Search results for "Structural engineering"
showing 10 items of 1998 documents
Displacements measurement in a building model using the speckle photography technique
2005
The use of reduced scale models in civil engineering has made it possible to study large structures such as buildings. Using non-destructive optical techniques such as double-exposure speckle photography, extremely valuable results can be obtained, where mathematical methods are often not very exact. This work studies the model of an eighteen-storey building in which displacements can be measured at each storey of each view. It also presents a comparison of the displacement field, which was obtained with the Finite Element Method.
Analytical evaluation of structural response for stationary multicorrelated input
1990
Abstract An analytical procedure is presented which can drastically reduce computational effort in the evaluation of the spectral moments of an elastic linear multi-degree-of-freedom system subjected to a stationary multicorrelated input process. The reduction in computer time is possible since the cross-spectral moments of two oscillators can be obtained in recursive manner as a linear combination of the spectral moment of each oscillator taken separately, which is evaluated by means of a very fast numerical technique.
Old or new occupants of energy rehabilitated buildings. Two different approaches for hierarchizing group of buildings
2017
Abstract Public Administrations are frequently entitled to intervene in building stocks with energy rehabilitation actions. Unfortunately, the monetary budget at their disposal is generally limited and, consequently, a prioritization criterion is needed to optimize its allocation. The classification of the building energy performance is increasingly used by Public Administrations for this purpose. Here we argue that a proper prioritization criterion should depend upon the potential subjects to which the rehabilitated buildings are given back. If the energy rehabilitation is conducted on buildings that will be assigned to new dwellers, it would be preferable to use the energy class – which i…
Modelling unilateral damage effect in strongly anisotropic materials by the introduction of the loading mode in damage mechanics
1999
Abstract Damage weakens the mechanical characteristics of materials. But this weakening can disappear if the cracks close again: this is called the unilateral effect of damage. We propose a model of this phenomenon using damage mechanics in the case of a diffuse network of identical microcracks. The microcracks state is defined with two internal state variables. These two variables are control parameters of the geometry of the microcracks. They also define the loading mode in damage mechanics as in fracture mechanics. In order to limit the anisotropy induced by the microcracks, hence by the loading, we suppose that the geometry of damage spreads into preferential directions. Therefore, this…
Time delay induced effects on control of linear systems under random excitation
2001
Recursive formulas in terms of statistics of the response of linear systems with time delay under normal white noise input are developed. Two alternative methods are presented, in order to capture the time delay effects. The first is given in an approximate solution obtained by expanding the control force in a Taylor series. The second, available for the stationary solution (if it exists) gets the variance of the controlled system, with time delay in an analytical form. The efficacy loss in terms of statistics of the response is discussed in detail.
Probabilistic analysis of truss structures with uncertain parameters (virtual distortion method approach)
2004
A new approach for probabilistic characterization of linear elastic redundant trusses with uncertainty on the various members subjected to deterministic loads acting on the nodes of the structure is presented. The method is based on the simple observation that variations of structural parameters are equivalent to superimposed strains on a reference structure depending on the axial forces on the elastic modulus of the original structure as well as on the uncertainty (virtual distortion method approach). Superposition principle may be applied to separate contribution to mechanical response due to external loads and parameter variations. Statically determinate trusses dealt with the proposed m…
Non-Gaussian probability density function of SDOF linear structures under wind actions
1998
Abstract Wind velocity is usually analytically described adding a static mean term to a zero mean fluctuation stationary process. The corresponding aerodynamic alongwind force acting on a single degree of freedom (SDOF) structure can be considered as a sum of three terms proportional to the mean wind velocity, to the product between mean and fluctuating part of the wind velocity and to the square power of the fluctuating wind velocity, respectively. The latter term, often neglected in the literature, is responsible for the non-Gaussian behaviour of the response. In this paper a method for the evaluation of the stationary probability density function of SDOF structures subjected to non-Gauss…
Combination coefficients for modal pushover analysis
2007
Conventional non-linear static analysis estimates the response peak value by evaluating the pushover curve adopting a distribution of invariant forces proportional to the fundamental vibration mode. In order to include the effect of higher modes, multi-modal push-over analysis has been proposed in literature. Nodal response peak values are obtained by combination of “modal” responses usually by the traditional CQC method, requiring cross correlation coefficients defined for linear systems. In this paper, the accuracy of correlation coefficients for linear systems in predicting the statistical correlation of hysteretic oscillator responses is investigated by the Monte Carlo Simulation conduc…
On the optimization of the first wall of the DEMO water-cooled lithium lead outboard breeding blanket equatorial module
2016
Abstract Within the framework of EUROfusion R&D activities a research campaign has been carried out at the University of Palermo in order to investigate the thermo-mechanical performances of the DEMO water-cooled lithium lead (WCLL) breeding blanket first wall (FW). The research campaign has been mainly focused on the optimization of the FW geometric configuration in order to maximize the heat flux it may safely withstand fulfilling all the thermal, hydraulic and mechanical requirements foreseen by safety codes. Attention has been focused on the FW flat concept endowed with square cooling channels and the potential influence of its four main geometrical parameters on its thermo-mechanical p…
Analysis of the thermomechanical behavior of the IFMIF bayonet target assembly under design loading scenarios
2015
In the framework of the IFMIF Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities (IFMIF/EVEDA) phase, ENEA is responsible for the design of the European concept of the IFMIF lithium target system which foresees the possibility to periodically replace only the most irradiated and thus critical component (i.e., the backplate) while continuing to operate the rest of the target for a longer period (the so-called bayonet backplate concept). In this work, the results of the steady state thermomechanical analysis of the IFMIF bayonet target assembly under two different design loading scenarios (a "hot" scenario and a "cold" scenario) are briefly reported highlighting the relevant indications…