The output can be converted to time and length (in mm say) using the rulers to get a scale (mm per pixel say) and the frame rate of the video. The ‘redness’ of the liquid is the key here: the video is split into RGB and the red channel isolated and converted to black and white once a filter is applied. This image is then scrubbed to get rid of any objects smaller than a threshold size, leaving only the liquid of the column. The image is then split in two at the centre of the bounding box to analyze each column separately. Since a black and white image is represented by a matrix of 1 and 0s, summing the columns of the matrix (ie the vertical direction) gives the column height in pixels. A few other adjustments are needed, but that’s the basic idea.

Candidates interested in pursuing PhD research in Bridge Loading: statistics and dynamics should send a CV to info@colincaprani.com (484 hits).

Candidates interested in self-funding research to MSc level are also invited to send their CVs.

Again, some motivation is given in the chart below, and in this post (197 hits).

(183 hits)

Prospective students can review the projects that are availabel to do research on, and subsequently make an application for funding to carry out that project. Potential supervisors typically assist the candidate closely, as it is in our interests to do so (more research students = more publications etc).

I will have three project proposals on display (described below), and anyone interested should contact either myself or the Head of Research for the Faculty of Engineering (Marek Rebow (67 hits)). The available positions will be advertised until the end of April, and filled by June 2009. The typical student profile required for these projects is also given below (see this post (197 hits) for the benfits of doing a postgraduate degree).

The three proposals are as follows.

A Statistical Crowd-Footbridge Dynamic Interaction Model

Pedestrian bridges have become longer and lighter in recent years, leading to reported incidents of such footbridges, most notably the London Millennium Bridge, undergoing excessive vibrations and discomfort for the bridge users. Most footbridge load models do not consider any interaction between the pedestrian and moving structure. However, this interaction is critical to the forces exerted on the bridge and thus the bridge response. Recent work by this research group has developed a novel technique for the modelling of vertical crowd-footbridge interaction. Further, the group has also performed testing of the Sean O’Casey Footbridge in Dublin, when subjected to crowd loading.

The load models currently used represent deterministic views of the crowd properties. This is at odds with the underlying variability of the people, and their individual responses to bridge vibration. This project will calibrate the new crowd load model based on recent testing. The model will then be extended to include the variability of the people comprising the crowd. Using a Monte Carlo approach, a statistical representation of footbridge behaviour will then be determined. This approach will allow a more realistic design, rather than a worst-case-scenario inefficient design.

This project is a unique collaboration between the Dublin Institute of Technology (45 hits), Athlone Institute of Technology (43 hits) and University College Dublin (46 hits) and maximizes the expertise of each institution. It is interdisciplinary and will be readily applied to practical problems in industry.

Principal Supervisor: Dr Colin Caprani, Dept. of Civil/Structural Engineering, DIT Bolton St.
Co-Supervisor: Dr Paul Archbold (65 hits), Civil, Construction and Mineral Engineering, Athlone Institute of Technology.
Advisory Supervisor: Dr Paul Fanning (54 hits), School of Architecture, Landscape and Civil Engineering, University College Dublin.

(57 hits)

Millenium Footbridge London, suffered lateral vibration problems

The Governing Form of Traffic for Highway Bridge Loading

Highway infrastructure is subject to degradation over the course of its design life, just as its traffic and freight volumes increase year on year. Consequently, there is a substantial cost to society of maintaining such infrastructure. Whilst the strength of existing infrastructure can be assessed with reasonable accuracy, loading cannot be. Since the EU spends over €6 billion annually on bridge rehabilitation, there is the potential for large savings to be made through more accurate estimation of bridge loading.

This work will build on the existing methods in the area to significantly increase the accuracy with which bridge loading can be assessed. To further the state of the art it is proposed to adopt micro-simulation traffic models generally used to predict traffic flow in cities, around proposed developments and other such applications. Critically, congested and free-flowing traffic can occur naturally within this modelling framework. This means that both congested and free-flowing loading scenarios are accounted for; something not previously done for bridge loading. The result of this increase in accuracy of load estimation will be a reduction in the replacement and rehabilitation requirements for infrastructure. Consequent savings across Europe are thereby potentially billions of euro annually.

Principal Supervisor: Dr Colin Caprani, Dept. of Civil/Structural Engineering, DIT Bolton St.
Advisory Supervisor: Prof. Eugene OBrien, School of Architecture, Landscape and Civil Engineering, University College Dublin.

(47 hits)

Current state of the art

Stochastic Analysis of Residential Energy Balances and Economic Performances

Ireland is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2020. Residential energy consumption accounts for one quarter of national emissions. Therefore significant reductions must be made from existing housing. One major policy option is the widespread introduction of renewable energy systems (RES) which generate heat and power.

The uptake of RES technologies is inhibited because existing energy assessment tools do not allow occupants or designers to accurately assess the performance of RES in individual dwellings. Instead, they use aggregated deterministic models of RES technologies and demand. This also hinders policymakers since there is not sufficient information to target initiatives at particular domestic subsectors.

This research will build stochastic energy balance and economic performance models for RES and demand patterns. Demand and supply profiles with limited data will be statistically characterized and used, together with energy balance models, to derive probability distributions of key dependent variables allowing RES better appraisal and informing policymakers.

The work builds on the Dublin Energy Laboratory’s Energy Policy in Domestic Dwellings project (Stand III), EFONET (FP7), and other research projects. It is interdisciplinary, industry-focused and will help the participants to develop the academic track record in Energy research to apply for large-scale research funding.

