TY - JOUR A1 - Pourshahidi, Ali Mohammad A1 - Achtsnicht, Stefan A1 - Offenhäusser, Andreas A1 - Krause, Hans-Joachim ED - Offenhäusser, Andreas T1 - Frequency Mixing Magnetic Detection Setup Employing Permanent Ring Magnets as a Static Offset Field Source JF - Sensors N2 - Frequency mixing magnetic detection (FMMD) has been explored for its applications in fields of magnetic biosensing, multiplex detection of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) and the determination of core size distribution of MNP samples. Such applications rely on the application of a static offset magnetic field, which is generated traditionally with an electromagnet. Such a setup requires a current source, as well as passive or active cooling strategies, which directly sets a limitation based on the portability aspect that is desired for point of care (POC) monitoring applications. In this work, a measurement head is introduced that involves the utilization of two ring-shaped permanent magnets to generate a static offset magnetic field. A steel cylinder in the ring bores homogenizes the field. By variation of the distance between the ring magnets and of the thickness of the steel cylinder, the magnitude of the magnetic field at the sample position can be adjusted. Furthermore, the measurement setup is compared to the electromagnet offset module based on measured signals and temperature behavior. KW - magnetic sensors KW - biosensors KW - frequency mixing magnetic detection KW - magnetic nanoparticles Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22228776 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 22 IS - 22 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Poghossian, Arshak A1 - Karschuck, Tobias A1 - Wagner, Patrick A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Field-Effect Capacitors Decorated with Ligand-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles: Modeling and Experiments JF - Biosensors N2 - Nanoparticles are recognized as highly attractive tunable materials for designing field-effect biosensors with enhanced performance. In this work, we present a theoretical model for electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor capacitors (EISCAP) decorated with ligand-stabilized charged gold nanoparticles. The charged AuNPs are taken into account as additional, nanometer-sized local gates. The capacitance-voltage (C–V) curves and constant-capacitance (ConCap) signals of the AuNP-decorated EISCAPs have been simulated. The impact of the AuNP coverage on the shift of the C–V curves and the ConCap signals was also studied experimentally on Al–p-Si–SiO₂ EISCAPs decorated with positively charged aminooctanethiol-capped AuNPs. In addition, the surface of the EISCAPs, modified with AuNPs, was characterized by scanning electron microscopy for different immobilization times of the nanoparticles. KW - aminooctanethiol KW - nanoparticle coverage KW - capacitive model KW - gold nanoparticles KW - field-effect sensor KW - electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor capacitors Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bios12050334 SN - 2079-6374 N1 - This article belongs to the Special Issue "Biosensors in Nanotechnology" VL - 12 IS - 5 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - THES A1 - Plura, Annika T1 - Health Literacy : Konzeption und Entwurf eines digitalen Informationsangebots zum Thema Gesundheit N2 - Nicht zuletzt die Corona-Pandemie hat gezeigt: Gesundheit geht alle Menschen etwas an. Vom Begriff „Health Literacy“ haben viele aber noch nie gehört. Damit gemeint ist die menschliche Gesundheitskompetenz, also die Fähigkeit, mit gesundheitsrelevanten Informationen richtig umzugehen und daraus selbstbestimmte Entscheidungen in Gesundheitsfragen ableiten zu können. In dieser Arbeit wurden dazu wichtige Aspekte aus der Studie HLS-GER 1 interaktiv und erlebbar aufbereitet. Durch das ausgewählte Informationsdesign wird die Thematik zugänglich gemacht und aufgezeigt, welche gravierenden Auswirkungen schlecht ausgebildete Health Literacy auf die Selbstbestimmtheit und Chancengleichheit der Menschen hat. "Health Literacy" legt den Finger in die Wunde und zeigt, dass vor allem im Bildungskontext noch sehr viel Handlungsbedarf ist. KW - Gesundheitskompetenz KW - Informationsdesign KW - Datenvisualisierung KW - Informationsverarbeitung KW - HLS-GER 1 Y1 - 2022 N1 - Für diese Arbeit steht kein Volltext zur Verfügung. PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Philipp, Mohr A1 - Efthimiou, Nikos