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- 2010 (114) (remove)
The paper is devoted to a study of properties of homogeneous solutions of massless field equation in higher dimensions. We first treat the case of dimension 4. Here we use the two-component spinor language (developed for purposes of general relativity). We describe how are massless field operators related to a higher spin analogues of the de Rham sequence - the so called Bernstein-Gel'fand-Gel'fand (BGG) complexes - and how are they related to the twisted Dirac operators. Then we study similar question in higher (even) dimensions. Here we have to use more tools from representation theory of the orthogonal group. We recall the definition of massless field equations in higher dimensions and relations to higher dimensional conformal BGG complexes. Then we discuss properties of homogeneous solutions of massless field equation. Using some recent techniques for decomposition of tensor products of irreducible $Spin(m)$-modules, we are able to add some new results on a structure of the spaces of homogenous solutions of massless field equations. In particular, we show that the kernel of the massless field equation in a given homogeneity contains at least on specific irreducible submodule.
In this dissertation, a new, unique and original biaxial device for testing unsaturated soil was designed and developed. A study on the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated sand in plane-strain conditions using the new device is presented. The tests were mainly conducted on Hostun sand specimens. A series of experiments including basic characterisation, soil water characteristic curves, and compression biaxial tests on dry, saturated, and unsaturated sand were conducted. A set of bearing capacity tests of strip model footing on unsaturated sand were performed. Additionally, since the presence of fine content (i.e., clay) influences the behavior of soils, soil water characteristic tests were also performed for sand-kaolin mixtures specimens.
A stress based remodeling approach is used to investigate the sensitivity of the collagen architecture in humane eye tissues on the biomechanical response of the lamina cribrosa with a particular focus on the stress environment of the nerve fibers. This approach is based on a multi-level biomechanical framework, where the biomechanical properties of eye tissues are derived from a single crimped fibril at the micro-scale via the collagen network of distributed fibrils at the meso-scale to the incompressible and anisotropic soft tissue at the macro-scale. Biomechanically induced remodeling of the collagen network is captured on the meso-scale by allowing for a continuous reorientation of collagen fibrils. To investigate the multi-scale phenomena related to glaucomatous neuropathy a generalized computational homogenization scheme is applied to a coupled two-scale analysis of the human eye considering a numerical macro- and meso-scale model of the lamina cribrosa.
Reducing energy consumption is one of the major challenges for present day and will continue for future generations. The emerging EU directives relating to energy (EU EPBD and the EU Directive on Emissions Trading) now place demands on building owners to rate the energy performance of their buildings for efficient energy management. Moreover European Legislation (Directive 2006/32/EC) requires Facility Managers to reduce building energy consumption and operational costs. Currently sophisticated building services systems are available integrating off-the-shelf building management components. However this ad-hoc combination presents many difficulties to building owners in the management and upgrade of these systems. This paper addresses the need for integration concepts, holistic monitoring and analysis methodologies, life-cycle oriented decision support and sophisticated control strategies through the seamless integration of people, ICT-devices and computational resources via introducing the newly developed integrated system architecture. The first concept was applied to a residential building and the results were elaborated to improve current building conditions.
From passenger’s perspective, punctuality is one of the most important features of tram route operation. We present a stochastic simulation model with special focus on determining important factors of influence. The statistical analysis bases on large samples (sample size is nearly 2000) accumulated from comprehensive measurements on eight tram routes in Cracow. For the simulation, we are not only interested in average values but also in stochastic characteristics like the variance and other properties of the distribution. A realization of trams operations is assumed to be a sequence of running times between successive stops and times spent by tram at the stops divided in passengers alighting and boarding times and times waiting for possibility of departure . The running time depends on the kind of track separation including the priorities in traffic lights, the length of the section and the number of intersections. For every type of section, a linear mixed regression model describes the average running time and its variance as functions of the length of the section and the number of intersections. The regression coefficients are estimated by the iterative re-weighted least square method. Alighting and boarding time mainly depends on type of vehicle, number of passengers alighting and boarding and occupancy of vehicle. For the distribution of the time waiting for possibility of departure suitable distributions like Gamma distribution and Lognormal distribution are fitted.
Models in the context of engineering can be classified in process based and data based models. Whereas the process based model describes the problem by an explicit formulation, the data based model is often used, where no such mapping can be found due to the high complexity of the problem. Artificial Neuronal Networks (ANN) is a data based model, which is able to “learn“ a mapping from a set of training patterns. This paper deals with the application of ANN in time dependent bathymetric models. A bathymetric model is a geometric representation of the sea bed. Typically, a bathymetry is been measured and afterwards described by a finite set of measured data. Measuring at different time steps leads to a time dependent bathymetric model. To obtain a continuous surface, the measured data has to be interpolated by some interpolation method. Unlike the explicitly given interpolation methods, the presented time dependent bathymetric model using an ANN trains the approximated surface in space and time in an implicit way. The ANN is trained by topographic measured data, which consists of the location (x,y) and time t. In other words the ANN is trained to reproduce the mapping h = f(x,y,t) and afterwards it is able to approximate the topographic height for a given location and date. In a further step, this model is extended to take meteorological parameters into account. This leads to a model of more predictive character.
