Department Of Civil Research Articles

Nondestructive Evaluation of RC Structures Strengthened with FRP Laminates Containing Near-Surface Defects in the form of Delaminations

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are being utilized in a wide range of application areas in structural rehabilitations because these materials are less affected by corrosive environmental conditions and known to provide longer life with less maintenance. However, there are still some concerns about FRP strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) structures, such as the presence of near-surface defects. Currently limited data exists regarding this issue. The presence of near-surface defects in the form of delaminations between the fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) laminate and concrete substrate can significantly affect the structural integrity and stiffness of the structural section. These defects should be properly detected and accurately located to access if injection or replacement is warranted. The control and assessment of these defects still require improvements in detection techniques and standardization in these assessment methods. The latest advances in non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques including technologies in microwave, acousto-ultrasonic, impact-echo and thermography are providing promising results in detecting such defects and are discussed in further detail in this paper. 1 Senior Evaluation Specialist, International Code Council-Evaluation Service, 5360 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, California, 90601 mekenel@icc-es.org (Corresponding Author) 2 Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Arch. & Env. Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, Missouri, 65401 jmyers@umr.edu Ekenel, M. and Myers, J.J. 2

Can we model the hydrological impacts of environmental change?

Hydrological ProcessesVolume 21, Issue 23 p. 3233-3236 Invited Commentary Can we model the hydrological impacts of environmental change? Thorsten Wagener, Corresponding Author Thorsten Wagener [email protected] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 226 Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 226 Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USA.===Search for more papers by this author Thorsten Wagener, Corresponding Author Thorsten Wagener [email protected] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 226 Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 226 Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USA.===Search for more papers by this author First published: 25 September 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6873Citations: 75AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume21, Issue231 November 2007Pages 3233-3236 RelatedInformation

History of Construction, Engineering, and Management in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State

At Penn State, the credit for broadening the Civil Engineering Department’s longstanding academic focus on analysis and design to include the construction phase must go to Dr. Harmer A. Weeden and his longtime associate Dr. Thomas D. Larson. Jack H. Willenbrock joined the Department as an Instructor in June 1968 and grew the construction program so that today about a fourth to a third of the civil undergraduates obtain employment in the construction industry. The program has awarded about 250 postbaccalaureate degrees.

Performance of ultraviolet photocatalytic oxidation for indoor air cleaning applications

Ultraviolet photocatalytic oxidation (UVPCO) systems for removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from air are being considered for use in office buildings. Here, we report an experimental evaluation of a UVPCO device with tungsten oxide modified titanium dioxide (TiO2) as the photocatalyst. The device was challenged with complex VOC mixtures. One mixture contained 27 VOCs characteristic of office buildings and another comprised 10 VOCs emitted by cleaning products, in both cases at realistic concentrations (low ppb range). VOC conversion efficiencies varied widely, usually exceeded 20%, and were as high as approximately 80% at about 0.03 s residence time. Conversion efficiency generally diminished with increased airflow rate, and followed the order: alcohols and glycol ethers > aldehydes, ketones, and terpene hydrocarbons > aromatic and alkane hydrocarbons > halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons. Conversion efficiencies correlated with the Henry's law constant more closely than with other physicochemical parameters. An empirical model based on the Henry's law constant and the gas-phase reaction rate with hydroxyl radical provided reasonable estimates of pseudo-first order photocatalytic reaction rates. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, formic acid and acetic acid were produced by the device due to incomplete mineralization of common VOCs. Formaldehyde outlet/inlet concentration ratios were in the range 1.9-7.2. Implementation of air cleaning technologies for both VOCs and particles in office buildings may improve indoor air quality, or enable indoor air quality levels to be maintained with reduced outdoor air supply and concomitant energy savings. One promising air cleaning technology is ultraviolet photocatalytic oxidation (UVPCO) air cleaning. For the prototype device evaluated here with realistic mixtures of VOCs, conversion efficiencies typically exceeded the minimum required to counteract predicted VOC concentration increases from a 50% reduction in ventilation. However, the device resulted in the net generation of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde from the partial oxidation of ubiquitous VOCs. Further development of the technology is needed to eliminate these hazardous air pollutants before such a UVPCO device can be deployed in buildings.

