Abstract: A new seismic design philosophy is illuminated, taking advantage of soil “failure” to protect the superstructure. Instead of over-designing the foundation to ensure that the loading stemming from the structural inertia can be “safely” transmitted onto the soil (as with conventional capacity design), and then reinforce the superstructure to avoid collapse, why not do exactly the opposite by intentionally under-designing the foundation to act as a “safety valve” ? The need for this “reversal” stems from the uncertainty in predicting the actual earthquake motion, and the necessity of developing new more rational and economically efficient earthquake protection solutions. A simple but realistic bridge structure is used as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of the new approach. Two alternatives are compared : one complying with conventional capacity design, with over-designed foundation so that plastic “hinging” develops in the superstructure; the other following the new design philosophy, with under-designed foundation, “inviting” the plastic “hinge” into the soil. Static “pushover” analyses reveal that the ductility capacity of the new design concept is an order of magnitude larger than of the conventional design: the advantage of “utilising” progressive soil failure. The seismic performance of the two alternatives is investigated through nonlinear dynamic time history analyses, using an ensemble of 29 real accelerograms. It is shown that the performance of both alternatives is totally acceptable for moderate intensity earthquakes, not exceeding the design limits. For large intensity earthquakes, exceeding the design limits, the performance of the new design scheme is proven advantageous, not only avoiding collapse but hardly suffering any inelastic structural deformation. It may however experience increased residual settlement and rotation: a price to pay that must be properly assessed in design.

Abstract: The authors are transferring the copyright to the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (hereinafter called ISTQB). The authors (as current copyright holders) and ISTQB (as the future copyright holder) have agreed to the following conditions of use: 1) Any individual or training company may use this syllabus as the basis for a training course if the authors and the ISTQB are acknowledged as the source and copyright owners of the syllabus and provided that any advertisement of such a training course may mention the syllabus only after submission for official accreditation of the training materials to an ISTQB-recognized National Board; 2) Any individual or group of individuals may use this syllabus as the basis for articles, books, or other derivative writings if the authors and the ISTQB are acknowledged as the source and copyright owners of the syllabus; 3) Any ISTQB-recognized National Board may translate this syllabus and license the syllabus (or its translation) to other parties.

Abstract: Contract grant sponsor: Portuguese Foundation for the Science and Technology (FCT); contract grant number: SFRH/BDEH/15657/2007.

Abstract: When a residential concrete foundation is constructed on sulfate-bearing ground, scaling of the concrete surface often arises from the crystallization and hydration pressure of the sodium sulfate that crystallizes in the pores of the concrete. Similar deterioration has been confirmed in stones and rocks and so on. This deterioration phenomenon is called “salt weathering.” We have confirmed several deterioration cases of residential concrete foundation and it is clear that such cases are widely distributed across Japan. This paper describes the results of field investigations and laboratory experiments on salt weathering of concrete. The laboratory experiment using mortar specimen shows the deterioration of mortar similar to residential concrete foundations was reproduced. We focused on the influences of the dry-wet cycle and the carbonation of the cement matrix, presuming that these are one of influential factors for salt weathering. With regard to the influence of the mix proportion of mortar, we established that low water-cement ratio has good resistance against salt weathering. However, additions to the mix proportion were not found to be effective, and the decrease in pH and the decomposition of C-S-H by carbonation are thought to affect the salt weathering resistance.

Abstract: In 2008 the building of a first windmill park some 30km off the Belgian North Sea coast began. Such offshore constructions represent a novel, artificial, hard substratum habitat on the Belgian continental shelf, where the sea-bottom consists mainly of sandy and muddy sediment. It is anticipated that in the coming years, several hundreds of offshore windmills will be constructed in a dedicated zone off the Belgian coast. SCUBA-based in situ techniques were used to document and sample the fouling assemblage on the hard substratum represented by the concrete foundations of the first windmills constructed in Belgian waters. Here this paper presents and discusses the results of the monitoring undertaken from February 2009 to February 2010. Despite the further offshore location and differences in substratum type, the preliminary results indicated that the overall structure of the marine biofouling assemblage at the Thornton Bank site is similar to that on the foundations of other offshore wind farms in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as on other hard structures in the North Sea.

Abstract: The available substructure method and computer program for earthquake response analysis of arch dams, including the effects of dam–water–foundation rock interaction and recognizing the semi-unbounded size of the foundation rock and fluid domains, are extended to consider spatial variations in ground motions around the canyon. The response of Mauvoisin Dam in Switzerland to spatially varying ground motion recorded during a small earthquake is analyzed to illustrate the results from this analysis procedure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract: National Natural Science Foundation of China [National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 20406016]; China National Petroleum Corp.

