Seismic Evaluation of the Ca hedral of Valencia (Spain) applying a scalar damage model

Ashlars structures in Gothic cathedrals are designed to allow light get into the building. For this reason exterior walls turn into glazed large windows. The structural system which permits achieving this target is formed by the ribbed vault resting on columns. This Gothic system has an excellent performance against dead loads but its response to lateral loads produced by seismic movement is poor. The southern Mediterranean area is seismic zone and Gothic buildings raised there are different from the ones in the European centre. This paper studies the Cathedral of Valencia structural system and its seismic behaviour is numerically analysed using software developed by the authors of this paper, which implements two continuum damage models for analysing masonry and ashlars: An isotropic damage model is applied a nonlinear static pushover procedure. This procedure gives an appropriated approach to the structure response in a computational time relatively short. Too is applied a nonlinear structural dynamics is made in a whole model of the Cathedral. The application of efficient computational procedures as direct procedures to resolve systems of equations with sparse matrix are efficient and reduce computing time. Comparing the results obtained by both procedures permits evaluating the state of the Cathedral structure

Predators marked with chemical cues from one prey have increased attack success on another prey species

1. To reduce the risk of being eaten by predators, prey alter their morphology or behaviour. This response can be tuned to the current danger if chemical or other cues associated with predators inform the prey about the risks involved. 2. It is well known that various prey species discriminate between chemical cues from predators that fed on conspecific prey and those that fed on heterospecific prey, and react stronger to the first. It is therefore expected that generalist predators are more successful in capturing a given prey species when they are contaminated with chemical cues from another prey species instead of cues from the same prey species. 3. Here, a generalist predatory mite was studied that feeds on thrips larvae as well as on whitefly eggs and crawlers. Mites were marked with cues (i.e. body fluids) of one of these two prey species and were subsequently offered thrips larva. 4. Predators marked with thrips cues killed significantly fewer thrips than predators marked with whitefly cues, even though the predator's tendency to attack was the same. In addition, more thrips larvae sought refuge in the presence of a predatory mite marked with thrips cues instead of whitefly cues. 5. This suggests that generalist predators may experience improved attack success when switching prey species.R.v.M. received a scholarship of the Technology Foundation (STW Project 7180). G.B. received a fellowship from the OECD. E.A.F. received a fellowship from Fundació Caixa Castelló-Bancaixa (E-2011-09

Evaluación de daños y actuaciones de rehabilitación en la iglesia de San Nicolás de Eduardo Torroja (Gandía, 1962)

The church of San Nicolas in Gandia (1962), is the posthumous work of Eduardo Torroja Miret, engineer, in collaboration with Gonzalo Echegaray Comba, architect. The temple is characterized by its unique structure: two folded sheets of post-tensioned concrete, supported on the side walls, with 29 meters span. In 1996, the detection of cracks in the concrete and spalling, made it advisable an inspection and evaluation of the damages detected in the building, mostly caused by the corrosion of reinforcement concrete, and concluded by recommending repair them. This paper explains the structural system of the temple, describes the identified damages in the structure, exposes the refurbishment project and displays the works executed during the intervention. The work was completed just in time for the 50th anniversary of its construction in 2012.La iglesia de San Nicolás de Gandía (1962), es la obra póstuma del ingeniero Eduardo Torroja Miret, en colaboración con el arquitecto Gonzalo Echegaray Comba. El templo se caracteriza por su singular estructura: dos láminas plegadas de hormigón armado postesado, apoyadas en los testeros, salvando una luz de 29 m. En el año 1996, la detección de fisuras en el hormigón y desprendimientos de recubrimientos de las armaduras, hicieron aconsejable una inspección y evaluación exhaustiva de las lesiones que presentaba el edificio, mayormente producidas por la corrosión de las armaduras del hormigón, y que concluyó recomendando la reparación de las mismas. El presente trabajo explica el sistema estructural del templo, describe los daños detectados en la estructura, expone el proyecto de rehabilitación que se elaboró y muestra las obras que se ejecutaron durante la intervención. Las obras finalizaron justo para la celebración del 50 aniversario de su construcción en 2012

Medically Biodegradable Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Microspheres

