Civil Engineering Industry Research Articles

Fulfilling the Demand for Workplace Communication Skills in the Civil Engineering Industry

Human resources today must be nurtured with the skills needed at the workplace in preparation for future challenges. Many engineering graduates nowadays are facing difficulties in adapting themselves to the workplace. They are highly dependent on academic qualifications and underestimate the need for skilled workers who are not only technically proficient but have high competencies of soft skills, especially communication skills. The ability of graduates to communicate effectively can have a significant impact on their career development. Therefore, technical graduates need to equip themselves with knowledge of their future workplace’s communication needs. The objective of this study is to qualitatively explore the elements of communication skills demanded at the civil engineering workplace. Five participants consisting of experts from academia and industries were involved in semi-structured interviews. Data were hand-transcribed and analysed. Four themes emerged from the data and identified as oral communication, written communication, interpersonal communication, and visual communication. Thirty-four sub-themes appeared from the analysis and have been discussed accordingly.

Compaction and shear strength enhancement of weak soil by copper slag addition

Industrial explosion not only put thrust to the resource exploitation but also produces lot of wastes that need proper disposal. This is being researched at various levels and domains, Civil engineering industries also help in utilization of various industrial wastes such as fly ash, slags, industrial plant processed wastes etc in the construction process. Copper slag is one of the industrial by product produced which need to be disposed properly or reused. Copper slag is naturally enriched with iron silicates, calcium oxide, and alumina, with lesser quantities of copper, lead, zinc, and other metals. In this study, Natural Alluvial soil is added with copper slag of 1 and 2% proportions to that of its total weight for stabilization. Soil samples with and without copper slag is studied to obtain the tensile strength and load carrying capacity. It is found that increasing the content of copper slag in the soil increases the tensile strength multiple times and also there is considerable amount of increase in CBR. The soil shows resistance to penetration with the increasing content of copper slag, which is evident in this study, hence copper slag upto 3% is found to be effective in enhancing soil strength characteristics.

Use of recycled concrete aggregate and granulated blast furnace slag in self-compacting concrete

Abstract In civil engineering industries, mass utilization of concrete has prompted to use recycled aggregates and slag as one of the strategies and an option for whole range of possibilities in the use and reuse of construction materials in civil industry. In this paper, an investigation is carried out to study the fresh and harden properties of granulated blast furnace slag (GBS) based normal vibrated concrete (NVC) and self-compacting concrete (SCC) with partial replacement of natural coarse aggregate (NCA) with recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). The testing on constituent materials is conducted as per Indian code of practice. The tests on fresh NVC and SCC were conducted as per the Indian standards and EFNARC guidelines respectively. The tests on harden state of concrete include the compression test on cube specimens as per the Indian standards. The present study is limited to investigate the fresh and harden properties of GBS based NVC and SCC with partial replacement (0%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 35%) of NCA with RCA with a mean target compressive strength of 30 N/mm2. The topographic and compositional analysis on samples of both NVC and SCC group specimens is determined using the Scanning electron micrograph (SEM). From the present study it is concluded that the compressive strength of the GBS based SCC group specimens with NCA replaced by RCA of more than 20% s showed reduction in compressive strength both for 7-day and 28-day results in comparison to respective NVC group specimens.

BIM Technology Application in Civil Engineering

With the development of the times and science and technology, China has entered the era of digital information. Under the background of information technology, the civil engineering industry must develop standards and industry norms that are in line with the times and the development of technology so that the civil engineering industry can develop continuously, steadily and with high quality in the era of digital information technology. BIM technology, as a digital technology in the field of civil engineering, realizes the online, digital and intelligent of all elements, processes and participants in the whole life cycle of the project. This paper starts with the specific application of BIM technology to provide guidance for the smooth implementation of civil engineering projects.

Panoramic Display and Planning Simulation of Civil Engineering Project Based on Virtual Reality Technology

In the traditional civil engineering industry, only abstract theoretical concepts are applied to express complex realistic contents, but this method of information transmission is sometimes very limited for engineering participants, because its expression is not comprehensive and specific and also makes the recipients have difficulty in understanding its information. The rise and development of virtual reality (VR) technology has become a good assistant to overcome this difficulty, providing an extremely effective means for displaying and simulating civil engineering project in real time. This paper introduced the methods and principles of VR platform system and structure dynamic analysis, conducted virtual scene design and three-dimensional modeling of civil engineering project, analyzed the synthetic debugging and simulation roaming of the virtual environment, proposed the engineering model of virtual construction process and planning structure calculation, discussed the realization method of virtual project management and visualization, and finally performed the simulation and its result analysis of panoramic display and planning of civil engineering project based on VR technology. The results show that the VR technology can simulate various environments and activities of civil engineering projects in advance, analyze the rationality of various schemes, and modify their different functional parameters, so it can achieve the simulation optimization of project planning, design, and construction.

