Messaoud Saidani

Health and safety influence on the construction project performance in United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The traditional performance measurements of time cost and quality are no longer the only benchmarks for construction projects. In recent years there is an additional target of health and safety requirements challenging construction performance to plan more thoroughly. Wherever reliable records are available, construction is found to be one of the most dangerous safety criteria. Efforts have been made to address this problem but the results have been far from satisfactory as construction accidents continue to dominate. Despite the programs implemented by government authorities and measures introduced by companies themselves the number of construction accidents still remains alarmingly high. The principal aim of this research is to determine the importance of integrating and improving health and safety standards within construction project management in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to investigate the extent health and safety influencethe construction project performance. Therefore, in the developing countries the construction industry continues to lag behind most other industries particularly as a consequence of inadequate organisational issues. From this perspective this research explores the approved methods adopted in the UK in order to improve the existing code of practice in the UAE thus introduce the foundations on which appropriate health and safety systems may be built. An overview of the published materials and the updated legislation were undertaken. To achieve the objectives of the study a questionnaire and interviews were carefully designed where 350 copies were distributed to construction industry companies in the UAE. Interview sessions have been also conducted to meet the first objective of the project which is to determine the health and safety currently applied on construction sites.The overall result of this research denotes that some safety managers were more concerned about cost than health and safety and in the UAE there is still a lack of preventive measures for reduction of occupational safety and illness on construction sites.

The effect of joint eccentricity on the distribution of forces in RHS lattice girders

Abstract This paper is concerned with investigating the effect of joint eccentricity on the local and overall behaviour of truss girders made from rectangular hollow section members. Three typical truss girders with identical general layout and comprising different joint eccentricities are analysed. Different numerical models of analysis are presented and the implications for design are discussed.

Behaviour of T-end Plate Connection to RHS: Part I: Experimental Investigation

Publisher Summary Rectangular Hollow Section (RHS) members are often used as compressive members due to their good buckling stiffness. One of the simplest ways to connect tubular members is by cutting the ends and welding them together. However, depending on joint configuration and number of members connected, this may result in complex and expensive connections. The alternative would be to connect the members together through some other means. One of the most economical solution is to weld a cap plate to the tube (CHS or RHS) and then to weld on it a cleat plate. The connection could be made entirely in the workshop, thus reducing labor work on site. This chapter investigates the behavior of welded T-end plate connections through a series of tests. The DENISON machine with a capacity of 500 kN is used for the testing of joints. A tensile load is applied in increments of 10 kN up to failure. The strains and deformations are recorded for each load increment into a computer logged to the testing machine. The results suggest that considerable stress re-distribution and strain hardening takes place after the first yield. More tests are under way for true rectangular hollow section tubes.

Investigating and Ranking Labor Productivity Factors in the Egyptian Construction Industry

This article sets out to investigate and rank the factors that affect labor productivity in the Egyptian construction industry. To achieve this, a quantitative research methodology is adopted and it entails the use of structured survey questionnaires. The data obtained was analysed using the relative importance index. The results from the analysis revealed ten major factors affecting labor productivity in the construction industry in Egypt. These factors are: tools and equipment shortages; delay in material delivery on site; payment delay; undisciplined labor; material shortage; rework; labor expensive and skills; low quality of raw material; waiting for equipment to arrive; and on-site accident. Consequently, these findings would serve as a useful tool and a basis to make recommendations to governmental and construction personnel regarding the productivity of labor in the Egyptian construction industry.

The impact of consolidation and interparticle forces on cohesive cement powder

Abstract Cement powder particles of micronic size tend to form agglomerates due to the influence of interparticle forces (Van der Waals forces). The formation of agglomerates results in an increased air-void in the solid structure (aerated powder) requiring an increase in water demand to sustain the feasibility of the structure. Consequently, if the compound formed is not stabilized, it would have low mechanical strength that may result in cracking of hardened cement. In this study, the results of cement powder consolidation and its flow properties show that its behaviour is controlled by internal forces (Van der Waals) and external forces (elastic and plastic). These forces have a direct influence on the powder structure, leading to a variable packing behaviour (void reduction). Consolidated cement powder shows a decrease in the void structure leading to a more efficient material. This study intends to determine the impact of interaction forces between cement particles during consolidation.

Justifying the need for a data security management plan for the UAE

Purpose – As the United Arab Emirates (UAE) organizations are embarking onto the intensive technology world where the exchange of information is increasingly taking place through electronic means and data are stored electronically, this paper attempts to investigate the need to develop a UAE data security strategy and a detailed framework that can ensure the safety of data and can also cope with all types of disasters expected in the country. The paper also reviews and analyses the types of hazards in the UAE.Design/methodology/approach – In order to obtain a global view on how organizations in the UAE are managing the security of their electronic information, a questionnaire has been designed and distributed with the aim of obtaining a clear understanding of their data security procedures, practices, and policies.Findings – The research has shown that organizations from the outset should have a set‐plan, which has to be periodically analyzed, reviewed, and modified to keep abreast of the technological ad...

The Behaviour of T-end Plate Connection to SHS: Part II: A Numerical Model

Publisher Summary Material nonlinearities occur when the stress is a nonlinear function of the strain. The relationship is also path dependant, as the stress depends on the strain history as well as the strain itself. ANSYS theory for elasto-plastic analysis provides the user with three main elements—the yield criterion, the flow rule, and the hardening rule. For materials with isotropic plastic behavior, the assumption of isotropic hardening under loading conditions postulates that. As plastic strains develop, the yield surface simply increases in size and maintains its original shape. ANSYS uses the von Mises yield criterion with the associated flow rule and isotropic (work) hardening. When the equivalent stress is equal to the current yield stress, the material is assumed to undergo yielding. The solutions of nonlinear elastic and elasto-plastic materials are usually obtained by using the linear solution, and modified with an incremental and iterative approach. As plasticity is path dependant or a nonconservative phenomenon, it requires that in addition to the multiple iterations per load step, the loads be applied slowly in increments, in order to characterize and model the actual load history. Therefore, the load history needs to be discretized into a number of load steps with the presence of convergence tests in each step. ANSYS recommends a practical rule for load increment sizes such that the corresponding additional plastic strain does not exceed the order of magnitude of the elastic strain.