Institute For Research In Construction Research Articles

O problemie ochrony niemieckich praw własności intelektualnej w Polsce w pierwszych latach po II wojnie światowej

On the problem of the protection of German intellectual property rights in Poland in the fi rst few years following the Second World War
 Right after the end of the Second World War a decision was taken to deal with the problem of patent rights and copyright of German nationals by means of internal (national) regulations. A relevant letter was sent in April 1946 to the Ministry of Reconstruction by the Construction Research Institute. This began a rather lively exchange of correspondence on the ministerial level. Particularly active in it were three ministries: Ministry of Reconstruction, Ministry of Justice and Minister of Foreign Aff airs. In the end, however, the problem of the use of patents belonging to German nationals under pre-war international agreements was resolved by means of the London Accord of 27 July 1946 which Poland endorsed in late 1946. What turned to be much more problematic was the regulation of German copyright. The Polish authorities were considering the adoption of the so-called decree on partial revocation of copyright on technical and scientifi c works by German authors. However, owing to a lack of consent from the various ministries as well as uncertainty about possible future consequences associated with compensation the attempts proved ineff ective.
 
 Zur Problematik des Schutzes der deutschen geistigen Eigentumsrechte in den ersten Jahren nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg in Polen
 Unmittelbar nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges versuchte man, das Problem der Patent- und der Urheberrechte deutscher Bürger zusammen zu lösen — mittels der internen (Landes-) Vorschriften. Im April 1946 hat das Forschungsinstitut für Bauwesen [Instytut Badawczy Budownictwa] ein Schreiben an das Ministerium für Wiederaufbau [Ministerstwo Odbudowy] gerichtet, was zu einer regen Korrespondenz auf ministerialer Ebene geführt hat. Besonders aktiv waren in dieser Sache drei Ministerien: das Ministerium für Wiederaufbau, Justizministerium und Ministerium für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten. Die Probleme, die mit der Anwendung der Patente verbunden waren, die nach den internationalen Vorkriegsabkommen den deutschen Bürgern zustanden, wurden schließlich kraft des Londoner Abkommens vom 27. Juli 1946 über die Behandlung deutscher Patente gelöst, Polen trat diesem Abkommen Ende des Jahres 1946 bei. Wesentlich problematischer war die Regelung der deutschen Urheberrechte. Die polnischen Behörden überlegten nämlich die Herausgabe eines sog. Dekretes über die teilweise Aufhebung der Anwendung des Urheberrechtes in Bezug auf die wissenschaftlich-technischen Werke deutscher Autoren. Da jedoch die einzelnen Ministerien diesem nicht zugestimmt haben und Bedenken hinsichtlich künftiger Schadensersatzfolgen bestanden, hat man davon abgesehen.

Preface

4th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING ENGINEERING & 12th REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING (ICONBUILD & RCCE 2019) is jointly organized by AUN/SEED.net, UTM Construction Research Centre (UTM-CRC) of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universitas Sriwijaya, and Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM). The joint committee was formed to manage and organized the 4th International Conference on Construction and Building Engineering and the 12th Regional Conference in Civil Engineering. Nowadays construction industries are facing various challenges and issues in terms of sustainability which has an impact towards climate change, future needs and usage of natural resources. The theme of “Innovative and Sustainability - A Way Forward in Construction” for ICONBUILD-RCCE 2019 is timely, where it covers the built environment and discusses various critical issues, perhaps trying to reduce the negative impact produced by the construction activities. The impact on environment such as carbon emission, inclement weather, unsustainable usage of natural resources, and inefficient usage of technology are among issues that require attention of the construction players. This conference has successfully attracted more than 100 technical papers in the related field. The technical session have discussed and deliberated pertinent issues with respect to challenges and improvement to the construction life cycle activities.Technical Editors:1. Prof. Ir. Dr. Mahmood Md Tahir2. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohd Sam3. Assoc. Prof. Arizu bin Sulaiman4. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norhazilan Bin Md. Noor5. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shek Poi Ngian6. Dr. Nor Hasanah Abdul Shukor Lim7. Dr. Ain Naadia Binti Mazlan8. Dr. Eeydzah Binti Aminudin

