Search results for "Civil and Structural Engineering"
showing 10 items of 1404 documents
A fuzzy logic approach to modeling a vehicle crash test
2013
Published version of an article in the journal: Central European Journal of Engineering. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s13531-012-0032-2 This paper presents an application of fuzzy approach to vehicle crash modeling. A typical vehicle to pole collision is described and kinematics of a car involved in this type of crash event is thoroughly characterized. The basics of fuzzy set theory and modeling principles based on fuzzy logic approach are presented. In particular, exceptional attention is paid to explain the methodology of creation of a fuzzy model of a vehicle collision. Furthermore, the simulation results are presented and compared to the original vehic…
Evaluation of infilled frames: an updated in-plane-stiffness macro-model considering the effects of vertical loads
2015
The influence of masonry infills on the in-plane behaviour of RC framed structures is a central topic in the seismic evaluation and retrofitting of existing buildings. Many models in the literature use an equivalent strut member in order to represent the infill but, among the parameters influencing the equivalent strut behaviour, the effect of vertical loads acting on the frames is recognized but not quantified. Nevertheless a vertical load causes a non-negligible variation in the in-plane behaviour of infilled frames by influencing the effective volume of the infill. This results in a change in the stiffness and strength of the system. This paper presents an equivalent diagonal pin-jointed…
Experimental validation of a direct pre-design formula for TLCD
2014
The passive control of vibrations has received in recent years a great deal of attention from researchers. Several types of devices have been proposed in order to reduce the dynamic responses of different kinds of structural systems. Among them, the Tuned Liquid Column Damper (TLCD) has proved to be very effective in reducing vibration of structures. However, since the equations governing the TLCD controlled systems response is nonlinear, the calibration of TLCD parameters is time consuming and not convenient to perform in a pre-design phase. In this context, it has recently been introduced by the authors a formula that allows to choose the optimal parameters of TLCD in a direct and fast wa…
Use of finite element models for estimating thermal performance of façade-integrated solar thermal collectors
2016
Abstract Research on building-integrated solar thermal collectors is attracting increasingly more interest. Many efforts have been focused at the design level for obtaining specific building-orientated products, but there is a significant lack of standardised methods for evaluating how the efficiency of solar collectors changes when a wall is an integral part of the solar component itself. Generally speaking, experimental tests on integrated components are not easy to realise and are, in any case, expensive in terms of time and money. Physical and numerical methods can be utilised, but at the moment, there is no common approach. The present work addresses a method for the calculation of a b…
Field Testing of a Simple Flume (SMBF) for Flow Measurement in Open Channels
2008
In this paper the stage–discharge relationship of a new flume named SMBF (Samani, Magallanex, Baiamonte, Ferro), originally proposed by Samani and Magallanez and tested by Baiamonte and Ferro, for measuring flow discharge in open channels is reviewed. The flume is obtained inserting two semicylinders in a rectangular cross section. The results of some experimental runs carried out using horizontal flumes characterized by different values of the contraction ratio (ranging from 0.17 to 0.81) are used for determining the two coefficients of the power stage–discharge equation. The stage–discharge equation is tested using flow measurements carried out in the period between December 2004 and Marc…
Capacity and safety analysis of hard-shoulder running (HSR). A motorway case study
2016
Abstract Operational motorway conditions can be improved by introducing traffic flow management and control systems, such as ramp metering (RM), high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, real-time variable speed limits (VSLs), reversible lanes (RL), automated highway systems (AHS) and hard-shoulder running (HSR). The effects of such devices need to be examined in terms of capacity and safety. This paper examines the case study of the Italian motorway A22, which is supposed to be equipped with an HSR system implemented along 128 km in order to reduce congestion with consequent improvement in levels of service (LOS). We studied the traffic processes (capacity, flow distribution between lanes, relia…
Estimation of air pollutant emissions in flower roundabouts and in conventional roundabouts
2013
Abstract The road pollutant emissions, above all in urban context, are correlated to many infrastructural parameters and to traffic intensity and typology. The research work on road junction geometry, carried out in European research centres, has recently allowed to design new road intersection types which are of undoubted interest, especially in terms of traffic functionality and safety, like the flower roundabouts (in which right-turn manoeuvres do not conflict with the circulating flow). The main objective of this paper is to propose a model for the estimation the capacity, delay, levels of service and the pollutant emissions into flower roundabouts. A comparative analysis between conven…
New Stage-Discharge Equation for the SMBF Flume
2016
AbstractFlumes for indirect discharge measurements are widespread and are characterized by a particular shape of the cross section area with various degrees of convergence and subsequent divergence. The flume named Samani, Magallanez, Baiamonte, Ferro (SMBF) is a simple and inexpensive instrument and its channel contraction is obtained by applying two semicylinders to the walls of a rectangular cross section. At first, in this paper a new stage-discharge equation for the SMBF flume is theoretically deduced. Then, this equation is experimentally calibrated using the laboratory measurements from the literature for different values of the contraction ratio. Finally the field measurements carri…
The Transverse Crack Tension test revisited
2016
Several problems arise when measuring the mode II interlaminar fracture toughness using a Transverse Crack Tension specimen; in particular, the fracture toughness depends on the geometry of the specimen and cannot be considered a material parameter. A preliminary experimental campaign was conducted on TCTs of different sizes but no fracture toughness was measured because the TCTs failed in an unacceptable way, invalidating the tests. A comprehensive numerical and experimental investigation is conducted to identify the main causes of this behaviour and a modification of the geometry of the specimen is proposed. It is believed that the obtained results represent a significant contribution in …
Frictional effects in structural behavior of no-end-connected steel-jacketed RC columns: Experimental results and new approaches to model numerical a…
2017
Steel jacketing of reinforced concrete (RC) columns is a common retrofitting technique used to restore bearing and deformation capacity of buildings presenting structural deficiencies. For practical reasons, steel angles are in several cases arranged leaving a gap with the end beams or slabs. Despite this disconnection, the angles are still able to support a non-negligible portion of load because of the frictional forces developed along the column-angle contact interface. In these cases, the definition of computational numerical and analytical models for the assessment of reinforced cross sections becomes more complex and must be handled with care. The actual load-carrying capacity of the a…