The role of continuity in residual-based variational multiscale modeling of turbulence

This paper examines the role of continuity of the basis in the computation of turbulent flows. We compare standard finite elements and non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) discretizations that are employed in Isogeometric Analysis (Hughes et al. in Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, 194:4135–4195, 2005). We make use of quadratic discretizations that are C 0-continuous across element boundaries in standard finite elements, and C 1-continuous in the case of NURBS. The variational multiscale residual-based method (Bazilevs in Isogeometric analysis of turbulence and fluid-structure interaction, PhD thesis, ICES, UT Austin, 2006; Bazilevs et al. in Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, submitted, 2007; Calo in Residual-based multiscale turbulence modeling: finite volume simulation of bypass transition. PhD thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 2004; Hughes et al. in proceedings of the XXI international congress of theoretical and applied mechanics (IUTAM), Kluwer, 2004; Scovazzi in Multiscale methods in science and engineering, PhD thesis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford Universty, 2004) is employed as a turbulence modeling technique. We find that C 1-continuous discretizations outperform their C 0-continuous counterparts on a per-degree-of-freedom basis. We also find that the effect of continuity is greater for higher Reynolds number flows.

Taking the pulse of hydrology education

Hydrological ProcessesVolume 21, Issue 13 p. 1789-1792 Invited Commentary Taking the pulse of hydrology education Thorsten Wagener, Corresponding Author Thorsten Wagener [email protected] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USA.===Search for more papers by this authorMarkus Weiler, Markus Weiler Departments of Forest Resources Management and Geography, University of British Columbia, 2037-2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorBrian McGlynn, Brian McGlynn Department of Land Resources & Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, PO Box 173120, Bozeman, MT 59717-3120, USASearch for more papers by this authorMike Gooseff, Mike Gooseff Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USASearch for more papers by this authorTom Meixner, Tom Meixner Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Harshbarger Building, Tucson, AZ 85721, USASearch for more papers by this authorLucy Marshall, Lucy Marshall Department of Land Resources & Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, PO Box 173120, Bozeman, MT 59717-3120, USASearch for more papers by this authorKevin McGuire, Kevin McGuire Center for the Environment, MSC 63, Plymouth State University, 17 High Street, Plymouth, NH 03264-1595, USASearch for more papers by this authorMike McHale, Mike McHale U.S. Geological Survey, 425 Jordan Road, Troy, N.Y. 12180, USASearch for more papers by this author Thorsten Wagener, Corresponding Author Thorsten Wagener [email protected] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, Sackett Building, University Park, PA16802, USA.===Search for more papers by this authorMarkus Weiler, Markus Weiler Departments of Forest Resources Management and Geography, University of British Columbia, 2037-2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorBrian McGlynn, Brian McGlynn Department of Land Resources & Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, PO Box 173120, Bozeman, MT 59717-3120, USASearch for more papers by this authorMike Gooseff, Mike Gooseff Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USASearch for more papers by this authorTom Meixner, Tom Meixner Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Harshbarger Building, Tucson, AZ 85721, USASearch for more papers by this authorLucy Marshall, Lucy Marshall Department of Land Resources & Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, PO Box 173120, Bozeman, MT 59717-3120, USASearch for more papers by this authorKevin McGuire, Kevin McGuire Center for the Environment, MSC 63, Plymouth State University, 17 High Street, Plymouth, NH 03264-1595, USASearch for more papers by this authorMike McHale, Mike McHale U.S. Geological Survey, 425 Jordan Road, Troy, N.Y. 12180, USASearch for more papers by this author First published: 18 May 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6766Citations: 25AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume21, Issue1330 June 2007Pages 1789-1792 RelatedInformation

