Title: Choice of Appropriate Tyres as an Asset to Traffic Safety on Winter Roads – Compilation and Evaluation of Some Winter Tyre Tests in Sweden

Abstract: Winter tyres must be able to cope with the slipperiness which occurs on the surface of the roads during winter. The slipperiness is generated by water vapour in the atmosphere, precipitating and transforming into a solid form i.e. in ice form, either directly or after refrigeration or cooling. Many experimental studies e.g. winter tyre tests have been carried out by many companies and authorities independently from each other to determine if there are any types of tyres which have the best grip on different road surface conditions in the winter. The purpose of this study is to compile, analyse, compare and evaluate the obtained results of some winter tyre tests which have been performed in Sweden during years 2007-2010. The study aims further to find out which types of these tyres are most appropriate as an asset and increase the traffic safety on Swedish winter roads. Both studded tyres and non-studded tyres, so-called friction tyres or all season tyres were used in the tests. The method of the study is partly based on a theoretical study by reviewing some literature in this area and furthermore studying some practical cases i.e. winter tyre tests. The results of the tests are given in tables and figures showing the function of different types of the studded and non-studded tyres on different road conditions. All test-tyres have been supplied by several tyre manufacturers. The study is only limited to compare the grip and effectiveness of different type of winter tyres on different kind of road conditions. The study does not take the impact of the tyres on the environment into consideration. The study shows that currently there are several types of winter tyres on the market but there is no tyre that is ideal or works best under all winter conditions.

Title: Soil Stabilization Techniques Using Sodium Hydroxide Additives

Abstract: Soil stabilization is the alteration of one or more soil properties, by mechanical or chemical means, to create an improved soil material possessing the desired engineering properties. There are three purposes for soil stabilization. These include increasing strength of an existing soil to enhance its load-bearing capacity, permeability improvement and enhancement of soil resistance to the process of weathering, and traffic usage among others (ASTM, 1992). The mechanical and physical techniques of soil stabilization are based on decreasing the void rate by compacting or physically altering the grain size factions involving the adjustment of the particle size composition of soil. The chemical technique is also a common soil stabilization approach, since it produces a better quality soil with higher strength and durability than mechanical and physical techniques. The chemical techniques are dependent on reaction between chemical additives and soil particles which then produce a strong network that bind the soil grains. Mineral polymers are class of amorphous to semi-crystalline materials formed at near ambient temperature. Chemically, mineral polymers consist of cross-linked units of AlO4– and SiO4 tetrahedral, where charge balancing cations (Na+, k+, Li+, Ca2+, Ba2+, H3O+) are provided by alkali metals (Davidovids, 1991; ASTM, 1992). Sodium hydroxide in a solution is a white, odourless, non-volatile solution. It doesn’t burn but highly reactive. It reacts violently with water and numerous commonly encountered materials, generating enough heat to ignite nearby combustible materials. Its principal advantages are that it can easily react with water which results into a powerful compaction aid giving a higher density for the same compactive effort. Sodium hydroxide reacts very effectively with soil rich in aluminium (Alshaaer, 2000; Olaniyan, 2008).

Title: The Effect of Outer Room Design on the Development of Thermal Comfort Concept in Minahasa Stilt House Industrial Production

Abstract: The aim of the study was to describe and analyze; 1) the boarding room thermal comfort of Minahasa stilt house  industrial production which has been developed by the owner, viewed from the effect of outer room design element; 2) the residents’ perception on the thermal comfort of the boarding room; 3) to develop the concept of thermal comfort of the Minahasa stilt house  industrial production. The study was conducted at Kleak sub-district, in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The study was a field survey by doing systematic observation at 159 units of analysis and 355 respondents of residents’. The data were analyzed statistically assisted by excel program using table of frequency and cross tabulation followed by qualitative analysis. The results of the study indicate that 1) the outer room design has a significant effect on thermal comfort;2) residents’ perception 93.7% according to measurement result; 3) the development of thermal comfort requires the availability of open space of evergreen yard.

