Sustainable environmental geotechnics practices for a green economy

The revitalisation of the global economy after the Covid-19 era presents environmental geotechnics with the opportunity to reinforce the need for a change in paradigm towards a green, circular economy and to promote aggressively the use and development of sustainable technologies and management practices. This paper aims to assist in this effort by concentrating on several thematic areas where sustainability solutions and future improvements are sought. These include the re-entry of construction and demolition of wastes, excavated materials, industrial wastes and marine sediments into the production cycle and the reuse of existing foundations. Despite the recent trend in advanced countries towards recycling and waste-to-energy thermal treatment, landfills still constitute the most common municipal solid waste management practice, especially in low-and-middle-income countries, and technological solutions to improve their environmental footprint are hereby presented. At the same time, remediation solutions are required to address the multitude of contaminated sites worldwide. Advanced developments that incorporate environmental, economic and social dimensions are expounded by the authors, together with sustainable ground improvement solutions for infrastructure projects conducted in soft and weak soils. The topic of thermo-active geostructures concludes this paper, where, apart from their infrastructure utility, these structures have the potential to contribute to the renewable energy source.Published versionThe second author would like to acknowledge the support of the Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Academic Development at Abu Dhabi University, UAE through grant19300540

Using semantic clustering to support situation awareness on Twitter: The case of World Views

In recent years, situation awareness has been recognised as a critical part of effective decision making, in particular for crisis management. One way to extract value and allow for better situation awareness is to develop a system capable of analysing a dataset of multiple posts, and clustering consistent posts into different views or stories (or, world views). However, this can be challenging as it requires an understanding of the data, including determining what is consistent data, and what data corroborates other data. Attempting to address these problems, this article proposes Subject-Verb-Object Semantic Suffix Tree Clustering (SVOSSTC) and a system to support it, with a special focus on Twitter content. The novelty and value of SVOSSTC is its emphasis on utilising the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) typology in order to construct semantically consistent world views, in which individuals---particularly those involved in crisis response---might achieve an enhanced picture of a situation from social media data. To evaluate our system and its ability to provide enhanced situation awareness, we tested it against existing approaches, including human data analysis, using a variety of real-world scenarios. The results indicated a noteworthy degree of evidence (e.g., in cluster granularity and meaningfulness) to affirm the suitability and rigour of our approach. Moreover, these results highlight this article's proposals as innovative and practical system contributions to the research field

Experimental and Analytical Research on Resonance Phenomena of Vibrating Head with MRE Regulating Element

A vibratory pile hammer (VPH) is a mechanical device used to drive steel piles as well as tube piles into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures. In order to increase the stability and the efficiency of the VPH work in the over-resonance frequency, a new VPH construction was developed at the Military University of Technology. The new VPH contains a system of counter-rotating eccentric weights, powered by hydraulic motors, and designed in such a way that horizontal vibrations cancel out, while vertical vibrations are transmitted into the pile. This system is suspended in the static parts by the adaptive variable stiffness pillows based on a smart material, magnetorheological elastomer (MRE), whose rheological and mechanical properties can be reversibly and rapidly controlled by an external magnetic field. The work presented in the paper is a part of the modified VPH construction design process. It concerns the experimental research on the vibrations during the piling process and the analytical analyses of the gained signal. The results will be applied in the VPH control system

The influence of operating conditions on changes in the properties of ventilation pipes made of self-extinguishing polypropylene

The article presents the results of comparative studies of selected mechanical properties (e.g. tensile modulus, tensile stress, notched impact, hardness) of self-extinguishing polypropylene (PPs) samples from three ventilation ducts. The samples were drawn from conduits used for a period of three years inside and outside the building (roof of the building) and, for comparison, from the new conduit. The climatic conditions on which the ventilation duct, placed on the roof, is exposed are temperate climate, group of warm climates, transitional type. Six pieces of samples were prepared for each material from each conduit to determine the mechanical properties. The results of the measurements are also compared with the catalog data provided by two manufacturers of this type of material. Based on the investigations of selected mechanical properties of self-extinguishing polypropylene derived from the operating elements of ventilation ducts, it can be stated that after three years of their use, no significant deterioration of the tested features of the material was observed. However, the impact strength and hardness assays have already shown changes in these properties for samples taken from the ducts used in comparison with the samples from the new duct. These data may indicate that the polypropylene aging process has started as a result of its operation for a period of three years both inside and outside the premises. However, comparing these results with catalog data for plastics dedicated to such applications, the stated changes in some properties do not disqualify the product for further use.W artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań porównawczych wybranych właściwości mechanicznych PPs (polipropylen samogasnący) dla próbek pobranych z trzech przewodów wentylacyjnych. Badaniom poddano próbki pochodzące z przewodów wentylacyjnych pracujących w różnych warunkach. Dla porównania do badań dołączono próbki pobrane z nowych przewodów. W celu wyznaczenia wybranych właściwości mechanicznych wykonywano analizy sześciu równoległych próbek. Wyniki pomiarów zestawiono z danymi katalogowymi podawanymi przez dwóch producentów tego typu elementów