EVALUATION OF THE DUPONT ACCESS BRIDGE

This paper describes the evaluation of an experimental steel connection used on the DuPont Access Bridge in New Johnsonville, Tennessee. The steel rolled section bridge has two spans and is designed to be erected as simple spans and to act continuously under the dead load. The connection, between the spans, consists of a tension plate bolted to the top flange of the girders at the pier and a wedge plate welded to the bottom flange of the girders. The bridge was instrumented with weldable strain gages and tested during the deck pour and under controlled load conditions. This paper describes the measured and predicted lateral load distribution of the bridge. Introduction: On September 2, 2003 the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) contracted with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee to conduct research on the Dupont Access bridge. The bridge is located near the DuPont plant in New Johnsonville, Tennessee, and carries mostly truck traffic into and out of the plant. It allows easy access to the DuPont Access Rd from both the east and west bound lane of US 70. Substructure: The bridge has two spans and is supported by integral abutments at both ends and one pier located between the east and west bound lanes of US 70 as shown in plan view in Figure 1. The bridge's foundation consists of steel piles which support both the abutments and the three pile caps for the three columns at the center pier. All piles are HP 10x42's. The bearings for the girders at the abutments consist only of riser blocks at the abutment, but a thin neoprene pad exists at the pier. Superstructure: The girders of the Dupont access bridge are W33x240s (Grade 50, weathering steel) spaced at 7'-4 13/16 on center as shown in a typical cross section in Figure 2. They are braced against lateral torsional buckling under the dead load by channels (C15x33.9) bolted to web stiffeners. At the intermediate bracing a web stiffener does not exist on the outside of the fascia girders. At the pier, the north and south girders are connected at the top flange by a 1 5/8 thick cover plate that is 11'-3 1/2 long with 40 bolts into the top flange of each girder. The compression forces at the pier are transferred between girders by a plate that consists of two plates wedged together that bear against the bottom flanges at the ends of the girders. After bearing is achieved the wedge plates are welded together and to the girders. A one foot thick reinforced concrete diaphragm exists at the pier. The girders on the north side of the pier have Nelson studs on 6 centers for the first 8' of the span and on 10 centers for the next 59' of the span measured from the centerline of bearing at the abutment. The girders on the south side of the pier have Nelson studs on 6 centers for the first 8' of the span and on 10 centers for the next 47'-6 of the span also measured from the abutment. The deck is 8 1/4 thick, and acts compositely with the girders. The bridge has a .2% slope laterally in both directions from the center line, and has a standard barrier rail on both sides (See Figure 2) of the bridge. Figure 1. Plan view of the Dupont access bridge

Balancing Pedagogical and Professional Practice Skills in the Training of Graduate Teaching Assistants

Four-year colleges and universities are principally responsible for providing the basic knowledge and skills that students require to succeed in civil engineering practice ASCE 1995 . Over the last thirty years and in particular the last decade, appropriations for higher education have declined in nearly every state PEO 2002; Seligo 2003; Gose 2003; Zemsky 2003 . The subsequent impact on availability of resources and a need to maintain enrollment numbers have forced many educational programs, particularly those at larger institutions, to rely more on graduate teaching assistants GTAs in meeting programmatic goals. This reliance has grown significantly over the last fifteen years Luo et al. 2000 . Nyquist et al. 1991 indicated that the proportion of undergraduate education assigned to GTAs is between 25 and 38%. At some universities, the figures rise rapidly; for example, the same proportion at Yale University is roughly 53% Luo et al. 2000 . Based on these figures, it is fair to say that without GTAs, many of the nation’s leading institutions would have difficulty in achieving their respective missions. With respect to the engineering disciplines, the role of a GTA and his or her influence on student learning vary between institutions. GTAs may fulfill a direct instructional need in a classroom or laboratory or serve as a course or laboratory aide or grader. Unfortunately, many GTAs are not adequately prepared for their responsibilities, nor are they fully aware of the influence they have over undergraduate learning Alford 1997 . In most cases, this does not imply a disinterest in improving teaching skills; rather it is a consequence of having only several days to prepare for their teaching duties. Moreover, GTAs are entrenched in their own degree program and may be more concerned with selfsurvival issues—this is primarily a problem for new GTAs Nyquist and Wulff 1996 . Thus, teaching performance and the valuable experience GITAs receive as educators may not always be at the forefront of their agenda. The dichotomy between levels of GTA preparedness and increased reliance on their services is an issue that institutions must effectively address if educational program goals are to be met. This paper describes the organization and implementation of a new GTA training program in the Department of Civil and Envi-

