The Human Impacts of Tectonic Landforms and Hazards

Even today there are people who do not understand why or where tectonic activity takes place. Tectonic activity does not only take place at plate boundaries – intra-plate earthquakes, e.g. Bam, Iran. This leads people to think it won’t happen to them.

The developing world has fewer resources or expertise to study the natural environment (or human environment) – methods to identify areas at risk may not exist (e.g. poorer levels of education), especially if the area is not very active.

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Pompeii – a classic case of ignorance to disaster. The lack of an eruption in ‘living memory’ led many to believe that Vesuvius was dormant. In 79AD there was no expectation of an eruption – people were caught completely unaware. At the time, the science was not understood – many believed the eruption, and preceding earth tremors were the gods’ anger.

Choice:

Some people know the risks, but lack financial resources, or have close links to family in the area, and are therefore unable/unwilling to move. Other choose to stay, as the benefits outweigh the costs, e.g. Southern California – well paid jobs and a pleasant climate outweigh concerns over earthquake risk.

The benefits of tectonically active areas:

Minerals and natural resources – volcanoes bring valuable resources to the surface of the earth, e.g. Diamonds, copper, gold. Seafloor volcanoes contribute to the accumulation of metals, e.g. zinc, lead – mining industries.

Fertile soils – volcanic material breaks down through weathering to provide nutrients (minerals) for plant growth.

Geothermal energy.

Tourism and associated employment, e.g. hotels, transport, tour guides.

Heat and pressure turn organic matter into deposits of oil and gas.

Impacts on people and possessions:

The severity of the impacts depends on physical factors (e.g. event profiles, geology, terrain) and human factors (e.g. population density).

Physical impacts on people:

Damage/destruction of property and infrastructure.

Volcanoes – luckily ¾ of erupted lava is from underwater volcanoes, much of it along ocean ridges, so the impact is minor. The greatest risk is at destructive plate margins. Most active volcanoes are found in the developing world, e.g. Latin america, the Caribbean, parts of Asia and the south-west Pacific.

Increased urbanisation and population growth concentrates people and infrastructure.

Earthquakes – the worst earthquakes are not necessarily those with the largest magnitude. The worst impacts are felt in densely populated areas and areas with high vulnerability.

Economic impacts on people:

These can be direct or indirect.

Often greater in developed countries than developing countries.

Direct impacts include capital goods and equipment destroyed. They can occur immediately, or later as a result of follow-on damage or deterioration.

Indirect impacts occur as a result of interruption to commercial systems, lost wages, and lost opportunities to do business.

Macroeconomic impacts are felt across the whole economy of the community, region, or in the worst case the whole nation.

The Northridge earthquake (California, 1994) – 60 deaths but US$30 billion in economic impact, as it hit dense infrastructure in the San Fernando Valley.

Social impacts on people:

Human life is irreplaceable.

Volcanoes – most impact on human life is due to pyroclastic flows or lahars (e.g. Nevado del Ruiz).

Earthquakes – tsunamis are particularly terrifying. The 1883 Krakatau eruption triggered tsunamis that killed 36 000 and destroyed 165 coastal villages.

The impact on human life is usually greater from earthquakes than from volcanic eruptions.

Primary casualties – those killed/injured directly by the event. Usually greater in developing countries than developed.

Secondary casualties – those that survive the event itself but die/are injured due to insufficient resources or lack of medical care. Again, usually greater in developing countries than developed.

Tertiary casualties – those with pre-existing medical conditions that are aggravated by the event. Includes those who become ill/die. For example, through disease contracted in the post-disaster environment. In developing countries, these are often the largest group of casualties.

Poverty reduces the capacity to reduce the impacts, or to recover.

Environmental degradation reduces natural impact buffers, e.g. mangrove removal (Indian Ocean, 2004), and therefore contributes to delaying recovery time.

Note: to more accurately compare the impacts in developed and developing countries, it is better to use damage cost as a % of GDP, as developed countries have more infrastructure, etc., to be damaged. The absolute costs may be lower in a developing country, but the relative costs (as a % of GDP) are likely to be much higher.

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Upon Westminster Bridge and Kensington Market

The Kashmir earthquake happened on Saturday October 5th 2005, at 8:50am local time which had a magnitude of 7. 6. 74,500+ were dead and 106,000+ were injured in the Kashmir region of Northern Pakistan which was the 14th deadliest earthquake of all time. Its focus was 26km down and the shaking lasted for 60 seconds (1 Minute). The most badly affected area was in the Epicentral area around Muzaffarabad which is the capital of the Pakistan administered region of Kashmir. It is 80km north-east of Islamabad. 20 aftershocks were followed after the earthquake.

