Universitätsbibliothek
Weimar Open Access

Wireless sensor networks have attracted great attention for applications in structural health monitoring due to their ease of use, flexibility of deployment, and cost-effectiveness. This paper presents a software framework for WiFi-based wireless sensor networks composed of low-cost mass market single-board computers. A number of specific system-level software components were developed to enable robust data acquisition, data processing, sensor network communication, and timing with a focus on structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. The framework was validated on Raspberry Pi computers, and its performance was studied in detail. The paper presents several characteristics of the measurement quality such as sampling accuracy and time synchronization and discusses the specific limitations of the system. The implementation includes a complementary smartphone application that is utilized for data acquisition, visualization, and analysis. A prototypical implementation further demonstrates the feasibility of integrating smartphones as data acquisition nodes into the network, utilizing their internal sensors. The measurement system was employed in several monitoring campaigns, three of which are documented in detail. The suitability of the system is evaluated based on comparisons of target quantities with reference measurements. The results indicate that the presented system can robustly achieve a measurement performance commensurate with that required in many typical SHM tasks such as modal identification. As such, it represents a cost-effective alternative to more traditional monitoring solutions.

Reliable modelling in structural engineering is crucial for the serviceability and safety of structures. A huge variety of aerodynamic models for aeroelastic analyses of bridges poses natural questions on their complexity and thus, quality. Moreover, a direct comparison of aerodynamic models is typically either not possible or senseless, as the models can be based on very different physical assumptions. Therefore, to address the question of principal comparability and complexity of models, a more abstract approach, accounting for the effect of basic physical assumptions, is necessary. This paper presents an application of a recently introduced category theory-based modelling approach to a diverse set of models from bridge aerodynamics. Initially, the categorical approach is extended to allow an adequate description of aerodynamic models. Complexity of the selected aerodynamic models is evaluated, based on which model comparability is established. Finally, the utility of the approach for model comparison and characterisation is demonstrated on an illustrative example from bridge aeroelasticity. The outcome of this study is intended to serve as an alternative framework for model comparison and impact future model assessment studies of mathematical models for engineering applications.

Die Zonenmethode nach Hertz ist ein vereinfachtes Verfahren zur Heißbemessung von Stahlbetonbauteilen. Um eine händische Bemessung zu ermöglichen, werden daher verschiedene Annahmen und Vereinfachungen getroffen. Insbesondere werden die thermischen Dehnungen vernachlässigt und das mechanische Verhalten durch einen verkleinerten Querschnitt mit konstanten Stoffeigenschaften beschrieben. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, dieses vereinfachte Verfahren in ein nichtlineares Verfahren zur Heißbemessung von Stahlbetondruckgliedern bei Brandbeanspruchung durch die Einheits-Temperaturzeitkurve zu überführen. Dazu werden die wesentlichen Annahmen der Zonenmethode überprüft und ein Vorschlag zur Weiterentwicklung vorgestellt. Dieser beruht im Wesentlichen auf der Modellierung der druckbeanspruchten Bewehrung. Diese weiterentwickelte Zonenmethode wird durch die Nachrechnung von Laborversuchen validiert und das Sicherheitsniveau durch eine vollprobabilistische Analyse und den Vergleich mit dem allgemeinen Verfahren bestimmt.

In this work, molecular separation of aqueous-organic was simulated by using combined soft computing-mechanistic approaches. The considered separation system was a microporous membrane contactor for separation of benzoic acid from water by contacting with an organic phase containing extractor molecules. Indeed, extractive separation is carried out using membrane technology where complex of solute-organic is formed at the interface. The main focus was to develop a simulation methodology for prediction of concentration distribution of solute (benzoic acid) in the feed side of the membrane system, as the removal efficiency of the system is determined by concentration distribution of the solute in the feed channel. The pattern of Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) was optimized by finding the optimum membership function, learning percentage, and a number of rules. The ANFIS was trained using the extracted data from the CFD simulation of the membrane system. The comparisons between the predicted concentration distribution by ANFIS and CFD data revealed that the optimized ANFIS pattern can be used as a predictive tool for simulation of the process. The R2 of higher than 0.99 was obtained for the optimized ANFIS model. The main privilege of the developed methodology is its very low computational time for simulation of the system and can be used as a rigorous simulation tool for understanding and design of membrane-based systems. Highlights are, Molecular separation using microporous membranes. Developing hybrid model based on ANFIS-CFD for the separation process, Optimization of ANFIS structure for prediction of separation process

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.