Abstract: For modern offshore wind turbines several types of foundations exist. The choice of foundation depends on site and loading conditions. An often used foundation concept is monopiles, which are single steel pipe piles driven open-ended. Recently installed monopiles have diameters of 4-6 m and slenderness ratios, L/D, around 5, where L is the embedded length of the pile and D is the pile diameter. The maximum forces acting at the mudline of a foundation for a typical offshore wind turbine is according to Ubilla et al. (2006) in the order of magnitude of 4 MN in horizontal load, 6 MN in vertical load, and 120 MNm in overturning moment. Hereby, offshore wind turbine foundations are highly subjected to lateral loads and bending.

Abstract: Many ground improvement methods generate much less environmental impact than other deep foundation methods, for example concrete piling. Creative use of various ground improvement methods has already generated tangible benefits to completed projects, such as the Dartford Park project in the UK. The experience gained in these ground improvement projects highlights where further use of proven and emerging technology can provide still greater opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of deep foundation systems. The present study compared the environmental impact of common methods of ground improvement against more traditional deep foundation methods to show that, using a like-for-like comparison, ground improvement methods can offer sustainability advantages. Case studies illustrate how sustainable principles have been implemented in practical ways on routine projects. Perceived barriers and constraints that may hinder realisation of greater sustainability advances are identified and some suggestions as...

Abstract: This paper presents a method of analysis of the behaviour of piled rafts in clayey soils, in which a deep excavation was necessary for buildings with two or more basements. In these cases, the piled raft foundations are called a “compensated piled raft.” The soil stresses reduce due to excavation, and the reloading of the soil should be taken into account for this kind of foundation. Many important factors that are required to achieve a satisfactory comparison of “measurement versus prediction” are pointed out, and they are grouped in a proposed simplified method of analysing compensated piled rafts using numerical tools that can consider the raft–soil–pile interaction. Finally, two well-known cases of compensated piled rafts (Hyde Park Barracks in London and the Messeturm building in Frankfurt) and a newer building (the Skyper Tower, Frankfurt) are analyzed using the presented approach and the computed and measured time–settlement behaviours are compared.

Abstract: The Swedish government has specified a goal for the Swedish wind power that in 2020 it will generate 30 TWh of energy per year. This should be compared with the present energy produced from wind power of 2.5 TWh / year. To meet these goals, several thousand new wind turbines have to be built. Today, we build the most land-based wind turbines on strong and stiff soils, but probably in the future wind turbines will have to be built also on soils with less good properties. The ordinary and fairly simple foundation method with a concrete slab with large area, may be abandoned since it can give too large differential settlement. This thesis is examining the foundations for onshore wind turbines where both the more convential method with a large concrete slab are investigated, but also alternative foundation methods are studied, mainly piled foundations. Different types of foundations is presented and discussed in which the design procedure consists of both manual calculations and numerical analyses. A case study of an 80 meter high wind turbine with realistic loads is presented. The study includes geotechnical and structural design for three different soil profiles, in which three different foundation methods are used. The three cases are: 1. Strong and stiff moraine soil in which the most common foundation method with a spread foundation is used. 2. A 20 m thick layer of clay that overlay the strong bedrock in which toe-bearing precast concrete piles are used. In this case only the piles are assumed to bear the load. 3. Clay soil with the bedrock at considerable depth in which precast concrete piles are used as cohesion piles. Both piles and the concrete slab are assumed to bear load in a so-called piled-raft foundation. For the three cases above, the same foundation slab is used, but for case 2 and 3 the slab is cast on piles. The results of this study show that all three above-mentioned foundation methods are feasible, but for the third case the differential settlements are significantly big resulting in a horizontal displacement of the tower's top of 155 mm. The first case is the cheapest and easiest to perform, and is preferred if the geotechnical conditions permit that. The second case results in a relative small total pile length of 680 m, while the third case results in 3720 m in total pile length. The big pile length that the third case results in is an expensive and laborious foundation to construct and such should not be constructed. The design of a foundation of this type has many difficulties. In this thesis the geotechnical design was performed using a two-dimensional model in a finite element program for geotechnical applications. Modeling of piles in two dimensions is difficult to do in a realistic way and a three-dimensional model is preferred. This, together with the difficulty of finding the right stiffness ratio between the piles and the plate can be two sources of possible error in the extremely large pile length found for case 3.

