bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validation of a methodology for reconstituting weakly cemented sandstones
Authors: Coelho P.A.L.F.  , Marques V.D.  , Andrade P.S.  , Cunha P.P.
Published: February 2025

One of the limitations to the study of natural materials is the difficulty to obtain similar samples. The reconstitution of samples is a process used to solve this problem, its applicability to sandstones being discussed in this work. The reconstitution methods presented here, using material obtained exclusively by the disaggregation of a natural sandstone, seek to reproduce the geological phenomenon that led to the formation of the sandstone under study, which integrates the Silves Group. After describing the two procedures used to reconstitute the samples in the laboratory, the behaviour of natural and reconstituted sandstone specimens is compared. The results allow the evaluation of the capability to reproduce and characterize in laboratory samples of weakly cemented sandstones and contribute to improve our understanding of this important geological formation as well as others with similar characteristics.
An investigation of the long-term engineering response of intact chalk
Authors: Stone K.J.L.  , Katsaros K.I.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents the results of an experimental test programme to evaluate the long-term engineering response of water saturated intact homogeneous samples of high porosity Seaford Chalk. The influence of the in situ stress path was investigated by replicating idealised stress states adjacent to an underground excavation. Extensional tests were performed using modified triaxial cells. Axial and radial strains were recorded continuously over the duration of the tests. From the results of the test programme, the response of chalk was both qualitatively and quantitatively assessed. A conceptual micro-mechanical model was developed to illustrate the complex mechanism of dilation and creep.
Rock mass characterization for tunnels in limestone in Copenhagen and Malmö area
Authors: Foged N.  , Stabell S.  , Foged B.
Published: February 2025

Rock mass classification in limestone in Denmark and Scania are described in relation to tunnelling underneath Copenhagen and Malmö. Recent developments using face logs and optical and acoustic televiewer borehole logging (OATV) in order to cope for core sample disturbance from drilling and huge variations in induration and fissuring are discussed with reference to new tunnels in the area.
Specific features of weak rock laboratory testing
Authors: Frankovská J.  , Durmeková T.
Published: February 2025

The paper deals with laboratory testing of weak rocks. Circumstances influencing the laboratory research, quantity and quality of obtaining geotechnical characteristics are specified as well. For many lithological types of weak rock it is impossible to specify in advance the total range of properties which can be obtained by the laboratory research. Generally, the laboratory investigation begins by sampling and preparing the testing specimens. The choice of the test methods for determination of the geotechnical properties depends on the ability to prepare regular (prismatic or cylindrical shapes) or irregular specimens and on the stability in contact with water. The necessity of individual approach when determining geotechnical characteristics of weak rocks is documented on the example of Neogene siltstones from the territory of Slovakia that have been suggested as a host rock environment for the perspective deep geological repository of the high-level radioactive waste. They represent rock material with uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) about 30 MPa that is unstable in water. General chart for the identification of ambiguous rocks is presented in the paper. The Point load test was evaluated as suitable tests for identification and characterization of this rock type. The correlation of the Point load test index (Is50) with the UCS was analysed to propose appropriate Is50to UCS conversion factor for weak rocks.
Some basic trends on the geotechnical characteristics of Lisbon Miocene clays
Authors: Lopes Laranjo M.  , Matos Fernandes M.  , Almeida e Sousa J.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a collection of data obtained at different locations concerning Miocene clays, which form a significant part of Lisbon subsoil. The data includes both laboratory and in situ tests, namely: mineralogical characterization; determination of index properties; grain size distribution; natural water content and Atterberg limits; uniaxial compression tests; triaxial compression tests; SPT and cross-hole seismic tests. The characterization of a particular site concerning Miocene clays and including both laboratory and in situ tests is presented. The amount of information is very significant allowing for the establishment of some basic trends on the geotechnical characteristics of these soils.
Geotechnical experiences with Most clay
Authors: Vaníček I.
Published: February 2025

Large area of the north part of the Czech Republic is covered by Most clays, tertiary over consolidated fissured clays, stiff to hard consistency, thickness of which is up to 400 m. Very often this clay overlays brown coal seams. Geotechnical problems are not only connected with material properties in situ but also after the excavation and re-deposition. Therefore the clay properties as a function of depth will be described in more detail as well as the problems of stability of high excavation slopes or the settlement of structures situated on this material. Special attention is devoted to the changes of properties after excavation and also to the changes after re-deposition, as the amount of excavated material is extremely high, part of the material is deposited in the form of outer spoil heaps and limited part is used for other purposes. Therefore the problems of spoil heaps deformation and stability will be mentioned together with problem of utilization of surface of spoil heaps for new construction as well as the utilization of this material as construction material even for geo environmental earth structures.
Development of an instrumented subassembly for energy measurements in SPT tests
Authors: Lukiantchuki J.A.  , de Oliveira L.P.R.  , Esquivel E.R.
Published: February 2025

