@article{RossiWinandsButenweg2022, author = {Rossi, Leonardo and Winands, Mark H. M. and Butenweg, Christoph}, title = {Monte Carlo Tree Search as an intelligent search tool in structural design problems}, series = {Engineering with Computers : An International Journal for Simulation-Based Engineering}, volume = {38}, journal = {Engineering with Computers : An International Journal for Simulation-Based Engineering}, number = {4}, editor = {Zhang, Jessica}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {Cham}, issn = {1435-5663}, doi = {10.1007/s00366-021-01338-2}, pages = {3219 -- 3236}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) is a search technique that in the last decade emerged as a major breakthrough for Artificial Intelligence applications regarding board- and video-games. In 2016, AlphaGo, an MCTS-based software agent, outperformed the human world champion of the board game Go. This game was for long considered almost infeasible for machines, due to its immense search space and the need for a long-term strategy. Since this historical success, MCTS is considered as an effective new approach for many other scientific and technical problems. Interestingly, civil structural engineering, as a discipline, offers many tasks whose solution may benefit from intelligent search and in particular from adopting MCTS as a search tool. In this work, we show how MCTS can be adapted to search for suitable solutions of a structural engineering design problem. The problem consists of choosing the load-bearing elements in a reference reinforced concrete structure, so to achieve a set of specific dynamic characteristics. In the paper, we report the results obtained by applying both a plain and a hybrid version of single-agent MCTS. The hybrid approach consists of an integration of both MCTS and classic Genetic Algorithm (GA), the latter also serving as a term of comparison for the results. The study's outcomes may open new perspectives for the adoption of MCTS as a design tool for civil engineers.}, language = {en} } @article{HoffmannUhlCeblinetal.2022, author = {Hoffmann, Andreas and Uhl, Matthias and Ceblin, Maximilian and Rohrbach, Felix and Bansmann, Joachim and Mallah, Marcel and Heuermann, Holger and Jacob, Timo and Kuehne, Alexander J.C.}, title = {Atmospheric pressure plasma-jet treatment of PAN-nonwovens—carbonization of nanofiber electrodes}, series = {C - Journal of Carbon Research}, volume = {8}, journal = {C - Journal of Carbon Research}, number = {3}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2311-5629}, doi = {10.3390/c8030033}, pages = {8 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Carbon nanofibers are produced from dielectric polymer precursors such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Carbonized nanofiber nonwovens show high surface area and good electrical conductivity, rendering these fiber materials interesting for application as electrodes in batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors. However, thermal processing is slow and costly, which is why new processing techniques have been explored for carbon fiber tows. Alternatives for the conversion of PAN-precursors into carbon fiber nonwovens are scarce. Here, we utilize an atmospheric pressure plasma jet to conduct carbonization of stabilized PAN nanofiber nonwovens. We explore the influence of various processing parameters on the conductivity and degree of carbonization of the converted nanofiber material. The precursor fibers are converted by plasma-jet treatment to carbon fiber nonwovens within seconds, by which they develop a rough surface making subsequent surface activation processes obsolete. The resulting carbon nanofiber nonwovens are applied as supercapacitor electrodes and examined by cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy. Nonwovens that are carbonized within 60 s show capacitances of up to 5 F g⁻¹.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MilijašŠakićMarinkovićetal.2022, author = {Milijaš, Aleksa and Šakić, Bogdan and Marinković, Marko and Butenweg, Christoph and Gams, Matija and Klinkel, Sven}, title = {Effects of prior in-plane damage on out-of-plane response of masonry infills with openings}, series = {The Third European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology}, booktitle = {The Third European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology}, editor = {Arion, Cristian and Scupin, Alexandra and Ţigănescu, Alexandru}, isbn = {978-973-100-533-1}, pages = {2747 -- 2756}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Masonry infill walls are the most traditional enclosure system that is still widely used in RC frame buildings all over the world, particularly in seismic active regions. Although infill walls are usually neglected in seismic design, during an earthquake event they are subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane forces that can act separately or simultaneously. Since observations of damage to buildings after recent earthquakes showed detrimental effects of in-plane and out-of-plane load interaction on infill walls, the number of