Finite element formulation for free vibration of composite beams

Investigations concerning the dynamic response of composite beams with partial interaction are scarce. Derivation of the differential equations describing the interaction between composite elements normally involves with the solution of high order system of equations, which closed form solutions are difficult. This study concerns with the finite element formulation of composite beams for free vibration. The formulation involves with the establishment of the stiffness matrix and the mass matrix of the beam. The former was obtained through extremization of the total potential energy (or Hamilton principle for dynamic) whilst the latter was obtained by lumping the elements mass at nodes. Natural frequencies of the beam were obtained as eigenvalues. These were then verified by existing analytical solution

Ranking of Skudai river sub-watersheds from sustainability indices - application of promethee method

In this study, ranking of sub-watersheds in the Skudai River watershed was developed from the sustainability index. The watershed sustainability index (WSI) was developed by considering two important parameters such as potential flood damages (PFD) and potential water quality deterioration (PWQD) parameters. Preference Ranking Organization Method (PROMETHEE), a multicriteria decision making (MCDM) method, was used and WSI scores for 25 Skudai River sub-watersheds were produced. Based on the WSI score, a ranking of sub-watersheds was developed to locate the more problematic areas in the Skudai River watershed. The middle and lower parts of the Skudai River watershed were found to have considerably low sustainability score which suggested the degradation of sub-watersheds from water quality and flood damage parameters. The ranking of sub-watersheds in this study will assist planners and decision makers to identify the problematic areas within the watershed so that priority interventions can be built before the problem gets worse and affects other areas of the Skudai River watershed

Wave evolution on gentle slopes - statistical analysis and Green-Naghdi modelling

An understanding of extreme waves is important in the design and analysis of offshore structures, such as oil and gas platforms. With the increase of interest in the shipping of LNG, the design of import and export terminals in coastal water of slowly varying intermediate depth requires accurate analysis of steep wave shoaling. In this thesis, data from laboratory experiments involving random wave simulations on very gentle slopes have been analysed in terms of a model of large wave events, and the results interpreted by observation of the shape and magnitude of the large wave events. The auto-correlation function of the free surface elevation time histories, called NewWave, has been calculated from the wave spectrum and shown to fit very well up to the point where waves start to break (when compared to the ‘linear’ surface elevation time history). It has been shown that NewWave is an appropriate model for the shape of the ‘linear’ part of large waves provided kd &gt; 0.5. A Stokes-like expansion for NewWave analysis has been demonstrated to match the average shape of the largest waves, accounting for the dominant vertical asymmetry. Furthermore, an appropriate local wave period derived from NewWave has been inserted into a Miche-based limiting criterion, using the linear dispersion equation, to obtain estimates for the limiting wave height. Overall, the analysis confirms the Miche-type criterion applies to limiting wave height for waves passing over very mild bed slopes. A derivation of general Green-Naghdi (GN) theory, which incorporates non-linear terms in its formulation, is also presented. This approach satisfies the boundary conditions exactly and approximates the field equations. The derived 2-dimensional vertical GN Level 1 model, capable of simulating steep waves on varying water depth, is validated against solitary waves and their interactions, and solitary waves on varying water depth and gives good qualitative agreement against the KdV equation. The developed and validated numerical model is used to simulate focussed wave groups on both constant depth and gentle slope. In general, the behaviour of waves simulated by the numerical model is very similar to that observed in the experimental data. There is evidence of vertical asymmetry as the water depth is reduced, owing to the non-linearity. Although the main physics is still controlled by linear dispersion, the higher order harmonics become increasingly important for shoaling waves. The numerical results also show a slope-induced wave set-up that keeps on increasing in amplitude as the wave group travels on the gentle slope.</p

Modelling the effects of urbanization on nutrients pollution for prospective management of a tropical watershed: a case study of Skudai river watershed