Construction Mechanics and Time-varying Mechanics Foundation of Civil Engineering Analysis

The rapid economic development of society, led to the development of civil engineering industry, civil engineering construction projects increased, its scale is also growing, at the same time, with the complexity of engineering projects, in the process of construction safety accidents are also rising. One of the most important aspects leading to construction safety accidents is that the situation that may occur in the specific construction process is not fully considered in the design of the whole project. The proposal of construction mechanics and time-varying mechanics in civil engineering is the standard of civil engineering analysis, which makes civil engineering analysis tend to be scientific and reduces the occurrence of safety accidents in the construction process.

Reflection on Integrity Management While Engaging with Third Parties in the Construction and Civil Engineering Industry

AbstractThis article aims to investigate the integrity-related risks for companies engaging with third parties in the construction and civil engineering industry. The business partner compliance pr...

Research on the Refined Management of Engineering Cost in the Field of BIM Technology

<p>With the development of the times, economy, technology and the requirements of the civil engineering industry in China have been improving constantly. In view of the low profit and high cost of the construction industry, BIM technology is used in the refined management of project cost to improve economic benefits. Based on this, the article introduces the concept of refined engineering cost management, discusses the problems in engineering cost refined management, and studies the feasibility of using BIM technology in engineering cost refined management.</p>

Cross-like lattices with tailorable mechanical properties

Here we propose a new 3D structure with cubic unit cells constructed by six 2D cross-like lattices. Applying Finite element analysis (FEA), we find that the mechanical properties of such 3D lattices can be geometrically tuned without considering different material attributes. The topology and volume fraction are changed by varying the deformation angle and strut diameter-length ratio, respectively, which both affect the overall stiffness. This is demonstrated by the experiments with 3D printed acrylate resin specimens. Interestingly, the proposed lattices also show a potential auxetic property and high porosity (>90%). Such lattices can be used to create new materials with lightweight and tunable mechanical properties in tissue engineering, civil engineering, and aerospace industry.

Assessing the impact of the incorporation of aramid and polyolefin to hot and warm asphaltic mixture using dry and wet process: A Review

The utilisation of polymer has become a prominent trend in the civil engineering industry, one of them is in the production of asphalt for pavement structure. There have been currently a vast range of polymer product variation used in the asphalt production, among which are polyolefin (polyethylene, polypropylene, PET) and aramid. This paper attempts to assess the benefit of the incorporation of the polymer to produce both hot and warm mix asphalt, both by the wet process to develop a modified bitumen, also dry process to form a fibre reinforced mixture. The results indicate that the addition of up to 10% of polyolefin increase the softening point and dynamic stiffness of the bitumen as well as decrease the penetration grade of bitumen by means of wet process. Nevertheless, an extra binding agent is required to prevent the separation between the polymer and bitumen. Furthermore, the inclusion of the polymers using the dry process has been discovered to promote improvements in the mechanical performances of both hot and warm mix asphalt regarding the resistance against rutting, fatigue life, stiffness, tensile and compressive strength, and fracture energy given a wide range of working temperature, as well as reduce binder drain down. These outcomes concluded that the use of polymer as an additive in bituminous mix can combat the failure mechanism in the pavement structures.

Component shape optimisation for enhanced non-destructive testing

Determining an optimal component design is fundamental to many applications including many of those in the aerospace, automotive and civil engineering industries. Previously, the compatibility of the component with future non-destructive testing (NDT) requirements has not been considered at the design stage. As a result, NDT operators are often challenged to reliably inspect components with complex geometries. In this paper, a framework is proposed for the optimisation of a component's shape to maximise the sensitivity and coverage of an interrogating ultrasonic wave, thus enhancing the ability to non-destructively image defects. The design of beam cross-sections are optimised using both a low-dimensional parameterisation with a genetic algorithm, and the level set method which enables more degrees of freedom in the component shape parameterisation. Images of flaws computed using the total focusing method show an 8 dB improvement in the signal to noise ratio for the optimised component as well as a five-fold improvement in the estimate of flaw size. These results show that the NDT-optimised design of components can provide significant improvements in flaw imaging. This in turn assists in extending the lifespan of in-service components and indeed their remanufacturability, which is both environmentally and economically advantageous.

