‘modern ruins’, considers unfinished public works a type of heritage with the potential to represent the entirety of Italian society. Furthermore, it goes as far as to say an unfinished public work is ‘Incompiuto Siciliano’ despite being located in another of the Italian regions.
This doctoral dissertation embraces the artists’ argument to develop a complete study of Incompiuto Siciliano by embedding this architectural style/artistic project within the main debates on modern ruins at present. This is important because it is expected to contribute to the revalorization and eventual recommissioning of unfinished sites by validating Incompiuto Siciliano in the realm of academia. Furthermore, this work aspires to be a worthwhile source of information for future investigations dealing with cultural interpretations of incompletion in any other context – a not unreasonable goal considering how unfinished works are one of the key urban topics after the 2008 financial crisis. Hence, this doctoral dissertation uses Incompiuto Siciliano to discuss a different perspective in each of the five chapters and, though these can be read as independent contributions, the objective is that all chapters read together, form a clear, concise, continuous unit. And so it must be said this is not a dissertation about unfinished public works in Italy; this is a dissertation about Incompiuto Siciliano as an artistic response to unfinished public works in Italy – which clearly requires an interdisciplinary analysis involving Urban Studies, Cultural Geography, Contemporary Archaeology, Critical Heritage and Visual Arts.
The modern industries of the 19th and 20th centuries had multiple effects on the spatial transformation of cities and regions. The past decade has witnessed increasing scholarly and governmental attempts toward conserving modern industrial heritage in the so-called Global North, with the goal, among others, of leveraging this heritage as a driver for urban economic development. In Egypt, the process continues to lag behind; on the one hand, this is due to the perplexing official recognition of the (in)tangible witnesses of modern industries. On the other hand, the official recognition and previous publications focus predominantly on weighing the significance of industrial structures based on their monumental architectural aesthetics. Their historical urban role and spatial attributes as part of urban heritage have yet to be seriously acknowledged. Accordingly, this hinders the integration of the extant industrial sites into the broader debate surrounding urban conservation, leaving them vulnerable to decay and destruction.
This dissertation steers away from the singular investigation of selective modern industrial sites to recall their historical spatial development on a city scale. This is effected by investigating a case study - the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. With the limited secondary data available on modern industries in Alexandria, this dissertation relied predominantly on primary sources. The author collected and leveraged both quantitative and qualitative data to recontextualize modern industries in terms of their spatial dynamics, order, and rationale within cities’ transformation.
By recalling historical spatial development in Alexandria, the contribution of this dissertation lies in highlighting what the author refers to as the Omitted Heritage. This is defined by the modern industries in Egypt that are intentionally, unintentionally, and forgetfully excluded in terms of physical documentation, evaluation, appreciation, and integration within urban development plans. The method used excavated the richness of the established modern industries in Alexandria in terms of their quantity and diversity, which would have otherwise remained largely forgotten. The contextualization of modern industries unveiled spatial periodization, spatial dynamics, and conceptual development. The study draws on important analytical aspects that transcend the sites’ boundaries, elevating their significance to the municipal, regional, national, and even global levels. Its recommendations for further research are also divided into those levels.
The automotive industry requires realistic virtual reality applications more than other domains to increase the efficiency of product development. Currently, the visual quality of virtual invironments resembles reality, but interaction within these environments is usually far from what is known in everyday life. Several realistic research approaches exist, however they are still not all-encompassing enough to be usable in industrial processes. This thesis realizes lifelike direct multi-hand and multi-finger interaction with arbitrary objects, and proposes algorithmic and technical improvements that also approach lifelike usability. In addition, the thesis proposes methods to measure the effectiveness and usability of such interaction techniques as well as discusses different types of grasping feedback that support the user during interaction. Realistic and reliable interaction is reached through the combination of robust grasping heuristics and plausible pseudophysical object reactions. The easy-to-compute grasping rules use the objects’ surface normals, and mimic human grasping behavior. The novel concept of Normal Proxies increases grasping stability and diminishes challenges induced by adverse normals. The intricate act of picking-up thin and tiny objects remains challenging for some users. These cases are further supported by the consideration of finger pinches, which are measured with a specialized finger tracking device. With regard to typical object constraints, realistic object motion is geometrically calculated as a plausible reaction on user input. The resulting direct finger-based
interaction technique enables realistic and intuitive manipulation of arbitrary objects. The thesis proposes two methods that prove and compare effectiveness and usability. An expert review indicates that experienced users quickly familiarize themselves with the technique. A quantitative and qualitative user study shows that direct finger-based interaction is preferred over indirect interaction in the context of functional car assessments. While controller-based interaction is more robust, the direct finger-based interaction provides greater realism, and becomes nearly as reliable when the pinch-sensitive mechanism is used. At present, the haptic channel is not used in industrial virtual reality applications. That is why it can be used for grasping feedback which improves the users’ understanding of the grasping situation. This thesis realizes a novel pressure-based tactile feedback at the fingertips. As an alternative, vibro-tactile feedback at the same location is realized as well as visual feedback by the coloring of grasp-involved finger segments. The feedback approaches are also compared within the user study, which reveals that grasping feedback is a requirement to judge grasp status and that tactile feedback improves interaction independent of the used display system. The considerably stronger vibrational tactile feedback can quickly become annoying during interaction. The interaction improvements and hardware enhancements make it possible to interact with virtual objects in a realistic and reliable manner. By addressing realism and reliability, this thesis paves the way for the virtual evaluation of human-object interaction, which is necessary for a broader application of virtual environments in the automotive industry and other domains.
Die Gase Sauerstoff und Stickstoff werden für eine Vielzahl an technischen, industriellen, biologischen und medizinischen Einsatzzwecken benötigt. So liegen Anwendungsgebiete dieser Gase neben der klassischen metallverarbeitenden und der chemischen Industrie bei Sauerstoff vor allem in der Medizin, Verbrennungs- und Kläranlagenoptimierung sowie der Fischzucht und bei Stickstoff als Schutz- beziehungsweise Inertgas in der Kunststoffindustrie, der Luft- und Raumfahrt sowie dem Brandschutz.
Die Bereitstellung der Gase Sauerstoff und Stickstoff wird nahezu ausschließlich durch die Abtrennung aus der Umgebungsluft realisiert, welche aus ca. 78 Vol.-% Stickstoff, 21 Vol.-% Sauerstoff und 1 Vol.-% Spurengasen (Ar, CO2, Ne, He, ...) besteht. Am Markt etablierte Verfahren der Luftzerlegung sind das Linde-, das PSA- (pressure swing adsorption/Druckwechseladsorption) oder verschiedene Membran-Verfahren. Hierdurch werden die benötigten Gase entweder direkt vor Ort beim Verbraucher erzeugt (PSA- und Polymer-Membranverfahren: geringe Reinheiten) oder zentral in großen Anlagen hergestellt (Linde-Verfahren: hohe Reinheiten) und anschließend zum Verbraucher in Form von Flaschen- oder Tankgasen geliefert (Tansportkosten).
Für kleinere Verbraucher mit hohen Ansprüchen an die Reinheit des benötigten Sauerstoffs beziehungsweise Stickstoffs ergibt sich nur die Möglichkeit, die Gase als kostenintensive Transportgase zentraler Gaseversorger zu beziehen und sich somit in eine Abhängigkeit (Lieferverträge, Flaschen-/Tankmieten, ...) zu diesen zu begeben sowie eine eigene Lagerhaltung für die benötigten Gase (Mehraufwand, Lagerkosten, Platzbedarf) zu betreiben.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, keramische Material-Systeme auf Basis chemischer Hochtemperatur-Reaktionen als Reaktive Oxidkeramiken zu entwickeln und diese hinsichtlich eines möglichen Einsatzes für die Sauerstoffseparation in neuartigen Luftzerlegungsanlagen zu untersuchen.
Derartige Anlagen sollen in ihrem Prinzip an die regenerative Sauerstoffseparation angelehnt sein und in ihren Reaktoren die Reaktiven Oxidkeramiken als Festbett-Material abwechselnd mit Luft be- und Vakuum oder O2-armen Atmosphären entladen.
Die Verwendung Reaktiver Oxidkeramiken, welche im Vergleich zu den bisherigen Materialien höhere Sauerstoffaustauschmengen und -raten bei gleichzeitig hoher Lebensdauer und Korrosionsbeständigkeit sowie relativ einfacher Handhabe aufweisen würden, soll ein Schritt in Richtung einer effizienten alternativen Luftzerlegungstechnologie sein.
Mit den Reaktiven Oxidkeramiken in einer Luftzerlegungsanlage sollte es im besten Fall möglich sein, in kleinen Anlagen sehr reinen Sauerstoff und zugleich sauerstofffreies Inertgas zu erzeugen sowie eine Sauerstoffan- oder -abreicherung von Luft, Prozess- oder Abgasen zu generieren.
Somit besäße eine solche, auf Reaktiven Oxidkeramiken basierende Technologie sehr weit gefächerte Einsatzgebiete und demzufolge ein enormes wirtschaftliches Potential.
This thesis explores how architecture aids in the performance of open-ended narratives by engaging both actively and passively with memory, i.e. remembering and forgetting. I argue that architecture old and new stems from specific cultural and social forms, and is dictated by processes of remembering and forgetting. It is through interaction (between inhabitant and object) that architecture is given innate meanings within an urban environment that makes its role in the interplay one of investigative interest.
To enable the study of this performance, I develop a framework based on various theoretical paradigms to investigate three broad questions: 1) How does one study the performance of memory and forgetting through architecture in dynamic urban landscapes? 2) Is there a way to identify markers and elements within the urban environment that enable such a study? 3) What is the role that urban form plays within this framework and does the transformation of urban form imply the transformation of memory and forgetting?
The developed framework is applied to a macro (an urban level study of Bangalore, India) and micro level study (a singular or object level study of Stari Most/ Old Bridge, Mostar, BiH), to analyse the performance of remembering and forgetting in various urban spheres through interaction with architecture and form. By means of observations, archival research, qualitative mapping, drawings and narrative interviews, the study demonstrates that certain sites and characteristics of architecture enable the performance of remembering and the questioning of forgetting by embodying features that support this act.
Combining theory and empirical studies this thesis is an attempt to elucidate on the processes through which remembering and forgetting is initiated and experienced through architectural forms. The thesis argues for recognising the potential of architecture as one that embodies and supports the performance of memory and forgetting, by acting as an auratic contact zone.
Das Bauwesen hat sich in den letzten Jahren durch die Globalisierung des Marktes verbunden mit einer verstärkten Nutzung moderner Technologien stark gewandelt. Die Planung und die Durchführung von Bauvorhaben werden zunehmend komplexer und sind mit erhöhten Risiken verbunden. Geld- und Zeitressourcen werden bei einem immer härter werdenden Konkurrenzkampf knapper.
Das Projektmanagement stellt Lösungsansätze bereit, um Bauvorhaben auch unter erschwerten Bedingungen und erhöhten Risiken erfolgreich zum Abschluss zu bringen. Dabei hat ein systematisches Risikomanagement beginnend bei der Projektentwicklung bis zum Projektabschluss eine für den Projekterfolg entscheidende Bedeutung.
Ziel der Arbeit ist es, eine quantitative Risikoerfassung für Projektmanager als professionelle Bauherrenvertretung und die Simulation der Risikoauswirkungen auf den Verlauf eines Projektes während der Planungs- und Bauphase zu ermöglichen. Mit Hilfe eines abstrakten Modells soll eine differenzierte, praxisnahe Simulation durchführbar sein, die die verschiedenen Arten der Leistungs- und Kostenentstehung widerspiegelt. Parallel dazu soll die Beschreibung von Risiken so abstrahiert werden, dass beliebige Risiken quantitativ erfassbar und anschließend ihre Auswirkungen inklusive mögliche Gegenmaßnahmen in das Modell integrierbar sind.
Anhand zweier Beispiele werden die unterschiedlichen Einsatzmöglichkeiten der quantitativen Erfassung von Projektrisiken und der anschließenden Simulation ihrer Auswirkungen aufgezeigt. Bei dem ersten Beispiel, einem realen, bereits abgeschlossenen Schieneninfrastrukturprojekt, wird die Wirksamkeit einer vorbeugenden Maßnahme gegen ein Projektrisiko untersucht. Im zweiten Beispiel wird ein Planspielansatz zur praxisnahen Aus- und Weiterbildung von Projektmanagern entwickelt. Inhalt des Planspiels ist die Planung und Errichtung eines privatfinanzierten, öffentlichen Repräsentationsbaus mit teilweiser Fremdnutzung.
Methods for model quality assessment are aiming to find the most appropriate model with respect to accuracy and computational effort for a structural system under investigation. Model error estimation techniques can be applied for this purpose when kinematical models are investigated. They are counted among the class of white box models, which means that the model hierarchy and therewith the best model is known. This thesis gives an overview of discretisation error estimators. Deduced from these, methods for model error estimation are presented. Their general goal is to make a prediction of the inaccuracies that are introduced using the simpler model without knowing the solution of a more complex model. This information can be used to steer an adaptive process. Techniques for linear and non-linear problems as well as global and goal-oriented errors are introduced. The estimation of the error in local quantities is realised by solving a dual problem, which serves as a weight for the primal error. So far, such techniques have mainly been applied in
material modelling and for dimensional adaptivity. Within the scope of this thesis, available model error estimators are adapted for an application to kinematical models. Their applicability is tested regarding the question of whether a geometrical non-linear calculation is necessary or not. The analysis is limited to non-linear estimators due to the structure of the underlying differential equations. These methods often involve simplification, e.g linearisations. It is investigated to which extent such assumptions lead to meaningful results, when applied to kinematical models.
In this research work, an energy approach is employed for assessing quality in dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) models, and energy measures are introduced and investigated as general indicators of structural response.
Dynamic SSI models with various abstraction levels are then investigated according to different coupling scenarios for soil and structure models.
The hypothesis of increasing model uncertainty with decreasing complexity is investigated and a mathematical framework is provided for the treatment of model uncertainty. This framework is applied to a case study involving alternative models for incorporating dynamic SSI effects. In the evaluation process, energy measures are used within the framework of the \textit{adjustment factor} approach in order to quantitatively assess the uncertainty associated with SSI models. Two primary types of uncertainty are considered, namely the uncertainty in the model framework and the uncertainty in the model input parameters.
Investigations on model framework uncertainty show that the more complex three-dimensional FE model has the best quality of the models investigated, whereas the Wolf SSI model produces the lowest model uncertainty of the simpler models. The fixed-base model produces the highest estimated uncertainty and accordingly the worst quality of all models investigated.
These results confirm the hypothesis of increasing model uncertainty with decreasing complexity only when the assessment is based on the ratio of structural hysteretic energy to input energy as a response indicator.
Public Private Partnership (PPP) setzt sich zunehmend als alternative Beschaffungsvariante für die öffentliche Hand durch. Im Krankenhausbereich bestehen erste Erfahrungen mit PPP, allerdings kann hier im Gegensatz zu anderen öffentlichen Bereichen noch nicht von einer Etablierung gesprochen werden. In vielen Krankenhäusern besteht Unklarheit über dieses neue Organisationskonzept. Was steckt hinter diesem Begriff, der teilweise synonym zur „Privatisierung“ verwendet wird? Ausgehend von dieser Fragestellung wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit gezeigt, dass PPP bei richtiger Anwendung eine Alternative zum Verkauf eines öffentlichen Krankenhauses darstellt. PPP ist ein Instrument, mit dem privates Know-how und Kapital für den öffentlichen Krankenhausträger nutzbar gemacht wird. Die öffentliche Trägerschaft des Krankenhauses bleibt dabei, im Gegensatz zu einer materiellen Privatisierung, erhalten. Die Rahmenbedingungen des Gesundheitswesens stellen insbesondere die öffentlichen Krankenhäuser vor große Herausforderungen. Die Lage ist zunehmend geprägt von Mittelknappheit, Sanierungsstau und stetig steigendem Wettbewerbsdruck um die Patienten. Die Reformbemühungen der Bundesregierung zur Senkung der Gesundheitsausgaben haben in den letzten Jahrzehnten zu immer neuen Gesetzesregelungen in immer kürzeren Zeitabständen geführt. Den bisher letzten großen Schritt in dieser Entwicklung stellt die Umstellung der Krankenhausvergütung auf DRG-Fallpauschalen dar. Die Auswirkungen sind insbesondere in den öffentlichen Krankenhäusern zu spüren. Defizitäre Einrichtungen, die bisher durch Subventionen gestützt wurden, werden nun nicht mehr „künstlich am Leben“ erhalten. Alle Krankenhäuser erhalten eine leistungsorientierte Vergütung, weitgehend unabhängig von den krankenhausspezifisch anfallenden Kosten. Durch diese Entwicklungen wurde das Bestreben in den Krankenhäuser, die internen Leistungsprozesse zu optimieren, weiter forciert. Dabei kommt den mit der Gebäudesubstanz verbundenen Leistungen eine besondere Bedeutung zu. Aufgrund hoher Investitionskosten und bedeutender Aufwendungen in der Nutzungsphase erreichen die nicht-medizinischen Leistungen in einem Krankenhaus einen beachtlichen Anteil an den Gesamtkosten. Fast ein Drittel der Krankenhaus-Kosten steht nicht in direkter Beziehung zum Heilungsprozess. In Deutschland macht dieser Anteil der nicht-medizinischen Abläufe jährlich rd. 18 Mrd. Euro aus. Das Optimierungspotenzial des nicht-medizinischen Leistungsbereichs, der auch die bau- und immobilienwirtschaftlichen Leistungen umfasst, wird bisher oft noch unterschätzt und ist in den meisten Fällen noch nicht ausgeschöpft. Allein schon aufgrund dessen finanzieller Bedeutung bedarf es einer verstärkten wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung. Dieser Notwendigkeit ist bisher noch unzureichend Rechnung getragen wurden. Die vorliegende Arbeit will mit der Erforschung der Anwendbarkeit von PPP für Krankenaus-Immobilien einen Beitrag dazu leisten, diese Lücke zu schließen. Mit dieser für den deutschen Krankenhausbereich neuartigen Beschaffungsvariante wird ein Weg aufgezeigt, wie bei den nicht-medizinischen Leistungen nachhaltig Effizienzpotenziale erschlossen werden können und auf diese Weise ein Beitrag zum wirtschaftlichen Erfolg des gesamten Krankenhauses erzielt werden kann.
In the early 2000s the pre-Columbian, anthropologically produced black soil in the Amazon basin, „Terra Preta de Índio“, received greater scientific attention. Compared to the surrounding poor soils, this very fertile anthrosol contains significantly higher levels of microorganisms and nutrients. The reason for this was determined to be the likewise high levels of charred biomass. This stable carbon, now called biochar, has since been intensively examined as an option to improve soil and to store carbon.
Although the creation of Terra Preta was most likely based on a purposeful utilization of organic residues from households and gardens, biochar plays no role in the current recycling of bio-waste. However, the implementation of biochar could lead to many improvements. Results from agricultural research suggest that not only the yield capacity of soils can be increased but also the process performance of composting and biogas plants.
The latter is especially relevant since currently about 40% of all collected bio-waste in Germany is recycled in an energy-material cascade consisting of anaerobic digestion and composting. The use of biochar in this cascade could then sequentially increase biogas yields, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve compost quality.
To realize the aforementioned advantages, the concept of biochar has to be integrated into the existing bio-waste cascade as practically as possible. This was done by the development of a theoretical scenario that allowed the analysis of energy and material flows to evaluate biochar’s recycling performance. Furthermore, the legal and economic framework were examined to assess the feasibility of the extended cascade and to suggest possible adjustments to the frameworks.
Increasingly powerful hard- and software allows for the numerical simulation of complex physical phenomena with high levels of detail. In light of this development the definition of numerical models for the Finite Element Method (FEM) has become the bottleneck in the simulation process. Characteristic features of the model generation are large manual efforts and a de-coupling of geometric and numerical model. In the highly probable case of design revisions all steps of model preprocessing and mesh generation have to be repeated. This includes the idealization and approximation of a geometric model as well as the definition of boundary conditions and model parameters. Design variants leading to more resource-efficient structures might hence be disregarded due to limited budgets and constrained time frames.
A potential solution to above problem is given with the concept of Isogeometric Analysis (IGA). Core idea of this method is to directly employ a geometric model for numerical simulations, which allows to circumvent model transformations and the accompanying data losses. Basis for this method are geometric models described in terms of Non-uniform rational B-Splines (NURBS). This class of piecewise continuous rational polynomial functions is ubiquitous in computer graphics and Computer-Aided Design (CAD). It allows the description of a wide range of geometries using a compact mathematical representation. The shape of an object thereby results from the interpolation of a set of control points by means of the NURBS functions, allowing efficient representations for curves, surfaces and solid bodies alike. Existing software applications, however, only support the modeling and manipulation of the former two. The description of three-dimensional solid bodies consequently requires significant manual effort, thus essentially forbidding the setup of complex models.
This thesis proposes a procedural approach for the generation of volumetric NURBS models. That is, a model is not described in terms of its data structures but as a sequence of modeling operations applied to a simple initial shape. In a sense this describes the "evolution" of the geometric model under the sequence of operations. In order to adapt this concept to NURBS geometries, only a compact set of commands is necessary which, in turn, can be adapted from existing algorithms. A model then can be treated in terms of interpretable model parameters. This leads to an abstraction from its data structures and model variants can be set up by variation of the governing parameters.
The proposed concept complements existing template modeling approaches: templates can not only be defined in terms of modeling commands but can also serve as input geometry for said operations. Such templates, arranged in a nested hierarchy, provide an elegant model representation. They offer adaptivity on each tier of the model hierarchy and allow to create complex models from only few model parameters. This is demonstrated for volumetric fluid domains used in the simulation of vertical-axis wind turbines. Starting from a template representation of airfoil cross-sections, the complete "negative space" around the rotor blades can be described by a small set of model parameters, and model variants can be set up in a fraction of a second.
NURBS models offer a high geometric flexibility, allowing to represent a given shape in different ways. Different model instances can exhibit varying suitability for numerical analyses. For their assessment, Finite Element mesh quality metrics are regarded. The considered metrics are based on purely geometric criteria and allow to identify model degenerations commonly used to achieve certain geometric features. They can be used to decide upon model adaptions and provide a measure for their efficacy. Unfortunately, they do not reveal a relation between mesh distortion and ill-conditioning of the equation systems resulting from the numerical model.