In the past, several types of Fourier transforms in Clifford analysis have been studied. In this paper, first an overview of these different transforms is given. Next, a new equation in a Clifford algebra is proposed, the solutions of which will act as kernels of a new class of generalized Fourier transforms. Two solutions of this equation are studied in more detail, namely a vector-valued solution and a bivector-valued solution, as well as the associated integral transforms.
In this paper three different formulations of a Bernoulli type free boundary problem are discussed. By analyzing the shape Hessian in case of matching data it is distinguished between well-posed and ill-posed formulations. A nonlinear Ritz-Galerkin method is applied for discretizing the shape optimization problem. In case of well-posedness existence and convergence of the approximate shapes is proven. In combination with a fast boundary element method efficient first and second order shape optimization algorithms are obtained.
This paper describes the application of interval calculus to calculation of plate deflection, taking in account inevitable and acceptable tolerance of input data (input parameters). The simply supported reinforced concrete plate was taken as an example. The plate was loaded by uniformly distributed loads. Several parameters that influence the plate deflection are given as certain closed intervals. Accordingly, the results are obtained as intervals so it was possible to follow the direct influence of a change of one or more input parameters on output (in our example, deflection) values by using one model and one computing procedure. The described procedure could be applied to any FEM calculation in order to keep calculation tolerances, ISO-tolerances, and production tolerances in close limits (admissible limits). The Wolfram Mathematica has been used as tool for interval calculation.
For many applications, nonuniformly distributed functional data is given which lead to large–scale scattered data problems. We wish to represent the data in terms of a sparse representation with a minimal amount of degrees of freedom. For this, an adaptive scheme which operates in a coarse-to-fine fashion using a multiscale basis is proposed. Specifically, we investigate hierarchical bases using B-splines and spline-(pre)wavelets. At each stage a leastsquares approximation of the data is computed. We take into account different requests arising in large-scale scattered data fitting: we discuss the fast iterative solution of the least square systems, regularization of the data, and the treatment of outliers. A particular application concerns the approximate continuation of harmonic functions, an issue arising in geodesy.
Quality is one of the most important properties of a product. Providing the optimal quality can reduce costs for rework, scrap, recall or even legal actions while satisfying customers demand for reliability. The aim is to achieve ``built-in'' quality within product development process (PDP). The common approach therefore is the robust design optimization (RDO). It uses stochastic values as constraint and/or objective to obtain a robust and reliable optimal design. In classical approaches the effort required for stochastic analysis multiplies with the complexity of the optimization algorithm. The suggested approach shows that it is possible to reduce this effort enormously by using previously obtained data. Therefore the support point set of an underlying metamodel is filled iteratively during ongoing optimization in regions of interest if this is necessary. In a simple example, it will be shown that this is possible without significant loss of accuracy.
Since the 90-ties the Pascal matrix, its generalizations and applications have been in the focus of a great amount of publications. As it is well known, the Pascal matrix, the symmetric Pascal matrix and other special matrices of Pascal type play an important role in many scientific areas, among them Numerical Analysis, Combinatorics, Number Theory, Probability, Image processing, Sinal processing, Electrical engineering, etc. We present a unified approach to matrix representations of special polynomials in several hypercomplex variables (new Bernoulli, Euler etc. polynomials), extending results of H. Malonek, G.Tomaz: Bernoulli polynomials and Pascal matrices in the context of Clifford Analysis, Discrete Appl. Math. 157(4)(2009) 838-847. The hypercomplex version of a new Pascal matrix with block structure, which resembles the ordinary one for polynomials of one variable will be discussed in detail.
Nodal integration of finite elements has been investigated recently. Compared with full integration it shows better convergence when applied to incompressible media, allows easier remeshing and highly reduces the number of material evaluation points thus improving efficiency. Furthermore, understanding it may help to create new integration schemes in meshless methods as well. The new integration technique requires a nodally averaged deformation gradient. For the tetrahedral element it is possible to formulate a nodal strain which passes the patch test. On the downside, it introduces non-physical low energy modes. Most of these "spurious modes" are local deformation maps of neighbouring elements. Present stabilization schemes rely on adding a stabilizing potential to the strain energy. The stabilization is discussed within this article. Its drawbacks are easily identified within numerical experiments: Nonlinear material laws are not well represented. Plastic strains may often be underestimated. Geometrically nonlinear stabilization greatly reduces computational efficiency. The article reinterpretes nodal integration in terms of imposing a nonconforming C0-continuous strain field on the structure. By doing so, the origins of the spurious modes are discussed and two methods are presented that solve this problem. First, a geometric constraint is formulated and solved using a mixed formulation of Hu-Washizu type. This assumption leads to a consistent representation of the strain energy while eliminating spurious modes. The solution is exact, but only of theoretical interest since it produces global support. Second, an integration scheme is presented that approximates the stabilization criterion. The latter leads to a highly efficient scheme. It can even be extended to other finite element types such as hexahedrals. Numerical efficiency, convergence behaviour and stability of the new method is validated using linear tetrahedral and hexahedral elements.
