10,016 research outputs found

    An evaluation of the hygrothermal performance of 'standard' and 'as built' construction details using steadystate and transient modelling

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    Accurate assessment of both surface and interstitial condensation risk at the design stage of buildings is of great importance - not just to minimise the damaging effects moisture can cause to building envelopes, but also to contribute to the provision of adequate indoor air quality. Guidance certainly does exist with regards to limiting thermal bridging in order to prevent condensation occurring on new constructions. However, a recent study has provided clear evidence that the reality, both in translating the available guidance into a specific design and in construction on site is often rather different from the 'ideal'. This paper reports on that study and compares and evaluates the hygrothermal performance of construction details for different phases during the building life cycle. The results of both the surface and interstitial condensation risk simulations under both steady-state and transient conditions are presented and discussed. Significant differences in the hygrothermal performance of 'standard' and 'as built' construction details are observed

    Compressed sensing with near-field THz radiation

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    We demonstrate a form of near-field terahertz (THz) imaging that is compatible with compressed sensing algorithms. By spatially photomodulating THz pulses using a set of shaped binary optical patterns and employing a 6-Ī¼m-thick silicon wafer, we are able to reconstruct THz images of an object placed on the exit interface of the wafer. A single-element detector is used to measure the electric field amplitude of transmitted THz radiation for each projected pattern, with the ultra-thin wafer allowing us to access the THz evanescent near fields to achieve a spatial resolution of āˆ¼9ā€‰ā€‰Ī¼māˆ¼9ā€‰ā€‰Ī¼m

    Condensation risk ā€“ impact of improvements to Part L and robust details on Part C Final report: BD2414

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    This report summarises the main findings of the project ā€˜Impacts of Improvements to Part L and Robust Construction Details (RCD) on Part Cā€™. The work consisted of a fieldwork element, undertaken by Leeds Metropolitan University and a modelling element carried out by University College London. Details of the work programme are contained in Appendix 1. The fieldwork consisted of the analysis of design material and site surveys from 16 housing developments constructed to Part L 2002 and adopting the Robust Construction Detail route to compliance. The modelling element of the project sought to identify the extent to which the ā€˜as builtā€™ details give rise to a significantly increased condensation risk as compared to the relevant ā€˜standardā€™ robust construction details, as defined in the guidance. In addition to assessing ā€˜as builtā€™ performance, the modelling phase of the project has investigated the suitability of the relevant calculation methods used to assess the risk of surface and interstitial condensation and mould growth. This report draws together the important conclusions from the project which has previously been presented in several very detailed interim reports and also for the first time presents the results of a workshop where these results were discussed to obtain industry feedback. The overall conclusions, future work and dissemination plans are also presented

    Innovation collaboration and appropriability by knowledge-intensive business services firms

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    We uncover a ā€œparadox of formal appropriability mechanismsā€ in the case of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms. Despite evidence that KIBS firms do not typically consider formal appropriability mechanisms, such as patents, to be central mechanisms for capturing value from innovation, we show that they are nevertheless important for their innovation collaboration. Drawing on an original survey of publicly-traded UK and US KIBS firms, we find a significant positive association between the importance of innovation collaboration and the importance of formal appropriability mechanisms. We interrogate the evidence for clients, as they are the most important partners for innovation collaboration. We find that the importance of innovation collaboration with clients goes hand-in-hand with the importance of formal appropriability mechanisms, although a negative relation appears when firms assign very high importance to formal appropriability mechanisms. Thus, modest levels of emphasis on formal appropriability mechanisms may prevent conflicts over ownership of jointly developed knowledge assets and knowledge leakages, while also avoiding the possibly negative effects of overly strict controls by legal departments on innovation collaboration. As well as exploring formal appropriability mechanisms, we also investigate the relationship between contractual and strategic appropriability mechanisms and innovation collaboration for KIBS firms

    Capturing value from innovation in knowledge-intensive business service firms: the role of competitive strategy

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    Building on a problem-solving perspective to value creation and capture, and on the business strategy literature, we argue that the actions that knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms take to identify, select and solve client problems will affect their approach to capturing value from innovation. We apply regression analysis to data from an original survey involving a sample of 230 innovations introduced by 150 publicly-traded UK and US KIBS firms. Distinguishing between cost- and differentiation-oriented KIBS firms, we find that cost-oriented firms tend to place more importance on all appropriability mechanisms than do differentiation-oriented firms. Furthermore, the perceived importance of formal appropriability mechanisms, relative to that of all appropriability mechanisms, tends to be higher for cost-oriented than for differentiation-oriented firms. This association is stronger for the case of the introduction of process (rather than product) innovation. These findings contribute to the strategy and service innovation literatures, by showing that KIBS firmsā€™ competitive strategies influence value capture, over and above the role of the innovation-, industry-, and institutional-level factors examined in earlier studies

    AnimDiff: Comparing 3D Animations for Revision Control

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    The process of animating a complex 3D character can be a time consuming activity which may take several iterations and several artists working in collaboration, each iteration improving some elements of the animation but potentially introducing artifacts in others. At present there exists no formal process to collate these various revisions in a manner that allows for close examination of their differences, which would help speed up the creation of 3D animations. To address this we present a method for equivalence checking and displaying differences between differing versions of an animated 3D model. Implemented in a tool that allows selective blending of animations, this provides a first step towards a 3D animation revision control system
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