[EN] Hydrogenated amorphous silicon colloids of low surface area (<5 m(2)/g) are shown to exhibit complete in-vitro biodegradation into orthosilicic acid within 10-15 days at 37 degrees C. When converted into polycrystalline silicon colloids, by high temperature annealing in an inert atmosphere, microparticle solubility is dramatically reduced. The data suggests that amorphous silicon does not require nanoscale porosification for full in-vivo biodegradability. This has significant implications for using a-Si:H coatings for medical implants in general, and orthopedic implants in particular. The high sphericity and biodegradability of submicron particles may also confer advantages with regards to contrast agents for medical imaging.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish CICyT projects, FIS2009-07812, Consolider CSD2007-046, MAT2009-010350 and PROMETEO/2010/043.Shabir, Q.; Pokale, A.; Loni, A.; Johnson, DR.; Canham, L.; Fenollosa Esteve, R.; Tymczenko, MK.... (2011). Medically Biodegradable Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Microspheres. Silicon. 3(4):173-176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-011-9097-4S17317634Salonen J, Kaukonen AM, Hirvonen J, Lehto VP (2008) J Pharmaceutics 97:632–53Anglin EJ, Cheng L, Freeman WR, Sailor MJ (2008) Adv Drug Deliv Rev 60:1266–77O’Farrell N, Houlton A, Horrocks BR (2006) Int J Nanomedicine 1:451–72Canham LT (1995) Adv Mater 7:1037, PCT patent WO 97/06101,1999Park JH, Gui L, Malzahn G, Ruoslahti E, Bhatia SN, Sailor MJ (2009) Nature Mater 8:331–6Cullis AG, Canham LT, Calcott PDJ (1997) J Appl Phys 82:909–66Canham LT, Reeves CR (1996) Mat Res Soc Symp 414:189–90Edell DJ, Toi VV, McNeil VM, Clark LD (1992) IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 39:635–43Fenollosa R, Meseguer F, Tymczenko M (2008) Adv Mater 20:95Fenollosa R, Meseguer F, Tymczenko M, Spanish Patent P200701681, 2007Pell LE, Schricker AD, Mikulec FV, Korgel BA (2004) Langmuir 20:6546Xifré-Perez E, Fenollosa R, Meseguer F (2011) Opt Express 19:3455–63Fenollosa R, Ramiro-Manzano F, Tymczenko M, Meseguer F (2010) J Mater Chem 20:5210Xifré-Pérez E, Domenech JD, Fenollosa R, Muñoz P, Capmany J, Meseguer F (2011) Opt Express 19–4:3185–92Rodriguez I, Fenollosa R, Meseguer F, Cosmetics & Toiletries 2010;42–49Ramiro-Manzano F, Fenollosa R, Xifré-Pérez E, Garín M, Meseguer F (2011) Adv Mater 23:3022–3025. doi: 10.1002/adma.201100986Iler RK (1979) Chemistry of silica: solubility, polymerization, colloid & surface properties & biochemistry. Wiley, New YorkTanaka K, Maruyama E, Shimado T, Okamoto H (1999) Amorphous silicon. Wiley, New York, NYPatterson AL (1939) Phys Rev 56:978–82Canham LT, Reeves CL, King DO, Branfield PJ, Gabb JG, Ward MC (1996) Adv Mater 8:850–2Iler RK In: Chemistry of silica: solubility, polymerization, colloid & surface properties &Biochemistry. Wiley, New York, NYFinnie KS, Waller DJ, Perret FL, Krause-Heuer AM, Lin HQ, Hanna JV, Barbe CJ (2009) J Sol-Gel Technol 49:12–8Zhao D, Huo Q, Feng J, Chmelka BF, Stucky GD (1998) J Am Chem Soc 120:6024–36Fan D, Akkaraju GR, Couch EF, Canham LT, Coffer JL (2010) Nanoscale 1:354–61Tasciotti E, Godin B, Martinez JO, Chiappini C, Bhavane R, Liu X, Ferrari M (2011) Mol Imaging 10:56–

