Search results for "Civil engineering"
showing 10 items of 1216 documents
Rocking behaviour of multi-block columns subjected to pulse-typeground motion accelerations
2016
Ancient columns, made with a variety of materials such as marble, granite, stone or masonry are an important part of theEuropean cultural heritage. In particular columns of ancient temples in Greece and Sicily which support only the architrave arecharacterized by small axial load values. This feature together with the slenderness typical of these structural members clearlyhighlights as the evaluation of the rocking behaviour is a key aspect of their safety assessment and maintenance. It has to be notedthat the rocking response of rectangular cross-sectional columns modelled as monolithic rigid elements, has been widely investigatedsince the first theoretical study carried out by Housner (19…
Improving the Downwind Sail Design Process by Means of a Novel FSI Approach
2021
The process of designing a sail can be a challenging task because of the difficulties in predicting the real aerodynamic performance. This is especially true in the case of downwind sails, where the evaluation of the real shapes and aerodynamic forces can be very complex because of turbulent and detached flows and the high-deformable behavior of structures. Of course, numerical methods are very useful and reliable tools to investigate sail performances, and their use, also as a result of the exponential growth of computational resources at a very low cost, is spreading more and more, even in not highly competitive fields. This paper presents a new methodology to support sail designers in ev…
Influence of a Thiolate Chemical Layer on GaAs (100) Biofunctionalization: An Original Approach Coupling Atomic Force Microscopy and Mass Spectrometr…
2013
International audience; Widely used in microelectronics and optoelectronics; Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) is a III-V crystal with several interesting properties for microsystem and biosensor applications. Among these; its piezoelectric properties and the ability to directly biofunctionalize the bare surface, offer an opportunity to combine a highly sensitive transducer with a specific bio-interface; which are the two essential parts of a biosensor. To optimize the biorecognition part; it is necessary to control protein coverage and the binding affinity of the protein layer on the GaAs surface. In this paper; we investigate the potential of a specific chemical interface composed of thiolate molec…
Zinc Adsorption by Activated Carbon Prepared from Lignocellulosic Waste Biomass
2019
Sawdust was used as a precursor for the production of biomass-based activated carbon. Carbonization and activation are single-stage processes, and steam was used as a physical activation agent at 800 °
Comparison of Machine Learning Methods in Stochastic Skin Optical Model Inversion
2020
In this study, we compare six different machine learning methods in the inversion of a stochastic model for light propagation in layered media, and use the inverse models to estimate four parameters of the skin from the simulated data: melanin concentration, hemoglobin volume fraction, and thicknesses of epidermis and dermis. The aim of this study is to determine the best methods for stochastic model inversion in order to improve current methods in skin related cancer diagnostics and in the future develop a non-invasive way to measure the physical parameters of the skin based partially on the results of the study. Of the compared methods, which are convolutional neural network, multi-layer …
On the use of composite indicators for mobile communications network management in smart sustainable cities
2020
Beyond 5G networks will be fundamental towards enabling sustainable mobile communication networks. One of the most challenging scenarios will be met in ultra-dense networks that are deployed in densely populated areas. In this particular case, mobile network operators should benefit from new assessment metrics and data science tools to ensure an effective management of their networks. In fact, incorporating architectures allowing a cognitive network management framework could simplify processes and enhance the network&rsquo
Enhancing the Iterative Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Method
2021
Motivated by recent research on the iterative approach proposed for the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (ISPH) method, some ideas to improve the process are introduced. The standard procedure is enhanced iterating on the residuals preserving the matrix-free nature of the process. The method is appealing providing reasonable results with disordered data distribution too and no kernel variations are needed in the approximation. This work moves forward with a novel formulation requiring a lower number of iterations to reach a desired accuracy. The computational procedure is described and some results are introduced to appreciate the proposed formulation.
Sonication-Induced Modification of Carbon Nanotubes: Effect on the Rheological and Thermo-Oxidative Behaviour of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites.
2018
The aim of this work is the investigation of the effect of ultrasound treatment on the structural characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the consequent influence that the shortening induced by sonication exerts on the morphology, rheological behaviour and thermo-oxidative resistance of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)-based nanocomposites. First, CNTs have been subjected to sonication for different time intervals and the performed spectroscopic and morphological analyses reveal that a dramatic decrease of the CNT's original length occurs with increased sonication time. The reduction of the initial length of CNTs strongly affects the nanocomposite rheological behavio…
Modeling and Backstepping Control of the Electronic Throttle System
2013
Published version of an article in the journal: Mathematical Problems in Engineering. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/871674 Open access Electronic throttle is widely used in modern automotive engines. An electronic throttle system regulates the throttle plate angle by using a DC servo motor to adjust the inlet airflow rate of an internal combustion engine. Its application leads to improvements in vehicle drivability, fuel economy, and emissions. In this paper, by taking into account the dynamical behavior of the electronic throttle, the mechanism model is first built, and then the mechanism model is transformed into the state-space model. Based on the s…
Experimental Investigation on Stiffness and Strength of Single-Lap Z-Pinned Joints in a Laminated CFRP Stress-Ribbon Strip
2016
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (carbon-polymer) is an advanced lightweight composite material with high strength and excellent resistance to corrosion and fatigue. Over the past decades, application of fiber-reinforced polymers has been spread from the aerospace to other branches of industry such as automobile and civil engineering. Unidirectional carbon-polymers have a high potential for replacing steel in tensile members. Recently, the first carbonpolymer stress-ribbon bridge has been constructed in Germany. The non-laminated strip-loop carbon-polymer thin strips were used as the load bearing components in this bridge. In comparison with the laminated components, the applied cables are c…