Introduction into seismic design of buildings.

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This article was written based on Indian building codes.

Response reduction factor R for buildings in seismic design.

In the seismic design (earthquake) of masonry structures, design forces can be reduced by an R factor for seismic design. This factor is called response reduction factor. The R factor depends on the type of structure. Generally the R values are lower for unreinforced masonry structures and higher for reinforced masonry structures. For R factor related to the type of structure you are designing, consult the building code. In seismic zones or zones prone to earthquakes, the building code will specify the general requirements and type of building to be built.

Seismic weight.

 Seismic weight is the weight of the building that will participate in developing inertial forces during an earthquake. That is the calculated weight based on dead and live loads that will participate in the event of an earthquake.

Importance factor (I) in seismic design

Similar to the response reduction factor, importance factor is also used to adjust the design forces used in seismic design. The I factor increases based on how important the building is. The I  factor is based on whether the building is public or private. For the same kind of building the I factor is increased for public buildings. This is because there is tendency for much more people to be on this type building at the same time.

Design seismic coefficient (Ah)

The design seismic coefficient is calculated based on several factors. These factors are; seismic zone factor, response reduction factor, importance factor and spectral ratio.

As per the Indian building code, Seismic coefficient ;

Ah =(Z/2)(Sa/g)/(R/I) .

Z is seismic zone factor, Sa/g is spectral ratio, R is response reduction factor and I is importance factor.

General requirement for buildings to resist seismic vibrations.

  • Slenderness of the building should be limited as much as possible. This should reduce the possibility of bulking under vertical loads.
  • Building should provide adequate stability against overturning from horizontal forces.

The above points can be achieved if the building is properly designed and adequately  braced using beams, columns, cross walls and buttresses where appropriate.

English Premier league scores round up. (Round 2)

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Everton Vs. West Bromwich Albion 5-2. Everton win.

Leeds United Vs Fulham 4-3. Leeds United win.

Manchester United Vs Crystal Palace 1-3. Manchester United win

Arsenal Vs West Ham United 2-1. Arsenal win

Southampton Vs Tottenham Hotspur 2-5. Tottenham Hotspur win

Newcastle United Vs Brighton & Hove Albion 0-3. Brighton & Hove Albion win

Chelsea Vs Liverpool 0-2. Liverpool win

Leicester City Vs Burnley 4-2. Leicester City win

Aston Villa Vs Sheffield United 1-0. Aston Villa win

Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Manchester City 1-3 Manchester City win

[team_standings 925]

PS5 Gaming Console Launches in November 2020

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The PS5 gaming console launches in November 12 2020. The much anticipated PlayStation 5 will launch in 2 variants; the only digital edition and Blu ray drive & digital edition.The only digital edition will sell for $399, while the Blu ray drive combo digital edition will sell for $499. You can pre-order at selected retail stores. For more information, visit playstation.com.

PS5 gaming console features.

According to Sony, the PS5 console will come with the following features;

Stunning graphics:

The PS5 will bring a new level of realism as rays of light will be individually stimulated creating true to life shadows and reflections. The console is fully 4k, so you can play it on your stunning 4k TV. It will achieve a high frame rate during game play of up to 120 frames per second. It is also 8k ready so you can play on your 4230p Tv.

Lightning speed 

The PS5 will load games in an instant with the power of its custom CPU, GPU and SSD. The speed is so fast that game creators can now design games that were never before possible.

Backwards compatibility

You can play PS4 games on the PS5 console.

Upgrade PS4 games to PS5 games (digital)

The PS5 gives the ability to upgrade PS4 games to PS5. For instance, the upcoming FIFA 2021 will be released on the PS4 but can be upgraded to play on the PS5 console when it is out.

PlayStation®VR integration

You can play a lot of PlayStation VR games on your PS5 console, however, you will need PlayStation Camera for PS4 and a PlayStation Camera adaptor. More details on how you can claim an adaptor will be shared on PlayStation.com.

