17,228 research outputs found
Structural optimisation problem in support to building retrofitting decision
Various analysis methods, either linear elastic or non-linear, static or dynamic, are available for the performance analysis of existing buildings. Despite its advantages, it must be admitted that non-linear time history analysis can frequently become overly complex and impractical for general use as a first assessment. Simplified models, as the Capacity Spectrum Method, are frequently not able to accurately assess irregular structures. Considering these limitations, it is proposed and evaluated a simplified MDOF non-linear dynamic model, accounting for non-linear storey behaviour and storey damping. Based on the MDOF non-linear dynamic model, were developed optimization algorithms for the redesign of existing non-seismically designed structures. The optimization procedure searches for the optimum storey strengthening distribution (strength, stiffness or damping) in order to meet specific performance requirements, in terms of maximum inter-storey drift for a given seismic demand level. Numerical examples are presented in order to illustrate the capability of methodology
Multilateral negotiations over climate change policy
Negotiations in the real world have many features which tend to be ignored inpolicy modeling. They are often multilateral, involving many negotiating parties with preferences over outcomes that can differ substantially. They are also often multi-dimensional,in the sense that several policies are negotiated over simultaneously. Trade negotiations are a prime example, as are negotiations over environmental policies toabate carbon dioxide. We demonstrate how one can formally model this type of negotiation process. We use a policy-oriented computable general equilibrium model to generate preference functions which are then used in a formal multilateral bargaining game. The case study is to climate change policy, but the main contribution is to demonstrate how one can integrate formal economic models of the impacts of policies with formal bargaining models of the negotiations over those policies.CGE, bilateral bargaining, CO2, Climate Change
Hypothetical, real, and predicted real willingness to pay in open-ended surveys: experimental results
This study reports the results of experiments designed to elicit, within a controlled laboratory environment, hypothetical and real willingness to pay for an environmental educational program using the open-ended question format. By maintaining both the good and the question format constant across the treatments, our experiments overcome the shortcomings of recently reported experimental results, providing a clean test for hypothetical bias in open-ended valuations. Having found a statistically significant difference between the hypothetical and real values, we turn into the question of whether hypothetical valuations may nonetheless provide useful statistical information concerning individuals’ real valuations. This question, which is perhaps the key question in the current state of the debate surrounding the contingent valuation method, is answered affirmatively in this study.experimental methods, contingent valuation methods, calibration methods
Has Portugal gone wireless? Looking back, Looking ahead
This paper analyses the pattern and rate of adoption of mobile telephones by the Portuguese population. It is shown that the pattern of diffusion is S-shaped and is consistent with a logistic function, which describes a symmetrical growth process. Furthermore, it is found that 67 percent of the population will likely adopt mobile phones, and that the levelling-off process in the diffusion of mobile phones has already begun. The analysis is intended to inform the larger discussion of managing the communications service, as well as to assist analysts concerned about assessing the impact of public policies in the evolution of communications sectors.technology diffusion, mobile telecommunications
The Redner - Ben-Avraham - Kahng cluster system
We consider a coagulation model first introduced by Redner, Ben-Avraham and
Krapivsky in [Redner, Ben-Avraham, Kahng: Kinetics of 'cluster eating', J.
Phys. A: Math. Gen., 20 (1987), 1231-1238], the main feature of which is that
the reaction between a j-cluster and a k-cluster results in the creation of a
|j-k|-cluster, and not, as in Smoluchowski's model, of a (j+k)-cluster. In this
paper we prove existence and uniqueness of solutions under reasonably general
conditions on the coagulation coefficients, and we also establish
differenciability properties and continuous dependence of solutions. Some
interesting invariance properties are also proved. Finally, we study the
long-time behaviour of solutions, and also present a preliminary analysis of
their scaling behaviour.Comment: 24 pages. 2 figures. Dedicated to Carlos Rocha and Luis Magalhaes on
the occasion of their sixtieth birthday
On the convergence to critical scaling profiles in submonolayer deposition models
In this work we study the rate of convergence to similarity profiles in a
mean field model for the deposition of a submonolayer of atoms in a crystal
facet, when there is a critical minimal size for the stability of the
formed clusters. The work complements recently published related results by the
same authors in which the rate of convergence was studied outside of a critical
direction in the cluster size vs. time plane. In this paper
we consider a different similarity variable, ,
corresponding to an inner expansion of that critical direction, and prove the
convergence of solutions to a similarity profile when with fixed, as well as the rate at which the limit is
approached.Comment: Dedicated to the memory of Jack Car
Rates of convergence to scaling profiles in a submonolayer deposition model and the preservation of memory of the initial condition
We establish rates of convergence of solutions to scaling (or similarity)
profiles in a coagulation type system modelling submonolayer deposition. We
prove that, although all memory of the initial condition is lost in the
similarity limit, information about the large cluster tail of the initial
condition is preserved in the rate of approach to the similarity profile. The
proof relies in a change of variables that allows for the decoupling of the
original infinite system of ordinary differential equations into a closed
two-dimensional nonlinear system for the monomer--bulk dynamics and a lower
triangular infinite dimensional linear one for the cluster dynamics. The
detailed knowledge of the long time monomer concentration, which was obtained
earlier by Costin et al. in (O. Costin, M. Grinfeld, K.P. O'Neill and H. Park,
Long-time behaviour of point islands under fixed rate deposition, Commun. Inf.
Syst. 13, (2), (2013), pp.183-200) using asymptotic methods and is rederived
here by center manifold arguments, is then used for the asymptotic evaluation
of an integral representation formula for the concentration of -clusters.
The use of higher order expressions, both for the Stirling expansion and for
the monomer evolution at large times allow us to obtain, not only the
similarity limit, but also the rate at which it is approached.Comment: Revised according to referee's suggestions; to be published in SIAM
J. Math. Ana
The Redner - Ben-Avraham - Kahng coagulation system with constant coefficients: the finite dimensional case
We study the behaviour as of solutions to the
Redner--Ben-Avraham--Kahng coagulation system with positive and compactly
supported initial data, rigorously proving and slightly extending results
originally established in [4] by means of formal arguments.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur
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