Potential of Global Positioning System (GPS) to measure frequencies of oscillations of engineering structures

Global Positioning System (GPS) has been successfully used to measure displacements of oscillating flexible civil engineering structures such as long suspension bridges and high-rise buildings, and to derive their modal frequencies, usually up to 1 Hz, but there is evidence that these limits can be exceeded using high frequency GPS receivers. Based on systematic experiments in computer controlled oscillations with one- and three-degrees of freedom we investigated the potential of GPS, first to record higher oscillation frequencies, at least up to 4 Hz at the minimum resolution level of this instrument for kinematic applications (?5 mm), and second, to identify more than one dominant frequency. Data were processed using least squares-based spectral analysis and wavelet techniques which permit to analyze entire time series, even those of too short duration or those characterized by gaps, in both the frequency and the time domain.The ability of GPS to accurately measure frequencies of oscillations of relatively rigid (modal frequencies 1-4 Hz) civil engineering structures is demonstrated in the cases of two bridges.The outcome of this study is that GPS is suitable for the identification of dynamic characteristics of even relatively rigid (modal frequencies up to 4 Hz) civil engineering structures excited by various loads (wind, traffic, earthquakes, etc.) if displacements are above the uncertainty level of the method (?5 mm). Structural health monitoring of a wide range of structures appears therefore a promising field of application of GPS.     

Modal flexibility-based damage detection of cantilever beam-type structures using baseline modification

This paper presents a new damage detection approach for cantilever beam-type structures using the damage-induced inter-storey deflection (DIID) estimated by modal flexibility matrix. This approach can be utilized for damage detection of cantilever beam-type structures such as super high-rise buildings, high-rise apartment buildings, etc. Analytical studies on the DIID of cantilever beam-type structures have shown that the DIID abruptly occurs from damage location. Baseline modification concept was newly introduced to detect multiple damages in cantilever beam-type structures by changing the baseline to the prior damage location. This approach has a clear theoretical base and directly identifies damage location(s) without the use of a finite element (FE) model. For validating the applicability of the proposed approach to cantilever beam-type structures, a series of numerical and experimental studies on a 10-storey building model were carried out. From the tests, it was found that the damage locations can be successfully identified by the proposed approach for multiple damages as well as a single damage. In order to confirm the superiority of the proposed approach, a comparative study was carried out on two well-known damage metrics such as modal strain-based damage index approach and uniform load surface curvature approach.     

变压器振动在典型建筑结构中的衰减特性*

为掌握10 kV居民区配电变压器振动在建筑中的衰减规律,将实测的变压器振动加速度转化为激励力,作用于剪力墙和框架建筑上,采用有限元法仿真研究变压器振动在建筑中的衰减特性。结果表明,在具有相同层高、层数的剪力墙、框架高层建筑中,位于负一层的变压器传播至各楼层的铅垂向振动加速度级(0～500 Hz),随楼层离地高度h对数值(lg h)的增加线性下降,其斜率分别为33.26和24.84,前者的衰减速率(lg h每增加1振动加速度级的衰减量)约为后者的1.3倍;在剪力墙、框架多层建筑中斜率分别为31.87和20.07,前者的衰减速率约为后者的1.6倍。可见,当建筑层高、层数相同时,变压器振动在剪力墙建筑中比框架建筑中衰减更快;当建筑结构相同时,振动在高层建筑中的衰减速率略大于多层建筑。对0～80 Hz环境振动,变压器振动在剪力墙高层建筑中的铅垂向Z振级衰减速率约为框架高层建筑的2.4倍;剪力墙多层建筑振动衰减速率约为框架多层建筑的3.7倍。在此基础上,建立了变压器传播至剪力墙、框架建筑不同楼层的振动单值和分频段预测模型,可为变压器引起的建筑室内振动预测和控制提供依据。     

Simulation of pedestrian flow based on cellular automata: A case of pedestrian crossing street at section in China

One of the purposes of pedestrian studies is to evaluate the effects of a proposed program on the pedestrian facilities before its implementation. In order to evaluate the level of service (LOS) of a pedestrian facility, a microscopic model is built to simulate the process of pedestrian crossing street. Most of the existing models focus on the occupant evacuation flow in buildings; however, they are not appropriate for pedestrians in the traffic. According to the characteristics of pedestrian crossing street at signalized crosswalks, we build a model based on cellular automata. Both of the system size and cell size are coordinate with the reality. Depending on the contrast of three parameters of pedestrian flow between simulation data and the reality data, we found that this model is analogous to the real process of pedestrian crossing street at signalized sections. Finally, simulation and its results can provide guidance for evaluating the effects of pedestrian facilities before their implementation.     

