Pressure-impulse diagram method:a fundamental review

Accidental and deliberate explosions stemming from catastrophic events in the petroleum industry, incidents during complex manufacturing processes, mishandling or failure of domestic gas appliances or installations, terrorist attacks and military engagements, are becoming increasingly relevant in structural design. Pressure‐impulse (P‐I) diagrams are widely used for the preliminarily assessment and design of structures subjected to such extreme loading conditions. A typical P‐I diagram provides information concerning the level of damage sustained by a specific structural member when subjected to a blast load. This paper presents a state‐of‐the‐art review describing the development of the P‐I diagram method over the last 70 years, the main assumptions upon which its development is based and the framework through which such the method is applied in practice. The structural analysis methods used for the derivation of P‐I curves are discussed and the existing approaches are categorised according to algorithms used. A review of the P‐I curve formulae proposed to date is performed, where the formulae are classified according to the formulation methods

Environmentally Friendly Smart Construction—Review of Recent Developments and Opportunities

Modern economic, social and environmental challenges require a new type of construction that ensures resilience, low construction costs and ease of maintenance. Material production, manufacturing of structural elements and final assembly should minimise the environmental impacts, such as greenhouse emissions and waste production. This review aims to identify the key routes of research and development required to address the environmental challenges the construction industry faces. It outlines recent advances and highlights the rising opportunities. The strategies with great perspectives include 3D concrete printing, prefabrication and modular construction, mortarless construction, development and utilization of sustainable, smart and composite materials, renewable energy systems and automation technologies including the Digital Twin technology. Hybrid approaches that combine traditional and novel construction methods present the greatest potential. Overall, collaboration between stakeholders is crucial in driving innovation and successfully implementing these advancements

Planar isotropic structures with negative Poisson’s ratio

AbstractA new design principle is suggested for constructing auxetic structures – the structures that exhibit negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) at macroscopic level. We propose 2D assemblies of identical units made of a flexible frame with a sufficiently rigid reinforcing core at the centre. The core increases the frame resistance to the tangential movement thus ensuring high shear stiffness, whereas the normal stiffness is low being controlled by the local bending response of the frame. The structures considered have hexagonal symmetry, which delivers macroscopically isotropic elastic properties in the plane perpendicular to the axis of the symmetry. We determine the macroscopic Poisson’s ratio as a ratio of corresponding relative displacements computed using the direct microstructural approach. It is demonstrated that the proposed design can produce a macroscopically isotropic system with NPR close to the lower bound of −1. We also developed a 2D elastic Cosserat continuum model, which represents the microstructure as a regular assembly of rigid particles connected by elastic springs. The comparison of values of NPRs computed using both structural models and the continuum approach shows that the continuum model gives a healthy balance between the simplicity and accuracy and can be used as a simple tool for design of auxetics