Decisions on life-cycle reliability of flood defence systems

Many countries rely on flood defence systems to prevent economic damage and loss-of-life due to catastrophic floods. Asset managers of flood defence systems need to cope with the consequences of structural degradation, and changing societal and environmental conditions, in order to satisfy performance requirements and optimize societal value of...

Restructuring medium voltage distribution grids: Parallel AC-DC reconfigurable links

Energy transition will inevitably lead to greater electrification. For example, it is anticipated that electrical energy demand will rise by at least 2-3 times by 2050 with increasing share of electric vehicles and heat pumps. This will translate to significant increase in power demand on the existing medium voltage distribution grid, resulting...

Overview of Torsion Design Methods

Large torsional moments, which need to be considered in a design, can result among others, in structures with an asymmetric layout or loading. To find the required longitudinal and transverse reinforcement to resist these torsional moments, the link between the three-dimensional action of the torsional moment and sectional analysis methods is...

Torsion Design Example: Inverted Tee Bent Cap

This paper provides a practical example of the torsion design of an inverted tee bent cap of a three-span bridge. A full torsional design following the guidelines of the ACI 318-19 building code is carried out and the results are compared with the outcomes from CSA-A23.3-04, AASHTO-LRFD-17, and EN 1992-1-1:2004 codes. Then, a summary of the...

Reinforced FDM: Multi-axis filament alignment with controlled anisotropic strength

The anisotropy of mechanical strength on a 3D printed model can be controlled in a multi-axis 3D printing system as materials can be accumulated along dynamically varied directions. In this paper, we present a new computational framework to generate specially designed layers and toolpaths of multi-axis 3D printing for strengthening a model by...

Offline Reconfigurability Based Substation Converter Sizing for Hybrid AC-DC Distribution Links

Hybrid ac-dc distribution systems with multiple parallel operating ac and dc links are being developed to maximize system capacity during (n-1) contingencies. This paper shows that offline reconfigurability between such ac and dc links post-fault clearance allows an additional design flexibility of reducing the required substation converter...

Thermoresponsive Brushes Facilitate Effective Reinforcement of Calcium Phosphate Cements

Calcium phosphate ceramics are frequently applied to stimulate regeneration of bone in view of their excellent biological compatibility with bone tissue. Unfortunately, these bioceramics are also highly brittle. To improve their toughness, fibers can be incorporated as the reinforcing component for the calcium phosphate cements. Herein, we...

A critical review of 3D concrete printing as a low CO2 concrete approach

Concrete is by volume the most widely used building material all over the world. The concrete industry emits large quantities of greenhouse gases. Therefore, developing low CO2 concrete becomes an urgent issue for those countries with significant concrete production and consumption. In recent years, 3D concrete printing (3DCP) which is a new...

Reinforcement Toolbox, a Parametric Reinforcement Modelling Tool for Curved Surface Structures

This paper presents a computational strategy and parametric modelling toolbox which aim at enhancing the design- and production process of reinforcement in freeform curved surface structures. The computational strategy encompasses the necessary steps of raising an architectural curved surface model of a concrete building to production level in...

Historic Concrete: From Concrete Repair to Concrete Conservation

Concrete like materials were already applied during the Roman Empire. After the decline of the Roman Empire, a wide scale application of concrete only reappeared in the 19th century. Here lies also the origin of modern (reinforced) concrete. Since then, both concrete application and composition have significantly changed. Today, concrete from...

Structural Glass Beams with Embedded Glass Fibre Reinforcement

This paper investigates the possibilities of pultruded glass fibre rods as embedded reinforcement in SentryGlas (SG) laminated glass beams. To do so, a series of pullout tests, to investigate the bond strength of the rods to the laminate, and a series of beam tests, to investigate the post-breakage response of the beams, have been performed....

Biogrout, ground improvement by microbial induced carbonate precipitation

Biogrout is a new ground improvement method based on microbially induced precipitation of calcium carbonate (MICP). When supplied with suitable substrates, micro-organisms can catalyze biochemical conversions in the subsurface resulting in precipitation of inorganic minerals, which change the mechanical soil properties. This study focuses on one...

Locally reinforced timber joints with expanded tube fasteners

The study presented focuses on the development of a novel timber joint. Traditional timber joints with mechanical fasteners, particular dowel type fasteners, such as bolts exhibit a low strength and an unreliable stiffness and ductility caused by the presence of hole clearance and the unpredictable splitting of timber. The novel joint tackles...