Voronoi-Like grid systems for tall buildings

In the context of innovative patterns for tall buildings, Voronoi tessellation is certainly worthy of interest. It is an irregular biomimetic pattern based on the Voronoi diagram, which derives from the direct observation of natural structures. The paper is mainly focused on the application of this nature-inspired typology to load-resisting systems for tall buildings, investigating the potential of non-regular grids on the global mechanical response of the structure. In particular, the study concentrates on the periodic and non-periodic Voronoi tessellation, describing the procedure for generating irregular patterns through parametric modeling and illustrates the homogenization-based approach proposed in the literature for dealing with unconventional patterns. To appreciate the consistency of preliminary design equations, numerical and analytical results are compared. Moreover, since the mechanical response of the building strongly depends on the parameters of the microstructure, the paper focuses on the influence of the grid arrangement on the global lateral stiffness, therefore on the displacement constraint, which is an essential requirement in the design of tall buildings. To this end, five case studies, accounting for different levels of irregularity and relative density, are generated and analyzed through static and modal analysis in the elastic field. In addition, the paper focuses on the mechanical response of a pattern with gradual rarefying density to evaluate its applicability to tall buildings. Displacement based optimizations are carried out to assess the adequate member cross sections that provide the maximum contribution in restraining deflection with the minimum material weight. The results obtained for all the models generated are compared and discussed to outline a final evaluation of the Voronoi structures. In addition to the wind loading scenario, the efficiency of the building model with varying density Voronoi pattern, is tested for seismic ground motion through a response spectrum analysis. The potential applications of Voronoi tessellation for tall buildings is demonstrated for both regions with high wind load conditions and areas of high seismicity

Multi-objective optimal seismic design of buildings using advanced engineering materials

Although seismic safety remains a major concern of society--and unfortunately this observation has been underpinned by recent earthquakes--economy and sustainability in seismic design are growing issues that the engineering community must face due to increasing human population and excessive use of the earth???s nonrenewable resources. Previous studies have addressed the design and assessment of buildings under seismic loading considering a single objective, namely, safety. Seismic design codes and regulations also center on this objective. The goal of this study is to develop a framework that concurrently addresses the societal-level objectives of safety, economy and sustainability using consistent tools at every component of the analysis. To this end, a high-performance material; namely, engineered cementitious composites (ECC) is utilized. ECC is classified under the general class of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC); however, ECC is superior to conventional FRC in many aspects, but most importantly in its properties of energy absorption, shear resistance and damage tolerance, all of which are utilized in the proposed procedure. The behavior of ECC is characterized through an experimental program at the small-scale (scale factor equal to 1/8). Numerical modeling of ECC is also performed to carry out structural level simulations to complement the experimental data. A constitutive model is developed for ECC and validated at the material, component and system levels. Additionally, a parametric study of ECC columns is performed to investigate the effect of material tensile properties on the structural level response metrics. Reducing the LCC of buildings (through reductions in material usage and seismic damage cost) is required to achieve the objectives of economy and sustainability. A rigorous LCC formulation that uses advanced analysis for structural assessment, and that takes into account all sources of uncertainty, is used along with an efficient search algorithm to compare the optimal design solutions. A novel aspect of this work is that three different structural frames are considered, RC, ECC and a multi-material frame in which ECC is deployed only at the critical locations (e.g. plastic hinges) to improve seismic performance. By considering the inelastic behavior of structures and incorporating all the required components, the proposed framework is generic and applicable to other types of construction such as bridges, to other innovative materials such as high performance steels, and to other extreme loading scenarios such as wind and blast.unpublishednot peer reviewe

Optimization of concentrically braced steel frame structures based on SNI 1726:2019, SNI 1727:2020, SNI 1729:2020, and AISC 341-16

Damages resulted from earthquakes are a loss in the economic sector. The structure of multi-story buildings needs an earthquake-proof design with higher performance to reduce such losses. By utilizing the metaheuristic algorithm, this study aims to identify the most compatible brace configuration and profile used in a concentrically braced steel frame structures with minimal total weight and that will meet the safety requirements. This algorithm is suitable owing to the fact that it is able to find solutions to any known optimization problem either through Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Symbiotic Organisms Search (SOS), or Differential Evolution (DE). The performance of these algorithms will demonstrated in a form of comparison through a case study of optimizing a 5-span, 6-story steel frame structure. These systems will determine the lightest frame weight, which also correlates to a lower construction cost, without compromising the constraints of SNI 1726:2019, SNI 1727:2020, SNI 1729:2020, and AISC 341-16. Based on the results of data processing, SOS is shown to achieve the highest algorithm performance compared to PSO and DE

Laser diode area melting for high speed additive manufacturing of metallic components

