1,567 research outputs found
An experimental set-up for cyclic loading of concrete
Abstract Innovative cementitious composite materials are drawing considerable interest due to their substantially improved mechanical properties as compared to ordinary cement-based materials. Their enhanced ductility is promising and particularly suited to structural applications under severe dynamic loading conditions. Cyclic response is essential to understand the effects of loading and unloading on the material, as well as to understanding how it behaves in the transition from tension to compression. It is also fundamental to identify its properties in terms of energy dissipation and strain-rate sensitivity. This paper presents the first part of an ongoing research project which aims to develop the constitutive relationship in innovative cementitious composites and its numerical implementation. Results from this research will facilitate the investigation of the ductility and durability of existing buildings. In this paper, an experimental set-up for uniaxial cyclic loading is described. It was developed to study reversed cyclic compression/tension loadings of innovative cementitious composites. To set the cyclic loading process, cylindrical specimens of concrete were tested. All the tests were performed on a Zwick testing machine with 50 kN load cell. The machine was customised with accessories specifically designed to meet test requirements, avoiding instability and bending moments during the alternating phases of uniaxial compression and tension. Strain gauges were used to measure lateral deformations. The customized machine has shown good performance so far. In order to test specimens with a higher number of cycles and a higher loading rate, improvements to the machine are currently under development. These tests will allow greater insight into the ductility of innovative cementitious composite materials
End to end numerical simulations of the MAORY multiconjugate adaptive optics system
MAORY is the adaptive optics module of the E-ELT that will feed the MICADO
imaging camera through a gravity invariant exit port. MAORY has been foreseen
to implement MCAO correction through three high order deformable mirrors driven
by the reference signals of six Laser Guide Stars (LGSs) feeding as many
Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensors. A three Natural Guide Stars (NGSs) system
will provide the low order correction. We develop a code for the end-to-end
simulation of the MAORY adaptive optics (AO) system in order to obtain
high-delity modeling of the system performance. It is based on the IDL language
and makes extensively uses of the GPUs. Here we present the architecture of the
simulation tool and its achieved and expected performance.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes +
Instrumentation 2014 in Montr\'eal, Quebec, Canada, with number 9148-25
influence of pyrolysis parameters on the efficiency of the biochar as nanoparticles into cement based composites
Abstract In this research, a particular kind of biochar provided by UK Biochar Centre has been added as nanoparticles into cementitious composites. Its principle characteristic lies in the standardization of its process production, that makes it suitable to been used as filler in cement-matrix composites, ensuring the reproducibility of the cement mix (I. Cosentino "The use of Bio-char for sustainable and durable concrete", 2017). The pyrolysis parameters and the content of carbon in the standardized biochar influenced its efficiency to enhance the mechanical properties of the cement composites: the results, in terms of flexural strength and fracture energy, have been worse than those obtained in previous studies (L. Restuccia "Re-think, Re-use: agro-food and C&D waste for high-performance sustainable cementitious composites", 2016), in which particles have been produced with higher temperature. However, also with standardized biochar a general enhancement of mechanical properties has been recorded, a sign that they can be used to create new green building materials
Cyclic uniaxial testing and constitutive modelling of cementitious composite materials
Innovative cementitious composite materials are drawing considerable interest due to their substantially improved mechanical properties, as compared to ordinary cement-based materials: among the others, higher tensile strength, tensile strain hardening, flexural strength, fracture toughness [1] and resistance to fatigue. Their enhanced ductility appears to be promising and particularly suited to structural applications under severe dynamic loading conditions (earthquake, impact, blast) [2]. Accurate constitutive models to simulate the dynamic behaviour of cementitious composites are hence needed, as well as corresponding appropriate testing protocols for their experimental characterisation [3].
In this study, the response of cementitious composites to cyclic uniaxial loadings has been investigated. Cyclic response is essential to understand the effects of unloading and reloading on the material, to examine how it behaves in the transition from tension to compression and to characterise its properties in terms of energy dissipation and strain-rate sensitivity. Different loading schemes have been considered, including reversed cyclic tension/compression loadings, in order to identify the complete stress-strain curve and the transition behaviour, which can occur, for instance, under seismic, fatigue and wind loads. Monotonic quasi-static tension and compression tests have been also performed, to provide a benchmark for the evaluation of the envelope curve of cyclic response.
The experimental campaign was carried out on cylindrical specimens, a standard geometry in compression testing of cement-based materials. Several series of homothetic specimens (height to diameter ratio fixed as 2) with different dimensions were tested, to evaluate the influence of scale effects. Variability and reproducibility of the testing results have been taking into account by employing a minimum number of three specimens per loading condition. All the tests were performed, under deformation-controlled regime, on an MTS servo-hydraulic testing machine with 250 kN load cell. The testing machine was customised with accessories designed to meet specific test requirements, avoiding instability and bending moments during the alternating phases of uniaxial compression and tension. Linear variable displacement transducers (LVDT) and strain gauges were used to measure vertical displacements and lateral deformations, respectively. The results obtained experimentally represent a reliable basis for the development of constitutive models suited to numerical simulation.
References
[1] Restuccia, L., Reggio, A., Ferro, G.A., Kamranirad, R., “Fractal analysis of crack paths into
innovative carbon-based cementitious composites”, Theoretical and Applied Fracture
Mechanics, 90, 133-141, 2017.
[2] Yoo, D. Y., Banthia N. “Mechanical properties of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced
concrete: A review”, Cement and Concrete Composites, 73, 267-280, 2016.
[3] Kesner, K.E., Billington, S.L., Douglas K.S. “Cyclic response of highly ductile fiber-reinforced
cement-based composites”, ACI Materials Journal, 100(5), 381-390, 2003
A Comprehensive Review of Techniques for Processing and Analyzing Fetal Heart Rate Signals
The availability of standardized guidelines regarding the use of electronic fetal monitoring
(EFM) in clinical practice has not effectively helped to solve the main drawbacks of fetal heart rate
(FHR) surveillance methodology, which still presents inter- and intra-observer variability as well
as uncertainty in the classification of unreassuring or risky FHR recordings. Given the clinical
relevance of the interpretation of FHR traces as well as the role of FHR as a marker of fetal wellbeing
autonomous nervous system development, many different approaches for computerized processing
and analysis of FHR patterns have been proposed in the literature. The objective of this review is to
describe the techniques, methodologies, and algorithms proposed in this field so far, reporting their
main achievements and discussing the value they brought to the scientific and clinical community.
The review explores the following two main approaches to the processing and analysis of FHR
signals: traditional (or linear) methodologies, namely, time and frequency domain analysis, and less
conventional (or nonlinear) techniques. In this scenario, the emerging role and the opportunities
offered by Artificial Intelligence tools, representing the future direction of EFM, are also discussed
with a specific focus on the use of Artificial Neural Networks, whose application to the analysis of
accelerations in FHR signals is also examined in a case study conducted by the authors
Proposte per stabilire la tortura nei giudizi criminali di Sicilia dopo le riforme del 1812 / per Giuseppe Cosentino Palermo : Stab. tip. Virzi, 1889
Proposte per stabilire la tortura nei giudizi criminali di Sicilia dopo le riforme del 1812 / per Giuseppe Cosentino
Palermo : Stab. tip. Virzi, 1889
22 p. ; 25 c
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