Search results for "Structural engineering"
showing 10 items of 1998 documents
Energy life-cycle approach in net zero energy buildings balance: operation and embodied energy of an Italian case study
2014
Abstract The paper starts from the results of one of the six case-studies of the SubTask B in the International Energy Agency joint Solar Heating and Cooling Task40 and Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems Annex 52, whose purpose is to document state of the art and needs for current thermo-physical simulation tools in application to Net Zero Energy Buildings. The authors extend the Net Zero Energy Buildings (Net ZEB) methodological framework, introducing the life-cycle perspective in the energy balance and thus including the embodied energy of building and its components. The case study is an Italian building, tailored to be a Net ZEB, in which the magnitude of the deficit…
Evaluation of the Safety Performance of Turbo Roundabouts by Means of a Potential Accident Rate Mode
2015
Turbo roundabouts are a particular road intersection layout, designed to increase the safety of double-lane roundabouts, while maintaining their excellent capacity. The main feature of this new concept of roundabout is the impossibility to move from one lane to another, provided by physical barriers marking the lanes. The paper shows an application to turbo roundabouts of a potential accident rate model, aiming to evaluate their safety improvement. Themodel is based on the concept of potential conflict: each vehicle involved in a general intersection performs a series of maneuvers which potentially imply a crash, according to the actual traffic. The number of accidents related to each criti…
New theoretical solution of the outflow process with a weir with complex shape
2016
AbstractIn this paper, the outflow process of a weir with an irregular shape is studied using dimensional analysis and the incomplete self-similarity theory. The new unique stage–discharge relationship, which is deduced theoretically, represents a novel and comprehensive equation to describe the weir outflow process for a full range of flow and different geometric variables of weirs, including finite-crested weirs, broad-crested weirs with positive or negative crest slope, broad-crested weirs with an upstream, downstream, or both upstream and downstream crest ramps, and, triangular weirs with an upstream or downstream ramp. Finally the proposed stage–discharge relationship is calibrated usi…
Risk Based Inspection Planning for Fatigue Damage in Offshore Steel Structures
2015
High fatigue reliability is one of the most important design criteria for welded offshore steel structures. Due to repeated wave loading fatigue cracks may initiate and grow in welded joints that are important for the integrity of these structures. The present paper presents the methodology and the practical calculations for risk based inspection planning for fatigue cracks in welded details. Due to the uncertainty in the variables involved in the problem the planning has to be carried out by stochastic modeling and risk based assessments. Scatter in potential crack growth has to be analyzed by applied probabilistic facture mechanics and the uncertainty in the performance of the actual insp…
Discussion of “Simple Flume for Flow Measurement in Open Channel” by Zohrab Samani and Henry Magallanez
2002
This paper is a Discussion of “simple flume for flow measurement in open channel".
Free-surface shape in unbaffled stirred vessels: Experimental study via digital image analysis
2013
There is a growing interest in using unbaffled stirred tanks for addressing a number of processing needs such as low shear damage (sensitive biocultures), low attrition (solid–liquid applications), deep-cleaning/sterilization (pharmaceutical applications). The main feature of uncovered, unbaffled stirred tanks is highly swirling motion of the fluid that results in a deformation of the free liquid surface. At sufficiently high agitation speeds the resulting whirlpool reaches the impeller and gives rise to a gas–liquid dispersion, so leading to the formation of a dispersion without the use of gas-sparger; the so-called self-inducing operation of the vessel. In this work, digital image analysi…
Experimental analysis of the contact pressure distribution in an off-road tyre
2009
In this paper the results of experimental tests are shown, lead by extended method of measurement, on a tire for an off-road vehicle 175/82 R16, inserting Prescale paper at the contact with the ground. The experimental analysis of the pressures is lead, in cross-sectional direction, in 5 zones correspondents to the middle of the single dowels constituting the tread. The results are analyzed by means of software predisposed to the scope so as to go back easily to the value of the pressure. The obtained results are critically analyzed and the result are compared with those obtained by the formulas of Rowland and MacLaurin, and by the nominal pressure at ground, concluding that the expression …
Theoretical approaches for modelling buckling effects in rebars of RC members
2017
Buckling of longitudinal bars in reinforced concrete (RC) members is definitely a critical issue in framed structures subjected to seismic loads. Second order effects can affect the compressive stressâstrain law of steel bars, influencing ductility calculations of RC structures. Moreover, literature studies show that buckling can occur over a length wider than stirrupsâ pitch (global buckling mode), involving more stirrups and inducing large deflections in the bar. If the critical length is not carefully estimated, stirrupsâ failure can occur, causing also the sudden loss of confining effects in concrete. This paper presents the results of different approaches for calculating the crit…
Steel and composite tied-arch bridges: a conceptual approach to structural design
2021
The behaviour of tied-arch bridges with composite decks (bowstring bridges) is overly sensitive to the different choices made by the designer in the first phases of the conceptual approach, mainly in the design of the arch and the deck. The geometry of the arch shape, the design of the arch–tie joint and the construction sequence can significantly modify the global behaviour in terms of stress state and deformed configuration. After a general discussion on the different parameters affecting the behaviour of bowstring bridges with steel–concrete composite decks, the consequences of choices made in the conceptual design phases are discussed, analysing the effects of each choice on the global…
Simplified Procedure for Evaluating the Effects of Creep and Shrinkage on Prestressed Concrete Girder Bridges and the Application of European and Nor…
2013
The effects of time-dependent phenomena on concrete prestressed girder bridges are investigated. The study concerns the case of bridges built directly in their final configuration and that of bridges built by a sequence of stages in which geometry, restraints, and loads vary until the final configuration is achieved. An analytical approach based on the principles of aging linear viscoelasticity and the age-adjusted effective modulus method is followed. The paper has two aims: the first is to provide an efficient and simplified tool for the evaluation of the structural response in the early stages of design; the second is to compare the results of the analyses on actual cases of bridges when…