Skyscrapers, Damping Systems, and Physics :: physics buildings skyscraper architecture

Skyscrapers are amazing! Architectural defeats. Wonders of the world. How are they able to withstand even the strongest of winds and earthquakes? Today, engineers rely on damping systems to counteract nature's forces. There are many types of damping systems that engineers can now use for structures, automobiles, and even tennis rackets! This site focuses on damping systems in structures, mainly architectural variations of the tuned mass damper. How Tuned Mass Dampers Work A tuned mass damper (TMD) consists of a mass (m), a spring (k), and a damping device (c), which dissipates the energy created by the motion of the mass (usually in a form of heat). In this figure, M is the structure to which the damper would be attached. From the laws of physics, we know that F = ma and a = F/m. This means that when an external force is applied to a system, such as wind pushing on a skyscraper, there has to be an accleration. Consequently, the people in the skyscraper would feel this acceleration. In order to make the occupants of the building feel more comfortable, tuned mass dampers are placed in structures where the horizontal deflections from the wind's force are felt the greatest, effectively making the building stand relatively still. When the building begins to oscillate or sway, it sets the TMD into motion by means of the spring and, when the building is forced right, the TMD simultaneously forces it to the left. Ideally, the frequencies and amplitudes of the TMD and the structure should nearly match so that EVERY time the wind pushes the building, the TMD creates an equal and opposite push on the building, keeping its horizontal displacement at or near zero. If their frequencies were significantly different, the TMD would create pushes that were out of sync with the pushes from the wind, and the building's motion would still be uncomfortable for the occupants. If their amplitudes were significantly different, the TMD would, for example, create pushes that were in sync with the pushes from the wind but not quite the same size and the building would still experience too much motion. The effectiveness of a TMD is dependent on the mass ratio (of the TMD to the structure itself), the ratio of the frequency of the TMD to the frequency of the structure (which is ideally equal to one), and the damping ratio of the TMD (how well the damping device dissipates energy).

