Abstract

Wood frame construction is the most widespread building method. In Belgium the number of wood frame buildings has grown in the last years: in 2018 over 10% of all new built dwellings were wood frame buildings. This increase can be partly attributed to the growing attention for energy performant buildings with a low environmental impact. In contrary to masonry construction, wood frame is more vulnerable to moisture problems, mould growth and wood rot. An important risk is water infiltration through imperfections in the building envelope as a result of driving rain. Therefore it is important for the design to be resilient and allow drying without consequential damage. To analyze the drying potential, an experimental set-up with 8 wood frame compartments was built. The compartments differ in the type of insulation material (mineral wool or cellulose) and the type of vapour retarder (OSB or smart vapour retarder) that were used. In this way 4 types of compartments were obtained, each having a different combination of insulation and vapour retarder. Of each combination there are 2 identical compartments. This allows to insert water in one of both, to mimic rain water infiltration from the outside into the compartment. Temperature, relative humidity and moisture content were measured on different locations in the construction (in total 92 sensors). In this way, the hygrothermal performance of the compartments with and without water infiltration can be analyzed, as well as the drying rate.

Abstract

International audience; This article introduces a simple and effective methodology to determine the level of congestion in a network with an ECN-like marking scheme. The purpose of the ECN bit is to notify TCP sources of an imminent congestion in order to react before losses occur. However, ECN is a binary indicator which does not reflect the congestion level (i.e. the percentage of queued packets) of the bottleneck, thus preventing any adapted reaction. In this study, we use a counter in place of the traditional ECN marking scheme to assess the number of times a packet has crossed a congested router. Thanks to this simple counter, we drive a statistical analysis to accurately estimate the congestion level of each router on a network path. We detail in this paper an analytical method validated by simulations which demonstrate the feasibility and the accuracy of the concept proposed and illustrate its use in a realistic scenario. We conclude this paper with possible applications and expected future work.

Abstract

The transport of logarithmic potentials provides a dynamical equilibrium that allows obtaining the lasting time estimation of a dynamical process. Bayesian rules are applied as a bridge between logarithmic potentials and the transport equation to obtain the potential associated with the interaction between systems. In this work, a data set from a chemical process is considered to test the method. Then, to enrich the analysis, an actual prediction by dynamical components is perform that illustrates how long every process and the global common process last.

Abstract

The research was carried out by the Finnish Public Transport Association. Altogether seven vehicles were measured, two two-axle Euro 3 -class vehicles as references, three new two-axle Euro 4 -class vehicles and two new three-axle vehicles. The measurements were carried out on a chassis dynamometer, using three cycles describing actual driving. In addition to fuel consumption, exhaust emissions were also recorded for these vehicles. The differences in fuel consumption and operating expenses were after all smaller than first anticipated. In the case of the Euro 3 -class reference vehicles, the difference between the two vehicles was as high as 7-10%. For new two-axle vehicles the difference in fuel consumption, when simulating urban driving, is only 3-4%. Due to different technical solutions, the results were anticipated to be greater. In suburban driving although, the difference is at its most 11%. In the class of two-axle vehicles, lowest fuel consumption was measured for a SCR vehicle, whereas in the case of the two three-axle vehicles, EGR technology resulted in lowest fuel consumption. The measurements do not give an unambiguous answer to whether the EGR- or SCR-technology is preferable regarding fuel consumption. The contemplation is hindered by two factors. On one hand, the order of superiority depends on the driving cycle, on the other, the actual exhaust emissions do not match with expectations. The two EGR vehicles (same make) produced higher NOx -emissions than the manufacturer's Euro 3 -engine. The most fuel efficient SCR -engine is not truly Euro 4 -class what comes to NOx -emissions. Only two of the new vehicles, both with SCR technology, produce NOx -emissions genuinely matching their classes. Both fuel consumption and exhaust emissions have been observed in the study. In case exhaust emissions were completely disregarded, fleet decisions might be directed towards fuel efficient vehicles which after all do not reach the level of emission performance that reasonably could be expected.

Abstract

O trabalho mostra os resultados de uma série de medições de desempenho propulsivo de um comboio no rio Araguaia, constituído de um empurrador bihélice de potência instalada de 448kW e duas chatas de 530 t de deslocamento cada. O empurrador teve, durante o período de medições, dois tipos de propulsores diferentes: da série B-Troost, mais convencional, e da série Kaplan em dutos. Os resultados de escala real foram analisados fazendo uso, inclusive, de resultados com modelos em tanques de provas, com o objetivo de descobrir os problemas e identificar os melhores procedimentos para o projeto de hélices de embarcações fluviais de cargas. Levando em consideração as características operacionais com alto carregamento das pás dos hélice fluviais, foi proposto um tratamento diferenciado daquele tradicionalmente aplicado em hélices de embarcações marítimas convencionais. Ao final, foi verificado que existem métodos adequados de estimativas de resistências ao avanço de comboios fluviais, mas que existem problemas nas estimativas dos coeficientes propulsivos, o que influencia decisivamente a qualidade dos projetos dos hélices fluviais. Com relação à geometria das pás dos hélices, concluiu-se que os hélices fluviais devem apresentar, em termos gerais, pequenos diâmetros, grandes razões de áreas expandidas, pás mais espessas, especialmente nas pontas, simetria do contorno das pás e ausência de caimento. As análises mostraram, também, as vantagens da utilização de hélices em dutos, assim como constataram que as séries sistemáticas de hélices podem ser utilizadas com pleno êxito em projetos de hélices de embarcações fluviais. This work shows the results of a series of measurements of propulsive performance of a push-tow in the Araguaia river, with a 448kW twin-screw pusher and two 530t barges. During the measurements the pusher was fitted with two different types of propellers: firstly with a more conventional B-Troost one and later with a Kaplan ducted propeller. The full scale results were analyzed by using results of towing tank tests in order to find out the problems and identify the best procedures for the design of propellers of inland vessels. Taking into consideration the operational characteristics of heavily loaded blades of inland vessel propellers, it has been proposed a differentiated treatment compared to that usually applied on conventional marine propellers. At the end, it was verified that there exist good methods of estimating push-tow resistances, but there are problems in estimating the propulsive coefficients, and these influence decisively the quality of inland propeller design. Regarding the blades geometry of the propeller, it was concluded that inland propellers should have small diameters, great expanded area ratios, thicker blade sections, especially in the tips, no skew and no rake. The analysis showed, also, the advantages of the ducted-propellers in inland vessels, as well as it verified that the propeller systematical series can be used successfully for the selection of such propellers.