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is a test which provides assessment of soil properties and foundation design parameters. The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is the in-situ soil characterization test, which is most widely used in the Americas. The NSPTindex depends not only on the soil properties and on the SPT sampler characteristics, but also on the energy delivered to SPT sampler during the hammer impact. The amount of energy that is transferred to the sampler depends on many factors, including the test equipment characteristics, soil conditions, and procedures followed during the test. For this reason, different NSPTindex values can be obtained for the same soil. Thus the NSPTindex should be normalized to a standard energy level that is equivalent to 60% of the nominal SPT hammer energy. Thus, it is of great importance to evaluate the actual energy input. The aim of this work is to show a suitable instrumented subassembly developed to assess the amount of energy that is effectively delivered to the sampler during a hammer impact. Results of SPT tests, conducted at the Experimental Research Site of the University of Sao Paulo (USP), showed the suitability of the instrumented subassembly to measure the amount of the energy that reaches the sampler, for the particular conditions. However, it should be verified if these conclusions are valid for tests performed in other situations involving the use of different types of hammer, different soil conditions and different instrumented subassembly positions.
Cemented soil modelling based on the principles of thermodynamics and the Critical State theory
Authors: Tamagnini R.  , Mavroulidou M.  , Gunn M.J.
Published: February 2025

Starting from the principles of thermodynamics, a constitutive model of the Modified Cam Clay (MCC) type was developed to simulate the behaviour of saturated cemented soils. The model describes the processes of cementation / destructuration and the exchange of mass between the granular skeleton and the bonding material. Hardening depends on the cementing material mass, which constitutes the only new parameter of the model. The use of the model to simulate triaxial testing results without recourse to finite element analysis or the full formalisation of elastoplasticity is also demonstrated. The model was implemented in Abaqus/Standard and validated against experimental results for a hard soil and a soft rock available in the literature.
Structure and collapsibility of loess soils in middle Asia
Authors: Meier C.  , Boley C.  , Zou Y.
Published: February 2025

The loess in north Afghanistan behaves very hard in dry season. In rainy season, loess becomes saturated and in consequence relatively soft. Under external loads, even under the gravity load the loess subsoil wetted throughout presents very large collapse settlements, which damage the buildings upon the subsoil. To investigate the physical and mechanical properties of the loess in north Afghanistan and furthermore to avoid the damages to buildings due to the collapse settlements, undisturbed loess samples in different depths in north Afghanistan were obtained for laboratory investigations. The aim of the study is to develop a new design method which enables the estimation of prospective settlement of a collapse prone loess soil.
Foundation of a heavy loaded stockyard on problematic subsoil: experience and two years of measurements
Authors: Alexiew D.  , Moormann C.  , Glockner A.
Published: February 2025

At the seashore of Brazil ThyssenKrupp CSA built in 2006 - 2009 a steel plant including a 380.000 m2stockyard for raw materials comprising stockpile beds and runways for stacker/reclaimers similar to the heavy excavators in open mining. The lowland area consists of saturated soft soils of low bearing capacity. Both the stability and serviceability of stockpile beds and runways had to be ensured. The optimized solution employs full area basal high-strength geosynthetic reinforcements combined in the coal/coke zone with geotextile encased columns below the runways and with strip drains below the beds. During construction measurement programs were performed on test embankments. Measurement programs are installed also for the operation stage. They serve to decide about the allowable height of stockpiles because of the insufficient subsoil consolidation below the beds on strip drains at the start of operation. This is a specific case of application of the observational method in Eurocode 7. After a short overview the paper focuses on the measurement programs and experience gained. So far they confirm the suitability of the solutions and methods applied.
Long-term settlement observations of a bridge foundation on clay of very high plasticity
Authors: Okkels N.  , Bødker L.  , Knudsen B.
Published: February 2025

Four bridge piers, all of which are resting on preconsolidated clay of very high plasticity, have, since erection, had a measured settlement of between 0.25m and 0.65m. This paper presents the settlement observations carried out over a period of more than 75 years. The settlements progress in a nearly linear manner when plotted against log time. Together with the observed fast progress of the settlement, considering the extremely small permeability of the clay, this strongly suggests that primary consolidation cannot be the primary cause of the observed settlements. Therefore, other causes must be found to explain the observed behaviour. Some form of creep seems obvious. Perspective calculations strongly suggest that the observed behaviour is primarily caused by plastic deformation, developed as a result of applied loads approaching the bearing capacity of the clay (too little safety against bearing capacity failure). The piers with the smallest bearing capacity reserve have the greatest settlements, and the slope of the seabed plays a crucial role.
Approach for a deep construction pit and a piled-raft foundation in urban environment
Authors: Meissner S.  , Quick H.  , Michael J.  , Arslan U.
Published: February 2025

