Edifice Research Articles

Interactive design of new media images and architectural space: taking Hangzhou as an example

ABSTRACT Traditional architectural space design often relies on fixed display boards, paper guides, and static displays. Viewers can only passively receive information and lack opportunities to interact with the displayed content, making it difficult to generate deep participation and personalized experiences. This article applied new media images into the interactive design of architectural spaces, transforming and innovating traditional architectural spaces, and providing audiences with a richer and more attractive spatial experience. The navigation service was set as the architectural space design goal, and analyzed using the Leifeng Tower building in Hangzhou as an example. Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used to digitally model the Leifeng Tower building, accurately simulating the building structure, spatial layout, and landscape information. By adding virtual information annotations and navigation routes, tourists were provided with a more diverse and colorful architectural space experience. The experimental results showed that among 400 tourists, the highest number of tourists using augmented reality navigation was 204, and the average satisfaction score of tourists with augmented reality navigation reached 90. Moreover, presenting the guide content in a multimodal form can better enhance the spatial experience of tourists. The use of augmented reality in architectural spatial interaction design can enrich tourists’ perception and experience in the architectural space, enabling them to interact with the building in a more vivid and interactive way.

Result Comparison of Spectral Matching Between <i>Seismomatch</i> and <i>Specmatch </i>Computer Program

The earthquake ground motion, or acceleration time history, caused by an earthquake event, is an earthquake acceleration wave that can be utilized as a basis to design earthquake-resistant civil engineering buildings. The earthquake acceleration time history is needed as a basis to determine the earthquake loading for the building structure design. A time history can be developed from recorded data using spectral matching software. In this process, the response spectra of the recorded time history are matched to a specific target spectrum. The target spectrum is developed based on the Indonesian National Standard known as SNI 2012 (SNI code). The response spectra derived from this standard are referred to as the design response spectrum. These response spectra adopted by the SNI code are based on the ASCE code from the US. Two spectral matching software programs, namely Seismomatch and Specmatch, are employed for this purpose. In this study, both of software programs are utilized to match the response spectra of a time history to a predefined response spectrum. The results of the matching process indicate that Seismomatch does not produce a satisfactory match between the response spectra of the time history and the target spectrum, whereas Specmatch provides a matching result where the response spectra of the time history nearly perfectly align with the target spectrum.

Preparation and characterization of fatty acid ternary eutectic mixture/Nano-SiO2 composite phase change material for building applications

In order to prepare a composite phase change material (PCM) with suitable phase transition temperature, strong temperature control performance, good latent heat properties, and low cost for incorporation into concrete, the goal is to control temperature cracks, and endow the building structure with temperature regulation capabilities through phase change. In this study, capric acid (CA), myristic acid (MA) and stearic acid (SA) were used as PCMs. Firstly, based on theoretical calculations, a ternary eutectic mixture of CA-MA-SA with a mass ratio of 67.16:22.98:9.86 was successfully prepared. Subsequently, a new composite PCM was created using a melt blending technique, incorporating nano-SiO2 as a supporting material. The comprehensive characterization results from FT-IR, SEM, XRD, DSC and TG indicate that nano-SiO2 interacts with CA-MA-SA through its porous structure and capillary action, as well as surface tension, rather than through any chemical interaction, when 65% of CA-MA-SA is adsorbed in nano-silica, the melting temperature and latent heat of the composite PCM are 19.23 °C and 97.82 J/g, respectively. Without any leakage of molten CA-MA-SA. This material exhibits a favorable temperature for phase transition and possesses a high amount of latent heat, making it a promising candidate for use in construction projects. Additionally, the composite PCM shows remarkable thermal stability after 200 phase change cycles, which not only lowers building energy usage but also conserves energy, making it ideal for broad use in civil engineering.