Implementing the Maintenance Process in The Waterworks of Gdańsk

Zmiany gospodarcze wymuszają konieczność ciągłego i systematycznego dostosowywania przedsiębiorstw wodociągowych do nowych warunków techniczno-ekonomicznych. Istotnym elementem wymuszającym poszukiwanie nowych rozwiązań jest znaczny (w Gdańsku ponad 50%) spadek produkcji wody od 1992 r. Znacznym ułatwieniem dla zarządów przedsiębiorstw wodociągowych mogą być pojawiające się nowe narzędzia, wskaźniki i kryteria do porównywania działalności firm wodociągowych nie tylko pod względem technicznym i technologicznym, ale też coraz częściej pod względem ekonomicznym (benchmarking). W pracy omówiono założenia i uwarunkowania wdrażania "procesu utrzymania urządzeń" w latach 2002-2005. Nowe narzędzie pozwoli na zwiększenie możliwości analizowania informacji o realizowanych pracach i ich kosztach, a także ułatwi podejmowanie optymalnych decyzji. Obszar pilotażowy wdrożenia objął swym zasięgiem urządzenia automatyki i telemetrii, energetyki oraz urządzenia do dawkowania chemikaliów (ok. 20% urządzeń będących w eksploatacji). Celem końcowym tego procesu będzie szczegółowa kontrola budżetu przedsiębiorstwa i optymalizacja prac związanych z utrzymaniem jego urządzeń, poprzez określenie niezbędnych budżetów operacyjnych oraz ocenę ryzyka stanu wyposażenia.The continuing changes in Poland's economy and rapid developments in world's technology have become a serious challenge also for water-supply companies, which heave to cope with a variety of new technological and economic issues, and look for adequate solutions. The Waterworks of Gdańsk, for example, have been suffering a considerable drop in water consumption (which has decreased by 50%) since 1992. This considerable decrease in water demand has revealed the adverse effects of the oversized technological systems and insufficient funds for repairs and overhauls in the past. These days, the managers of water supply system may find considerable support owing to the availability of some new tools (parameters, indexes, criteria), which make it possible to compare the performance of water-supply companies not only in technological but also in economic terms (benchmarking). As these tools were developed for the needs of industrial companies, they have to be modified before they are used by water-supply companies. Recently Saur Neptun Gdańsk SA (a Bouygues member) has been audited by the French consulting company Celleron, and the growing role of analyses and reports in the management of the company has created the need of implementing an integrated E&T computer system. Considerable progress has already been achieved in the implementation of this system for the Departments of Operations and Technology, which enabled the decision to be made on the implementation of the Maintenance Saur Neptun Gdańsk in the time span of 2002 to 2005. In the present paper, the assumptions and conditions for the implementation of the Maintenance Process are discussed. The Maintenance Process is a convenient tool providing information not only about the operations being currently performed, but also about the costs involved, which facilitates optimal decision-making. The implementation has been started on a pilot scale, which includes devices made use of in automatic engineering, power engineering and telemetry, as well as the equipment used for dosing chemicals. The final objective of The Process is a detailed control of the budget and the required operating budgets and by assessing the risk of device failure

Baroclinic Rossby radius of deformation in the southern Baltic Sea* Baroclinic Rossby radius Brunt-Väisälä frequency Southern Baltic Sea Mesoscale dynamics

