Divided into two parts. The first part deals with issues relating to the characterization and the rational definition of seismic input and begins with a study of earthquake records that leads to the identification of their damage potential parameters such as the peak ground acceleration and the strong motion duration. Subsequent chapters concern themselves with the deterministic and probabilistic methodologies for producing seismic inputs. Further chapters are dedicated to the generation of artificial seismic input on the basis of stochastic or probabilistic approaches. The second part of this volume deals with ground motion effects on foundation elements and structural integrity. Particular emphasis is given to the interaction of foundation piles with vibrating soils, homogeneous or heterogeneous. The final two chapters are concerned with the possible connection between soil structure interaction (SSI) and structural damage. In both instances records of actual earthquake induce motion are used for such assessments.

Earthquake Ground Motion: Input Definition for Aseismic Design (Wit Transactions on State-of-the-Art in Science and Engineering)

Science & Math

S. Syngellakis

Earth Sciences

Wit Press/Computational Mechanics

Presented at the 1st International Conference on Urban Growth and the Circular Economy that was held in Alicante, Spain the papers included in this book focus on the continuing and rapid growth of cities and their regions of influence and how that has led to the need to find new solutions which allow for promoting their sustainable development.The quest for the Sustainable City has until recently focused on the efficient use of resources with the application of technical advances giving rise to the definition of SMART Cities. The economic model emphasised however is still “linear” in the sense that the design and consumption follows the pattern of extraction of natural resources, manufacturing, product usage and waste disposal.The continuous growth of urban population has recently given rise to the emergence of a new model which responds better to the challenges of natural resource depletion as well as waste management. This model has been called the “circular economy”.The circular economy is a recent concept based on the reuse of what up to now has been considered wastes, reintroducing them into the productive cycle. The objective of the circular economy is to reduce consumption and achieve savings in terms of raw materials, water and energy, thus contributing to the preservation of resources in order to reach sustainable development.One of the most important of these resources is water which is becoming a scarce commodity in an ever expanding world whose population demands a better standard of living. Water is required for agricultural purposes as well as by industry, in addition to its use by the general population. The recycling of water is an essential component of the circular economy.There is no possibility for the success of a long term economic policy without addressing the problems of natural resources and environmental pollution, which will affect the reuse of materials and products.The current market economy based on a linear model from resource extraction, manufacturing, consumption and waste disposal, has not proved a long term suitable solution, in spite of the substantial efforts made in reducing its environmental impacts. This is largely due to the continuous population growth, in a society that demands high standards of living, thus requiring an ever increasing share of natural resources.

Urban Growth and the Circular Economy (Wit Transactions on the Built Environment)

Business & Money

Economics

Papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Urban Agriculture and City Sustainability are contained in this book. The research reviews ways in which urban agriculture can contribute to achieve sustainable cities and considers ways of reducing the impact in terms of use of natural resources, waste production and climate change.The increasing number of people in cities requires new strategies to supply the necessary food with limited provision of land and decreasing resources. This will become more challenging unless innovative solutions for growing and distributing food in urban environments are considered.The scale of modern food production has created and exacerbated many vulnerabilities and the feeding of cities is now infinitely more complex. As such the food system cannot be considered secure, ethical or sustainable.In the last few years there has been a rapid expansion in initiatives and projects exploring innovative methods and processes for sustainable food production. The majority of these projects are focused on providing alternative models that shift the power back from the global food system to communities and farmers improving social cohesion, health and wellbeing. It is therefore not surprising that more people are looking towards urban farming initiatives as a potential solution.These initiatives have demonstrated that urban agriculture has the potential to transform our living environment towards ecologically sustainable and healthy cities. Urban agriculture can also contribute to energy, natural resources, land and water savings, ecological diversity and urban management cost reductions.The impact urban agriculture can have on the shape and form of our cities has never been fully addressed. The studies included in this volume look at how cities embed these new approaches and initiatives, as part of new urban developments and show that a city regeneration strategy is critical.