A1 - Pagano, Fiammetta A1 - Kratochwil, Nicolaus A1 - Pizzichemi, Marco A1 - Tsoumpas, Charalampos A1 - Auffray, Etiennette A1 - Ziemons, Karl T1 - Image reconstruction analysis for positron emission tomography with heterostructured scintillators JF - IEEE Transactions on Radiation and Plasma Medical Sciences N2 - The concept of structure engineering has been proposed for exploring the next generation of radiation detectors with improved performance. A TOF-PET geometry with heterostructured scintillators with a pixel size of 3.0×3.1×15 mm3 was simulated using Monte Carlo. The heterostructures consisted of alternating layers of BGO as a dense material with high stopping power and plastic (EJ232) as a fast light emitter. The detector time resolution was calculated as a function of the deposited and shared energy in both materials on an event-by-event basis. While sensitivity was reduced to 32% for 100 μm thick plastic layers and 52% for 50 μm, the CTR distribution improved to 204±49 ps and 220±41 ps respectively, compared to 276 ps that we considered for bulk BGO. The complex distribution of timing resolutions was accounted for in the reconstruction. We divided the events into three groups based on their CTR and modeled them with different Gaussian TOF kernels. On a NEMA IQ phantom, the heterostructures had better contrast recovery in early iterations. On the other hand, BGO achieved a better contrast to noise ratio (CNR) after the 15th iteration due to the higher sensitivity. The developed simulation and reconstruction methods constitute new tools for evaluating different detector designs with complex time responses. KW - TOF PET KW - Heterostructure KW - Metascintillator KW - Multiple TOF kernels KW - Image Reconstruction Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TRPMS.2022.3208615 SN - 2469-7311 SN - 2469-7303 VL - 7 IS - 1 SP - 41 EP - 51 PB - IEEE CY - New York, NY ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pfaff, Raphael A1 - Enning, Manfred A1 - Sutter, Stefan T1 - A risk‑based approach to automatic brake tests for rail freight service: incident analysis and realisation concept JF - SN Applied Sciences N2 - This study reviews the practice of brake tests in freight railways, which is time consuming and not suitable to detect certain failure types. Public incident reports are analysed to derive a reasonable brake test hardware and communication architecture, which aims to provide automatic brake tests at lower cost than current solutions. The proposed solutions relies exclusively on brake pipe and brake cylinder pressure sensors, a brake release position switch as well as radio communication via standard protocols. The approach is embedded in the Wagon 4.0 concept, which is a holistic approach to a smart freight wagon. The reduction of manual processes yields a strong incentive due to high savings in manual labour and increased productivity. KW - Freight rail KW - Brake test KW - Incident analysis KW - Train composition KW - Brake set-up Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42452-022-05007-x SN - 2523-3971 N1 - Corresponding author: Raphael Pfaff VL - 4 IS - 4 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Penner, Crystal A1 - Usherovich, Samuel A1 - Niedermeier, Jana A1 - Bélanger-Champagne, Camille A1 - Trinczek, Michael A1 - Paulßen, Elisabeth A1 - Hoehr, Cornelia T1 - Organic Scintillator-Fibre Sensors for Proton Therapy Dosimetry: SCSF-3HF and EJ-260 JF - electronics N2 - In proton therapy, the dose from secondary neutrons to the patient can contribute to side effects and the creation of secondary cancer. A simple and fast detection system to distinguish between dose from protons and neutrons both in pretreatment verification as well as potentially in vivo monitoring is needed to minimize dose from secondary neutrons. Two 3 mm long, 1 mm diameter organic scintillators were tested for candidacy to be used in a proton–neutron discrimination detector. The SCSF-3HF (1500) scintillating fibre (Kuraray Co. Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan) and EJ-260 plastic scintillator (Eljen Technology, Sweetwater, TX, USA) were irradiated at the TRIUMF Neutron Facility and the Proton Therapy Research Centre. In the proton beam, we compared the raw Bragg peak and spread-out Bragg peak response to the industry standard Markus chamber detector. Both scintillator sensors exhibited quenching at high LET in the Bragg peak, presenting a peak-to-entrance ratio of 2.59 for the EJ-260 and 2.63 for the SCSF-3HF fibre, compared to 3.70 for the Markus chamber. The SCSF-3HF sensor demonstrated 1.3 times the sensitivity to protons and 3 times the sensitivity to neutrons as compared to the EJ-260 sensor. Combined with our equations relating neutron and proton contributions to dose during proton irradiations, and the application of Birks’ quenching correction, these fibres provide valid candidates for inexpensive and replicable proton-neutron discrimination detectors Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics12010011 SN - 2079-9292 N1 - This article belongs to the Special Issue "Applications of Optical Fiber Sensors" VL - 12 IS - 1 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Peere, Wouter A1 - Blanke, Tobias ED - Vernon, Chris T1 - GHEtool: An open-source tool for borefield sizing in Python JF - Journal of Open Source Software N2 - GHEtool is a Python package that contains all the functionalities needed to deal with borefield design. It is developed for both researchers and practitioners. The core of this package is the automated sizing of borefield under different conditions. The sizing of a borefield is typically slow due to the high complexity of the mathematical background. Because this tool has a lot of precalculated data, GHEtool can size a borefield in the order of tenths of milliseconds. This sizing typically takes the order of minutes. Therefore, this tool is suited for being implemented in typical workflows where iterations are required. GHEtool also comes with a graphical user interface (GUI). This GUI is prebuilt as an exe-file because this provides access to all the functionalities without coding. A setup to install the GUI at the user-defined place is also implemented and available at: https://www.mech.kuleuven.be/en/tme/research/thermal_systems/tools/ghetool. KW - geothermal KW - energy KW - borefields KW - sizing Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.21105/joss.04406 SN - 2475-9066 VL - 7 IS - 76 SP - 1 EP - 4, 4406 ER - TY - THES A1 - Pauly, Tim Christian T1 - Fantasy : Die Gefahren des Internets und der Sozialen Medien in Bezug auf Kinder N2 - Anhand der Geschichte des Protagonisten Max, wird auf die Gefahr des Internets und der Sozialen Medien hinsichtlich Kinder aufmerksam gemacht. Kinder sind im Internet einigen Gefahren ausgesetzt und ihre Eltern sind sich dessen oftmals kaum bewusst oder haben Probleme, das Tun der Kinder im Auge zu behalten. Die Geschichte wird durch die Lyrik eines Liedes erzählt. Im dazugehörigen Musikvideo bekommen die Zuschauer:innen einen Einblick in Max Leben und sein Leid. Des Weiteren ist zu sehen, wie Max den Täter verurteilt, seine Fantasie gestohlen zu haben. Unklar bleibt, ob sein Auftreten währenddessen in der Wirklichkeit oder aus seiner verbliebenen Fantasie heraus passiert. Sein schweres Schicksal, ausgedrückt mit aller Härte, soll den Zuschauenden schockierend auf die Problematik aufmerksam machen. Das Projekt soll helfen, diese fehlende Aufmerksamkeit einzudämmen. KW - Fantasie KW - Internet KW - Soziale Medien KW - Missbrauch KW - Bedrohung Y1 - 2022 PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - THES A1 - Papenheim, Aline T1 - Modern Gender : die Selbstbestimmung maskuliner Körper N2 - In der aktuellen Gesellschaft ist ein Konsens davon spürbar, wie „Männlichkeit“ aussehen soll. In der fotografischen Arbeit wird hinterfragt, ob dieses Bild von Maskulinität flexibler gestaltet werden kann und muss. Über verschiede Online-Plattformen wurde nach männlich gelesenen Personen gesucht, die bereit waren, ihre „feminine“ Seite in Bezug auf ihr Aussehen innerhalb eines geschützten Raumes porträtieren zu lassen. Die Arbeit wird in einem Bildband und einem Ausstellungskonzept präsentiert und besteht aus einem 18-monatigem Prozess, 4 bereisten Städten und 30 Shootings. 80 Fotografien zeigen das Experiment, die Freude, aber auch die Überwindungskraft der Porträtierten, die notwendig ist, um Genderklischees zu brechen. Die Individualität der Menschen wird in den bühnenartigen Darstellungen hervorgehoben und gibt einen Denkanstoß zur Neugestaltung und Öffnung des Begriffes „Maskulinität“. KW - Fotografie KW - Gender KW - Geschlechterrollen KW - Maskulinität KW - Männlichkeit Y1 - 2022 PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Ostkotte, Sebastian A1 - Peters, Constantin A1 - Hüning, Felix A1 - Bragard, Michael T1 - Design, implementation and verification of an rotational incremental position encoder based on the magnetic Wiegand effect T2 - 2022 ELEKTRO (ELEKTRO) N2 - This