A practical framework for generating cross correlated fields with a specified marginal distribution function, an autocorrelation function and cross correlation coefficients is presented in the paper. The contribution promotes a recent journal paper [1]. The approach relies on well known series expansion methods for simulation of a Gaussian random field. The proposed method requires all cross correlated fields over the domain to share an identical autocorrelation function and the cross correlation structure between each pair of simulated fields to be simply defined by a cross correlation coefficient. Such relations result in specific properties of eigenvectors of covariance matrices of discretized field over the domain. These properties are used to decompose the eigenproblem which must normally be solved in computing the series expansion into two smaller eigenproblems. Such decomposition represents a significant reduction of computational effort. Non-Gaussian components of a multivariate random field are proposed to be simulated via memoryless transformation of underlying Gaussian random fields for which the Nataf model is employed to modify the correlation structure. In this method, the autocorrelation structure of each field is fulfilled exactly while the cross correlation is only approximated. The associated errors can be computed before performing simulations and it is shown that the errors happen especially in the cross correlation between distant points and that they are negligibly small in practical situations.
Seit 1969 werden für die Bundesrepublik kontinuierlich Berechnungen zu den Gesamtkosten des Straßenverkehrs der Bundesfernstraßen und deren Verteilung auf die Verkehrsteilnehmer durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse der Wegekostenrechnungen der Jahre 2002 und 2007 sind die Grundlage für die mittlerweile für das deutsche Autobahnnetz eingeführte fahrleistungsbezogene Benutzungsgebühr für Lkw mit einem zulässigen Gesamtgewicht von mindestens zwölf Tonnen. Damit wird die Forderung der EU-Richtlinie 1999/62/EG umgesetzt, nach der sich die durchschnittlichen Straßenbenutzungsgebühren an den Kosten für den Bau, den Betrieb und den Ausbau des betreffenden Verkehrswegenetzes orientieren sollen. Mit der EU-Richtlinie 2006/38/EG kündigt sich die weitere Entwicklung bei der Berechnung von Straßenbenutzungsgebühren an. Zukünftig sollen auch externe Kosten in die Berechnung einfließen. Ein erster Schritt zur Berücksichtigung dieser externen Kosten erfolgte mit Erstellung eines Handbuchs im Rahmen eines EU-Forschungsprojektes. Das Handbuch enthält aufgrund der unterschiedlichen Rahmenbedingungen in den Mitgliedsstaaten der EU keine exakten Berechnungsvorschriften, sondern stellt verschiedene methodische Ansätze bisher durchgeführter Studien zu externen Kosten vor, gibt Empfehlungen hinsichtlich der Methodenwahl und beinhaltet Schätzungen über die Höhe der externen Kosten. Die im europäischen Raum in den vergangenen Jahren durchgeführten Studien zur Ermittlung externer Kosten des Verkehrs zeichnen sich durch einander ähnelnde Vorgehensweisen aus, die aber vor allem hinsichtlich der Kostenrechnungsart und der verwendeten Kostensätze aus Sicht des Verfassers der vorliegenden Arbeit kritische Aspekte aufweisen. In der vorliegenden Dissertationsschrift wird daher eine alternative Berechnungsmethodik zur Ermittlung abschnitts-, fahrzeugklassen- und fahrleistungsbezogener externer Kosten für Autobahnen entwickelt und an einem ausgewählten Beispielnetz zur Anwendung gebracht. Dabei wird in einigen wesentlichen Punkten von der in aktuellen Studien überwiegend gewählten Vorgehensweise abgewichen, um eine andere Sichtweise darzustellen. Damit trägt die vorliegende Arbeit substanziell zur Erweiterung des Erkenntnisstands zu Berechnungsmethoden externer Kosten des Straßenverkehrs bei. Die hier entwickelte Berechnungsmethodik ist außerdem als Grundlage für ein in der Praxis anwendbares Verfahren zu verstehen und zeichnet sich auch daher durch eine einfach zu handhabende Übertragbarkeit auf das gesamte Autobahnnetz Deutschlands aus. Die Abschnitte entsprechen den Teilstrecken zwischen zwei Autobahnanschlussstellen. Es wird zwischen den beiden Fahrzeugklassen "Lkw ab 12 t zulässigem Gesamtgewicht" und "Sonstigen Fahrzeugen" unterschieden. Obwohl momentan nur eine Benutzungsgebühr für Lkw ab 12 t zulässigem Gesamtgewicht erhoben wird, ist es mit der entwickelten Methodik möglich, fahrleistungsbezogene externe Kosten für alle Kfz angeben zu können. Die Einbeziehung externer Nutzen wird in diesem Zusammenhang andiskutiert; der Schwerpunkt liegt allerdings auf den externen Kosten. Im Rahmen der Arbeit werden zunächst Definitionen wesentlicher Terminologien dargestellt, soweit diese für das Verständnis der sich anschließenden Diskussion und Festlegung der Grundlagen der entwickelten Berechnungsmethodik notwendig erscheinen. Diese Diskussion und Festlegung umfasst die Bereiche Kostenrechnungsart, Bewertungsverfahren zur Ermittlung des Wertegerüsts, Diskontrate, zu betrachtende Kostenbereiche, Mengengerüst und Allokationsrechnung. Darauf folgend werden die betrachteten Kostenbereiche anhand vorliegender Studien und eigener Überlegungen detailliert dargestellt und das Wertegerüst bestimmt. Außerdem wird die Allokationsrechnung und das für die Berechnung heranzuziehende Mengengerüst für jeden Bereich separat vorgestellt. Anschließend wird die entwickelte Berechnungsmethodik auf ein Beispielnetz (Autobahnnetz Thüringen) angewendet. Neben der Vorstellung des Untersuchungsgebiets, der Berechnung der externen Kosten und der disaggregierten Ergebnisdarstellung wird die Einteilung des Beispielnetzes in unterschiedliche Preiskategorien auf der Grundlage der abschnittsbezogen vorliegenden Ergebnisse diskutiert, auf deren Basis die externen Kosten über Straßenbenutzungsgebühren internalisiert werden könnten. Im Rahmen einer Sensitivitätsanalyse werden einzelne Annahmen der Berechnungsmethodik bzw. Kostensätze des Wertegerüsts variiert. Die Auswirkungen dieser Variationen werden wiederum am Beispielnetz, für das erneute Kostenberechnungen vorgenommen werden, dargelegt. Abschließend werden offen gebliebene Fragestellungen und Empfehlungen für weitere Untersuchungen benannt.
Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der vergleichenden Analyse unterschiedlicher Berechnungsansätze zum hydraulischen Grundbruch. Diese wurden zunächst analysiert, an Beispielberechnungen angewandt und schließlich miteinander verglichen. Weiterhin wurde der Einfluss verschiedener Randbedingungen, allem voran der Baugrubenbreite, auf die Sicherheit gegen einen hydraulischen Grundbruch untersucht. Es werden Empfehlungen zur Anwendbarkeit verschiedener Näherungsansätze bei Vorhandensein bestimmter Einflussfaktoren gegeben.
Buildings can be divided into various types and described by a huge number of parameters. Within the life cycle of a building, especially during the design and construction phases, a lot of engineers with different points of view, proprietary applications and data formats are involved. The collaboration of all participating engineers is characterised by a high amount of communication. Due to these aspects, a homogeneous building model for all engineers is not feasible. The status quo of civil engineering is the segmentation of the complete model into partial models. Currently, the interdependencies of these partial models are not in the focus of available engineering solutions. This paper addresses the problem of coupling partial models in civil engineering. According to the state-of-the-art, applications and partial models are formulated by the object-oriented method. Although this method solves basic communication problems like subclass coupling directly it was found that many relevant coupling problems remain to be solved. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse and classify the relevant coupling types in building modelling. Coupling in computer science refers to the relationship between modules and their mutual interaction and can be divided into different coupling types. The coupling types differ on the degree by which the coupled modules rely upon each other. This is exemplified by a general reference example from civil engineering. A uniform formulation of coupling patterns is described analogously to design patterns, which are a common methodology in software engineering. Design patterns are templates for describing a general reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem. A template is independent of the programming language and the operating system. These coupling patterns are selected according to the specific problems of building modelling. A specific meta-model for coupling problems in civil engineering is introduced. In our meta-model the coupling patterns are a semantic description of a specific coupling design.
One of the main focuses of recent Chinese urban development is the creation and retrofitting of public spaces driven by the market force and demand. However, researches concerning human and cultural influences on shaping public spaces have been scanty. There still exist many undefined ambiguous planning aspects institutionally and legislatively. This is an explanatory research to address interactions, incorporations and interrelationship between the lived environment and its peoples. It is knowledge-seeking and normative. Theoretically, public space in a Chinese context is conceptualized; empirically, a selected case is inquired. The research has unfolded a comparatively complete understanding of China’s planning evolution and on-going practices. Data collection emphasizes the concept of ‘people’ and ‘space’. First-hand data is derived from the intensive fieldwork and observatory and participatory documentations. The ample detailed authentic empirical data empowers space syntax as a strong analysis tool in decoding how human’s activities influence the public space. Findings fall into two categories but interdependent. Firstly, it discloses the studied settlement as a generic, organic and incremental development model. Its growth and established environment is evolutionary and incremental, based on its intrinsic traditions, life values and available resources. As a self-sustaining settlement, it highlights certain vernacular traits of spatial development out of lifestyles and cultural practices. Its spatial articulation appears as a process parallel to socio-economic transitions. Secondly, crucial planning aspects are theoretically summarized to address the existing gap between current planning methodology and practicalities. It pinpoints several most significant and particular issues, namely, disintegrated land use system and urban planning; missing of urban design in the planning system, loss of a human-responsive environment resulted from standardized planning and under-estimation of heritage in urban development. The research challenges present Chinese planning laws and regulations through urban public space study; and pinpoints to yield certain growth leverage for planning and development. Thus, planning is able to empower inhabitants to make decisions along the process of shaping and sustaining their space. Therefore, it discusses not only legislative issues, concerning land use planning, urban design and heritage conservation. It leads to a pivotal proposal, i.e., the integration of human and their social spaces in formulating a new spatial strategy. It expects to inform policymakers of underpinning social values and cultural practices in reconfiguring postmodern Chinese spatiality. It propounds that social context endemic to communities shall be integrated as a crucial tool in spatial strategy design, hence to strengthen spatial attributes and improve life quality.