Abstract The first baroclinic Rossby radius of deformation (R 1 ) is a fundamental horizontal scale of mesoscale processes. This scale is important for planning both numerical modelling and study areas. R 1 was computed on the basis of an 11-year series of high resolution CTD measurements collected during r/v 'Oceania' cruises. The data set covered the three main basins of the Baltic Proper: the Bornholm Basin (BB), the Słupsk Furrow (SF) and the Gdańsk Basin (GB). The smallest mean value of R 1 was found in the Gdańsk Basin (5.2 km), the largest one in the Bornholm Deep (7.3 km). The seasonal variability of R 1 is lower in the western basin than in the eastern one. The seasonal cycle of R 1 may be broken by extreme events, e.g. main Baltic inflows (MBI) of saline water. The inflowing water rebuilds the vertical stratification in the southern Baltic Sea and dramatically changes the R 1 values. The difference of R 1 between a stagnation period and an inflow situation is shown Analysis of stagnation and saltwater inflow events may throw light on the value of R 1 in future climatic scenarios. The potential influence of climate change on Baltic Sea salinity, especially a decrease in MBI activity, may change the baroclinic Rossby radius of deformation and the mesoscale dynamics. Values of R 1 are expected to be lower in the future climate than those measured nowadays

Opracowanie metody wyznaczenia zastępczych charakterystyk sprawnościowych dla pomp wyporowych

W artykule przedstawiona została metoda wyznaczania zastępczych charakterystyk sprawnościowych. Opisane zostało zastosowanie metody, warunki przeprowadzenia badań oraz algorytm opracowania i przedstawiania uzyskanych charakterystyk.This paper presents method of creating vicarious efficiency characteristics. Here is described utility, conditions for research and the method of elaborate and present the characteristics

Badania trwałościowe niskopulsacyjnej pompy zębatej

W artykule zawarto wyniki testu trwałościowego prototypowej pompy zębatej o obniżonej pulsacji wydajności. Test obrazujący zachowanie pompy w trakcie eksploatacji podzielono na pięć etapów. Na każdy etap składa się 200 tys. cykli obciążenia pompy ciśnieniem nominalnym. Przed rozpoczęciem testu oraz po każdym etapie wykonano badania parametrów pompy w pełnym zakresie ciśnień tłoczenia. Przyjęto założenie, iż wydajność pompy w trakcie próby nie może obniżyć się o więcej niż 8%. Zaprezentowany w publikacji materiał jest wynikiem prac realizowanych w ramach projektu pt. „Opracowanie innowacyjnych pomp zębatych o obniżonym poziomie emisji akustycznej”. Projekt uzyskał dofinansowanie w Programie Operacyjnym Innowacyjna Gospodarka, lata 2007–2013, Priorytet 1. Badania i rozwój nowoczesnych technologii, Działanie 1.4 Wsparcie projektów celowych. Nr projektu POIG.01.04.00-04-345/13. Prace badawcze realizowane były w Laboratorium Napędów Hydraulicznych i Wibroakustyki Maszyn Politechniki Wrocławskiej w kooperacji z firmą Hydrotor SA.The article contains the results of a durability test of prototype gear pump with reduced flow ripple. The test illustrating the behavior of the pump during operation was divided into five stages. Each stage consists of 200 000 cycles of pump load by nominal pressure. Before the test and after each stage the pump parameters were tested in the full range of working pressures. It was assumed that the pump’s efficiency during the test can not be reduced by more than 8%. The material presented in the publication is the result of work conducted within project „The development of innovative gear pumps with a reduced level of acoustic emission”. The project has received funding in the Innovative Economy Operational Program, 2007–2013, Priority 1. Research and development of modern technologies, Measure 1.4. Support for target projects. Project no. POIG.01.04.00-04-345/13. The research was conducted in the Laboratory of Hydraulic Drives and Vibroacoustics of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in cooperation with Hydrotor SA

Acoustic Diagnostics Applications in the Study of Technical Condition of Combustion Engine

The paper presents the possible applications of using acoustic diagnostics in inspecting the technical condition of an internal combustion engine with autoignition on the example of the Fiat drive unit with common rail system. As a result of measuring the sound pressure level for specific faults and comparing the noise generated by the motor running smoothly, the detailed maps of changes in the acoustic spectrum are possible to generate. These results may be helpful in the future diagnostics of internal combustion engines. In the paper, the results of scientific work in the area of research, design and operation of internal combustion engines, conducted at the Department of Automotive Engineering, in cooperation with the Laboratory of Hydraulic Drives & Vibroacoustics of Machines at the Wroclaw University of Technology are included