Building Engineering & Architecture

Concrete fracture is governed by randomly distributed aggregate particles, which make cracks fundamentally not planar. This phenomenon can be captured only by 3D models. Within the 3D framework, material heterogeneity and displacement discontinuity must be incorporated. Lattice models allow to consider all these aspects adequately. In this thesis a lattice model is used to analyze the influence of the material structure on the global structural response and to compare results from 2D and 3D modelling.

Knowingly taking risk is essential to the success of the real estate development business. Investing in real estate development projects, which are characterised by complexity and uncertainty, implies that high risks are taken. Interestingly, little is known about how real estate development organisations have incorporated the skills and procedures necessary to deal successfully with the risky nature of the business. This thesis offers insight into the investment decision making process of three prominent Dutch real estate development companies.

This study of Mamluk metalwork fittings presents a hitherto largely ignored body of Mamluk metalwork objects, i.e. metal-faced doors, doorknockers, window grilles, and window shutters, and aims to trace their stylistic and technical development throughout the Mamluk period.

Collaborative design has been emerging in building projects everywhere. The more complex a building project becomes, the closer and more intensive collaboration between the design actors is required. This research focuses on collaborative design in the conceptual architecture design phase, especially during the elaboration of the masterplan and the development of the preliminary building designs.

During the last decade of the 20th century the road safety policy in a number of Northern European countries has shifted from an approach in which the road users had to adjust to the traffic system towards the concept of an inherently safer road system. The basic idea of this concept is to prevent accidents from happening in the first place.

The design of tall and irregularly shaped buildings becomes more and more usual. A profound understanding of the force transfer and the serviceability conditions in these types of structures is needed. In this dissertation a new method is developed for the design of irregularly shaped tall buildings under wind load.