It is said to be the strongest earthquake to hit the region in a century. The primary effects of the Kashmir earthquake included: Several trains on minor lines were derailed, 3. 3 million homes were destroyed, 79,000 people were killed and 100,000 injured. Secondary effects included: Electricity, gas and water supplies were disrupted, an outbreak of diarrhea spread from contaminated water supplies, respiratory infections such as pneumonia and people died of cold and starvation during the harsh winter season especially homeless people.

Longer term effects of the Kashmir Earthquake included: The overall cost of the damage was $1000,000, 3. 3 million people had to live in temporary accommodation until rebuilding could start and in rural areas the crops mostly survived and so did the animals living there. Short term responses were: Supplying food and water, rescuing trapped people, rescue and medical teams arriving from other countries, tents supplied. Medium Term responses are: Re-establishing water supplies, building temporary, prefabricated houses, providing money for temporary housing.

Long term responses are: Preparing disaster plans and carrying out regular practices, training emergency services, setting up an efficient earthquake warnings and information system using the media There are many similarities and differences from the Kashmir earthquake compared to other earthquakes such as Kobe earthquake/Great Hanshin. The Great Hanshin Earthquake occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995, at 05:46 in Japan. The focus was about 19km below the sea whilst the Kashmir earthquake was 26km down.

This will have an immense effect on the earthquake, Also, The epicentre was between Kobe and Awaji Island whilst Kashmir`s was around Muzaffarabad. For the Kobe earthquake nearly 200,000 buildings were destroyed whilst for Kashmir there were at least 1 in very 10 buildings were destroyed which will be higher than the buildings collapsed in Kobe earthquake. 5,500 people were killed and 40,000 were injured and an estimated 230,000 people were made homeless in the Kobe earthquake.

In the Kashmir Earthquake, 74,500+ were killed and 106,000+ were injured which is more than double the people who were affected from the Kobe Earthquake. Other reasons for Kashmir Earthquake being more severe are: It is a mountainous area, it is in a collision zone. These stats tells us that The Kashmir earthquake was stronger and more severe and had a bigger impact to the society, economy and physical effects. Another difference is that the Kobe government made a slow response and lack of an emergency plan when the earthquake hit.

In Kashmir earthquake, the government reacted instantly. Many good and bad things happened after the quake, 1 week after the quake: the death toll continued to rise, bulldozers began to clear streets and knock down unsafe buildings, some shops and schools reopened. After 2 weeks: Overcrowding in makeshift shelters became a health hazard, cold weather led to a flu epidemic, people needed help to cope with the stress and shock of the quake.

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Tsunami in Thailand – the Main Steps

From the situation that Nils is going through, some available options are suggested as below: a. Nils should consult headquarter and ask for a number of construction workers from the main office or countries nearby to at least enable the project to be completed within the stipulated time frame. However, the administration along with the senior management might not agree, since staff for coordination and work purpose from abroad may Incur excess project cost. Nils has to plan the project with what available resources are there. He should report back to headquarter with the facts and obstacles with respect to the availability of resources In Thailand. It will delay the project than what was perceived In respect to the completion time line. C. Make this Tsunami Into an opportunity to change the project scope and deliverables. For example he should renegotiate with the customer to refurbish a portion of the resort till the estimated completion time. And during this erred he can set up a rescue campaign and add more workers to the team. . Nils must sit down with the potential workers and existing team members and empower them to speak their minds and hearts out. Giving an opportunity to the worker to voice the concerns is an excellent form of motivator. In this instance lack of motivation is one of the factors contributing to the delay in the completion of the project. E. He must allow the channel of communication be open with workers. Nils should let the workers ask questions to clarify their understandings of the scope of ark and also their concerns regarding the supernatural forces.

Nils should then formulate a strategy in order to remove the obstacles such as the mindset of the workers regarding ghosts in the area. Answer to Question 2 I would definitely first discuss the issues related to availability to resources locally in Thailand and come up with a solution such as getting the foreign workers to come from main office and close countries to complete the project on time. This is Important since the customer might not be in a position to delay the project and loud like the resort to be functional in order to generate the required revenue for their business.

