Workshops, Seminars, Symposiums & Conferenceshttp://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/88562024-03-29T09:22:26Z2024-03-29T09:22:26ZThermal Performance of Precast Panel BuildingsG.W.T.I. MadhushankaS.S. BandaranayakaM.T.R. JayasingheH.M.S.T. Herathhttp://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/211732023-10-13T02:33:09Z2023-03-16T00:00:00ZThermal Performance of Precast Panel Buildings
G.W.T.I. Madhushanka; S.S. Bandaranayaka; M.T.R. Jayasinghe; H.M.S.T. Herath
T.M. Rengarasu
Energy consumption by buildings plays a major role in the sustainable and
economic development of a country. In Sri Lanka, the electricity supply is not
adequate to meet the rising demand. Therefore, the cost of electricity can be
expected to increase in the future, resulting in a corresponding increase in the
operating cost of dwellings. Several energy-efficient building materials with low
thermal conductivities have been developed to increase the thermal comfort of
buildings and reduce operational costs. Precast sandwich panels were assumed to
be one of them. This paper presents a comparative study among precast panels,
bricks, and hollow concrete blocks to evaluate the merits of precast sandwich
panels and methods to increase their thermal performance. A selected housing
unit was modeled and analyzed for thermal performance using DEROB-LTH for
different wall materials. From the obtained results, it shows the window area is a
crucial factor and for a low window area, the most thermally favorable material is
precast panels. Then the model was altered to investigate the passive techniques
that can apply to the house for better thermal comfort. It was recommended to use
window shadings with sufficient length and to increase window opening
percentage.
2023-03-16T00:00:00ZAdoption of Precast Hollow Core Panels for External Walls of Multistorey BuildingsR. SubakaranH.M.S.T. HerathM.T.R. Jayasinghehttp://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/211722023-10-13T02:33:13Z2023-03-16T00:00:00ZAdoption of Precast Hollow Core Panels for External Walls of Multistorey Buildings
R. Subakaran; H.M.S.T. Herath; M.T.R. Jayasinghe
T.M. Rengarasu
Due to the increasing population and reduced availability of usable lands for
construction activities, many residential and commercial buildings are becoming
medium- to high-rise structures globally. Complementing this trend, the Sri Lankan
construction industry has incorporated precast products as core elements in several
projects due to their better performance, enhanced quality, elevated control,
reduced leading time of construction, adaptability of novel technologies in
construction and controlled material processing during manufacturing. During the
past decade, precast wall panels became one of the popular precast panel elements
satisfying both load-bearing and non-load bearing structural requirements in Sri
Lanka. Originally, precast wall panels were intended to be used as internal partition
wall panels, which are not expected to resist loading nor undergo significant
deformations. This paper focuses on verifying the usability of such precast panels
as external wall panels in multi-storey buildings, where their load resistance is
investigated under lateral wind loads and vertical deformations due to column
shortening effects. In addition, using the shape optimization technique in-built into
ABAQUS CAE advanced finite element software, a better layout for the precast wall
is also proposed and their performance is compared with the current standard
layout under similar loading and boundary conditions. It was found out that the
optimized precast hollow core panels are 19.88% less in volume with similar
performance and can be used as external wall panels to withstand wind induced
lateral loads in multistorey buildings. The recommendations on how many panels
shall be used in a single assembly are also presented.
2023-03-16T00:00:00ZSimultaneous Development of Research Skills and Environmental Awareness through Library Orientation : a Case StudySeneviratne, ThushariJayawardena, Chulanthahttp://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/193902023-10-13T00:36:46Z2022-09-21T00:00:00ZSimultaneous Development of Research Skills and Environmental Awareness through Library Orientation : a Case Study
Seneviratne, Thushari; Jayawardena, Chulantha
Cabral, U. P.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are divided into three categories: economic, social, and
environmental. Of the 17 SDGs that were introduced by the United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, goals from 13 to 15 can be considered as directly related to the environment.
