Analytical behaviour of FRP strengthened reinforced concrete beams under low velocity impact load incorporating rate dependant material constitutive models

Includes bibliographical references.Since the 1980s, the use of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in strengthening and rehabilitation of existing reinforced and pre-stressed structures has gained popularity. Versatility, high strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance, excellent creep and fatigue behaviour, and ease of installation are amongst some of the advantages offered by externally bonded FRP systems over traditional strengthening methods. In addition to strengthening for static loading, there are many scenarios where strengthening is required to elements subjected to dynamic loads. The static behaviour of FRP strengthened RC beams has been the subject of extensive research. However, the dynamic behaviour of FRP strengthened RC beam elements remains unclear. Limited experimental studies are available that are focused on the response of FRP strengthened RC beams subjected to low velocity impact events. Furthermore, many of the Finite Element (FE) analysis models developed in these studies yielded results that were inconsistent with the test data. Key shortcomings of these models relate to a lack of definition of the FRP-concrete bond interface and considering rate dependent material behaviour

Funding models for financing water infrastructure in South Africa: Framework and critical analysis of alternatives

The Government of South Africa has been the main provider of public infrastructure, particularly in the water sector. Government administration and institutional structures continue to shape and influence infrastructure investment. The South African constitutional system imposes unique complexities and constraints on infrastructure investment. The country experiences a serious backlog in water infrastructure investment for the development and management of water resources and water services. In 2011, this under-investment was estimated at more than R600 billion (600 x 109 ZAR: South African Rand). The national Government traditionally had a pivotal role in shaping water infrastructure investment. Government needs to find a solution to this backlog by putting in place new institutional structures and funding models for effective strategies leading to prompt water infrastructure provision. The research identified several funding models for financing water infrastructure development projects. The existing public provision model continues to characterise much of the publicly-provided water infrastructure in South Africa. These models see Government planning, installing and financing infrastructure with pricing at marginal costs or on a loss-making basis, with returns recovered through the taxation system. Nowadays, water infrastructure provision is split between fully-public and mixed ownership by water entities. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the water sector are not yet a reality.Keywords: Department of Water Affairs, funding models, water infrastructure, National Treasury, operations and maintenanc

Uterine time and subjectivities: an ethnographic account of the uterus in online body-talk and other articulations of reproductive justice in South African feminist publics

The uterus is a largely underrepresented and underknown entity in everyday discourses of bodyhood and is usually only spoken of in specialised and/or intimate contexts. This is, however, changing in contemporary popular feminist culture and spaces, especially across networked publics and social media. In South African public life, there is an emerging intimate public where feminists convene and engage in discussion around various issues of concern, in and across various media spaces, in particular social media platforms like Twitter. In the context of increased public focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in public health and social justice conversations, this research asks how young people's personal experiences and feelings about the uterus are affected by and mediated through public discourses about reproductive health and justice, intergenerational cultural expectations of the uterine body, and vernacular expressions of body-talk that are amplified and circulated in intimate publics like South African Feminist Twitter. Drawing on a multimodal ‘patchwork' ethnographic enquiry (Gökçe and Watanabe, 2022) that aimed to trace the uterus as an entity that comes to matter in various different, but underrecognized ways, research was conducted between December 2019 and January 2021, during covid-related lockdowns. Methods included virtual ethnography on/via Twitter, an online qualitative survey that was disseminated across my broader Twitter network, an arts-informed feminist workshop engaging with depictions of the uterus in society and popular culture and discussions of personal narratives. The feminist vernaculars and body-talk that circulate and are amplified online emphasise negative affects and the “ugly feelings” that people in this public associate with the uterus. Menarche, the first menstrual period, stood out in personal narratives as the beginning of ‘uterine time', that is, the beginning of one's subjective awareness of and interaction with the societal expectations attached to the uterus. The messaging that young menstruators received from elders about their bodies predominantly positioned the physiological change as triggering a social change in which one's personhood is imbricated with risk and danger. What people say about the uterus, both publicly online and privately, suggests the emergence and propagation of a generational feminist vernacular of body-talk that takes on a ‘radical' character through descriptions of organs exerting violence and affective injury. In this generational vernacular, feminist youth describe the organ mainly as a conduit of cisheteropatriarchal violence and as an embodiment of what Gqola (2021) terms the Female Fear Factory, and purposefully emphasise antagonistic relations of the uterus. I show how common vernacular expressions and epithets contribute to the production of collective orientations to the uterus through affective contagion. For many young people with uteruses, the organ is experienced as invoking a sense of personal responsibility for a (gestational) reproductive future which may or may not materialise but is nevertheless inscribed with a host of intergenerational sociocultural expectations. The thesis examines the key themes of expectation, speculation and anticipation that emerged in the research as as dominant modes of feeling that characterise uterine subjectivities, or what it means to have a uterus. Together these modes form a particular subset of affective-temporal orientations to the future (as opposed to hope, destiny and potentiality). I argue that this is an indicator of the marked sense of anxiety that accompanies contemporary life and, for many feminists on Twitter, seems to be embodied in their subjective experiences of the uterus