Urban Agriculture and City Sustainability

Industries

The future of energy production, operation and management in a changing world is a major global topic. The papers contained in this volume were presented at the 4th International Conference on Energy Production and Management - The Quest for Sustainable Energy and focus on the comparison of conventional energy sources, particularly hydrocarbons, with a number of other ways of producing energy, such as new technological developments based on renewable resources such as solar, hydro, wind and geothermal.A key issue is the conversion of new sustainable sources of energy into useful forms (electricity, heat, fuel), while finding efficient ways of storage and distribution. In many cases the challenges lie as much with production of such renewable energy at an acceptable cost, including damage to the environment, as with integration of those resources into the existing infrastructure.This book features research on the ways in which more efficient use can be made of both conventional and new energy sources. This relates to savings in energy consumption, reduction of energy losses, as well as the implementation of smart devices and the design of intelligent distribution networks.Various topics are covered including: Energy and the city; Energy security; Energy distribution; Energy networks; Processing of oil and gas emissions; Pipelines; Renewable energies; Energy use in building; Tight energy fields; Energy and climate change; Biomass and biofuels; Environmental sustainability; Energy business; LNG.

Energy Production and Management in the 21st Century IV: The Quest for Sustainable Energy (Wit Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 246)

Technology

Current events help to emphasise the importance of the analysis and management of risk to planners and researchers around the world. Natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, fires and others have always affected human societies. The more recent emergence of the importance of man-made hazards is a consequence of the rapid technological advances made in the last few centuries. The interaction of natural and anthropogenic risks adds to the complexity of the problems.Presented at the 12th International Conference on Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation, the included research works cover a variety of topics related to risk analysis and hazard mitigation, associated with both natural and anthropogenic hazards.

Risk Analysis XII (Wit Transactions on Engineering Sciences, Vol 129) (Wit Transactions on Engineering Sciences, 129)

Computers & Technology

Computer Science

A continuous requirement for better urban transport systems and the need for a healthier environment has resulted in an increasing demand for new solutions. Innovative systems, new approaches and original ideas need to be thoroughly tested and critically evaluated before they can be implemented in practice. Moreover, there is a growing need for integration with telecommunications systems and IT applications in order to improve safety, security and efficiency. This volume also addresses the need to solve important pollution problems associated with urban transport in order to achieve a healthier environment.The variety of topics covered by the included research works, which were presented at the 26th International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment, reflect the complex interaction of urban transport systems with their environment and the need to establish integrated strategies. The goal is to arrive at optimal socio-economic solutions while reducing the negative environmental impacts of current transportation systems.

Urban Transport XXVI (WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, Vol 200)

Terrorist attacks and other destructive incidents caused by explosives have, in recent years, prompted considerable research and development into the protection of structures against blast loads. For this objective to be achieved, experiments have been performed and theoretical studies carried out to improve our assessments of the intensity as well as the space-time distribution of the resulting blast pressure on the one hand and the consequences of an explosion to the exposed environment on the other. This book aims to enhance awareness on and understanding of these topical issues through a collection of relevant, Transactions of the Wessex Institute of Technology articles written by experts in the field. The book starts with an overview of key physics-based algorithms for blast and fragment environment characterization, structural response analyses and structural assessments with reference to a terrorist attack in an urban environment and the management of its inherent uncertainties. A subsequent group of articles is concerned with the accurate definition of blast pressure, which is an essential prerequisite to the reliable assessment of the consequences of an explosion. Other papers are concerned with alternative methods for the determination of blast pressure, based on experimental measurements or neural networks. A final group of articles reports investigations on predicting the response of specific structural entities and their contents. The book concludes with studies on the effectiveness of steel-reinforced polymer in improving the performance of reinforced concrete columns and the failure mechanisms of seamless steel pipes used in nuclear industry.

