Search results for " Structural"
showing 10 items of 1751 documents
A multi-physics integrated approach to breeding blanket modelling and design
2019
Abstract Often, for the design of a component, several kinds of analyses are needed. Even more frequently, the different fields of study, to be taken into account for the design verification, have to be examined minutely until the final results are satisfying. Furthermore, when geometry modifications are required, for instance to fulfill the component functions, the analyses cycle has to be restarted and an iterative process has to be carried out. This procedure may be time-consuming and herald of errors, in particular if it is demanded to the human activity. Therefore, it is more convenient for the scientific community to adopt a numerical tool that can combine various computational codes.…
Response determination of linear dynamical systems with singular matrices: A polynomial matrix theory approach
2017
Abstract An approach is developed based on polynomial matrix theory for formulating the equations of motion and for determining the response of multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) linear dynamical systems with singular matrices and subject to linear constraints. This system modeling may appear for reasons such as utilizing redundant DOFs, and can be advantageous from a computational cost perspective, especially for complex (multi-body) systems. The herein developed approach can be construed as an alternative to the recently proposed methodology by Udwadia and coworkers, and has the significant advantage that it circumvents the use of pseudoinverses in determining the system response. In fact, ba…
Cyclic response of masonry infilled RC frames: Experimental results and simplified modeling
2014
The recent large interest in nonlinear seismic analysis methods, static and dynamic, has required proper strategies of modeling based on reliable, and at the same time easy to use, constitutive laws for the structural elements. Regarding the behavior of framed structures, special attention has to be devoted to infills because of the key role they play in modifying overall stiffness, strength and ductility under seismic excitation. Pointing out the attention on this topic the paper discusses a criteria for modeling the structural behavior of infills based on a macromodeling approach, that is to say on the substitution of infills with diagonal pin jointed struts. Is here shown how multilinear…
Multiscale microstructural characterization of particulate-reinforced composite with non-destructive X-ray micro- and nanotomography
2018
Abstract Methods based on X-ray tomography are developed to study the relevant statistical quantities describing the microstructural inhomogeneity of particulate reinforced composites. The developed methods are applied in estimating microstructural inhomogeneity parameters of composites containing metallic glass particles in metal matrix, extruded in varying pressure loads. This study indicates that the critical characteristics with regard to the effect of particle clustering are cluster size and shape, local volume fraction of particles in the cluster and the distance between clusters. The results demonstrate that the spatial distribution of reinforcement is very uneven and the amount of p…
Combining Pharmacokinetics and Vibrational Spectroscopy: MCR-ALS Hard-and-Soft Modelling of Drug Uptake In Vitro Using Tailored Kinetic Constraints
2022
Raman microspectroscopy is a label-free technique which is very suited for the investigation of pharmacokinetics of cellular uptake, mechanisms of interaction, and efficacies of drugs in vitro. However, the complexity of the spectra makes the identification of spectral patterns associated with the drug and subsequent cellular responses difficult. Indeed, multivariate methods that relate spectral features to the inoculation time do not normally take into account the kinetics involved, and important theoretical information which could assist in the elucidation of the relevant spectral signatures is excluded. Here, we propose the integration of kinetic equations in the modelling of drug uptake…
Probabilistic Flood Hazard Mapping Using Bivariate Analysis Based on Copulas
2017
This study presents a methodology to extract probabilistic flood hazard maps in an area subject to flood risk, taking into account uncertainties in the definition of design hydrographs. Particularly, the authors present a new method to produce probabilistic inundation and flood hazard maps in which the hydrological input (i.e., synthetic flood design event) to a 2D hydraulic model has been obtained by using a bivariate statistical analysis (copulas) to generate flood peak discharges and volumes. This study also aims to quantify the contribution of boundary conditions’ uncertainty in order to evaluate the effect of this uncertainty source on probabilistic flood hazard mapping. Different comb…
The external domains of the HIV-1 envelope are a mutational cold spot
2015
In RNA viruses, mutations occur fast and have large fitness effects. While this affords remarkable adaptability, it can also endanger viral survival due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations. How RNA viruses reconcile these two opposed facets of mutation is still unknown. Here we show that, in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), spontaneous mutations are not randomly located along the viral genome. We find that the viral mutation rate experiences a threefold reduction in the region encoding the most external domains of the viral envelope, which are strongly targeted by neutralizing antibodies. This contrasts with the hypermutation mechanisms deployed by other, more slowly mutating …
Endo-/exo- and halogen-bonded complexes of conformationally rigid C-ethyl-2-bromoresorcinarene and aromatic N-oxides
2017
The host-guest complexes of conformationally rigid C-ethyl-2-bromoresorcinarene with aromatic N-oxides were studied using single crystal X-ray crystallography. Unlike that of the conformationally more flexible C-ethyl-2-methylresorcinarene, the C-ethyl-2-bromoresorcinarene cavity forms endo-complexes only with the small pyridine-N-oxides, such as pyridine N-oxide, 2-methyl-, 3-methyl- and 4-methylpyrdine N-oxide, and quinoline N-oxide. The larger 2,4,6-trimethylpyridine, 4-phenylpyridine and isoquinoline N-oxide, and 4,4-bipyridine N,N′-dioxide and 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane N,N′-dioxide do not fit into the host cavity. Instead endo-acetone complexes are formed. Remarkably, differing from th…
Using synchrotrons and XFELs for time-resolved X-ray crystallography and solution scattering experiments on biomolecules
2015
International audience; Time-resolved structural information is key to understand the mechanism of biological processes, such as catalysis and signalling. Recent developments in X-ray sources as well as data collection and analysis methods are making routine time-resolved X-ray crystallography and solution scattering experiments a real possibility for structural biologists. Here we review the information that can be obtained from these techniques and discuss the considerations that must be taken into account when designing a time-resolved experiment.
Taking inspiration from nature: rules and procedures for a good building practice
2016
Sin dai tempi antichi si sono sfruttati gli alberi ed altri elementi vegetali per scopi costruttivi: la natura, in generale, è stata di ispirazione e ha insegnato una serie di regole, a lungo imitate ed applicate. Alcune delle numerose specie arboree hanno rappresentato, infatti, degli esempi per le costruzioni primitive e, successivamente, per gli stili architettonici classici: possiamo annoverare i primi rifugi estemporanei ed ispirati a criteri di urgenza e praticità, o anche ben più ragionati edifici, fatti di elementi vegetali assemblati fra di loro. Questi manufatti architettonici richiamavano la natura nel suo fiorente sviluppo e nel sapiente e preciso equilibrio. L’architettura clas…