Search results for " SCIENZA"

Truth and Historicism in Kuhn’s Thesis of Methodological Incommensurability

2013

Methodological incommensurability is a Thomas Kuhn’s thesis affirming that there are not shared, objective methodological rules or neutral scientific standards for theory comparison and choice. This thesis has often been interpreted as a relativistic and irrationalist claim on the incomparability of scientific theories. Since every paradigm refers to its standards, problem-field and aims, theory choice is subjective and arbitrary. Moreover it seems that, in his latest works, Kuhn abandons this aspect of incommensurability to focus on semantic incommensurability. On the contrary I will argue against the interpretation of methodological incommensurability as a source of epistemological relati…

Effect of environmental conditions on the durability of polycarbonate for the protection of cultural heritage sites.

2019

Polycarbonate is a good material for covering and protecting cultural heritage sites because of its durability, mechanical properties, and transparency. However, polycarbonate degrades under environmental weathering with a significant decrease of physical and mechanical properties and loss of transparency. In this work, the contemporary presence of ultraviolet irradiation and different temperature and moisture conditions have been taken into account to study the environmental degradation of this polymer with regard to its mechanical and optical properties. The photo-oxidation reactions cause a decrease in the molecular weight and the formation of many oxygenated species. The hydrolytic sci…

On the vibrations of a mechanically based non-local beam model

2012

The vibration problem of a Timoshenko non-local beam is addressed. The beam model involves assuming that the equilibrium of each volume element is attained due to contact forces and long-range body forces exerted, respectively, by adjacent and non-adjacent volume elements. The contact forces result in the classical Cauchy stress tensor while the long-range forces are taken as depending on the product of the interacting volume elements and on their relative displacement through a material-dependent distance-decaying function. To derive the motion equations and the related mechanical boundary conditions, the Hamilton's principle is applied The vibration problem of a Timoshenko non-local beam …

Finite-Element Formulation of a Nonlocal Hereditary Fractional-Order Timoshenko Beam

2017

AbstractA mechanically-based nonlocal Timoshenko beam model, recently proposed by the authors, hinges on the assumption that nonlocal effects can be modeled as elastic long-range volume forces and moments mutually exerted by nonadjacent beam segments, which contribute to the equilibrium of any beam segment along with the classical local stress resultants. Long-range volume forces/moments linearly depend on the product of the volumes of the interacting beam segments, and on pure deformation modes of the beam, through attenuation functions governing the space decay of nonlocal effects. This paper investigates the response of this nonlocal beam model when viscoelastic long-range interactions a…

A new displacement-based framework for non-local Timoshenko beams

2015

In this paper, a new theoretical framework is presented for modeling non-locality in shear deformable beams. The driving idea is to represent non-local effects as long-range volume forces and moments, exchanged by non-adjacent beam segments as a result of their relative motion described in terms of pure deformation modes of the beam. The use of these generalized measures of relative motion allows constructing an equivalent mechanical model of non-local effects. Specifically, long-range volume forces and moments are associated with three spring-like connections acting in parallel between couples of non-adjacent beam segments, and separately accounting for pure axial, pure bending and pure sh…

Torsional shear strength and elastic properties of adhesively bonded glass-to-steel components

2020

Nowadays glass is widely used in building applications and coupled to steel through adhesive joining. Reliable mechanical characterization of these joints is necessary to design and predict the final structure performance.In this framework, the aim of this paper is to measure the pure shear strength and elastic modulus for design and modelling of adhesive joined glass-to-steel structures.Torsional shear strength and elastic properties of an adhesively bonded glass-to-steel component were measured on several joined steel-to-steel and steel-to-glass samples.An epoxy resin-based adhesive was used as joining material for AISI304 steel and soda-lime glass.The same steel and adhesive were used to…

Analytical Solution of the 4ENF Test with Interlaminar Frictional Effects and Evaluation of Mode II Delamination Toughness

2018

The present paper proposes an analytical solution of the four points bend end-notched flexure test (4ENF) with frictional contact between the delamination surfaces. The analytical solution was developed in the framework of the classic Euler-Bernoulli bending beam theory with orthotropic linear elastic constitutive behavior. The frictional contact was modeled as rigid-perfectly plastic with the Mohr-Coulomb activation function and the nonassociative flow rule. The elastic solution of the partially cracked beam subjected to the four points bending test with frictional contact was developed, and the Mode II delamination toughness was analytically determined by means of the Griffith approach, a…

The Slingshot Argument. Troubles for the Correspondence Theory of Truth

2010

Truth and Facts. Rejection of the slingshot argument in defence of the correspondence theory of truth

2011

A variant design of Tuned Mass Damper Inerter for reducing displacements of base isolated structures

2021

In this study an innovative passive control strategy, referred to as New Tuned Mass Damper Inerter (New TMDI), coupled with a base isolation system (BI), is presented with the aim of reducing displacements in base isolated structures subject to seismic actions. The proposed New TMDI employs the synergetic benefits of a recently developed non-traditional Tuned Mass Damper (known as New TMD) and an inerter device to achieve higher control performances in isolated structures. Specifically, the New TMD is a secondary mass system connected to the BI system by a spring and to the ground by a dashpot. In addition, in the New TMDI configuration, the inerter device is placed in parallel with the dam…