Study of Stability of Unpressurized Shell Structures Under Static Loading, Volume I Final Report

Orthotropic shell theory to develop working tools to predict instability in stiffened circular cylindrical shells subjected to axial compressio

Eco‐Holonic 4.0 Circular Business Model to Conceptualize Sustainable Value Chain Towards Digital Transition

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a circular business model based on an Eco-Holonic Architecture, through the integration of circular economy and holonic principles. A conceptual model is developed to manage the complexity of integrating circular economy principles, digital transformation, and tools and frameworks for sustainability into business models. The proposed architecture is multilevel and multiscale in order to achieve the instantiation of the sustainable value chain in any territory. The architecture promotes the incorporation of circular economy and holonic principles into new circular business models. This integrated perspective of business model can support the design and upgrade of the manufacturing companies in their respective industrial sectors. The conceptual model proposed is based on activity theory that considers the interactions between technical and social systems and allows the mitigation of the metabolic rift that exists between natural and social metabolism. This study contributes to the existing literature on circular economy, circular business models and activity theory by considering holonic paradigm concerns, which have not been explored yet. This research also offers a unique holonic architecture of circular business model by considering different levels, relationships, dynamism and contextualization (territory) aspects

Circular economy for climate neutrality: Setting the priorities for the EU. CEPS Policy Brief No 2019/04, 22 November 2019

The previous Commission policy on resources management was part of the priority for jobs and growth and economic competitiveness. The circular economy will be no less important for the new political priority of climate neutrality; it will become one of the indispensable elements for meeting the EU’s ambitions. EU climate policy and the circular economy are by and large complementary and mutually reinforcing. The circular economy is more than just another ‘product standards’ policy. In order for this to happen, • there is a need for a framework that is able to systematically address trade-offs, such as between the circular and the bioeconomy, but also between material efficiency and energy use, as well as • a mechanism to steer and monitor progress, touching upon the question of whether and if so, how to increase ambition and develop tools to monitor progress, for example via targets, and • the new Commission will need to develop and then scale up successful products and processes to create opportunities for new value chains while addressing risks, such as dependency on raw materials. Circular economy products for the foreseeable future will require both technology push and market pull policies. Both the circular economy and low-carbon economy will require new and often yet unknown business models. This will also require new methods of regulation. The principal challenge will be to create ‘lead markets’ for the circular economy in combination with lowcarbon products. Many ideas for this exist. They include, for example, ‘carbon contracts for difference’, carbon budgets for projects, consumption charges, taxes and tax exemptions, sustainable finance, product standards and public procurement. Ideas now need to be tested to see whether they could work in practice. Finally, the EU circular economy will need to be underpinned by a robust and transparent carbon accounting system. If effective, such as system can at the same time act as a catalyst for investment in the circular economy and low-carbon products and processes

The intrinsic derivative and centrifugal forces in general relativity: II. Applications to circular orbits in some familiar stationary axisymmetric spacetimes

The tools developed in a preceding article for interpreting spacetime geometry in terms of all possible space-plus-time splitting approaches are applied to circular orbits in some familiar stationary axisymmetric spacetimes. This helps give a more intuitive picture of their rotational features including spin precession effects, and puts related work of Abramowicz, de Felice, and others on circular orbits in black hole spacetimes into a more general context.Comment: 59 pages latex 2.09, uses ijmpd.sty macros, pictex, epsf.sty for 10 eps figures; typographical corrections made compared to published versio

Rumo aos desafios da economia circular : ferramentas de apoio a uma nova estratégia na prática de design

ABSTRACT : The circular economy is a new strategic concept to meet society's needs in a more efficient and sustainable manner based in decoupling the economic growth and welfare from the increase in the consumption of natural resources. It implies the transition from the traditional linear model to a more innovative and circular approach in the development of the economy by designing new products, new services, and new systems, supported, in most cases, by the re-thinking and creation of new business models. Designers and product developers have an important and crucial role to achieve a successful and wide implementation of the concept which has to be accepted and applied in practice by businesses along the whole value chain and meet the current and future needs of consumers and the society. Currently, several methods, principles, practices, tools, training initiatives, and many resources are being developed globally as a result of the wide exploitation of the concept, but there is still a large gap between what is available to companies and designers, and what is applied in practice on product and service development. This paper reflects part of the PhD research project under development by the authors which is based on the promotion of the design practice within Circular Economy. It explores the results of the review of circularity tools available that can be used by design professionals to systematize and guide their development process. The analysis will support the development of a toolkit and guidelines oriented for the practical implementation of the circular economy in the development of innovative and efficient products and services. (Camocho, Ferreira, & Vicente, 2018).A economia circular é um novo conceito estratégico que visa responder às necessidades da sociedade de uma forma mais eficiente e sustentável que se baseia na dissociação entre crescimento económico e bem-estar do aumento do consumo de recursos naturais. Esta transição, do modelo linear tradicional para uma abordagem mais inovadora e circular no desenvolvimento da economia implica o desenvolvimento de novos produtos, novos serviços e novos sistemas, apoiados, na maioria dos casos, no repensar e na criação de novos modelos de negócio. Os designers e os responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento de produtos têm um papel importante e crucial para alcançar uma implementação ampla e bem-sucedida do conceito. Este deve ser aceite e aplicado na prática pelas empresas ao longo de toda a cadeia de valor atendendo às necessidades atuais e futuras dos consumidores e da sociedade. Atualmente, vários métodos, princípios, práticas, ferramentas, iniciativas de formação e outros recursos têm sido desenvolvidos globalmente como resultado da ampla exploração do conceito, no entanto, ainda existe uma grande lacuna entre o que está disponível para empresas e designers e o que é aplicado na prática no desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços. Este artigo reflete parte do projeto de investigação de doutoramento em desenvolvimento pelos autores, o qual se baseia na promoção da prática de design no âmbito da Economia Circular. Explora os resultados da revisão de ferramentas de circularidade disponíveis que podem ser aplicadas pelos profissionais de design na sistematização e orientação do processo de desenvolvimento. Esta análise irá apoiar o desenvolvimento de um conjunto de ferramentas e orientações para a implementação prática da economia circular no desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços mais inovadores e mais eficientes. (Camocho, Ferreira & Vicente, 2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Robust plasmon waveguides in strongly-interacting nanowire arrays

Arrays of parallel metallic nanowires are shown to provide a tunable, robust, and versatile platform for plasmon interconnects, including high-curvature turns with minimum signal loss. The proposed guiding mechanism relies on gap plasmons existing in the region between adjacent nanowires of dimers and multi-wire arrays. We focus on square and circular silver nanowires in silica, for which excellent agreement between both boundary element method and multiple multipolar expansion calculations is obtained. Our work provides the tools for designing plasmon-based interconnects and achieving high degree of integration with minimum cross talk between adjacent plasmon guides.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure