Greece. The country with the half Drachma

A few days after the introduction of the bank capital controls and with thousands of pensioners queuing up outside the bank branches, the Prime Minister’s Office received a piece of research on the effect of the capital controls on the electorate. The data disclosed were very surprising even counter-intuitive. It was apparent that the closing of the banks had a very small negative effect

General non-rotating perfect-fluid solution with an abelian spacelike C_3 including only one isometry

The general solution for non-rotating perfect-fluid spacetimes admitting one Killing vector and two conformal (non-isometric) Killing vectors spanning an abelian three-dimensional conformal algebra (C_3) acting on spacelike hypersurfaces is presented. It is of Petrov type D; some properties of the family such as matter contents are given. This family turns out to be an extension of a solution recently given in \cite{SeS} using completely different methods. The family contains Friedman-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker particular cases and could be useful as a test for the different FLRW perturbation schemes. There are two very interesting limiting cases, one with a non-abelian G_2 and another with an abelian G_2 acting non-orthogonally transitively on spacelike surfaces and with the fluid velocity non-orthogonal to the group orbits. No examples are known to the authors in these classes.Comment: Submitted to GRG, Latex fil

Assessment of the Seismic Behavior of Fully and Partially Grouted Reinforced Masonry Structural Systems through Finite Element Analysis and Shake-Table Testing

Reinforced masonry (RM) structures are commonly found in North America including in areas of high seismicity. However, the ability of such buildings to meet the performance expectations of design codes for high-intensity earthquakes has not been thoroughly validated at the system level. Furthermore, the seismic behavior of partially grouted masonry (PGM) wall systems is not well understood. In this study, a detailed finite element (FE) analysis framework has been developed to simulate the seismic response of RM structures through collapse. The framework combines smeared-crack shell elements and cohesive-crack interface elements to capture the fracture of masonry, and beam elements to simulate the nonlinear behavior of reinforcing bars. The strain penetration and dowel action that may develop in the reinforcing bars are also accounted for. To enhance robustness and accuracy, an element removal scheme has been introduced. This scheme is triggered in the event of reinforcement rupture or severe masonry crushing. The material models and interface elements have been implemented in a commercial program. The modeling scheme has been validated with experimental data from quasi-static and shake-table tests, and has been used to provide insight into the seismic resistance mechanisms of reinforced masonry structures and the influence of design details on their seismic performance.Two full-scale shake-table tests were conducted to acquire a better understanding of the seismic performance of PGM wall systems. The first structure had design details that represent the current practice, while the second had improved design details including stronger vertical grouted elements and bed-joint reinforcement. It has been shown that the PGM structure constructed according to current practice could develop an adequate base-shear capacity but failed in a brittle manner, while the improved design details studied could enhance the ductility and shear capacity of the structure. The FE modeling scheme has been extended for analyzing PGM and has been validated with data from the two shake-table tests and quasi-static tests. The models are used to understand the distribution of lateral forces among the wall components of the two test structures, and to evaluate the shear-strength equation given in the design code. The code equation has been found to be adequate for these structures. A parametric study has been conducted to demonstrate the beneficial influence of continuous bond beams below window openings, double vertical grouted cells, and joint reinforcement on the seismic performance of a PGM structure

Assessment of the Seismic Behavior of Fully and Partially Grouted Reinforced Masonry Structural Systems through Finite Element Analysis and Shake-Table Testing

Reinforced masonry (RM) structures are commonly found in North America including in areas of high seismicity. However, the ability of such buildings to meet the performance expectations of design codes for high-intensity earthquakes has not been thoroughly validated at the system level. Furthermore, the seismic behavior of partially grouted masonry (PGM) wall systems is not well understood. In this study, a detailed finite element (FE) analysis framework has been developed to simulate the seismic response of RM structures through collapse. The framework combines smeared-crack shell elements and cohesive-crack interface elements to capture the fracture of masonry, and beam elements to simulate the nonlinear behavior of reinforcing bars. The strain penetration and dowel action that may develop in the reinforcing bars are also accounted for. To enhance robustness and accuracy, an element removal scheme has been introduced. This scheme is triggered in the event of reinforcement rupture or severe masonry crushing. The material models and interface elements have been implemented in a commercial program. The modeling scheme has been validated with experimental data from quasi-static and shake-table tests, and has been used to provide insight into the seismic resistance mechanisms of reinforced masonry structures and the influence of design details on their seismic performance.Two full-scale shake-table tests were conducted to acquire a better understanding of the seismic performance of PGM wall systems. The first structure had design details that represent the current practice, while the second had improved design details including stronger vertical grouted elements and bed-joint reinforcement. It has been shown that the PGM structure constructed according to current practice could develop an adequate base-shear capacity but failed in a brittle manner, while the improved design details studied could enhance the ductility and shear capacity of the structure. The FE modeling scheme has been extended for analyzing PGM and has been validated with data from the two shake-table tests and quasi-static tests. The models are used to understand the distribution of lateral forces among the wall components of the two test structures, and to evaluate the shear-strength equation given in the design code. The code equation has been found to be adequate for these structures. A parametric study has been conducted to demonstrate the beneficial influence of continuous bond beams below window openings, double vertical grouted cells, and joint reinforcement on the seismic performance of a PGM structure

Mathematical properties of homothetic spacetimes

Includes bibliographical referencesAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX220225 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Stockholm, the tourism capital of Scandinavia? : En studie om hur lågkonjunkturen påverkar Stockholms turismnäring och varumärkesutveckling

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Seismic response of an existing RC building with core wall considering soil-structure interaction

215 σ.Εξετάστηκε ένα επταώροφο κτίριο αντιπροσωπευτικό των πολυκατοικιών της δεκαετίας του 1970. Το φρέαρ του ανελκυστήρα είναι το μοναδικό τοίχωμα που διαθέτει το κτίριο. Η θεμελίωση του κτιρίου γίνεται με μεμονωμένα επιφανειακά πέδιλα. Η συγκέντρωση των σεισμικών φορτίων στον πυρήνα αυξάνει τις απαιτήσεις στη θεμελίωσή του. Εξετάστηκε ο φορέας με τέσσεριςπεριπτώσεις έδρασης: ο φορέας πακτωμένος στη βάση, ο φορέας θεμελιωμένος με τα συμβατικά πέδιλα και δύο περιπτώσεις όπου ο φορέας θεμελιώνεται με υποδιαστασιολογήμενα, αντισυμβατικά πέδιλα. Έμφαση δόθηκε στη διερεύνηση της επιρροής του ενδεχόμενου λικνισμού του πεδίλου του πυρήνα στη σεισμική απόκριση του κτιρίου.Seismic response of an existing RC building considering Soil-Structure Interaction.Ανδρέας Α. Κούτρα