Integrating Service Learning Projects into Civil Engineering Courses

Three service-learning projects of various content, workload, and community partnering were identified and implemented in two core and one elective undergraduate courses in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2005. This paper presents how these service learning projects were seamlessly integrated into existing courses without removing pertinent course materials and without a significant increase in time commitment. Details on the course contents, course structure, projects implemented, and how each project was used to address certain course objectives were presented as well. The selected projects were as follows: (1) Davidson Street Parking Lot Redesign for the City of Lowell; (2) Intersection Analysis – Traffic Signal Control for the City of Lowell; and (3) Preliminary Building Structural Evaluation for the Architectural Heritage Foundation in Lowell, MA. Over 80 undergraduate students ranging from freshmen to seniors participated in these community-based projects. Course objectives and ABET program outcomes were evaluated by a course-specific survey questionnaire. Students’ experience on the S-L project was assessed by a newly developed survey instrument. The survey demonstrated that service learning had several positive impacts on the students.

Spatial and temporal variations of mercury in sediments from Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

Spatial and temporal variations of mercury in sediments from Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong Jian-bo Shi , Carman Ip , Chole Tang , Gan Zhang , Rudolf Wu , Xiang-dong Li 1∗ Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue , Kowloon, Hong Kong

学習・教育目標の自己点検と教育改善

Educational institutions have to evaluate the level of achievement of learning and educational goals in order to maintain a high standard of education. And it is necessary to incorporate the results of this evaluation of learning and educational goals into the learning environment. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology has designed an “Environmental self-check sheet” . In addition, by utilizing the “Environmental self-check sheet” a plan for an “educational improvement system” has been formulated. By using the “Environmental self-check sheet” it is possible for students to check their own learning and educational goals. The “educational improvement system” can incorporate the results of the evaluation of learning and educational goals into the learning environment. Consequently, it is possible to maintain high standards in education. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology is implementing activities to bring about improvements in education by the use of the “Environmental self-check sheet” .

El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica

The purpose of the National Electoral Tribunal (TSE) since its constitutional creation in 1949 is to organize, administer and supervision of those acts related to suffrage. The TSE was conceived as an autonomous state institution, and since 1975 by constitutional reform was granted from any of the State branches. The duties of this institution and its agencies are the subject of this lecture. The TSE is a collegiate institution, permanent and integrated by three full magistrates and six substitute magistrates, designated by the Supreme Court of Costa Rica, for a period of six years. The TSE fulfils its constitutional role as the maximum organism of the electoral administration and simultaneously performs electoral jurisdiction. The Electoral Code and the Organic Law of the TSE and the National Registry regulate the competence of the TSE. The National Tribunal is at the head of the electoral organizations and the Civil Registry and the electoral juntas depend on it. The Civil Registry is divided in two departments: civil and electoral. The civil department conveys upon naturalization and is the national register office. The electoral department is responsible of the national identification cards and has the responsibility to elaborate the electoral census. The General Direction of the Civil Registry is in charge of the registration of political parties and the inscription of candidacies. Historically, the TSE has reinforced its independence and autonomy, because the Judicial Branch has forbidden solving the electoral amparo and the Congress can not interpret electoral legislation and must consult the TSE its opinion on any discussion of possible electoral legislation.