Nutrient pollution is considered as a primary factor of water quality deterioration in urban-dominated watersheds in which an informed decision on the management strategies are required to improve the water quality condition. The Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) model is used to evaluate the impacts of pollution by these nutrients using the Skudai River watershed in Malaysia as a case study. A developed land-use/land-cover (LU/LC) scenarios were used to evaluate these impacts. Statistical methods were employed to assess the extent of these impacts and their significance in shifting the trophic state of the rivers in the watershed. The study shows that when urban development increases from 18.2 to 49.2%, the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads increase from 3.08 to 4.56 × 10 3 kg/yr and from 0.13 to 0.27 × 103 kg/yr, respectively. Streamflow and stream concentrations (NH3[sbnd]N, NO3[sbnd]N, and PO4-P) produce varying responses as the watershed land-use changes (from 1989 to 2039). As the rivers in the watershed shift their trophic state with respect to the level of anthropogenic disturbance within their catchments, the TN and TP concentrations at the estuaries are likely to change from oligotrophic to eutrophic state. This is an indication that the Johor Strait and the coastal rivers will be exposed to eutrophication, subsequently resulting in harmful algal bloom. This condition can be prevented by integrating water quality management alongside urban development because it is observed that a control of non-point source (NPS) pollutants from 1% of the urban development will decrease TN and TP concentration in Skudai River by 0.023 mg/L and 0.004 mg/L respectively

Wave evolution on gentle slopes - statistical analysis and Green-Naghdi modelling

An understanding of extreme waves is important in the design and analysis of offshore structures, such as oil and gas platforms. With the increase of interest in the shipping of LNG, the design of import and export terminals in coastal water of slowly varying intermediate depth requires accurate analysis of steep wave shoaling. In this thesis, data from laboratory experiments involving random wave simulations on very gentle slopes have been analysed in terms of a model of large wave events, and the results interpreted by observation of the shape and magnitude of the large wave events. The auto-correlation function of the free surface elevation time histories, called NewWave, has been calculated from the wave spectrum and shown to fit very well up to the point where waves start to break (when compared to the ‘linear’ surface elevation time history). It has been shown that NewWave is an appropriate model for the shape of the ‘linear’ part of large waves provided kd > 0.5. A Stokes-like expansion for NewWave analysis has been demonstrated to match the average shape of the largest waves, accounting for the dominant vertical asymmetry. Furthermore, an appropriate local wave period derived from NewWave has been inserted into a Miche-based limiting criterion, using the linear dispersion equation, to obtain estimates for the limiting wave height. Overall, the analysis confirms the Miche-type criterion applies to limiting wave height for waves passing over very mild bed slopes. A derivation of general Green-Naghdi (GN) theory, which incorporates non-linear terms in its formulation, is also presented. This approach satisfies the boundary conditions exactly and approximates the field equations. The derived 2-dimensional vertical GN Level 1 model, capable of simulating steep waves on varying water depth, is validated against solitary waves and their interactions, and solitary waves on varying water depth and gives good qualitative agreement against the KdV equation. The developed and validated numerical model is used to simulate focussed wave groups on both constant depth and gentle slope. In general, the behaviour of waves simulated by the numerical model is very similar to that observed in the experimental data. There is evidence of vertical asymmetry as the water depth is reduced, owing to the non-linearity. Although the main physics is still controlled by linear dispersion, the higher order harmonics become increasingly important for shoaling waves. The numerical results also show a slope-induced wave set-up that keeps on increasing in amplitude as the wave group travels on the gentle slope.This thesis is not currently available in ORA

Responses of stream water quality concentrations to vegetative cover variation in Muar River watershed