The foundation system for the high-rise building TOWER185 is an excellent example to show the specific considerations undertaken to design the building pit and the piled-raft foundation. On the basis of experiences made during the past 20 years in the design, the construction and the back-analysis of the load-settlement behaviour of numerous high-rise buildings in Frankfurt and consequently the well known soil and groundwater conditions, a realistic soil-structure-interaction-behavior in combination with numerical methods could be applied to design an optimized foundation system for the TOWER185. Since the center of area does not correspond to the center of mass certain considerations had to be taken into account in order to reduce the tilting of the tower and to guarantee the serviceability.
Numerical simulation of wave propagation in soil media
Authors: Edip K.  , Garevski M.  , Sesov V.  , Butenweg C.
Published: February 2025

The propagation of waves in soil media is an important phenomenon in the field of dynamics of soils. Continuum models represent the soil deformation by field equations. In order to investigate the dynamic behavior of soil media, one-dimensional wave propagation is a common benchmark case, which has been analytically solved by other authors and is used as a verification example for linear material model of the proposed approach. In order to simulate the transmitting boundaries absorbing infinite elements are developed and implemented in the numerical analysis. The numerical modeling of the problem is performed by the general finite element software ANSYS, using the user programmable features (UPF) and developed modules for modeling of soil behavior. In order to reflect the propagation of waves numerical analysis is done by extensive parametric study using the infinite elements. The obtained results emphasise some key issues regarding the soil deformation during the wave propagation.
FE analyses of rocking stiffness for the Troll A platform
Authors: Skau K.S.
Published: February 2025

The paper presents the evaluation of the rocking stiffness of the Troll A platform related to the re-design for larger top side weight of the Troll A platform. Finite element analyses (FEA) were carried out with the ABAQUS program to simulate the foundation stiffness, involved several challenging numerical and geotechnical aspects. The Troll A platform geometry and the surrounding soil were modeled in 3D and the analyses gave important and reliable results. The paper shows the effect of Soil-Structure Interaction and the importance of the structural stiffness in calculations of foundation stiffness.
Investigation of liquefaction potential of sands from the location of the hydropower plant Brežice
Authors: Smolar J.  , Maček M.
Published: February 2025

Construction of hydropower plant Brežice is planned in the chain of hydropower plants on the river Sava. In the foundation ground of HPP Brežice there is a 1–5 m thick layer of fine-grained silty sand, which is difficult to compact and which could be susceptible to liquefaction. Due to lack of suitable fill material the suitability of this sand as fill material is studied. Liquefaction phenomenon is typical for loose saturated fine-grained cohesionless sands. These soils are susceptible to compaction under dynamic load, e.g. earthquake. In the first stage the compaction results in the increase of pore water pressure and consequently the loss of shear strength. The “in situ” and laboratory tests were performed to study of the properties and behavior of sands. Influences of different parameters like void ratio and cyclic stress ratio on the liquefaction of the abovementioned soil were checked in controlled conditions in the cyclic simple shear apparatus. The variation of void ratio was introduced due to ground improvement works foreseen to be performed under dikes. The suitability of the silty sands as fill material in dikes is analyzed by the results of the same tests. The paper presents the comparison of the results of the laboratory tests, the “in situ” investigations and the results on reference material.
Tide induced piping risk assessed by transient groundwater flow
Authors: Sanders M.P.M.  , Van der Schrier J.S.
Published: February 2025

Dutch dike and levee design codes provide a solid framework for the design of dikes and levees. One of the failure modes that have to be considered by these codes is ‘piping’. In the Netherlands, piping is usually checked under the assumption of stationary flow boundary conditions. Piping risk is assessed from the critical hydraulic gradient, using empirical relationships accounting for soil type, layering and particle size. The paper presents a case history of a dike design in a tidal environment. The tidal effects on the groundwater heads are assessed by transient groundwater flow analysis. The case concerns the design against piping through an overflow dike, which is part of a flood storage area. The area is located along the River Dijle between Antwerp and Mechelen (Belgium). The critical heads for the check of the piping risk were assessed by Plaxflow, a finite element code that is capable of carrying out transient groundwater flow analyses as well as steady state ones. In the analysis presented herein, the normal ground water fluctuations, which are strongly affected by tide, have firstly been modelled with Plaxflow as a calibration exercise. Once this had been done, the critical gradients were assessed under design conditions. The benefit of using a transient flow analysis for the verification of piping will be demonstrated in the paper. Based on the calculation results it could be demonstrated that in contrary to the stationary flow analysis no mitigating piping measures were required.
Emissions testing of Gas-to-Liquid kerosene blends
Authors: Snijders Tim A.  , Melkert Joris A.
Published: February 2025