Title: Polymer Modified Asphalt Emulsion

Abstract: In road paving industry, asphalt emulsion is used for cold mix application such as chip seal, slurry seal, microsurfacing, cold recycled mixture and etc. Asphalt emulsion has several advantages compared to normal asphalt such as eco-friendly, easy to handle at ambient temperature and energy saving material because it does not need any heating process in its application. The history of asphalt emulsions and its application in road construction begin in the early part of 20th century. Due to the increasing number of traffic loads and volume, the used of normal asphalt emulsion is not enough to prevent the pavement from deterioration. Nowadays, polymer modified asphalt technology is used by researcher and manufacturer in asphalt emulsion to improve the performance of asphalt emulsion. Various types of polymers can be used to prepare polymer modified asphalt emulsion such as styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) block copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyvinyl acetate (PVA), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) latex, epoxy resin and natural rubber latex. Polymer can be added into asphalt emulsion in three ways: 1) pre-blending method, 2) simultaneous-blending method and 3) post-blending method. The blending method has important influence on polymer network distribution and will affect the performance of polymer modified asphalt emulsions. The absence of an agreed protocol has allowed various techniques to be used by testing laboratories in order to obtain asphalt emulsion residue. This paper presents an overview of the researches which have been conducted on polymer modified asphalt emulsions using various types of polymer and performance of its application.

Title: Investigation Of The Strain Energy Density Around Opening In Concrete Wall

Abstract: The paper presents an analytical study using the finite element method of the strain energy density in planar problem.     In this work investigated the most intense zones in terms of the strain energy density in the elastic deformation stage of a concrete wall. The effect of the openings in the concrete wall and comparison of the strain energy density in the solid wall and the wall with openings is studied. And also, it was determined the influence of the size and shape of the openings on the distribution of the strain energy density in the concrete wall.

Title: Effect of Aggregate to Binder Ratio on Shrinkage and Creep of High Performance Lightweight Concrete

Abstract: High performance lightweight concrete, HPLC, could be considered as a combination between high performance concrete and structural lightweight concrete. In the present work, HPLC was produced from totally local materials (Metakaolin and Porcelinite). An experimental part had carried out to investigate the effect of increasing lightweight aggregate volume on time-dependent deformations of high performance lightweight concrete. The tests included in this work were: 28-day oven dry density, compressive strength, shrinkage strain, and creep strain in compression. The test period for shrinkage and creep was extended to 364 days. It was concluded that using higher Porcelinite to binder ratios had always negative effect on shrinkage of HPLC. Mix M20 (with 20% increase in P/B ratio) showed the lowest shrinkage magnitude and rate. No significant decrease was observed in specific creep of the tested mixes when adopting higher P/B ratios.

Title: An Assessment of Nominal and Actual Hourly Production of Crawler-Type Front Shovel  in Construction Projects

Abstract: The hourly production of machinery is generally one of the key factors in construction projects. In a construction plan, one should significantly concentrate on the type, number and schedule of presence of the machinery at the project site. This paper presents the hourly production of a model of a crawler-type front shovel at the site of several earth-fill dams in Iran. The data obtained from Caterpillar, Komatsu, and Hitachi manufacturers derive the nominal hourly production of the machine. The actual hourly production was calculated according to the statistical data from various earth-fill dams around Iran. The derived results showed that the crawler-type front shovel has a considerable difference in actual and nominal hourly production.

Title: Phenomenology of Site Design as a Fundamental Concept in Architectural Education

Abstract: Many people would describe architectural design as one of the most creative of human pursuits. However, when students of architecture strive to create a site design or a layout of a specific project, they face the problem of how relevant is the mass they envisage to the quality of place. This paper aims to present the potentials of the contribution of the phenomenology of place in the architectural experience. It also invites for establishing the phenomenological approach to teaching site design and layout as a fundamental concept in architectural education, and explores some strategies that can strengthen the architectural design process.