Design of E.R. Building At Ct Arsa Palu Hospital With Liquefaction Potential

This design hospital building is planned to be built in the city of Palu. Palu City has high earthquake potential, has history of liquefaction, tsunami and landslides disasters. Thorough design is needed so that this hospital building still become a place for health services after a disaster occurs. The building was designed using the Special Moment Resisting Frame Structure system based on the SNI. Earthquake load analysis uses the response spectrum method based on Earthquake Resistance Planning Procedures (SNI 1726:2019). This concept obtains structure design that meets SNI and still strong in strong earthquake and liquefaction. Analysis has been carried out and it was found that the potential for liquefaction to occur at a depth of 1.5 M to 4.5 M so that the foundation chosen was 4 piles with a diameter of 40 cm, a depth of 6 meters per pile cap. From the results of calculations, it shows that the structure of the emergency room building at CT Arsa Palu Hospital is safe from an analytical perspective.

Individual route choice behavior in evacuation considering avoidance and phototropism: An experimental study

During an emergency evacuation in a building, participants' evacuation signs obedience behaviors have a significant impact on evacuation efficiency, while participants' possible phototropism and hazard avoidance behaviors occur during evacuation, which will affect evacuation efficiency. To investigate the effects of participants' phototropism and hazard avoidance behaviors on compliance with evacuation signs. One pre-experiment and four groups of evacuation experiments were conducted in the T-junction and Room of the building with a total of 170 participants. A fumes generator and searchlight to simulate light and fumes conditions under fire. Using the statistical analysis to explore the differences in the route choice behavior of evacuees under different conditions. The results show that: (1) In the natural state, participants showed significant phototropism and hazard avoidance. (2) Phototropism and hazard avoidance affect participants' obedience to evacuation signs. (3) In the room scene, participants demonstrated more obvious phototropism and hazard avoidance, even deviating from the evacuation sign's guidelines；(4) Participants showed some decision inertia during two consecutive decisions. Further combined with SHAP interpretable machine learning for analysis, it was found that (1) Scene conditions exist for phototropism and hazard avoidance in evacuees. (2) Fumes prevented participants' obedience to the evacuation sign, whereas light promoted participants' obedience to the sign. This indicates that evacuation signs need to be installed regarding the actual building structure. These findings can be used as theoretical references for building safety design, campus safety, and evacuation simulation tests.

An inerter-enhanced bistable nonlinear energy sink for seismic response control of building structures

Structural control strategies have attracted great attention in reducing unwanted structural responses. To mitigate the vibrations of seismically excited buildings, this paper proposes a novel vibration control device: an inerter-enhanced bistable nonlinear energy sink (BNESI). A three-story building structure is selected as an example, where the BNESI is attached to the top of the structure and linked to the top second floor of the structure, to explore the control effect of the device under earthquakes. The restoring force of the BNESI and equations of motion for the BNESI-controlled system are derived first. Subsequently, a multi-objective optimization design method of the BNESI is proposed and applied in building structures. The input energy robustness of the BNESI is then accessed by various initial velocities subjected to the structures. Moreover, the seismic vibration mitigation capacity of the BNESI is systematically investigated under a group of near-field and far-field excitations. Analysis results show that the proposed design algorithm for BNESI can be an attractive alternative to effectively obtain optimal parameters of the control device. The BNESI is less sensitive to the input energy levels, and can stably capture and dissipate energy from the primary structure. Also, the BNESI system provides good control effectiveness with less sensitivity to the uncertainty of seismic excitations. In addition, with less standard deviation, the damper stroke of the BNESI is only about a quarter of that of the TMD under the same excitation. Moreover, the damage to the primary structure has a negligible effect on the control effect of the BNESI system. Meanwhile, the BNESI can decrease the energy dissipation demand on the structure, and the energy distribution mode of the BNESI system shows less sensitivity to the frequency decrease of the structure.