studies that focus on influence of in-plane damage on out-of-plane response has significantly increased. However, most of the xperimental campaigns have considered only solid infills and there is a lack of combined in-plane and out-of-plane experimental tests on masonry infills with openings, although windows and doors strongly affect seismic performance. In this paper, two types of experimental tests on infills with window openings are presented. The first is a pure out-of-plane test and the second one is a sequential in-plane and out-of-plane test aimed at investigating the effects of existing in-plane damage on outof-plane response. Additionally, findings from two tests with similar load procedure that were carried out on fully infilled RC frames in the scope of the same project are used for comparison. Test results clearly show that window opening increased vulnerability of infills to combined seismic actions and that prevention of damage in infills with openings is of the utmost importance for seismic safety.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GedleSchmitzGielenetal.2022, author = {Gedle, Yibekal and Schmitz, Mark and Gielen, Hans and Schmitz, Pascal and Herrmann, Ulf and Teixeira Boura, Cristiano Jos{\´e} and Mahdi, Zahra and Chico Caminos, Ricardo Alexander and Dersch, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Analysis of an integrated CSP-PV hybrid power plant}, series = {SOLARPACES 2020}, booktitle = {SOLARPACES 2020}, number = {2445 / 1}, publisher = {AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville, NY}, isbn = {978-0-7354-4195-8}, issn = {1551-7616 (online)}, doi = {10.1063/5.0086236}, pages = {9 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In the past, CSP and PV have been seen as competing technologies. Despite massive reductions in the electricity generation costs of CSP plants, PV power generation is - at least during sunshine hours - significantly cheaper. If electricity is required not only during the daytime, but around the clock, CSP with its inherent thermal energy storage gets an advantage in terms of LEC. There are a few examples of projects in which CSP plants and PV plants have been co-located, meaning that they feed into the same grid connection point and ideally optimize their operation strategy to yield an overall benefit. In the past eight years, TSK Flagsol has developed a plant concept, which merges both solar technologies into one highly Integrated CSP-PV-Hybrid (ICPH) power plant. Here, unlike in simply co-located concepts, as analyzed e.g. in [1] - [4], excess PV power that would have to be dumped is used in electric molten salt heaters to increase the storage temperature, improving storage and conversion efficiency. The authors demonstrate the electricity cost sensitivity to subsystem sizing for various market scenarios, and compare the resulting optimized ICPH plants with co-located hybrid plants. Independent of the three feed-in tariffs that have been assumed, the ICPH plant shows an electricity cost advantage of almost 20\% while maintaining a high degree of flexibility in power dispatch as it is characteristic for CSP power plants. As all components of such an innovative concept are well proven, the system is ready for commercial market implementation. A first project is already contracted and in early engineering execution.}, language = {en} } @article{ValeroBungErpicumetal.2022, author = {Valero, Daniel and Bung, Daniel Bernhard and Erpicum, Sebastien and Peltier, Yann and Dewals, Benjamin}, title = {Unsteady shallow meandering flows in rectangular reservoirs: a modal analysis of URANS modelling}, series = {Journal of Hydro-environment Research}, journal = {Journal of Hydro-environment Research}, number = {In Press}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {1570-6443}, doi = {10.1016/j.jher.2022.03.002}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Shallow flows are common in natural and human-made environments. Even for simple rectangular shallow reservoirs, recent laboratory experiments show that the developing flow fields are particularly complex, involving large-scale turbulent structures. For specific combinations of reservoir size and hydraulic conditions, a meandering jet can be observed. While some aspects of this pseudo-2D flow pattern can be reproduced using a 2D numerical model, new 3D simulations, based on the unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations, show consistent advantages as presented herein. A Proper Orthogonal Decomposition was used to characterize the four most energetic modes of the meandering jet at the free surface level, allowing comparison against experimental data and 2D (depth-averaged) numerical results. Three different isotropic eddy viscosity models (RNG k-ε, k-ε, k-ω) were tested. The 3D models accurately predicted the frequency of the modes, whereas the amplitudes of the modes and associated energy were damped for the friction-dominant cases and augmented for non-frictional ones. The performance of the three turbulence models remained essentially similar, with slightly better predictions by RNG k-ε model in the case with the highest Reynolds number. Finally, the Q-criterion was used to identify vortices and study their dynamics, assisting on the identification of the differences between: i) the three-dimensional phenomenon (here reproduced), ii) its two-dimensional footprint in the free surface (experimental observations) and iii) the depth-averaged case (represented by 2D models).