Search results for "Structural engineering"

Strain gradient elasticity within the symmetric BEM formulation

2014

The symmetric Galerkin Boundary Element Method is used to address a class of strain gradient elastic materials featured by a free energy function of the (classical) strain and of its (first) gradient. With respect to the classical elasticity, additional response variables intervene, such as the normal derivative of the displacements on the boundary, and the work-coniugate double tractions. The fundamental solutions - featuring a fourth order partial differential equations (PDEs) system - exhibit singularities which in 2D may be of the order 1/ r 4 . New techniques are developed, which allow the elimination of most of the latter singularities. The present paper has to be intended as a resear…

Response of nonlinear oscillators with fractional derivative elements under evolutionary stochastic excitations: A Path Integral approach based on La…

2023

In this paper, an approximate analytical technique is developed for determining the non-stationary response amplitude probability density function (PDF) of nonlinear/hysteretic oscillators endowed with fractional element and subjected to evolutionary excitations. This is achieved by a novel formulation of the Path Integral (PI) approach. Specifically, a stochastic averaging/linearization treatment of the original fractional order governing equation of motion yields a first-order stochastic differential equation (SDE) for the oscillator response amplitude. Associated with this first-order SDE is the Chapman–Kolmogorov (CK) equation governing the evolution in time of the non-stationary respon…

Impact of the process of isolating humic acids from peat on their propertiesA paper submitted to the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science.

2009

Humic substances (HS) can be isolated in preparative quantities from low rank coal, peat, and soil. Traditionally, treatment with solutions of NaOH, KOH, or metal salts (K4P2O7) has been used for their isolation. The aim of this article is to study the effectiveness of different technologies in extracting HS from peat as well as the impact of the different extractive technologies on the properties of the isolated HS. Yields of HS depend very much on the extraction process (extractant, temperature, pretreatment procedures, solvent, mixing intensity); however, the properties of the substances obtained (molecular mass, number of functional groups, spectral characteristics) differ significantly…

Traditional vs. sliding-joint masonry infilled frames: Seismic reliability and EAL

2020

Abstract In reinforced concrete (RC) multi-storey buildings, the important role of the seismic interaction of structural frames with masonry infills has been revealed by several earthquakes and investigated by many authors. Recently, several innovative infill solutions have been proposed to mitigate such interaction, which could result in widespread damage in both the masonry and the RC structure and sometimes jeopardize the building stability and the occupants’ safety. One solution consists in the partitioning of the masonry infill into several sub-panels, relatively sliding along specific joints. This paper investigates the seismic assessment of this technological solution in the framewor…

Modelling anaerobic biomass growth kinetics with a substrate threshold concentration.

2004

Abstract Many bacteria have been observed to stop growing below a certain substrate threshold concentration. In this study, a modification of the Monod kinetics expression has been proposed to take into account this substrate threshold concentration observed in bacterial growth. Besides the threshold concentration no additional parameters have been added to the kinetic expression and so, only the substrate threshold concentration and the half-saturation constant have to be estimated for model calibration purposes. Furthermore, for parameter estimation purposes, practical identifiability of this new function has been studied and the results have been satisfactory. The new model has been appl…

Hydric, thermal and mechanical properties of self-compacting concrete containing different fillers

2008

Abstract Water vapor diffusion coefficient, water absorption coefficient, water permeability, thermal conductivity, compressive strength and freeze resistance properties of two self-compacting concretes (SCC) containing limestone filler and fly ash are determined in the paper. The results indicate that strength development is faster in the material containing limestone filler but after 90 days the strength values in both materials are almost the same. Liquid water transport and heat transport are faster in SCC with limestone filler while the water vapor transport is faster in the material containing fly ash. This corresponds well with the much better freeze resistance of the material with f…

Ultrasonic Guided Wave Inspection of Bonded Lap Joints: Noncontact Method and Photoelastic Visualization

2001

The main topic of this paper is the nondestructive inspection of adhesively bonded lap joints by using ultrasonic guided (plate) waves. A noncontact, couplant-free method that employs capacitive air-coupled transducers is demonstrated for the inspection of thin aluminum joints with dimensions typical of aircraft fuselage and wing panels. Two types of bond defects, disbonded regions and regions of poorly cured (low-cohesive-strength) adhesive, are successfully detected by measuring the amplitude decrease of selected plate waves leaking from one adherend to the other one through the bondline. It is shown that proper choice of the vibrating mode structure, in terms of cross-sectional displacem…

Subsurface treatment of a contact subjected to a hertz pressure

2013

Abstract The study proposes an approach allowing the favorable modification of the stresses field of a structure subjected to a Hertzian contact. It is based on the study of a classic Hertzian contact in the presence of subsurface circular defects. The idea is to limit the field of tangential stresses without large increasing of the global stress (Von Mises) of the system. The location of the defects is made according to the mechanical parameters of the contact (Fn, has, z). The results of the numerical calculations (FEM) are compared with photoelastic measurements and highlight an excellent correlation. The location of the defect on the symmetry axis (x=0) is the dominating parameter for t…

Closure to “Stage–Discharge Relationship for an Upstream Inclined Grid with Transversal Bars” by C. Di Stefano and V. Ferro

2016

Numerical modeling and design of a disk-type rotating permanent magnet induction pump

2016

Abstract Electromagnetic induction pumps with rotating permanent magnets appear to be the most promising devices to transport liquid metals in high-temperature applications. Here we present a numerical methodology to simulate the operation of one particular modification of these types of pumps: a disk-type induction pump. The numerical model allows for the calculation and analysis of the flow parameters, including the pressure–flow rate characteristics of the pump. The simulations are based on an iterative fully coupled scheme for electromagnetic and hydrodynamic solvers. The developed model is verified by comparing with experimental data obtained using a Pb-Bi loop test facility, for press…