Grasshopper platform-assisted design optimization of fujian rural earthen buildings considering low-carbon emissions reduction

This work aims to explore optimization methods for the design of earthen buildings in rural Fujian to achieve low-carbon emissions and improve the structural stability of earthen buildings. First, parametric modeling and optimization algorithms are employed through the Grasshopper platform. An intelligent earthen building design is created by combining the optimization of factors such as the structure of earthen buildings, building materials, and orientation. Then, a comparison is made with the unoptimized, energy-efficient, and carbon emission reduction designs. Finally, the work concludes that the proposed design significantly optimizes the total carbon emissions, energy consumption, structural stability, and economic aspects. The proposed design scheme achieves the highest carbon emission reduction effect, with a reduction rate of 34.64%. The proposed design exhibits lower maximum stress and higher minimum safety factor in terms of structural stability compared to other scenarios, along with smaller structural displacement. It also performs well in terms of initial investment, annual operating costs, and construction period. The significance of this work lies in providing scientific guidance for the design and construction of rural earthen buildings, promoting the organic integration of rural development with low-carbon initiatives. This indicates that the use of intelligent optimization methods for earthen building design is feasible and can yield positive results in practice.

Psychological Motivation Analysis of Farmers' Collective Energy-saving Behavior and Influence of Intervention Effect

The poor thermal performance of rural buildings in northern China and the serious pollution caused by loose coal combustion are practical problems that need to be solved urgently. In order to solve the two problems, this paper analyzed the current situation of the envelope structure of rural houses in the north of our country and the commonly used heating forms of farmers. It was found that the envelope structure of most rural houses did not take heat preservation measures and needed to be transformed to save energy. The commonly used heating systems for farmers are coal furnaces, hanging kang, earth heating, etc., and the wealthier rural areas use biogas or straw gasification for central heating, but there are still various problems to be improved in these systems. In order to improve the thermal performance of the farmers' building structure, the thermal performance measurement and energy-saving transformation of the enclosure structure of a typical farmer in Xiaoyi, Shanxi Province were carried out. Before the energy-saving transformation, Energy Plus software simulation analysis shows that the typical farmer can save 60% of the heating energy consumption after the energy-saving transformation. Before and after the energy-saving transformation, the actual measurement results show that the heat transfer coefficient of the wall, window and roof decreased by 72.7%, 61.59% and 64.99% respectively from 2.3 times, 1.43 times and 2.11 times the national requirement limit. The performance of the envelope structure after the energy-saving transformation can meet the national requirements. The actual statistics show that the biomass fuel consumption per unit temperature difference before and after the transformation is saved by 66.74%, which indicates that the energy-saving transformation has achieved good results, and shows the accuracy of the Energy Plus model. The psychological intervention of energy-saving transformation proposed in this study helps to improve people's awareness of energy-saving, reduces anxiety and fear, and has a very good effect on the psychological intervention effect.

Influence of Wind Power Generation on the Steel Structure Design of Green Buildings

Wind power generation in renewable energy is the current research focus, but the relationship between wind power generation and green buildings is the basis for ensuring the stable operation of wind power generation, so it has become the current research focus. I propose a composite method based on the heat energy limit theory to study the relationship between wind power generation and the steel structure of green buildings, find the weak points of the steel structure in time, and ensure the continuous operation of wind power generation. The simulation results show that there is a negative correlation between wind power generation and green steel structure, and there is a close relationship between the design characteristics of the steel structure, the material and the installation method of wind power generation. The composite method proposed in this paper can monitor the operation effect of power generation at noon in time, and the accuracy of heat energy monitoring of steel structure can reach 80~90%, and the whole monitoring time is less than 15 seconds, which shows that the composite method proposed by us can provide support for the design and analysis of wind power generation and green steel structure buildings, and has theoretical feasibility. Therefore, strengthening the relationship between wind power generation and green steel structure design is the technical condition for the operation and implementation of steel structure, and it is also the guarantee of wind power generation.

