International Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume:5 Issue: 4, Dec 2007

An attempt has been made to explore the general trends in the seismic response of plan-asymmetric structures when subjected to near-fault and far-fault ground motions. Systems with structural wall elements in both orthogonal directions considering actual and common nonlinear behavior under bi-directional excitation were studied. Idealized single-storey models with uni-axial eccentricity were employed. The main findings are: The rotational response trend considering actual behavior method would be different from common behavior method assumption, when the system subjected to near-fault motions. In the former case, the minimum rotational response could be achieved, when stiffness and strength centers are located on opposite side of the mass center. In the latter case, stiffness eccentricity determines the minimum and maximum rotational response. General trends in the rotational demand for far-fault motions, considering two type behavior assumptions, are similar to the last case. Moreover, in near-fault motions, when stiffness and strength centers are located on opposite side of the mass center, stiff side displacement demand would be greater than that soft side which is contrary to the conventional guidelines. While, in far-fault motions similar to near-fault motions which stiffness and strength centers are located on one side of the mass center, displacement demand would be according to conventional guidelines.

Plastic shrinkage is one of the most important parameter which must be considered in hot weather concreting. If plastic shrinkage is not prevented, cracking will be significant, especially if silica fume is used in the mix. In this paper, the effect of silica fume in bleeding and evaporation was investigated in laboratory. The results showed that in restrained shrinkage, beside relative humidity, temperature and wind velocity, sun radiation also is very important factor in evaporation rate. It is found that under solar radiation condition, the evaporation was much larger than the estimated value in ACI 305 Nomogram. The rate of evaporation under solar radiation was about two folds of evaporation rate under shade condition.The results showed that in terms of crack initiation time, crack width and total cracking area, concrete containing silica fume is more severe than concrete with no silica fume. Reduction of water cement ratio in concrete with silica fume makes the concrete more sensitive in cracking. The results of this project also showed that the severity of the cracking is not related only to rate of bleeding but all environmental factors including like sun radiation or shading and also mix compositions have important roles.

Conventional investigations on the behavior of reinforced and unreinforced soils are often investigated at the failure point. In this paper, a new concept of comparison of the behavior of reinforced and unreinforced soil by estimating the strength and strength ratio (deviatoric stress of reinforced sample to unreinforced sample) at various strain levels is proposed. A comprehensive set of laboratory triaxial compression tests was carried out on wet (natural water content) non-plastic beach silty sand with and without geotextile. The layer configurations used are one, two, three and four horizontal reiriforcing layers in a triaxial test sample. The influences of the number of geotextile layers and confining pressure at 3%, 6%, 9%, 12% and 15% of the imposed strain levels on sample were studied and described. The results show that the trend and magnitude of strength ratio is different for various strain level. It implies that using failure strength from peak point or strength corresponding to the axial-strain approximately 15% to evaluate the enhancement of strength or strength ratio due to reinforcement may cause hazard and uncertainty in practical design. Hence, it is necessary to consider the strength of reiriforced sample compared with unreinforced sample at the imposed strain level. Only one type of soil and one type of geotextile were used in all tests.

Through a collection of cooperative agents called ants, the near optimal solution to the multi-reservoir operation problem may be effectively achieved employing Ant Colony Optimization Algorithms (ACOAs). The problem is approached by considering a finite operating horizon, classifying the possible releases from the reservoir(s) intopre-determined intervals, and projecting the problem on a graph. By defining an optimality criterion, the combination of desirable releases from the reservoirs or operating policy is determined. To minimize the possibility of premature convergence to a local optimum, a combination of Pheromone Re-Initiation (PRI) and Partial Path Replacement (PPR) mechanisms are presented and their effects have been tested in a benchmark, nonlinear, and multimodal mathematical function. The finalized model is then applied to develop an optimum operatingpolicy for a single reservoir and a benchmark four-reservoir operation problem. Integration of these mechanisms improves the final result, as well as initial and final rate of convergence. In the benchmark Ackley function minimization problem, after 410 iterations, PRI mechanism improved the final solution by 97 percent and the combination of PRI and PPR mechanisms reduced final result to global optimum. As expected in the single-reservoir problem, with a continuous search space, a nonlinear programming (NLP) approach performed better than ACOAs employing a discretized search space on the decision variable (reservoir release). As the complexity of the system increases, the definition of an appropriate heuristic function becomes more and more difficult; this may provide wrong initial sight or vision to the ants. By assigning a minimum weight to the exploitation term in a transition rule, the best result is obtained. In a benchmark 4-reservoirproblem, a very low standard deviation is achieved for 10 different runs and it is considered as an indication of low diversity of the results. In 2 out of 10 runs, the global optimal solution is obtained, where in the other 8 runs; results are as close as 99.8 percent of the global solution. Results and execution time compare well with those of well developed genetic algorithms (GAs).

This paper presents a relatively new management model for the optimal design and operation of irrigation water pumping systems. The model makes use of the newly introduced particle swarm optimization algorithm. A two step optimization model is developed and solved with the particle swarm optimization method. The model first carries out an exhaustive enumeration search for all feasible sets of pump combinations able to cope with a given demand curve over the required period. The particle swarm optimization algorithm is then called in to search for optimal operation of each set. Having solved the operation problem of all feasible sets, one can calculate the total cost of operation and depreciation of initial investment for all the sets and the optimal set and the corresponding operating policy is determined. The proposed model is applied to the design and operation of a real-world irrigation pumping system and the results are presented and compared with those of a genetic algorithm. The results indicate that the proposed mode in conjunction with the particle swarm optimization algorithm is a versatile management model for the design and operation of real-world irrigation pumping systems.

Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ) offshore of Iran and Pakistan is one of the most tsunamigenic sources in the Indian Ocean. Historically, the MSZ has generated some tsunamigenic earthquakes like that of28 November 1945 with the death tool of more than 4000 people along the coasts of Iran, Pakistan, India, and Oman. In this study, the tsunami hazard associated with the MSZ is investigated. At first, a review of historical tsunamis in the Indian Ocean basin was performed which reveals the Makran region has experienced all east 4 tsunamis including events of 326 BC, 1897, 1008, and 1945. Consequently, since the pattern and extent of vertical ground deformation from an earthquake determines whether or not a tsunami is formed, a computer program is developed to predict the seafloor deformation due to the earthquake occurrence in the MSZ. The model was verified through run of it on some actual tsunamis so far occurred. Then, using the data of the 1945 Makran tsunami, the seismic parameters of the MSZ were calibrated. Finally, we used the developed computer program to calculate seafloor deformation at the location of Makran subduction zone for several earthquake scenarios with moment magnitudes ranging between 6.5 and 8.5. The results of this research show that the risk of tsunami generation from MSZ can be classified into three main categories, as follows: (1) very little risk for tsunami generation in the case of the occurrence of an earthquake having magnitude up to 7; (2) little to medium risk for moment magnitudes ranging between 7and 7.5; and (3) high risk for moment magnitude greater than 7.5. At the end of the paper, modeling of tsunami propagation is performed for an earthquake scenario with magnitude of 8 offshore Chabahar, in order to give preliminary information about tsunami behavior in this region.