Am 25. März 2010 veranstaltete die Professur Baubetrieb und Bauverfahren im Rahmen der jährlich stattfindenden baubetrieblichen Tagungsreihe gemeinsam mit der Arbeitsgruppe „Unikatprozesse“ in der Fachgruppe „Simulation in Produktion und Logistik“ (SPL) im Rahmen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Simulation – ASIM einen ganztägigen Workshop mit dem Titel: „Modellierung von Prozessen zur Fertigung von Unikaten“. Viele Bauprozesse sind dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass sie Unikatcharakter besitzen. Unikate sind durch prototypische Einmaligkeit, Individualität, vielfältige Randbedingungen, einen geringen Grad an Standardisierung und Wiederholungen gekennzeichnet. Das erschwert die realitätsnahe Modellierung zur Simulation sogenannter Unikatprozesse. Dieser Besonderheit widmet sich die überwiegende Zahl der Tagungsbeiträge, die in diesem Band widergegeben sind.
We give a sufficient and a necessary condition for an analytic function "f" on the unit disk "D" with Hadamard gap to belong to a class of weighted logarithmic Bloch space as well as to the corresponding little weighted logarithmic Bloch space under some conditions posed on the defined weight function. Also, we study the relations between the class of weighted logarithmic Bloch functions and some other classes of analytic functions by the help of analytic functions in the Hadamard gap class.
In this paper the influence of changes in the mean wind velocity, the wind profile power-law coefficient, the drag coefficient of the terrain and the structural stiffness are investigated on different complex structural models. This paper gives a short introduction to wind profile models and to the approach by Davenport A. G. to compute the structural reaction of wind induced vibrations. Firstly with help of a simple example (a skyscraper) this approach is shown. Using this simple example gives the reader the possibility to study the variance differences when changing one of the above mentioned parameters on this very easy example and see the influence of different complex structural models on the result. Furthermore an approach for estimation of the needed discretization level is given. With the help of this knowledge the structural model design methodology can be base on deeper understanding of the different behavior of the single models.
An energy method based on the LAGRANGE Principle of the minimum of total potential en-ergy is presented to calculate the stresses and strains of composite cross-sections. The stress-strain relation of each partition of the cross-section can be an arbitrary piecewise continuous function. The strain energy is transformed into a line integral by GAUSS’s integral theorem. The total strain of each partition of the cross-section is split into load-dependent strain and pre-strain. Pre-strains have to be taken into account when the cross-section is pre-stressed, retrofit-ted or influenced by shrinkage, temperature etc. The unconstrained minimum problem can be solved for each load combination using standard software. The application of the method presented in the paper is demonstrated by means of examples.
In the paper presented, reinforced concrete shells of revolution are analyzed in both meridional and circumferential directions. Taking into account the physical non-linearity of the material, the internal forces and the deflections of the shell as well as the strain distribution at the cross-sections are calculated. The behavior of concrete under compression is described by linear and non-linear stress-strain relations. The description of the behavior of concrete under tension must account for tension stiffening effects. A tri-linear function is used to formulate the material law of reinforcement. The problem cannot be solved analytically due to the physical non-linearity. Thus a numerical solution is formulated by means of the LAGRANGE Principle of the minimum of the total potential energy. The kinematically admissible field of deformation is defined by the displacements u in the meridional and w in the radial direction. These displacements must satisfy the equations of compatibility and the kinematical boundary conditions of the shell. The strains are linearly distributed across the wall thickness. The strain energy depends on the specific of the material behavior. Using integral formulations of the material law [1], the strain energy of each part of the cross-section is defined as a function of the strains at the boundaries of the cross-sections. The shell is discretised in the meridional direction. Various methods of numerical differentiation and numerical integration are applied in order to determine the deformations and the strain energy. The unknown displacements u and w are calculated by a non-restricted extremum problem based on the minimum of the total potential energy. From mathematical point of view, the objective function is a convex function, thus the minimum can be determined without difficulty. The advantage of this formulation is that unlike non-linear methods with path-following algorithms the calculation does not have to account for changing stiffness and load increments. All iterations necessary to find the solution are integrated into the “Solver”. The model presented provides many ways of investigating the influence of various material parameters on the stresses and deformations of the entire shell structure.
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.
The numerical simulation of damage using phenomenological models on the macroscale was state of the art for many decades. However, such models are not able to capture the complex nature of damage, which simultaneously proceeds on multiple length scales. Furthermore, these phenomenological models usually contain damage parameters, which are physically not interpretable. Consequently, a reasonable experimental determination of these parameters is often impossible. In the last twenty years, the ongoing advance in computational capacities provided new opportunities for more and more detailed studies of the microstructural damage behavior. Today, multiphase models with several million degrees of freedom enable for the numerical simulation of micro-damage phenomena in naturally heterogeneous materials. Therewith, the application of multiscale concepts for the numerical investigation of the complex nature of damage can be realized. The presented thesis contributes to a hierarchical multiscale strategy for the simulation of brittle intergranular damage in polycrystalline materials, for example aluminum. The numerical investigation of physical damage phenomena on an atomistic microscale and the integration of these physically based information into damage models on the continuum meso- and macroscale is intended. Therefore, numerical methods for the damage analysis on the micro- and mesoscale including the scale transfer are presented and the transition to the macroscale is discussed. The investigation of brittle intergranular damage on the microscale is realized by the application of the nonlocal Quasicontinuum method, which fully describes the material behavior by atomistic potential functions, but reduces the number of atomic degrees of freedom by introducing kinematic couplings. Since this promising method is applied only by a limited group of researchers for special problems, necessary improvements have been realized in an own parallelized implementation of the 3D nonlocal Quasicontinuum method. The aim of this implementation was to develop and combine robust and efficient algorithms for a general use of the Quasicontinuum method, and therewith to allow for the atomistic damage analysis in arbitrary grain boundary configurations. The implementation is applied in analyses of brittle intergranular damage in ideal and nonideal grain boundary models of FCC aluminum, considering arbitrary misorientations. From the microscale simulations traction separation laws are derived, which describe grain boundary decohesion on the mesoscale. Traction separation laws are part of cohesive zone models to simulate the brittle interface decohesion in heterogeneous polycrystal structures. 2D and 3D mesoscale models are presented, which are able to reproduce crack initiation and propagation along cohesive interfaces in polycrystals. An improved Voronoi algorithm is developed in 2D to generate polycrystal material structures based on arbitrary distribution functions of grain size. The new model is more flexible in representing realistic grain size distributions. Further improvements of the 2D model are realized by the implementation and application of an orthotropic material model with Hill plasticity criterion to grains. The 2D and 3D polycrystal models are applied to analyze crack initiation and propagation in statically loaded samples of aluminum on the mesoscale without the necessity of initial damage definition.
PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION OF MESOSCALE MODELS FROM MACROSCOPIC TESTS USING BAYESIAN NEURAL NETWORKS
(2010)
In this paper, a parameter identification procedure using Bayesian neural networks is proposed. Based on a training set of numerical simulations, where the material parameters are simulated in a predefined range using Latin Hypercube sampling, a Bayesian neural network, which has been extended to describe the noise of multiple outputs using a full covariance matrix, is trained to approximate the inverse relation from the experiment (displacements, forces etc.) to the material parameters. The method offers not only the possibility to determine the parameters itself, but also the accuracy of the estimate and the correlation between these parameters. As a result, a set of experiments can be designed to calibrate a numerical model.
A four-node quadrilateral shell element with smoothed membrane-bending based on Mindlin-Reissner theory is proposed. The element is a combination of a plate bending and membrane element. It is based on mixed interpolation where the bending and membrane stiffness matrices are calculated on the boundaries of the smoothing cells while the shear terms are approximated by independent interpolation functions in natural coordinates. The proposed element is robust, computationally inexpensive and free of locking. Since the integration is done on the element boundaries for the bending and membrane terms, the element is more accurate than the MITC4 element for distorted meshes. This will be demonstrated for several numerical examples.
The numerical simulation of microstructure models in 3D requires, due to enormous d.o.f., significant resources of memory as well as parallel computational power. Compared to homogeneous materials, the material hetrogeneity on microscale induced by different material phases demand for adequate computational methods for discretization and solution process of the resulting highly nonlinear problem. To enable an efficient/scalable solution process of the linearized equation systems the heterogeneous FE problem will be described by a FETI-DP (Finite Element Tearing and Interconnecting - Dual Primal) discretization. The fundamental FETI-DP equation can be solved by a number of different approaches. In our approach the FETI-DP problem will be reformulated as Saddle Point system, by eliminating the primal and Lagrangian variables. For the reduced Saddle Point system, only defined by interior and dual variables, special Uzawa algorithms can be adapted for iteratively solving the FETI-DP saddle-point equation system (FETI-DP SPE). A conjugate gradient version of the Uzawa algorithm will be shown as well as some numerical tests regarding to FETI-DP discretization of small examples using the presented solution technique. Furthermore the inversion of the interior-dual Schur complement operator can be approximated using different techniques building an adequate preconditioning matrix and therewith leading to substantial gains in computing time efficiency.
Visually impaired is a common problem for human life in the world wide. The projector-based AR technique has ability to change appearance of real object, and it can help to improve visibility for visually impaired. We propose a new framework for the appearance enhancement with the projector camera system that employed model predictive controller. This framework enables arbitrary image processing such as photo-retouch software in the real world and it helps to improve visibility for visually impaired. In this article, we show the appearance enhancement result of Peli's method and Wolffshon's method for the low vision, Jefferson's method for color vision deficiencies. Through experiment results, the potential of our method to enhance the appearance for visually impaired was confirmed as same as appearance enhancement for the digital image and television viewing.
The present article proposes an alternative way to compute the torsional stiffness based on three-dimensional continuum mechanics instead of applying a specific theory of torsion. A thin, representative beam slice is discretized by solid finite elements. Adequate boundary conditions and coupling conditions are integrated into the numerical model to obtain a proper answer on the torsion behaviour, thus on shear center, shear stress and torsional stiffness. This finite element approach only includes general assumptions of beam torsion which are independent of cross-section geometry. These assumptions essentially are: no in-plane deformation, constant torsion and free warping. Thus it is possible to achieve numerical solutions of high accuracy for arbitrary cross-sections. Due to the direct link to three-dimensional continuum mechanics, it is possible to extend the range of torsion analysis to sections which are composed of different materials or even to heterogeneous beams on a high scale of resolution. A brief study follows to validate the implementation and results are compared to analytical solutions.