Comparative eco-efficiency assessment of 3D-printed recycled aggregate concrete structure for mid-rise residential buildings

3D-printed concrete (3DPC) is an emerging construction technique that extrudes concrete to automatically fabricate structural elements. While prior studies indicate the environmental benefits of 3DPC, limitations include a lack of project-level inventory data and assessment of whole buildings. This study provided a comprehensive framework through a life cycle assessment (LCA) comparison by using 3DPC structures (3DPCS) with project-specific data and conventional masonry structures (CMS) for six-storey residential buildings sharing similar architecture designs. Findings showed that 3DPC reduced cost by 16.9 % due to a 64.1 % decrease in workforce requirements. Environmental impacts were lower by up to 72.5 % for 3DPCS compared to CMS, primarily due to the low-cement-content concrete mixture incorporating recycled aggregates. The research further identified opportunities to enhance the economic and sustainability advantages of 3DPCS versus traditional approaches by increasing the proportion of 3D-printed components and the utilization of 3D printers across different buildings. This empirical research validated 3DPCS sustainability benefits and provided strategies for further promotion of digital concrete techniques in urban and rural construction.

Torsional effect analysis of high-rise reinforced concrete space grid cassette multi-tube structure system

The manuscript introduces a new structural system called the reinforced concrete (RC) space grid cassette multi-tube structure for high-rise buildings. A case study building is analyzed using this system and compared to a conventional RC frame-core tube structure. Through modal analysis in the software “Midas Gen”, the torsional effect and control indices like inter-story displacement ratio, maximum displacement, etc. are compared between the two structural systems. The results show that the space grid cassette system has smaller displacement ratios, displacements, inter-story torsion angles, and thus better torsional resistance compared to the conventional frame-core tube system. Based on these analyses, the manuscript concludes that the RC space grid cassette multi-tube structural system has superior seismic performance and is more suitable for irregularly shaped high-rise residential buildings.

Superstructure Planning of 21 Floor Swasana Building Anami Tower B Klapa Village Project

The structural planning of building construction is needed to get the mosteffective and efficient dimensions and configuration of the structure. Planninga building structure located in an earthquake-prone area must be plannedaccording to standards, is strong, and is earthquake-safe. The Planning of theSuperstructure of the Swasana Building 21 Floors Anami Tower B the KlapaVillage Project refers to the Procedures for Planning for Concrete Structuresand Buildings of SNI 2847-2019, and the Standards for Planning EarthquakeResistance for Building Structures of SNI 1726-2019. Planning of theSuperstructure of the 21-Story Swasana Building Tower B of the KlapaVillage project uses Etabs V.17 software which includes the planning ofbeams, columns, and floor slabs. Loads that are reviewed for the design ofstructural elements are dead load, live load, and earthquake load.

Monitoring and analysis of settlement and deformation status of high-rise buildings based on nonlinear regression

In order to solve the problems of low reliability and poor prediction accuracy in traditional building structure settlement monitoring, the author proposes a monitoring and analysis of high-rise building settlement deformation status based on nonlinear regression. The author collected and wirelessly transmitted building settlement information through various hardware devices such as sensors and GPRS communication modules. The monitoring data collected by sensors were compared and analyzed to determine the settlement situation of the building. An RBF neural network prediction model was constructed for possible settlement points. Then, the leapfrog algorithm is used to optimize the structural parameters of the RBF neural network. The experimental results show that this method can accurately evaluate the possible settlement of building structures in actual environments, and the prediction error is small, with a maximum relative error of 4.83 %, indicating good warning ability. This method achieved the best actual value fitting curve results, verifying its feasibility in settlement prediction. Subsequently, a more widely applicable settlement detection and prediction system for building complex structures will be established based on the proposed method, in order to promote its large-scale application.

Designing a Roadmap for Health Technology Assessment Implementation in Algeria.