Additive manufacturing processes have been developed to a stage where they can now be routinely used to manufacture net-shape high-value components. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) comprises of either a single or multiple deflected high energy fibre laser source(s) to raster scan, melt and fuse layers of metallic powdered feedstock. However this deflected laser raster scanning methodology is high cost, energy inefficient and encounters significant limitations on output productivity due to the rate of feedstock melting. This work details the development of a new additive manufacturing process known as Diode Area Melting (DAM). This process utilises customised architectural arrays of low power laser diode emitters for high speed parallel processing of metallic feedstock. Individually addressable diode emitters are used to selectively melt feedstock from a pre-laid powder bed. The laser diodes operate at shorter laser wavelengths (808 nm) than conventional SLM fibre lasers (1064 nm) theoretically enabling more efficient energy absorption for specific materials. The melting capabilities of the DAM process were tested for low melting point eutectic BiZn2.7 elemental powders and higher temperature pre-alloyed 17-4 stainless steel powder. The process was shown to be capable of fabricating controllable geometric features with evidence of complete melting and fusion between multiple powder layers

Optimisation and Decision Support during the Conceptual Stage of Building Design

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/726 on 28.02.2017 by CS (TIS)Modern building design is complex and involves many different disciplines operating in a fragmented manner. Appropriate computer-based decision support (DS) tools are sought that can raise the level of integration of different activities at the conceptual stage, in order to help create better designs solutions. This project investigates opportunities that exist for using techniques based upon the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to support critical activities of conceptual building design (CBD). Collective independent studies have shown that the GA is a powerful optimisation and exploratory search technique with widespread application. The GA is essentially very simple yet it offers robustness and domain independence. The GA efficiently searches a domain to exploit highly suitable information. It maintains multiple solutions to problems simultaneously and is well suited to non-linear problems and those of a discontinuous nature found in engineering design. The literature search first examines traditional approaches to supporting conceptual design. Existing GA techniques and applications are discussed which include pioneering studies in the field of detailed structural design. Broader GA studies are also reported which have demonstrated possibilities for investigating geometrical, topological and member size variation. The tasks and goals of conceptual design are studied. A rationale is introduced, aimed at enabling the GA to be applied in a manner that provides the most effective support to the designer. Numerical experiments with floor planning are presented. These studies provide a basic foundation for a subsequent design support system (DSS) capable of generating structural design concepts. A hierarchical Structured GA (SGA) created by Dasgupta et al [1] is investigated to support the generation of diverse structural design concepts. The SGA supports variation in the size, shape and structural configuration of a building and in the choice of structural frame type and floor system. The benefits and limitations of the SGA approach are discussed. The creation of a prototype DSS system, abritrarily called Designer-Pro (DPRO), is described. A detailed building design model is introduced which is required for design development and appraisal. Simplifications, design rationale and generic component modelling are mentioned. A cost-based single criteria optimisation problem (SCOP) is created in which other constraints are represented as design parameters. The thesis describes the importance of the object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigm for creating a versatile design model and the need for complementary graphical user interface (GUI) tools to provide human-computer interaction (HCI) capabilities for control and intelligent design manipulation. Techniques that increase flexibility in the generation and appraisal of concept are presented. Tools presented include a convergence plot of design solutions that supports cursor-interrogation to reveal the details of individual concepts. The graph permits study of design progression, or evolution of optimum design solutions. A visualisation tool is also presented. The DPRO system supports multiple operating modes, including single-design appraisal and enumerative search (ES). Case study examples are provided which demonstrate the applicability of the DPRO system to a range of different design scenarios. The DPRO system performs well in all tests. A parametric study demonstrates the potential of the system for DS. Limitations of the current approach and opportunities to broaden the study form part of the scope for further work. Some suggestions for further study are made, based upon newly-emerging techniques

Optimum design of reinforced concrete skeletal systems using non-linear programming techniques.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN033993 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Parallel Manipulators

In recent years, parallel kinematics mechanisms have attracted a lot of attention from the academic and industrial communities due to potential applications not only as robot manipulators but also as machine tools. Generally, the criteria used to compare the performance of traditional serial robots and parallel robots are the workspace, the ratio between the payload and the robot mass, accuracy, and dynamic behaviour. In addition to the reduced coupling effect between joints, parallel robots bring the benefits of much higher payload-robot mass ratios, superior accuracy and greater stiffness; qualities which lead to better dynamic performance. The main drawback with parallel robots is the relatively small workspace. A great deal of research on parallel robots has been carried out worldwide, and a large number of parallel mechanism systems have been built for various applications, such as remote handling, machine tools, medical robots, simulators, micro-robots, and humanoid robots. This book opens a window to exceptional research and development work on parallel mechanisms contributed by authors from around the world. Through this window the reader can get a good view of current parallel robot research and applications