The search for alternative fuels has lead to a number of possibilities. The most promising alternative fuels for the short term are drop-in fuels such as synthetic fuel and hydrotreated renewable jet. These fuels are similar to Jet A-1 but some differences are present. Synthetic fuels are produced using a process that results in a fuel without trace elements and almost no aromatics. Furthermore, synthetic fuels have a higher energetic content and lower gravimetric density than Jet A-1. These differences cause several effects when considering the use of synthetic fuel in aircraft. A performance model is used to show that the payload-range performance is changed and that an efficiency gain is achieved on the fuel consumption for a regular flight. Measurement of the soot emissions for several blends of synthetic fuel with Jet A-1 show that increasing the amount of synthetic fuel leads to significant reductions in soot emissions. Reductions of 50 to 70% in particle mass emitted can be reached by using 50% synthetic fuel. This might reduce the amount of contrails and aircraft induced cirrus clouds and seriously increase local air quality around airports.
A methodical approach to assess the aircraft life cycle
Authors: Franz K.  , Hoernschemeyer R.  , Große Boeckmann M.  , Schmitt R.  , Pollmanns J.  , Feldhusen J.  , Bueker K.  , Reichmuth J.  , Petzoldt K.  , Sauter T.  , Schneider C.  , Ewert A.  , Fromhold-Eisebith M.
Published: February 2025

For a comprehensive assessment of new aircraft designs and technologies the whole aircraft life cycle has to be considered. Therefore, not only economic but also environmental impacts must be taken into account due to increasing ecological awareness of politics, companies and society. This paper presents an interdisciplinary methodical approach towards describing and evaluating the costs as well as the ecological and socio-economic effects in the course of the whole life cycle of an aircraft. In this context an aircraft is described by the top-level aircraft requirements, and design and process specifications. The life cycle is split up into four phases: design and development, production, operations, and recycling and disposal. For each of these phases methods are developed that aim at determining its financial, ecological and social impact on the aircraft life cycle, and finally are integrated into one platform.
Facilitating the Future: On the Development of a Multimodal Choice Model to Estimate the Demand for PAT in Europe
Authors: Geudens Jef E.  , van der Zwan Frank M.
Published: February 2025

A Generalized Cost model is developed to forecast the demand for Personal Air Transport in Europe. Other transport modes that are taken into account are the car, high-speed railway and scheduled airlines. The model is able to take forecast the demand between 212 NUTS-2 regions of 15 EU countries that together are responsible for 80% of the current general aviation traffic. Three scenarios were evaluated. For a conservative scenario the model predicts an annual demand of 235,075 passengers. For the base case scenario an annual demand is estimated of 873,918 passengers. For the optimistic scenario, the model estimates a demand of 12,522,308 passengers.
Influence of Soil Properties Variability on the Prediction of Settlements
Authors: Modoni G.  , Russo G.  , Spacagna R.L.  , Croce P.
Published: February 2025

The evaluation of soil stress-strain properties is one of the major causes of uncertainty in the prediction of settlements. In fact, even when soil is tested with the most advanced experimental techniques and simulations are performed with the most realistic models, there is still a large degree of uncertainty due to the variability of soil properties. Objective of the present study is to evaluate the influence of this factor on the prediction of embankment settlements starting from the analysis of a case study. To this aim of the construction of an embankment on a soft alluvial deposit is reported in detail. The available information includes a large number of in situ and laboratory tests, a comprehensive description of the embankment growth with time and of the settlements monitored during and after construction. The subsoil homogeneity has been initially assessed with the results of several cone penetration tests performed on the whole project area. The non linear stress-strain response of the foundation soil has been simulated with an elasto-plastic hardening model calibrated by FEM simulations of oedometer and triaxial tests. The variability of constitutive parameters has been evaluated with a statistical inference of all available results. Its influence on the predictions of settlements has been calculated with the Monte Carlo technique, i.e. by performing repetitive calculations of the embankment response with a FEM code where variable constitutive parameters have been assigned. A comparison with the results of monitoring is finally presented to assess reliability of predictions.
Identification of constitutive parameters with field performance data
Authors: Richard Finno J.
Published: February 2025