Ziel der Arbeit ist es, eine neue Methode der seismischen Gefährdungsabschätzung vorzustellen. Es wird die Abschätzung der seismischen Gefährdung ohne die häufig angewandten Einteilungen in seismische Quellzonen beschrieben. Die vorgestellte Methode basiert auf Nachbarschaftsanalysen von Epizentren. Diese Nachbarschaftsanalysen ermöglichen ein selbst generierendes seismisches Quellenmodell. Entwicklung, Parameterstudien und Anwendung der Methode werden gezeigt.
Die Bauaufgaben der Zukunft liegen in der Auseinandersetzung mit bestehender Architektur. Die planerische Herausforderung besteht im Verzicht auf den Neubau durch die Umnutzung und den Umbau existenter Gebäude. Umnutzung und Umbau sind Werterhaltungsstrategien, die den Lebenszyklus eines Gebäudes als integralen Bestandteil der Planung betrachten und deren Ziel es ist, ungenutzte Bestandsgebäude durch keine oder wenige bauliche Eingriffe so zu verändern, dass sie einer Weiternutzung zugeführt werden können. Die Umnutzung unterliegt der Prämisse, dass an den Gebäuden keine baulichen Veränderungen vorgenommen werden, wohingegen der Umbau bauliche Eingriffe gestattet. Als Alternative zum Neubau ist der Erfolg beider Strategien entscheidend davon abhängig, dass der Architekt schon zu Beginn der Planung zu der Entscheidung gelangt, ob sich ein Gebäude unter Anwendung einer der beiden Strategien weiternutzen lässt. Diese Entscheidung wird vom Architekten in der Praxis durch einen Vergleich des Soll-Zustands (Raumprogramm) mit dem Ist-Zustand (Bestandsgrundriss) des Gebäudes getroffen. Die Analyse und Bewertung des Bestandes erfolgt in dieser frühen Phase der Planung in Form von Vorentwurfsskizzen, welche die organisatorischen oder baulichen Veränderungen der Gebäudegrundrisse im Falle einer Weiternutzung darstellen. In dieser Arbeit wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass der Vergleich des Raumprogramms mit dem Gebäudegrundriss im Wesentlichen eine kombinatorische Problemstellung darstellt. Unter dieser Annahme wird untersucht, ob durch den Einsatz von Optimierungsverfahren in der Grundrissplanung Lösungen für Umbau- und Umnutzungsaufgaben automatisiert erzeugt werden können. Ziel ist es, durch den computergestützten Einsatz dieser Verfahren zu plausiblen Planungslösungen, die dem Architekten als Grundlage für die weitere Bearbeitung der Planung dienen, zu gelangen.
Phosphorus enrichment in the treatment of pig manure in China using anaerobic digestion technology
(2008)
Phosphorus (P) is a key irreplaceable nutrient element in all life forms. Almost all phosphorus used by society is mined from non-renewable phosphate rock. Approximately 80% of global phosphate rock consumption is used for fertilizer production. However, as a finite resource, the world phosphate reserve could be exhausted within the next 100-250 years. The phosphate resource in China is also limited. The exploitable deposits could be exhausted within 70 years. Investigations show that the largest recoverable phosphate resource in China is found in animal manure. It was estimated that the potential phosphate resource in intensive-scale animal plants accounts for 47% of the total consumption of phosphate rock of the country each year. Pig manure contains phosphorus and nitrogen in high concentration. The objective of this study is to investigate forced P-precipitation in pig manure combined with anaerobic digestion; when biogas is generated, an enriched P-containing digested manure sludge can be obtained. Anaerobic digestion experiments indicated that total concentrations of phosphorus (TP) and kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) remained basically constant before and after anaerobic digestion. However, the composition of nitrogen and phosphorus in digested manure was quite different; 37.7% of phosphorus existed as PO4-P in the raw pig manure, whilst 20.8% of PO4-P was present in the digested pig manure. NH4-N accounted for 50.4% of the total TKN in raw pig manure, while most of the TKN in digested manure (79.3%) was composed of NH4-N. The pH value of pig manure rose by 0.88 units after anaerobic digestion. PO4-P was reduced by 45% during anaerobic digestion. The average molar ratios of Mg/P and Ca/P achieved were 1.3 and 1.7. It was found that solid/liquid separation has little influence on the change in the molar ratios. The optimal position for P-precipitation is after anaerobic digestion. P-precipitation should be conducted in homogeneous digested pig manure. The ideal pH range for P-precipitation is between 8.0 and 9.5. In the pH range of 8.8-9.5, struvite precipitation dominates the precipitation reaction. The existence of calcium ions results in competitive reaction with magnesium ions. In the pH range of 8.0-8.8, calcium phosphate was apt to form. Both MgCl2•6H2O and MgO can be adopted as a magnesium source. MgO is suitable for supplementation in raw manure. Without the addition of other alkali, the pH value rose to 8.5. Nearly 85% of soluble phosphorus (PO4-P) could be removed from liquid portion. MgCl2•6H2O has good solubility. When MgCl2•6H2O was used at a pH value of 9.0, the equilibrium time required was 30 minutes. The appropriate Mg2+/PO4-P molar ratio was 1.3. Under these conditions, whether with raw or digested manure, 90% of PO4-P could be removed. Forced P-precipitation combined with anaerobic digestion is suitable for application in China. More than 90% of the soluble phosphorus could be removed from the liquid portion of pig manure through forced P-precipitation. With the aid of flocculants, 95.7% of the total phosphorus could be precipitated in the final manure solid.
This thesis presents the advances and applications of phase field modeling in fracture analysis. In this approach, the sharp crack surface topology in a solid is approximated by a diffusive crack zone governed by a scalar auxiliary variable. The uniqueness of phase field modeling is that the crack paths are automatically determined as part of the solution and no interface tracking is required. The damage parameter varies continuously over the domain. But this flexibility comes with associated difficulties: (1) a very fine spatial discretization is required to represent sharp local gradients correctly; (2) fine discretization results in high computational cost; (3) computation of higher-order derivatives for improved convergence rates and (4) curse of dimensionality in conventional numerical integration techniques. As a consequence, the practical applicability of phase field models is severely limited.
The research presented in this thesis addresses the difficulties of the conventional numerical integration techniques for phase field modeling in quasi-static brittle fracture analysis. The first method relies on polynomial splines over hierarchical T-meshes (PHT-splines) in the framework of isogeometric analysis (IGA). An adaptive h-refinement scheme is developed based on the variational energy formulation of phase field modeling. The fourth-order phase field model provides increased regularity in the exact solution of the phase field equation and improved convergence rates for numerical solutions on a coarser discretization, compared to the second-order model. However, second-order derivatives of the phase field are required in the fourth-order model. Hence, at least a minimum of C1 continuous basis functions are essential, which is achieved using hierarchical cubic B-splines in IGA. PHT-splines enable the refinement to remain local at singularities and high gradients, consequently reducing the computational cost greatly. Unfortunately, when modeling complex geometries, multiple parameter spaces (patches) are joined together to describe the physical domain and there is typically a loss of continuity at the patch boundaries. This decrease of smoothness is dictated by the geometry description, where C0 parameterizations are normally used to deal with kinks and corners in the domain. Hence, the application of the fourth-order model is severely restricted. To overcome the high computational cost for the second-order model, we develop a dual-mesh adaptive h-refinement approach. This approach uses a coarser discretization for the elastic field and a finer discretization for the phase field. Independent refinement strategies have been used for each field.
The next contribution is based on physics informed deep neural networks. The network is trained based on the minimization of the variational energy of the system described by general non-linear partial differential equations while respecting any given law of physics, hence the name physics informed neural network (PINN). The developed approach needs only a set of points to define the geometry, contrary to the conventional mesh-based discretization techniques. The concept of `transfer learning' is integrated with the developed PINN approach to improve the computational efficiency of the network at each displacement step. This approach allows a numerically stable crack growth even with larger displacement steps. An adaptive h-refinement scheme based on the generation of more quadrature points in the damage zone is developed in this framework. For all the developed methods, displacement-controlled loading is considered. The accuracy and the efficiency of both methods are studied numerically showing that the developed methods are powerful and computationally efficient tools for accurately predicting fractures.
Phase Field Modeling for Fracture with Applications to Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Materials
(2017)
The thesis presents an implementation including different applications of a variational-based approach for gradient type standard dissipative solids. Phase field model for brittle fracture is an application of the variational-based framework for gradient type solids. This model allows the prediction of different crack topologies and states. Of significant concern is the application of theoretical and numerical formulation of the phase field modeling into the commercial finite element software Abaqus in 2D and 3D. The fully coupled incremental variational formulation of phase field method is implemented by using the UEL and UMAT subroutines of Abaqus. The phase field method
considerably reduces the implementation complexity of fracture problems as it removes the need for numerical tracking of discontinuities in the displacement field that are characteristic of discrete crack methods. This is accomplished by replacing the sharp discontinuities with a scalar damage phase field representing the diffuse crack topology wherein the amount of diffusion is controlled by a regularization parameter. The nonlinear coupled system consisting of the linear momentum equation and a diffusion type equation governing the phase field evolution is solved simultaneously via a Newton-
Raphson approach. Post-processing of simulation results to be used as visualization
module is performed via an additional UMAT subroutine implemented in the standard Abaqus viewer.
In the same context, we propose a simple yet effective algorithm to initiate and propagate cracks in 2D geometries which is independent of both particular constitutive laws and specific element technology and dimension. It consists of a localization limiter in the form of the screened Poisson equation with, optionally, local mesh refinement. A staggered scheme for standard equilibrium and screened Cauchy equations is used. The remeshing part of the algorithm consists of a sequence of mesh subdivision and element erosion steps. Element subdivision is based on edge split operations using a
given constitutive quantity (either damage or void fraction). Mesh smoothing makes use of edge contraction as function of a given constitutive quantity such as the principal stress or void fraction. To assess the robustness and accuracy of this algorithm, we use both quasi-brittle benchmarks and ductile tests.
Furthermore, we introduce a computational approach regarding mechanical loading in microscale on an inelastically deforming composite material. The nanocomposites material of fully exfoliated clay/epoxy is shaped to predict macroscopic elastic and fracture related material parameters based on their fine–scale features. Two different configurations of polymer nanocomposites material (PNCs) have been studied. These configurations are fully bonded PNCs and PNCs with an interphase zone formation between the matrix and the clay reinforcement. The representative volume element of PNCs specimens with different clay weight contents, different aspect ratios, and different
interphase zone thicknesses are generated by adopting Python scripting. Different constitutive models are employed for the matrix, the clay platelets, and the interphase zones. The brittle fracture behavior of the epoxy matrix and the interphase zones material are modeled using the phase field approach, whereas the stiff silicate clay platelets of the composite are designated as a linear elastic material. The comprehensive study investigates the elastic and fracture behavior of PNCs composites, in addition to predict Young’s modulus, tensile strength, fracture toughness, surface energy dissipation, and cracks surface area in the composite for different material parameters, geometry, and interphase zones properties and thicknesses.