Wind-driven rain simulations

Wind-driven rain studies provide the main input to problems such as: precipitation protection, sealing, drainage accumulation. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology is developed and used to compute trajectories and local intensity factors for two generic buildings, previously tested in the wind tunnel. The methodology is further on applied in investigating real problems such as the role played by cornice in protecting the upper part of a low-rise building or the wetting and downwash on a sloped face of a high-rise building     

Variation of the outdoor noise level and the sound attenuation of windows with elevation above the ground

In an attempt to cope with the problem of providing suitably quiet dwellings in noisy urban environments, it has sometimes been suggested that the lower floors of high-rise buildings might be used for offices (or other noise-insensitive uses), while the upper, presumably quieter, floors could be used for housing. This paper suggests that the proposal is not practical since, in many urban areas, the upper floors of buildings are exposed to almost as much noise as the floors near street level.     

Simulation and experimental tests on active mass damper control system based on Model Reference Adaptive Control algorithm

In the process of sudden natural disasters (such as earthquake or typhoon), the active mass damper (AMD) system can reduce the structural vibration response optimally, which serves as a frequently applied but less mature vibration-reducing technology in wind and earthquake resistance of high-rise buildings. As the core of this technology, the selection of control algorithm is extremely challenging due to the uncertainty of structural parameters and the randomness of external loads. It is not necessary for the Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) based on the Minimal Controller Synthesis (MCS) algorithm to know in advance the structural parameters, which produces special advantages in conditions of real-time change of system parameters, uncertain external disturbance, and the nonlinear dynamic system. This paper studies the application of the MRAC into the AMD active control system. The principle of MRAC algorithm is recommended and the dynamic model and the motion differential equation of AMD system based on MRAC is established under seismic excitation. The simulation analysis for linear and nonlinear structures when the structural stiffness is degenerated is performed under AMD system controlled by MRAC algorithm. To verify the validity of the MRAC over the AMD system, experimental tests are carried out on a linear structure and a structure with variable stiffness with the AMD system under seismic excitation on the shake table, and the experimental results are compared with those of the traditional pole assignment control algorithm.     

Effect of a static pedestrian as an exit obstacle on evacuation

Building exit as a bottleneck structure is the last and the most congested stage in building evacuation. It is well known that obstacles at the exit affect the evacuation process, but few researchers pay attention to the effect of stationary pedestrians (the elderly with slow speed, the injured, and the static evacuation guide) as obstacles at the exit on the evacuation process. This paper explores the influence of the presence of a stationary pedestrian as an obstacle at the exit on the evacuation from experiments and simulations. We use a software, Pathfinder, based on the agent-based model to study the effect of ratios of exit width ($D$) to distance ($d$) between the static pedestrian and the exit, the asymmetric structure by shifting the static pedestrian upward, and types of obstacles on evacuation. Results show that the evacuation time of scenes with a static pedestrian is longer than that of scenes with an obstacle due to the unexpected hindering effect of the static pedestrian. Different ratios of $D/d$ have different effects on evacuation efficiency. Among the five $D/d$ ratios in this paper, the evacuation efficiency is the largest when $d$ is equal to $0.75D$, and the existence of the static pedestrian has a positive impact on evacuation in this condition. The influence of the asymmetric structure of the static pedestrian on evacuation efficiency is affected by $D/d$. This study can provide a theoretical basis for crowd management and evacuation plan near the exit of complex buildings and facilities.     

Constructal theory of pedestrian dynamics

The standard benefit of modeling pedestrian streams is the ability to quantify and understand flow patterns, which can be helpful to avoid some potentially dangerous situations. Here we show that the most basic features of pedestrian dynamics can be put on a unifying theoretical basis, which is provided by the constructal law. This law states that every flow system evolves in time so that it develops the flow architecture that maximizes flow access under the constraints posed to the flow. In this Letter, we develop a model of pedestrian streams that accounts for the influence of pedestrian density. The constructal law is invoked in order to quantify both the so-called optimal level of service and system capacity for pedestrian streams.     