}, language = {en} } @article{AkimbekovDigelTastambeketal.2022, author = {Akimbekov, Nuraly S. and Digel, Ilya and Tastambek, Kuanysh T. and Marat, Adel K. and Turaliyeva, Moldir A. and Kaiyrmanova, Gulzhan K.}, title = {Biotechnology of Microorganisms from Coal Environments: From Environmental Remediation to Energy Production}, series = {Biology}, volume = {11}, journal = {Biology}, number = {9}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2079-7737}, doi = {10.3390/biology11091306}, pages = {47 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {It was generally believed that coal sources are not favorable as live-in habitats for microorganisms due to their recalcitrant chemical nature and negligible decomposition. However, accumulating evidence has revealed the presence of diverse microbial groups in coal environments and their significant metabolic role in coal biogeochemical dynamics and ecosystem functioning. The high oxygen content, organic fractions, and lignin-like structures of lower-rank coals may provide effective means for microbial attack, still representing a greatly unexplored frontier in microbiology. Coal degradation/conversion technology by native bacterial and fungal species has great potential in agricultural development, chemical industry production, and environmental rehabilitation. Furthermore, native microalgal species can offer a sustainable energy source and an excellent bioremediation strategy applicable to coal spill/seam waters. Additionally, the measures of the fate of the microbial community would serve as an indicator of restoration progress on post-coal-mining sites. This review puts forward a comprehensive vision of coal biodegradation and bioprocessing by microorganisms native to coal environments for determining their biotechnological potential and possible applications.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NiederwestbergSchneiderTeixeiraBouraetal.2022, author = {Niederwestberg, Stefan and Schneider, Falko and Teixeira Boura, Cristiano Jos{\´e} and Herrmann, Ulf}, title = {Introduction to a direct irradiated transparent tube particle receiver}, series = {SOLARPACES 2020}, booktitle = {SOLARPACES 2020}, number = {2445 / 1}, publisher = {AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville, NY}, isbn = {978-0-7354-4195-8}, issn = {1551-7616 (online)}, doi = {10.1063/5.0086735}, pages = {9 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {New materials often lead to innovations and advantages in technical applications. This also applies to the particle receiver proposed in this work that deploys high-temperature and scratch resistant transparent ceramics. With this receiver design, particles are heated through direct-contact concentrated solar irradiance while flowing downwards through tubular transparent ceramics from top to bottom. In this paper, the developed particle receiver as well as advantages and disadvantages are described. Investigations on the particle heat-up characteristics from solar irradiance were carried out with DEM simulations which indicate that particle temperatures can reach up to 1200 K. Additionally, a simulation model was set up for investigating the dynamic behavior. A test receiver at laboratory scale has been designed and is currently being built. In upcoming tests, the receiver test rig will be used to validate the simulation results. The design and the measurement equipment is described in this work.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{RigaPitilakisButenwegetal.2022, author = {Riga, Evi and Pitilakis, Kyriazis and Butenweg, Christoph and Apostolaki, Stefania and Karatzetzou, Anna}, title = {Investigating the impact of the new European Seismic Hazard Model ESHM20 on the seismic design and safety control of industrial facilities}, series = {The Third European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology}, booktitle = {The Third European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology}, editor = {Arion, Cristian and Scupin, Alexandra and Ţigănescu, Alexandru}, isbn = {978-973-100-533-1}, pages = {3261 -- 3270}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The seismic performance and safety of major European industrial facilities has a global interest for Europe, its citizens and economy. A potential major disaster at an industrial site could affect several countries, probably far beyond the country where it is located. However, the seismic design and safety assessment of these facilities is practically based on national, often outdated seismic hazard assessment studies, due to many reasons, including the absence of a reliable, commonly developed seismic hazard model for whole Europe. This important gap is no more existing, as