Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
Online ISSN : 1347-2852
Print ISSN : 1346-7581
Volume 11, Issue 1
Displaying 1-30 of 30 articles from this issue
Architectural History and Theory
  • Lee Hak-Sop, Yong-Hoon Son
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 1-7
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Hahoe Village, one of the representative clan villages to which the Pungsan Ryu clan emigrated in the Goryeo era (13th century) is located in Andong City, Korea. There is a rock in the village called Neungpadae, on which is engraved an inscription which has been interpreted to mean 'Look down on waves (flood)', because the Chinese character 'non-displayed special character(s)' means 'look down on' and the character 'non-displayed special character(s)' means 'waves'. People have stretched the meaning of these letters and interpreted them as "Even if the Nakdong River overflows and produces a great flood, the flood water will not reach this rock, Neungpadae. The rock looks down on a flood (Andong City, 2002)". However, this is an interpretation based only on the meanings of the two Chinese characters, 'non-displayed special character(s)', and has not yet been authenticated. This study aims to discover the accurate meaning of Neungpadae in Hahoe Village and debunk the widely known, but incorrect interpretation.
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  • Pilar Chias, Tomas Abad
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 9-16
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The Spanish Colonial period in the Indies extends from 1492 to 1898, when the last colonies - Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines - attained their independence. The Philippines depended on the Spanish Crown from 1521, the date of the first settlement on the Island of Cebu. More than two hundred new cities were founded along the archipelago with the traditional grid structure, but some with other urban typologies have not been studied before. At the beginning they were mostly located on the coast and later became port cities, but the ensuing exploration of inland territories led to the construction of new settlements, later linked through a network of roads, railroads and navigational routes. Based upon the ancient cartography of the Philippines that the authors have recently discovered in the principal Spanish repositories, the present article studies these unexplored and unpublished fields of research, analyzing the different urban patterns, as well as the territorial structures that were consolidated during the Spanish Colonial period in the Archipelago.
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  • Shoichiro Sendai
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 17-23
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    The study aims to clarify the relationship between Le Corbusier's global concept regarding the environment ("Sun, Space, Green") and its realization in the transformation of the architectural form of the Villa Sarabhai (1952-1955) in Ahmedabad, India. According to an analysis of the Le Corbusier Archives, Carnets (Sketchbooks) and Le Corbusier's correspondence, Le Corbusier studied the architectural space of the Villa Sarabhai using the low-level vault to receive the wind and to merge into the landscape from the start of the project. However, in the process of this project, the rooftop form was transformed. That is, a roof garden where one could stroll freely on the vault was conceived. This horizontal layout with the "roof garden" differs from the utopian one that had been planned and achieved in the 1920's. The "roof garden" of Ahmedabad is a reflection of the relationship with the specific natural environment which Le Corbusier encountered.
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  • Sanghoon Kang
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 25-32
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This article examines some key issues in nineteenth-century church architecture. Of particular interest are the parish churches constructed in Paris during the Second Empire: a period during which the construction of churches and urban expansion reached unprecedented levels. The identity crisis associated with the church architecture of that era may well be reflected in the architectural style debate between Desiré Raoul-Rochette and E. E. Viollet-le-Duc. However, given the great sociopolitical and economic changes occuring during this period, a different analytical approach to discuss stylistic evolution of the churches is warranted. This paper attempts to broaden the discussion of the Parisian parish churches of the Second Empire in order to show that they should be recognized as architectural projects giving precision to the descriptive social forces, such as the economizing on outlays, the formulation of two idealized new types of church architecture, a mise en scene of a theatrical effect in city fabric, liturgical requirements, and the emergence of îlot parisien in the Second Empire, that exist beyond the scope of the traditional doctrinal analyses of architectural style.
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Architectural/Urban Planning and Design
  • Akihiko Iwasa, Takashi Hasegawa, Shunichi Shinkai, Masahiko Shinozaki, ...
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 33-38
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study is to reveal the residential environment of temporary housing for disaster victims and propose supporting measures, taking a practical approach to temporary housing for victims of two disasters, the 7.13 flood and the Chuetsu earthquake, both of which occurred in 2004 in Chuetsu, the middle area of Niigata Prefecture in Japan. By means of on-site investigation and a "temporary open café" project providing practical support for residents in temporary housing, this study arrived at the following conclusions.
