Experimental and numerical analysis of the cyclic behaviour of RC beam-column connections with plain reinforcing bars

The information available in the literature about the cyclic behaviour of reinforced concrete elements with plain reinforcing bars is scarce. As a consequence, the influence of bar slippage in elements with plain bars is not yet comprehensively understood. In this paper are presented and discussed the main results of the cyclic tests carried out on five full-scale reinforced concrete beam-column joints with plain bars and without specific detailing for seismic demands. An additional joint specimen with deformed bars was also tested for comparison. Furthermore, numerical models were built to simulate the response of two of the specimens. Particular attention was given to the influence of bar slippage. The results of the conducted analyses underline the importance of accounting for bond-slip in the numerical modelling of elements with plain bars and also highlight the need for specific models to simulate the effects of this mechanism in the presence of plain bars

Nonlinear modeling of the cyclic response of RC columns

Cyclic load reversals (like those induced by earthquakes) result in accelerated bond degradation, leading to significant bar slippage. The bond-slip mechanism is reported to be one of the most common causes of damage and even collapse of existing RC structures subjected to earthquake loading. RC structures with plain reinforcing bars, designed and built prior to the enforcement of the modern seismic-oriented design philosophies, are particularly sensitive to bond degradation. However, perfect bond conditions are typically assumed in the numerical analysis of RC structures. This paper describes the numerical modeling of the cyclic response of two RC columns, one built with deformed bars and the other with plain bars and structural detailing similar to that typically adopted in pre-1970s structures. For each column, different modeling strategies to simulate the column response were tested. Models were built using the OpenSees and the SeismoStruct platforms, and calibrated with the available tests results. Within each platform, different types of nonlinear elements were used to represent the columns. Bond-slip effects were included in the OpenSees models resorting to a simple modeling strategy. The models and the parameters adopted are presented and discussed. Comparison is established between the most relevant experimental results and the corresponding results provided by the numerical models. Conclusions are drawn about the capacity of the tested models to simulate the columns response and about the influence of considering or not considering the effects of bars slippage

Evidence from stellar rotation of enhanced disc dispersal: (I) The case of the triple visual system BD-21 1074 in the β\beta Pictoris association

The early stage of stellar evolution is characterized by a star-disc locking mechanism. The disc-locking prevents the star to spin its rotation up, and its timescale depends on the disc lifetime. Some mechanisms can significantly shorten this lifetime, allowing a few stars to start spinning up much earlier than other stars. In the present study, we aim to investigate how the properties of the circumstellar environment can shorten the disc lifetime. We have identified a few multiple stellar systems, composed of stars with similar masses, which belong to associations with a known age. Since all parameters that are responsible for the rotational evolution, with the exception of environment properties and initial stellar rotation, are similar for all components, we expect that significant differences among the rotation periods can only arise from differences in the disc lifetimes. A photometric timeseries allowed us to measure the rotation periods of each component, while high-resolution spectra provided us with the fundamental parameters, $v\sin{i}$ and chromospheric line fluxes. The rotation periods of the components differ significantly, and the component B, which has a closer companion C, rotates faster than the more distant and isolated component A. We can ascribe the rotation period difference to either different initial rotation periods or different disc-locking phases arising from the presence of the close companion C. In the specific case of BD$-$21 1074, the second scenario seems to be more favored. In our hypothesis of different disc-locking phase, any planet orbiting this star is likely formed very rapidly owing to a gravitational instability mechanism, rather than core accretion. Only a large difference of initial rotation periods alone could account for the observed period difference, leaving comparable disc lifetimes.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics on July 31, 2014; Pages 12, Figs.

