ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The fracture of ductile materials is currently regarded as a complex and challenging phenomenon to characterise and predict. Recently, a bond-based, non-local theory was formulated called the peridynamic ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Bridges are amongst the most important structures of any highway network. Once the bridge construction is complete and a bridge is put into service, it is subjected to deteriorations. An effective condition ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Collapsible soil is one of the most widely distributed problematic soils in the world including South Africa. Extreme leaching and erosion of the colloidal matter and fine particles creates a structure ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Self-compacting concrete (SCC) also referred to, as self-consolidating concrete, is a relatively new concrete technology used in the construction industry. It is able to flow under its own weight and ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a global project to build the world’s largest telescope that stretches over at least 3000 km. There is a number of factors that need to be considered during the planning ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Thin bituminous surfacings, in particular sprayed seals, are used quite extensively in various countries because they provide a low cost alternative to conventional asphalt. Seals furthermore provide an ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Hybrid concrete construction (HCC) is a construction technique that makes use of both in-situ and pre-fabricated concrete products by making optimum use of the advantages of both these methods in the same ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A number of large “solar farms” have already been built in South Africa and more are under construction. Many of these make use of banks of photovoltaic panels mounted on a frame-work supported on columns ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The basic idea of Satellite and Lunar Laser Ranging (S/LLR) is to improve our understanding of gravity. The earth-moon system is a good workspace to test the theories of gravity. By measuring the ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The evolution of roller compacting concrete has led to stepped spillways becoming increasingly popular over recent decades, mainly credited to the fact that the stepped profile of the downstream dam ...