10th Asia Pacific Structural Engineering and Construction Conference 2018

PrefaceThe construction industry has accepted innovation and safeguarded great extent of sustainability by creative applications in design and construction practices. A sustainable structure or construction practice implicates that it is judiciously deployed to challenges faced by modern construction industry. As a matter of fact, the innovation in this field has kept developing or evolving to meet the expectation of ever more demanding design requirements in addition to persistent needs for change and improvement in performance. The problems faced contemporarily by the construction industry may not necessarily identical as in the future. Nevertheless, innovation and developments should not be ceased in order to offer cost effective sustainable solution that can change these challenges into opportunities.The School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), organised this International Conference to discuss the challenges as well as innovations in regards to sustainable construction industry, which including new materials, technologies, environmental concerns and economic factors to enhance its excellence. This is done by gathering Engineers, designers, researchers, scientists and scholars from different countries all around the world to celebrate the excellence in sustainable structure and construction practices. This conference dealt with key technical under the theme of “Sustaining the world with better structures and construction practice”. Over 65 papers were presented by authors during this Conference and these are compiled in a single volume conference proceeding.The event was co-organized with Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM). The organisation is gratefully acknowledged for their indispensable support. Organising a Conference is immense and substantial. Assistances and helps from all those involved are gratefully acknowledged, particularly the members of Technical and Supporting Committee for their supports from start to finish; the Authors and the Session Chairs for their invaluable contributions.This Proceeding has been completed via camera-ready copy printed from the digital manuscripts submitted by the authors and editing has been limited to the least, where it was considered unavoidable.Tan Sri. Datuk. Prof. Dr. Ir. Ts. Tr. Ar. Noor Nabilah Sarbini

Analysis on Scour Characteristics under River Bed Variation in Weir Downstream

Various river projects are underway in small rivers in Korea that typically have natural flows. However, recent findings have shown that damages could be aggravated by structures such as weirs and drop structures during flood incidents. Experimental studies for securing the stability of flood control for these artificial structures have been insufficient, and designs applying the existing domestic design standards would not be suitable for the steep flow sections such as the actual small rivers, possibly aggravating the damages. The present study involved hydraulic model experiments conducted in a laboratory to investigate the surrounding flow patterns according to the river bed slope at the downstream part of the weir model. Further, the scour characteristics in the apron section during the overflow of the structure were analyzed to determine the appropriateness of the apron length. Thus, as the upstream river bed slope gradually increased, the experimental scour length deviated more from the design criteria formula. The results suggest that both the formula suggested by the National Construction Research Institute and Bligh’s formula presented in the River Design Criteria are not suitable for steep-slope rivers, such as small rivers in Korea, because both formulas were proposed based on the seepage line distance and river bed materials without considering the slope of the river bed. Thus, in designing the apron and bed pitching of weirs and drop structures, the river bed slope, scour characteristics of weir overflow, and existing design factors should be comprehensively considered to devise a design formula appropriate for environment of the small rivers in Korea.

