Search results for "Safety"
showing 10 items of 1959 documents
Life cycle environmental assessment of retaining walls in unsaturated soils
2022
Abstract Retaining structures above groundwater level support soils that are usually in a state of partial saturation and subject to the actions of atmospheric agents. The current design approach considers the possible extremes of soil conditions – either totally dry or totally saturated – but it neglects matric suction’s contribution to soil shear strength. This work aims to describe how unsaturated-soil mechanics of can positively influence the sustainability of retaining structures through a holistic, multidisciplinary, geotechnical, and environmental analysis. The geotechnical analysis allows to estimate the lateral earth pressure of a geostructure in both unsaturated and extreme soil c…
Prediction of concrete materials compressive strength using surrogate models
2022
Using soft computing methods could be of great interest in predicting the compressive strength of Ultra-High-Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC). Therefore, this study developed four soft computing techniques. The models are the Linear- relationship (LR), pure quadratic, M5P-tree (M5P), and artificial neural network (ANN). The models were trained and developed using 306 datasets comprising 11 input parameters, including the curing temperature (T), the water-to-cement ratio (w/c), silica fume (SF), cement content (C), fiber content (Fb), water (W), sand content (S), superplasticizer (SP), fiber aspect ratio (AR) and curing time (t). Experimental results were used and compared to t…
Development of a software package with GUI for the evaluation of monolithicity factors of RC jacketed columns
2023
The design of reinforced concrete (RC) jacketing for retrofitting substandard columns is a common practice when approaching the structural rehabilitation design of existing structures. In this framework, international technical codes suggest to assume the hypothesis of monolithic section and finally affecting the deduced performances by some empirical factors, known in the literature as monolithicity factors. The assessment of these coefficients is a difficult task, and only some rough assumptions can be found in the modern codes. This paper presents the development of a software package able to perform the static non-linear analysis of RC jacketed columns and evaluating the actual value of…
Moving towards a new life cycle analysis approach by implementing low cost structural 3d monitoring of historic building safety by means of image bas…
2016
Abstract A building’s structural safety is often remit to human life fatalities and the measures of social protection and security often used following the collapse of a portion of the building. It is quite clear that, if it were possible to monitor the increase of static deterioration, it would be easier to prevent the collapse. There are two fundamental aspects closely linked to the building’s collapse: the first concerns the security of lives and the second concerns the well-being and quality of life when it is considered in relation to Cultural Heritage survival. Unfortunately, the high cost of a 3D survey does not usually permit a constant monitoring of the visible instability. The pap…
A Quantum-Inspired Classifier for Early Web Bot Detection
2022
This paper introduces a novel approach, inspired by the principles of Quantum Computing, to address web bot detection in terms of real-time classification of an incoming data stream of HTTP request headers, in order to ensure the shortest decision time with the highest accuracy. The proposed approach exploits the analogy between the intrinsic correlation of two or more particles and the dependence of each HTTP request on the preceding ones. Starting from the a-posteriori probability of each request to belong to a particular class, it is possible to assign a Qubit state representing a combination of the aforementioned probabilities for all available observations of the time series. By levera…
Further Experimental Investigation of Motored Engine Friction Using Shunt Pipe Method
2019
Mechanical friction is a significant power dissipater in the internal combustion engine. In the effort of designing more efficient and less pollutant engines, friction reduction is certainly on the agenda to be investigated. Such investigation cannot be possible without an accurate measurement of the same quantity. This publication regards a continued study on the mechanical friction determination in an internal combustion engine using the Pressurised Motoring Method. In this work, the friction mean effective pressure of a four-cylinder compression ignition engine was investigated with varying engine speed and manifold pressurisation, using a dedicated high precision sensor for the correct …
Human reliability analysis to support the development of a software project
2017
The Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) is considered as a useful tool in predicting and quantifying the occurrence of human errors during the execution of a specific task. With this recognition, the present paper firstly aims at discussing the support given by HRA methodologies to the fault risk evaluation. Then, the Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction (THERP) is suggested to evaluate the success probability of a software development project.
A Structured Methodology for the Safety Key Performance Indicator Prioritization: A Case Study
2021
Nowadays, companies have become more and more attentive to the management and evaluation of activities, processes and actions related to the safety in workplaces. This attention stems from both the need to comply with law requirements and to improve the productivity of the company by ensuring the reduction of occupational injuries and diseases. Accordingly, performance evaluation is a fundamental step also theorized by the most important guidelines on Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMSs). With this recognition, the present paper provides a methodology to prioritize Safety Key Performance Indicators (SKPIs) starting from an initial set selected from the literature. Refe…
Multiobjective Optimal Reconfiguration of MV Networks with Different Earthing Systems
2010
The paper deals with the traditional problem of multiobjective optimal reconfiguration applied to power distribution systems considering the safety issue in the formulation. The applications are devoted to the solution of the posed problem in networks in which coexist energy sources with unearthed neutral point and resonant earthed neutral point. After a brief review of the most recent papers on optimal reconfiguration, the paper outlines the safety problem and provides a solution to the multiobjective problem using the Non dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II aiming at: minimal power losses operation, safety check at distribution substations and load balancing among the HV/MV transformer…
Safety Concerns on Ground Fault Application Transfer Phenomenon in HV Installations
2007
When a fault to ground occurs in HV/MV substations supplied by a combined overhead-cable line, most of the fault current can be transferred and injected into the soil several kilometers far away from the fault location. This phenomenon is called "fault application transfer" and mostly concerns transition stations, where cables are connected to the overhead line. If the transition station is a dead-end steel pole structure, usually accessible to the general public, the local ground electrode could be inadequate to maintain ground potential rise within safety limits. Hence, dangerous touch and step voltages may appear at exposed locations. In the paper results of various computer simulations …