Helsinki University of Technology

About: Helsinki University of Technology is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Artificial neural network & Finite element method. The organization has 8962 authors who have published 20136 publications receiving 723787 citations. The organization is also known as: TKK & Teknillinen korkeakoulu.

Mechanical properties of structural steel at elevated temperatures and after cooling down

Abstract: An experimental research programme was carried out during the years 1994-2001 in the Laboratory of Steel Structures at Helsinki University of Technology in order to investigate the mechanical properties of several structural steels at elevated temperatures by using mainly the transient state tensile test method The aim was to produce accurate material data for use in different structural analyses The main test results are public and they are available for other researchers In this paper the experimental test results for the mechanical properties of the studied steel grades S350GD+Z, S355 and S460M at fire temperatures are presented with a short description of the testing facilities A test series was also carried out for cold-formed material taken from rectangular hollow sections of structural steel S355J2H and these test results are also given in this report The mechanical properties of structural steel after cooling down have also been examined briefly and these test results are given in this report The test results were used to determine the temperature dependencies of the mechanical properties, ie yield strength, modulus of elasticity and thermal elongation, of the studied steel material at temperatures up to 950degreesC The test results are compared with the material model for steel according to Eurocode 3: Part 12

Reversible switching between superhydrophobic states on a hierarchically structured surface

Abstract: Nature offers exciting examples for functional wetting properties based on superhydrophobicity, such as the self-cleaning surfaces on plant leaves and trapped air on immersed insect surfaces allowing underwater breathing. They inspire biomimetic approaches in science and technology. Superhydrophobicity relies on the Cassie wetting state where air is trapped within the surface topography. Pressure can trigger an irreversible transition from the Cassie state to the Wenzel state with no trapped air—this transition is usually detrimental for nonwetting functionality and is to be avoided. Here we present a new type of reversible, localized and instantaneous transition between two Cassie wetting states, enabled by two-level (dual-scale) topography of a superhydrophobic surface, that allows writing, erasing, rewriting and storing of optically displayed information in plastrons related to different length scales.

Summary of human responses to ventilation

Abstract: The effects of ventilation on indoor air quality and health is a complex issue. It is known that ventilation is necessary to remove indoor generated pollutants from indoor air or dilute their concentration to acceptable levels. But, as the limit values of all pollutants are not known, the exact determination of required ventilation rates based on pollutant concentrations and associated risks is seldom possible. The selection of ventilation rates has to be based also on epidemiological research (e.g. Seppanen et al., 1999), laboratory and field experiments (e.g. CEN 1996, Wargocki et al., 2002a) and experience (e.g. ECA 2003). Ventilation may also have harmful effects on indoor air quality and climate if not properly designed, installed, maintained and operated as summarized by Seppdnen (2003). Ventilation may bring indoors harmful substances that deteriorate the indoor environment. Ventilation also affects air and moisture flow through the building envelope and may lead to moisture problems that deteriorate the structures of the building. Ventilation changes the pressure differences over the structures of building and may cause or prevent the infiltration of pollutants from structures or adjacent spaces. Ventilation is also in many cases used to control the thermal environment or humidity in buildings. Ventilation can be implemented with various methods which may also affect health (e.g. Seppdnen and Fisk, 2002, Wargocki et al., 2002a). In non residential buildings and hot climates, ventilation is often integrated with air-conditioning which makes the operation of ventilation system more complex. As ventilation is used for many purposes its health effects are also various and complex. This paper summarizes the current knowledge on positive and negative effects of ventilation on health and other human responses. The focus of the paper is on office-type working environment and residential buildings. In the industrial premises the problems of air quality are usually more complex and case specific. They are subject to occupational safety legislation and not discussed here.

Icasso: software for investigating the reliability of ICA estimates by clustering and visualization

Abstract: A major problem in application of independent component analysis (ICA) is that the reliability of the estimated independent components is not known Firstly, the finite sample size induces statistical errors in the estimation Secondly, as real data never exactly follows the ICA model, the contrast function used in the estimation may have many local minima which are all equally good, or the practical algorithm may not always perform properly, for example getting stuck in local minima with strongly suboptimal values of the contrast function We present an explorative visualization method for investigating the relations between estimates from FastICA The algorithmic and statistical reliability is investigated by running the algorithm many times with different initial values or with differently bootstrapped data sets, respectively Resulting estimates are compared by visualizing their clustering according to a suitable similarity measure Reliable estimates correspond to tight clusters, and unreliable ones to points which do not belong to any such cluster We have developed a software package called Icasso to implement these operations We also present results of this method when applying Icasso on biomedical data

Cognitive and motor loops of the human cerebro-cerebellar system

Abstract: We applied fMRI and diffusion-weighted MRI to study the segregation of cognitive and motor functions in the human cerebro-cerebellar system. Our fMRI results show that a load increase in a nonverbal auditory working memory task is associated with enhanced brain activity in the parietal, dorsal premotor, and lateral prefrontal cortices and in lobules VII-VIII of the posterior cerebellum, whereas a sensory-motor control task activated the motor/somatosensory, medial prefrontal, and posterior cingulate cortices and lobules V/VI of the anterior cerebellum. The load-dependent activity in the crus I/II had a specific relationship with cognitive performance: This activity correlated negatively with load-dependent increase in RTs. This correlation between brain activity and RTs was not observed in the sensory-motor task in the activated cerebellar regions. Furthermore, probabilistic tractography analysis of the diffusion-weighted MRI data suggests that the tracts between the cerebral and the cerebellar areas exhibiting cognitive load-dependent and sensory-motor activity are mainly projected via separated pontine (feed-forward tracts) and thalamic (feedback tracts) nuclei. The tractography results also indicate that the crus I/II in the posterior cerebellum is linked with the lateral prefrontal areas activated by cognitive load increase, whereas the anterior cerebellar lobe is not. The current results support the view that cognitive and motor functions are segregated in the cerebellum. On the basis of these results and theories of the function of the cerebellum, we suggest that the posterior cerebellar activity during a demanding cognitive task is involved with optimization of the response speed.