paper covers the use of the magnetic Wiegand effect to design an innovative incremental encoder. First, a theoretical design is given, followed by an estimation of the achievable accuracy and an optimization in open-loop operation. Finally, a successful experimental verification is presented. For this purpose, a permanent magnet synchronous machine is controlled in a field-oriented manner, using the angle information of the prototype. KW - Position Encoder KW - Rotational Encoder KW - Wiegand Effect KW - Angle Sensor KW - Incremental Encoder Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-1-6654-6726-1 SN - 978-1-6654-6727-8 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ELEKTRO53996.2022.9803477 SN - 2691-0616 N1 - 2022 ELEKTRO (ELEKTRO), 23-26 Mai 2022, Krakow, Poland. PB - IEEE ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ojovan, Michael I. A1 - Steinmetz, Hans-Jürgen T1 - Approaches to Disposal of Nuclear Waste JF - Energies N2 - We present a concise mini overview on the approaches to the disposal of nuclear waste currently used or deployed. The disposal of nuclear waste is the end point of nuclear waste management (NWM) activities and is the emplacement of waste in an appropriate facility without the intention to retrieve it. The IAEA has developed an internationally accepted classification scheme based on the end points of NWM, which is used as guidance. Retention times needed for safe isolation of waste radionuclides are estimated based on the radiotoxicity of nuclear waste. Disposal facilities usually rely on a multi-barrier defence system to isolate the waste from the biosphere, which comprises the natural geological barrier and the engineered barrier system. Disposal facilities could be of a trench type, vaults, tunnels, shafts, boreholes, or mined repositories. A graded approach relates the depth of the disposal facilities’ location with the level of hazard. Disposal practices demonstrate the reliability of nuclear waste disposal with minimal expected impacts on the environment and humans. KW - borehole disposal KW - geological disposal KW - disposal facility KW - retention time KW - nuclear waste Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en15207804 SN - 1996-1073 N1 - This article belongs to the Special Issue "Treatment of Radioactive Waste and Sustainability Energy" VL - 15 IS - 20 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - THES A1 - Nordmann, Alexander T1 - Prozessüberwachung beim Werkzeugschleifen von WC-Co Hartmetallschaftfräsern Y1 - 2022 PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - THES A1 - Nigge-Mans, Leonard T1 - Entwicklung einer Arbeitsplatzleuchte N2 - Für manche mag es banal wirken, doch für Gestalter:innen ist sie unverzichtbar: eine wirklich gute Leuchte für den Arbeitsplatz. Sie hat nämlich einen enormen Einfluss auf die Konzentration und den Komfort. Zudem ermöglicht gutes Licht erst ein sauberes und farbechtes Ergebnis. Dafür wurde in diesem Projekt die perfekte Leuchte entwickelt. Sie leuchtet die Arbeitsfläche ideal aus und unterstützt das Lesen, Schreiben oder die Arbeit mit technischen Geräten. Durch fünf Drehpunkte ist die Leuchte in alle Richtungen zu bewegen und lässt sich somit individuell auf ihre Aufgaben anpassen. Außerdem wurde Wert daraufgelegt, bestehende Normen und Vorschiften einzuhalten, um den Arbeit- und Gesundheitsschutz zu gewährleisten. Feierabend? Durch die Dim-Funktion wird die Arbeitsleuchte zu einer gemütlichen Lichtquelle. Unter anderem durch die unsichtbare Stromführung überzeugt die Lampe mit ihrer minimalistischen Designsprache und lässt sich in unterschiedlichste Räume integrieren. KW - Minimalistisch KW - Elegant KW - Auffällig KW - Multifunktional KW - Steuerbar Y1 - 2022 N1 - Für diese Arbeit steht kein Volltext zur Verfügung. PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Niederwestberg, Stefan A1 - Schneider, Falko A1 - Teixeira Boura, Cristiano José A1 - Herrmann, Ulf T1 - Introduction to a direct irradiated transparent tube particle receiver T2 - SOLARPACES 2020 N2 - 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. KW - Solar irradiance KW - Ceramics Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-0-7354-4195-8 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0086735 SN - 1551-7616 (online) SN - 0094-243X (print) N1 - 26th International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems 28 September–2 October 2020 Freiburg, Germany IS - 2445 / 1 PB - AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics CY - Melville, NY ER - TY - THES A1 - Nicolay, Victoria T1 - Shaping the future of gender equality N2 - Die Thematik um die Gleichberechtigung von Mann und Frau ist eine hoch aktuelle und wird die Gesellschaft auch in Zukunft weiterhin beschäftigen. Probleme bestehen dabei überall auf der Welt, unterscheiden sich jedoch grundlegend. Obwohl die Voraussetzungen global andere sind, ist das Ziel das gleiche. Die Gleichberechtigung von Mann und Frau. Mit Equality Help entsteht eine Möglichkeit, individuelle Lösungen und Hilfestellungen für jede:n einzelne:n Nutzer:in zu finden. Entscheidend ist dabei die Zusammenarbeit von Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Hilfsorganisationen. Mit Hilfe der Digitalisierung kann ein globaler Austausch stattfinden, sowie effizient Prozesse erleichtert werden und für die Thematik sensibilisiert werden. Ziel ist es, Betroffenen zu helfen, als auch jeden Einzelnen in Verantwortung zu nehmen um den gesellschaftlichen Wandel positiv zu beeinflussen.  KW - Gleichberechtigung KW - Hilfsangebote KW - Austausch KW - Digitalisierung KW - Gesellschaft Y1 - 2022 PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - THES A1 - Neumann, Julius T1 - Traces of urban change N2 - Eine Stadt ist das Ergebnis eines komplexen Urbanisierungsprozesses. Dieser ist vor allem dadurch bestimmt, dass immer mehr Menschen in Städten leben. Das Wachstum und Altern von Städten machen ständige räumliche und bauliche Veränderungen erforderlich. Die Bachelorarbeit verdeutlicht diese strukturellen Veränderungen der Stadt Aachen anhand von analogen Fotografien im Jahr 2022. Dabei werden Spuren aus unterschiedlichen Zeiten betrachtet und natürliche oder durch den Menschen beeinflusste Veränderungen in Form von Verfall, Nutzung und Erneuerung aufgezeigt. Ziel ist es, den Blick auf Details des urbanen Wandels zu richten, um diesen wahrnehmbar und bewusst zu machen. Die Betrachter:innen sollen zum Nachdenken und genauen Hinschauen angeregt werden. Die Fotografien versuchen den zurückliegenden Veränderungsprozess erkennen zu lassen und damit gewissermaßen dessen Geschichte abzubilden. KW - Fotografie KW - analog KW - Bildband KW - Aachen KW - Stadt Y1 - 2022 PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - THES A1 - Nelles, Charlene T1 - Brain Hack N2 - Protagonistin des Films ist Cassandra Becker, eine 25-jährige Informatikstudentin und Mitglied der Hackerorganisation PFABW (Progress For a Better World). Sie hat es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, die Welt zu einem besseren Ort zu machen. Sie legt sich allerdings mit den falschen Leuten an und wird für die Verbreitung eines zerstörerischen Computervirus verantwortlich gemacht, der gesundheitliche Folgen für den Menschen mit sich bringt. Sie und ihr bester Freund Jake Fischer haben bei einem PFABW-Mitglied Zuflucht gefunden. Dort versuchen sie gemeinsam herauszufinden, was es mit dem mysteriösen Virus auf sich hat. KW - Freundschaft KW - Schuld KW - Liebe KW - IT KW - Hacker Y1 - 2022 N1 - Für diese Arbeit steht kein Volltext zur Verfügung. PB - FH Aachen CY - Aachen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mueller, Tobias A1 - Segin, Alexander A1 - Weigand, Christoph A1 - Schmitt, Robert H. T1 - Feature selection for measurement models JF - International journal of quality & reliability management N2 - Purpose In the determination of the measurement uncertainty, the GUM procedure requires the building of a measurement model that establishes a functional relationship between the measurand and all influencing quantities. Since the effort of modelling as well as quantifying the measurement uncertainties depend on the number of influencing quantities considered, the aim of this study is to determine relevant influencing quantities and to remove irrelevant ones from the dataset. Design/methodology/approach In this work, it was investigated whether the effort of modelling for the determination of measurement uncertainty can be reduced by the use of feature selection (FS) methods. For this purpose, 9 different FS methods were tested on 16 artificial test datasets, whose properties (number of data points, number of features, complexity, features with low influence and redundant features) were varied via a design of experiments. Findings Based on a success metric, the stability, universality and complexity of the method, two FS methods could be identified that reliably identify relevant and irrelevant influencing quantities for a measurement model. Originality/value For the first