Nigeria major News Round up 16th September 2020

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Nigerian students set to join other unions in upcoming nation wide protest against petrol and electricity tariff price hike.

The association of Nigerian students are set to join other unions for an upcoming nation wide strike to protest hikes in petrol and electricity fees. The students argues that despite Nigeria being a major oil producing country, it doesn’t have a functional refinery which could have made price of petrol a lot cheaper. They also rejected the recent increase in the price of electricity tariff. More of the story on Sahara reporters.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian labour congress (NLC) has given the federal government 2 week to reverse the recent hike in petrol and electricity tariffs or face civil unrest nation wide. This is according to the punch newspaper.

The federal government of Nigeria currently in talks with the trade unions to avert any form of strike or civil unrest over the recent price hikes.

English Premier league scores round up. (week 1)

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Here are the English premier league scores of matches played from 12th to 14th September 2020.

Fulham vs Arsenal 0-3. Arsenal win.

Burnley vs Manchester United. (not yet played)

Crystal Palace vs Southampton 1-0. Crystal Palace win.

Manchester City vs Aston Villa. (not yet played)

Liverpool vs Leeds United 4-3. Liverpool win.

WestHam United vs Newcastle United 0-2. Newcastle win.

West Bromwich Albion vs Leicester City 0-3. Leicester City win

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton 0-1. Everton win.

Sheffield United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2. ( Wolverhampton win)

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Chelsea 1-3. (Chelsea win)

Tenses in English Grammar

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Past perfect tense.

The Past perfect is used to describe an action that occurred earlier in the past before another action that also occurred in the past. It is also used to describe 2 or more actions in the past. Past perfect tense is used to tell stories. The structure of a past perfect tense is Had + Past participle. E.g

Tola had eaten.

Sola had gone to school.

Tola cooked dinner after she had bought food.

In the last example; ‘cooked’ is the simple past tense while ‘had bought’ is the past perfect tense. ‘had bought’ is the past perfect tense because it is the action that occurred earlier in the sentence. The past perfect is the earlier action in time.

Simple past tense.

Simple past tense is used to describe an action that occurred in the past. It is used to tell stories. E.g

I cooked the meat.

Wale went to school.

I went to school and I played football.

Present perfect simple tense.

The present perfect simple tense is an action in the past that has an effect in the present. The structure of present perfect simple tense is as follows;

Pronoun + have/has + past participle.

The present perfect simple tense also tells two or more actions in the past that are the same. It is also used to tell achievement.

Examples:

I have eaten bread. ‘have eaten‘ is the present perfect simple tense.

I have been to Nigeria four times.

The football match has ended and everyone has gone home.

Past perfect continuous.

The past perfect continuous has the structure, had been + (verb) ing.

Past perfect continuous is used to tell two or more actions in the past, emphasising how long one action took before the other one started.

It is also used to state how long an action has continued in the past.

Examples:

I had been working for 5 hours. In this example, ‘had been working’ is the past perfect continuous tense. It tells us that a work which started in the past, has continued for 5 hours.

I had been sitting outside for 5 minutes when I was called in. This example tells of an action in the past that continued for 5 minutes before another action began.

Present continuous tense

The present continuous tense is used to describe an action happening now or at the moment. It’s structure is as follows;

Pronoun + am,is are,+ (verb) ing.

Examples:

I am washing clothes.

They are reading.

Present perfect continuous tense.

The present perfect continuous tense is used to state an action that happened in the past that may continue into the future. Its structure is as follows;

Pronoun + Have/has + been + past participle.

Examples;

We have been living together for 3 months.

You have been eating.

Dangote company has been producing sugar for 5 years

Passive tense

A sentence is passive when the subject or person doing the verb is not known or is not necessary. The structure of passive tense is;

Be + past participle

Examples;

  • The laptop was opened.
  • Rice is being cooked.
  • Large meetings are held in this room.
  • The match was watched by thousands of people.