Predicting behavior of soil in the field in response to construction activities and natural events is the reason why so much effort in the past 50 years has been put into developing constitutive models. It is the field responses of soils that are of interest to geotechnical practitioners, and this aspect of the problem has not received nearly enough attention. There are many logical reasons for this, e.g., the need for establishing behavior under well-defined boundary conditions, the difficulty of obtaining high quality samples, the effects of sample disturbance, the effort required to obtain field performance data of sufficient quality and quantity such that it can be correlated with a causative construction activity, to name a few. The author and his colleagues have collected detailed field performance data from a number of supported excavations in the Chicago area and have correlated the responses with construction activities. As part of the effort, block samples have been cut as the excavations have proceeded. Detailed laboratory evaluations of the stress-strain strength responses have been conducted on specimens from these blocks and from thin-wall tube samples. Inverse analyses have been conducted on results of finite element simulations of the excavations using the field observations as a basis of comparison so that best fit parameters for several constitutive models were determined based on the field data. This paper summarizes the techniques used and describes the lessons learned from this effort. Comments are made regarding applicability of laboratory data, the relation between the capabilities of the constitutive model and selection of observations for inverse analyses and numerical modeling.
On the control systems and instrumentation required to investigate the anisotropy of stiff clays and mudrocks through Hollow Cylinder Tests
Authors: Minh N.A.  , Nishimura S.  , Takahashi A.  , Jardine R.J.
Published: February 2025

This paper outlines the loading, control and instrumentation systems of two Hollow Cylinder Apparatus' used at Imperial College in recent research into the potentially strong anisotropy of brittle stiff clays and mudrocks. The HCAs can apply a wide range of stress paths and modes of shearing allowing the direction of the major principal stress axis, α (or that of the principal stress increment, αdσ) and the α2parameter, b = (α2-α3)/(α1-α3) to be controlled independently. The paper describes how representative intact HCA specimens were formed from rotary cores and block samples and reports on the steps taken to minimize stress-strain non-uniformity and specimen set-up disturbance set up. While the characterization of anisotropic shear strength is reported elsewhere, it is shown how non-linear and anisotropic mudrock stiffness was characterized and improved simple shear tests conducted.
Practical methods to estimate the non-linear shear stiffness of fine grained soils
Authors: Vardanega P.J.  , Bolton M.D.
Published: February 2025

The use of databases in geotechnical engineering allows engineers to make a priori estimates of soil behaviour. Based on a study of the published literature, a database of 20 clays and silts is presented that allows predictions to be made of the strain-dependent stiffness of fine-grained soils, based on simple soil parameters. The significance of rate effects is discussed and corrections are made. The use of a reference strain γrefto normalize shear strain values γ in relation to modulus reduction G/G0is discussed. Empirical formulations are presented based on a rigorous regression analysis, and design charts are constructed.
Discrete element modelling of a two-dimensional stress-controlled cubical cell apparatus
Authors: O'Donovan John  , O'Sullivan Catherine  , Marketos George
Published: February 2025

This paper describes Discrete Element Method simulations of tests in a cubical cell apparatus that were carried out to improve understanding of particle-scale mechanisms and the effects of the boundaries on the observed behaviour. The method for simulating the flexible boundaries of the cubical cell apparatus in a two-dimensional DEM model is presented. The numerical model is then subjected to stress-controlled deformation in both the x- and y-directions. Different methods of strain measurement in DEM are explored using the results of one of the stress-controlled deformations. Finally, the micromechanics of the sample are examined in detail and results are shown for local strain and fabric evolution as the deformation in one direction progresses.
Experimental study on the unconfined compression strength of cemented soil contaminated by industrial wastewater
Authors: Dong Xiao-Qiang  , Bai Xiao-Hong  , Park Jun-Boum  , Lv Yong-Kang
Published: February 2025

Contamination can change the physical properties of soil, reduce the strength of cemented soil foundation, and then induce the instability or disruption of buildings. This study explored the relationships among the age, electrical resistivity, unconfined compression strength, contamination of wastewater concentration. Firstly, we mixed the silty clay with industrial wastewater of three different concentrations to form the contaminated soil. Then, mixed the contaminated soil with ordinary portland cement to form the cemented soil blocks. Finally, measured the unconfined compression strength and electrical resistivity of these blocks. The results show that the unconfined compression strength and electrical resistivity increase linearly with the increase of the logarithm of age, and decrease exponentially with the increase of wastewater concentration. The unconfined compression strength of cemented soil has a linear relationship with its resistivity. The industrial wastewater concentration and age can be used to predict the unconfined compression strength of cemented soil.The predict values correlate well with the experimental values.
Change of matric suction under undrained condition in relatively low matric suction ranges
Authors: Nishimura T  , Koseki J
Published: February 2025

