The present study investigates the capability of different hysteresis models in representing the nonlinear behaviour of Recycled Rubber-Fibre Reinforced Bearings (RR-FRBs). A recently developed class of uniaxial phenomenological models is considered along with the Bouc-Wen Model (BWM). In particular, Bilinear Model (BM) and Exponential Model (EM), belonging to the class of above-mentioned phenomenological models, are used. The restoring force-displacement loops of RR-FRBs obtained from the different models are compared with the experimental studies retrieved from the literature. These first results show that the EM not only can accurately predict the behaviour of RR-FRBs, but it also requires a significantly lower computational time. Furthermore, to investigate the capability of the models in predicting the complete response of base-isolated structures, nonlinear time history analyses are carried out on a base-isolated rigid block with RR-FRBs. The response time histories of the rigid block and the restoring force-displacement loops obtained by using the EM are found to be in close agreement with the results obtained by adopting the BWM. In addition, the EM computational time is only 0.25 % of BWM. This clearly demonstrates the efficiency of EM in the seismic response analyses of base-isolated structures with RR-FRBs.
Floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems are one of the globally emerging technologies of renewable energy production that tend to balance the water–energy demand by effectively saving the evaporated water from reservoirs while generating electrical power. This study presents the performance analysis of a model FPV plant in an Indian reservoir. The Mettur dam reservoir located in Tamil Nadu, India with a hydroelectric power plant of 150-MW capacity is considered as a test case. The preliminary design of the FPV plant is proposed based on a detailed study of the key design elements and their suitability for Indian reservoirs. The proposed plant is numerically analysed for various tilt angles, mounting systems and tracking mechanisms in order to assess its potential power generation. A flat-mount system in landscape orientation was found to exhibit a high performance ratio. Further, a fixed-tilt FPV system with a panel slope of 10° and an FPV system with single-axis tracking were found to be suitable for the Mettur reservoir. Further, cost analysis of the FPV system is also presented along with the carbon-footprint estimation to establish the economic and environmental benefits of the system. The results show that the total potential CO2 saving by a FPV system with tracking is 135 918.87 t CO2 and it is 12.5% higher than that of a fixed-mount FPV system.
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