双出口房间内疏散行人流的仿真和实验研究

为研究行人疏散过程中的路径选择行为, 提出了一个基于元胞自动机的行人微观模型, 并组织了三组双出口教室内的学生疏散实验. 模型中, 行人路径选择行为受其到出口距离、前方路径通行能力和行人间排斥力影响. 通过观察实验结果, 得到一些相关现象. 利用实验结果对模型参数进行校正. 利用校正模型对该教室内疏散学生流进行仿真, 结果表明 模型能有效地刻画教室内学生流的疏散特征, 疏散时间随学生人数线性增加. 该研究有助于类似场景中行人疏散策略和方案的制定. 关键词： 元胞自动机 行人疏散 仿真 实验     

Simulation of crowd dynamics in pedestrian evacuation concerning panic contagion: A cellular automaton approach

The study of the panic evacuation process is of great significance to emergency management. Panic not only causes negative emotions such as irritability and anxiety, but also affects the pedestrians decision-making process, thereby inducing the abnormal crowd behavior. Prompted by the epidemiological SIR model, an extended floor field cellular automaton model was proposed to investigate the pedestrian dynamics under the threat of hazard resulting from the panic contagion. In the model, the conception of panic transmission status (PTS) was put forward to describe pedestrians' behavior who could transmit panic emotions to others. The model also indicated the pedestrian movement was governed by the static and hazard threat floor field. Then rules that panic could influence decision-making process were set up based on the floor field theory. The simulation results show that the stronger the pedestrian panic, the more sensitive pedestrians are to hazards, and the less able to rationally find safe exits. However, when the crowd density is high, the panic contagion has a less impact on the evacuation process of pedestrians. It is also found that when the hazard position is closer to the exit, the panic will propagate for a longer time and have a greater impact on the evacuation. The results also suggest that as the extent of pedestrian's familiarity with the environment increases, pedestrians spend less time to escape from the room and are less sensitive to the hazard. In addition, it is essential to point out that, compared with the impact of panic contagion, the pedestrian's familiarity with environment has a more significant influence on the evacuation.     

Experimental study and numerical simulation of evacuation from a dormitory

The evacuation process of students from a dormitory is investigated by both experiment and modeling. We investigate the video record of pedestrian movement in a dormitory, and find some typical characteristics of evacuation, including continuous pedestrian flow, mass behavior and so on. Based on the experimental observation, we found that simulation results considering pre-movement time are closer to the experimental results. With the model considering pre-movement time, we simulate the evacuation process and compare the simulation results with the experimental results, and find that they agree with each other closely. The crowd massing phenomenon is conducted in this paper. It is found that different crowd massing phenomena will emerge due to different desired velocities. The crowd massing phenomenon could be more serious with the increase of the desired velocity. In this study, we also found the faster-is-slower effect. When the positive effect produced by increasing the desired velocity is not sufficient for making up for its negative effect, the phenomenon of the greater the desired velocity the longer the time required for evacuation will emerge. From the video record, it can be observed that the mass behavior is obvious during the evacuation process. And the mass phenomenon could also be found in simulation. The results obtained from our study are also suitable to all these buildings in which both living and resting areas occupy the majority space, such as dormitories, residential buildings, hotels (restaurants) and so on.     

高层住宅阳台降噪量的计算分析

高层住宅中的阳台不仅具有居住及建筑上的功能,对道路交通噪声也有衰减作用。本文通过建立噪声传播模型计算高层住宅阳台的插入损失,并探讨了影响阳台降噪量的一些因素。同时对阳台内部吸声处理的效果进行了理论预测。     

Effects of atmospheric turbulence and building sway on optical wireless-communication systems

Urban optical wireless communication (UOWC) systems are considered a last-mile technology. UOWC systems use the atmosphere as a propagation medium. To provide a line of sight the transceivers are placed on high-rise building. However, dynamic wind loads, thermal expansion, and weak earthquakes cause buildings to sway. These sways distort the alignment between transmitter and receiver, causing pointing errors, the outcome of which is fading of the received signal. Furthermore, atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in both the intensity and the phase of the received signal, resulting in impaired link performance. A bit-error probability (BEP) model is developed that takes into account both building sway and turbulence-induced log amplitude fluctuations (i.e., fading of signal intensity) in the regime in which the receiver aperture, D0, is smaller than the turbulence coherence diameter, d0. It is assumed that the receiver has knowledge about the marginal statistics of the signal fading and the instantaneous signal-fading state.     

