Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings Using Solid65 Element

The use of shear wall-buildings is quite common in some earthquake prone regions. During seismic excitation, they contribute in absorbing moments and shear forces and reduce torsional response. Usually, architectural design leads to the existence of doors and windows within shear walls. Previous researches on the behavior of shear walls with openings assumed elastic analysis utilizing shell and brick elements. The present work adopts nonlinear finite element analysis using solid65 element. The analysis comprises both material and geometric nonlinearities. Solid65 element models the nonlinear response of concrete material based on a constitutive model for the triaxial behavior of concrete after Williams and Warnke. Five shear wall models with different opening sizes are analyzed. A sixth model of a solid shear wall is also presented to compare the analysis results. The paper studies the effect of the size of the openings on the behavior of the reinforced concrete shear walls. The study indicates that openings of small dimensions yield minor effects on the response of shear walls with respect to both normal stresses along the base level of shear walls and maximum drift. Cantilever behavior similar to that of a solid shear wall takes place and analogous to that of coupled shear walls. On the other hand, when openings are large enough, shear walls behave as connected shear walls, exhibiting frame action behavior

Affective Witnessing: [Trans]posing the Western/Muslim Divide to Document Refugee Spaces

Architectural Affects after Deleuze and Guattari is the first sustained survey into ways of theorising affect in architecture. It reflects on the legacy and influence of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in the uptake of affect in architectural discourse and practice, and stresses the importance of the political in discussions of affect. It is a timely antidote to an enduring fixation on architectural phenomenology in the field. The contributors offer a variety of approaches to the challenge

English Teachers’ Perceptions on Using Arabic in English Language Teaching in Al-Ain in United Arab Emirates

This study investigated the use of Arabic in teaching English as a foreign language from the perspectives of English language teachers in the context of Al-Ain public schools in United Arab Emirates. The QUAN-QUAL model (triangulation) was employed in which the quantitative and qualitative data were concurrently collected throughout the study. The target population was the teachers of English from Al-Ain public schools. The researcher applied the proportional stratified sampling. The subgroups were the population of teachers divided by teaching cycle which made a sample of 100 participants. The study utilized three data collection instruments; a questionnaire distributed to 100 participants, semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 participants and classroom observations with 2 teachers purposively chosen based on their responses in the interviews. The findings supported the judicious use of Arabic in some situations in English language teaching (ELT) and revealed that using Arabic can raise students\u27 participation and prevent time being wasted on tortuous explanation and instruction. The results also highlighted that using Arabic can facilitate English learning by being an aid to creating an affective learning environment as a facilitator of students\u27 comprehension. Additionally, it was found that once Arabic is not overused and its use is modified to the context of each class, it could be seen as an efficient tool in the ELT classroom, especially for teaching grammar and explaining abstract words. Thus, it was found that Arabic can be proportionally a classroom resource in some cases, but the potential drawbacks must be always considered in case of the over-reliance on Arabic in English language. It is recommended that the results of the study are considered by the curriculum developers and policy makers. The researcher also proposed that further studies should be undertaken on larger scales to develop more understanding of teachers\u27 attitudes towards using Arabic in EFL classrooms in the Emirati context. Additionally, there may be a need to conduct experimental studies in order to evaluate the actual role of Arabic in these situations, which is likely to make an important contribution to the development of a systematic way of using Arabic to the end of effective English language teaching and learning

The nonlinear analysis of an innovative slit reinforced concrete water tower in seismic regions

Water towers are widely used in our society as one of water distribution facilities within water network systems. In the event of a severe earthquake, however, a single plastic hinge that occurs in a water tower could cause its total collapse before nonlinear resources of the rest of the tower remains fully utilised. This research presents an innovative technique for the assembly of a water tower using the slits in its reinforced concrete shaft for the purpose of mitigating the seismic response. Slit shafts were designed to have four slits at 90 degree intervals along the full height of the shafts. The shaft parts were connected to each other at the bottom, top and every five meters with coupling beams. The slit width was used as a variable in this study which varied between 50 mm and 2000 mm. The nonlinear seismic performance of the proposed slit towers was analysed by means of a finite element approach with respect to soil types defined in Eurocode 8 and seismic behaviour were compared to the solid water tower. A detailed observation of the compression and tension stress distributions with respect to the slit width was performed. The obtained analytical results revealed that slit width in the reinforced concrete tower affect the failure mode and stiffness of a water tower significantly. With an appropriate design, the conversion of a solid water tower into a slit tower can significantly increase its ductility under seismic action without significantly compromising its bearing capacity. The results showed that contours of tension and compression stress intensity in shafts, which could lead to a failure of water towers, highly depended on the slit width. In the solid water tower, the stress concentration dominated at the base of the shaft, however in the narrow slit water towers the stresses were equally distributed along the height of the shafts. Also, the stresses were mostly concentrated at the top of the shafts in the wide slit water towers. Conclusively, the results provided useful information regarding the compression stress distribution along the slit shafts in the water towers which can be used in obtaining an optimum slit shaft design for different soil types

Witnessing as a Feminist Spatial Practice: Encountering the Refugee Camp Beyond Recognition

This PhD thesis aims to engage with the political, cultural and (thus) spatial complexities of an architectural inquiry into the refugee camp. This, in turn, offers a methodology that reclaims the position of the architect as a witness. To do so, it proposes a (postcolonial) feminist approach that thinks of the refugee camp as an encounter; critically, it acknowledges the injustices practised by the ‘refugee regime complex’ operating within refugee camps. Located in Za’atri refugee camp in Jordan, it explores the institutional hierarchies of the camp as it operates within a humanitarian NGO paradigm. Through a critique of the anthropocentric nature of such NGOs, I argue for the necessity of a relational, spatial and feminist approach that pays attention to the affective and political economies circulating through these structures

Numerical Evaluation of the Thermo-Mechanical Response of Shallow Reinforced Concrete Beams

Abstract A precise understanding of the thermo-mechanical response of shallow reinforced concrete beams is necessary to be able to design the proper sections for the shallow flexural elements, that could serve their intended purpose, in terms of safety and serviceability requirements, keeping in my mind the dominant use of ribbed slabs with concealed shallow beams in many countries. The study involves building a finite element structural model of a shallow reinforced concrete beam for the evaluation of the structural performance and thermal cracking at different temperatures. Material nonlinearity is taken into account because of the changes in material properties experienced in fire. The more complicated aspects of structural behaviour in fire conditions, such as thermal expansion, transient state strains in the concrete, cracking or crushing of concrete, yielding of steel are modelled

Financial Distress in the Health Care Business

Sixty-four United States hospitals closed for poor organizational performance during 2010 through 2016. Because of hospital closures, community members experienced delays in obtaining needed care, reduced access to specialty care, and increased travel distances. Based on the balanced scorecard model theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that 10 health care leaders used at a healthcare organization in central Texas to prevent financial distress. Semistructured interviews were conducted and archival organizational accounting records were reviewed, including company surveys with employees and patients. Data were thematically analyzed and triangulated to ensure the trustworthiness of interpretations. The findings identified 3 themes: effective leadership to improve organizational performance; training, skills development and continuous learning to improve performance; and customer focus strategies to increase customer satisfaction. The findings of this study may contribute to social change by improving access to healthcare services, increasing access to specialty care, and increasing customer satisfaction