매설용 전기 발열 매시의 융설 효과에 대한 현장 적용성 연구

PURPOSES : This study aims to investigate the snow-melt effects of an underground electric heater`s snow-melt system via a field performance test, for evaluating the suitability of the system for use on a concrete pavement. The study also investigates the effectiveness of dynamic measures for clearing snow after snowfall events. METHODS : In order to check the field applicability, in November 2010, specimens were prepared from materials used for constructing concrete pavements, and underground electric heating meshes (HOT-mesh) were buried at depths of 50 mm and 100 mm at the site of the Incheon International Airport Construction Research Institute. Further, an automatic heating control system, including a motion sensor and pavement-temperature-controlled sensor, were installed at the site; the former sensor was intended for determining snow-melt effects of the heating control system for different snowfall intensities. Pavement snow-melt effects on snowy days from December 2010 to January 2011 were examined by managing the electric heating meshes and the heating control system. In addition, data on pavement temperature changes resulting from the use of the heating meshes and heating control system and on the dependence of the correlation between the outdoor air temperature and the time taken for the required temperature rise on the depth of the heating meshes were collected and analyzed. RESULTS : The effects of the heating control system`s preheat temperature and the hot meshes buried at depths of 50 mm and 100 mm on the melting of snow for snowfalls of different intensities have been verified. From the study of the time taken for the specimen`s surface temperature to increase from the preheat temperature () to the reference temperature () for different snowfall intensities, the correlation between the burial depth and outdoor air temperature has been determined to be as follows: Time

The Application of Bounded Normal Distribution in Statistics of Concrete Strength

23,037 values of concrete compressive strength from construction sites were obtained from Beijing Building Construction Research Institute from 2009-2012 by standard cubes testing method. The mean values, standard deviations, coefficients of variations, maxima and minima were derived from the original strength values analyzed and compared with the data in 1989. The results make up for the lack in C25/C30 and the maxima/minima of every strength class of concrete of the former data. Both the coefficients of variations and mean values have increased in recent years. The log-normal distribution commonly used in concrete compressive strength statistics is not that suitable for strength modeling for it is unbounded. So a bounded normal distribution was given in this paper. By Geary's test, the goodness-of-fit of bounded normal distribution is better than log-normal distribution has been proved.

3D heat and air transport model for predicting the thermal resistances of insulated wall assemblies

A wall energy rating (WER) system has been proposed to account for simultaneous thermal conduction and air leakage heat losses through a full-scale insulated wall system. Determining WER requires performing two standard tests on a full-scale wall specimen: a thermal resistance test and an air leakage test. A 3D model representation of the wall specimen is developed to combine the results of these tests to obtain an accurate prediction of the wall thermal resistance (apparent R-value) under the influence of air leakage. Two types of wall configurations were tested and simulated. The first one was a standard 2” × 6” wood stud frame construction, made of spruce, spaced at 16” (406 mm) o/c in 2.4 m × 2.4 m full-scale wall specimens. The second wall configuration was similar to the first one except that it included through-wall penetrations. The cavities of the two types of wall configurations were filled with different types of insulation, namely glass fibre batts and two different types of open cell spray polyurethane foams (light density, 6.8 and 12 kg/m3 nominal), a total of six walls. The present 3D model was used to predict the R-values of different types of wall assemblies (with and without air leakage). This model is a new hygrothermal tool that was recently developed and benchmarked against hygIRC-2D that was previously developed at the National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Research in Construction. The 3D version of this model was benchmarked by comparing its predictions of R-values for different types of wall assemblies against the measured R-values in the guarded hot box at no air leakage. Results showed that the present model predicted R-values of six walls to within ±5%. The 3D model was then used to investigate the effect of air leakage rate on the apparent R-values for these same walls. The results showed that the apparent R-values decreases linearly with air leakage rate less than ∼0.1 L/(m2 · s). At air leakage rate greater than ∼0.1 L/(m2 · s), the apparent R-values decrease asymptotically.