English

There is a need to measure deep in situ moisture conditions for all types of waste storage facilities in a safe, cost effective, practical, and efficient manner. This paper describes the Deep Diviner moisture probe, a deep capacitance moisture sensor, which has been developed by the authors with the assistance of the Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). The deep capacitance moisture probe uses the Diviner 2000, a portable capacitance soil moisture monitoring sensor manufactured by Sentek Sensor Technologies. This portable probe was developed for irrigation management, and is a nonradioactive sensor. Development of the deep capacitance moisture probe involved modifying the Diviner 2000, which has a limited depth range of 1.6 m, to allow the measurement of volumetric water content to depths of 40 m or 50 m, and possibly deeper. A winch / cable assembly was developed to lower the sensor down within a PVC access tube to allow for fully automated measurement of in situ moisture contents at user specified depth intervals, each of which are recorded on a portable datalogger. The prototype of the deep capacitance moisture probe was tested both in the laboratory and in a full-scale field situation to ensure the required hardware modifications were functional. Full scale field testing was also completed on the prototype. The results of this testing show that the deep capacitance moisture sensor is capable of measuring the water content of till and sand materials to depths of 6 m. This paper describes the development and testing of the deep capacitance moisture. ______________________ 1 Paper presented at the 7 th International Conference on Acid Rock Drainage (ICARD), March 26-30, 2006, St. Louis MO. R.I. Barnhisel (ed.) Published by the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (ASMR), 3134 Montavesta Road, Lexington, KY 40502 2 Bonnie Dobchuk is a Geotechnical Engineer with O’Kane Consultants Inc., Saskatoon, SK S7N 4S1 Canada. 3 S. Lee Barbour is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Geological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9 Canada. 4 Jeff Dobchuk is President of Convergent Motion Control, Inc., Saskatoon, SK S7H 1N6 Canada. 5 Mike O’Kane is President of O’Kane Consultants Inc., Calgary, AB T3H 3C8 Canada. 7 th International Conference on Acid Rock Drainage, 2006 pp 528-538 DOI: 10.21000/JASMR06020528

Pozzolanic Reactivity of the Synthetic Slag from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator Cyclone Ash and Scrubber Ash

Deng-Fong Lin is a professor in the Department of Civil and Ecological Engineering at IShou University in Taiwan, Republic of China.This study investigates the pozzolanic reactions and compressive strength of the blended cement manufactured using synthetic slag obtained from municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) cyclone ash and scrubber ash as partial replacement of portland cement. The synthetic slag was made by co-melting the MSWI scrubber ash and cyclone ash mixtures at 1400 °C for 30 min. Following pulverization, the different types of slag were blended with cement as cement replacement at ratios ranging from 10 to 40 wt %. The synthetic slag thus obtained was quantified, and the characteristics of the slag-blended cement pastes were examined. These characteristics included the pozzolanic activity, compressive strength, hydration activity, crystal phases, species, and microstructure at various ages. The 90-day compressive strength developed by slag-blended cement pastes with 10 and 20 wt % of the cement replaced by the synthetic slag outperformed ordinary portland cement by 1-7 MPa. X-ray diffraction species analyses indicated that the hydrates in the slag-blended cement pastes were mainly portlandite, the calcium silicate hydrate gels, and calcium aluminate hydrate salts, similar to those found in ordinary portland cement paste. Differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis also indicated that the slag reacted with port

Boyd C. Paulson Jr.…Our History…PCCP Precast Panels…Books…Conferences

Boyd C. Paulson Jr., the Charles H. Leavell Professor of Civil Engineering at Stanford University and an international leader in construction education, died on December 1, 2005. Paulson’s father was a heavy-construction project manager whose work caused regular family moves to projects around the world. From the time of his birth in Providence, R.I., on March 1, 1946, Paulson was exposed to the world of construction. He earned three degrees in civil engineering from Stanford: B.S. in 1967, M.S. in 1969, and Ph.D. in 1971. After earning his doctorate, he moved to the University of Illinois as an assistant professor of civil engineering 1972 to 1974 , but Stanford soon lured him back to its graduate Construction Engineering and Management Program faculty in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. During his years at Stanford, he also served as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo 1978 , the Technical University of Munich 1983 , the University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow, Scotland 1990–1991 , and the University of Hawaii 1998 , and as a Visiting Eminent Scholar at the Del E. Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University 1996 . In 1995, he volunteered to oversee construction of Peninsula Habitat for Humanity’s $2 million, 24-unit condominium project for low-income residents in East Palo Alto, Calif. He eventually joined the organization’s board of directors. Paulson was a member of the Construction Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, and served as chairman of the Construction Division the predecessor to the Construction Institute in 1986–1987. He chaired the ASCE Committee on Professional Construction Management from 1974 to 1977 and the National Science Foundation’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Division Advisory Committee from 1983 to 1989. He also served as vice chair of the U.S. National Committee on Tunneling Technology from 1986 to 1989 . Paulson was awarded ASCE’s Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize in 1980, the Construction Management Award in 1984, and the Peurifoy Construction Research Award in 1993. Additionally, he was elected to the National Academy of Construction in 2001. To many of us who had the opportunity to know and work with Boyd personally, the awards represent only a small token of appreciation to a man who did so much for our profession and who took the time to mentor so many of us. Requiescat in pace

