Search results for "force"

Nonlinear FE analysis of out-of-plane behaviour of masonry walls with and without CFRP reinforcement

2014

Abstract The out-of-plane behaviour of unreinforced and CFRP reinforced masonry wall is studied by means of experimental investigation and numerical FE modelling. The latter is based on a linear constitutive law both for ashlars and mortar joints constituting masonry and the lines of potential delamination are taken into account by means of an interface element with bi-linear law, reproducing the opening failure mode. When reinforcement is introduced, an interface element with bi-linear law is also used, reproducing sliding failure mode. Comparison between numerical and experimental results show the reliability of the modelling. Moreover, a parametric analysis is carried out in order to inv…

Stability/Instability of Conductivity and Work Function Changes of ITO Thin Films, UV-Irradiated in Air or Vacuum. Measurements by the Four-Probe Met…

2001

This study shows that, after UV-irradiation in air or vacuum, conductivity and work function of ITO and In2O3 come back to their initial values in a few hours or minutes. In addition to this instability, one of the reported drawbacks of ITO is the indium diffusion into the organic layers of operating LED, leading to performance degradation. So, we have reconsidered ITO as transparent anode and explored alternatives such as NiO.

The Right Answer for the Right Electrostatics: Force Field Methods Are Able to Describe Relative Energies of DNA Guanine Quadruplexes

2014

Different force fields and approximate density functional theory were applied in order to study the rotamer space of the telomeric G-quadruplex DNA. While some force fields show an erratic behavior when it comes to the reproduction of the higher-order DNA conformer space, OPLS and MMFF implementations are able to reproduce the experimentally known energy order. The stabilizing effect of the AA (anti−anti) versus SA (syn−anti) conformer is analyzed applying mechanical bond strength descriptors (compliance constants). The fact that we observe the correct energy order using appropriate force fields is in contrast with results previously reported, which suggested the general inappropriateness o…

A correction method for the analysis of continuous linear one-dimensional systems under moving loads

2008

A new correction procedure for dynamic analysis of linear, proportionally damped, continuous systems under traveling concentrated loads is proposed; both cases of non-parametric (moving forces) and parametric (moving mass) loads are considered. Improvement in the evaluation of the dynamic response is obtained by separating the contribution of the low-frequency (LF) modes from that of the high-frequency (HF) modes. The former is calculated, as usual, by classical modal analysis, while the latter is taken into account using a new series expansion of the corresponding particular solution. The advantage of the suggested method is immediately shown in the calculation of the stress distribution s…

IP-OOP interaction in URM infilled frame structures: A new macro-modelling proposal

2020

Abstract Reinforced concrete frame structures with unreinforced masonry (URM) infills represent a common construction practice all over the world. To correctly assess the seismic performance of these structures, prediction of the behaviour of masonry infills under in-plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP) loading, as well as their interaction, is of primary importance. Different approaches are available in the literature with different levels of approximation for assessment of the IP-OOP infill response, showing increasing interest in this field. In this context, this paper presents a new macro-element model which can simulate the behaviour of URM infill walls under seismic IP and OOP actions. T…

Seawater carbonate chemistry and shell mineralogy, microstructure, and mechanical strength of four Mediterranean gastropod species near a CO2 seep

2017

Marine CO2 seeps allow the study of the long-term effects of elevated pCO2 (ocean acidification) on marine invertebrate biomineralization. We investigated the effects of ocean acidification on shell composition and structure in four ecologically important species of Mediterranean gastropods (two limpets, a top-shell snail, and a whelk). Individuals were sampled from three sites near a volcanic CO2 seep off Vulcano Island, Italy. The three sites represented ambient (8.15 pH), moderate (8.03 pH) and low (7.73 pH) seawater mean pH. Shell mineralogy, microstructure, and mechanical strength were examined in all four species. We found that the calcite/aragonite ratio could vary and increased sign…

The impact of ocean acidification and warming on the skeletal mechanical properties of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus from laboratory and field…

2016

Increased atmospheric CO2 concentration is leading to changes in the carbonate chemistry and the temperature of the ocean. The impact of these processes on marine organisms will depend on their ability to cope with those changes, particularly the maintenance of calcium carbonate structures. Both a laboratory experiment (long-term exposure to decreased pH and increased temperature) and collections of individuals from natural environments characterized by low pH levels (individuals from intertidal pools and around a CO2 seep) were here coupled to comprehensively study the impact of near-future conditions of pH and temperature on the mechanical properties of the skeleton of the euechinoid sea …

Designing the internal reinforcements of a sailing boat using a topology optimization approach

2022

In naval design it is common practice to define an internal regular web frame made of longitudinal elements and transversal sections with the purpose of giving stiffness to the whole structure and, at the same time, promoting lightness. In this work, FEM simulation and Topology Optimization (TO) tools are implemented to present a different approach in placing the reinforcements inside the hull of a sailing dinghy. The methodology proposed in this paper considers as a starting point the volume inside the hull and the deck completely filled with material and the result after the simulations is a free form shape of the sailboat reinforcements. The TO procedure is based on two different input F…

2015

In everyday life, one of the most frequent activities involves accelerating and decelerating an object held in precision grip. In many contexts, humans scale and synchronize their grip force, normal to the finger/object contact, in anticipation of the expected tangential load force, resulting from the combination of the gravitational and the inertial forces. In many contexts, grip force and load force are linearly coupled. A few studies have examined how we adjust the parameters - gain and offset - of this linear relationship. However, the question remains open as to how the brain adjusts grip force regardless of whether load force is generated by different combinations of weight and inerti…

Tandem cross enyne metathesis (CEYM)–intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction (IMDAR). An easy entry to linear bicyclic scaffolds

2015

A new tandem cross enyne metathesis (CEYM)–intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction (IMDAR) has been carried out. It involves conjugated ketones, esters or amides bearing a remote olefin and aromatic alkynes as the starting materials. The overall process enables the preparation of a small family of linear bicyclic scaffolds in a very simple manner with moderate to good levels of diastereoselectivity. This methodology constitutes one of the few examples that employ olefins differently than ethylene in tandem CEYM–IMDAR protocols.