Recent advances in data-driven dynamics and control

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the data-driven methods have been extensively applied in the fields of machinery, power, civil engineering, transportation and other industries, such as fault diagnosis and prognosis. Whereas the data-driven based accurate dynamic modeling, system identification, and their applications in the design of engineering equipment and structures and health management for life-cycle process are still in the early stage. Currently, researches on nonlinear dynamics depend mainly on traditional methods of analysis. For the further advancement of the field of dynamics and control in the era of artificial intelligence, it is urgent to discover new knowledge representations and new predictions of complex dynamic laws from the observed data. The future research of dynamics and control must be driven by both the physical principles as well as data. This paper introduces some recent research work by our group in structural optimization, active vibration control, system identification, fault diagnosis and prognosis, and state identification of heart rate variability signal, by using data-driven methods.

Chemical, physical and radiological evaluation of raw materials and geopolymers for building applications

The main goal of this study was the evaluation of physical–chemical, as well as radiological properties of residual materials used for geopolymer synthesis and those final products as a possible application as new materials in a civil engineering industry. Concentration of 40K and radionuclides from the 238U and 232Th decay series in waste precursors, their metaphases and geopolymer samples synthetized by alkali activation were determined together with corresponding absorbed dose rate ( $$\dot{D}$$ ) and the annual effective dose rate. Natural activity concentrations in the alkali-activated material (geopolymer) were found to be lower than that of both residual materials and calcined ones.

A study on mechanical properties of mortar with sugarcane bagasse fiber and bagasse ash

The sugarcane residues from mills or boilers, such as bagasse and bagasse ash, may be a way to make both the civil engineering industry and the sugar/alcohol industry more sustainable. In this research, the sugarcane residues were classified into three different categories: bagasse fiber, bagasse sand and bagasse ash. Therefore, these residues were utilized to prepare the specimens and, subsequently, strength tests were applied to investigate the mechanical properties of mortars of different mixtures. This study revealed that mortar added with 2% of bagasse fiber showed a higher percentage of water retention when compared to the mortar specimens without fiber due to the high amount of bagasse fiber. Consequently, the drying shrinkage strain could be reduced to a smaller level of the PVA fiber specimens. Finally, in all cases in which the fiber was added, the ductility of the mortar was increased when compared to a mortar specimen without fibers.

Two‐Dimensional Reconstruction of Ionospheric Plasma Density Variations Using Swarm

AbstractSpace weather phenomena such as scintillations of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals are of increasing importance for aviation, the maritime, and civil engineering industries. The ionospheric plasma irregularities causing scintillations are associated with strong gradients in ionospheric plasma density. To provide nowcasts and forecasts of space weather effects, it is vital to monitor the ionosphere and detect strong density variations. To reconstruct plasma density variations in the polar cap ionosphere, we use total electron content (TEC) estimates from the Swarm satellites' GPS receivers. By considering events where the Swarm satellites are in close proximity, we obtain plasma density variations by inverting TEC measurements on a two‐dimensional grid. We first demonstrate the method using synthetic test data, before applying it to real data. The method is validated using in situ Langmuir probe measurements and ground‐based TEC observations. We find that the new method can reproduce density variations, although it is sensitive to the geometry of the Swarm satellite constellation and to the calculated plasma temperature. Our proposed method opens new possibilities for ionospheric plasma monitoring that uses GPS receivers aboard low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

Radar for projectile impact on granular media

AbstractFrom the prevention of natural disasters such as landslide and avalanches, to the enhancement of energy efficiencies in chemical and civil engineering industries, understanding the collective dynamics of granular materials is a fundamental question that are closely related to our daily lives. Using a recently developed multi-static radar system operating at 10 GHz (X-band), we explore the possibility of tracking a projectile moving inside a granular medium, focusing on possible sources of uncertainties in the detection and reconstruction processes. On the one hand, particle tracking with continuous-wave radar provides an extremely high temporal resolution. On the other hand, there are still challenges in obtaining tracer trajectories accurately. We show that some of the challenges can be resolved through a correction of the IQ mismatch in the raw signals obtained. Consequently, the tracer trajectories can be obtained with sub-millimeter spatial resolution. Such an advance can not only shed light on radar particle tracking, but also on a wide range of scenarios where issues relevant to IQ mismatch arise.

