Exploration of a Reverse Turbo-Brayton Cryocooler for Carbon Neutral Aeronautical Applications: Integrated Cryocooler Design and Tank Modeling for Cryogenic Liquid Hydrogen in Long Range Flight

Climate change is a pressing issue. Hydrogen aircraft are an excellent alternative to current kerosene aircraft, and appear to be the most viable long-term solution for net-zero flight. One of the main challenges for hydrogen aircraft is to sustain a low boil-off rate. This research explores the solution of active cooling of the LH2 mixture in...

Lateral Response of Monopiles in Sand under Monotonic and Cyclic Loads: A 3D Finite Element Investigation

Large-diameter monopiles serve as foundations for offshore wind turbines (OWT), and the diameters are now up to 10 meters. These monopiles exhibit lower embedded length-to-diameter (L/D) ratios compared to the conventional monopile that is widely employed in offshore oil and gas platforms. They undergo rotation when subjected to lateral loading...

Structural Steel Joints with Bolts in Threaded Holes

The application of tubular columns in steel structures offers many advantages. However, this potential has not been fully utilized due to a lack of access for the installation of standard bolts in end-plate beam-to-column joints. Blind bolts are an alternative way of connecting the beam end-plate to hollow section column, for they can be...

Mechanical modelling of the axial behaviour of traditional masonry wall metal tie connections in cavity walls

The seismic assessment of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings with cavity walls is a relevant issue in many countries, such as in Central and Northern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China and several other countries. A cavity wall consists of two separate parallel masonry walls (called leaves) connected by metal ties: an inner loadbearing wall...

Experimental and FEM analysis of mar behavior on amorphous polymers

Mar is a type of subtle surface damage caused by a sliding object barely visible to human eyes. This minor damage phenomenon has rarely been systematically studied. Significant research efforts for the fundamental understanding of mar behavior in polymers are still needed. In this study, the mar behavior of a series of model amorphous...

Conceptual design of sustainable integrated microalgae biorefineries: Parametric analysis of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and techno-economics

This study covers four main aspects of the conceptual design of sustainable integrated microalgae-based biorefineries using flue gas from CO2-intensive industries (i.e. 100% CO2): i) screening of technologies (4 options for cultivation, 3 for culture dewatering, 3 for cell disruption, 4 for lipids extraction & purification, and 4 for...

Solar updraft tower - structural optimisation under dynamic wind action

As fossil fuel reserves are rapidly being depleted, sustainable alternatives have to be found to fulfil the world's energy demand. Numerous concepts have been proposed to generate electricity by harnessing renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power. One of these concepts is the the so-called solar updraft tower (SUT). The SUT consists...

Feasibility study on heavy-traffic fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bascule bridges

The material properties of fibre reinforced polymer composites fundamentally differ from construction steel, and therefore a different approach is required in the design of structures composed of this material. Simple substitution of steel elements by composite counterparts will inevitably result in inefficient structures. When the material’s...

Development of a Life Cycle Cost Model for Conventional and Unconventional Aircraft

Towards Zero Energy Office Modules through Parametric Analysis of Building Envelope Strategies: Recommendations for the Green Village

This report presents a parametrical study on different building envelope strategies and their influence on the operational energy of a commercial building model and more specifically of an office reference model designed for the Green Village Project. Simultaneously, a methodology is structured in order to optimize step by step the thermal...

2D Numerical Analysis of Settlement Damage to Buildings: Including a non-linear Masonry Model and Soil-structure Interface

The increased number of underground infrastructure projects asks for a reliable and efficient assessment of settlement damages to buildings. Currently a three-stage method is in use: the first stage looks into the greenfield deformations, the second stage is a linear elastic 2D method in which greenfield deformations are applied onto a building...