Second-order Effects in Steel-Concrete Composite Columns of the Unbraced Frames

An unbraced frame is regarded as the one without a bracing system to avoid the horizontal&nbsp;displacement of its nodes. These displacements progressively increase due to their interaction with axial load&nbsp;(second-order effects) reducing the column's resistant capacity and can lead to the global frame instability. At&nbsp;the present work the Eurocodes criteria related to the way to approach its design will be displayed. Different&nbsp;iterative processes that take into account second-order effects will be exposed as well as a non-linear procedure&nbsp;based on an incremental load application. This procedure will be applied over an unbraced frame under gravity&nbsp;and wind loads with reinforced concrete beams and steel-concrete composite columns. Two geometrical models&nbsp;will be used: one of them starts from geometry without deformation and the other one takes into account the&nbsp;initial imperfections. The results comparison regarding first-order linear analysis will show that bending&nbsp;moments at the critical section of the columns will increase by nearly 50% when their initial imperfections are&nbsp;taken into account

Residual safety for flexural bending of slabs with corrosion in the joists

[EN] A large number of slabs with severe corrosion problems at the precast joists have appeared in Spain, often increased by the use of aluminous cement. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the residual safety for the bending mechanisms in the most common cases of damaged slabs, to decide the magnitude of the needed intervention. The damaged slabs have been evaluated as a part of an entire building, since the boundary conditions are essential for obtaining actual behavior, taking into account the different phases of the construction process and deterioration over time. A major cracking in the constructive elements are not frequently observed in inspections, and it is found that there is a sufficient residual safety to undertake the rehabilitation works without exceptional measures.[ES] A nivel nacional han aparecido un gran número de forjados de viguetas prefabricadas con graves problemas de corrosión, potenciada en muchas ocasiones por el empleo del cemento aluminoso. El propósito de este trabajo es evaluar la seguridad residual de los mecanismos de flexión en los casos más habituales de forjados dañados, para decidir la magnitud de la intervención necesaria. Los forjados dañados se han evaluado formando parte de un edificio completo, ya que las condiciones de contorno son fundamentales para la obtención del Comportamiento real, teniendo en cuenta las distintas fases del proceso constructivo y de deterioro en el tiempo. En bastantes ocasiones en la inspección no se observa una fisuración importante en los elementos constructivos, como solados o tabiquería, y hemos comprobado que existe una seguridad residual suficiente para acometer las obras de rehabilitación sin necesidad de adoptar medidas excepcionales.Gil Benso, E.; Vercher Sanchis, JM.; Mas Tomas, MDLA.; Fenollosa Forner, EJ. (2015). Seguridad remanente a flexión en forjados con corrosión en las viguetas. Informes de la Construcción. 67(537):1-10. doi:10.3989/ic.13.084S11067537Morán Cabré, F. (1994). Estimación de la seguridad residual en estructuras de hormigón con problemas patológicos. Informes de la Construcción, 46(434), 39-51. doi:10.3989/ic.1994.v46.i434.1107(2) Giménez, E. (2007). Estudio experimental y numérico de soportes de hormigón armado reforzados con perfiles metálicos sometidos a esfuerzos de compresión simple (Tesis Doctoral). Valencia: Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.(3) Vieitez, J.A., Ramírez, J.L. (1984). Patología de la Construcción en Espa-a: Aproximación Estadística. Resumen de Tesis Doctoral. Informes de la Construcción, 36(364): 5-15.(4) Instituto Valenciano de la Edificación (IVE). (2008). Guía para la Inspección y Evaluación Preliminar de estructuras de hormigón en edificios existentes. Serie guías de la calidad. Valencia: Generalitat Valenciana - Conselleria de Medi Ambient, Aigua, Urbanisme i Habitatge.(5) Instituto Valenciano de la Edificación (IVE). (2008). Experiencia en Inspección de estructuras en edificios. Comunidad Valenciana 1991-2008. Serie guías de la calidad. Valencia: Generalitat Valenciana - Conselleria de Medi Ambient, Aigua, Urbanisme i Habitatge.(6) Grupo Espa-ol del Hormigón (GEHO). (1994). Reparación y refuerzo de estructuras hormigón. Guía FIP de buena práctica. Boletín GEHO, 14. Madrid.Evangelista, A. D., Leonardis, A. D., Valente, C., & Zuccarino, L. (2011). Design and testing of corrosion damaged prestressed concrete joists: the Pescara Benchmark. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 305, 012081. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/305/1/012081Coronelli, D., & Gambarova, P. (2004). Structural Assessment of Corroded Reinforced Concrete Beams: Modeling Guidelines. Journal of Structural Engineering, 130(8), 1214-1224. doi:10.1061/(asce)0733-9445(2004)130:8(1214)Foster, S. ., Bailey, C. ., Burgess, I. ., & Plank, R. . (2004). Experimental behaviour of concrete floor slabs at large displacements. Engineering Structures, 26(9), 1231-1247. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2004.04.002(11) Ministerio de Vivienda. (2006, 28 de marzo). Código Técnico de la Edificación (CTE). Boletín Oficial del Estado, nº 74: 11816-11831. Madrid, Espa-a.(12) Bangash, M.Y.H. (1989). Concrete and concrete structures: Numerical modeling and applications. London - New York: Elsevier Applied Science.(13) Willam, K.J., Warnke, E.D. (1975). Constitutive model for the triaxial behavior of concrete. En Proceedings of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, ISMES, 19: 1-30. Bergamo, Italy.(14) Vercher, J. (2013). Seguridad residual en los forjados con corrosión severa (Tesis Doctoral). Valencia: Universidat Politècnica de València.Cubel, F., Mas, A., Vercher, J., & Gil, E. (2012). Design and construction recommendations for brick enclosures with continuous air chamber. Construction and Building Materials, 36, 151-164. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.04.128Brencich, A., & Felice, G. de. (2009). Brickwork under eccentric compression: Experimental results and macroscopic models. Construction and Building Materials, 23(5), 1935-1946. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2008.09.004Dilrukshi, K. G. S., Dias, W. P. S., & Rajapakse, R. K. N. D. (2010). Numerical modelling of cracks in masonry walls due to thermal movements in an overlying slab. Engineering Structures, 32(5), 1411-1422. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2010.01.019(18) Fanning, P. (2001). Nonlinear models of reinforced and post-tensioned concrete beams. Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering, 2: 111-119.(19) Tavio, T., Tata, A. (2009). Predicting nonlinear behavior and stress-strain relationship of rectangular confined reinforced concrete columns with Ansys. Civil Engineering Dimension, 11(1): 23-31.Rodriguez, J., Ortega, L., & Casal, J. (1997). Load carrying capacity of concrete structures with corroded reinforcement. Construction and Building Materials, 11(4), 239-248. doi:10.1016/s0950-0618(97)00043-

