40,702 research outputs found
Experimental characterization of the structural response of adobe arches
Earth was one of the first construction materials used by mankind and has been used as a building material since ancient times until the present days. Its qualities related to thermal comfort, low cost or simple construction techniques have contributed to such a long tradition throughout the world with several different architectural expressions, integrating the culture and history of each region.
With the wide propagation of steel and concrete structures, there has been a general loss of the traditional knowledge in earth construction. This type of construction presents important structural fragilities and requires a special maintenance to preserve its qualities. In order to understand the structural behaviour of this type of structures, the associated construction methods and processes have to be considered.
Aveiro University has been developing studies on adobe constructions, with research on the material mechanical characterization, experimental study of the structural behaviour of adobe masonry walls and, more recently, in the development of a detailed survey methodology for the characterization of buildings in Aveiro district.
Integrated in these studies, arches with different geometries were built using adobe blocks and traditional construction methods. These arches were tested under different types of vertical loading (distributed symmetrical, distributed non-symmetrical and point load) until collapse. The experimental tests performed reproduce the typical loading conditions of these structures during construction and use. The tests conducted, the results obtained and the main conclusions attained are described in this paper
Gravitational waves from pulsars with measured braking index
We study the putative emission of gravitational waves (GWs) in particular for
pulsars with measured braking index. We show that the appropriate combination
of both GW emission and magnetic dipole brakes can naturally explain the
measured braking index, when the surface magnetic field and the angle between
the magnetic dipole and rotation axes are time dependent. Then we discuss the
detectability of these very pulsars by aLIGO and the Einstein Telescope. We
call attention to the realistic possibility that aLIGO can detect the GWs
generated by at least some of these pulsars, such as Vela, for example.Comment: 6 pages and 4 figure
Study od a Slice at +9 to +15 degrees of Declination: I. The Neutral Hydrogen Content of Galaxies in Loose Groups
We examine the H1 content of spiral galaxies in groups by using a catalog of
loose groups of galaxies identified in a magnitude limited sample m < 15.7
spanning the range 8 h to 18 h in right ascension and +9 to +15 in declination.
The redshift completeness of the galaxy sample is ~95%. No significant effect
of H1 depletion is found, although there may be a hint that the earliest type
spirals are slightly deficient.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, 3 tables, 5 figures, to appear in the Astronomical
Journa
Labels for non-individuals
Quasi-set theory is a first order theory without identity, which allows us to
cope with non-individuals in a sense. A weaker equivalence relation called
``indistinguishability'' is an extension of identity in the sense that if
is identical to then and are indistinguishable, although the
reciprocal is not always valid. The interesting point is that quasi-set theory
provides us a useful mathematical background for dealing with collections of
indistinguishable elementary quantum particles. In the present paper, however,
we show that even in quasi-set theory it is possible to label objects that are
considered as non-individuals. We intend to prove that individuality has
nothing to do with any labelling process at all, as suggested by some authors.
We discuss the physical interpretation of our results.Comment: 11 pages, no figure
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