    (1) Knowledge of how to improve temporary residential units was shared with neighbors, but it was not spread among the temporary sites. (2) The communities in temporary housing were based on former neighborhood communities. It was useful that people who used to be neighbors were housed at the same temporary site and a common room was built at each temporary site. (3) The community in temporary housing was exclusive. However, in the second stage of recovery, the temporary cafés became useful as places where residents could escape the bonds of these communities. (4) During the one and half years after the earthquake, special places providing opportunities for communication and refreshment were produced by residents in the temporary sites.
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  • Kyung-Suk Lee, Hyun-Mi Kim, Tae-Hee Lee, Seungwoo Han
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 39-46
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Compared to other operations, formwork depends mostly on manual labor and greatly influences the subsequent and overall processes. The form selection criteria for construction projects in South Korea are based however, not on objective and concrete origins, but on the limited experiences of highly practiced planners or engineers. Also, there are no appropriate selection criteria for the data shared by construction companies. Therefore, this paper aims to offer an objective and concrete methodology by which an appropriate formwork operation for structural works can be selected. Toward this end, the aluminum form, sky-deck form, and AFB methods are among the slab form methods widely used in densely populated regions. The Delphi technique was used for the qualitative items of the criteria and the simulation technique for the quantitative items. Also, the AHP technique was applied for finding variable weights of both qualitative and quantitative items in an integrated model. Through the aforementioned procedure, objective selection criteria were derived. Also, by presenting a case study on the selection of an appropriate operation, which includes emerging technologies that completely lack actual data, a practical application of the proposed methodology is proposed.
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  • Sungki Hong, Jeasun Lee, Brian Hong Sok Kim
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 47-54
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    City and place marketing is highly recognized in urban planning and management. As one of the brand marketing resources, the brand and brand equity of residential areas draws considerable attention. No attempt was made in previous studies to explore the components of brand equity, causality of components and measurement strategies of brand equity in residential areas. This study establishes a conceptual model to estimate the brand equity in residential areas and to identify a method for evaluating brand equity components with their relationships using modification of general goods and services through a brand equity evaluation model. The results indicate that brand awareness and brand personality have a direct influence on brand equity, while perceived quality has an indirect influence due to intermediation by reputation. In addition, brand awareness, perceived quality, and reputation in Bundang are higher than those in Ilsan.
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  • Kyu-In Lee, Dongwoo Yeom
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 55-62
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of the research is to compare KGBCC-certified apartments, to verify the effect of the certification, and to suggest directions for improvements in terms of residents' satisfaction levels. For this study, two apartments with KGBCC certification were selected, and a questionnaire concerning the awareness of the KGBCC, satisfaction level, and cause of dissatisfaction on KGBCC assessment indicators were carried out on the residents in question. Finally, a comparative study and analysis of the survey with the certification scores were conducted. Based on the synthetic analysis result, assessment indicators were arranged into four groups based on the average of the total satisfaction level and scoring rate, and the effect and directions concerning improvement to the KGBCC were found.
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  • Soyeon Lee, Hojeong Ryu, Mikyoung Ha
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 63-70
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this paper was to determine criminal spots on the way home from school for middle-school students. The Gangseo district, where most school violence occurs in Seoul, was investigated. Through a cognitive map analysis, the findings of this paper are as follows: first, the frequency of where fear of crime was felt was greater than that of actual crime, and the fear of crime did not closely reflect crime occurrence. Second, females had more fear of crime spots than males. Third, students feel fear mostly for reasons related to human factors rather than to space factors; among the human factors, 'peers' represented the most frequent reason. Fourth, mixed-use building regions were the most commonly cited criminal regions, as were school regions, despite the fact that they were small areas. Narrow paths and landmarks where people congregate were cited as criminal spots. Planned spaces for relaxation could also lead to fear related to the fact that these places are seen as common bully peer congregation spots. In addition, places associated with territoriality were commonly cited as criminal spots.
