Abstract: Greening the building envelope focusing on green facades with vegetation is a good example of a new construction practice. Plants and partly growing materials in case of green wall systems (GWS) have a number of functions that are beneficial, for example: increasing the biodiversity and ecological value, mitigation of urban heat island effect, outdoor and indoor comfort, insulating properties, improve of air quality and of the social and psychological well-being of city dwellers. This paper discusses a comparative life cycle analysis (LCA) for: a conventional built up brick facade, a facade greened directly, a facade greened indirectly (supported by a steel mesh), a facade covered with a green wall system based on planter boxes and a facade covered with a green wall system based on felt layers. Beside the environmental benefits of the above described greening systems, it is eventually not clear if these systems are sustainable, due to the materials used, maintenance, nutrients and water needed. A LCA is used to analyze the similarity and differences in the environmental impacts in relation with benefits estimated for two climate types for building energy saving (reduction of electrical energy used for building cooling and heating).

Abstract: Road rage is accepted as a legitimate danger to the safe, effective, and efficient operation of the transportation system, it is important to understand its prevalence, and the characteristics of drivers that can be used to predict potential for it. By distributing a modified version of the Deffenbacher Driving Anger Scale to a wide variety of drivers and compiling the data collected from that, it was possible to determine just how common driving anger and road rage truly were. It was found that nearly all drivers of either gender and any age were prone to at least moderate levels of anger, though specifics about driver commutes, such as length and type of commute, did significantly influence likelihood of experiencing anger. While it is likely impossible to ever eliminate this driving anger entirely, there are measures that can be taken to significantly reduce the frequency of its occurrence. By implementing changes to modern transportation engineering city design and development models, particularly focusing on reducing or reimagining urban sprawl, improving traffic flow in city driving, and implementing more strict anti-road rage laws which discourage drivers from acting on their driving anger, it is possible to eliminate some of the factors most likely to induce driving anger and road rage, thereby reducing the frequency of road rage occurrence within the transportation system as a whole.

Abstract: The ability of building information modeling (BIM) to positively impact projects in the AEC through greater collaboration and integration is widely acknowledged. This paper aims to examine the development of BIM and how it can contribute to the cold-formed steel (CFS) building industry. This is achieved through the adoption of a qualitative methodology encompassing a literature review, exploratory interviews with industry experts, culminating in the development of e-learning material for the sector. In doing so, the research team have collaborated with one of the United Kingdom’s largest cold-formed steel designer/fabricators. By demonstrating the capabilities of BIM software and providing technical and informative videos in its creation, this project has found two key outcomes. Firstly, to provide invaluable assistance in the transition from traditional processes to a fully collaborative 3D BIM as required by the UK Government under the “Government Construction Strategy” by 2016 in all public sector projects. Secondly, to demonstrate BIM’s potential not only within CFS companies, but also within the AEC sector as a whole. As the flexibility, adaptability and interoperability of BIM software is alluded to, the results indicate that the introduction and development of BIM and the underlying ethos suggests that it is a key tool in the development of the industry as a whole.

Abstract: Rutting is one of the major distresses which cause hydroplaning and structural failures in a flexible pavement. The extent of damage depends upon the load induced and the strength of each pavement layer. Rutting can occur due to the failure of the subgrade, the base or at the wearing surface/ hot mixasphalt (HMA) layer(s).In order to take remedial measures, it is imperative to be cognizant of the contribution of each layer to ascertain the cause of underlying phenomena of rutting. This research study demonstrates the analysis of the pavement transverse surface profile that could be used to identify the layer responsible for the permanent deformation. Transverse surface profiling techniqueis easier, non-destructive, and economicalas compared to traditional methods of coring and trenching to examine underlying layers. A 300 meter section on National Highway (N-5) was selected exhibiting severe rutting to perform transverse profile analysis. Results of this study suggest that rutting at the selected site is mainly due to the shear failure of HMA layer. These results were also validated by field trenching on the test section. The study concluded that HMA layer should be removed and replaced with appropriately designed high performance mix specifications.

Abstract: Steel cylindrical reservoirs had the highest utilization in the field of oil source storage and petrochemical in the recent years due to their significant importance. These types of reservoirs are conventionally made with steady and floating roofs. Long term erosion agents have destructive impacts on dynamic features of these reservoirs. Results of numerical researches demonstrate that the internal corrosion of reservoir walls as a constant dependent to time, which is made due to the connection of fluids and chemical interactions with the internal wall of reservoir causes the corrosion of inside the reservoir wall and reduction in wall stiffness. In this research dynamic behavior of three models of steel cylindrical reservoirs (with the same height to diameter proportion) containing fluid is modeled using ANSYS software by applying the finite element method. In this modeling, features of a cylindrical reservoir containing 0.9 height of liquid is used which its fluid is considered to be incompressible and viscose. First Modal and Harmonic analyses are used to evaluate the natural frequency and formed mode-shapes in the tank-fluid system. These models are compared and verified with the similar and current experimental formulas. Next by applying corrosion on one of the tanks, dynamic features are evaluated using the software. Then some mass is applied in the place of corrosion to the walls of reservoir with proper boundary conditions in several steps, which in each step, the changes in the added mass are considered using the transient analysis and finally the natural frequency is evaluated. This cycle continued until the frequency of reservoir having added mass has equaled to the frequency of corrosion reservoir which this method is called equivalent mass. In the end, the added mass to the reservoir is formulated using mathematical techniques. Based on the analytical results we found that corrosion or long term erosion have remarkable influences on natural frequency, mode-shapes of structures and its vibration.