Spherical silicon photonic microcavities: From amorphous to polycrystalline

[EN] Shaping silicon as a spherical object is not an obvious task, especially when the object size is in the micrometer range. This has the important consequence of transforming bare silicon material in a microcavity, so it is able to confine light efficiently. Here, we have explored the inside volume of such microcavities, both in their amorphous and in their polycrystalline versions. The synthesis method, which is based on chemical vapor deposition, causes amorphous microspheres to have a high content of hydrogen that produces an onionlike distributed porous core when the microspheres are crystallized by a fast annealing regime. This substantially influences the resonant modes. However, a slow crystallization regime does not yield pores, and produces higher-quality-factor resonances that could be fitted to the Mie theory. This allows the establishment of a procedure for obtaining size calibration standards with relative errors of the order of 0.1%.This work was supported by Projects ENE2013-49987-EXP, MAT2012-35040, and MAT2015-69669-P of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and Project PROMETEOII/2014/026 of the Regional Valencian Government. The authors greatly acknowledge the Electron Microscopy Service of the UPV for their valuable help in the structural characterization of the microspheres.Fenollosa Esteve, R.; Garín Escrivá, M.; Meseguer Rico, FJ. (2016). Spherical silicon photonic microcavities: From amorphous to polycrystalline. Physical review B: Condensed matter and materials physics. 93(23):235307-1-235307-8. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.235307S235307-1235307-8932

Spain's Budget Neglects Research

Letter.-- Carlos Fenollosa et al.Peer Reviewe