Optimizing Operations at United Parcel Service Essay

United Parcel Service (UPS) is the world’s largest air and ground package-distribution company, with annual sales of about $34 billion. It is also a leading provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. Following its nearly 100-year promise of the â€Å"best service and lowest rates,† this company currently delivers over 13. 6 million parcels and documents every business day within the United States and in over 200 other countries and territories. UPS’s primary business is timedefinite delivery of packages and documents worldwide. It has established a global transportation infrastructure and comprehensive set of guaranteed delivery services, including integrated supply chain solutions for major companies. UPS is the industry leader in the delivery of goods purchased over the Internet. UPS operates a ground fleet of more than 88,000 vehicles, including its famous brown delivery trucks and large tractors and trailers. In the United States, UPS manages 27 large package operating facilities as well as over 1,000 additional smaller package operating facilities. The smaller facilities have vehicles and drivers stationed for the pickup of packages and for the sorting, transfer, and delivery of packages. UPS owns or leases nearly 600 facilities to support its international package operations and over 750 facilities that support nonpackage operations. This vast ground delivery system is integrated with express air services that use 600 airplanes. UPS operates the ninth largest airline in North America and the eleventh largest in the world. UPS aircraft operate in a hub and spokes pattern in the United States with a primary air hub in Louisville, Kentucky, nd six other regional air hubs in various cities throughout the United States. These hubs house facilities for the sorting, transfer, and delivery of packages. UPS estimates that this integrated door-to-door delivery system carries goods worth more than 2 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). The company faces relentless competition from such other organizations as FedEx, DHL Worldwide Express, the United States Postal Service, Deutsche Post, and TNT Post Group. Although UPS is the overall leader, the company is not number one in every way. For example, FedEx, with about $34 billion in annual sales, leads the market in overnight deliveries, whereas DHL is the leader in cross-border (international) express deliveries. To meet competitors head on, UPS long ago started investing heavily in advanced information systems. Technology powers virtually every service the company offers and every operation it performs. UPS offers many choices: overnight air versus low-cost ground delivery, simple shipping or a panoply of supply chain and warehousing services. Customers can choose the delivery option or service that is most cost-effective and appropriate for their requirements. UPS has been using its automated package-tracking system to monitor all packages throughout the delivery process, collecting electronic data on 93 percent of the packages that move through U. S. systems each day. Its customers can track their own parcels and letters using the UPS Web site, and many customers can also track their items on their own computers using a UPS system that the customers embed into their own Web sites. However, UPS’s competition now uses much of this same tracking technology and is moving into areas where UPS has been dominant. FedEx, for instance, is trying to become a player in ground palletized-freight and international shipping. It wants to funnel package data from all of its operations into a single transparent system. Fierce competition has stimulated UPS to find even more innovative ways of servicing customers while also reducing its own costs. UPS management believes the company is still a leader in reliable package delivery and that its unmatched integrated air and ground network provide it with a level of service quality and economies of scale that differentiate it from competitors. The company’s strategy emphasizes increasing core domestic revenues by cross-selling its existing and new services to a large and diverse customer base. It hopes to grow its package business by offering services for synchronized commerce, elping customers manage the flow of goods, information, and funds throughout their supply chains. For example, UPS developed Web-based software for DaimlerChrysler AG to manage centrally all parts moving to and from more than 4,500 dealerships. While expanding these services, UPS hopes to limit the rate at which expenses are growing. It is counting on information technology–driven efficiencies to increase its operating profit. In 2003, UPS announced plans to invest $600 million to simplify and optimize its package-sorting and delivery systems. Management believes that this systems investment will produce significant gains in efficiency, reliability, and flexibility. Once fully deployed in 2007 in over 1,000 UPS package-sorting facilities, these systems are expected to reduce operating costs by approximately $600 million each year. In 2003, UPS domestic operating profit declined $304 million, caused by both slow growth in revenue coupled with higher operating expenses. Higher costs for fuel and higher rents both played major roles in expense increases.

Supply And Demand Essay - 1003 Words

Recent medical advances have greatly enhanced the ability to successfully transplant organs and tissue. Forty-five years ago the first successful kidney transplant was performed in the United States, followed twenty years later by the first heart transplant. Statistics from the United Network for Organ Sharing (ONOS) indicate that in 1998 a total of 20,961 transplants were performed in the United States. Although the number of transplants has risen sharply in recent years, the demand for organs far outweighs the supply. To date, more than 65,000 people are on the national organ transplant waiting list and about 4,000 of them will die this year- about 11 every day- while waiting for a chance to extend their life through organ donation†¦show more content†¦The converse of a complementary good is a substitute good. In the organ market, a substitute good really depends on what organ is being considered. â€Å"People with diseased livers [are] particularly at risk because there is no medical alternative to transplantation for keeping a patient†¦alive.† The only two obvious substitute goods for a liver transplant would be extensive medical care and pain medications. On the other hand, someone with diseased kidneys has more options. One obvious option would be dialysis. But, when looked at as a whole, the organ market does have substitute goods. If the â€Å"price† of organs increases (whether due to an increase in demand or decrease in supply) the demand for the substitute good will increase. Since the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 prevents a monetary price from being placed on a donated organ, effective allocation mechanisms must be utilized. Allocation mechanisms must be accessed because the shortage of supply compared to the demand. In any market, allocation mechanisms rely on many factors but some include friendships, â€Å"under the table† payments, predicted profit, and personal biases. In the organ market, several allocation mechanisms come to mind. There is always the possibility that a particular patient has a family member or friend that is in the organ transplantation profession,Show MoreRelatedSupply And Demand Of Demand1442 Words   |  6 Pages Supply and Demand Kimberly Jo DeVoy Western Governor’s University â€Æ' Supply and Demand A. Elasticity of demand represented as â€Å"Ed† is defined as a â€Å"measure of the response of a consumer to a change in price on the quantity demanded of a good† (McConnell, 2012). 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