0000000000713015
AUTHOR
Iain Peter Dunn
A Top-Down Approach Based on the Circularity Potential to Increase the Use of Reclaimed Asphalt
Resource depletion and climate change, amongst others, are increasingly worrying environmental challenges for which the road engineering sector is a major contributor. Globally, viable solutions that comply with the principles of circular economy (CE) are being investigated that can replace conventional asphalt mixtures in a post-fossil fuel society. The use of reclaimed asphalt (RA) is a widely used and well-established method to reduce the environmental and economic impacts of asphalt mixtures while increasing their circularity. However, RA’s market supply and demand have not yet been systematically analyzed and established. Moreover, the actual circularity potential and the opportu…
A Novel Solution to Find the Dynamic Response of an Euler–Bernoulli Beam Fitted with Intraspan TMDs under Poisson Type Loading
This contribution considers a virtual experiment on the vibrational response of rail and road bridges equipped with smart devices in the form of damping elements to mitigate vibrations. The internal damping of the bridge is considered a discontinuity that contain a dashpot. Exact complex eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are derived from a characteristic equation built as the determinant of a 4 x 4 matrix
Examining the critical factors that influence the success of construction and demolition waste reverse logistics operations
The reverse logistics (RL) performance of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) differs significantly between countries. Although some countries are successfully circular, other countries are still far behind; with C&DW being largely directed to landfills or being illegally dumped. There is a lack of guidelines on the requirements for transitioning countries towards C&DW diversion, and little attention has been given to the factors that influence the success of C&DW RL and increased circularity. This study aims to develop a framework that helps in structuring and assessing the success of C&DW RL on a regional level and serves as a guide for transitioning developing co…
An Innovative Ambient Identification Method
Ambient modal identification, also known as Operational Modal Analysis (OMA), aims to identify the modal properties of a structure based on vibration data collected when the structure is under its operating conditions, i.e., no initial excitation or known artificial excitation. This procedure for testing and/or monitoring historic buildings, is particularly attractive for civil engineers concerned with the safety of complex historic structures. However, since the external force is not recorded, the identification methods have to be more sophisticated and based on stochastic mechanics. In this context, this contribution will introduce an innovative ambient identification method based on appl…
STATE OF PRACTICE IN THE C&DW SECTOR WHILE PURSUING CIRCULAR ECONOMY: THE ITALIAN RECYCLED MATERIALS MARKET IN ROAD ENGINEERING
Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) is mainly produced during the construction, demolition, or renovation activities of engineering structures and it accounts for a remarkable amount of the total C&DW generated, as it is estimated to be around 30%. This proportion differs across countries belonging to different types of economies and tends to be greater in countries with developing economies reaching 74% of total annual production. There is a plethora of applications that C&DW can be used for under a circular economic model and in this research study a focus is being given in the utilization of C&DW within the pavement engineering sector, and more specifically, in the u…
Comparing the Material Circularity Index of the Italian and Spanish motorways: A case study over the Mediterranean basin
Closely following the attempt of the pavement engineering industry to comply with the principles of Circular Economy (CE) while simultaneously promoting its principles, it can be detected that a significant effort is being made towards the minimization of the energy and raw materials usually utilized. In this regard, Reclaimed Asphalt (RA) is a product that exhibits a tremendous exploitation potential. Knowing that by definition CE is restorative [1], regenerative, and aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times [2], i.e. it supports the “re-circulation” of materials and energy within the same or alternative product systems and thus the e…
Random vibration mitigation of beams via tuned mass dampers with spring inertia effects
The dynamics of beams equipped with tuned mass dampers is of considerable interest in engineering applications. Here, the purpose is to introduce a comprehensive framework to address the stochastic response of the system under stationary and non-stationary loads, considering inertia effects along the spring of every tuned mass damper applied to the beam. For this, the key step is to show that a tuned mass damper with spring inertia effects can be reverted to an equivalent external support, whose reaction force on the beam depends only on the deflection of the attachment point. On this basis, a generalized function approach provides closed analytical expressions for frequency and impulse res…
Understanding the current state of practice in the construction and demolition waste sector through the lenses of circular economy: The Italian recycled materials market for the road construction sector
Construction and demolition waste (CeDw) is mainly produced during the construction, demolition, or renovation activities of civil engineering structures and it accounts for a remarkable amount of the total C&Dw generated, as it is estimated to be around 30%. This proportion differs between countries belonging to different types of economies and tends to be greater in countries with developing economies reaching 74% of total annual production. There is a plethora of applications that C&Dw can be used for under a circular economic model and in this research a focus is being given in the exploitation of C&Dw within the pavement engineering sector, and more specifically, in the uti…
Increasing the Use of Reclaimed Asphalt in Italy towards a Circular Economy: A Top-Down Approach
This contribution concerns recommendations which could be made to Italian regulatory bodies to improve their use of reclaimed asphalt (RA) in the road engineering sector. It is essential for the use of RA to be established as a standard practice since it has been proven that it can serve as an end-of-waste product that complies with the principles of a circular economy within both an open- and a closed-loop approach [1,2]. Several aspects will be covered, starting with an analysis of European nations whose economies can be classed as “more circular” compared to Italy’s. This refers to nations which have a high usage of RA. Furthermore, nations which have clear regulatory guidelines on the u…