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  • Vesna Žegarac Leskovar, Miroslav Premrov
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 71-78
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    This paper presents the reasonability of using an increased proportion of glazing surfaces in prefabricated timber-frame buildings with a special focus on energy efficiency by using an enlarged glazing area in the south façade. The research is based on a case study of a two-storey house built in a prefabricated timber-frame structural system taking the climate data for Ljubljana into consideration. Parametric analysis is performed on the variation of an increased proportion of the glazing surface's impact in the south side of the building according to the total surface of the south façade (AGAW) as a basic variable. The analysis was carried out on different exterior wall elements having different thermal properties, while the rest of the parameters, such as the ground plan of the model as well as the active systems, roof and floor slab assemblies, climate condition, etc. remain constant. The basic theoretical contribution of the presented research is the transformation of a complex energy related problem to only one single independent variable (Uwall-value) which becomes the only variable parameter to determine the optimal glazing area size value (AGAWopt) for all contemporary prefabricated timber construction systems.
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  • Hirohide Kobayashi, Duc Tran Thanh, Ueru Tanaka
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 79-85
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The climatic and geographic features of central Vietnam frequently contribute to annual floods, and several disastrous floods have been recorded in the last few decades. The most recent and disastrous flood, in 1999, is still memorable within the affected area, due to the magnitude of catastrophe inflicted by floodwaters. However, the flooding effects in rural areas are not often reported in detail. This study aims to clarify flood-adaptation measures and the vulnerability of housing conditions in the flood-prone area, based on a field survey of a lagoon village. The surveyed houses can be classified into four different types that have similar spatial layouts. Most of the surveyed houses show characteristics of adapting well to annual floods; for example, floor levels are conventionally raised to adjust to the height of annual floodwaters in each location. Nonetheless, housing conditions are still vulnerable to future disastrous floods, as efficient flood-prevention features—such as the provision of two-story durable housing—often prove too expensive for most villagers. Thus, villagers need to develop other measures to prepare themselves better for disastrous flooding.
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  • Chang-Sian Li, Sy-Jye Guo
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 87-94
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Life cycle cost analysis of maintenance costs and budgets for university buildings is essential. This paper briefly describes the meaning and application of the standard of maintenance costs and budgets, and addresses the meaning of maintenance cost and budgeting with regard to engineering. To examine this issue, a case study on the operations maintenance phase of four university buildings on the campus of National Taiwan University is presented. Using historical data on maintenance and repair over a 42-year period, a cost prediction model using the life-cycle cost (LCC) was determined using three different methods: (1) simple linear regression (SLR); (2) multiple regression (MR); and finally (3) a back propagation artificial neural network (BPN). The research results showed that the BPN model had good estimation ability. This paper implemented the BPN model in a case study to analyze the problems of maintenance costs and budgeting for university buildings. The study helps to set a legitimate standard for predicting repair maintenance costs, and proposes a plan and standard for the repair maintenance strategy of structures. The results of this study are provided to show how to establish a cost prediction model of maintenance and how these university buildings can be used to obtain the optimal life cycle maintenance scenario.
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  • Seo Ryeung Ju, Saari Omar, Young Eun Ko
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 95-102
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Kampong Baharu (KB), literally meaning "New Village", is located in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It came into existence in 1899 as a reserved area only for ethnic Malays. Over time, urban growth resulted in the settlement losing its agricultural value and now it is a unique preserved housing area for Malays. Many vernacular Malay houses that were built in the 1900s still exist in KB. These houses were not original vernacular houses and were transformed and modernized into unique typologies that lie between the traditional and modern typologies.
    This study defines these houses as 'modern' vernacular Malay houses and attempts to explore the typologies of such houses built during the 1900s in KB. More than 100 vernacular Malay houses in KB were investigated and analyzed with respect to three major elements of order of the traditional Malay house elevation: roof, wall and pillar. As a result of this study, several representative 'modern' vernacular typologies were proposed. It is important to document these typologies because they demonstrate how traditional vernacular Malay houses were transformed into modern houses through the modernization process.