In this scenario if the foreign workers are brought In to work In would definitely have a negative impact on the project cost but at the end It will be a win – win situation for both the parties. Also I would try to renegotiate the cost part of the project with the customer and provide him with the real facts surrounding the local workers unwilling to work on double wages or the migrant workers being scared to be deported. I would try to monomaniac with the migrant workers and try to make headway Into legalizing their working rights In Thailand.

It would reflect an attitude which might be appreciated by the migrant workers and they may In turn resort to working on the project. Coordination and work purpose from abroad may incur excess project cost. B. Nils back to headquarter with the facts and obstacles with respect to the availability of resources in Thailand. It will delay the project than what was perceived in respect to the completion time line. C. Make this Tsunami into an opportunity to change the room main office and close countries to complete the project on time.

This is important since the customer might not be in a position to delay the project and their business. In this scenario if the foreign workers are brought in to work in would definitely have a negative impact on the project cost but at the end it will be a win – communicate with the migrant workers and try to make headway into legalizing their working rights in Thailand. It would reflect an attitude which might be appreciated by the migrant workers and they may in turn resort to working on the project.

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Earthquake Shaker

Would earthquakes of similar magnitudes in different populated regions of the Earth cause approximately the same levels of damage? In your discussions, consider both geologic and human-induced factors. The amount of damage caused by an Earthquake does not solely depend on the magnitude of the Earthquake. Factors such as population, geographic location, soil type, and the type of building material commonly used for construction in a region determine the extent of damage caused. If an Earthquake strikes a densely populated region, then life loss and property damage will be high.

If an Earthquake of a similar or even higher magnitude strikes a region with a relatively low population, then life loss and property damage will be lower. The 6. 4 Richter scale Earthquake (1993) in the State of Maharashtra, India and the 8. 3 Richter scale Earthquake (2006) in Kuril Islands, Japan are examples that come to mind. With stone houses and a population of over 2 million, the Earthquake in Latur left nearly 8,000 people dead and brought as many as 30,000 houses to the ground.

In contrast, Kuril Islands, with a population of just 17,000 and better disaster preparedness mechanisms, was able to get away with no loss of human life , despite the fact that the Earthquake was much higher in magnitude when compared to that of Latur. How are faults, foci (plural of focus), and epicenters related? Faults that are experiencing no active creep (relatively consistent yet minor movements) may be considered “safe. Rebut or defend this statement with what you have learned so far about faults. The points in the lithosphere of Earth where fracturing originates are called foci. In other words, foci are the points at which energy-release takes place. Foci are also termed as hypocenters. Large fractures inside the Earth’s crust are called faults. Typically, news reports talk about epicenters when they are reporting an Earthquake. As large fractures inside Earth’s crust begin to shift, there is a release of energy inside Earth, right at the displacement (focus) point.

An epicenter is nothing but the point on the surface of Earth that lies directly over the focus. It is not true that faults experiencing no active creep are safe. Fault creep refers to slow rock movement arising out of the application of constant stress over a prolonged period of time. A fault creep is a slippage that occurs alongside a fault. A fault creep may produce a small earthquake that can be detected through a seismometer. An active creep zone is one in which the most significant of displacements are likely to take place.

Current absence of active creeps neither means that there is no fault creep at all, nor that there will not be any movement in future. A currently inactive fault could become active in future and cause an earthquake, so safe is not a term that one can always associate with the absence of an active creep. At one time it was thought that the deep-ocean trenches at subduction zones would be a good place for disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Why is this not a good idea?

Explain what can happen at a subduction zone and what might occur if the waste were buried there. (Hint: see oceanic-continental convergence. Over the years, different options have been considered as suitable permanent repositories for disposing high-level radioactive waste. The intent has been to find a way of permanently isolating high-level nuclear waste from the environment used by humans. It is true that at one point in time, subduction zone trenches in deep oceans were a good option for disposing high-level radioactive waste.

It was thought that sticky mud and clay at trenches in deep-open subduction zones could be ideal places to bury high-level radioactive waste. It was assumed that radioactive waste canisters deposited in such places would slowly leak, only to be bound by sticky mud and clay for several millions of years. It was expected that burying high-level radioactive waste inside a subduction zone of a deep-ocean would gradually carry waste into the mantle of Earth.

Today however, this approach is not a matter of serious consideration because of the technical considerations that are in play, legal restrictions associated with Law of the Sea, and the fect that leakages could lead to widespread contamination. The fact that oceanic-continental convergence helps create geologic formations and sustain many active volcanoes of Earth mean that contamination can be a serious threat when considering the burial of high-level radioactive waste in subduction zone trenches of deep oceans.