Search for associations containing young stars (SACY). V. Is multiplicity universal? Tight multiple systems

Context: Dynamically undisrupted, young populations of stars are crucial to study the role of multiplicity in relation to star formation. Loose nearby associations provide us with a great sample of close ($<$150 pc) Pre-Main Sequence (PMS) stars across the very important age range ($\approx$5-70 Myr) to conduct such research. Aims: We characterize the short period multiplicity fraction of the SACY (Search for Associations Containing Young stars) accounting for any identifiable bias in our techniques and present the role of multiplicity fractions of the SACY sample in the context of star formation. Methods: Using the cross-correlation technique we identified double-lined spectroscopic systems (SB2), in addition to this we computed Radial Velocity (RV) values for our subsample of SACY targets using several epochs of FEROS and UVES data. These values were used to revise the membership of each association then combined with archival data to determine significant RV variations across different data epochs characteristic of multiplicity; single-lined multiple systems (SB1). Results: We identified 7 new multiple systems (SB1s: 5, SB2s: 2). We find no significant difference between the short period multiplicity fraction ($F_\mathrm{m}$) of the SACY sample and that of nearby star forming regions ($\approx$1-2 Myr) and the field ($F_\mathrm{m}\leq$10%) both as a function of age and as a function of primary mass, $M_1$, in the ranges $P$ [1:200 day] and $M_2$ [0.08 $M_{\odot}$-$M_1$]. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with the picture of universal star formation, when compared to the field and nearby star forming regions (SFRs). We comment on the implications of the relationship between increasing multiplicity fraction with primary mass, within the close companion range, in relation to star formation.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, published, A&A http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/20142385

Activity Recognition based on a Magnitude-Orientation Stream Network

The temporal component of videos provides an important clue for activity recognition, as a number of activities can be reliably recognized based on the motion information. In view of that, this work proposes a novel temporal stream for two-stream convolutional networks based on images computed from the optical flow magnitude and orientation, named Magnitude-Orientation Stream (MOS), to learn the motion in a better and richer manner. Our method applies simple nonlinear transformations on the vertical and horizontal components of the optical flow to generate input images for the temporal stream. Experimental results, carried on two well-known datasets (HMDB51 and UCF101), demonstrate that using our proposed temporal stream as input to existing neural network architectures can improve their performance for activity recognition. Results demonstrate that our temporal stream provides complementary information able to improve the classical two-stream methods, indicating the suitability of our approach to be used as a temporal video representation.Comment: 8 pages, SIBGRAPI 201

Giant planets around two intermediate-mass evolved stars and confirmation of the planetary nature of HIP67851 c

Precision radial velocities are required to discover and characterize planets orbiting nearby stars. Optical and near infrared spectra that exhibit many hundreds of absorption lines can allow the m/s precision levels required for such work. However, this means that studies have generally focused on solar-type dwarf stars. After the main-sequence, intermediate-mass stars (former A-F stars) expand and rotate slower than their progenitors, thus thousands of narrow absorption lines appear in the optical region, permitting the search for planetary Doppler signals in the data for these types of stars. We present the discovery of two giant planets around the intermediate-mass evolved star HIP65891 and HIP107773. The best Keplerian fit to the HIP65891 and HIP107773 radial velocities leads to the following orbital parameters: P=1084.5 d; m$_b$sin$i$ = 6.0 M$_{jup}$; $e$=0.13 and P=144.3 d; m$_b$sin$i$ = 2.0 M$_{jup}$; $e$=0.09, respectively. In addition, we confirm the planetary nature of the outer object orbiting the giant star HIP67851. The orbital parameters of HIP67851c are: P=2131.8 d, m$_c$sin$i$ = 6.0 M$_{jup}$ and $e$=0.17. With masses of 2.5 M$_\odot$ and 2.4 M$_\odot$ HIP65891 and HIP107773 are two of the most massive stars known to host planets. Additionally, HIP67851 is one of five giant stars that are known to host a planetary system having a close-in planet ($a <$ 0.7 AU). Based on the evolutionary states of those five stars, we conclude that close-in planets do exist in multiple systems around subgiants and slightly evolved giants stars, but probably they are subsequently destroyed by the stellar envelope during the ascent of the red giant branch phase. As a consequence, planetary systems with close-in objects are not found around horizontal branch stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&