地铁车辆段咽喉区上盖建筑振动影响

城区地铁车辆段进行上盖物业开发可节约、集约利用地铁用地,缓解城市土地资源稀缺问题。地铁车辆段特别是其咽喉区振动是上盖物业开发的环境制约因素。为研究地铁车辆段咽喉区对上盖建筑的振动影响,建立轨道-地基土-上盖建筑三维有限元模型,采用等效荷载法,将实地采样的钢轨铅垂向振动加速度转化为列车钢轨铅垂向振动线荷载,作用于轨道上。在结合实测数据验证模型合理性的基础上,定量研究上盖平台厚度和离地高度、上盖建筑层数和结构等因素对室内环境振动(铅垂向Z振级VL_Zmax)的影响。结果表明,地铁车辆段咽喉区对高层建筑的振动影响整体大于多层建筑;由于振动波在屋顶自由端发生反射并与入射波叠加,导致不同楼层楼板中央VL_Zmax随楼层升高略有增加;框架结构建筑室内VL_Zmax大于剪力墙结构;增加上盖平台厚度可减小建筑室内VL_Zmax;上盖建筑室内VL_Zmax随上盖平台离地高度增加而增加(即随建筑楼层绝对离地高度增加而增大)。研究结果可为地铁车辆段上盖物业开发振动污染防治提供理论和工程技术依据。     

变加速动力学与舒适性问题

用变加速动力学的急动度(加加速度)概念,分析了车辆、电梯的乘座舒适性与高层钢结构建筑的风振舒适性问题.     

DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF WIND-EXCITED BUILDING USING CFD

Computational wind engineering as a new branch of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been developed recently to evaluate the interaction between wind and buildings numerically. In the present study, a systematic examination of wind effects on tall buildings and flow condition around buildings has been carried out using commercially available CFD software FLUENT 5. Both renormalization group (RNG) k-ε method and large eddy simulation (LES) with the Smagorinsky model are adopted as turbulence models and the results are compared with the wind-tunnel measurements. The weighted amplitude wave superposition (WAWS) method is used to generate atmospheric wind turbulence. The RNG k-ε method can predict the vortex shedding phenomenon well when compared with experiments for uniform flow input, but fails to predict the shedding frequency accurately for fluctuating incoming flow. On the other hand, the LES model shows reasonably good agreement with experiment in predicting vortex-shedding phenomenon for both uniform and fluctuating flows at inlet. Random-vibration based theory is employed for estimating r.m.s. response of tall buildings and the results compared well with the experimental results for a square building.     

高架污染绕建筑对流扩散风洞实验与数值仿真

采用激光衍射瞬时浓度场测量系统和图像处理系统,对不同高架与周围建筑高度比下污染点源绕建筑对流扩散进行了风洞实验.Fluent双相耦合模型与实验进行了相互校核,得到了建筑的各个高度层面污染分布、不同高度比下的污染扩散及污染分布随时间变化的规律.不同高度比对污染对流扩散具有明显的影响,建筑各高度层面污染浓度分布也存在明显差别.当高度比较小时,污染将堆积在建筑物底层.污染分布随时间变化有助于了解污染对流扩散的时间效应.结果可以为高架与周围建筑规划提供参考与依据.     

Earthquake hazard and risk mitigation

Earthquake risk is the combination of three factors: the earthquake hazard, the loss potential and the vulnerability. To examine the risk it is first necessary to consider the global distribution of earthquakes, their size and their frequency of occurrence. Migratory trends and temporal patterns of activity are sought as a means of defining the locations of future seismic hazard. It is important also to appreciate the kind of damage that is brought about by an earthquake, including the social and economic effects that can follow. Where loss potential is high, in areas of high population density, and where there is a known hazard from earthquakes, it is vital to mitigate the risk by reducing the vulnerability so far as possible. This can best be achieved through earthquake-resistant construction of buildings and other structures, but there are limits to what can be achieved. Consequently earthquake prediction may prove an alternative, complementary approach that could at least save lives. A range of possible precursory phenomena have been discovered, a number of which can be related empirically to the size and time ahead of an impending earthquake, but since the physical mechanism of earthquakes is still poorly known, these phenomena have only a weak scientific basis. At present none are established as definite precursors, and although a few successful predictions have been claimed, there are too many failures to predict, and too many false alarms, for Predictions to be reliable or credible. For the time being, as research progresses, the uncertainty of predictions will pose problems for scientists and government authorities alike.     

Modeling walking behavior of pedestrian groups with floor field cellular automaton approach

Walking in groups is very common in a realistic walking environment. An extended floor field cellular automaton(CA)model is therefore proposed to describe the walking behavior of pedestrian groups. This model represents the motion of pedestrian groups in a realistic way. The simulation results reveal that the walking behavior of groups has an important but negative influence on pedestrian flow dynamics, especially when the density is at a high level. The presence of pedestrian groups retards the emergence of lane formation and increases the instability of operation of pedestrian flow. Moreover,the average velocity and volume of pedestrian flow are significantly reduced due to the group motion. Meanwhile, the parameter-sensitive analysis suggests that pedestrian groups should make a compromise between efficient movement and staying coherent with a certain spatial structure when walking in a dense crowd.