“How to understand the interaction between urban space and social processes” is a significant question in urban studies. To answer that, the city needs to be recognized as both a physical and a social entity and urban theory and practice need to connect these (Hillier 2007). The present research aims to re-examine the complex correlation between spatial and social inequality manifestations in the city of Tehran regarding the concept of segregation.
It observes the causes and consequences of segregation in Tehran and provides an insight into both concepts of socio-spatial segregation and neighborhood effects and creates a link between them. First, I argue when, where, and for whom spatial locations affect the chances of social networks in Tehran. Then, I discuss how neighborhood effects can emerge via social network mechanisms and thus affect the perceptions of residents in the neighborhoods.
A more careful consideration of food waste is needed for planning the urban environment. The research signals links between the organization of individuals, the built environment and food waste management through a study conducted in Mexico. It recognizes the different scales within which solid waste management operates, explores food waste production at household levels, and investigates the urban circumstances that influence its management. This is based on the idea that sustainable food waste management in cities requires a constellation of processes through which a ‘people centered’ approach offers added value to technical and biological facts. This distinction addresses how urban systems react to waste and what behavioral and structural factors affect current sanitary practices in Mexico. Food waste is a resource-demanding item, which makes for a considerable amount of refuse being disposed of in landfills in developing cities. The existing data shortage on waste generation at household levels debilitates implementation strategies and there is a need for more contextual knowledge associated with waste. The evidence-based study includes an explorative phase on the culture of waste management and a more in-depth examination of domestic waste composition. Mixed data collection tools including a household based survey, a food waste diary and weighing recording system were developed to enquire into the daily practices of waste disposal in households. The contrasting urban environment of Mexico City Metropolitan Area holds indistinctive boundaries between the core and the periphery, which hinder the implementation of integrated environmental plans. External determinants are different modes of urban transformation and internal determinants are building features and their consolidation processes. At the household level, less and more affluents groups responded differently to external environmental stressors. A targeted planning proposition is required for each group. Local alternative waste management is more likely to be implement in less affluent contexts. Further, more effective demand-driven service delivery implies better integration between the formal and informal sectors. The results show that efforts toward securing long-term changes in Mexico and other cities with similar circumstances require creating synergy between education, building consolidation, local infrastructure and social engagement.
Structures under wind action can exhibit various aeroelastic interaction phenomena, which can lead to destructive and catastrophic events. Such unstable interaction can be beneficially used for small-scale aeroelastic energy harvesting. Proper understanding and prediction of fluid−structure interactions (FSI) phenomena are therefore crucial in many engineering fields. This research intends to develop coupled FSI models to extend the applicability of Vortex Particle Methods (VPM) for numerically analysing the complex FSI of thin-walled flexible structures under steady and fluctuating incoming flows. In this context, the flow around deforming thin bodies is analysed using the two-dimensional and pseudo-three-dimensional implementations of VPM. The structural behaviour is modelled and analysed using the Finite Element Method. The partitioned coupling approach is considered because of the flexibility of using different mathematical procedures for solving fluid and solid mechanics. The developed coupled models are validated with several benchmark FSI problems in the literature. Finally, the models are applied to several fundamental and application field of FSI problems of different thin-walled flexible structures irrespective of their size.
Due to the development of new technologies and materials, optimized bridge design has recently gained more attention. The aim is to reduce the bridge components materials and the CO2 emission from the cement manufacturing process. Thus, most long-span bridges are designed to be with high flexibility, low structural damping, and longer and slender spans. Such designs lead, however, to aeroelastic challenges. Moreover, the consideration of both the structural and aeroelastic behavior in bridges leads to contradictory solutions as the structural constraints lead to deck prototypes with high depth which provide high inertia to material volume ratios. On the other hand, considering solely the aerodynamic requirements, slender airfoil-shaped bridge box girders are recommended since they prevent vortex shedding and exhibit minimum drag. Within this framework comes this study which provides approaches to find optimal bridge deck cross-sections while considering the aerodynamic effects. Shape optimization of deck cross-section is usually formulated to minimize the amount of material by finding adequate parameters such as the depth, the height, and the thickness and while ensuring the overall stability of the structure by the application of some constraints. Codes and studies have been implemented to analyze the wind phenomena and the structural responses towards bridge deck cross-sections where simplifications have been adopted due to the complexity and the uniqueness of such components besides the difficulty of obtaining a final model of the aerodynamic behavior. In this thesis, two main perspectives have been studied; the first is fully deterministic and presents a novel framework on generating optimal aerodynamic shapes for streamlined and trapezoidal cross-sections based on the meta-modeling approach. Single and multi-objective optimizations were both carried out and a Pareto Front is generated. The performance of the optimal designs is checked afterwards. In the second part, a new strategy based on Reliability-Based Design Optimization (RBDO) to mitigate the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) on the Trans-Tokyo Bay bridge is proposed. Small changes in the leading and trailing edges are presented and uncertainties are considered in the structural system. Probabilistic constraints based on polynomial regression are evaluated and the problem is solved while applying the Reliability Index Approach (RIA) and the Performance Measure Approach (PMA). The results obtained in the first part showed that the aspect ratio has a significant effect on the aerodynamic behavior where deeper cross-sections have lower resistance against flutter and should be avoided. In the second part, the adopted RBDO approach succeeded to mitigate the VIV, and it is proven that designs with narrow or prolonged bottom-base length and featuring an abrupt surface change in the leading and trailing edges can lead to high vertical vibration amplitude. It is expected that this research will help engineers with the selections of the adequate deck cross-section layout, and encourage researchers to apply concepts of optimization regarding this field and develop the presented approaches for further studies.
Organisation im soziotechnischen Gemenge - Mediale Umschichtungen durch die Einführung von SAP
(2017)
Der Alltag in Organisationen besteht vor allem aus den Medien und Technologien, mit denen die Koordination zwischen einzelnen Arbeitsabläufen hergestellt wird.
Diese ethnografische Studie begleitet den Prozess der Einführung eines SAP-Systems in einem mittelständischen Unternehmen und zeigt, wie das bestehende Geflecht aus Praktiken und Technologien eine Neuanordnung erfährt. Dabei tritt das komplexe soziotechnische Gemenge zutage, auf dem Koordination und Organisation beruhen. Es geht um Hardware, ebenso wie Software, um mechanische und elektronische Medien, um Papiere, Drucker, Akten, Interfaces und Tastaturen, aber auch um die jahrzehntelang eingespielten Routinen und das Erfahrungswissen der Angestellten.
Turbomachinery plays an important role in many cases of energy generation or conversion. Therefore, turbomachinery is a promising approaching point for optimization in order to increase the efficiency of energy use. In recent years, the use of automated optimization strategies in combination with numerical simulation has become increasingly popular in many fields of engineering. The complex interactions between fluid and solid mechanics encountered in turbomachines on the one hand and the high computational expense needed to calculate the performance on the other hand, have, however, prevented a widespread use of these techniques in this field of engineering. The objective of this work was the development of a strategy for efficient metamodel based optimization of centrifugal compressor impellers. In this context, the main focus is the reduction of the required numerical expense. The central idea followed in this research was the incorporation of preliminary information acquired from low-fidelity computation methods and empirical correlations into the sampling process to identify promising regions of the parameter space. This information was then used to concentrate the numerically expensive high-fidelity computations of the fluid dynamic and structure mechanic performance of the impeller in these regions while still maintaining a good coverage of the whole parameter space. The development of the optimization strategy can be divided into three main tasks. Firstly, the available preliminary information had to be researched and rated. This research identified loss models based on one dimensional flow physics and empirical correlations as the best suited method to predict the aerodynamic performance. The loss models were calibrated using available performance data to obtain a high prediction quality. As no sufficiently exact models for the prediction of the mechanical loading of the impellercould be identified, a metamodel based on finite element computations was chosen for this estimation. The second task was the development of a sampling method which concentrates samples in regions of the parameter space where high quality designs are predicted by the preliminary information while maintaining a good overall coverage. As available methods like rejection sampling or Markov-chain Monte-Carlo methods did not meet the requirements in terms of sample distribution and input correlation, a new multi-fidelity sampling method called “Filtered Sampling“has been developed. The last task was the development of an automated computational workflow. This workflow encompasses geometry parametrization, geometry generation, grid generation and computation of the aerodynamic performance and the structure mechanic loading. Special emphasis was put into the development of a geometry parametrization strategy based on fluid mechanic considerations to prevent the generation of physically inexpedient designs. Finally, the optimization strategy, which utilizes the previously developed tools, was successfully employed to carry out three optimization tasks. The efficiency of the method was proven by the first and second testcase where an existing compressor design was optimized by the presented method. The results were comparable to optimizations which did not take preliminary information into account, while the required computational expense cloud be halved. In the third testcase, the method was applied to generate a new impeller design. In contrast to the previous examples, this optimization featuredlargervariationsoftheimpellerdesigns. Therefore, theapplicability of the method to parameter spaces with significantly varying designs could be proven, too.
Open Innovation in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) hat sich stark ausdifferenziert. Dabei zeigt die Empirie, dass KMU unterschiedliche Wege in der offenen Entwicklung von Innovationen begehen. Um die bestehende Literatur zu erweitern, wurden mit dieser Dissertation die Ziele verfolgt 1) offene Innovationsaktivitäten in KMU aus einer Prozessperspektive aufzudecken und genau zu beschreiben und 2) zu erklären, warum sich die Öffnung von Innovationsprozessen in KMU unterscheidet. Dafür wurde auf eine multiple Fallstudienanalyse zurückgegriffen. Untersuchungsobjekte waren kleine etablierte High-Tech Unternehmen aus den neuen Bundesländern. Die Ergebnisse zeigen sechs Prozessmodelle der offenen Innovationsentwicklung, beschrieben als Open Innovation Muster. Deskriptionen dieser Muster unter Berücksichtigung von formenden Innovationsaktivitäten, ausgetauschtem Wissen, beteiligten externen Akteuren und Gründen für und gegen Open Innovation vermitteln ein über den bisherigen Forschungsstand hinausgehendes Verständnis von Open Innovation in KMU. Zudem zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass die Entrepreneurial Orientation erklärt, warum KMU bei der Ausgestaltung von offenen Innovationsprozessen unterschiedlich vorgehen. In der Dissertation wird detailliert dargelegt, welche Open Innovation Muster sich anhand der Entrepreneurial Orientation von KMU (nicht-entrepreneurial bis entrepreneurial) zeigen. Die Ergebnisse liefern sowohl wissenschaftliche Implikationen, als auch Handlungsempfehlungen für die Unternehmenspraxis.
In this Thesis we study some complex and hypercomplex function spaces and classes such as hypercomplex Besov spaces, Bloch space and Op spaces as well as the class of basic sets of polynomials in several complex variables. It is shown that hyperholomorphic Besov spaces can be applied to characterize the hyperholomorphic Bloch space. Moreover, we consider BMOM and VMOM spaces.
