Trunk poetry is an investigation of a tree, its natural form shaped by its environment, how it can be disassembled and understood through different methods and tools, and how its parts can be reassembled to form structural elements based on the capacity of the natural forms. This research consists of three phases which are a combination of a historical perspective on identifying and harvesting construction timber, digital processing such as photogrammetry and physical experiments connected to the construction of structural elements. The focus has been on the natural capacity of the tree, identifying possible architectural or structural functions for its different parts, and from there experimenting on how they could be combined in a structure. Based on the references I have used, and my own research in this thesis, I strongly believe that photogrammetry could be a viable method to investigate a tree and test it digitally in an early stage. Instead of deforesting large areas at the same time, with small percentages being useful for construction of houses, it could give us a possibility to do tests on trees still standing in the forest.

Masters of Architecture / Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / 1219 Colorado is the documentation of the nonlinear process of design as it applies to the reconfiguration of a residential dwelling. This process is illustrated through a collection of sketches, design drawings, construction documents and images produced from 1999 to 2005. 1219 Colorado investigates materiality the physical substance of architecture, as well as the nature of thoughtful connection physical and theoretical through the process of making. The need to build, to make, to design, and explore is what drives the process. While the space of architecture is most often designed and perceived as lines on paper, it is through the making of physical models that the creative act of discovery reveals its greatest potential. The process explores the design of a model constructed at full-scale. No longer representational, the study is the product; the materials and methods are genuine. This process differs from the process of building in that the intention is no longer to construct only that which is designed. Rather the challenge is to explore beyond the design, reveal new possibilities, refine design decisions, and most importantly to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities that are revealed through the act of making. The scope of the task expanded periodically as a function of increasing knowledge of construction, declining acceptance of the quality of the existing condition and in order to accommodate an evolving set of programmatic requirements. To date the construct has under gone no less than three different design schemes, and a fourth will follow as the process continues to be refined and reconsidered. The project continues to evolve, grow, and change directions. 1219 Colorado explores design is not a linear process. Architecture is not always pretty.

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ABSTRACT The HEMS system has been gaining global attention due to its huge potential for home application in conserving energy. It is the goal of this research to study to analyze: 1. The Intelligent Operational Strategies under local Weather Conditions 2. Full-scale Experimental Investigation of the HEMS system, including the HVAC and Lighting Controls 3. Energy Savings Effect of each HEMS strategy developed and its Economic Feasibility The experimental result indicated that the HEMS system can be established efficiently in applying: For Air-conditioning Systems: Intermittent Ac PMV-assisted AC Mode DSM-controlled AC mode Predictive Control AC Mode Free-cooling Mode, and For Lighting Systems : Lighting on Demand Mode Task Lighting Sequential Control Lighting Daylighting Humane-sensored Lighting The experimental result indicated that over 30% energy savings can be experienced with huge potential for wide engineering applications.

Ship motions in a seaway have long been of great importance, and today with advanced hull forms and higher speeds they are as important as ever. While one can now often adequately predict heave, pitch, sway, yaw and even surge, roll motions are much more difficult. Roll is the one motion that is very dependent upon viscous effects of the fluid. Recently, at David Taylor Model Basin, there have been model experiments where the bilge keels were instrumented in order to directly measure their damping force upon the vessel. To build upon this work and to validate it when applied to full scale vessels, a trial using the Italian naval vessel Nave Bettica was performed. The objective of this thesis is to describe the experiment, present and analyze the results, and offer some conclusions based upon these results. The process of instrumenting the port bilge keel using strain gages and correlating their output to pressures and total forces is described. Selected results for different forward speeds are presented, with full results in the appendices. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was also performed during the test and was used to measure the flow field in a three foot by three foot area under the aft end of the same bilge keel. Selected image series are presented, as is a methodology for using these images to calculate the center of pressure and the corresponding results. / Master of Science

Roadside safety hardware has traditionally been approved on the basis of full-scale crash tests. In recent years, nonlinear dynamic Finite Element (FE) programs like LS-DYNA, PAM-Crash or ABAQUS Explicit have been widely used in evaluating new or improved design of roadside hardware. Although a powerful tool, numerical models must be properly verified and validated in order to provide reliable results. Typically, the verification and validation (V&V) process involves a visual comparison of two curves and is based on a purely subjective judgment. This research investigated the use of comparison metrics, which are mathematical measures that quantify the level of agreement between two curves, for comparing simulation and experimental outcomes in an objective manner. A computer program was developed in Matlab® to automatically evaluate most of the comparison metrics available in literature. The software can be used to preprocess and compare either single or multiple channels, guiding the user through friendly graphical interfaces. Acceptance criteria suitable to represent the typical scatter of experimental tests in roadside safety were determined by comparing ten essentially identical full-scale vehicle crash tests. The robustness and reliability of the implemented method were tested by comparing the qualitative score of the computed metrics for a set of velocity waveforms with the corresponding subjective judgment of experts. Moreover, the implemented method was applied to two real validation cases involving a numerical model in roadside safety and a model in biomechanics respectively. Eventually, the program showed to be an effective tool to be used for assessing the similarities and differences between two curves and, hence, for assisting engineers and analysts in performing verification and validation activities objectively.