time, FS methods were applied to datasets with properties of classical measurement processes. The simulation-based results serve as a basis for further research in the field of FS for measurement models. The identified algorithms will be applied to real measurement processes in the future. KW - Feature selection KW - Modelling KW - Measurement models KW - Measurement uncertainty Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-07-2021-0245 SN - 0265-671X IS - Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print. PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited CY - Bingley ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Morandi, Paolo A1 - Butenweg, Christoph A1 - Breis, Khaled A1 - Beyer, Katrin A1 - Magenes, Guido ED - Ansal, Atilla T1 - Latest findings on the behaviour factor q for the seismic design of URM buildings JF - Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering N2 - Recent earthquakes as the 2012 Emilia earthquake sequence showed that recently built unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings behaved much better than expected and sustained, despite the maximum PGA values ranged between 0.20–0.30 g, either minor damage or structural damage that is deemed repairable. Especially low-rise residential and commercial masonry buildings with a code-conforming seismic design and detailing behaved in general very well without substantial damages. The low damage grades of modern masonry buildings that was observed during this earthquake series highlighted again that codified design procedures based on linear analysis can be rather conservative. Although advances in simulation tools make nonlinear calculation methods more readily accessible to designers, linear analyses will still be the standard design method for years to come. The present paper aims to improve the linear seismic design method by providing a proper definition of the q-factor of URM buildings. These q-factors are derived for low-rise URM buildings with rigid diaphragms which represent recent construction practise in low to moderate seismic areas of Italy and Germany. The behaviour factor components for deformation and energy dissipation capacity and for overstrength due to the redistribution of forces are derived by means of pushover analyses. Furthermore, considerations on the behaviour factor component due to other sources of overstrength in masonry buildings are presented. As a result of the investigations, rationally based values of the behaviour factor q to be used in linear analyses in the range of 2.0–3.0 are proposed. KW - Unreinforced masonry buildings KW - Modern constructions KW - Seismic design KW - Linear elastic analysis KW - Behaviour factor q Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10518-022-01419-7 SN - 1573-1456 SN - 1570-761X VL - 20 IS - 11 SP - 5797 EP - 5848 PB - Springer Nature CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Morandi, Paolo A1 - Butenweg, Christoph A1 - Breis, Khaled A1 - Beyer, Katrin A1 - Magenes, Guido ED - Arion, Christian ED - Scupin, Alexandra ED - Ţigănescu, Alexandru T1 - Behaviour factor q for the seismic design of URM buildings T2 - The Third European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology September 4 – September 9, 2022, Bucharest N2 - Recent earthquakes showed that low-rise URM buildings following codecompliant seismic design and details behaved in general very well without substantial damages. Although advances in simulation tools make nonlinear calculation methods more readily accessible to designers, linear analyses will still be the standard design method for years to come. The present paper aims to improve the linear seismic design method by providing a proper definition of the q-factor of URM buildings. Values of q-factors are derived for low-rise URM buildings with rigid diaphragms, with reference to modern structural configurations realized in low to moderate seismic areas of Italy and Germany. The behaviour factor components for deformation and energy dissipation capacity and for overstrength due to the redistribution of forces are derived by means of pushover analyses. As a result of the investigations, rationally based values of the behaviour factor q to be used in linear analyses in the range of 2.0 to 3.0 are proposed. KW - unreinforced masonry buildings KW - modern constructions KW - seismic design KW - linear elastic analysis; KW - behaviour factor q Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-973-100-533-1 SP - 1184 EP - 1194 ER -