On the mechanisms of shrinkage reducing admixtures in self con-solidating mortars and concretes
(2010)
Self Consolidating Concrete – a dream has come true!(?) Self Consolidating Concrete (SCC) is mainly characterised by its special rheological properties. With-out any vibration this concrete can be placed and compacted under its own weight, without segrega-tion or bleeding. The use of such concrete can increase the productivity on construction sites and en-able the use of a higher degree of well distributed reinforcement for thin walled structural members. This new technology also reduces health risks since in contrast to the traditional handling of concrete, the emission of noise and vibration are substantially decreased. The specific mix design for self consolidating concretes was introduced around the 1980s in Japan. In comparison to normal vibrated concrete an increased paste volume enables a good distribution of aggregates within the paste matrix, minimising the influence of aggregates friction on the concrete flow property. The introduction of inert and/or pozzolanic additives as part of the paste provides the required excess paste volume without using disproportionally high amounts of plain cement. Due to further developments of concrete admixtures such as superplasticizers, the cement paste can gain self levelling properties without causing segregation of aggregates. Whereas SCC differs from normal vibrated concrete in its fresh attributes, it should reach similar properties in the hardened state. Due to the increased paste volume it usually shows higher shrinkage. Furthermore, owing to strength requirements, SCC is often produced at low water to cement ratios and hence may additionally suffer from autogenous shrinkage. This means that cracking caused by drying or autogenous shrinkage is a real risk for SCC and can compromise its durability as cracks may serve as ingression paths for gases and salts or might permit leaching. For the time being SCC still exhibits increased shrinkage and cracking probability and hence may be discarded in many practical applications. This can be overcome by a better understanding of those mechanisms and the ways to mitigate them. It is a target of this thesis to contribute to this. How to cope with increased shrinkage of SCC? In general, engineers are facing severe problems related to shrinkage and cracking. Even for normal and high performance concrete, containing moderate amounts of binder, a lot of effort was put on counteracting shrinkage and avoiding cracking. For the time being these efforts resulted in the knowledge of how to distribute cracks rather to avoid them. The most efficient way to decrease shrinkage turned out to be to decrease the cement content of concrete down to a minimum but still sufficient amount. For SCC this obviously seems to be contradictory with the requirement of a high paste volume. Indeed, the potential for shrinkage reduction is limited to some small range modifications in the mix design following two major concepts. The first one is the reduction of the required paste volume by optimising the aggregate grading curve. The second one involves high volume substitution of cement, preferentially using inert mineral additives. The optimization of grading curves is limited by several severe practical issues. Problems start with the availability of sufficiently fractionated aggregates. Usually attempts fail because of the enormous effort in composing application-optimized grading curves or mix designs. Due to durability reasons, the substitution rate for cement is limited depending on the application purpose and on environmental exposure of the hardened concrete. In the early 1980s Shrinkage Reducing Admixtures (SRA) were introduced to counteract drying shrinkage of concrete. The first publications explicitly dealing with SRA go back to Goto and Sato (Japan). They were published in 1983, which is also the time when the SCC concept was introduced. SRA modified concretes showed a substantial reduction of free drying shrinkage contributing to crack prevention or at least a significant decrease of crack width in situations of restrained drying shrinkage. Will shrinkage reducing admixtures contribute to a broader application of SCC? Within the last three decades performance tests on several types of concrete proved the efficiency of shrinkage reducing admixtures. So, at least in terms of shrinkage and cracking, concretes in general and SCC in particular can benefit from SRA application. But "One man's meat is another man's poison" and with respect to long term performance of SRA modified concretes there are still several issues to be clarified. One of these concerns the impact of SRAs on cement hydration. It is therefore an issue to know if changes in the hydrated phase composition, induced by SRA, result in undesired properties or decreased durability. Another issue is that the long term shrinkage reduction has to be evaluated. For example, one can wonder if SRA leaching may diminish or even eliminate long term shrinkage reduction and if the release of admixtures could be a severe environmental issue. It should also be noted that the basic mechanism or physical impact of SRA as well as its implementation in recent models for shrinkage of concrete is still being discussed. The present thesis tries to shed light on the role of SRA in self consolidating concrete focusing on the three questions outlined above: basic mechanisms of cement hydration, physical impact on shrinkage and the sustainability of SRA-application. Which contributions result from this study? Based on an extensive patent search, commercial SRAs could be identified to be synergistic mixtures of non-ionic surfactants and glycols. This turns out to be most important information for more than one reason and is the subject of chapter 4. An abundant literature focuses on properties of these non-ionic surfactants. Moreover, from this rich pool of information, the behaviour of SRAs and their interactions in cementitious systems were better understood through this thesis. For example, it could be anticipated how SRAs behave in strong electrolytes and how surface activity, i.e. surface tension, and interparticle forces might be affected. The synergy effect regarding enhanced performance induced by the presence of additional glycol in SRAs could be derived from the literature on the co-surfactant nature of glycols. Generally it now can be said that glycols ensure that the non-ionic surfactant is properly distributed onto the paste interfaces to efficiently reduce surface tension. In literature, the impact of organic matter on cement hydration was extensively studied for other admixtures like superplasticizer. From there, main impact factors related to the nature of these molecules could be identified. In addition, here again, the literature on non-ionic surfactants provides sufficient information to anticipate possible interactions of SRA with cement hydration based on the nature of non-ionic surfactants. All in all, the extensive study on the nature of non-ionic surfactants, presented in chapter 4, provides fundamental understanding of the behaviour of SRAs in cement paste. Taking a step further to relate this to the impact on drying and shrinkage required to review recent models for drying and shrinkage of cement paste as presented in chapter 3. There, it is shown that macroscopic thermodynamics of the open pore systems can be successfully applied to predict drying induced deformation, but that surface activity of SRA still has to be implemented to explain the shrinkage reduction it causes. Because of severe issues concerning the importance of capillary pressure on shrinkage, a new macroscopic thermodynamic model was derived in a way that meets requirements to properly incorporate surface activity of SRA. This is the subject of chapter 5. Based on theoretical considerations, in chapter 5 the broader impact of SRA on drying cementitious matter could be outlined. In a next step, cement paste was treated as a deformable, open drying pore system. Thereby, the drying phenomena of SRA modified mortars and concrete observed by other authors could be retrieved. This phenomenological consistency of the model constitutes an important contribution towards the understanding of SRA mechanisms. Another main contribution of this work came from introducing an artificial pore system, denominated the normcube. Using this model system, it could be shown how the evolution of interfacial area and its properties interact in presence of SRAs and how this impacts drying characteristics. In chapter 7, the surface activity of commercial SRAs in aqueous solution and synthetic pore solution was investigated. This shows how the electrolyte concentration of synthetic pore solution impacts the phase behaviour of SRA and conversely, how the presence of SRA impacts the aqueous electrolyte solution. Whilst electrolytes enhance self-aggregation of SRAs into micelles and liquid crystals, the presence of SRAs leads to precipitation of minerals as syngenite and mirabilite. Moreover, electrolyte solutions containing SRAs comprise limited miscibility or rather show miscibility gaps, where the liquid separates into isotropic micellar solutions and surfactant rich reverse micellar solutions. The investigation of surface activity and phase behaviour of SRA unravelled another important contribution. From macroscopic surface tension measurements, a relationship between excess surface concentration of SRA, bulk concentration of SRA and exposed interfacial area could be derived. Based on this, it is now possible to predict the actual surface tension of the pore fluid in the course of drying once the evolution of internal interfacial area is known. This is used later in this thesis to describe the specific drying and shrinkage behaviour of SRA modified pastes and mortars. Calorimetric studies on normal Portland cement and composite binders revealed that SRA alone show only minor impact on hydration kinetics. In presence of superplasticizer however the cement hydration can be significantly decelerated. The delaying impact of SRA could be related to a selective deceleration of silicate phase hydration. Moreover, it could be shown that portlandite precipitation in presence of SRA is changed, turning the compact habitus into more or less layered structures. Thereby, the specific surface increases, causing the amount of physically bound water to increase, which in turn reduces the maximum degree of hydration achievable for sealed systems. Extensive phase analysis shows that the hydrated phase composition of SRA modified binders re-mains almost unaffected. The appearance of a temporary mineral phase could be detected by environmental scanning electron microscopy. As could be shown for synthetic pore solutions, syngenite precipitates during early hydration stages and is later consumed in the course of aluminate hydration, i.e. when sulphates are depleted. Moreover, for some SRAs, the salting out phenomena supposed to be enhanced in strong electrolytes could also be shown to take place. The resulting organic precipitates could be identified by SEM-EDX in cement paste and by X-ray diffraction on solid residues of synthetic pore solution. The presence of SRAs could also be identified to impact microstructure of well cured cement paste. Based on nitrogen adsorption measurements and mercury intrusion porosimetry the amount of small pores is seen to increase with SRA dosage, whilst the overall porosity remains unchanged. The question regarding sustainability of SRA application is the subject of chapter 10. By means of leaching studies it could be shown that SRA can be leached significantly. The mechanism could be identified as a diffusion process and a range of effective diffusion coefficients could be estimated. Thereby, the leaching of SRA can now be estimated for real structural members. However, while the admixture can be leached to high extents in tank tests, the leaching rates in practical applications can be assumed to be low because of much reduced contact with water. This could be proven by quantifying admixture loss during long term drying and rewetting cycles. Despite a loss of admixture shrinkage reduction is hardly impacted. Moreover, the cyclic tests revealed that the total deformations in presence of SRA remain low due to a lower extent of irreversibly shrinkage deformations. Another important contribution towards the better understanding of the working mechanism of SRA for drying and shrinkage came from the same leaching tests. A significant fraction of SRA is found to be immobile and does not diffuse in leaching. This fraction of SRA is probably strongly associated to cement phases as the calcium-silicate-hydrates or portlandite. Based on these findings, it is now also possible to quantify the amount of admixture active at the interfaces. This means that, the evolution of surface tension in the course of drying can be approximated, which is a fundamental requirement for modeling shrinkage in presence of SRA. The last experimental chapter of this study focuses on the working mechanism and impact of SRA on drying and shrinkage. Based on the thermodynamics of the open deformable pore system introduced in chapter 5, energy balances are set up using desorption and shrinkage isotherms of actual samples. Information on distribution of SRA in the hydrated paste is used to estimate the actual surface tensions of the pore solution. In other words, this is the first time that the surface activity of the SRA in the course of the drying is fully accounted for. From the energy balances the evolution and properties of the internal interface are then obtained. This made it possible to explain why SRAs impact drying and shrinkage and in what specific range of relative humidity they are active. Summarising the findings of this thesis it can be said that the understanding of the impact of SRAs on hydration, drying and shrinkage was brought forward. Many of the new insights came from the careful investigation of the theory of non-ionic surfactants, something that the cement community had generally overlooked up to now.
Polymeric nanocomposites (PNCs) are considered for numerous nanotechnology such as: nano-biotechnology, nano-systems, nanoelectronics, and nano-structured materials. Commonly , they are formed by polymer (epoxy) matrix reinforced with a nanosized filler. The addition of rigid nanofillers to the epoxy matrix has offered great improvements in the fracture toughness without sacrificing other important thermo-mechanical properties. The physics of the fracture in PNCs is rather complicated and is influenced by different parameters. The presence of uncertainty in the predicted output is expected as a result of stochastic variance in the factors affecting the fracture mechanism. Consequently, evaluating the improved fracture toughness in PNCs is a challenging problem.
Artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) have been employed to predict the fracture energy of polymer/particle nanocomposites. The ANN and ANFIS models were constructed, trained, and tested based on a collection of 115 experimental datasets gathered from the literature. The performance evaluation indices of the developed ANN and ANFIS showed relatively small error, with high coefficients of determination (R2), and low root mean square error and mean absolute percentage error.
In the framework for uncertainty quantification of PNCs, a sensitivity analysis (SA) has been conducted to examine the influence of uncertain input parameters on the fracture toughness of polymer/clay nanocomposites (PNCs). The phase-field approach is employed to predict the macroscopic properties of the composite considering six uncertain input parameters. The efficiency, robustness, and repeatability are compared and evaluated comprehensively for five different SA methods.
The Bayesian method is applied to develop a methodology in order to evaluate the performance of different analytical models used in predicting the fracture toughness of polymeric particles nanocomposites. The developed method have considered the model and parameters uncertainties based on different reference data (experimental measurements) gained from the literature. Three analytical models differing in theory and assumptions were examined. The coefficients of variation of the model predictions to the measurements are calculated using the approximated optimal parameter sets. Then, the model selection probability is obtained with respect to the different reference data.
Stochastic finite element modeling is implemented to predict the fracture toughness of polymer/particle nanocomposites. For this purpose, 2D finite element model containing an epoxy matrix and rigid nanoparticles surrounded by an interphase zone is generated. The crack propagation is simulated by the cohesive segments method and phantom nodes. Considering the uncertainties in the input parameters, a polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) surrogate model is construed followed by a sensitivity analysis.
Increasing structural robustness is the goal which is of interest for structural engineering community. The partial collapse of RC buildings is subject of this dissertation. Understanding the robustness of RC buildings will guide the development of safer structures against abnormal loading scenarios such as; explosions, earthquakes, fine, and/or long-term accumulation effects leading to deterioration or fatigue. Any of these may result in local immediate structural damage, that can propagate to the rest of the structure causing what is known by the disproportionate collapse.
This work handels collapse propagation through various analytical approaches which simplifies the mechanical description of damaged reinfoced concrete structures due to extreme acidental event.
Moderne Büroarchitektur mit Räumen in Leichtbauweise und großen transparenten Fassa-denanteilen verschärft im Zusammenwirken mit hohen internen Lasten die Problematik der sommerlichen Überhitzung in Gebäuden. Phasenübergangsmaterialien (PCM: phase change materials) stellen eine interessante Möglichkeit dar, sommerliche Überhitzung in Gebäuden ohne aufwändige Anlagentechnik wie beispielsweise Klimaanlagen zu reduzieren. Der thermische Komfort in Räumen, die mit einem PCM-Putz ausgestattet sind, kann signifikant erhöht werden. Die Arbeit untersucht Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und Optimierungspotential eines PCM-Putzes auf experimentelle und numerische Weise. Zur Untersuchung des PCM-Putzes wurden materialtechnische und experimentelle sowie numerische und numerisch-analytische Methoden eingesetzt. Die Kenntnis der thermischen Parameter des PCM-Putzes ist unablässig für die Berechnung der möglichen Temperaturreduktionen. Zur Bestimmung der Latentwärme, des qualitativen Schmelz- und Erstarrungsprozesses sowie des Temperaturintervalls, in dem der Phasenübergang stattfindet, wurden Messungen mit einem Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) durchgeführt. Für die experimentelle Untersuchung des PCM-Putzes wurden zwei identische Testräume in Leichtbauweise erstellt. Die Räume wurden im Verifikationsobjekt „Eiermannbau“ des Sonderforschungsbereiches SFB 524 der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar gemessen. Nach der Überprüfung, dass sich beide Räume thermisch gleich verhalten, wurde ein Raum mit dem PCM-Putz und der zweite Raum mit einem vergleichbaren Innenputz ohne PCM verputzt. Thermoelemente zur Temperaturmessung im Bauteil, an der Oberfläche und zur Raumlufttemperaturbestimmung wurden angebracht und mit einer Messwerterfassungsanlage verbunden. Der Verlauf der Außenlufttemperatur und die Globalstrahlung am Standort der Versuchsräume wurden aufgezeichnet, um einen Klimadatensatz zu erstellen. Für die Berechnung der Temperaturverteilung in einem PCM-Bauteil mit kontinuierlichem Phasenübergang existiert keine geschlossene analytische Lösung. Daher wurde ein numerischer Ansatz gewählt, bei dem der Phasenübergang im Temperaturbereich T1 bis T2 mit Hilfe einer temperaturabhängigen Wärmekapazität c(T) innerhalb der erweiterten Fou-rier’schen Wärmeleitungsgleichung dargestellt wird. Die Funktion c(T) wird auf Basis der DSC-Messungen bestimmt. Die Modellierung erfolgte mit einem Finite-Differenzen-Verfahren auf Grundlage der Fourier’schen Wärmeleitungsgleichung. Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurde ein PCM-Modul entwickelt, das in ein Gebäudesimulationsprogramm implementiert wurde. Mit dem neuen Modul lassen sich sowohl die Temperaturverläufe in einem PCM-Bauteil wie auch seine Wechselwirkung mit dem Raumklima darstellen. Eine Validierung des entwickelten PCM-Moduls anhand von zahlreichen experimentellen Daten der Versuchsräume wurde für das PCM-Modul erfolgreich durchgeführt. Sommerliche Überhitzungsstunden können durch PCM in Wand- und Deckenelementen deutlich reduziert werden. Der PCM-Putz eignet sich vor allem für Anwendungen in Leichtbauten wie z.B. moderne Büroräume. In Räumen, in denen bereits eine ausreichende thermische Masse vorhanden ist, ist die Temperaturreduktion durch PCM nur gering. Kann das PCM während der Nachtstunden nicht erstarren, erschöpft sich seine Fähigkeit zur Latentwärmespeicherung. Erhöhte Nachtlüftung führt bei entsprechend niedrigen Außentemperaturen zu höherem Wärmeübergang und kann damit zur besseren Entladung des PCM beitragen. Im Rahmen der Dissertation konnten Aussagen zur idealen Phasenübergangstemperatur in Abhängigkeit des verwendeten Materials und der Schichtdicke getroffen werden. Die Reduktion der Oberflächentemperaturen, die sich bei Einsatz eines PCM-Putzes unter geeigneten Randbedingungen ergibt, beträgt 2.0 - 3.5 K für eine Putzschicht von 1 cm und 3.0 - 5.0 K für eine Putzschicht von 3 cm. Diese Werte wurden sowohl numerisch als auch durch experimentelle Untersuchungen ermittelt. Die Reduktion der Lufttemperaturen aufgrund einer Konditionierung des Raumes mit PCM-Putz beträgt bei geeigneten thermischen Verhältnissen ca. 1.0 - 2.5 K für eine Putzschicht von 1 cm und 2.0 - 3.0 K für eine Putzschicht von 3 cm. Die operative Temperatur als wichtiger Komfortparameter kann durch den Einsatz des PCM-Putzes um bis zu 4 K gesenkt werden. Damit lässt sich mit Hilfe eines PCM-Putzes die thermische Behaglichkeit in einem Raum deutlich erhöhen.
Die Komplexität des Schweißprozesses und das Verhalten der Werkstoffe infolge des Energieeintrages erfordern eine umfassende Betrachtungsweise. Die Entwicklung von numerischen Modellen und Methoden in den letzten 50 Jahren ermöglicht die Simulation, Analyse und Optimierung von Schweißverbindungen hinsichtlich Temperatur, Gefügestruktur und Eigenspannungen. Eine Differenzierung der Schweißsimulation in Prozess-, Werkstoff- und Struktursimulation gestattet eine gezielte Untersuchung von einzelnen Aspekten. Diese Unterteilung erfordert zum Teil eine starke Abstraktion und Idealisierung der Realität durch geeignete Annahmen und Randbedingungen, die von der zu untersuchenden Fragestellung abhängen. Dadurch wird eine Kalibrierung und Verifikation der Modelle mit Versuchsergebnissen notwendig. Die in dieser Arbeit durchgeführten Untersuchungen beschäftigen sich mit wichtigen Fragestellungen hinsichtlich der numerischen Simulation und experimentellen Untersuchung des Temperaturfeldes sowie des Gefüge- und Eigenspannungszustandes von MAG-Schweißverfahren an den Werkstoffen Feinkornbaustahl und Duplex-Stahl, CO2-Laserstrahlschweißverfahren am Werkstoff Quarzglas, Trennprozessen von Proben, WIG-Nachbehandlungsverfahren. Hinsichtlich der Naht- und Stoßarten orientierte sich die Arbeit an baupraktisch relevanten Schweißverbindungen sowie Besonderheiten, die sich aus Schweißprozessen und unterschiedlichen Werkstoffen ergeben. Eine Interpretation der numerisch und experimentell ermittelten Ergebnisse ermöglicht die Ableitung von allgemeingültigen Erkenntnissen zur Ausbildung des Temperaturfeldes, Entstehung von Gefügestrukturen und Eigenspannungen. Voraussetzungen für eine realitätsnahe Schweißsimulation zur Bestimmung von Temperatur, Gefügeanteil und Eigenspannung sind neben den Geometriemodellen geeignete numerische Modelle für die Einkopplung der Energie aus dem Schweißprozess und für die Abgabe der Energie durch Konvektion und Strahlung an die Umgebung, zur Beschreibung des thermischen und mechanischen Werkstoffverhaltens im Bereich von Raumtemperatur bis zur Schmelztemperatur.
Numerische Berechnung von Mauerwerkstrukturen in homogenen und diskreten Modellierungsstrategien
(2004)
Im Zentrum der Arbeit stehen die Entwicklung, Verifikation, Implementierung und Leistungsfähigkeit numerischer Berechnungsmodelle für Mauerwerk im Rahmen der Kontinuums- und Diskontinuumsmechanik. Makromodelle beschreiben das Mauerwerk als verschmiertes Ersatzkontinuum. Mikromodelle berücksichtigen durch die Modellierung der einzelnen Steine und Fugen die Struktur des Mauerwerkverbandes. Soll darüber hinaus der durch die Querdehnungsinteraktion zwischen Stein und Mörtel hervorgerufene heterogene Spannungszustand im Mauerwerk abgebildet werden, so ist ein detailliertes Mikromodell, welches Steine und Fugen in ihren exakten geometrischen Dimensionen berücksichtigt, erforderlich. Demgegenüber steht die vereinfachte Mikromodellierung, bei der die Fugen mit Hilfe von Kontaktalgorithmen beschrieben werden. Im Rahmen der Makromodellierung werden neue räumliche Materialmodelle für verschiedene ein- und mehrschalige Mauerwerkarten hergeleitet. Die vorgestellten Modelle berücksichtigen die Anisotropie der Steifigkeiten, der Festigkeiten sowie des Ver- und Entfestigungsverhaltens. Die numerische Implementation erfolgt mit Hilfe moderner elastoplastischer Algorithmen im Rahmen der impliziten Finite Element Methode in das Programm ANSYS. Innerhalb der detaillierten Mikromodellierung wird ein neues, aus Materialbeschreibungen für Stein, Mörtel sowie deren Verbund bestehendes nichtlineares Berechnungsmodell entwickelt und in das Programm ANSYS implementiert. Die diskontinuumsmechanische Beschreibung von Mauerwerk im Rahmen der vereinfachten Mikromodellierung erfolgt unter Verwendung der expliziten Distinkt Element Methode mit Hilfe der Programme UDEC und 3DEC. An praktischen Beispielen werden Probleme der Tragfähigkeitsbewertung gemauerter Bogenbrücken, Möglichkeiten zur Bewertung vorhandener Rissbildungen und Schädigungen an historischen Mauerwerkstrukturen und Traglastberechnungen an gemauerten Stützen ausgewertet und analysiert.