NATURAL CRUSHED ROCK AS AGGREGATE FOR ULTRA HIGH STRENGTH CEMENT CONCRETES

Because of strong competition and new trends of concrete construction, cement industry isstarting to offer cement of high class in world markets (62.5; 72.5; 82.5) with whom production ofultra hard concretes of 100 MPa up to 250 MPa of withstanding is possible. To achieve suchwithstanding, not only cement of high class are needed but also rock aggregates of at least 30% higherrigidity than the required rigidity of concrete. Technological solutions for this kind of concrete will behighly demanded by the cement industry, civil engineering industry and industry for the exploitation ofraw mineral materials. Production of such crushed aggregates will find its use in the production of ultrahigh rigidity concretes and will open new surroundings.This paper offers the overview of tests in laboratories conducted on samples of aggregates made ofgabbro rock under Nero Zimbabwe’s name, as an initial phase of research. In later phases itcovers a larger number of above mentioned samples from various excavation sites, with a specialaccent on these kinds of sites in former Yugoslavia. It is expected that these premises may havereserves of rock aggregate resistant to pressures of 150 MPa to 330 MPa which would openpossibilities of constructing ultra high rigidity concretes.In addition to analyzing the required production of ultra high strength concrete, the authors consciouslypoint out the problem of interpreting the mechanical characteristics of the material. The technicalprofession does not consider the physical state of the investigated materials, where the compressivestrength of concrete is in the form of relative strength. From the aspect of legal sciences, the concept ofrelative at the construction of large and small objects can cause legal consequences for the constructorand its profession.

Pullout Behaviour of Geogrids Embedded in a Recycled Construction and Demolition Material. Effects of Specimen Size and Displacement Rate

In recent years, environmental concerns related to the overexploitation of natural resources and the need to manage large amounts of wastes arising from construction activities have intensified the pressure on the civil engineering industry to adopt sustainable waste recycling and valorisation measures. The use of recycled construction and demolition (C&D) wastes as alternative backfill for geosynthetic-reinforced structures may significantly contribute towards sustainable civil infrastructure development. This paper presents a laboratory study carried out to characterise the interaction between a fine-grained C&D material and two different geogrids (a polyester (PET) geogrid and an extruded uniaxial high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geogrid) through a series of large-scale pullout tests. The effects of the geogrid specimen size, displacement rate and vertical confining pressure on the pullout resistance of the geogrids are evaluated and discussed, aiming to assess whether they are in line with the current knowledge about the pullout resistance of geogrids embedded in soils. Test results have shown that the measured peak pullout resistance of the geogrid increases with the specimen size, imposed displacement rate and confining pressure. However, the pullout interaction coefficient has exhibited the opposite trend with the specimen size and confining pressure. The pullout interaction coefficients ranged from 0.79 and 1.57 and were generally greater than or equal to the values reported in the literature for soil-geogrid and recycled material-geogrid interfaces.

Safety performance monitoring of smart FBG-based FRP anchors

Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bar is a versatile element applied to the civil engineering industry. Considering its low shear strength, the anchoring performance is of concern. For FRP anchoring system, the safety monitoring is a new approach to investigate the performance in anchoring and long-term safety use. Based on the material properties and the requirements of anchorage and safety monitoring, this paper proposes an innovative smart Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG)-based FRP anchor by introducing FBG into FPR bonding anchor. The debonding damage process and the failure sensitivity of the smart anchor were investigated during the pull-out tests. Additionally, the strain distribution inside the anchor under pull out load and the law of strain varying with load were analysed. Based on the experimental results, the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of the smart anchor were carried out. Further, the debonding damage mechanism and failure mode, the distribution model and simplified calculation model of the interfacial shear stress between FRP bar and epoxy were put forward. Moreover, the FRP bonding anchor theory, the safety monitoring and failure evaluation method of FBG-based FRP anchor were developed.

Modeling the water absorption and compressive strength of geopolymer paving block: An empirical approach

The use of fly ash as a cement substitute may reduce the increasing cement demand and prevents an increased emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. This study aims to produce some compositions of geopolymer paving block (GPB) using different ratios of NaOH/Na2SiO3 combined with fly ash. The empirical models were developed to predict the performance of the GPB samples through the verification of the water absorption and compressive strength. The results showed that an optimum performance of GPB sample is predicted for the NaOH/Na2SiO3 ratio range of 0.4 to 0.67 to be verified at 28 d of the GPB age. The hardness of GPB sample rapidly increases by using a high enough concentration of NaOH in activator leading to significantly increase the compressive strength of paver block. A new approach of predicting the GPB performance has been proposed to support development of pavement construction in civil engineering industry.