Long-term hygrothermal performance of white and black roofs in North American climates

When solar radiation hits a roof surface, a part of solar energy is reflected and part is absorbed. The absorbed part of solar energy results in an increase of the surface temperature of the roof. Cool reflective (white) roofs use bright surfaces to reflect a significant portion of the incident short-wave solar radiation, which lowers the surface temperature compared to conventional (black) roofs with bituminous membrane. As such, white roofs help reduce the urban heat island effect during the summer. The question is “do white roofs lead to moisture-related problems in northern and southern climates?” To help answer this question, numerical simulations were conducted to compare the hygrothermal performance of a single kind of white and black roofs under different outdoor and indoor conditions. The outdoor conditions are obtained from the weather database of the National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Research in Construction (NRC–IRC). The indoor conditions are taken based on the European standard (EN 15026) and ASHRAE recommendations for conditioned space. The type of roofs considered in this study is Modified-Bitumen (MOD-BIT) roofing systems. The numerical simulations were conducted for the outdoor climate of Toronto (ON), Montreal (QC), St John’s (NL), Saskatoon (SK), Seattle (WA), Wilmington (NC) and Phoenix (AZ). Results showed that for the outdoor climates of St John’s and Saskatoon, the white roofs could lead to longer-term moisture-related problems. However, for the outdoor climates of Toronto, Montreal, Seattle, Wilmington and Phoenix, buildings with white roofs were shown to have a low risk of experiencing moisture damage. Also, buildings with white roofs in these locations were predicted to show a net yearly energy savings compared to buildings with black roofs. ► Long-term hygrothermal simulations were conducted for white and black roof systems. ► The roofs were subjected to a number of North American climates. ► White roofs in St John’s and Saskatoon could lead to longer-term moisture-related problems. ► White roofs were shown to have low risk of moisture damage in Toronto, Montreal, Seattle, Wilmington and Phoenix.

Thermal response of basement wall systems with low-emissivity material and furred airspace

In basement wall systems, airspaces can contribute in obtaining a higher thermal resistance, if a low-emissivity material such as reflective foil is installed within a furred-airspace. In this study, numerical simulations were conducted using the hygrothermal model ‘hygIRC-C’ that was developed at the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Research in Construction to investigate the steady-state and transient thermal performance of basement wall systems. This model solves simultaneously the energy equation in the various material layers, surface-to-surface radiation equation in the furred-airspace assembly, Navier–Stokes equation for the airspace, and Darcy and Brinkman equations for the porous material layers. The wall systems used in the simulations incorporate a low-emissivity material (foil with emissivity = 0.04) bonded to a moulded/expanded polystyrene foam that is installed in a furred-airspace assembly. The furring is installed horizontally and covered with a gypsum board. The structural element of the wall (external layer) is a poured-in-place concrete. Walls with and without furred-airspace assembly were considered in this study. Also, consideration was given to investigate the effect of the above-grade and below-grade portions of the wall on the thermal performance when these walls are subjected to two different Canadian climates. Results showed that at steady-state condition, the effective thermal resistance ( R-value) of the wall with a furred-airspace assembly depends on the soil, outdoor, and indoor temperatures. Additionally, these wall configurations resulted in an energy savings of ~17% compared to walls without furred-airspace assembly when these walls are subjected to two different climate conditions.

Correlation Between Water Vapor and Air Permeability of Building Materials: Experimental Observations

Abstract Two fundamental properties of building materials that influence the hygrothermal performance of building envelope systems are water vapor permeability and air permeability. The driving forces for water vapor and air transmission through building materials are, respectively, partial water vapor pressure and total air pressure differentials. The theoretical similarity of the driving forces would suggest the possibility of a relationship between water vapor and air permeability. During past two decades, researchers at the National Research Council of Canada—Institute for Research in Construction have compiled a database of measured air permeability and water vapor permeability properties of building materials commonly used in North America. This material properties database was examined to identify the degree to which air permeability and water vapor permeability of the building materials might be functionally related. The database was segregated into categories for different material types. An approximately linear relationship could, within some categories, be observed between water vapor permeability and air permeability. There were however approximately as many categories within which no relationship between the parameters was apparent as there were categories within which functional relationships between the parameters were apparent. Within categories where functional relationships were apparent, the form of the relationships generally depended on the mean relative humidity at which water vapor permeability was measured. In most cases, a definitive functional form of the relationship between water vapor permeability and air permeability could not be established.