the 2020 European Seismic Hazard Model ESHM20 was released in December 2021. In this paper we investigate the expected impact of the adoption of ESHM20 on the seismic demand for industrial facilities, through the comparison of the ESHM20 probabilistic hazard at the sites where industrial facilities are located with the respective national and European regulations. The goal of this preliminary work in the framework of Working Group 13 of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering (EAEE), is to identify potential inadequacies in the design and safety control of existing industrial facilities and to highlight the expected impact of the adoption of the new European Seismic Hazard Model on the design of new industrial facilities and the safety assessment of existing ones.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{PuetzBaierBrauneretal.2022, author = {P{\"u}tz, Sebastian and Baier, Ralph and Brauner, Philipp and Brillowski, Florian and Dammers, Hannah and Liehner, Luca and Mertens, Alexander and Rodemann, Niklas and Schneider, Sebastian and Schollemann, Alexander and Steuer-Dankert, Linda and Vervier, Luisa and Gries, Thomas and Leicht-Scholten, Carmen and Nagel, Saskia K. and Piller, Frank T. and Schuh, G{\"u}nther and Ziefle, Martina and Nitsch, Verena}, title = {An interdisciplinary view on humane interfaces for digital shadows in the internet of production}, series = {2022 15th International Conference on Human System Interaction (HSI)}, booktitle = {2022 15th International Conference on Human System Interaction (HSI)}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {978-1-6654-6823-7 (Print)}, issn = {2158-2246 (Print)}, doi = {10.1109/HSI55341.2022.9869467}, pages = {8 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Digital shadows play a central role for the next generation industrial internet, also known as Internet of Production (IoP). However, prior research has not considered systematically how human actors interact with digital shadows, shaping their potential for success. To address this research gap, we assembled an interdisciplinary team of authors from diverse areas of human-centered research to propose and discuss design and research recommendations for the implementation of industrial user interfaces for digital shadows, as they are currently conceptualized for the IoP. Based on the four use cases of decision support systems, knowledge sharing in global production networks, human-robot collaboration, and monitoring employee workload, we derive recommendations for interface design and enhancing workers' capabilities. This analysis is extended by introducing requirements from the higher-level perspectives of governance and organization.}, language = {en} } @article{CheenakulaHoffstadtKrafftetal.2022, author = {Cheenakula, Dheeraja and Hoffstadt, Kevin and Krafft, Simone and Reinecke, Diana and Klose, Holger and Kuperjans, Isabel and Gr{\"o}mping, Markus}, title = {Anaerobic digestion of algal-bacterial biomass of an Algal Turf Scrubber system}, series = {Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery}, volume = {13}, journal = {Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2190-6823}, doi = {10.1007/s13399-022-03236-z}, pages = {15 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {This study investigated the anaerobic digestion of an algal-bacterial biofilm grown in artificial wastewater in an Algal Turf Scrubber (ATS). The ATS system was located in a greenhouse (50°54′19ʺN, 6°24′55ʺE, Germany) and was exposed to seasonal conditions during the experiment period. The methane (CH4) potential of untreated algal-bacterial biofilm (UAB) and thermally pretreated biofilm (PAB) using different microbial inocula was determined by anaerobic batch fermentation. Methane productivity of UAB differed significantly between microbial inocula of digested wastepaper, a mixture of manure and maize silage, anaerobic sewage sludge, and percolated green waste. UAB using sewage sludge as inoculum showed the highest methane productivity. The share of methane in biogas was dependent on inoculum. Using PAB, a strong positive impact on methane productivity was identified for the digested wastepaper (116.4\%) and a mixture of manure and maize silage (107.4\%) inocula. By contrast, the methane yield was significantly reduced for the digested anaerobic sewage sludge (50.6\%) and percolated green waste (43.5\%) inocula. To further evaluate the potential of algal-bacterial biofilm for biogas production in wastewater treatment and biogas plants in a circular bioeconomy, scale-up calculations were conducted. It was found that a 0.116 km2 ATS would be required in an average municipal wastewater treatment plant which can be viewed as problematic in terms of space consumption. However, a substantial amount of energy surplus (4.7-12.5 MWh a-1) can be gained through the addition of algal-bacterial biomass to the anaerobic digester of a municipal wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater treatment and subsequent energy production through algae show dominancy over conventional technologies.}, language = {en} }