Civil Engineering Research Collection

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 809
  • Publication
    A 3D computational fluid dynamics validation study for the Queensferry Crossing Bridge with bus models on the deck
    In this paper, 3D CFD models of a bridge section of the Queensferry Crossing Bridge including a bus and other secondary structures on the deck are developed in OpenFOAM using the k-ω-SST turbulence model to determine the aerodynamic coefficients. The aerodynamic performance of the bridge deck accounting for several angles of attack with the bus located in various traffic lanes is investigated. The models are then validated with wind tunnel test results and good agreement is found between the 3D CFD models and the wind tunnel tests. The importance of the validated models is that they can be used in the future to study what wind speed should be set as a limit to prevent high-sided vehicles from overturning on the Queensferry Crossing Bridge.
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  • Publication
    A Parametric Study of Wind Pressure Distribution on Façades Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
    This paper uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to determine wind pressures on façades for the purpose of efficient design of these elements. An outstand fin arrangement was modeled where local brackets are used to protrude the fins from the building. A parametric study, for both changes in the length of the bracket and the fin, was derived from CFD simulations with 1-in-50-year storm conditions adopted throughout. Further simulations are performed for revised wind directions that ensure all fins are equally exposed to oncoming winds. In total, 15 models are created to act as a representative sample of the total number of possible configurations. Peak values for pressure are used to calculate forces and moments on the fins. These wind loading results were then used to interpolate the values for the remaining façade geometries. From interpreting the trends that are apparent in the relationship of fin size and bracket length to efficient loading, a set of design criteria is established. The optimal façade design is defined, based on placing equal importance onto minimizing the force along the fin’s length and the moment acting at the fin-bracket connection. The performance of some façade elements is shown to worsen the effects of the wind, relative to other designs, with the potential for very negative consequences. Wind direction is shown to have a significant effect on loading, with the magnitude of wind pressures reduced considerably for the worst affected fin, if the sheltering effect is absent between the fins.
    Scopus© Citations 2  50
  • Publication
    A numerical study on the sheltering effects of the central wind barriers on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge
    This study aims to examine the sheltering effects of central wind barriers installed near the pylons of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge. A full-scale Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model is developed, which includes high-precision geometries of the bridge and the terrain. Simulations using this model are performed at realistic wind conditions as boundary conditions are mapped from mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulations. Wind velocities at multiple locations on the bridge predicted by the CFD simulations are compared with field measurement data where a good agreement is reached. The validated model is then applied with bridge geometries with and without the central wind barriers at high wind conditions. Comparisons between these two groups of simulations show that the wind barriers can effectively reduce wind velocities on traffic lanes near the pylon, which validates the current design of the barriers on the bridge.
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  • Publication
    Understanding Sediment Dynamics at a Shipwreck Site Using CFD Modelling
    Shipwrecks are important cultural heritage sites offshore. In many instances, given their often long-term emplacement on the seafloor, they offer natural laboratories to study complex interactions between human-induced obstacles and seabed dynamics. Such interactions and induced sediment mobility also pose significant threats to offshore engineering infrastructure, such as turbine monopile foundations. Traditional methods can struggle to capture the nuance of these processes, with real-world surveys measuring effects only after installation, and laboratory models suffering from scale-down inaccuracies. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling offers an effective means of investigating the effects of obstacles on seabed dynamics, and by using shipwrecks as proxies for infrastructure, it can utilize long-term datasets to verify its predictions. In this study, high-resolution temporal bathymetric data were used in, and to verify, CFD modelling to investigate the interactions between hydro- and sediment dynamics at a shipwreck site in a tidally dominated wreck site. From this comparison, simulations of bed shear stress and scalar transport correlate well with known areas of erosion and deposition, serving as a basis for future scour prediction studies and creating effective tools in offshore renewable infrastructure planning and de-risking.
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  • Publication
    The evolution of Physics textbooks used in Ireland 1860-2022
    (Institute of Physics Publishing, 2023-01-31) ; ;
    This paper focuses on the evolution of Physics textbooks used in Ireland from 1860 to 2022, in addition to the Irish influence on early physics textbooks in the latter part of the 19th century. Both Physics and Physics education are continually evolving and so textbooks change in response to that and to the changing priorities of educators. Physics is both experimental and theoretical and the presentation of it has always been multimodal. Physics textbooks tend to include diagrams, demonstrations, experiments, the use of mathematics and derivations, historical references to people, and applications of Physics, among other features. Our research looks at these various characteristics to discern what has changed and what has not, over the course of time. Twenty-eight textbooks were examined in the course of this study. A Physics concept (refraction) and a Physics instrument (electroscope) were chosen for special attention, so that the findings would be firmly rooted in how Physics has been represented in textbooks rather than general textbook publishing trends. A specific analysis of four textbooks by the same two authors across three syllabi is also presented. Our findings show that a great deal has changed in the realm of Physics textbooks, and given that this is the case, it is remarkable how many things changed very little in 162 years.
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