Open-Access and Institutional Repositories in Fire Literature

With the emergence of advanced Internet technologies, access to scientific literature is evolving at an unprecedented pace. While the number of peer-reviewed publications is growing exponentially, unpublished technical reports, dissertations and other forms of grey literature are becoming increasingly accessible for researchers across the world. Research organizations and universities are capitalizing on this opportunity, actively making their research available on the Internet. At the National Research Council, the Institute for Research in Construction ensures that all fire-related literature produced is stored in an Institutional Repository and posted on the Web in a freely available manner. In doing so, this system has provided fire researchers with a vehicle to improve visibility of their research, having pronounced advantages. For the fire community, the material is an excellent source of scholarly articles, reports, technical data and conference papers. A close examination of the Institute’s fire-related literature in Google Scholar reveals citation patterns which illustrate the value of open-access, free literature to fire researchers.

Assessment of Energy Rating of Polyurethane Spray Foam Walls: Procedure and Interim Results

Abstract The application of polyurethane spray foam (SPF) insulation in buildings provides a durable and efficient thermal barrier. The industry is also promoting the SPF as an effective air barrier system in addition to its thermal insulation characteristics. In an effort to address these issues, a consortium of SPF manufacturers and contractors, jointly with the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Research in Construction conducted an extensive research project to assess the thermal and air leakage characteristics of SPF walls as well as conventional wall assemblies. The objective is to develop analytical and experimental procedures to determine a wall energy rating (WER) that captures both the thermal and airleakage performance of a wall assembly. The experimental part included two streams of testing: (1) To determine the wall air leakage rate at different conditions and (2) their thermal resistance, R-value, at different temperature differences. An analytical procedure was also developed to calculate WER by combining the heat loss due to thermal transmission and that due to air leakage with the aim of arriving at WER. Six conventional full-scale wood frame wall assemblies were built, two with glass fiber batts and of four with medium density SPF. Some walls were constructed without penetrations and others were built with penetrations. The testing regime included: (i) Initial testing of air leakage and thermal resistance; (ii) conditioning in the dynamic wall test facility according to an established routine; and (iii) retesting for air leakage and thermal resistance. This paper presents the results of six walls included in this project. The focus of this paper will be on presenting a brief summary of the project objective, testing protocol, and the theoretical approach to determine the WER number for the six walls.

High-Performance Vacuum Insulation Panel: Development of Alternative Core Materials

Energy efficiency of the built environment greatly depends on the performance of the insulating materials used in the building envelope construction. Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) offer excellent thermal resistance properties that can enhance the energy efficiency of the insulating systems and provide savings in energy consumption. However, VIP systems are virtually unknown and rarely used for building construction in North America. There is a need to investigate the use of VIPs in various components of building envelopes and their long-term performance. The National Research Council, Canada, Institute for Research in Construction is investigating a number of fundamental aspects related to the performance and construction of VIPs, which this paper discusses. More specifically, it reviews the underlying basics behind the functioning of VIPs and presents results from the investigation into the development of alternative core materials for VIP construction.

High Performance Stucco to Optimize Moisture Management in Wood-Frame Stucco Walls

Abstract Stucco or portland cement plaster is widely used in North America as an exterior cladding material for the wood-frame walls. Recent computer-based numerical simulation studies at the National Research Council (NRC) Canada, Institute for Research in Construction (IRC) have indicated that low liquid diffusivity and high water vapor permeability of the stucco material can positively influence the overall moisture management capacity of wood-frame stucco walls. This paper presents the results from experimental and numerical modeling studies carried out at the NRC-IRC on the development of high performance stucco materials and its effect on the overall moisture management capability of wood-frame stucco walls. Liquid water and water vapor transmission properties of several commercial/conventional stucco materials and some newly formulated compositions were measured and compared under laboratory conditions. The experimental results suggest that by appropriate choice of the mix composition, addition of a proper hydrophobic admixture, and using aggregates with a hydrophobic coating, stucco material with lower liquid water diffusivity can be produced without reducing the water vapor permeability. The results from the numerical modeling study show newly developed high performance stucco materials can significantly improve the moisture management capability of wood-frame stucco walls.

