Noriaki Nomura

Influence of aggregate size on fracture process zone of concrete detected with three dimensional acoustic emission technique

Abstract Three dimensional acoustic emission technique is applied to observe the phase of the fracture process zone of concrete which is created ahead of the crack tip and significantly influences the tension softening behaviour of concrete. The results show that the fracture process zone is already created at the peak load and then the active AE event zone moves towards the buttom of the specimen. It is also revealed that the fracture process zone may expand as the crack grows and the expanding rate of the process zone is influenced by the aggregate size. 0

Correlation of fracture process zone and tension softening behavior in concrete

Abstract Relation of fracture process zone to tension softening behavior of concrete has been studied using an acoustic emission (AE) source location technique and a simulation of tension softening behavior in double cantilever beam specimens. AE source distribution along ligament at three loading levels and visible cracks on the surfaces of specimens were related to tension softening phase simulated by means of a fictitious crack model. The results indicate that the beginning of descending branch in tension softening diagram corresponds to micro crack localization and extension and that the tail of tension softening is attributed to the bridging mechanism at the interface between the matrix and aggregates.

The visual information load as a parameter for designing pleasurable environment

This paper reports a study on the relation between the informational content of an artificially built environment and the emotional response to this environment. It presents the hypothesis that human response to a visual scene is influenced by the information of the scene and there is a uniform relationship between informational load of an architectural scene and the affective response. The paper defines an estimation function for entropy in a visual scene, then describes an experiment in which observers were asked to indicate their affective response to a computer generated renderings of an architectural interior, manipulated to have varying information on content by addition of textures and furnishing. The computer measured informational load was compared with the subjective evaluations of the respondents, for important interior characteristics like comfort, relaxation and attractiveness. The paper presents proofs that the measurement of the informational load of the scene is a unique characteristic of the given architectural interior.

An Evaluation of Role-Playing Gaming on Reformation Toward Sustainable Rural Society: How to Awaken a Regional Context in Citizens

By the second run of our new role-playing game in Miharu, we could grasp details of its effect. Our RPG has already been confirmed in its effect of giving a new viewpoint to town planning by a trial run. Adding some devices and improvements to the trial run, we could find out what type of citizens would have been aware of regional views of the town. That is, the RPG of context-discordance gives us a methodological validity to support a regional planning in awakening a regional context in critical citizens.