Principal Supervisor: Dr Colin Caprani, Dept. of Civil/Structural Engineering, DIT Bolton St.
Co-Supervisor: Dr Aidan Duffy (58 hits), Dept. of Civil/Structural Engineering, DIT Bolton St.

(69 hits)

Residential PV System

Student Profile

The student to be recruited will have received a First Class Honours Degree in Civil/Structural Engineering or a related field. Candidates with a high Second Class Honours Degree may also be considered. Candidates are expected to have a skill set appropriate and readily applicable to the problem. In particular, candidates should be proficient at numerical computation and have a working knowledge of basic statistics. Personally, the candidate will have demonstrated a commitment to engineering excellence, initiative and an ability to work alone, and a keen desire to solve complex problems.

(59 hits)

Other aspects of research-based postgraduate study are:

• Postgraduate study is not at all like undergraduate study: you have an office (shared), a computer, usually no classes (though Ireland is moving towards the American model where classes complementary to your research area can be attended – a very positive thing), and you are the boss of your own time (save for meetings etc). It is so much more than a continuation of undergraduate study – just ask your nearest postgrad!
• In most cases postgraduate students have their fees covered and are paid a modest stipend, around €14,000 to €18,000 per year.
• Specializing in an area that you are interested in is extremely rewarding, leading to much higher levels of career satisfaction and a better life-work balance (because doing something you’re interested in just doesn’t feel like work!).

Please check back for more information, as we (in DIT civil/structural engineering) may arrange for some talks on doing postgraduate study, as well as make you aware of the areas of interest that are available to research in.

Immediate Irish Funding

If you are interested in pursuing graduate research in civil/structural engineering in September 2009 you can apply for funding from the Irish Research Council for Science Engineering & Technology (IRCSET) (69 hits) through their Embark Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme. You will need to identify an area of research interest and liaise with your potential supervisor in advance of making the application. The application process opens on 21 January 2009 and closes on 25 February 2009

Please note that applicants for postgraduate funding will be expected to have an excellent academic record and be on course to achieve a First Class Honours, or very high 2:1 degree award.

Bridge Traffic Loading

If you are interested in researching the area of bridge traffic loading, please email me to express your interest and progress the necessary funding applications. Have a browse in the publications (63 hits) section on the site to see the type of research that I carry out. Don’t worry if it is a lot to take in initially, just understand the broad thrust of our goals.

Links of Interest

• Ireland: Postgraduate Income Prospect (68 hits)
• UK: How do postgraduate and graduate earnings compare (66 hits)
• United States: Are Masters Degrees Worth Millions? (74 hits)
• Australia: Postgraduate Statistics Show Higher Earnings, More Jobs (64 hits)

The paper titled Determination of bridge lifetime dynamic amplification factor using finite element analysis of critical loading scenarios will appear in the September 2008 edition of Engineering Structures (49 hits). This journal has an impact factor of 0.986 for 2007.

This paper outlines the simulations behind the dynamic interaction model which was used in the bivariate extreme value work, detailed here (43 hits).

The full reference for this paper is:

Gonzalez, A., Rattigan, P., OBrien, E.J. and Caprani, C.C. (2008), ‘Determination of bridge lifetime dynamic amplification factor using finite element analysis of critical loading scenarios’, Engineering Structures, 30(9), September, pp. 2330-2337. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2008.01.017 (297 hits).

Even though it’s been a long wait, Structural Safety is a well-reputed journal with an impact factor of 1.25 (2006) which is high for a civil-engineering journal. The journal home is here (27 hits). The paper is available here, but may require a purchase if you don’t have an institutional login:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.strusafe.2006.11.006 (216 hits)

(33 hits)

The abstract for the paper is:

In recent years, highway bridge load assessment has been recognised as an area through which savings can be made by avoiding unnecessary bridge refurbishment and replacement. Load effects in bridges result from single truck crossings or multiple-truck presence events which are, statistically, not identically distributed. Conventional approaches fit statistical distributions to mixtures of non-identically distributed load effects. Inaccuracies in the conventional approach are identified and an alternative approach is developed to find the characteristic load effects. Theoretical and field data are used to show the potential implications of conventional techniques and to demonstrate the application of the new approach.

… Huygens’ [...] many discoveries included a principle of wave motion, which to this day is called Huygens’ principle. He could not have known that the antennas of the radio stations tracking man’s first flight to the moon would be calculated on the basis of that principle; any more than Apollonius of Perga, in the 3rd century B.C., could have known that the family of circles he discovered would one day be the equipotentials of two parallel, cylindrical, electrical conductors. These are but two of hundreds of examples that one might quote in answer to the question what good comes from exploring the moon or studying non-Euclidean geometry. The question is often asked by people who count cents instead of dollars and dollars instead of satisfaction. Of late, this question is also being asked by the intellectual cripples who drivel about “too much technology”, because technology has wounded them with the ultimate insult: they can’t understand it anymore. Some Victorian lady asked Michael Faraday this question about his discovery of electromagnetic induction, and he answered: “Madam, what is the use of a newborn baby?”.

Circles of Apollonius

The abstract is here, which gives a brief outline whilst a little more information on the particular aspects of the problem are outlined here.

Probabilistic Analysis of Highway Bridge Traffic Loading

and generally does exactly what it says on the tin. I carried out he work under the supervision of Prof. Eugene O’Brien (35 hits) at University College Dublin (46 hits), and I was examined by Prof. Enrique Castillo (38 hits) of the Cantabria University in Spain.

I’d appreciate any comments on the work, and any typos – there’s bound to be some. Thanks.