The paper presents the results of assessment studies of the time course for technical wear in masonry buildings located in the area of mining-induced ground deformations. By using fuzzy inference system (FIS) and the “if-then” rule, corresponding language labels describing actual damage recorded in structure components were translated into scalar outputs describing the degree of damage to the building. Adopting this approach made it possible to separate damage resulting from additional effects coming from mining-induced ground deformations and the natural wear and tear of masonry structure. By using statistical analysis an exponential function for the condition of building damage and the function of natural wear and tear were developed. Both phenomena were subject to studies as a function of time regarding the technical age of building structure. The results obtained were used to develop a model for the course of technical wear of traditionally constructed buildings used within mining areas.
In the course of natural wear and tear buildings located in mining areas are additionally exposed to forced ground deformations. The increase of internal forces in structure components induced by those effects results in creating an additional stress factor and damage. The hairline cracks and cracks of building structure components take place when the intensity value of mining effects becomes higher than the component stress resistance and repeated effects result in the decrease of structure rigidity. The observations of building behaviour in mining areas show that the intensity of mining activity and the multiplicity of its effect play a substantial role in the course of technical wear of buildings. The studies show that the level of damage resulting from mining effects adds up to natural wear and tear of the building and impairs the global technical condition as compared to similar buildings used outside mining areas.
The present article attempts to discuss whether a medical conference poster intended for a specific English-speaking discourse community shares the properties of discourse colony (Hoey 1986). The author analyses 12 e-posters, which were displayed during an international neurological conference, presenting findings on epilepsy treatment. First, the author characterises the conference poster, which is followed by a description of discourse community and discourse colony. Next, the analysis of the e-posters is carried out and the results of the analysis are presented. On the basis of these results it might be said that the medical conference poster could be considered a discourse colony as it shares some of its properties.
The height of the fundamental frequency (F0) is frequently cited as the major acoustic feature that distinguishes the female voice from the male voice. Women tend to have a signifi cantly higher mean F0 than men. Some studies have indicated that the variability of the fundamental frequency also differs between the two genders and women’s voices may involve higher prosodic explicitness than men’s voices. This study investigates the way in which these features are utilised in rendering the voice of male and female characters in the reading aloud of fiction. To achieve this aim, a representative sample of dialogues selected from audiobooks was analysed acoustically. The results reveal that the reader’s F0 tends to slightly increase in fragments with female characters, but other predictions have not been confirmed. There is no decrease of F0 in dialogues with male characters and, in general, the reader’s variability of F0 seems not to be influenced by the character’s gender.
The radiation of sound waves from partially lined duct is treated by using the mode-matching method in conjunction with the Wiener-Hopf technique. The solution is obtained by modification of the Wiener-Hopf technique and involves an infinite series of unknowns which are determined from an infinite system of linear algebraic equations. Numerical solution of this system is obtained for various values of the problem parameters, whereby the effects of these parameters on the sound diffraction are studied. A perfect agreement is observed when the results of radiated field are compared numerically with a similar work existing in the literature.
This paper deals with the finite element analysis of the demagnetization process of the line start permanent magnet synchronous motor. Special attention has been paid to demagnetization risk assessment after resynchronization during a short-term supply power outage. The current and torque waveforms have been determined assuming the difference depending initial rotor position angle. It has been demonstrated that the highest demagnetization risk occurs when resynchronization (motor reclosing) is performed whe induced electromotive forces are in anti-phase to the supply voltage waveforms. The effect of cage winding resistance on the risk of demagnetization is examined and discussed.
Low manganese and sulfur gray irons were produced by adding inoculant base Fe-Si with small amounts of Al and Ca in the ladle. The effect of the cast thickness, inoculant amount and shakeout time of the green sand molds were studied on the graphite flake formation by microscopically techniques. A thermodynamic analysis was carried out for the cast iron produced with the FactSage 7.2 software. Stability phase diagrams were obtained for both gray cast irons to different manganese (0.1 to 0.9 wt.%) and sulfur (0.01 to 0.12 wt.%) amounts to 1150°C. It was shown that lower amounts of manganese and sulfur allow forming the 3Al2O3·2SiO2, Al2O3, and ZrO2 solid compounds. The thermodynamic results match with those obtained by SEM-EDS. It is possible to form MnS particles in the liquid phase when the solubility product (%Mn) × (%S) equals 0.042 and 0.039 for heats A and B, respectively.
New computational procedures developed within the framework of international research projects „Grispe” and „Grispe Plus” are briefly presented and characterised here. Considered algorithms pertain to the verification of bearing capacity and serviceability of selected bearing structure components erected with especially shaped thinwalled sheet metal panels. Structural components of this type are so far rather absent from the codes, and as a result the unequivocal design requirements have not been developed for them. Key problems related to the detailed analysis of the following element classes: steel decks with embossments, indentations and/or outwards stiffeners; liner trays; corrugated sheeting; curved profiles; cladding and roof profile assemblies; perforated and holed profiles; external interlocking planks and their assemblies are indicated in the text. The procedures formulated as a part of the projects indicated above have been delivered to CEN as an official proposal of amendments and/or additions submitted for introduction to the new generation of Eurocodes currently under preparation, and especially as an extension to the code EN 1993-1-3.