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Minoan Civilization Overview

The island of Crete, which lies in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, has been heavily contested by differing civilizations over the past three-thousand years. But before first conquests for the island began, a civilization developed on the island to such an advanced degree that it would become Greek legend. These first civilized inhabitants of Crete have become known as the Minoans, named after King Minis. In the two-thousand years of the Minoan people, they rose from simple farmers to a great civilization that came to a tragic end. The island of Crete provides a unique environment that is well suited for unman civilization.

Its location in the Mediterranean provides its inhabitants with a central location for trade and military operations between Greece, tally, Egypt, and the Middle East. The sea itself is rich in resources, the lands of the Cretan plains are fertile, and the southern coastal areas, with their massive cliffs, provided a natural barrier against invasion. The island’s climate is very mild, much like the coastal areas that surround the Mediterranean. Although the island has no major rivers and experiences long periods of dry weather, springs are overly abundant.

These springs, which have decreased in umber, were a reliable source of fresh water for inhabitants of Crete. Another major advantage of living on the island was the large forests that used to cover the landscape. The first people of Crete came to the island during Neolithic times. These settlers may have brought crops and domesticated animals with them to Crete. It is unknown where these settlers originated from but archeological evidence suggests areas near Turkey or Syria. The first inhabitants spread quickly across the island, living in natural caves carved from the limestone rock that made up the island or in villages atop small hills.

These Neolithic inhabitants developed many of the tools that other people living near the Mediterranean used, such as stone axes, obsidian and cheer blades, sickles, bows and arrows, and stone maces. They also developed techniques for weaving wool into cloth using looms. As the Neolithic people of Crete began to move into villages on the plains and coastal areas by the middle Neolithic era, caves took on the role of burial sites for everyone from village leaders, to children, to the common resident.

As the Neolithic age came to a close and the Bronze Age began, Crete experienced a period of turmoil that seems to indicate an invasion that triggered technological and cultural developments, such as bronze working, advancements in pottery and tombs. Evidence from Greek myths suggests that these invaders were refugees from lands in the north of the rising Egyptian Empire. It is possible that King Manner, the man who united Egypt, is the reason these people fled north into the sea. The period following invasion is thought of as the beginning of the Minoan Age, around BBC.

During this period, the Minoan people began to form large cities which typically acted as independent city-states. Competition and inflict between these cities is not heavily evidenced, but it is known that during this Early Minoan age many immigrants from the mainland areas surrounding the Mediterranean came to Crete to seek refuge, much like the original invaders. This period lasted until approximately 2200 BC, after which the culture of the people of Crete shifted away from the independent nature of the city states to a more centralized society with power collecting in a few major cities that were spread across the island.

During the Middle Minoan Age, kingdoms began to develop and the first Minoan palaces were constructed in cities such as Knossos and Patios. Minoans began to develop colonies on nearby islands, some of which are well recorded in Greek legends. These colonies may be a sign of over-population on the island of Crete, which was a consequence of the Minoan civilization’s rapid decent down the slippery slope of farming.

It is through these colonies that the Minoan culture would begin to show signs of influence as far away as mainland Greece and possibly Egypt In the later portions of the Middle Minoan Age, the Minoan civilization began to reach its peak. It is also at this point in time that seismic activity on and near Crete begins to show its tangentially dangerous nature to the Minoans. Several times during the Middle Minoan Age, palaces Were destroyed by the earthquakes or fire that may have been caused by earthquakes. It was around this period of destruction in BBC that the Greek’s began to settle on Crete, but their presence was minimal at best.

The Minoans would recover from these natural disasters and the civilization would continue to flourish until the Late Minoan Age, which began around 1550 BC. Around BBC, the volcanic island of There, only seventy miles north of Crete, exploded immediately following a series of earthquakes. The Minoan colonies on the island were buried under thick layers of volcanic rock and tsunamis caused major damage to coastal areas on the north of Crete and caused extensive crop damage on the eastern portion of the island due to ash. The inhabitants of Crete recovered, but the kingdoms were left in a weakened state.

