Search results for "CONSTRUCTION"
showing 10 items of 2670 documents
Visual Perception and Graphic Analysis. The Pattern of Inlays in the Cathedral of Palermo
2017
The Cathedral of Palermo is one of the monuments belonging to the Arab-Norman Itinerary, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015. This text uses geometric analysis to describe some of the inlaid circular designs from the eastern façade, the corner towers and the apses. The cataloguing of the two-tone geometric motifs also reveals aspects that can be linked back to the laws of visual perception. Hence, the text investigates these aspects based on a new reading. In fact, decomposing these elements based on the experience of their perception also facilitates the recognition of elementary figures. The attempt made in this brief text intends to induce a new perceptive awareness resulting f…
Symplectic analysis of thin-walled curved box girders with torsion, distortion and shear lag warping effects
2022
Shear lag effect and torsional and distortional warping can significantly affect the performance of thin-walled curved box girders used in modern bridge engineering. The structural behaviour of these bridges exhibits complexity due to coupled bending and torsion together with warping effects of non-uniform torsion, distortion and shear lag. A practical method of analysis, based on the symplectic approach, with the same perspective as the Higher Order Beam Theories, is presented for overcoming the difficulties of numerical approaches via the Finite Element Method. In this paper, the Hamiltonian Structural Analysis method implements the analysis of the shear lag effect together with non-unifo…
Torrefied versus conventional pellet production – A comparative study on energy and emission balance based on pilot-plant data and EU sustainability …
2015
Abstract Torrefaction is an emerging technology which enables greater co-firing rates of biomass with coal. To date however there has been a lack of real production data from pilot-scale torrefaction plants. Without such data any environmental benefits of torrefied pellet production are difficult to quantify. In this study data on consumable inputs from a semi-industrial torrefaction plant and the physical properties of produced pellets are used to analyse energy input and air emissions of torrefied pellet production and product transport. EU sustainability criteria are used to compare CO2-equivalent emissions from torrefied and conventional pellet production starting from harvesting of log…
Improvement of high modulus asphalt mixtures with average quality aggregate and bitumen by application of polymeric additives
2018
Abstract The paper deals with the development of asphalt mixtures for high performing binder and base courses, modified with both commercial and waste polymeric additives, via dry process. The focus was on the mix design of high performing mixtures making use of average quality aggregate and average penetration grade bitumen (as locally available) instead of the usually required high quality components, manly very hard bitumen, thus aiming to improve the reference mixture as made possible by suitable polymers. Mixtures were subjected not only to conventional tests for mix design purposes, but also to advanced tests for performance evaluation such as rutting resistance and fatigue resistance…
HIGH-RESOLUTION PALAEONVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION OF ODP HOLE 963D (SICILY CHANNEL) DURING THE LAST DEGLACIATION BASED ON CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSILS
2004
Abstract A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 963D (Sicily Channel) has been obtained on the basis of quantitative abundance fluctuations in the calcareous nannofossil assemblages. The studied hole is characterized by a very high sedimentary resolution and covers the last ca. 20 kyr. A new palaeoclimatic curve, based on the Gephyrocapsa muellerae/Upper Photic Zone (UPZ) group ratio, permitted the detection of the rapid climatic fluctuations that characterized the last deglaciation. Cold water masses occupied the Sicily Channel during the glacial period and the Younger Dryas, whereas they were generally warm during the Bolling–Allerod and the Holocene. An…
Integración de restos arqueológicos Almohades en el metropolitano de Granada. La investigación multidisciplinar para el proyecto y desarrollo de infr…
2014
The execution of the Granada Metropolitan’s underground line made possible the discovery of archeological remains of a water tank in Alcázar Genil, a royal muslim residence of the 13th century. The water tank, 419 × 88 ft, was destroyed at its ends due to the growth of the city of Granada during the 20th century and today remains only its center section, under Camino de Ronda, exactly where the future Metropolitan will take place. The location of an underground station will allow the recovery, the integration and the exhibition of the archaeological remains of this water tank. The Alcázar Genil station project brings together the work of several disciplines which put in the same level engin…
Reducing effects of aberration in 3D fluorescence imaging using wavefront coding with a radially symmetric phase mask.
2016
In this work, a wavefront encoded (WFE) imaging system built using a squared cubic phase mask, designed to reduce the sensitivity of the imaging system to spherical aberration, is investigated. The proposed system allows the use of a space-invariant image restoration algorithm, which uses a single PSF, to restore intensity distribution in images suffering aberration, such as sample–induced aberration in thick tissue. This provides a computational advantage over depth-variant image restoration algorithms developed previously to address this aberration. Simulated PSFs of the proposed system are shown to change up to 25% compared to the 0 µm depth PSF (quantified by the structural similarity i…
City gates of Augustodunum and their architectural models (Gaul, Italy, Western Provinces of the Roman Empire)
2012
Augustodunum, civitas Aeduorum, roman city founded under the reign of Augustus, was equipped with four roman city gates : the gate of Arroux and the gate of Saint André, both well preserved, the gate of Saint Andoche which sole remaining part is a flanking tower, and the gate of Rome, destroyed long ago.The heart of this study lies in the stratigraphic reading of those gates structure and in thoughts about the building site of Autun’s city gates operating process. Moreover, since the 16th century, antiquaries, travelers and artists have described in many ways their visits to the roman city gates of Autun. These accounts constitute a major documentary collection of written and iconographical…
Developing an economically advantageous wind forecasting method for electricity market design with a 15-minute imbalance settlement period
2019
According to legal framework developed by European Commission all EU Member States shall employ 15minute time resolution for imbalance settlement no later than 18th of December 2020 (or 1st of January 2025 in case of derogation). For intermittent energy sources that are traditionally associated with less precise generation forecasts this might result in considerable increase in imbalance costs. This presents a unique challenge for wind power station operators as there is lack of adequate forecasting tools supporting 15-minute time-resolution. The objective of this paper is to test and provide comparative analysis of alternative data interpolation methods in order to determine approach assoc…
Tentative Reflections on Construction of Assessment Models for Buildings’ Sustainability Certification
2017
All over the word several rating systems have been produced to certificate the sustainability level of buildings. Experts agree on considering sustainability a typical field for multicriteria decision analysis, but buildings’ rating systems do not comply in a consistent manner this assessment approach. Proposals for using classical and hybrid ranking procedures are aimed to quantify the relative attractiveness of buildings, but do not give information on their absolute attractiveness. While several studies propose suitable application of multicriteria decision making techniques for assessing buildings’ sustainability with the purpose of choosing the best solution or obtaining a ranking on a…