Background The scarcity of resources restricts healthcare financing decisions, affecting the population's health. Health technology assessment (HTA) balances restricted budgets with the best possible health outcomes. We aim to characterize the current status of HTA in Algeria and describe the future directions for HTA implementation according to the priorities set by local stakeholders. Methods Stakeholders from the public and private sectors responded to a policy survey about the current and preferred future status of HTA implementation in Algeria. The survey was administered during an online workshop and used a widely accepted international scorecard covering eight domains: capacity building, HTA financing, process and organizational structure, scope of HTA implementation, decision criteria, standardization of methodology, use of local data, and international collaboration. After that, one-on-one interviews with another local expert were conducted to validate and modify the draft recommendations. The interviewees were representatives from government agencies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. Results Thirty-one experts filled out the HTA scorecard survey; most of them were from the public sector (74%). They highlighted that project-based HTA workshops or short courses were the most common form of HTA education in Algeria and recommended the establishment of postgraduate HTA training programs in the future to build sustainable capacities. They reported a lack of funding for HTA research and critical appraisal and recommended an increased public budget for HTA and the introduction of submission fees by manufacturers. There was consensus about the need for local HTA evidence generation in the future. Most of the experts advocated an explicit soft decision threshold. The interviewees further recommended using multi-criteria decision analysis in the short term. The application of quality indicators was believed to improve the reliability of the HTA process. Conclusion The results of our policy research delineate the gap between the current and preferred future status of HTA in Algeria based on insights from multiple stakeholders. The need to improve the educational HTA programs in Algeria, use local data in policy decisions, and increase funding for HTA were the most advocated recommendations.

Research on Microclimate Optimization of Traditional Residential Buildings in Central Anhui Based on Humid and Hot Climate Characteristics and Regional Architectural Features

This study examines how building space, materials, and structure affect the microclimate of Liu Tong Xinglongzhuang in central Anhui, known for its hot, humid climate and distinct architecture. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, including field monitoring, PHOENICS simulation, and Ladybug Tools, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Building materials: wood reduces indoor temperature; a glass roof over the patio lowers temperature and improves wind speed; and reducing tile area decreases solar radiation. (2) Building space: optimal comfort in stairwells is achieved with a length-to-width ratio of 1.5:1 and height-to-width ratio of 2:1; courtyards are most comfortable with a length-to-width ratio of 2.5:1 and height-to-width ratio of 1.5:1; walk-through halls are optimal with a length-to-width ratio of 2:1 and height-to-width ratio of 1.5:1; and wings achieve the highest comfort with a length-to-width ratio of 2.5:1 and height-to-width ratio of 1.5:1. (3) Building structure: optimal wind speed and temperature are achieved with specific window height-to-width ratios of 1:1 for exterior and 1.5:1 for interior windows; the lowest temperatures occur at 2:1 ratios; hexagonal exterior and circular interior windows maximize wind speed and temperature reduction; and smaller exterior door openings lower indoor temperatures and are best achieved with an interior door ratio of 2:1. These findings offer valuable data and methods for optimizing the microclimate of traditional houses, with significant practical implications.

Study on Multi-Index Evaluation Technology of Seismic Performance of Green Ecological Building Structure

Traditional evaluation methods based on static elastic-plastic analysis usually produce results with low fitting degree compared with actual data. In this paper, a new seismic performance evaluation method is proposed. Firstly, several evaluation indexes of green ecological building structure are calculated. Subsequently, a cumulative damage model is established based on fatigue life curve and Miner criterion, which allows to determine the total dissipated strain energy and damage index. In order to verify the effectiveness of this method, it is compared with the traditional static elastic-plastic analysis method through experimental tests. The results show that compared with the traditional method of 50% to 60%, the proposed method achieves a significantly higher fitting degree with the actual data, ranging from 70% to 92%. This emphasizes the superiority and reliability of the proposed method in evaluating the seismic performance of green ecological building structures, and provides insights for safer and more flexible building practices.

Seismic performance of beam-type covered bridge considering the superstructure – substructure interaction and bearing mechanical property