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  • Murat Şahin
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 103-110
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This article focuses on the re-examination and re-interpretation of a small but noteworthy pavilion designed and built in 1937. Compromising with the client's demands by creating a common ground and shared judgment, minimizing new resources and conserving energy by working with the local climate and conditions, the architect, in the late thirties, achieved an integrated design having both sentimental value and a raison d'être, that is to say, poetic and rational meanings of sustainability, which appear to be of significant value to contemporary design. The basic objective of this study is to rediscover, reinterpret and represent the architect's peculiar solution to the problem of addition and transformation, along with his conception of preservation and remodeling issues; to underscore the complex web of spatiotemporal relations the design establishes with various regional and global contexts through observations, analysis and survey studies in the framework of the concept of integration. This particular design, an evident example of sustainable design and timelessness; concepts not yet then on the agenda of architecture, reveals that sustainability is not an added concept, but rather should be an intrinsic part of any architectural design.
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Building Structures and Materials
  • Khoa Tan Nguyen, Jaehong Lee, Kangsu Lee, Namshik Ahn
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 111-117
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Construction materials have been greatly improved in recent years and reinforced concrete is no exception. However, corrosion inside reinforced concrete continues to be a primary problem in the construction field. This paper considers the corrosion rate of special kinds of steel inside reinforced concrete pavement. Corrosion is caused by chloride ions present in the deicing salts used to melt snow on pavement. These chloride ions cause endosmosis in the structure of steel and eventually destroy it. In order to prevent such corrosion, layers have been created to protect the steel. The authors use the polarization resistance method to check the ability of such barriers. The variables of this experimental study were four kinds of steel: black rebar, stainless steel 304 clad rebar, galvanized coated rebar A and galvanized coated rebar B. According to the test result, black steel corroded much more than the others with the presence of salt. Although the galvanized A rebar corroded more slowly than the galvanized B rebar in Ca(OH)2 plus the threshold amount NaCl, the corroding resistance of the galvanized B rebar was better in the presence of 3.5% NaCl. However, of the four kinds of steel, the pure stainless steel 304 clad rebar proved to be the best in terms of corrosion resistance.
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  • Katsunori Onishi, Takeshi Fujino, Yoshimasa Kondo, Hideo Ikami, Takash ...
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 119-124
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    This study has confirmed the performance of a recycled gypsum composite mortar (RGCM) foundation, developed for the foundation work of a single-family house using a raw material recycled from waste gypsum boards generated from the construction of new buildings or the demolition of old buildings, equivalent or superior to that of existing foundation work methods. The compressive strength of an RGCM core sample depends on water content and the mixing cement ratio. It is 158 kN/m2 for a high water/composite ratio (115%) sample after 28-days of air-drying, which is more than the maximum load of the sleeping foundation (50 kN/m2). The stress of the sleeping foundation can be transferred to the foundation ground. The hardening surface of the RGCM is smooth and there are no problems related to marking and joinability. Even when the excavated surface is rough, the RGCM can be used to fill the gaps resulting from its high fluidity, similarly to the SL material. Thus, the RGCM is integrated with the foundation ground. The RGCM foundation is advantageous from the viewpoints of environmental friendliness (recyclability), and is expected to be used as the foundation footing of houses.
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  • Hyong-Kee Kim
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 125-132
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    This study purposed to evaluate the adequacy of existing equations proposed for calculating the bond strength of reinforcing bar splices in a mortar-filled steel pipe sleeve, and to propose a method for estimating the bond strength of bar splices that quantitatively reflects the confining effect of a steel pipe sleeve. For this purpose, we analyzed a total of 40 experimental mortar-filled steel pipe splices in which bond failure occurred, and examined how the confinement effect of steel pipe affects the bond performance of these splices.
    The study results showed that existing methods of estimating the bond strength of the bar splices did not adequately estimate the bond strength of reinforcement splices in a mortar-filled steel pipe sleeve. In addition, based on the results of the tests on the 40 analyzed specimens, we performed multiple regression analysis with independent variables such as sleeve shape and the development length of a bar, and proposed the confining pressure of mortar-filled steel pipe splices. By applying the proposed confining pressure to Untrauer and Henry's bond strength equation reflecting the lateral confining pressure, we computed the bond strength of mortar-filled steel pipe splices more accurately than existing bond strength estimation methods.
