Journal of Architectural Engineering

Terrazzo installation is often perceived as an art, left to individual contractors and craftsmen to implement tried-and-true application and repair methods. In this context, architects and engineers often relegate themselves to a minimal supervisory role during construction and planning. The writers have found several recurring instances of terrazzo cracking problems during construction as well as deterioration that could be prevented or minimized with attention to the responsibilities of all parties to communicate throughout the design process. Causes are often related to shrinkage of terrazzo, concentrated stresses attributable to configuration of divider strips, and impact loads. To objectively minimize deterioration rates of terrazzo, an experimental program was initiated to evaluate performance. Testing consisted of compressive strength and linear shrinkage tests on cementitious terrazzo under varying curing conditions and a durability test that applied a cyclic gravity wheel load to gaps at the edge of terrazzo tiles. The latter test used metal wheels and considered parameters of material type, gap size between terrazzo edge and adjacent steel plate, wheel diameter, vertical offset of tile, and vertical load being applied. Results indicated that proper curing of cementitious terrazzo is critical to achieving compressive strength and minimizing early shrinkage. For the durability test performed, epoxy terrazzo exhibited significantly less deterioration. Durability of terrazzo is affected primarily by gap size, upward vertical offset, and weight applied. Small wheel size and direction of loading can also contribute to deterioration. It is important that architects, engineers, and contractors understand methods that ensure material properties, minimize stress concentrations, and use appropriate divider strip spacing to minimize deterioration attributable to cracking and impact load. These steps will ensure the visual appearance and durability expected by the project team.

The effect of blast loading on civilian structures has received much attention over the past several years. The behavior of architectural glazing is of particular interest owing to the disproportionate amount of damage often associated with the failure of this component in a blast situation. This paper presents the development of a simple yet accurate finite element-based tool for the analysis of architectural glazing subjected to blast loading. This has been achieved through the creation of a user-friendly computer program employing the explicit finite-element method to solve for the displacements and stresses in a pane of glass. Both monolithic and laminated panes have been considered, in single and insulated unit configurations, and employing several types of glass. In all cases, the pane of glass has been modeled as a plate supported by an array of boundary conditions that include spring supports, and two failure criteria are employed. Furthermore, the program is designed to predict the hazard level, given a particular glazing configuration and blast load.

Given the profound impact of the built environment on the resources of the earth, a growing number of institutions of higher education are preparing engineers to make sustainable design a standard in the construction industry. This paper looks at the diverse ways in which education in sustainable design can be integrated into engineering curricula using the architectural engineering (AE) program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) as a case study example. The UNL program is unique in that it prepares students for careers in sustainable development through a curriculum that promotes both traditional and hands-on, experiential learning. Through coursework, research, workshops, student competitions, and even interaction with the UNL engineering facility, students learn how to make our built environment more sustainable. A key facet of this program is to connect the institution with the local community and industry to give students an opportunity to apply skills learned in the classroom to real-world problems in professional settings. Hence, this “green” integration actually takes place on two levels, within the UNL curriculum itself and within the larger context of the community and industry. Together, academia, the industry, and the community are preparing engineers to help ensure a more sustainable future for our world.

Air pressure fluctuation behaviors in a high-rise building drainage system (HBDS) are presented by probability density functions and statistical analysis of measured data in the drainage stack in a real-life eighteen-floor building, the Li Ka-Shing (LKS), at PolyU of Hong Kong. Three observation points, at the mezzanine (M), 6th, and 12th floors, are arranged to record the air pressure in the primary building stack. The measured data are stored in a personal computer with a sampling period of 1 s. Statistical analysis revealed that there is an evident floor dependence of the air pressure in the real-life HBDS. The flatness factor of the pressure fluctuation increases with floor number, whereas the skewness factor has a reversed variation tendency; it decreases from a positive value in the M floor to negative values at higher floors. Probability density functions show the pressure fluctuation behaviors are far from normal distributions.