Modern covered bridges have attracted attention due to their multifaceted commercial functionalities, making them increasingly prevalent in construction projects throughout China. To investigate the seismic performance of the beam-type covered bridge, finite element models (FEMs) of conventional building structure, conventional bridge structure and covered bridge structure were established via OpenSEES. The effects of bearing mechanical properties on the seismic response of the whole covered bridge and impacts of lower bridge structure on the interlayer drift ratio of upper building, as well as influences of upper building structure on bearing displacement and pier displacement and stress were deeply explored by using (Incremental dynamic analysis) IDA method. Furthermore, the seismic performance of the covered bridge was evaluated under two levels of seismic hazards. Results indicate that under the seismic events may occur, the interaction between superstructure and substructure is adverse to the longitudinal seismic performance of the superstructure and wall pier of the covered bridge, but do not significantly impact the lateral seismic response of the superstructure. The existence of the superstructure notably reduces the displacement of bearings. Moreover, higher bearing stiffness lead to a more pronounced interlayer drift ratio within the superstructure of the covered bridge. The influence of bearings on the displacement and stress of wall piers is not affected by the superstructure- substructure interaction. This study involved the nonlinearity of the structure and the randomness of seismic actions and clarified the impacts of factors on the seismic response of the beam-type covered bridge. Finally, a reasonable layout of the bearings was proposed.

Optimisation of real‐scene 3D building models based on straight‐line constraints

AbstractDue to the influence of repeated textures or edge perspective transformations on building facades, building modelling based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry often suffers geometric deformation and distortion when using existing methods or commercial software. To address this issue, a real‐scene three‐dimensional (3D) building model optimisation method based on straight‐line constraints is proposed. First, point clouds generated by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry are down‐sampled based on local curvature characteristics, and structural point clouds located at the edges of buildings are extracted. Subsequently, an improved random sample consensus (RANSAC) algorithm, considering distance and angle constraints on lines, known as co‐constrained RANSAC, is applied to further extract point clouds with straight‐line features from the structural point clouds. Finally, point clouds with straight‐line features are optimised and updated using sampled points on the fitted straight lines. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively eliminate redundant 3D points or noise while retaining the fundamental structure of buildings. Compared to popular methods and commercial software, the proposed method significantly enhances the accuracy of building modelling. The average reduction in error is 59.2%, including the optimisation of deviations in the original model's contour projection.

A new deep learning-based approach for concrete crack identification and damage assessment

Concrete building structures are prone to cracking as they are subjected to environmental temperatures, freeze-thaw cycles, and other operational environmental factors. Failure to detect cracks in the key building structure at the early stage can result in serious accidents and associated economic losses. A new method using the SE-U-Net model based on a conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) has been developed to identify small cracks in concrete structures in this paper. This proposed method was a pixel-level U-Net model based on a generative network, that was integrated the original convolutional layer with an attention mechanism, and an SE module in the jump connection section was added to improve the identifiability of the model. The discriminative network compared the generated images with real images using the PatchGAN model. Through the adversarial training of generator and discriminator, the performance of generator in crack image segmentation task is improved, and the trained generation network is used to segment cracks. In damage assessments, the crack skeleton was represented by the individual pixel width and recognized using the binary morphological crack skeleton method, in which the final length, area, and average width of the crack could be determined through the geometric correction index. The results showed that compared with other methods, the proposed method could better identify subtle pixel-level cracks, and the identification accuracy is 98.48%. These methods are of great significance for the identification of cracks and the damage assessment of concrete structures in practice.

Green flexible production and intelligent factory building structure design based on improved ant colony algorithm

Traditional factory production has limitations such as energy waste, emission pollution, etc., and there are also certain unreasonable structural aspects. Therefore, this article proposes a method that can make the factory building structure more green, flexible, and intelligent. It is hoped that by improving the ant colony algorithm and applying it to factory design and production, the goal of reducing energy consumption, maximizing resource utilization, and reducing environmental impact can be achieved. Transforming the design problem of factory building structure into an optimization problem using ant colony algorithm, that is, finding the optimal path and layout. In this process, the ant colony algorithm simulates the behavior of ants by continuously iterating and updating the concentration of pheromones, in order to achieve the global optimal solution. In order to achieve the combination of green design principles and flexible production needs, corresponding constraint conditions and objective functions were introduced, taking into account the flexibility and adjustability within the factory to meet different production needs. Ant colony algorithm can provide the best structural design solution for factory buildings by optimizing search, combining green design principles and flexible production requirements, and promoting the development of green and sustainable factory buildings.