In situ performance evaluation of spray polyurethane foam in the exterior insulation basement system (EIBS)

In 1995, a joint research project 1 1 The consortium included Canadian Plastics Industry Association, Expanded Polystyrene Association of Canada, Canadian Urethane Foam Contractors Association, Owens Corning Inc. and Roxul Inc. with the Institute for Research in Construction was initiated to assess the in situ thermal performance of a number of insulation products used as exterior basement insulation in contact with the ground. Sixteen insulation specimens measuring 610 mm and 1220 mm wide were installed on the exterior basement walls of an experimental building, test hut no. 1, located on NRC campus in Ottawa. These specimens were instrumented prior to backfilling and their thermal performance was monitored over two full years. Soil temperatures and moisture content were monitored concurrently. Weather events were recorded daily. This paper focuses on the performance of the two spray polyurethane foam (SPF) specimens assessed in this experiment. Through analysis of the surface temperatures of the specimens, water movement was detected at the insulation/soil interface through various periods of heavy rain and major thaws throughout the two-year period. Over the same period, the surface of the concrete on the inside of the insulation showed no evidence of water penetration through the SPF layer. The insulation specimens were retrieved after 31 months of exposure in the soil. Good and continuous surface adhesion was also noted on removal. Samples were taken from these exposed specimens. When tested in the lab, after recovery and drying of the specimens, the compressive strengths of the SPF samples were slightly higher than those tested at the beginning of the experiment. For the conditions recorded over two years of monitoring, the thermal performance of each insulation specimen was found to be stable through the heating season. The thermal performance appeared not to be significantly affected by water movement at the exterior face of the insulation. One SPF specimen showed steady thermal performance through two heating seasons while the other actually improved in the second year. It was concluded that the key performance factors of the 76 mm thick SPF specimens sprayed on the exterior surfaces of the concrete basement wall all remained at a very good level, i.e., the in situ thermal resistance, the compressive strength, and the moisture contents of the specimens.

CONCEPT OF DYNAMIC LIQUID FOAM INSULATION FOR GREENHOUSE INSULATION AND THE ASSESSMENT OF ITS ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCES

CONCEPT OF DYNAMIC LIQUID FOAM INSULATION FOR GREENHOUSE INSULATION AND THE ASSESSMENT OF ITS ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCES

Frost Durability Testing of Stone Masonry Mortars: Restoring the Canadian Parliament Buildings

Restoration of historic masonry is not only a matter of removing failing stone or mortar and replacing it with new. It is necessary to maintain the historic fabric of the structure and ensure that any intervention is reversible. It is also very important to ensure that the repointing effort has a high degree of durability. In much of northern North America and Europe, freeze-thaw durability is key to long-term service life. This is a particular challenge in climatic regions where winter thaws can result in temperature swings from -200C to '+5C and back to -200C in less than 24 hours. Driving rain is often associated with this type of weather pattern. Mortar failure in a single season is not uncommon under these severe climatic conditions. Ottawa, Canada, is in this type of region. Accelerated testing for frost durability of masonry is not a standard test. ASTM C-666 [1], which was developed for freeze-thaw durability testing of concrete, is commonly used for testing mortar; this is an unrealistic test. The durability of masonry is a complex interaction of the mortar and masonry unit. Recognizing this, the National Research Council of Canada (NRCC), Institute for Research in Construction (IRC) developed a frost durability test for masonry [2]. The development of the test was in direct response to the need of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) to produce a guideline for specifying for the current, largescale restoration of the buildings that make up the Parliamentary Precinct of Canada's capital city, Ottawa. The results reported in this paper represents the 1994-95 test program of an ongoing investigation. Two phases of mixing were conducted. The first phase investigated a broad range of mix designs and the second a refinement of the favorable mix designs. A companion paper in this issue by Suter et al describes the mechanical testing protocols and details the results. The purpose of this paper is to describe the approach and outcome of frost durability testing of mortars and to discuss those physical properties that appear to relate to freeze-thaw durability. The work was conducted under the umbrella of the Masonry Retrofit Project, which is a strategic research focus of the Institute for Research in Construction.