More earthquakes would strike the island potentially changing the landscape of the coastal areas. Some Minoan coastal cities on the eastern and northern parts of Crete lie below several feet of water, and in the Western parts of the island the coastal landscape actually appears to be much higher than it was in early Minoan times. The earthquakes may have also disrupted the supply of fresh water to Minoan cities. Wells, springs, and underground clay pipes all suffered damage due to the severe seismic activity. Knossos would grow to become the only major power on the island while other cities fell into decline.

By BBC, the great city of Knossos, the last Minoan seat of power, was ravaged by war and conquered by the Greeks, ending the Minoan civilization. During the nearly 2000 years of the Minoan civilization, their culture grew to influence other people in Greece, Egypt, and the Near East. There are several aspects of this culture and the most influential and historically important Of these are Minoan religion, architecture, gender’s role in society, and crafts. The Minoan government was theocratic, with both the king and queen having prominent parts in religious and political affairs.

The gods of the Minoan people, the most important of which were solar gods, would only communicate their will through the royal couple, who acted as the high priests and carried out religious ceremonies and political events. The kings and queens were also rated as divine beings following their deaths since they were considered to be the adopted children of the gods. It was also common for commoner and lower priests to experience a euphoric event by coming into contact with a sacred object such as a tree or a rock.

Through these euphoric experiences, they would simply see the face of their gods or see messages that were delivered in natural form by animals or plants. The architecture of early Minoan cities consisted of simple earth, mud bricks, stone, clay, and wooden buildings, with religious, political, or elite building being of generally higher laity. The home of a commoner was usually a small, rectangular room with a fire-pit in the center and a raised stone platform for sleeping in a corner. As time passed, these homes became larger and some had multiple rooms that could have acted as storage or private quarters.

As for royal palaces, they Were typically constructed from stone and wood with the quality of workmanship varying from site to site. Whenever a palace was destroyed (typically by natural disaster) the new palace would be built directly atop the ruins of the destroyed structure. Dcord inside these complexes included culture of religious icons, murals, frescoes, and furniture that was designed to show the divine nature of royalty. These palaces also served as temples for the gods, which is evidenced by the close association between the king and queen and their patron gods.

Almost all building would be covered in a limestone-based plaster and some would then be painted with a red compound. An aspect of Minoan culture that breaks the norm for other civilizations at the time is the importance of women in society. In almost all of the Minoan art work recovered from the ruins, women are shown in important political and religious roles. Many other cultures from this time period simply depict women as being responsible for raising children. This difference in views can probably be attributed to the significance of the female solar gods in Minoan society.

It is also thought that the common Minoan woman shared equal social status as her male counterparts, which was quite different from other Mediterranean cultures, who placed most social importance on the men. When the Greeks wrote of the ancient civilization of Atlantis falling below the sea after a devastating earthquake, it is entirely possible that they were actually talking about the Minoans. The genealogy, complex social structure, and wondrous cities that the Minoans developed could easily be the source of inspiration for the tale of Atlantis, which was written 600 years after the collapse of the Minoan civilization on Crete.

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Earthquake resistance design

Columns can sustain two types of Damage, namely axial- flexural (or combined compression bending) Failure and shear failure. Shear damage is brittle and must be avoided in columns as by providing transverse ties at close spacing which carry the horizontal shear forces and hold concrete and vertical bars together. Horizontal Bands and its Role: Horizontal bands are the most important Earthquake-resistant feature in masonry buildings, since it holds a masonry building as a Single unit by tying all the walls together. There are four types of bands in a typical Masonry building, namely gable band, roof band, lintel band and plinth band. Lintel band is the most Important of all, since it ties the walls together and also breaks the monotonous continuity of wall.

The gable band is employed only in Buildings with pitched or sloped roofs. In buildings with flat R. C or reinforced brick roofs, the Roof band is not required. In buildings with pitched r sloped roof, the Roof band is very important. Plinth bands are primarily used where uneven settlement of foundation in soil undergoes bending and pulling actions. It will be better to use ARC bands Shear Wall: Reinforced concrete buildings often have vertical plate-like ARC walls called Shear Walls. These walls generally start at foundation level and are contain souse throughout the building height. Their thickness varies from mm to mm. Shear walls are usually provided along both length and width of buildings.

Shear Core Shear walls are like vertically-oriented wide beams that carry earthquake odds downwards to the foundation. Just like reinforced concrete (ARC) beams and columns, ARC 6 shear walls also perform much better if designed to be ductile.. Shear walls, if provide around the elevator core or stair well is known as shear core. Boundary Elements: Under the large overturning effects caused by horizontal earthquake forces, edges of shear walls experience high compressive and tensile stresses. To ensure that shear walls behave in a ductile way, concrete in the wall end regions must be reinforced in a special manner to sustain these load reversals without loosing strength.