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THERMO-HYGRAL ALKALI-SILICA REACTION MODEL IN CONCRETE AT THE MESOSCALE
(2010)
This research aims to model Alkali-Silica Reaction gel expansion in concrete under the influence of hygral and thermal loading, based on experimental results. ASR provokes a heterogeneous expansion in concrete leading to dimensional changes and eventually the premature failure of the concrete structure. This can result in map cracking on the concrete surface which will decrease the concrete stiffness. Factors that influence ASR are parameters such as the cement alkalinity, the number of deleterious silica from the aggregate used, concrete porosity, and external factors like temperature, humidity and external source of alkali from ingression of deicing salts. Uncertainties of the influential factors make ASR a difficult phenomenon to solve; hence my approach to this matter is to solve the problem using stochastic modelling, where a numerical simulation of concrete cross-section with integration of experimental results from Finger-Institute for Building Materials Science at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. The problem is formulated as a multi-field problem, combining heat transfer, fluid transfer and the reaction rate model with the mechanical stress field. Simulation is performed as a mesoscale model considering aggregates and mortar matrix. The reaction rate model will be conducted using experimental results from concrete expansions due to ASR gained from concrete prism tests. Expansive strains values for transient environmental conditions due to the reaction rate will be determined from calculation based on the reaction rate model. Results from these models will be able to predict the rate of ASR expansion and the cracking propagation that may arise.
In nonlinear simulations the loading is, in general, applied in an incremental way. Path-following algorithms are used to trace the equilibrium path during the failure process. Standard displacement controlled solution strategies fail if snap-back phenomena occur. In this contribution, a path-following algorithm based on the dissipation of the inelastic energy is presented which allows for the simulation of snap-backs. Since the constraint is defined in terms of the internal energy, the algorithm is not restricted to continuum damage models. Furthermore, no a priori knowledge about the final damage distribution is required. The performance of the proposed algorithm is illustrated using nonlinear mesoscale simulations.
Besides home entertainment and business presentations, video projectors are powerful tools for modulating images spatially as well as temporally. The re-evolving need for stereoscopic displays increases the demand for low-latency projectors and recent advances in LED technology also offer high modulation frequencies. Combining such high-frequency illumination modules with synchronized, fast cameras, makes it possible to develop specialized high-speed illumination systems for visual effects production. In this thesis we present different systems for using spatially as well as temporally modulated illumination in combination with a synchronized camera to simplify the requirements of standard digital video composition techniques for film and television productions and to offer new possibilities for visual effects generation. After an overview of the basic terminology and a summary of related methods, we discuss and give examples of how modulated light can be applied to a scene recording context to enable a variety of effects which cannot be realized using standard methods, such as virtual studio technology or chroma keying. We propose using high-frequency, synchronized illumination which, in addition to providing illumination, is modulated in terms of intensity and wavelength to encode technical information for visual effects generation. This is carried out in such a way that the technical components do not influence the final composite and are also not visible to observers on the film set. Using this approach we present a real-time flash keying system for the generation of perspectively correct augmented composites by projecting imperceptible markers for optical camera tracking. Furthermore, we present a system which enables the generation of various digital video compositing effects outside of completely controlled studio environments, such as virtual studios. A third temporal keying system is presented that aims to overcome the constraints of traditional chroma keying in terms of color spill and color dependency. ...
The advent of high-performance mobile phones has opened up the opportunity to develop new context-aware applications for everyday life. In particular, applications for context-aware information retrieval in conjunction with image-based object recognition have become a focal area of recent research. In this thesis we introduce an adaptive mobile museum guidance system that allows visitors in a museum to identify exhibits by taking a picture with their mobile phone. Besides approaches to object recognition, we present different adaptation techniques that improve classification performance. After providing a comprehensive background of context-aware mobile information systems in general, we present an on-device object recognition algorithm and show how its classification performance can be improved by capturing multiple images of a single exhibit. To accomplish this, we combine the classification results of the individual pictures and consider the perspective relations among the retrieved database images. In order to identify multiple exhibits in pictures we present an approach that uses the spatial relationships among the objects in images. They make it possible to infer and validate the locations of undetected objects relative to the detected ones and additionally improve classification performance. To cope with environmental influences, we introduce an adaptation technique that establishes ad-hoc wireless networks among the visitors’ mobile devices to exchange classification data. This ensures constant classification rates under varying illumination levels and changing object placement. Finally, in addition to localization using RF-technology, we present an adaptation technique that uses user-generated spatio-temporal pathway data for person movement prediction. Based on the history of previously visited exhibits, the algorithm determines possible future locations and incorporates these predictions into the object classification process. This increases classification performance and offers benefits comparable to traditional localization approaches but without the need for additional hardware. Through multiple field studies and laboratory experiments we demonstrate the benefits of each approach and show how they influence the overall classification rate.
NONZONAL WAVELETS ON S^N
(2010)
In the present article we will construct wavelets on an arbitrary dimensional sphere S^n due the approach of approximate Identities. There are two equivalently approaches to wavelets. The group theoretical approach formulates a square integrability condition for a group acting via unitary, irreducible representation on the sphere. The connection to the group theoretical approach will be sketched. The concept of approximate identities uses the same constructions in the background, here we select an appropriate section of dilations and translations in the group acting on the sphere in two steps. At First we will formulate dilations in terms of approximate identities and than we call in translations on the sphere as rotations. This leads to the construction of an orthogonal polynomial system in L²(SO(n+1)). That approach is convenient to construct concrete wavelets, since the appropriate kernels can be constructed form the heat kernel leading to the approximate Identity of Gauss-Weierstra\ss. We will work out conditions to functions forming a family of wavelets, subsequently we formulate how we can construct zonal wavelets from a approximate Identity and the relation to admissibility of nonzonal wavelets. Eventually we will give an example of a nonzonal Wavelet on $S^n$, which we obtain from the approximate identity of Gauss-Weierstraß.