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  • Sang-Woo Kim, Yong-Jun Lee, Kil-Hee Kim
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 133-138
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    This study estimates the flexural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with electric arc furnace (EAF) oxidizing slag aggregates. EAF oxidizing slag is a byproduct of steel production. It is composed mainly of CaO and SiO2, which are similar to the chemical properties of natural aggregates. Simply supported RC beams having various types of aggregates were tested to evaluate the applicability of EAF oxidizing slag as a concrete aggregate. The moment-curvature relationship and crack patterns up to peak load as well as the effective moment of inertia and deflection of the specimens under service load were analyzed and compared with the experimental results of natural aggregate specimens. The experimental results showed that the specimens with EAF oxidizing slag aggregates exhibited similar flexural performance to that of the specimens with natural aggregates.
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  • Min-Jae Lee, Kangmin Lee
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 139-146
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    The new active strengthening system is an excellent system to replace previous external post tensioning systems without causing additional structural problems. In this system, the compressive forces due to prestressing are absorbed into the reinforcing system by adding the compressive member and no axial force is transferred to the member. In this study, the constructability and performance of this system were analyzed by applying the proposed technologies to a real construction project. Compared with previous systems that have been effective in new construction, such as beam and slab, the new active system can have a ripple effect on new repair and strengthening technologies by adapting it to repair and retrofitting. This system was proven to be an excellent strengthening system in constructability and structural performance since it is very simple, compared to previous systems. Finally, the new active system was proven to result in more than a 10 percent reduction in construction cost compared to previous systems, and positive economic effects can be expected because construction duration is shorter than other systems, and other floors and adjacent spaces in the building can be used during strengthening works.
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  • Vachira Sangrutsamee, Panya Srichandr, Nuchthana Poolthong
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 147-151
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    This paper presents an investigation on the properties and applications of paper-based composites. The materials composed of cement, sand and re-pulped waste paper. The physical, mechanical and thermal properties of various types of paper composites were determined. The results showed that the addition of re-pulped waste paper causes high water absorption and leads to a reduction in thermal conductivity, bulk density and compressive strength. Sample mixtures containing re-pulped newspaper, office paper or any type of mixed paper have similar property values. The one exception was samples made from re-pulped carton paper which had a lower thermal conductivity and a lower bulk density than the others. When the proposed blocks were manufactured for comparison with existing masonry blocks, they were shown to satisfy the basic requirements of affordable insulating building materials and to support energy-saving and environmental conservation goals.
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  • Huanjun Jiang, Xilin Lu, Linzhi Chen
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 153-160
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    Seismic fragility was assessed for 72 RC moment-resisting frame building structures designed according to the current Chinese seismic design code for buildings, taking into account the uncertainty of the structural material strength and earthquake ground motions. The site soil type, the number of stories, and the seismic protection intensity were considered to be the main design variables of the reference structures. Fragilities for four damage levels, i.e., fully operational, operational, repairable, and collapse prevention, are developed in this study. The global seismic damage index, which reflects the effects of individual structural components, and the maximum inter-story drift ratio, which is closely related to the seismic damage of structural and non-structural components, was employed as the damage identifiers. For each frame structure, the probability of exceeding each damage level in an earthquake with a specified PGA was determined by conducting nonlinear time history analysis. Fragility curves for the four damage levels were derived by regression analysis using the nonlinear least-squares method. The structural reliability of RC frames against earthquakes was examined using the developed fragility curves. The results indicate that seismic performance objectives for RC frame structures designed in accordance with the current Chinese code can be achieved with good reliability.