Water Management in Exterior Wall Claddings

This paper presents results of laboratory testing on the performance of wall claddings using direct-applied (DEFS) and exterior insulation finish systems (EIFS) that incorporate water management features into their design and construc tion. The work presented in this paper is a continuation of earlier work conducted by the Institute for Research in Construction (IRC) of the National Research Council, Canada (NRCC) and the United States Gypsum Company (USG) evaluating the water penetration and moisture performance of barrier EIFS clad walls (Brown et al., 1997). Direct-applied exterior finish systems (DEFS) are exterior wall claddings that use a water durable substrate, typically cement board, mechanically fastened to the wall framing over a sheathing membrane. A cementitious basecoat and textured acrylic synthetic stucco finish is then applied directly over the substrate. Insulation for the DEFS system is in the stud cavity. EIFS systems use a layer of foam insulation applied over the wall substrate, with basecoat and finish applied over the foam. The performance of three water managed wall cladding designs in protecting wood framed construction from water intrusion by wind-driven rain is described. Three different drainage systems were evaluated. Performance measures evaluated in cluded cladding airtightness, pressure equalization potential, and water drainage under wind-driven rain conditions. In each of the three systems, partial pressure equalization was observed, and any water that did breach the exterior skin was stopped at the sheathing membrane and directed down and out of the wall through the flashing and weep openings.

Effect of blade profile on sheet metal shear noise

Research has been carried out on the effect of different blade profiles on the radiated noise of an experimental high-speed sheet metal shear. The specimens being cut were roll formed sheet steel products of an approximately sinusoidal profile produced by BHP Building Products, Australia. For this product, five different shear blade profiles of varying blade angles were designed and produced. In the tests, three parameters, i.e., blade angle, speed of cutting and blades alignment, could be varied independently. A pressure transducer was used as a measure of cutting force, allowing an investigation of the relationship between radiated noise and the time history of the cutting force. Results show that the blade angle in shear cutting is of great significance for the reduction of the radiated noise. Speed of cutting was found to have a significant but lesser effect. Blade misalignment gave some advantage when the blade angle was less than 0.5 degrees. a)Currently at the Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[See NOISE-CON Proceedings for full paper.]

Fiber Optics for Evaluation of Pavement Reinforcement Materials in Resisting Reflection Cracking

A major maintenance problem of pavement is the reflection cracking of pavement overlays at the location of joints and cracks in the underlayers. Pavement reinforcement materials (PRM) are used to reinforce the asphalt concrete (AC) overlay to delay reflection cracking. Assessing the effectiveness of PRM in limiting reflection cracking can be achieved by direct measurement of strain distribution within the PRM and AC overlay. A fiber-optic sensor is the only alternative that is compatible with the fiberglass structure of the PRM used in this study and, therefore, is used to measure strain within the PRM. A program of investigation, developed at the Institute for Research in Construction of the National Research Council Canada, aims at studying the state of stress leading to joint opening in pavement layers and assessing the effectiveness of PRM in reducing such cracks through monitoring the performance of PRM using embedded fiber-optic strain sensors. The investigation involves both laboratory testing and long-term field monitoring of instrumented road section. The instrumentation aspect of the laboratory evaluation of PRM effectiveness using embedded fiber-optic sensors is described. An instrumentation procedure is developed that includes sensor mounting and embedding, mechanical protection, calibration, and data acquisition system. The performance of the developed monitoring system in asphalt concrete pavement specimens is assessed in controlled laboratory conditions.