In this paper we consider the time independent Klein-Gordon equation on some conformally flat 3-tori with given boundary data. We set up an explicit formula for the fundamental solution. We show that we can represent any solution to the homogeneous Klein-Gordon equation on the torus as finite sum over generalized 3-fold periodic elliptic functions that are in the kernel of the Klein-Gordon operator. Furthermore we prove Cauchy and Green type integral formulas and set up a Teodorescu and Cauchy transform for the toroidal Klein-Gordon operator. These in turn are used to set up explicit formulas for the solution to the inhomogeneous version of the Klein-Gordon equation on the 3-torus.
A UNIFIED APPROACH FOR THE TREATMENT OF SOME HIGHER DIMENSIONAL DIRAC TYPE EQUATIONS ON SPHERES
(2010)
Using Clifford analysis methods, we provide a unified approach to obtain explicit solutions of some partial differential equations combining the n-dimensional Dirac and Euler operators, including generalizations of the classical time-harmonic Maxwell equations. The obtained regular solutions show strong connections between hypergeometric functions and homogeneous polynomials in the kernel of the Dirac operator.
In this paper we present rudiments of a higher dimensional analogue of the Szegö kernel method to compute 3D mappings from elementary domains onto the unit sphere. This is a formal construction which provides us with a good substitution of the classical conformal Riemann mapping. We give explicit numerical examples and discuss a comparison of the results with those obtained alternatively by the Bergman kernel method.
In recent years special hypercomplex Appell polynomials have been introduced by several authors and their main properties have been studied by different methods and with different objectives. Like in the classical theory of Appell polynomials, their generating function is a hypercomplex exponential function. The observation that this generalized exponential function has, for example, a close relationship with Bessel functions confirmed the practical significance of such an approach to special classes of hypercomplex differentiable functions. Its usefulness for combinatorial studies has also been investigated. Moreover, an extension of those ideas led to the construction of complete sets of hypercomplex Appell polynomial sequences. Here we show how this opens the way for a more systematic study of the relation between some classes of Special Functions and Elementary Functions in Hypercomplex Function Theory.
ESTIMATING UNCERTAINTIES FROM INACCURATE MEASUREMENT DATA USING MAXIMUM ENTROPY DISTRIBUTIONS
(2010)
Modern engineering design often considers uncertainties in geometrical and material parameters and in the loading conditions. Based on initial assumptions on the stochastic properties as mean values, standard deviations and the distribution functions of these uncertain parameters a probabilistic analysis is carried out. In many application fields probabilities of the exceedance of failure criteria are computed. The out-coming failure probability is strongly dependent on the initial assumptions on the random variable properties. Measurements are always more or less inaccurate data due to varying environmental conditions during the measurement procedure. Furthermore the estimation of stochastic properties from a limited number of realisation also causes uncertainties in these quantities. Thus the assumption of exactly known stochastic properties by neglecting these uncertainties may not lead to very useful probabilistic measures in a design process. In this paper we assume the stochastic properties of a random variable as uncertain quantities caused by so-called epistemic uncertainties. Instead of predefined distribution types we use the maximum entropy distribution which enables the description of a wide range of distribution functions based on the first four stochastic moments. These moments are taken again as random variables to model the epistemic scatter in the stochastic assumptions. The main point of this paper is the discussion on the estimation of these uncertain stochastic properties based on inaccurate measurements. We investigate the bootstrap algorithm for its applicability to quantify the uncertainties in the stochastic properties considering imprecise measurement data. Based on the obtained estimates we apply standard stochastic analysis on a simple example to demonstrate the difference and the necessity of the proposed approach.
Sand-bentonite mixtures are well recognized as buffer and sealing material in nuclear waste repository constructions. The behaviour of compacted sand-bentonite mixture needs to be well understood in order to guarantee the safety and the efficiency of the barrier construction. This paper presents numerical simulations of swelling test and coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) test on compacted sand-bentonite mixture in order to reveal the influence of the temperature and hydraulic gradients on the distribution of temperature, mechanical stress and water content in such materials. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the parameters which influence the most the response of the numerical model. Results of back analysis of the model parameters are reported and critically assessed.
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 context of finite element model updating using output-only vibration test data, natural frequencies and mode shapes are used as validation criteria. Consequently, the correct pairing of experimentally obtained and numerically derived natural frequencies and mode shapes is important. In many cases, only limited spatial information is available and noise is present in the measurements. Therefore, the automatic selection of the most likely numerical mode shape corresponding to a particular experimentally identified mode shape can be a difficult task. The most common criterion for indicating corresponding mode shapes is the modal assurance criterion. Unfortunately, this criterion fails in certain cases and is not reliable for automatic approaches. In this paper, the purely mathematical modal assurance criterion will be enhanced by additional physical information from the numerical model in terms of modal strain energies. A numerical example and a benchmark study with experimental data are presented to show the advantages of the proposed energy-based criterion in comparison to the traditional modal assurance criterion.