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  • Ying Zhou, Xilin Lu, Zhihua Huang
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 161-168
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    The relationship of the strength reduction factor R, the displacement ductility μ, and the structural period T is of significance in predicting the structural demand by the method of inelastic response spectrum analysis (RSA). So far eight R – μ – T models have been proposed by researchers worldwide; however, no comparisons among them have been performed for the improvement of future models. This paper compared eight R – μ – T models from three aspects: parameters to build the models, model results under constant ductility, and response predictions for a high-rise hybrid structure with reinforced concrete core walls at the center and steel frame at the periphery. From these comparisons, it is concluded that the difference between the displacements obtained by the inelastic RSA of eight models and the elasto-plastic time history analysis is within 30%. Thus, inelastic RSA can work as an effective method in predicting the displacement demand of structures. The influence of the hysteretic model on the R – μ – T relationship is not obvious, but the site characteristics do have an effect on the results of various R – μ – T models with a maximum difference of 25%. Because no unanimous agreement has been reached regarding the effect of the damping, further research on the damping of the single-degree-of-freedom system to build the model is needed.
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Environmental Engineering
  • Jin Woo Moon, Seung-Hoon Han
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 169-176
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    This study aimed at testing the feasibility of employing artificial neural network (ANN)-based predictive and adaptive control logics to improve thermal comfort and energy efficiency through a decrease in overshoots and undershoots of control variables. Three control logics were developed: (1) conventional temperature/humidity control logic, (2) ANN-based temperature/humidity control logic, and (3) ANN-based Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) control logic. Performance tests were conducted in a thermal chamber for non-application of setback and application of setback of thermal factors. Analysis revealed that the ANN-based predictive temperature/humidity control logic generally provided greater periods of thermal comfort than that of the conventional logic, as well as a reduction in overshoots and undershoots. In addition, the ANN-based PMV control logic provided significantly better PMV conditions than both temperature/humidity based control logics. In more cases, ANN-based control logic demonstrated a reduction in electricity consumption, compared to non-ANN-based control logic, especially for a system with a large time-lag effect such as a radiant water heating system.
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  • Shyy Woei Chang, Chih-Min Hsieh, Ching Yuan Lin, Hsin-Feng Liou
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 177-184
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    This experimental study examines the two phase flow structures of airflow pressures for annular flow through a 900 bend, with and without, a vortex fin for drainage applications. The superficial liquid flow characteristics: Reynolds number (ReL) and air-to-water flow volume ratio (AW) in the ranges of 11200-20000 and 1.1 - 9.6 respectively were selected as the control parameters throughout the specified tests. At each test condition the flow structures observed by the computerized videography were also synchronized to the airflow pressure measurements. Particular dependence on ReL and AW, the interfacial air-water flow behaviour through the 900 bend with and without a vortex fin varied periodically, to generate a variety of two-phase patterns which signified the temporal airflow pressure variations. The associated flow physics of the dynamic processes of airflow pressure variations were then revealed. In the 900 bend with fin, the down- flow water screen was discontinuous, leading to a reduction of positive airflow pressure. The empirical correlations observed permitted the individual interdependent evaluation of ReL and AW impact on the time-mean airflow pressures in the 900 bend with and without a vortex fin were derived to assist the design performance.
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  • Shiang-Yao Liu, Rong-Horng Chen, Yu-Ru Chiu, Chi-ming Lai
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 185-192
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    To cope with the crisis of frequent occurrences of extreme weather, various sectors are striving to find a way to ease climate change. A common consensus indicates that to reverse this crisis, we should reduce fossil fuel consumption, rely more on renewable energy, conserve energy, improve energy efficiency, and protect the forests. To enable these measures to achieve full effect, the implementation of energy education is a topic that demands immediate attention. In Taiwan, the building energy sector is closely related to people's lives, and the energy consumption of building industries accounts for 12% of the total national energy consumption. Based on intuitive daily experiences, an energy-saving and carbon-reduction curriculum on the building sector (Green Building) is deemed a feasible approach for elementary school students to promote their capacities of energy cognition, attitude and practice. In this study, the "building sector (Green Building)" was used as a research topic for energy education to be integrated within the energy education context, experiential learning activities, and effective transformation into the curriculum. Participating university faculty and elementary school teachers engaged in collaborative action research concerning development of a curriculum, including identifying suitable study materials, course development (course planning, curricula, teaching module innovation, trial teaching), and assessments.