Environmental awareness is important for every individual to minimize the influence of man-made
disruptions and ensure the long-term sustainability of the environment and society. For the above
purpose, adequate knowledge sharing and sufficient access to relevant, up-to-date information would
be essential. The libraries can be effective facilitators, provided innovative strategies which are
deployed to engage with the users. Traditionally, libraries would be mostly responsible for developing
an information collection and enabling users to access those resources. Accordingly, the library
orientation sessions for undergraduates would primarily consist of showcasing and familiarizing them
with the variety of resources available for reference, typically through several mutually exclusive
examples. In contrast, this study, based on the student feedback survey results, has been conducted
with several instances of a single realistic example that is familiar and has a sensible as well as
significant storyline. In order to develop research skills and environmental awareness simultaneously,
the library orientation session on "first steps in research" for the most recent intake of engineering
undergraduates at the University of Moratuwa was adapted to raise environmental awareness of the
Bologoda wetland system. It is the largest freshwater wetland arrangement with a high ecological,
social, and economic value, in addition to having the Bolgoda Lake adjacent to the university premises.
A lecture on the importance of literature review in research was followed by an introductory situational
awareness of Bolgoda Lake and the wetland system prior to allowing the students to perform a guided
literature survey to retrieve information from a variety of sources. This included choosing a topic from
among five specific areas on the Bolgoda wetland system, namely: illegal encroachment and landfilling
in the Bolgoda area; flood risk management through the Bolgoda wetland system; waste dumping
adjacent to Bolgoda lake; the impact of water pollution on the biodiversity of Bolgoda lake; and the
economic benefits of developing recreational activities in Bolgoda lake. Out of 812 online participants,
792 submitted the assignment and feedback through a circulated Google form, where Likert scale was
used to measure the level of awareness and perception of the session content. The results revealed that
the awareness of the Bolgoda ecosystem had significantly improved from "Poor" 36.05 % to 0 %;
"Fair'' 14.01% to 5.44 %; "Satisfactory" 13.61 % to 24.49 %; "Very Good" 4.08 % to 45.58 % and
"Excellent" 12.24 % to 24.49 %. Furthermore, the majority of the participants were active (90.35 %)
throughout the session with a satisfaction of 94.55 % for learning outcomes, 92.47 % for session
content, and 90.27 % for assignment activity. In comparison to the previous records of identical
exercises annually conducted by the library for fresh undergraduates, these are the highest achieved in
terms of activity and successful rates. In conclusion, this reveals that the library could effectively be
involved with environmental awareness development across the domains of undergraduate education,
which directly contributes to the future decision-makers while catering to the requirements of SDG’s.
2022-09-21T00:00:00ZCitation analysis of Masters in Information Technology theses available in Library, University of MoratuwaSeneviratne, T.M.Kodikara, R.C.http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/190042022-10-12T03:31:35Z2022-09-08T00:00:00ZCitation analysis of Masters in Information Technology theses available in Library, University of Moratuwa
Seneviratne, T.M.; Kodikara, R.C.
Library records indicate postgraduates reading for MSc. in Information Technology use less printed information resources. Library University of Moratuwa has subscribed reputed databases in such subject specialties. Though downloads from these databases are significantly increasing, their real usage has not been evaluated. By analyzing citations of theses and dissertations of MSc. in Information Technology, usage information resourcescan be identified.Population of the study comprises 250 Masters in Information Technology theses of Faculty of Information Technology, University of Moratuwa submitted during 15-year period from 2006-2020. Stratified random sampling was used to select sample of 152 theses according to the year of submission. Three thousand five hundred seventeen citations were found in 152 MSc. in Information Technology theses with 23 average citations per thesis. More than 50 % of the citations were within the period from year 1996 to 2020.Majority of citations are from Websites (38.24 %). Journals (23.20 %), books (16.12%) and conference proceedings (12.88 %) dominate thereafter. Majority of the information sources cited are available electronically (70.4 %). When authorship patters are considered, it was found 781 citations are by individual authors; 1313 publications by corporate authors and 1416 publications by multiple authors. Though affiliation could not be identified in 40.3 % citations, others belong to 50 countries and United States of America (14.3 %) in the highest position. Majority (23) of the studies have been carried out in the sub-field of Information Systems and ‘Software Engineering’ by Ian Sommerville ranked first (12.5 %) among 184 authors and co-authors of books. International Journal of Computer Applications received 5.63 % of citations. Five out of 10 highly ranked journals are available in subscribed databases of Library, University of Moratuwa. Out of 141 listed conferences, 49.64 % of the conference proceedings are available in IEEE Explore Digital Library; 32.6 % are available in ACM Digital Library; 2.1 % are available in both databases. It can be concluded that current Library collection is mostly utilized to satisfy research needs physically as well as electronically.
2022-09-08T00:00:00Z