Search results for "HQ"
showing 10 items of 276 documents
A scenario-based assessment of the tsunami hazard in palermo, northern sicily, and the southern tyrrhenian sea
2020
Palermo is a populous city situated on the northern coast of Sicily, bordered by the Tyrrhenian Sea. This central part of the Mediterranean Sea features dramatic bathymetry, numerous subaqueous landslides and is also the epicentre to many subaqueous earthquakes. As such, the region is an area prone to tsunamis. This investigation uses the Cornell Multi-Grid Coupled Tsunami (COMCOT) tsunami modelling package to simulate five near-field landslides, and five near-field earthquakes regarded as worst-case credible scenarios for Palermo. The seismic simulations produced waves on a very small scale, the largest being c. 5 cm at its maximum height, and none of the earthquake-generated tsunami waves…
Experimental characterization of friction properties of materials for innovative beam-to-column dissipative connection for low-damage RC structures
2023
Low-damage design of structures in seismic-prone areas is becoming an efficient strategy to obtain "earthquake-proof" buildings, i.e. buildings that, even in the case of severe seismic actions, experience a low or negligible amount of damage. Besides the safeguard of human lives, this design strategy aims also to limit the downtime of buildings, which represents a significant source of economic loss, and to ensure an immediate occupancy in the aftermath of an earthquake. In this context, focusing on moment-resisting frames (MRFs), several solutions have been developed for the beam-to-column connections (BCCs) of steel and precast/prestressed concrete structures, but very few for cast-in-sit…
Innovative connections for steel-concrete-trussed beams: a patented solution
2023
The most recent design strategies welcome the adoption of innovative techniques for seismic energy input mitigation, aiming to achieve high dissipation capacity, prevent the structure from collapse and ensure the serviceability of the construction. Friction damper devices have been widely adopted in framed steel structures for decades, while their introduction in different structural types is still under investigation. This paper presents the outcomes of innovative research supported by the industry and conducted on beam-to-column connections of RC structures in which the beams are Hybrid Steel-Trussed Concrete Beams (HSTCBs) and the columns are classical RC pillars. An innovative solution,…
Influence of the effectiveness factors in assessing the shear capacity of RC beams strengthened with FRP
2021
Shear failure of RC beams strengthened with composite textiles is often affected by the different failure modes characterizing the FRP reinforcement. The most relevant analytical models for evaluating the shear capacity of RC beams strengthened with FRP take into account these failure modes by introducing an effectiveness factor “R”, which reduces the ultimate FRP tensile stress. Moreover, the interaction between stirrups and FRP reinforcement leads to a reduced efficiency of the transverse steel reinforcement due to the brittle failure of composite textile which hinders the yielding of all the stirrups involved by critical crack. In this regard, some analytical models introduce an effectiv…
Effect of the different data survey scale on assessment of seismic exposure and vulnerability of the historic center of Caltabellotta
2019
The results of the prediction of exposure and seismic vulnerability for the buildings of the historic center of Caltabellotta, obtained with databases of different levels of accuracy, are compared. In particular, the results obtained on the basis of the estimation of the characteristics and of the distribution of the typologies derived from the filling in of the CARTIS sheets on a sector scale are compared with those obtained through a survey from the outside to a building scale. In this latter area, indicators contained in the CARTIS are suitably supplemented with those available in the literature, partly modified to adapt them to the local reality. The vulnerability is evaluated on the ba…
Placemaking in rural areas. New town Gibellina
2016
In Belice Valley, in 1968, after the earthquake, due to the generally poor life conditions, people losing their homes, and a rather not very present State, popular mobilisation was the choice. In the post-earthquake reconstruction, the self-organisation process came back in vogue due to the previous example of Danilo Dolci's action in western Sicily, during the fifties. The Mayor Ludovico Corrao also referred to the revolutionary roots of Dolci's movement, including those values in his dream of city's rebirth, involved inhabitants, artists, and architects to "make the town".
The ‘false vaults’ in the architecture of Sicily
2015
Between the end of the 17th century and the first decades of the 18th, Sicily was struck by several violent earthquakes. The total and partial collapse of monumental buildings produced a global debate involving various aspects of construction practice. One of the central topics of discussion was the construction of domes and large vaulted structures. Some architects studied the possibility of using so-called ‘false vaults’, a kind of lightweight structure created with a wooden frame, reed mats, and plaster. The technique was probably known by the 16th century and was used in a few major monuments, such as the dome of the Palermo Cathedral, in the mid-17th century. It was only after the Eart…
Prima della "Rivoluzione scientifica": uno sguardo alla ricerca antisismica nella Sicilia d'età moderna (XVI-XVIII secolo)
2021
The contribution presents and examines, through documentary readings, anti-seismic strategies and practices born with experience and with the relationship with history, selected and consolidated over time, applied in Sicilian construction from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century by architects and master builders after the great earthquakes that hit the island in the modern age.
Sistemazione in situ o musealizzazione dei frammenti architettonici: problemi di conservazione dopo il terremoto di Messina del 1908
2012
After the big earthquake of Messina in 1908, a lot of important fragments of the ancient city, coming from destroyed palaces and churches, were transported in a open space near the ancient church of SS. Salvatore, where in an old silk factory was born the actual Regional Museum of Messina. The arrangement of those elements - as Marble sculptures, big fragments of architectural decorations, stone portals - was long debated and different architects, art historians and archaeologists produced ideas and projects about the costruction of a new museum and the arrangement in open space of many fragments, so important to maintaining the memory of the ancient city of Messina, destroyed by the earthq…
Suspended territories and windows of opportunity after the 2016 earthquake in Central Italy
2019
While globalization is promoting strong economic concentrations in a few urban centres, peripheral regions are negatively affected by decreasing population and increasing impoverishment, due to the lack of policies and the failure to develop and maintain rural economies. Although natural disasters accelerate these trends, the shock created by unexpected events may generate a window of opportunity, linked both to risk-reduction processes and to transition paths towards more desirable futures. This review aims to discuss tendencies in post-disaster management in the central Apennines after the 2016 earthquake, since this shrinking rural region is slowly concluding the emergency phase and star…