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Earth has been a traditional building material to construct structures in many different continents. In particular, adobe buildings are widely diffused in South America, and in Peru where form part of the cultural identity of the nation. Nowadays, the knowledge of existing adobe buildings is far from a complete understanding of the constructive system and a structural health monitoring (SHM) can quantify and reduce uncertainties regarding their structural performance without causing damage to the buildings. In this process, the implementation of automatic tools for feature extraction of modal parameters is desirable. In particular, the automation is important because, during a long-term monitoring, a huge amount of data is recorded and the direct check of the data of the user is not possible. The present work is focused on the development of an automated procedure for managing the results obtained from the parametric identification method, in particular from the Data-Driven Stochastic Subspace Identification method, which requires an automatic interpretation of stabilization diagrams. The work presents a fully automated modal identification methodology based on the following steps: (i) digital signal pre-processing of the recorded data; (ii) modal parameter identification using models with varying dimensions; (iii) automatic analysis of the stabilization diagram with the application of soft and hard validation criteria and the use of hierarchical clustering approach to eliminate the spurious modes; and (iv) automatic choice of the most representative values of the estimated parameters of each clustered mode: natural frequency, damping and mode shape. The developed algorithm was firstly tested with an inverted steel pendulum to check the accuracy and sensitivity, and subsequently, an earthen wall built in PUCP Structure Laboratory was analysed to determine its dynamic behaviour. The developed algorithm shows high percentages of detected frequencies and high sensitivity to the environmental and structural changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitaria is the property of Universidad de Guanajuato/Acta Universitaria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The first aim of this paper is to provide an illustration of fabric survey, damage assessment, and structural consolidation of the mud brick structures of Al Ain, an oasis in the United Arab Emirates. The buildings mostly date to the turn of the last century and it was concluded that damage of such vernacular architecture is represented by thermal movement, structural cracks, leaning walls, granular disintegration, erosion and creation of preferential channels, and coving. Furthermore, damage caused by animals and by recent interventions was also surveyed. The second aim of the paper is to illustrate the structural consolidation of mud brick masomy by explaining the work undertaken in the mosque of Al Jahili (1891-1898). This includes eroded wall repair, window filling, repair of cracks with the stitching technique, wall top consolidation, and roof repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of APUNTES - Journal of Cultural Heritage Studies is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of APUNTES - Journal of Cultural Heritage Studies is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The conservation of earthen sites poses challenging questions regarding conservation methods and historic preservation. The National Park Service and other site managers have to strike a balance between conserving the sites while presenting them to the public: there is no ideal choice. It is impossible to prevent a ruin from continuing to deteriorate without changing its appearance or its status as a ruin. Therefore, the conservation of historic earthen ruins should perhaps be more appropriately thought of as a process which slows the pace of decay, rather than suspending or preventing it. This paper looks at over one hundred years (from 1889 to the present) of site conservation at a variety of earthen historic and archaeological sites in the American Southwest. In each case, the National Park Service manages and treats the earthen ruins. The main categories of conservation techniques, and the preservation questions that these techniques raise, are examined along with their advantages and disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archivo de Prehistoria Levantina is the property of Museu de Prehistoria de Valencia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Adobe has been used as a construction material for hundreds of years, and even today, a great number of people still live in adobe houses in various parts of the world. This is for reasons of local availability and because buildings constructed from adobe can create healthier environments. As a case study, this paper analyses a building complex made primarily of adobe masonry and reinforced concrete. The complex, a country club located 35km from Istanbul, consists of a 19-room hotel, a restaurant, and a horse stable. Both the hotel and restaurant were constructed in two flats of locally produced adobe and have been in service since 1998. This paper describes the construction techniques and methods used to produce the adobe. It presents experimental tests of the mechanical and physical properties of the material, comparing to local construction standards and to the properties of other common building materials. Finally, the paper evaluates the suitability of adobe masonry construction for the Istanbul area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Adobe is a construction technique that uses soil (a mixture of clay, sand and water), stabiliser and binder as raw materials that are mixed and moulded to form sun-dried blocks. The objective of this study was to assess how various factors affected the dynamic response of the thermal performance of adobe constructions. On the basis of a bibliographical survey the main factors that affect the thermal behaviour of adobe constructions were ascertained. Dynamic thermal simulation software, thermal analysis system (TAS), was employed to simulate the performance of adobe constructions using synthetic weather data to reproduce the climatic conditions for three regions from different latitudes in Mexico. An orthogonal array Taguchi was used to define the range of models required to test the various relevant performance parameters and to relate these through observed behaviour patterns. With this tool it was possible to develop an understanding of the complex interactions between variables. In particular, dynamic thermal simulation allowed an understanding of the time lag in delivering/storing energy to and from the indoor environment within the adobe constructions and how this affected the diurnal variations of internal temperatures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the stages of O'odham architecture. It emphasizes that schooling helped an end to a stage of O'odham architecture. The age of sticks in O'odham architecture is featured. Stick means a length of wood in its natural state. It also explores the age of adobe. It is asserted that this age was a good time for the O'odham.

Presents information on an adobe conservation project with seventh- and eighth-graders in the Pueblo of Zuni in New Mexico. Background of the project; How to establish a traditional architecture curriculum; Objectives in traditional architecture curriculum.

Spanish colonial settlement of the Moquegua valley of far southern Peru was oriented economically toward production of wine and brandy. A total of 130 wine hacienda sites (bodegas) can be identified there, primarily on the basis of adobe structures on hills bordering the valley. These sites had both residential and ‘industrial’ functions, and their arrangements can be described by four site plans or layouts. This article describes the ‘industrial’ sectors of the sites, particularly the facilitiesfor wine and brandy making (crushing tanks, rooms holding earthenware fermentation jars, distillery apparatus) and the functionally ‘specialized’ site plan. Facilities were arranged spatially to incorporate gravity flow in moving liquids. The technology and organization of wine-making at the Moquegua sites evince similarities not only with Spanish models, but also with much earlier Roman wine-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]