End regions of a wall with increased infotainment are called boundary elements which have high bending strength. Boundary Elements (Design, Location) Short and Long Columns: During past earthquakes, reinforced concrete (ARC) frame buildings that have columns of different heights within one storey, suffered more damage in the shorter columns as compared to taller columns in the same storey. Short Column Behavior: Poor behavior of short columns is due to the fact that in an earthquake, a tall column and a short column of same cross-section move horizontally by same amount. However, the short column is stiffer as compared to the tall column, ND it attracts larger earthquake force. Therefore it cause X-shaped cracks.

Short Column (Failure, Location with Mezzanine floor) Stiffness of a column means resistance to deformation -? the larger is the stiffness, larger is the force required to deform it. This behavior is called Short Column Effect. Design Phenomenon: 7 If it is not possible to avoid short columns, this effect must be addressed in structural design. As per Indian Standard the reinforcement must extend beyond the short column into the columns vertically above. In case of stone or brick masonry the width has to be increased accordingly for short column. BEAM COLUMN JOINT: The points where the beams and columns intersect is a beam column joint. Since they too made of same material we can’t expect to have more strength. So have to take care on these unavoidable joints.

During earthquake the upper bars and lower bars act in a different direction causing elongation or damage of joint. Design Strategy: In design practice large column size, having large closed loops are placed inside. These should follow some design specification. Normally we will go for the anchoring of the bars at the ends. Micro concreting can be gone in the congested junction. Beam Column Joint (Location, Failure without proper anchorage) Hidden Beams: These are also called as concealed beams which have their depth equal to that of the slab. These can be provided either on longer or on the shorter p. When provided along longer p it is found that the load carrying capacity increase to 135% with an economical increase of just 0. 4 -? 0. 5%.

These beams are designed for negative bending moment which is caused due to load reversal expected during earthquake. 8 Hidden Beam Plastic Hinge: As moment increases, the linear stress distribution form persists and the extreme fiber stress reaches the yield stress value. Further increase in the bending moment cannot produce any increased fiber-stress but causes yield to spread into the inner fibers. As the bending moment Increases more and more fibers reach the yield stress until the final state, the whole of the section will yield. The complete yielding across the section of a beam is termed as plastic hinge. The section now carries the maximum bending moment without strain hardening taking place. The beam can carry no further load.

Any further load will only result in increased deflection. The beam will behave as if t is hinged at the plastic section and a condition of collapse has been reached. Reduced Beam Section: This is a section of beam which is provided along the length of steel beams. These will have their area of cross section lesser than the proceeding section to an extent that it will just act as a plastic hinge. In case of steel section also a circular arc will be cut in the required flange portion of p. Reduced Beam Section Pre tensioning Technique: In case Of domes and shell Structures, the lateral thrust experienced will be more. This fault is answered well by pre tensioned concrete.

In case of huge trustees like nuclear 9 rectors, large pning domes we will be having a thin walled cylindrical tube of diameter about 10 to 15 CM and steel rods will be packed tightly. Pre tension elements (After & Before Concreting) Then stressing will be done as per design and then the micro concrete is injected in pressure into the tube. This setup is then done with normal concreting. It will resist the lateral thrust in an effective manner. Techniques to Adopt on Sky Scrappers: While speaking about large multistoried buildings we can’t simply go in for normal strengthening of beams, columns, and other structural elements. There we had an alternative to speak about some elements such as Bearing, Bracing, Friction pendulum and Dampers which are primarily meant to take Vibration produced by lateral force.

Rubber Bearings: Rubber bearings are made from layers Of rubber with thin steel plates between them, and a thick steel plate on the top and bottom. The bearings are placed between the bottom of a building and its foundation . The bearings are designed to be very stiff and strong for vertical load to carry the weight of the building and designed to be much weaker for horizontal loads, so that they can move sideways due to lateral thrust. Rubber Bearing Viscous Dampers Viscous Dampers: Viscous fluid dampers are meant as shock absorbers. They consist of a closed cylinder containing a viscous fluid and a piston having small holes in its head. As the 10 piston move in and out of the cylinder oil is forced in and out causing friction.