Performance management in the Services SETA

Thesis (M.M. (Public and Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2015.Performance management is critical to the South African public sector as the focus on increased accountability and performance grows. Performance management systems are used extensively in the public and private sectors, but are inclined to be fraught with challenges and limitations. The purpose of this research was to investigate factors leading to the inability of the Services SETA’s Performance Management and Development System to develop public servants of the future; to present, interpret and analyse the findings; and to investigate how to transform the performance management system of the Services SETA to develop Executive Managers as public servants of the future. The qualitative research approach used an instrumental single case study. This led to the key finding that the Services SETA’s Performance Management and Development System is unable to develop Executive Managers as public servants of the future. The Services SETA specifically, and the public sector generally, needs to revise its design for performance management, with a strategic shift managing and directing performance to the facilitating performance. This strategic shift is necessary as performance is a multi-faceted phenomenon

Water institutions and governance models for the funding, financing and management of water infrastructure in South Africa

The standard water institutions, governance and infrastructure reform and policy prescription package of the 1990s and early 2000s, i.e., restructuring, private-public partnerships (PPP), establishment of an independent regulator, have not yielded positive results for South Africa. These water institutions and governance challenges are resulting in inadequate investments, and millions in South Africa not having access to basic water and sanitation services. The framework for water sector infrastructure funding models was designed to meet the challenges presented by the current and growing imbalances that exist between the supply of and demand for water in South Africa. The research results identified 7 overarching governance models for the funding, financing and development of water infrastructure projects in South Africa, i.e. Model 1: direct fiscal (NRF) funding, Model 2: ring-fenced special purpose vehicle (SPV), Model 3: SPV housing dedicated water infrastructure cash-flows, Model 4: stand-alone water institution with strong balance sheet, Model 5: public-private partnership (PPP) with equity, Model 6: private concession, and Model 7: private development. Various institutional options for consideration for the future  management and development of water  infrastructure were investigated and considered. The emerging model is considered to be a hybrid model consolidating the national water resources and regional bulk infrastructure functions and capabilities, with regional bulk infrastructure primarily being a water board (water services provider) function.Keywords: Funding and financing, water governance, water infrastructure, water institution

Public–private partnership conceptual framework and models for the funding and financing of water services infrastructure in municipalities from selected provinces in South Africa

This paper presents public–private partnership (PPP) framework models for funding and financing of water services infrastructure at local government (municipalities) level (sphere) in South Africa. Data were assembled from various stakeholders, viz., private and public sector institutions in the Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces of South Africa. The framework for PPPs identified three models, viz. state, hybrid and private sector models. In the ‘state model’ the water services value chain is 100%  government funded and owned infrastructure. Government is a key player in infrastructure investment and inefficiencies within the public expenditure management systems are particularly detrimental, e.g., there are significant problems in spending of infrastructure budgets. In the ‘private model’ harnessing  the significant potential for capital markets to finance water infrastructure, particularly local bond  markets, is contingent on their strengthening and further development. Well-functioning and  appropriately institutional investors (pension funds, insurance companies, etc.) would be natural  sources of long-term financing for water services infrastructure because liabilities would better match the longer terms of water infrastructure projects. The ‘hybrid model’ is in the middle of the water services value chain, i.e., a partnership between government and the private sector. The use of this framework is essential in the including of the private sector in the implementation of water  infrastructure development projects. The research results highlight the underlying principles that  underpin, support, determine and confirm the success of the PPP models and value chain framework for local government water infrastructure in South Africa. Twelve key parameters were identified that would drive the success of any water services infrastructure PPP model. Even though PPP is an  alternative procurement vehicle, PPP models are considered to be used as vehicles for addressing institutional challenges in local government. However, in most cases it has been indicated that lack of technical and financial skills and monitoring of the private operator are serious challenges.Keywords: financing, funding, Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces, PPP framework, PPP models, water services infrastructur

Tensor approximation in visualization and graphics

In this course, we will introduce the basic concepts of tensor approximation (TA) – a higher-order generalization of the SVD and PCA methods – as well as its applications to visual data representation, analysis and visualization, and bring the TA framework closer to visualization and computer graphics researchers and practitioners. The course will cover the theoretical background of TA methods, their properties and how to compute them, as well as practical applications of TA methods in visualization and computer graphics contexts. In a first theoretical part, the attendees will be instructed on the necessary mathematical background of TA methods to learn the basics skills of using and applying these new tools in the context of the representation of large multidimensional visual data. Specific and very noteworthy features of the TA framework are highlighted which can effectively be exploited for spatio-temporal multidimensional data representation and visualization purposes. In two application oriented sessions, compact TA data representation in scientific visualization and computer graphics as well as decomposition and reconstruction algorithms will be demonstrated. At the end of the course, the participants will have a good basic knowledge of TA methods along with a practical understanding of its potential application in visualization and graphics related projects