Journal: Engineering Heritage Journal (GWK)

This paper analyzes the amalgamation of two different urban forms in the context of twin cities and their conservation according to the contemporary approaches. Despite high interdependence and close connectedness of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as its twin city in Pakistan, their urban forms weave inverse physiognomies, which is vulnerable to amalgamate due to the conurbations process. Both city were conceptualized as “Dyna-metropolis” by Greek architect C.A Doxiadis based on ekistics determinant but deteriorated due to governance issues. The methodological approach for conservation outlines the criteria that protect the future controlled growth and quality to human life, which is not possible through a static form of the old city. Therefore, the adopted method examined Islamabad on two scales like micro (neighborhood-scale) and macro (city-scale) through analysing existing literatures, maps, photographs, case studies and questionnaires to identify the causes of diversion from original Ekistics variables such as modulus and dynapolis. This study argues that conservation is significant not only from the theoretical perspective but also because Islamabad is the first large-scale application of ekistics, designed as ‘city of future’. This study identified several challenges hindering urban development such as rapid urbanization, demand and supply gap of housing, Unaffordable land value, imbalance of ekistics elements and less mix use. The solutions are proposed through the revision of the ekistics logarithm scale for modulus and a new dimension to dynapolis. Finally, if the conservation method is not proposed at the right time, it will not only produce adverse effects on the physical morphology but also affects sensitivity to the science of human settlement.

In this paper, we propose a Hybrid Algorithm (HA) to solve the Fixed Charge Solid Location and Transportation problem (FCSLTP). The FCSLTP considers the cost of facility location and route fixed costs during transportation planning or load consolidation. The HA integrates two heuristics into the Genetic Algorithm framework to solve the FCSLTP. Genetic operations are used to select the best combination of facility locations while a greedy heuristic which uses some cost relaxations are used for the initial load allocation. An improvement heuristic, a modified stepping stone method, is then used to consolidate load allocations to realize further possible cost savings. Parameters used for the genetic operations were decided through preliminary studies. Computational studies using randomly generated data were performed to compare the HA solutions with the solutions obtained using CPLEX, a commercial solver. Performance comparison was done based on the quality of solution and computing time. The results suggest the solution approach is competitive.

In order to minimize the requirement of external power source and maintenance for electric devices such as wireless sensor networks, the energy harvesting technique based on vibrations has been a dynamic field of studying interest over past years. Researchers have concentrated on developing efficient energy harvesters by adopting new materials and optimizing the harvesting devices. One important limitation of existing energy harvesting techniques is that the power output performance is seriously subject to the resonant frequencies of ambient vibrations, which are often random and broadband. This paper reviews important vibration-to-electricity conversion mechanisms, including theory, modelling methods and the realizations of the piezoelectric, electromagnetic and electrostatic approaches. Different types of energy harvesters that have been designed with nonlinear characteristics are also reviewed. As one of important factors to estimate the power output performance, the energy conversion efficiency of different conversion mechanisms is also summarized. Finally, the challenging issues based on the existing methods and future requirement of energy harvesting are also discussed.

Solar energy has been one of the most explored sources of renewable due to its economical source of energy. However, the main barrier for solar energy generation is the present of dust particles on the panel surface that decreases its performance. Hence, persistent monitoring on dust accumulation is of importance to guarantee the optimum power is achieved. Thus, this research aims to develop the real-time dust monitoring system of the solar panel. A dust sensor with IoT will be developed for this purpose. The reading of dust accumulation will be recorded and is accessible online through smartphones or desktop.

Road development projects are important as they provide economical, political and social benefits but delays can occur. EIA is conducted for every project as required by the Environmental Protection Act of 1997 and the Environmental Policy of Pakistan for the purpose of ensuring mitigation of environmental impacts due to project activities. The Kashmir Underpass project in Faisalabad is assigned to FDA, for the purpose of satisfying growing need of traffic load due to population increase in surrounding areas in newly developed societies. This research examines the different factors of project affecting the environment. Questionnaire approach was utilized to gain insights of environmental impacts due to the project. Results showed that 93% of respondents didn’t knew about EIA and why it is necessary. Respondents were facing impacts from dust particles, noise, traffic, business loss etc. These impacts were analyzed and guidelines were developed for EIA of Kashmir Underpass Project.

In this paper, an earthen dam is analysed using different soil layers having different soil properties and dimensions. Normally a slope fail when the shear strength reduces from the minimum required value which keeps it stable. Internal erosion is the main cause which causes a dam to fail and it is mainly due seepage with time. A detail analysis of a predefined dam slope is performed in different layers to check the seepage variation as well as the factor of safety. Different soil layers and properties were used such that it is investigated from a fail condition to a complete stable condition. Limit equilibrium and finite element approaches are used. Correlations for factor of safety between these two approaches are also developed. These correlations and results could be used as guidelines in any dam or slope safety calculation.

Differential equations have a remarkable potential to exhibit real life phenomenon. Many methods have been developed to solve these differential equations, though only a few stands with time. This paper presents a comparison of Pseudo Spectral Galerkin Method for solving ordinary differential equations with many other global methods. Results shows the high accuracy and rapid convergence of said method. Graphical comparison and error tables have been provided for better understanding of results.

Seismic analysis of soil slopes is required to get safe value for slope design. Especially in earthquake zones. Normally a variation in factor of safety values is observed in normal analysis of a slope where seismic coefficients are kept zero as compare to seismic analysis where seismic coefficients are considered in the analysis. In this research, seismic horizontal coefficients are used to find the factors of safety. Correlations are developed between factor of safety values and seismic coefficients. The correlation can be used to find the factor of safety in any slope stability project for a homogenous slope. The outcome of this work are the correlations. These correlations can be used to find the factor of safety values considering horizontal seismic coefficient, vertical seismic coefficient and both.

Rainfall is the vital ingredient and factor of soil nourishment on which crops are grown. The basic agricultural practices all over the world depend on rainfed cultivation for their sustainable development. This study focus on the rainfall trend between 2010 -2018 as it affects crop production in Keffi Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The time series analysis was conducted by using appropriate techniques of data collection and analysis. The linear integration model, quadratic trend model, growth curve model and regression analysis was applied to show the correlation between the rainfall and crop production in the study area. It was discovered that the period of rainy months have high correction and significantly fitted the model which indication high crop yields per harvest.

The roughness elements are efficient tools to control the features of the hydraulic jump in the rectangular stilling basins. The present study suggests the use of modified elements to control the features of the free jump. The proposed tool is an incomplete circular pile. The use of piles in a one row with the different setup has been investigated. The measurements showed that the case of piles with the comparative summation areas A/∆=6.72 and the comparative distances between piles X/H1 =0.0 reduced the comparative height and length of the free jump by 11% and 24.6%, respectively. The paper detected the necessary helpful statistical formulas for the phenomenon.