The damper is usually installed as part of a building’s bracing system using single diagonals. As the building sways to and fro, the piston is forced In and out of the cylinder. Friction Dampers: Friction dampers are designed to have moving parts that will slide over each other. The damper is made up from a set Of steel plates, with slotted holes in hem, and they are bolted together. At high enough forces, the plates can slide over each other creating friction causing energy dissipation. The plates are specially treated to increase the friction between them. Friction Dampers Cross Bearings (In foundation) Cross Bracing: These are very common in case of vertical load distribution.

But we can also adopt this technique to foundation, in which the entire building will be laid in a cross horizontal bracing rather than placing it directly on foundation. It will distribute the load to joints and through foundation finally. Friction bearing (Location, Appearance) 11 Friction Pendulum: Considering about the large multistory buildings, we can always expect some appreciable movement in it base due to the vibration. Instead to resist against it completely we can allow the structure to deform at its foundation level by provision of friction pendulum without damaging the structural integrity.

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Chinese Parenting vs. Western Parenting

English 101 Prof. Shapiro Chinese Parenting vs. Western Parenting Everyone who has come to America came for specific reasons: to make a living, to raise a family and, moreover, watch their children do the same. I grew up surrounded by family that only spoke about getting the best education, so that when we grow up we would be someone who carries on the family name, be someone who is renowned, that pronounced that whatever we were to thrive for throughout our lives, to make the best out of it. Just like Asian parents, my parents had certain expectations from my siblings and I as well.

As I interviewed my father, I learnt the way he has helped raise us, is quite similar to my grandmothers. Even though they had the qualities of Western parents by being strict yet not destructing our self-image, their philosophy of raising children was similar to Chinese parenting, they stressed for us to achieve academic success. Combination of both has shown me how important persistent parents are. Education was really vital to my parents upon growing up, they were always concerned about our homework, studying, meeting teachers at school and especially extra curricular activities.

They had several restrictions, yet they were vigilant; they didn’t bind us from having the liberty of our own, but it helped them steer us in the right pathway. I remember well, as soon as we would arrive home from school we were ordered to do our homework, and study for what was required, and if we fortunately had free time before going to sleep we were allowed to watch our favorite shows before going to bed. If we had a test the following day, we knew that we would have to watch television on the weekend instead. Even if we didn’t do as good as they would want us to on our test; they would still praise us for our effort.

The praise was an element of Western parenting, gave essence to our relationship with them, I believe if my parents didn’t assimilate with us as well as they did, or embrace our flaws in a subject, our parents wouldn’t be as close and understanding to us. It gave me a sense of understanding that my parents understand me as well, and want for us to do as well as we can. “The concept of “self-esteem” was non-existence to them. When I asked my father what his parents expected of him he said, “well, they wanted us to do well in school but most importantly they wanted us to be disciplined. He said “we were made sure to greet our elders with respect, and if mistakenly we didn’t, we were put in out places right in front of them However, even though he follows his parents methods in raising us, he makes we understand it. “Once when I was young, maybe more than once, when I was extremely disrespectful to my mother, my father angrily called me “garbage” in our native Hokkien dialect” stated by Amy Chua in her essay, my father thinks otherwise, He would sit and talk to us about respecting the elders, just so he knows he’s not damaging our self-esteem with shallow harsh words.

Some of the activities we were restricted of included not going to sleepovers, it was part of the few things we weren’t allowed to do. However, they made it up to us by allowing us to attend birthday parties, as we started to get older. I never really understood as to why my parents would not allow us to do so, but I believe it was for our own benefit. Living in the United States with diverse religions, it was crucial to my parents to do whatever they could to preserve it. Whatever they have done, they take it as their most prized accomplishment. Since we were young, we were put in an Islamic school, from elementary till high school.

We understood from a young age that religion was a significant part of our lives. When I began attending Islamic school in second grade, I had no idea why I wore the headscarf as the uniform along with long black dress-type clothing. As I got older and matured I understood my religion with greater insight, and along with that I understood why our parents put my sister and I in an Islamic school. As I got to high school, it was as if my parents left the understanding of Islam upon us, that’s where I recognized the western qualities of their values, they now understand that the insight we have is going to last with us forever.

Now that we’ve grown up friends of my parents ask them how they have raised such children, as it is hard to achieve that here in America, which is always answered with “a little control goes a long way. ” Comparing the two styles of parenting, we’ve seen the struggles they’ve been through to get us where we are today, and it is only fair that we do the same in return even though it may never be enough, we know that they would appreciate it just as much. Word Count: – 863

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