Design Against Blast: Load Definition and Structural Response

Engineering & Transportation

Engineering

Wit Pr/Computational Mechanics

The preservation of heritage architecture is a cultural objective rigorously pursued by communities and nations wishing to promote their history, civilisation and aesthetic achievements. Structures built in the remote past by traditional methods have suffered the consequences of extreme loading events, such as earthquakes, over long time periods. Retrofitting is an approach based on recent technological developments and scientific knowledge, whereby modern construction methods and materials are applied to the repair and strengthening of historical structures. This book aims to inform on current retrofitting techniques, their application to various types of historical architecture and their effectiveness to fulfil their purpose. Retrofitted structural forms covered in the book vary widely from age old places of worship, such as churches, mosques and temples, as well as castles and palaces to more modern, distinguished private residences or public buildings, some of them designed by well known architects. Their methods of construction range from traditional, such as stone or brick masonry to more recent textile block systems and even reinforced concrete frameworks. Reference is made to detailed visual inspections of damaged structure providing valuable insight into possible causes of failure; such inspections are usually combined with material characterisation which is an essential input to numerical modelling for assessing the behaviour of the structure before and after retrofitting. The book describes strengthening techniques for masonry walls including re-pointing, injection grouting and the use of steel ties. The use of reinforced concrete is proposed in the form of cast-in-place walls, jackets or tie-beams; that of carbon fibre reinforced laminates for strengthening walls and slabs. Innovative use of materials, such as shape memory alloys, self-compacting concrete or thin lead layers is also suggested. Particular attention is given to methods for moderating the consequences of destructive earthquakes. Seismic energy absorbing devices and base isolation systems are two effective means of providing protection against future seismic events although their application is often met with many technical challenges in practice. Retrofitting of Heritage Structures Against Earthquakes will be of interest to members of academic institutions, government or private cultural preservation establishments and specialist consultant engineers. The book contains very practical, technical advice on many issues; this would be of considerable interest to construction companies specialising in repairs and maintenance of historical structures.

Retrofitting of Heritage Structures Against Earthquakes (WIT Transactions on State-of-the-art in Science and Engineering)

Masonry is a traditional, highly durable mode of construction; many heritage masonry structures, built at various historical periods, have survived, to a lesser or greater extent, adverse environmental conditions, which have reduced, sometimes considerably, their integrity, strength and durability. Due to the cultural significance of heritage architecture, resources are today allocated towards their restoration and conservation. Topics covered include: Understanding of constituent materials, modes of construction and overall mechanical behaviour; Dynamic behaviour; Sonic pulse velocity tests; Micro-vibration measurements; Failure mechanisms; Structural strength assessment; Binding material mixtures; Composition and properties of ancient mortars; Contemporary repair material; Infra-red thermography measurements; Mortars, plasters, renders and grouts. The various issues mentioned above are addressed by the present collection of scientific papers with considerable insight and thoroughness. It is thus hoped that this volume will fill a gap in the literature as a valuable source of information and guidance to researchers and engineers working in the area of restoration and conservation of heritage masonry structures.

Heritage Masonry: Materials and Structures (WIT Transactions on State-of-the-art in Science and Engineering)

Arts & Photography

Architecture

The volume comprises a selection of articles on interactions between earthquakes and the soil in which they propagate. It is concerned with soil composition and geomechanical features, which affect earthquake propagation and intensity; it also addresses detrimental effects of seismic shaking on soil properties and stability. Modelling is applied to investigate the effects of cracks and various type of soil damping on seismic waves. Elastic, poroelastic, elasto-plastic, constitutive models are adopted in conjunction with rigorous mathematical techniques or approximate methods such as boundary elements or finite differences. A substantial part of this volume is dedicated to soil liquefaction, an important consequent of seismic shaking resulting in substantial loss of soil strength and stiffness. Propose criteria for assessing the liquefaction potential of a site are listed. Data collected from the soil samples either in the laboratory or in-situ are analyzed to provide values for the critical parameters on which liquefaction depends. The occurrence of landslides is addressed by assessing slope stability through a systematic geophysical and geotechnical characterization of the soil mass followed by finite element modelling. The bearing capacity of the soil is directly obtained by laboratory testing of soil samples but it is also predicated from reliable empirical relations generated by combining such test date with in-situ measurements of soil dynamic properties.

Earthquake-Soil Interaction (WIT Transactions on State-of-the-art in Science and Engineering)

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Books by S. Syngellakis