Existing Support System Research Articles

Micro and Small Enterprise Sector and Existing Support System with emphasis on High-Tech oriented Entrepreneurship in Kenya

The significance of Kenya’s micro and small enterprises (MSE) activity has continued to grow since the sector was first brought to the limelight in 1972. In Kenya, it is now recognized that the promotion of the MSE sector is a viable and dynamic strategy for achieving national goals, including employment creation, poverty alleviation and balanced development between sectors and sub-sectors. Together, all this form the foundation of a strong national base and domestic production sector that is central to the government’s vision of achieving a newly industrialized country status by the year 2020. According to Kenya’s National Development Plan (1997), the MSE sector has been growing in importance both as a source of employment as well as innovative technologies. However, industrial technology development in Kenya is yet to take off. Kenya still relies heavily on imported technology. The plant and machinery that most MSEs use to produce goods and services have little technology (know-how) value. Due to the foregoing, the study reviews the current technological situation of the MSE sector in Kenya to determine the extent of government support services. The study also seeks to analyze how best this support can be delivered to help MSEs develop their technological capacities. The methodology that the study uses to achieve its objectives is documentary analysis and analytical narrative. The main finding of the study is that the major constraint in the MSE sector’s ability to upgrade its existing technological base is lack of national support. This weakness has undermined the development of indigenous labor intensive and local resource-using technologies. Key Words: micro and small enterprises, technology

Stability Assessment of Silin Powerhouse Cavern Based on Displacement Back Analysis Method

A back analysis procedure synthetically using parameters sensitivity analysis based on orthogonal design variance analysis, support vector regression modeling of nonlinear relation between mechanical parameters and displacement, and a hybrid optimization algorithm of particle swarm optimizer (PSO) and differential evolution (DE), was proposed. Optimum values of elasto-plastic mechanic parameters of rock mass were identified using the back analysis procedure and the measured displacement data. Assigning to the numerical model the optimum values of parameters, numerical simulation of powerhouse construction process was carried out to investigate the reliability of result of back analysis and the stability of powerhouse cavern. The result shows that calculated displacements are in good agreement with the measured, the powerhouse cavern is stable and has a considerable safety margin, and the existing support system can satisfy the need of local stability of powerhouse.

Long term stability assessment of Siah Bisheh powerhouse cavern based on displacement back analysis method

Siah Bisheh pumped storage powerhouse cavern with complex geometry, changeable geological formations and diverse geotechnical properties of rocks, is under construction on the Chalus River at the north of Iran. Powerhouse cavern is located near the lower dam reservoir and its crown is more than 30 m down the lower dam maximum lake level. After impounding of lower dam, powerhouse region will be located under saturated condition. Therefore long term stability assessment of the powerhouse cavern under saturated condition is unavoidable. In this study, displacement based direct back analysis using univariate optimization algorithm were applied and geomechanical properties of rocks, stress ratio and joints parameters were identified. Numerical modeling results are in good agreement with measured displacements using extensometers which confirm the numerical modeling accuracy and back analysis results. Then ordinary analysis of powerhouse cavern under natural condition using back analysis results were carried out. Results of analysis shows that powerhouse cavern is stable under natural condition and existing support system has suitable efficiency and could effectively control displacements. Finally, powerhouse cavern long term stability under saturated condition was analyzed. Results of analysis shows that after lower dam impounding, pore water pressure and uplift pressure in discontinuities around powerhouse cavern will arose and tend to local failure of powerhouse cavern in region 2nd and 3rd instrumentation arrays. To obtain powerhouse long term stability, it is recommended to construct a cutoff curtain around powerhouse cavern.

Full 3D modelling for effects of tunnelling on existing support systems in the Sydney region

The assessment of the interaction between a new tunnel and existing structures is an important issue in urban areas. In this study, the effect of tunnelling on the existing support system (i.e. shotcrete lining and rock bolts) of an adjacent tunnel is firstly investigated using ABAQUS and TUNNEL3D through full three-dimensional (3D) finite element calculations coupled with elasto-plastic material models, which takes into account the tunnelling procedure, the interaction between the shotcrete lining and rock mass, the interaction between the rock bolts and rock mass, and the elasto-plastic behaviour of the rock mass, the shotcrete lining and the rock bolts. Then, on the basis of the calculated results, it is concluded that the driving of the new tunnel significantly affects the existing support system when the advancing tunnel face passes the existing support system and is minor when the face is far from it. Moreover, the support system in the side of the existing tunnel closest to the new tunnel is more significantly affected than that on the side opposite to the new tunnel. It is also found that in a region such as Sydney with relatively high horizontal regional stresses, the driving of the new tunnel will not cause considerable adverse effects on the existing support system, if the new tunnel is driven horizontally parallel to the existing tunnel with a sufficient separation, since both the tensile stress in the existing shotcrete lining in the lateral sides of the preceding tunnel and the compressive stress at the crown decrease although noticeable tensile stress increments are observed on some parts of the existing rock bolts. Finally, it is pointed out that the effects of tunnelling on the existing support system strongly depend on the position between the original and new tunnels. In terms of the stress increments on the existing support system, especially the maximum tensile stress increments on the existing shotcrete lining, the driving of the new tunnel causes increasingly adverse effects on the existing support system in a sequence of: (i) horizontally parallel tunnels with a separation of 30 m; (ii) horizontally parallel tunnels with a separation of 20 m; (iii) staggered tunnels with a separation of 30 m; (iv) vertically alignment tunnels; and (v) staggered tunnels with a separation of 20 m in the cases investigated in this study. For the relatively high regional stresses in the Sydney region, the obtained results qualitatively agree with other’s published observations from the construction of closely parallel subway tunnels.