Designs

Design Optimization in Civil and Architectural Engineering

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Aziz Ahmed

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Guest Editor

School of Civil, Mining, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
Interests: structural optimization; additive manufacturing; cold-formed steel structures; structural dynamics; ice-structure interaction; fracture mechanics; structural steel connections; high-rise reinforced concrete structures; earthquake engineering; FRP based structural retrofit

Dr. Khondaker Sakil Ahmed

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Interests: finite element analysis; structural analysis and design; structural dynamics; mechanics of materials; seismic design of buildings and bridges; computational mechanics; continuum mechanics; analytical methods; artificial intelligence (AI) based design; machine learning; high-rise buildings; concrete design; steel structures; recycled materials; construction materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Design optimization concepts underpin most of our research. One inherent motivation of good research is to attempt to achieve more with less. With the advent of novel tools such as software enabling parametric design and machine learning algorithms, research on design optimization has seen an accelerated uptake. Researchers from diverse fields within civil and architectural engineering have utilized various methods and tools for design optimization. For example, biomimicry can offer valuable insights into the structural design optimization techniques that nature perfected over millions of years. Structural shape optimization is a special field within the design optimization domain of research. Sustainability is another critical driver behind design optimization research. Recently, reliability-based design optimization is also gaining momentum. This approach attempts to combine the reliability theory and optimization to minimize the structural cost or to enhance other performance factors related to uncertainty variables.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform to showcase various advances in innovative design optimization-related research from the wider civil and architectural engineering community. Manuscripts of original research, case studies, and literature reviews on the broader themes highlighted in the keywords below are highly encouraged.

Dr. Aziz Ahmed
Dr. Khondaker Sakil Ahmed
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Designs is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

methods and tools that facilitate design optimization
parametric design and structural optimization
biomimicry-based design optimization
structural shape optimization
design optimization in architectural engineering
design optimization in additive manufacturing
sustainability-focused design optimization
reliability-based design optimization
educational case studies with students and/or industry
industrial applications and case studies

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 5719 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pavement Analysis with the Consideration of Unbound Granular Material Nonlinearity

by Konstantinos Gkyrtis

Designs 2023, 7(6), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/designs7060142 - 15 Dec 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1394

Abstract

Accurate pavement design and evaluation requires the execution of response analysis. Pavement materials’ behavior does not necessarily conform to the assumptions of the multi-linear elastic theory usually adopted during pavement analysis. In particular, the unbound granular materials located in the base and sub-base layers behave in a nonlinear elastic manner, which can be captured through advanced constitutive modeling of their resilient modulus. The finite element method enables us to code constitutive models and quantify potential variations in pavement responses because of different mechanistic assumptions. In this study, variations in response are investigated for a typical structure of a flexible pavement considering the nonlinear anisotropic behavior of the unbound materials together with their initial stress–strain state. To demonstrate the impact of their behavior on the outcome of pavement analysis, variable asphalt concrete layer thicknesses and moduli are assumed, such that they cover a large spectrum of roadways. It was found that pavement responses can be calculated up to 3.5 times higher than those retrieved from the conventional linear analysis. This comparison means that the alterative mechanistic modeling of the unbound granular materials can be proved to be more conservative (i.e., leading to higher strains) in terms of pavement design and analysis. From a practical perspective, this study alerts pavement scientists and engineers engaged in pavement design to a more reliable performance prediction, which is needed to bridge the gap between advanced modeling and routine analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design Optimization in Civil and Architectural Engineering)

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Review

Jump to: Research

38 pages, 7673 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of Recent Improvements, Developments, and Effects of Using Phase-Change Materials in Buildings to Store Thermal Energy

by Farhan Lafta Rashid, Mudhar A. Al-Obaidi, Anmar Dulaimi, Deyaa M. N. Mahmood and Kamaruzzaman Sopian

Designs 2023, 7(4), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/designs7040090 - 5 Jul 2023

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2566

Abstract

When it comes to guaranteeing appropriate performance for buildings in terms of energy efficiency, the building envelope is a crucial component that must be presented. When a substance goes through a phase transition and either gives out or absorbs an amount of energy to provide useful heat or cooling, it is called a phase-change material, or PCM for short. Transitions often take place between the matter’s solid and liquid states. Buildings use PCMs for a variety of purposes, including thermal comfort, energy conservation, managing the temperature of building materials, reducing cooling/heating loads, efficiency, and thermal load shifting. Improved solutions are applied using new method and approach investigations. Undoubtedly, researching and applying PCM use in building applications can help create buildings that are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, while also increasing thermal comfort and consuming less energy. It provides a possible answer to the problems posed by climate change, rising energy demand in the built environment, and energy use optimisation. However, it is true that no particular research has yet been conducted to thoroughly analyse the linked PCM applications in the building industry. Thus, the principal tactics are addressed in this paper to determine current and efficient methods for employing PCMs in buildings to store thermal energy. By gathering around 50 instances from the open literature, this study conducts a thorough assessment of the up-to-date studies between 2016 and 2023 that used PCMs as thermal energy storage in building applications. As a result, this review aims to critically evaluate the PCM integration in buildings for thermal energy storage, identify a number of issues that require more research, and draw some important conclusions from the body of literature. Specifically, the building envelope roof and external wall uses of PCMs are highlighted in this research. Applications, general and desired characteristics, and PCM types and their thermal behaviour are described. In comparison to a traditional heat storage tank that simply contains water, this review indicates that a water storage tank containing 15% PCM improves heat storage by 70%. Also, less than 7 °C of internal air temperature was reduced by the PCMs in the walls, which avoided summer warming. Finally, using PCM for space cooling resulted in substantial energy savings across the various seasons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design Optimization in Civil and Architectural Engineering)

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