Abstract: Method of constructing a wind turbine comprising a tower with a bottom section (1) housing electric equipment (14, 15, 16, 18), which is built in the bottom tower section (1) before the bottom tower section is positioned on a foundation. Prefabricated bottom tower section (1) for a wind turbine comprising electric equipment (14, 15, 16, 18), e.g., positioned on two or more floors (8, 9).

Abstract: The tower foundation above the goal of the coal mine is easily deformed, which causes a serious threat to the safe operation of ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission lines. In this paper, the finite-element model of a typical 1000-kV UHV ac transmission tower was established in general software ANSYS, and the axial forces of the members as well as their variation trends were analyzed under different load cases, which include foundation settlement, slip, and inclination combined with normal design cases. Limited values of the foundation deformation under different cases for the analyzed tower were determined. It shows that the limited values of longitudinal deformation, transverse deformation, nonuniform settlement, and horizontal slip are decreased, in turn, with the same external loads. The limited value of the foundation deformation under 60° wind is the minimum, which is the control load case of the foundation deformation. The limited value of nonuniform settlement through computation is lower than that of the current regulation, and it is dangerous to evaluate the stress state by the regulation method. In the righting process of the tower with foundation deformation, the axial forces of the members are not more than than the critical bearing capacities except the horizontal slip case, and the tower is in a safe state.

Abstract: The majority of integral abutment bridges (IABs) in the United States are supported on steel H-piles to provide the flexibility necessary to minimize the attraction of large lateral loads to the foundation and abutment. In Hawaii, steel H-piles have to be imported, corrosion tends to be severe in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and the low buckling capacity of steel H-piles in scour-susceptible soils has led to a preference for the use of concrete deep foundations. A drilled shaft-supported IAB was instrumented to study its behavior during and after construction over a 45-month period. This same IAB was studied using the finite-element method (FEM) in both two- (2D) and three dimensional (3D). The 3D FEM yields larger overall pile curvature and moments than 2D because in 3D, the high plasticity soil is able to displace in between the drilled shafts thereby “dragging” the shafts to a more highly curved profile while soil flow is restricted by plane strain beam elements in 2D. Measured drilled shaft axial ...

Abstract: Implementing Cisco IP Switched Networks (SWITCH) Foundation Learning Guide: Foundation learning for SWITCH 642-813 Richard Froom, CCIE No. 5102 Balaji Sivasubramanian Erum Frahim, CCIE No. 7549 Implementing Cisco IP Switched Networks (SWITCH) Foundation Learning Guide is a Cisco authorized learning tool for CCNP and CCDP preparation. As part of the Cisco Press foundation learning series, this book covers how to plan, configure, and verify the implementation of complex enterprise switching solutions using the Cisco Campus Enterprise Architecture. The Foundation Learning Guide also covers secure integration of VLANs, WLANs, voice, and video into campus networks. Each chapter opens with the list of topics covered to clearly identify the focus of that chapter. At the end of each chapter, a summary and review questions provide you with an opportunity to assess and reinforce your understanding of the material. Throughout the book detailed explanations with commands, configurations, and diagrams serve to illuminate theoretical concepts. Implementing Cisco IP Switched Networks (SWITCH) Foundation Learning Guide is ideal for certification candidates who are seeking a tool to learn all the topics covered in the SWITCH 642-813 exam. - Serves as the official book for the Cisco Networking Academy CCNP SWITCH course - Provides a thorough presentation of the fundamentals of multilayer switched network design - Explains the implementation of the design features such as VLAN, Spanning Tree, and inter-VLAN routing in the multilayer switched environment - Explains how to implement high-availability technologies and techniques - Covers security features in a switched network - Presents self-assessment review questions, chapter topics, summaries, command syntax explanations, network diagrams, and configuration examples to facilitate effective studying This book is in the Foundation Learning Guide Series. These guides are developed together with Cisco as the only authorized, self-paced learning tools that help networking professionals build their understanding of networking concepts and prepare for Cisco certification exams.

Abstract: A number of structural modules are configured to be secured together and to be secured to a foundation. Each of the structural modules is without one or more sidewalls, such that when the structural modules are secured together they form a building structure that encloses an open region which continuously extends through interiors of the structural modules. Each of the number of structural modules is structurally formed to be independently transported. A power module is configured to be secured to one of the structural modules and to the foundation. The power module is defined as an enclosed structure and is structurally formed to be independently transported. The power module is equipped with electrical components for supplying and distributing electrical power to a pre-defined layout of data equipment to be deployed within the open region of the building structure formed by the number of structural modules.