Analysis of the historical land-cover of Muar River watershed has shown that forest and agriculture are the dominant land-covers over the last three decades. This information was used to evaluate the relationship between the vegetative landscape variation to stream water quality concentrations which was to provide an insight for management of water quality under humid tropical climate. Three out of the six water quality variables simulated using the hydrological simulation program FORTRAN (HSPF) model are sensitive to change in vegetative land-covers which include; biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), and orthophosphate (PO4) concentrations. However, total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO), and ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) concentrations remain insensitive. Further analysis shows that patch density (PD) has a little impact on BOD, NO3-N, and PO4 concentrations compared to edge density (ED), largest patch index (LPI), and landscape shape index (LSI) under varied landscape conditions. However, large ED, LPI, and LSI indices in both forest and agriculture will result to increase in BOD, NO3-N, and PO4 concentrations. Therefore, adequate knowledge of the responses of the water quality concentrations to landscape pattern and its dynamics can serve as an alternative solution to stream water quality deterioration in an abundant rainfall region

Numerical study on drag and lift coefficients of a marine riser at high Reynolds number using COMSOL multiphysics

Flow around a marine riser in water at the drag crisis regime was investigated using numerical modelling. In this regime, the drag coefficient drops off at a certain Reynolds number due to a change from laminar to turbulent flow. The aim is to investigate the capability of turbulence model to predict drag coefficient through COMSOL Multiphysics, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) transient solver and compared against existing numerical models and experiment by Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN). Numerically, drag and lift forces depend on the point of separation from the cylinder in which different turbulence modelling will result in varying separation point and will lead to different vortex formation and the drag force. Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) was employed using the k-ϵ and Menter's Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model in two-dimensional CFD simulation. Six Reynolds numbers, similar to the test case, were considered. It can be concluded that the standard k-ϵ turbulence model, can only provide a good approximation at high turbulence regime, which is Reynolds number of 3.15 ° 105 and higher. While, SST turbulence model can provide a good approximation at subcritical regime which before the sudden drop of drag force regimes

Laboratory investigation of non-aqueous phase liquids migration in double-porosity kaolin soil

The evolution in developed countries has taken a role in global warming and natural disasters such as flash flood, El-Nino, earthquake and groundwater contamination. The underground storage tank leakage problems and spillage of hydrocarbon liquid leading to the contamination of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) into the groundwater could reduce the quality of groundwater. This chapter is intended to investigate the behaviour and the pattern of NAPL migrations in double-porosity soil under vibration and intact conditions. The experimental model is developed by using kaolin soil type S300 and toluene as NAPLs. The kaolin soil was mixed with 25% of moisture content to produce kaolin granules in the soil column and vibrate under 0.98 Hz of frequency within 60 seconds. As a result, both specimen liquids completely migrated to the bottom of soil column: Sample 1 has higher permeability compared to sample 2. This is due to the fracture in double-porosity soil under vibration effect and loosened the soil structure in sample 1 compared to good intact soil sample 2 with stronger and compact soil structure. In conclusion, this study proves that the dangerous hydrocarbon NAPL migration in fractured double-porosity soil has very harmful effect on the environment and groundwater resources

Improved quantitative microbiome profiling for environmental antibiotic resistance surveillance

Background: Understanding environmental microbiomes and antibiotic resistance (AR) is hindered by over reliance on relative abundance data from next-generation sequencing. Relative data limits our ability to quantify changes in microbiomes and resistomes over space and time because sequencing depth is not considered and makes data less suitable for Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessments (QMRA), critical in quantifying environmental AR exposure and transmission risks. Results: Here we combine quantitative microbiome profiling (QMP; parallelization of amplicon sequencing and 16S rRNA qPCR to estimate cell counts) and absolute resistome profiling (based on high-throughput qPCR) to quantify AR along an anthropogenically impacted river. We show QMP overcomes biases caused by relative taxa abundance data and show the benefits of using unified Hill number diversities to describe environmental microbial communities. Our approach overcomes weaknesses in previous methods and shows Hill numbers are better for QMP in diversity characterisation. Conclusions: Methods here can be adapted for any microbiome and resistome research question, but especially providing more quantitative data for QMRA and other environmental applications