Several different types of soils in nature are more commonly found in a state of unsaturated condition, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Also, expansive soils, collapsible soils, residual soils and compacted soils are conventionally categorized as problematic soils. These problematic soils are frequently in a state of unsaturated condition. The influence of suction is generally ignored in conventional geotechnical engineering which adopts the conservative assumption that the soils are in a state of saturated condition. The matric suction is closely related to shear properties of unsaturated soils. The shear strength of unsaturated soils was formulated in terms of two independent stress variables (i.e. net normal stress and matric suction) (Fredlund et al. (1978)). The direct shear apparatus was developed for pressure membrane technique instead of pressure plate technique. This study presents shear properties under constant volume direct shearing for an unsaturated silty soil having a low matric suction.
Toward Extracting Information from Public Health Statutes using Text Classification Machine Learning
Authors: Grabmair Matthias  , Ashley Kevin D.  , Hwa Rebecca  , Sweeney Patricia M.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents preliminary results in extracting semantic information from US state public health legislative provisions using natural language processing techniques and machine learning classifiers. Challenges in the density and distribution of the data as well as the structure of the prediction task are described. Decision tree models trained on a unigram representation with TFIDF measures in most cases outperform the baselines by varying margins, leaving room for further improvement.
European Case Law Identifier: Indispensable Asset for Legal Information Retrieval
Authors: Van Opijnen Marc
Published: February 2025

This paper sets the attention on the recent initiative of the EU Council of Ministers inviting the introduction of the European Case law identifier (ECLI) and a minimum set of uniform metadata for case law, as an indispensable asset for legal information retrieval. After considering public access to case law in general, the paper discusses the need for a European system for the identification of judicial decisions and the rationale behind the basic components of the chosen solution. Features, benefits and future applications of ECLI are outlined together with the need for national implementation of such standard.
Bioinformatics: Biomarkers of early detection
Authors: Crichton Daniel J.  , Mattmann Chris A.  , Thornquist Mark  , Anton Kristen  , Hughes J. Steven
Published: February 2025

Capturing, sharing, and publishing cancer biomarker research data are all fundamental challenges of enabling new opportunities to research and understand scientific data. Informatics experts from the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) have pioneered a principled informatics infrastructure to capture and disseminate data from biomarker validation studies, in effect, providing a national-scale, real-world successful example of how to address these challenges. EDRN is a distributed, collaborative network and it requires its infrastructure to support research across cancer research institutions and across their individual laboratories. The EDRN informatics infrastructure is also referred to as the EDRN Knowledge Environment, or EKE. EKE connects information about biomarkers, studies, specimens and resulting scientific data, allowing users to search, download and compare each of these disparate sources of cancer research information. EKE's data is enriched by providing annotations that describe the research results (biomarkers, protocols, studies) and that link the research results to the captured information within EDRN (raw instrument datasets, specimens, etc.). In addition EKE provides external links to public resources related to the research results and captured data. EKE has leveraged and reused data management software technologies originally developed for planetary and earth science research results and has infused those capabilities into biomarker research. This paper will describe the EDRN Knowledge Environment, its deployment to the EDRN enterprise, and how a number of these challenges have been addressed through the capture and curation of biomarker data results.
The Evolution of the Digital Divide
Authors: van Dijk Jan A.G.M.
Published: February 2025

The digital divide can be understood as inequalities in four successive types of access: motivation, physical access, digital skills and different usage. It is claimed that the divide has shifted from the first to the last-called types of access in the last ten years. The current, mainly European situation of all four access types is amply described. This is done against the explanatory background of resources and appropriation theory, a materialist and relational theory that emphasizes positions and relations instead of individual attributes. The effects of unequal access on unequal participation in society are summarized.
Engineering Invention in Glass Architecture
Authors: Macfarlane Tim
Published: February 2025

The introduction of new structural configurations within the field of glass engineering is the topic of this address. The generation of these design ideas and the process by which they are realized is particular to the production of architecture and although there is considerable cross fertilization with the world of product design there are some fundamental differences in the two processes that highlight in what circumstances architectural invention can best thrive.
Experimental Investigation of Unconventional Canopy Prototypes, Suspended by Adhesive Bonds
Authors: Belis Jan  , Van Hulle Arno  , Callewaert Dieter  , Dispersyn Jonas  , Out Bas
Published: February 2025

In this contribution the performance of an adhesively bonded glass to metal connection with a carefully selected epoxy adhesive is investigated experimentally. Deliberately pushing the limits of conventional safety concepts for the sake of the experiment, laminated glass canopies were suspended on stainless steel local point-fixings, adhesively bonded to the upper glass sheet only. Subsequently, the suspended system was subjected to a ball-drop test, a uniform load and a hammer impact. Different glass types and canopy arrangements have been tested in this way. Depending on the design parameters, several compositions demonstrated surprisingly good residual structural safety: even after 24 hours of full loading in broken conditions, the heat-strengthened canopy configurations did not collapse.
Improvement of Quality of Tempered Glass with Numerical Modeling
Authors: Aronen Antti  , Karvinen Reijo
Published: February 2025

