872 research outputs found
Vacancy complexes with oversized impurities in Si and Ge
In this paper we examine the electronic and geometrical structure of
impurity-vacancy complexes in Si and Ge. Already Watkins suggested that in Si
the pairing of Sn with the vacancy produces a complex with the Sn-atom at the
bond center and the vacancy split into two half vacancies on the neighboring
sites. Within the framework of density-functional theory we use two
complementary ab initio methods, the pseudopotential plane wave (PPW) method
and the all-electron Kohn-Korringa-Rostoker (KKR) method, to investigate the
structure of vacancy complexes with 11 different sp-impurities. For the case of
Sn in Si, we confirm the split configuration and obtain good agreement with EPR
data of Watkins. In general we find that all impurities of the 5sp and 6sp
series in Si and Ge prefer the split-vacancy configuration, with an energy gain
of 0.5 to 1 eV compared to the substitutional complex. On the other hand,
impurities of the 3sp and 4sp series form a (slightly distorted) substitutional
complex. Al impurities show an exception from this rule, forming a split
complex in Si and a strongly distorted substitutional complex in Ge. We find a
strong correlation of these data with the size of the isolated impurities,
being defined via the lattice relaxations of the nearest neighbors.Comment: 8 pages, 4 bw figure
Investigating the impact of actual and modeled occupant behavior information input to building performance simulation
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Occupant behaviors are one of the most dominant factors that influence building energy use. Understanding the influences from building occupants can promote the development of energy- efficient buildings. This paper quantifies the impact of different occupant behavior information on building energy model (BEM) from multiple perspectives. For this purpose, an occupant behavior model that uses agent-based modeling (ABM) approach is implemented via co-simulation with a BEM of an existing commercial building. Then, actual occupant behavior data in correspondence to ABM output, including operations on window, door, and blinds in selected thermal zones of the building are recorded using survey logs. A simulation experiment is conducted by creating three BEMs with constant, actual, and modeled occupant behavioral inputs. The analysis of the simulation results among these scenarios helps us gain an in-depth understanding of how occupant behaviors influence building performance. This study aims to facilitate robust building design and operation with human-in-the-loop system optimization
A flood damage allowance framework for coastal protection with deep uncertainty in sea-level rise
Future projections of Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) mass loss remain
characterized by deep uncertainty (i.e., behavior is not well understood or
widely agreed upon by experts). This complicates decisions on long-lived
projects involving the height of coastal flood protection strategies that seek
to reduce damages from rising sea levels. If a prescribed margin of safety does
not properly account for sea-level rise and its uncertainties, the
effectiveness of flood protection will decrease over time, potentially putting
lives and property at greater risk. We develop a flood damage allowance
framework for calculating the height of a flood protection strategy needed to
ensure that a given level of financial risk is maintained (i.e., the average
flood damage in a given year). The damage allowance framework considers
decision-maker preferences such as planning horizons, preferred protection
strategies (storm surge barrier, levee, elevation, and coastal retreat), and
subjective views of AIS stability. We use Manhattan (New York City)\textemdash
with the distribution of buildings, populations, and infrastructure fixed in
time\textemdash as an example to show how our framework could be used to
calculate a range of damage allowances based on multiple plausible AIS
outcomes. Assumptions regarding future AIS stability more strongly influence
damage allowances under high greenhouse gas emissions (Representative
Concentration Pathway [RCP] 8.5) compared to those that assume strong emissions
reductions (RCP2.6). Design tools that specify financial risk targets, such as
the average flood damage in a given year, allow for the calculation of avoided
flood damages (i.e., benefits) that can be combined with estimates of
construction cost and then integrated into existing financial decision-making
tools, like benefit-cost or cost-effectiveness analyses
Changes in hydrodynamic, structural and geochemical properties in carbonate rock samples due to reactive transport
Reactive transport plays an important role in the development of a wide range of both anthropic and natural processes affecting geological media. To predict the consequences of reactive transport processes on structural and hydrodynamic properties of a porous media at large time and spatial scales, numerical modeling is a powerful tool. Nevertheless, such models, to be realistic, need geochemical, structural and hydrodynamic data inputs representative of the studied reservoir or material. Here, we present an experimental study coupling traditional laboratory measurements and percolation experiments in order to obtain the parameters that define rock heterogeneity, which can be altered during the percolation of a reactive fluid. In order to validate the experimental methodology and identify the role of the initial heterogeneities on the localization of the reactive transport processes, we used three different limestones with different petrophysical characteristics. We tracked the changes of geochemical, structural and hydrodynamic parameters in these samples induced by the percolation of an acid fluid by measuring, before and after the percolation experiment, petrophysical and hydrodynamic properties of the rocks.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
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