Alkali-silica reaction causes major problems in concrete structures due to the rapidity of its deformation which leads to the serviceability limit of the structure being reached well before its time. Factors that affect ASR vary greatly, including alkali and silica content, relative humidity, temperature and porosity of the cementitious matrix,all these making it a very complex phenomenon to consider explicitly. With this in mind, the finite element technique was used to build models and generate expansive pressures and damage propagation due to ASR under the influence of thermo-hygrochemoelastic loading. Since ASR initializes in the mesoscopic regions of the concrete,
the accumulative effects of its expansion escalates onto the macroscale level with the development of web cracking on the concrete surface, hence solution of the damage model as well as simulation of the ASR phenomenon at both the macroscale and mesoscale levels have been performed. The macroscale model realizes the effects of ASR expansion as a whole and shows how it develops under the influence of moisture, thermal and mechanical loading. Results of the macroscale modeling are
smeared throughout the structure and are sufficient to show how damage due to ASR expansion orientates. As opposed to the mesoscale model, the heterogeneity of the model shows us how difference in material properties between aggregates and the cementitious matrix facilitates ASR expansion. With both these models, the ASR phenomenon under influence of thermo-chemo-hygro-mechanical loading can be better understood.
Finite Element Simulations of dynamically excited structures are mainly influenced by the mass, stiffness, and damping properties of the system, as well as external loads. The prediction quality of dynamic simulations of vibration-sensitive components depends significantly on the use of appropriate damping models. Damping phenomena have a decisive influence on the vibration amplitude and the frequencies of the vibrating structure. However, developing realistic damping models is challenging due to the multiple sources that cause energy dissipation, such as material damping, different types of friction, or various interactions with the environment.
This thesis focuses on thermoelastic damping, which is the main cause of material damping in homogeneous materials. The effect is caused by temperature changes due to mechanical strains. In vibrating structures, temperature gradients arise in adjacent tension and compression areas. Depending on the vibration frequency, they result in heat flows, leading to increased entropy and the irreversible transformation of mechanical energy into thermal energy.
The central objective of this thesis is the development of efficient simulation methods to incorporate thermoelastic damping in finite element analyses based on modal superposition. The thermoelastic loss factor is derived from the structure's mechanical mode shapes and eigenfrequencies. In subsequent analyses that are performed in the time and frequency domain, it is applied as modal damping.
Two approaches are developed to determine the thermoelastic loss in thin-walled plate structures, as well as three-dimensional solid structures. The realistic representation of the dissipation effects is verified by comparing the simulation results with experimentally determined data. Therefore, an experimental setup is developed to measure material damping, excluding other sources of energy dissipation.
The three-dimensional solid approach is based on the determination of the generated entropy and therefore the generated heat per vibration cycle, which is a measure for thermoelastic loss in relation to the total strain energy. For thin plate structures, the amount of bending energy in a modal deformation is calculated and summarized in the so-called Modal Bending Factor (MBF). The highest amount of thermoelastic loss occurs in the state of pure bending. Therefore, the MBF enables a quantitative classification of the mode shapes concerning the thermoelastic damping potential.
The results of the developed simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results and are appropriate to predict thermoelastic loss factors. Both approaches are based on modal superposition with the advantage of a high computational efficiency. Overall, the modeling of thermoelastic damping represents an important component in a comprehensive damping model, which is necessary to perform realistic simulations of vibration processes.
The main categories of wind effects on long span bridge decks are buffeting, flutter, vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) which are often critical for the safety and serviceability of the structure. With the rapid increase of bridge spans, research on controlling wind-induced vibrations of long span bridges has been a problem of great concern.The developments of vibration control theories have led to the wide use of tuned mass dampers (TMDs) which has been proven to be effective for suppressing these vibrations both analytically and experimentally. Fire incidents are also of special interest in the stability and safety of long span bridges due to significant role of the complex phenomenon through triple interaction between the deck with the incoming wind flow and the thermal boundary of the surrounding air.
This work begins with analyzing the buffeting response and flutter instability of three dimensional computational structural dynamics (CSD) models of a cable stayed bridge due to strong wind excitations using ABAQUS finite element commercial software. Optimization and global sensitivity analysis are utilized to target the vertical and torsional vibrations of the segmental deck through considering three aerodynamic parameters (wind attack angle, deck streamlined length and viscous damping of the stay cables). The numerical simulations results in conjunction with the frequency analysis results emphasized the existence of these vibrations and further theoretical studies are possible with a high level of accuracy. Model validation is performed by comparing the results of lift and moment coefficients between the created CSD models and two benchmarks from the literature (flat plate theory) and flat plate by (Xavier and co-authors) which resulted in very good agreements between them. Optimum values of the parameters have been identified. Global sensitivity analysis based on Monte Carlo sampling method was utilized to formulate the surrogate models and calculate the sensitivity indices. The rational effect and the role of each parameter on the aerodynamic stability of the structure were calculated and efficient insight has been constructed for the stability of the long span bridge.
2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of the decks are created with the support of MATLAB codes to simulate and analyze the vortex shedding and VIV of the deck. Three aerodynamic parameters (wind speed, deck streamlined length and dynamic viscosity of the air) are dedicated to study their effects on the kinetic energy of the system and the vortices shapes and patterns. Two benchmarks from the literature (Von Karman) and (Dyrbye and Hansen) are used to validate the numerical simulations of the vortex shedding for the CFD models. A good consent between the results was detected. Latin hypercube experimental
method is dedicated to generate the surrogate models for the kinetic energy of the system and the generated lift forces. Variance based sensitivity analysis is utilized to calculate the main sensitivity indices and the interaction orders for each parameter. The kinetic energy approach performed very well in revealing the rational effect and the role of each parameter in the generation of vortex shedding and predicting the early VIV and the critical wind speed.
Both one-way fluid-structure interaction (one-way FSI) simulations and two-way fluid-structure interaction (two-way FSI) co-simulations for the 2D models of the deck are executed to calculate the shedding frequencies for the associated wind speeds in the lock-in region in addition to the lift and drag coefficients. Validation is executed with the results of (Simiu and Scanlan) and the results of flat plate theory compiled by (Munson and co-authors) respectively. High levels of agreements between all the results were detected. A decrease in the critical wind speed and the shedding frequencies considering (two-way FSI) was identified compared to those obtained in the (one-way FSI). The results from the (two-way FSI) approach predicted appreciable decrease in the lift and drag forces as well as prediction of earlier VIV for lower critical wind speeds and lock-in regions which exist at lower natural frequencies of the system. These conclusions help the designers to efficiently plan and consider for the design and safety of the long span bridge before and after construction.
Multiple tuned mass dampers (MTMDs) system has been applied in the three dimensional CSD models of the cable stayed bridge to analyze their control efficiency in suppressing both wind -induced vertical and torsional vibrations of the deck by optimizing three design parameters (mass ratio, frequency ratio and damping ratio) for the (TMDs) supporting on actual field data and minimax optimization technique in addition to MATLAB codes and Fast Fourier Transform technique. The optimum values of each parameter were identified and validated with two benchmarks from the literature, first with (Wang and co-authors) and then with (Lin and co-authors). The validation procedure detected a good agreement between the results. Box-Behnken experimental method is dedicated to formulate the surrogate models to represent the control efficiency of the vertical and torsional vibrations. Sobol's sensitivity indices are calculated for the design parameters in addition to their interaction orders. The optimization results revealed better performance of the MTMDs in controlling both the vertical and the torsional vibrations for higher mode shapes. Furthermore, the calculated rational effect of each design parameter facilitates to increase the control efficiency of the MTMDs in conjunction with the support of the surrogate models which simplifies the process of analysis for vibration control to a great extent.
A novel structural modification approach has been adopted to eliminate the early coupling between the bending and torsional mode shapes of the cable stayed bridge. Two lateral steel
beams are added to the middle span of the structure. Frequency analysis is dedicated to obtain the natural frequencies of the first eight mode shapes of vibrations before and after the structural modification. Numerical simulations of wind excitations are conducted for the 3D model of the cable stayed bridge. Both vertical and torsional displacements are calculated at the mid span of the deck to analyze the bending and the torsional stiffness of the system before and after the structural modification. The results of the frequency analysis after applying lateral steel beams declared that the coupling between the vertical and torsional mode shapes of vibrations has been removed to larger natural frequencies magnitudes and higher rare critical wind speeds with a high factor of safety.
Finally, thermal fluid-structure interaction (TFSI) and coupled thermal-stress analysis are utilized to identify the effects of transient and steady state heat-transfer on the VIV and fatigue of the deck due to fire incidents. Numerical simulations of TFSI models of the deck are dedicated to calculate the lift and drag forces in addition to determining the lock-in regions once using FSI models and another using TFSI models. Vorticity and thermal fields of three fire scenarios are simulated and analyzed. The benchmark of (Simiu and Scanlan) is used to validate the TFSI models, where a good agreement was manifested between the two results. Extended finite element method (XFEM) is adopted to create 3D models of the cable stayed bridge to simulate the fatigue of the deck considering three fire scenarios. The benchmark of (Choi and Shin) is used to validate the damaged models of the deck in which a good coincide was seen between them. The results revealed that the TFSI models and the coupled thermal-stress models are significant in detecting earlier vortex induced vibration and lock-in regions in addition to predicting damages and fatigue of the deck and identifying the role of wind-induced vibrations in speeding up the damage generation and the collapse of the structure in critical situations.
Railway systems are highly competitive compared with other means of transportation because of their distinct advantages in speed, convenience and safety. Therefore, the demand for railway transportation is increasing around the world. Constructing railway tracks and related engineering structures in areas with loose or soft cohesive subgrade usually leads to problems, such as excessive settlement, deformation and instability. Several remedies have been proposed to avoid or reduce such problems, including the replacement of soft soil and the construction of piles or stone columns.
This thesis aims to expand the geotechnical knowledge of how to improve subgrade ballasted railway tracks, using stone columns and numerical modeling for the railway infrastructure. Three aspects are considered: i) railway track dynamics modeling and validation by field measurements, ii) modeling and parametric studies on stone columns, and iii) studies on the linear and non-linear behavior of stone columns under the dynamic load of trains.
The first step of this research was to develop a reliable numerical model of a railway track. The finite element method in a time domain was used for either a 2D plane strain or 3D analysis. Individual methods for modeling a train load in 2D and 3D were implemented and are discussed in this thesis. The developed loading method was validated with three different railway tracks using obtained vibration measurements. Later, these numerical models were used to analyze the influence of stone column length and train speed in the stress field.
The performance of the treated ground depends on various parameters, such as the strength of stone columns, spacing, length and diameter of the columns. Therefore, the second step was devoted to a parameter study of stone columns as a unit cell with an axisymmetric condition. The results showed that even short stone columns were effective for settlement reduction, and area of replacement was the main influential parameter in their performance.