Thin glass has increased problems in a tempering process. Thinner glass needs a higher temperature and higher heat transfer coefficient to get tempered glass. At the same time, bending stiffness of glass plate decreases and the possibility of faults in visual quality increases. Numerical modeling is needed to understand how different tempering parameters and support of glass affect tempering and visual quality. In the paper, the reasons for higher temperature and higher heat transfer coefficients for thin glass are shown. The traditional way of supporting glass with rollers is studied and the effect of different parameters on deformations is shown.
The Glass Screens of the Japan Post Tower
Authors: Blandini Lucio  , Sobek Werner
Published: February 2025

The Japan Post Tower is a 200 m tall building, rising on the site of the former Tokyo Central Post Office in the Marunouchi business district, Tokyo. The complex, designed by Helmut Jahn, integrates in the base area the restored historic façade of the old Post Office. On the north side, the façade of the highrise is characterized by three asymmetrical folds and by four glass screens framing the unitized glass façade. Such screens have to reach a high degree of transparency, while still being able to withstand tornados (up to 8.5 kN/m2) and high earthquake loads (up to 1.2 g).
Design of Arches Strengthened with Cables for Glass Roofs
Authors: Kamerling Wim
Published: February 2025

Arches are structurally very efficient. Nevertheless the dimensions of an arch can be reduced further by strengthening with cables. For arches of glass the efficiency of strengthened arches will be showed. To prevent the cables to be subjected to compression it is advisable to post-tension the cables. This paper focuses on the design and structural analysis of arches composed of glass elements, strengthened with post-tensioned cables to support transparent roofs.
Anchoring Triangular Glass Panels to Prevent Collapse
Authors: Dodd Graham  , Reed Leroy
Published: February 2025

Where frameless glass supports people, the greatest design challenge is to prevent the panel becoming detached from its supports if it gets broken. The cladding below a foot bridge in Manchester has to be crawled upon for cleaning, and the narrow triangular panels are only supported at their corners. A novel method of anchoring the panels to their supports was devised, using loops of wire rope laminated around the edges. The preparation of the glass and the technique of vacuum bag laminating with ionomer interlayer were keys to success in testing and manufacture.
Curved Glass in Four-Point Bending
Authors: Weller Bernhard  , Engelmann Michael  , Krampe Philipp  , Reich Stefan
Published: February 2025

The European Standard EN 1288-3 regulates the four-point bending test for flat glass in order to receive strength data. No testing code for determining material properties of curved glass exists today. Therefore, the knowledge from flat glass testing might be transferred to curved glass in order to reduce the testing complexity. An adaption of the experimental set-up is possible and creates reproducible results. Those can be used to create a finite element model for further analysis. In conclusion it is possible to determine a simplified connection between load and maximum tensile stress using newly defined correlation factors in the style of EN 1288-3. By means of these factors strength testing of bent glass can be performed according to the standard without applying strain gauges.
Special Glazing
Authors: Eckhardt Christian
Published: February 2025

Transparency is something like nothing. Transparency gives the impression of lightness and liberty. Reflections and lense effects play with the transparency. In different examples we want to give ideas what can be done with special effects. In some cases you want to make aware the transparency, in some cases the glazing should not catch someone's eyes. Often the mix of both represents the tension architects want to show.
Architectural Aspect of Structural Design of Glass Façades / Glass Skin Applications
Authors: Krstic-Furundzic Aleksandra  , Kosic Tatjana  , Terzovic Jefto
Published: February 2025

The objective of the work is to study the different solutions of the design and construction of structural glass facades. In the paper different forms, assembling and connection types of structural glass facades are discussed. On the basis of analyses of the geometry of different shapes, position of facade surface, structural facade functions and supporting system, the general classification of form types is given. According to number of layers, a ventilation and connection option, the clear idea of the assembling types is achieved. Based on form types, structural system concept and stability is analyzed. The diversity of combinations of structural glass components is the potential for different options of facade transparency and building appearance.
Cones Made of Glass
Authors: Neugebauer Juergen
Published: February 2025

A recently finished and very interesting project is the new entrance of the museum quarter ‘Joanneumsviertel’ in the center of Graz in Austria. The complex of the museum's buildings consists of two wings of the existing structure. For the connection of those old parts of the museum the architects designed the new entrance with two basement levels between them. The architectural challenge of this project was to bring daylight into these two lower floors. The concept of the architects was to let natural daylight flow in via vertical funnels in the form of small round courtyards with a diameter of up to approx. 16 m into the basement. Laminated and insulated glass was used for the cladding of these conically-shaped funnels.
Behaviour of Electrochromic Glass in the Mediterranean Area
Authors: Loddo Gianraffaele  , Ludoni Daniela  , Pittaluga Marco  , Cossu Gian Piero
Published: February 2025