Title: The Rainfall-Runoff Model Using Of The Watershed Physical Characteristic Approach

Abstract: The determination of flood discharges that fits to the physical condition of the watershed requires an effort in developing flood discharges estimation model that meets the physical condition of the watershed. The research uses two models in estimating the flood in any watershed. The first model is the development of surface runoff coefficient model (Cm). The second model is the development of flood discharges models (Qm) that is used further as plan flood prediction for each sub watershed. The research aims to determine the parameter of physical characteristic of the watershed that affects the surface runoff coefficient, to develop the correlation between physical characteristics of the watershed with the surface runoff coefficient, and to determine the plan flood prediction for Bango watershed. The analysis applied in determining the parameter of physical characteristics of the watershed uses geographical information system (GIS), and the development of surface runoff coefficient model by using multiple linear correlation-regression. The findings show that the mean slope of watershed (Ia), the main river length factor (Lb), topography factor (T), land use factor (Lu), and land type factor (S) influence the surface runoff coefficient. The parameter correlation toward the surface runoff coefficient is linear, while for flood discharges, it is non-linear. Plan flood model can be applied to predict the flood in Bango watershed.

Title: Clusterization of Synthetic Unit Hydrograph Methods Based on Watershed Characteristics

Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine the appropriate method of synthetic unit hydrograph for various ungauge watershed characteristics, where each method specified in range of validity based on characteristics parameter and will be presented in the form of synthetic unit hydrograph methods clusterization. Characteristics of the watershed that is used as a parameter are watershed area, the length of the main river and the slope. Watershed as the study site is 32 watersheds located in Java Island, Indonesia. Based on rainfall and river water level data, the observation unit hydrograph is determined for each watershed using the convolution method. Synthetic method validation is done by calculating the comparison parameters between observation and synthetic unit hydrograph with the specified tolerance value. Comparison parameter measure the similarity of the unit hydrograph’s shape and the unit hydrograph parameters of the peak discharge, peak time and time base. The analyzed synthetic method is Snyder, SCS, Nakayasu and Gama-1. The results showed each synthetic method has a validity range of the  watershed area, the length of the main river and the slope.

Title: The Concept of Optimum and Minimal Configuration and the Philosophy of Traditional Town Planning

Abstract: The most serious problem that humans now face is the unprecedented population growth in many parts of the world and the need to provide them with shelters that integrate harmoniously within its natural environment. This paper intends to discuss how traditional towns came about and describe their nature and organization. It aims to define a set of recommendations on what understandings and ways of thinking are essential for planning a city, town or village. It also aims to prepare architects, town planners to develop the understandings and habits of mind they need to become aware of the needs and requirements of human beings and their relations to the environment they live in. However, the main objective of this paper is to define the forces that affect town planning and satisfies the requirements of producing unified and self-contained communities. Town planning principles relate to many essential factors such as, demographic, tradition, culture, spirit, aesthetic, and the natural environment.

Title: Reliability - Based Design Of A Rigid Pitched Steel Portal Frame

Abstract: It is an established fact that uncertainties are associated with loading, material properties, geometry and other aspects of design of structure. These uncertainties must be taken into account in order to achieve a design that can take care of the inadequacies associated with the code provisions. Reliability-based design approach was therefore adopted for the design of a pitched portal frame using FORTRAN subroutines that design to BS5950 [1] requirements. The subroutines equally systematically call the First Order Reliability program that computes the implied safety level of the design. The sections obtained using the reliability - based design satisfied the safety requirements for the members and joints. Considering the applied load as Gumbel distribution, heavier sections were obtained as compared with normal distribution. It is shown among other findings that at the same target safety index of 3.5, when the imposed loading was changed from normal to gumbel distribution, there was increase in weight by 8% and 6% for rafter and apex joints respectively.