The third part of this thesis focuses on a hypothetical railway-track response to the passage of various train speeds and the influence of stone-column length. The stress-strain response of subgrade is analyzed under either an elastic–perfectly plastic or advanced constitutive model. The non-linear soil response in the finite element method and the impact of train speed and stone column length on railway tracks are also evaluated. Moreover, the reductions of induced vibration – in both a horizontal and a vertical direction – after improvement are investigated.
The current thesis presents research about new methods of citizen participation based on digital technologies. The focus on the research lies on decentralized methods of participation where citizens take the role of co-creators. The research project first conducted a review of the literature on citizen participation, its origins and the different paradigms that have emerged over the years. The literature review also looked at the influence of technologies on participation processes and the theoretical frameworks that have emerged to understand the introduction of technologies in the context of urban development. The literature review generated the conceptual basis for the further development of the thesis.
The research begins with a survey of technology enabled participation applications that examined the roles and structures emerging due to the introduction of technology. The results showed that cities use technology mostly to control and monitor urban infrastructure and are rather reluctant to give citizens the role of co-creators. Based on these findings, three case studies were developed. Digital tools for citizen participation were conceived and introduced for each case study. The adoption and reaction of the citizens were observed using three data collection methods.
The results of the case studies showed consistently that previous participation and engagement with informal citizen participation are a determinining factor in the potential adoption of digital tools for decentralized engagement. Based on these results, the case studies proposed methods and frameworks that can be used for the conception and introduction of technologies for decentralized citizen participation.
From a macroscopic point of view, failure within concrete structures is characterized by the initiation and propagation of cracks. In the first part of the thesis, a methodology for macroscopic crack growth simulations for concrete structures using a cohesive discrete crack approach based on the extended finite element method is introduced. Particular attention is turned to the investigation of criteria for crack initiation and crack growth. A drawback of the macroscopic simulation is that the real physical phenomena leading to the nonlinear behavior are only modeled phenomenologically. For concrete, the nonlinear behavior is characterized by the initiation of microcracks which coalesce into macroscopic cracks. In order to obtain a higher resolution of this failure zones, a mesoscale model for concrete is developed that models particles, mortar matrix and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) explicitly. The essential features are a representation of particles using a prescribed grading curve, a material formulation based on a cohesive approach for the ITZ and a combined model with damage and plasticity for the mortar matrix. Compared to numerical simulations, the response of real structures exhibits a stochastic scatter. This is e.g. due to the intrinsic heterogeneities of the structure. For mesoscale models, these intrinsic heterogeneities are simulated by using a random distribution of particles and by a simulation of spatially variable material parameters using random fields. There are two major problems related to numerical simulations on the mesoscale. First of all, the material parameters for the constitutive description of the materials are often difficult to measure directly. In order to estimate material parameters from macroscopic experiments, a parameter identification procedure based on Bayesian neural networks is developed which is universally applicable to any parameter identification problem in numerical simulations based on experimental results. This approach offers information about the most probable set of material parameters based on experimental data and information about the accuracy of the estimate. Consequently, this approach can be used a priori to determine a set of experiments to be carried out in order to fit the parameters of a numerical model to experimental data. The second problem is the computational effort required for mesoscale simulations of a full macroscopic structure. For this purpose, a coupling between mesoscale and macroscale model is developed. Representative mesoscale simulations are used to train a metamodel that is finally used as a constitutive model in a macroscopic simulation. Special focus is placed on the ability of appropriately simulating unloading.
Großsiedlungen sind nicht nur ein Erbe der Moderne, sondern seit über drei Jahrzehnten Gegenstand der Stadterneuerung. Dieses Buch erörtert, was eine heute „normale“ Großsiedlung stadtplanerisch benötigt und welche stadtentwicklungs- als auch wohnungspolitisch gesteuerten Ressourcen in einer integrierten Planungssteuerung gebündelt werden sollten. Dabei wird das grundsätzliche Planungsinstrument des Quartiersmanagements aktualisiert – über den Gegenstand Großsiedlungen hinaus.
The present study analysis the environmental benefits of urban vegetation within the municipal boundary of a megacity through multi scale integrated modelling to estimate its benefits approximately. The advantages (and challenges) that Nature, inserted into cities, offers to the population are observed from different viewpoints. As geographical reference the profile of megacities located in low (tropical) latitudes was observed, in a case study on the city of São Paulo/ Brazil. Commonly, urban vegetation is overlooked by local people, governments and economical structures. Although sparse vegetation exists, it is hardly recognized. Along the brief history of rapid urbanization which is accompanied by massive environmental degradation, urban green becomes, in the dispute for space, a true luxury in cities like São Paulo. Not as retrogression but as advance, it demonstrates that the integration between nature and city would be desirable. The approximated quantification of the variations which occur between actual scenario and greened scenarios shows the need to rethink the urban biome as a man-dominated ecosystem. The benefits of the urban vegetation are diverse. This work details plants as agents of climatic and ecosystem balance and performance. It also approaches current issues like climate change, energy efficiency and thermal comfort, as well as the purification of natural resources, through the treatment of water, soil and air. Especially because at present no efficient technical solutions exist, that could substitute the environmental services of the vegetation. These benefits contribute to quality of life and increase socio-environmental equity especially important in high-contrast megacities. The vegetation assumes two important roles in cities. The functional dimension brings concrete and measurable benefits to the environment. From a symbolic vision, vegetation represents Nature in cities, approximating humans to their origins. Conclusively the study defends the importance of the valorization of Nature and of the united efforts for literally green cities because it proves that financial investment in urban vegetation has direct effects on the costs destined to the areas of health and infrastructure. The City of São Paulo, invested in 2008 about US$ 180 million (one hundred and eighty million dollars) in urban green (and environment) which tends to save US$ 980 million (nine hundred and eighty million dollars) of expenses annually. In other words, for each US$ 1 invested in planting and maintenance of urban green, the society saves at least US$ 5 of expenses in health, construction of French drains, energy etc.
Natural Urban Resilience: Understanding general urban resilience through Addis Ababa’s inner city
(2021)
This dissertation describes the urban actors and spatial practices that contribute to natural urban resilience in Addis Ababa’s inner city. Natural urban resilience is a non-strategical and bottom-up, everyday form of general urban resilience – an urban system’s ability to maintain its essential characteristics under any change. This study gains significance by exposing conceptual gaps in the current un-derstanding of general urban resilience and highlighting its unconvincing applicability to African cities. This study attains further relevance by highlighting the danger of the ongoing large-scale redevelopment of the inner city. The inner city has naturally formed, and its urban memory, spaces, and social cohesion contribute to its primarily low-income population’s resilience. This thesis argues that the inner city’s demolition poses an incalculable risk of maladaptation to future stresses and shocks for Addis Ababa. The city needs a balanced urban discourse that highlights the inner city’s qualities and suggests feasible urban transformation measures. “Natural Urban Resilience” contributes an empirical study to the debate by identifying those aspects of the inner city that contribute to general resilience and identifies feasible action areas. This study develops a qualitative research design for a single case study in Addis Ababa. The data is obtained through expert interviews, interviews with resi-dents, and the analysis of street scene photos, which are abstracted using Grounded Theory. That way, this thesis provides first-time knowledge about who and what generates urban resilience in the inner city of Addis Ababa and how. Furthermore, the study complements existing theories on general urban resilience. It provides a detailed understanding of the change mechanisms in resilience, of which it identifies four: adaptation, upgrading, mitigation, and resistance. It also adapts the adaptive cycle, a widely used concept in resilience thinking, conceptually for urban environments. The study concludes that the inner city’s continued redevelopment poses an incalculable threat to the entire city. Therefore, “Natural urban resilience” recommends carefully weighing any intervention in the inner city to promote Addis Ababa’s overall resilience. This dissertation proposes a pattern language for natural urban resilience to support these efforts and to translate the model of natural urban resilience into practice.
Advances in nanotechnology lead to the development of nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) such as nanomechanical resonators with ultra-high resonant frequencies. The ultra-high-frequency resonators have recently received significant attention for wide-ranging applications such as molecular separation, molecular transportation, ultra-high sensitive sensing, high-frequency signal processing, and biological imaging. It is well known that for micrometer length scale, first-principles technique, the most accurate approach, poses serious limitations for comparisons with experimental studies. For such larger size, classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are desirable, which require interatomic potentials. Additionally, a mesoscale method such as the coarse-grained (CG) method is another useful method to support simulations for even larger system sizes.
Furthermore, quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) materials have attracted intensive research interest due to their many novel properties over the past decades. However, the energy dissipation mechanisms of nanomechanical resonators based on several Q2D materials are still unknown. In this work, the addressed main issues include the development of the CG models for molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), investigation of the mechanism effects on black phosphorus (BP) nanoresonators and the application of graphene nanoresonators. The primary coverage and results of the dissertation are as follows:
Method development. Firstly, a two-dimensional (2D) CG model for single layer MoS2 (SLMoS2) is analytically developed. The Stillinger-Weber (SW) potential for this 2D CG model is further parametrized, in which all SW geometrical parameters are determined analytically according to the equilibrium condition for each individual potential term, while the SW energy parameters are derived analytically based on the valence force field model. Next, the 2D CG model is further simplified to one-dimensional (1D) CG model, which describes the 2D SLMoS2 structure using a 1D chain model. This 1D CG model is applied to investigate the relaxed configuration and the resonant oscillation of the folded SLMoS2. Owning to the simplicity nature of the 1D CG model, the relaxed configuration of the folded SLMoS2 is determined analytically, and the resonant oscillation frequency is derived analytically. Considering the increasing interest in studying the properties of other 2D layered materials, and in particular those in the semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide class like MoS2, the CG models proposed in current work provide valuable simulation approaches.
Mechanism understanding. Two energy dissipation mechanisms of BP nanoresonators are focused exclusively, i.e. mechanical strain effects and defect effects (including vacancy and oxidation). Vacancy defect is intrinsic damping factor for the quality (Q)-factor, while mechanical strain and oxidation are extrinsic damping factors. Intrinsic dissipation (induced by thermal vibrations) in BP resonators (BPRs) is firstly investigated. Specifically, classical MD simulations are performed to examine the temperature dependence for the Q-factor of the single layer BPR (SLBPR) along the armchair and zigzag directions, where two-step fitting procedure is used to extract the frequency and Q-factor from the kinetic energy time history. The Q-factors of BPRs are evaluated through comparison with those of graphene and MoS2 nanoresonators. Next, effects of mechanical strain, vacancy and oxidation on BP nanoresonators are investigated in turn. Considering the increasing interest in studying the properties of BP, and in particular the lack of theoretical study for the BPRs, the results in current work provide a useful reference.
Application. A novel application for graphene nanoresonators, using them to self-assemble small nanostructures such as water chains, is proposed. All of the underlying physics enabling this phenomenon is elucidated. In particular, by drawing inspiration from macroscale self-assembly using the higher order resonant modes of Chladni plates, classical MD simulations are used to investigate the self-assembly of water molecules using
graphene nanoresonators. An analytic formula for the critical resonant frequency based on the interaction between water molecules and graphene is provided. Furthermore, the properties of the water chains assembled by the graphene nanoresonators are studied.