For several years, our university research group is interested in innovative materials in the field of energy saving, with particular attention in transparent building components, regarding, specifically, the use of electrochromic glass (EC). The high sunshine that characterizes the climate of the Mediterranean regions makes this technology particularly interesting in relation to indoor comfort, energy saving and consequently the environmental respect. Currently no specific studies, full scale, have been set for testing and evaluation of the EC in this very challenging. Our research group built, for this purpose, two identical test rooms. In the first room we implemented low-emission glass and in the second one EC glass. Indoor and external comparative measurements have performed and recorded. In this paper we present in detail the results of this experiment and the conclusions for the tested January period.
Inauguration Speech by Eva Piera
Authors: Piera Eva
Published: February 2025

Madrid: a regional actor of the European Aeronautics Community.
TIMECOP-AE: Towards Innovative Methods for Combustion Predictions in Aero-Engines
Authors: Lederlin Thomas
Published: February 2025

The aim of the FP6 TIMECOP-AE project (2006–2010) was to improve the necessary combustion prediction methods that enable the development of practical advanced combustion systems for future engines, with reduced emission levels and fuel consumption. Predictive tools are required to be able to reduce NOx emissions, to decrease the development time and costs of new combustion systems and to improve the operability of lean-burn combustion systems. Most promising approaches to satisfy future emission levels regulations are based on lean combustion technology. However, lean combustion compromises combustor operability, including ignition, altitude re-light, pull-away, weak extinction performance and thermo-acoustic instability behaviour. Therefore it is of prime importance to evaluate the behaviour of the flame during these transient phases in the design stage and modelling tools are required. Without these tools the development of advanced combustion systems relies on many costly and time consuming rig tests. The high-fidelity simulations proposed in TIMECOP-AE are therefore a way to increase our competitiveness.
Speech by Johann-Dietrich Wörner, DLR
Authors: Wörner Johann-Dietrich
Published: February 2025

The European challenges for aerospace are: global leadership and attention for societal needs; world class capabilities and facilities in research, test and validation as well as in education; clusters and networks; technological basis for European products; European and national programmes in competition and cooperation. To achieve these goals it is necessary to jointly define European research and innovation strategies by all stakeholders and to implement them in a coordinated way covering the entire innovation chain from basic research via technology development up to demonstration. A network of multi-disciplinary technology clusters should be created based on collaboration between industry, universities and research institutes. The DLR and DLR@UNI can be seen as a prototype of a new generation of links for research.
Towards the More Electrical Aircraft
Authors: Foch Etienne
Published: February 2025

Taking benefits from breakthroughs in the rapidly-expanding power electronics market, the European Aerospace Industry developed a full suite of more electronic technologies, for a More Electrical Aircraft. Tests at vendor and air-framer facilities demonstrated that the fully-integrated system worked and performed as intended. Major test objectives were successfully passed. Conceptual design studies concluded that the concept may readily deliver aircraft benefits in terms of maintenance, operational, flexibility and technology growth potential. Furthermore, as more electrical technology is friendlier for the environment, the “MOET” (More Open Electrical Technology) concept appears as a key enabler for future aviation development, and as in other industry sectors, it is step by step becoming the new standard for onboard aircraft systems.
“Tangible Culture” – Designing Virtual Exhibitions on Multi-Touch Devices
Authors: Hecher M.  , Möstl R.  , Eggeling E.  , Derler C.  , Fellner D.W.
Published: February 2025

Cultural heritage institutions such as galleries, museums and libraries increasingly use digital media to present artifacts to their audience and enable them to immerse themselves in a cultural virtual world. With the application eXhibition: editor3D museum curators and editors have a software tool at hand to interactively plan and visualize exhibitions. In this paper we present an extension to the application that enhances the workflow when designing exhibitions. By introducing multi-touch technology to the graphical user interfaces the designing phase of an exhibition is efficiently simplified, especially for non-technical users. Furthermore, multi-touch technology offers a novel way of collaborative work to be integrated into a decision making process. A flexible export system allows to store created exhibitions in various formats to display them on websites, mobile devices or custom viewers. E.g. the widespread 3D scene standard Extensible 3D (X3D) is one of the export formats and we use it to directly incorporate a realtime preview of the exhibition in the authoring process. The combination of the tangible user interfaces with the realtime preview gives curators and exhibition planers a capable tool for efficiently presenting cultural heritage in electronic media.
A decision network for inspections in organic farms in Italy
Authors: Gambelli Danilo  , Zanoli Raffaele  , Solfanelli Francesco
Published: February 2025

Inspections in organic farming systems are the key tool to assure reliability of the organic business and detection of non-compliant operators. Supporting control bodies in the inspection procedure can increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the sector. Here we propose a decision support system for inspections based on Bayesian networks. Our model is based on statistical information taken from the archives of main Italian control body, and considers decision strategies according to the maximization of expected utility based on risk minimization.