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  • Yao-Lung Tsai, Yie-Ru Chiu, Chao-Hsien Liaw, Jui-Ling Chen
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 193-198
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    Infiltration gutters are often applied to address the urban hydraulic impact resulting from rapid urbanization. Despite their applicability in many of Asia's fast growing middle-sized cities, their characteristics and performance, however, have not been properly understood for supporting sound design. To this end, this study assessed their performance and proposed a simple approach based on Darcy's law for estimating the infiltration capacity of an infiltration gutter. Permeable-brick infiltration gutters were constructed and tested on-site. Water infiltrated through three scenarios, i.e., the surfaces of two vertical sides (NFS-2S), the bottom (NFS-B), and three faces (NFS-3S) of the gutter, which were measured under steady state conditions. Test results indicate that specific infiltration area per unit length (Au.s), denoting the final infiltration rate divided by the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil, and the designed water depth (H) are linearly dependent on each other for NFS-2S and NFS-3S but not for NFS-B. Experimental results also indicate that when the bottom of the gutter is clogged, the gutter still retains about 93% of its infiltration capacity. Based on these on-site tests, this study thereby developed a simple tool using Darcy's law to design infiltration gutters.
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  • Jui-Lin Chen, Chi-ming Lai
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 199-204
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
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    In this study, full-scale experiments were conducted to observe the influence of a natural ventilation shaft on smoke layer descent in room fires. An oil pan with a heat release rate of 50 kW was ignited in a model space to generate fire smoke for the observation of smoke layer descent and flow conditions under various natural ventilation conditions. It is found that when there is no natural ventilation shaft available in a room that is on fire, the height of the descending smoke layer in the fire room has nothing to do with whether the natural ventilation shaft has been set up or not in the adjacent non-fire room. However, when a natural ventilation shaft has been set up in the fire room, it is able to effectively raise the smoke layer height.
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  • Myung-Jun Kim
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 205-212
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In a building, doors are one of the weakest building elements regarding sound insulation, which is mainly due to inevitable sound leaks. Although there are some studies based on laboratory experiments, the influence of the aperture on the sound insulation performance under real building conditions have rarely been discussed. This work focused on the total sound insulation of doors with slit-shaped apertures at the bottom. Both in-situ measurements and theoretical predictions were performed on 30 interior doors. The total sound insulation through the door leaf and the aperture was acquired by measurement, and the relationship between the sound insulation performance and the width of aperture was found. The predictions on the total sound insulation were calculated by Gomperts' theory, and were compared with the in-situ measurements. In addition, the effects and the limits of m and n, the numbers indicating the incidence sound field and the aperture position, on prediction were investigated. Accordingly, the proper numbers of m and n were recommended for better prediction of the sound insulation of interior doors.
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  • Yie-Ru Chiu
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 213-217
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Rainwater harvesting systems (RWHSs) are promoted by many governments to ease urban water shortages. Such systems have also been adopted by the Sustainable Campus Project in Taiwan. However, spatial-temporal variances in precipitation significantly influence the hydraulic and economic performance of RWHSs, and a decision supporting system is essential for large scale application. This study proposes a simulation-based spatial system (SBSS) incorporating economic analysis to support the decision making of RWHSs. A case study is presented, which adapts the SBSS to the rooftop RWHSs of seven universities in the Taipei Area applied as part of the Sustainable Campus Project. Compared with the traditional generalized method, the SBSS enhances the information value. Also, the results of the case study show that SBSS provides more holistic and comprehensive support for the decision making of both end-users and policy makers. Therefore, the SBSS is a useful tool for promoting RWHSs on a large scale.
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  • Iwao Yamaguchi, Makoto Koganei, Tomonobu Goto, Masataka Tsushima
    2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 219-223
    Published: May 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: May 15, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    It is currently estimated that with the increasing numbers of IT equipment, the amount of information data used by society will reach 200 times the present volume by 2025. Under such circumstances, there is an urgent requirement for cooling systems in server rooms with high density servers and compatibility with faster and larger servers along with high environmental efficiency. This survey carried out an experiment in which energy performance measurements with variance of outside air taken into the server room in a real size server room were taken. The results show that the cooling load of air conditioners could be approximately 90 percent less than that of the conventional air conditioning system for server rooms and that the overall energy consumption and COP are increased by 18 percent and 24 percent of the maximum respectively, compared to those of the conventional systems under maximum heat load conditions.
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