Uptake of Cadmium by Different Cultivars of Brassica pekinens (Lour.) Rupr. and Brassica chinensis L. and Their Potential for Phytoremediation

pekinens (Lour.) Rupr. and Brassica chinensis L. and Their Potential for Phytoremediation C. P. Liu, Z. G. Shen, X. D. Li 1 College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, People’s Republic of China 2 Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Control of Agro-Environment, Guangdong Institute of Eco-Environment and Soil Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, People’s Republic of China 3 Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

IJDM Special Issue on Microstructural Mechanics and Damage Mechanics of Materials

Associate Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California - Irvine--> , CA 92697-2175--> - (Sun, Lizhi)

Analyzing the dynamics of Dafeng coastal wetland based on remote sensing image

Shihua QI 1, Gan ZHANG2, Xiangdong LI3, Qiuke SU1, Xianyi GONG1, Chunling LU1, Jun LI3, Julia Burnet E1 1 Key Laboratory ofBiogeology andEnvironmental Geology of Ministry of Education, China University ofGeosciences, Wuhan 430074, China 2State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Guangzhou 510640, China 3 Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Horn, Hong Kong

Organochlorine pesticides in eco-geochemical survey, China

Shihua QI 1, Gan ZHANG2, Xiangdong LI3, Qiuke SU1, Xianyi GONG1, Chunling LU1, Jun LI3, Julia Burnet E1 1 Key Laboratory ofBiogeology andEnvironmental Geology of Ministry of Education, China University ofGeosciences, Wuhan 430074, China 2State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Guangzhou 510640, China 3 Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Horn, Hong Kong

The impact of sorption on perceived indoor air quality

Sensory evaluations were used to investigate the impact of sorption processes on indoor air quality. Experiments were carried out in four similar, adjacent, unfurnished offices. Samples of carpet, linoleum, painted gypsum board, and Semia (a specially designed high-sorbing fabric) were tested individually and in combination. Additionally, to investigate the interaction between the pollutants emitted from the building materials and the test room surfaces themselves, air streams polluted by two different building materials were vented into an empty test office. Each experiment lasted for either 1 week (adsorption stage only) or 10 days (adsorption and desorption stages). Untrained panels assessed the air quality at specified times after moving the materials into or out of the rooms. The results showed that, in comparison with air in a room with carpet or linoleum alone, the presence of painted gypsum board improved the perceived air quality. This improvement persisted throughout the 168 h of the 'adsorption stage' of the experiments. A mass balance model was used to quantify the improvement. Calculated results indicate that, for the conditions used in these experiments, pollutant removal via sorption to the relatively inert office surfaces was equivalent to an extra 0.4 air change per hour (ACH) of ventilation air, while sorption to painted gypsum board surfaces was equivalent to an extra 1-7 ACH of ventilation air. In the case of Semia, sorption was equivalent to an extra 16 ACH of ventilation air. During the 'desorption stage' of the experiments, after carpet or linoleum were taken out of a room, approximately 3 days were required before the air in the test office, ventilated at 0.8 ACH, was judged to be free of the sorbed pollutants. Ventilation rates in non-industrial buildings are based largely on sensory pollution sources and a desired level of perceived air quality. This study documents that sorptive materials in a room influence the perceived air quality and should be considered when evaluating ventilation requirements. Indeed, it may be possible to deliberately use sorption/desorption to improve indoor air in a manner analogous to the way thermal storage/release is currently used in buildings as a means of conserving energy.