Volume 12 (2016): Issue 4 (December 2016)

Flash floods are highly variable phenomena in both time and space. Therefore, tools with the potential to provide early warning are needed to analyse them. In Europe, flash floods often occur on small catchments; it has already been shown that the spatial variability of rainfall has a great impact on the catchment response. The aim of this paper is to use a coupled hydrological-hydraulic model (MIKE SHE/MIKE 11) to determine the rainfall thresholds and transformation coefficients from hourly rain to other durations, which will lead to flooding of the inhabited areas to the ungauged Ungureni catchment. The model was calibrated and validated using a reference discharge previously obtained by UTCB at the downstream gauge section of Teleorman River (Tatarastii de Sus) using MIKE 11 UHM module. Once the rainfall thresholds are determined, they can be used in flood forecasting and issuing warning with lead time for the inhabitants of the two villages located in Ungureni watershed. The method proposed in this paper can be used for other watersheds prone to flooding, so warnings can be issued with lead time.

This paper focuses on the collapse analysis of a planar RC frame. This research is based on an experimental study presented in the literature. The analyses are conducted using a dedicated software based on the Applied Element Method. This numerical method is able to model accurately all the structural behaviour stages leading up to the collapse itself. A very good match between the experimental and numerical results is observed. The numerical investigation highlights several behaviour stages for the model RC frame. Moreover, the contribution of the RC slab and the impact of the concrete strength on the overall collapse mechanism is discussed and evaluated through numerical investigation.

Through this paper the author aims to study and find solutions for automatic detection of traffic light position and for automatic calculation of the waiting time at traffic light. The first objective serves mainly the road transportation field, mainly because it removes the need for collaboration with local authorities to establish a national network of traffic lights. The second objective is important not only for companies which are providing navigation solutions, but especially for authorities, institutions, companies operating in road traffic management systems. Real-time dynamic determination of traffic queue length and of waiting time at traffic lights allow the creation of dynamic systems, intelligent and flexible, adapted to actual traffic conditions, and not to generic, theoretical models. Thus, cities can approach the Smart City concept by boosting, efficienting and greening the road transport, promoted in Europe through the Horizon 2020, Smart Cities, Urban Mobility initiative.