"A series of full-scale fire tests were performed, using a fire compartment and an adjoining long (30+ m) corridor, as part of an effort to quantify the dynamics associated with smoke transport within a corridor. The tests were performed at the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center’s Fire and Safety Test Detachment in Mobile, Alabama on board the Test Vessel Mayo Lykes. The resulting empirical data was analyzed in an effort to develop a method that could be used to estimate the movement of smoke within a corridor. The objective is to potentially incorporate this method into a smoke movement analysis “tool” that could, in turn, be used in conjunction with a fire safety analysis methodology previously developed by the U.S. Coast Guard; the Ship fire Safety Engineering Methodology (SFSEM). The goal is to develop a smoke movement analysis “module” that can be utilized in conjunction with the SFSEM when conducting an overall fire safety analysis of a ship. Of particular interest is the speed at which the smoke propagates along the length of the corridor. The focus of a smoke movement module would be life safety. A conservative assumption is made that if smoke is present in sufficient quantities to fill a corridor, then the corridor is to be considered untenable and not available as a means of egress. No attempt is made to address toxicity or density issues associated with smoke. This analysis developed correlations for the corridor smoke velocity, both as a function of the heat release rate of the associated fire and the upper layer temperatures within the fire compartment. Problems associated with the data collection and the narrow range of fire sizes used had a detrimental impact on the confidence level in the correlation based on heat release rate. The data do appear to confirm the results of previous efforts that indicated a weak relationship between the heat release rate and smoke velocity, on the order of the one-third to one-fourth power. The temperature data tended to be less problematic. This correlation shows promise for potential use with both the SFSEM and other existing computer models/routines. However, unlike previous studies of this relationship, the results of these data suggest that the velocity-temperature relationship is linear and not a square-root function. The test data were compared to predictive results using the CORRIDOR routine within FPETOOL. In general, the CORRIDOR results provided a reasonable good correlation to the tests data. Both the wave depth and temperature loss within the wave, as a function of distance, were consistently over-predicted. The velocity results were mixed, but were generally within 20 percent of the test data. The results of this study show promise, with respect to developing a correlation that can be used a method for predicting smoke movement in a corridor. However, due to the questionable nature of some of the data estimates, coupled with both a lack of sufficient number of tests and a limited range of fire sizes used, additional test data will be required to further validate the accuracy and refine the correlation(s) suggested by this work."

In this study, buildings in southern Taiwan area were selected to perform full-scale energy auditing experiment so that the energy consumption of each building can be analyzed comparatively. The result of experimental investigation and computer simulation were compared analytically with good accuracy obtained. The result can further facilitate as the design guide and energy indexes to be adapted in the national building energy code in the future

Keywords: EAC, full-scale experimental Validation, ABRI Lab, VRV The VRV air-conditioning system has been gaining overwhelming popularity in recent years due to its superb merits such as high energy efficiency, lower power consumption, low noise and increasing thermal comfort. During last phase of study, computer simulation using the DOE 2.1 as a tool has been performed systematically to establish a calculation equation for the EAC for Green Building Evaluation Indexes, in replacing the currently adapted fixed constant of 0.8. It is the goal of this year¡¦s project to further validate this equation by conducting a series of full-scale experiments at the ABRI Tainan Laboratory. The experimental result will be organized as a model to revise the equations established during last phase of study with good accuracy. Various different VRV systems which were commercially available on the local air-conditioning market will be adapted so that comparative study can be performed among them. The IPLV curves, which are the essential performance curve of each specific VRV system will then be obtained under local weather conditions. It is expected that through the execution of this project, the calculation equation of the VRV system to be adapted in the Green Building EAC evaluation index will be finalized and validated by the full-scale experiments. The test facilities established during this phase of study will then become the most suitable location of similar tests when building energy conservation is concerned.

Due to lacking of natural resources, the major energy utilized in Taiwan are mostly imported, including oil (50.9%), Coal (32.3%), and natural gas (8.1%), nuclear (7.3%) and hydraulic power (1.4%). Therefore, energy saving strategies have become a global trend and needs immediate action so that CO2 emission can be reduced. To coup with the Kyoto protocol, building energy conservation has been deemed as a policy of no regret and aiming at 20% savings in the whole nation. In this research, building energy conservation strategies, especially on HVAC systems which have been widely adapted in Taiwan will be analyzed and validated with full-scale experimental results. Efforts will be especially focused on commercial and residential buildings, so that their energy savings effect can be analyzed quantitatively.