Civil and Structural Engineering

Precast industrial buildings in Southern Europe: Loss of support at frictional beam-to-column connections under seismic actions

This paper presents the evaluation of the loss-of-support conditions in frictional beam-to-column connections of industrial precast concrete buildings under seismic actions. This type of connection is widespread throughout Southern Europe in non-seismically designed industrial precast buildings. First, geometric properties of industrial precast buildings and of the frictional beam-to-column connections, together with reference values for the friction coefficient, are reviewed.

A new method to predict the critical incidence angle for buildings under near-fault motions

It is well known that the incidence angle of seismic excitation has an influence on the structural response of buildings, and this effect can be more significant in the case of near-fault signals. However, current seismic codes do not include detailed requirements regarding the direction of application of the seismic action and they have only recently introduced specific provisions about near-fault earthquakes. Thus, engineers have the task of evaluating all the relevant directions or the most critical conditions case by case, in order to avoid underestimating structural demand.

A methodology for a complete simulation of Cyber-Physical Energy Systems

The number of computation cycles used for simulation-based Verification of Cyber Physical Energy Systems is outpacing the available throughput of simulation resources. In this paper, a methodology for the verification of the CPES at hand with the aim of full coverage of the system's states is proposed. This approach relies on representing the unpredictable behaviour of the environment in order to cover all feasible possible scenarios. Processed by JModelica, the simulation results are covering the system's complete dynamic behaviour.

Life cycle assessment of photovoltaic implementation: an Italian case study

The energy efficiency is the possibility and ability to carry out a production process consume with the involves of less energy and minor environmental impact. Life Cycle Assessment is one of the major tools involved in the economic, social and environmental evaluation. The aim of this work is the LCA application to an Italian company that provides to install a photovoltaic plant for the energy self-maintenance, in order to break down costs and environmental impacts. The photovoltaic business can be an interesting solution especially for companies which consume more energy during the day.

A multiscale force-based curved beam element for masonry arches

This paper presents a Timoshenko beam finite element for nonlinear analysis of planar masonry arches. Considering small displacement and strain assumption, the element governing equations are defined according to a force-based formulation that adopts three different parametrizations of the axis planar curve, permitting the exact description of the element geometry for arbitrarily curved arches. Specific quadrature techniques are illustrated to perform numerical integration over the curved axis.

Mixed 3D beam element with damage plasticity for the analysis of RC members under warping torsion

This paper describes the simulation of RC members with a three-dimensional (3D), 2-node beam finite element (FE) that includes warping of the cross section. A previously proposed FE formulation is extended to allow the description of structural members with softening material behavior. The governing equations are derived from an extended four-field Hu-Washizu variational principle, with independent interpolation of the warping displacement field from the rigid section displacement, the generalized section deformation, and the material stress fields.

Reconnaissance of geotechnical aspects of the 2016 Central Italy earthquakes

Between August and November 2016, three major earthquake events occurred in Central Italy. The first event, with M6.1, took place on 24 August 2016, the second (M5.9) on 26 October, and the third (M6.5) on 30 October 2016. Each event was followed by numerous aftershocks. The 24 August event caused massive damages especially to the villages of Arquata del Tronto, Accumoli, Amatrice, and Pescara del Tronto. In total, there were 299 fatalities, generally from collapses of unreinforced masonry dwellings.

Modified cyclic steel law including bond-slip for analysis of RC structures with plain bars

The paper describes a modified cyclic bar model including bond-slip phenomena between steel reinforcing bars and surrounding concrete. The model is focused on plain bar and is useful, for its simplicity, for the seismic analyses of RC structures with plain bars and insufficient constructive details, such as in the case of '60s -'70s Mediterranean buildings.

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