Innovative technique for the base isolation of existing buildings

An innovative base isolation system has been recently proposed for the retrofitting of existing buildings, in which the isolation layer is inserted under the building foundations so that the building, along with its foundations, is isolated from the surrounding soil. The isolation layer resides in closely-spaced micro-tunnels, constructed under the entire width of the building. These micro-tunnels, along with the trenches around the building, isolate the structure from the surrounding soil. The execution of these micro-tunnels is the most critical construction stage, because it may result in settlements which can damage the structure. In this paper, the behaviour of an existing structure, consisting of a masonry wall subjected to tunnelling-induced ground subsidence, is analysed. A parametric study is conducted using 2-D nonlinear finite element analyses to understand the role of key factors such as strength and stiffness of soil and masonry, roughness of soil-structure interface, excavation sequence of tunnels, wall dimensions and openings configuration. The study identifies the design variables which influence the most the risk of structural damage and suggests the most effective damage symptoms to be monitored during constructio

Innovative technique for the base isolation of existing buildings

An innovative base isolation system has been recently proposed for the retrofitting of existing buildings, in which the isolation layer is inserted under the building foundations so that the building, along with its foundations, is isolated from the surrounding soil. The isolation layer resides in closely-spaced micro-tunnels, constructed under the entire width of the building. These micro-tunnels, along with the trenches around the building, isolate the structure from the surrounding soil. The execution of these micro-tunnels is the most critical construction stage, because it may result in settlements which can damage the structure. In this paper, the behaviour of an existing structure, consisting of a masonry wall subjected to tunnelling-induced ground subsidence, is analysed. A parametric study is conducted using 2-D nonlinear finite element analyses to understand the role of key factors such as strength and stiffness of soil and masonry, roughness of soil-structure interface, excavation sequence of tunnels, wall dimensions and openings configuration. The study identifies the design variables which influence the most the risk of structural damage and suggests the most effective damage symptoms to be monitored during constructio

Multi-criteria community detection in International Trade Network

Understanding the community structure has great importance for economic analysis. Communities are characterized by properties different from those of both the individual node and the whole network and they affect various processes on the network. We combine community detection with specific topological indicators. As a result, a new weighted network is constructed by the original one, in which weights are determined taking into account all the topological indicators in a multi-criteria approach. We introduce a new algorithm to detect communities by solving the NP-hard CP-problem

On forward and inverse uncertainty quantification for a model for a magneto mechanical device involving a hysteresis operator

Modeling real world objects and processes one may has to deal with hysteresis effects but also with uncertainties. Following D. Davino, P. Krejčí, and C. Visone: Fully coupled modeling of magneto-mechanical hysteresis through `thermodynamic' compatibility. Smart Mater. Struct., 22(9), (2013) 0950099, a model for a magnetostrictive material involving a generalized Prandtl- Ishlinskiĭ-operator is considered here. Using results of measurements, some parameters in the model are determined and inverse Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) is used to determine random densities to describe the remaining parameters and their uncertainties. Afterwards, the results are used do perform forward UQ and to compare the results with measured data. This extends some of the results from O. Klein, D. Davino, and C. Visone. On forward and inverse uncertainty quantification for models involving hysteresis operators. Math. Model. Nat. Phenom. 15 (2020) 53

Thermographic non-destructive evaluation for natural fiber-reinforced composite laminates

Natural fibers, including mineral and plant fibers, are increasingly used for polymer composite materials due to their low environmental impact. In this paper, thermographic non-destructive inspection techniques were used to evaluate and characterize basalt, jute/hemp and bagasse fibers composite panels. Different defects were analyzed in terms of impact damage, delaminations and resin abnormalities. Of particular interest, homogeneous particleboards of sugarcane bagasse, a new plant fiber material, were studied. Pulsed phase thermography and principal component thermography were used as the post-processing methods. In addition, ultrasonic C-scan and continuous wave terahertz imaging were also carried out on the mineral fiber laminates for comparative purposes. Finally, an analytical comparison of different methods was give

Holographic interferometry (HI), infrared Vision and X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy for the assessment of painted wooden statues : a new integrated approach

Wood has been routinely employed in decorative arts, as well as in sculptures and paintings (support) during the Middle Ages, because of its unique aesthetic virtues. It may safely be assumed that wood, as a material for monumental sculpture, was much more commonly employed in the mediaeval period than existing examples would seem to indicate (Bulletin of the metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013). Wood is easily obtainable; it could be carved and put in place with less difficulty than stone, it is chemically stable when dry, and its surface offers a compatible substrate for paint application. However, the use of wood is not without pitfalls, and requires an understanding of its anisotropic and hygroscopic nature. It is also dimensionally unstable and subject to deterioration by fungi and insects. Moisture-related dimensional changes are certainly among the most challenging problems in painting conservation. With the purpose of preventing important damages, the use of non-or microdestructive testing (NDT) techniques is undoubtedly of paramount interest for painted wooden statues of great value. This work has a threefold purpose: (1) to validate the effectiveness of an integrated approach using near-infrared (NIR) reflectography, square pulse thermography (SPT), and holographic interferometry (HI) techniques for discovering old repairs and/or inclusions of foreign materials in a wooden structure, (2) to confirm and approximately date the restoration carried out by x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) (that is assembled with a scanning electron microscopy—SEM) techniques, and (3) to combine into a multidisciplinary approach two quantitative NDT results coming from optical and thermographic methods. The subject of the present study was a statue named “Virgin with her Child” (XIV century), whose origins are mysterious and not properly documented

Monitoring of jute/hemp fiber hybrid laminates by nondestructive testing techniques

Abstract Damage following static indentation of jute/hemp (50 wt.% total fiber content) hybrid laminates was detected by a number of nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques, in particular, near (NIR) and short-wave (SWIR) infrared reflectography and transmittography, infrared thermography (IRT), digital speckle photography (DSP), and holographic interferometry (HI), to discover and evaluate real defects in a laminate with a complex structure. A comparative study between thermographic data acquired in the mid- (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) spectrum bands, by pulsed (PT) and square pulse (SPT) thermography, is reported and analyzed. A thermal simulation by COMSOL® Multiphysics (COMSOL Inc., Burlington, MA, USA) to validate the heating provided is also added. The robust SOBI (SOBI-RO) algorithm, available into the ICALAB Toolbox (BSI RIKEN ABSP Lab, Hirosawa, Japan) and operating in the MATLAB® (The MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA, USA) environment, was applied on SPT data with results comparable to the ones acquired by several thermographic techniques. Finally, segmentation operators were applied both to the NIR/SWIR transmittography images and to a characteristic principal component thermography (PCT) image (EOFs) to visualize damage in the area surrounding indentation

Thermography data fusion and non-negative matrix factorization for the evaluation of cultural heritage objects and buildings

The application of the thermal and infrared technology in different areas of research is considerably increasing. These applications involve nondestructive testing, medical analysis (computer aid diagnosis/detection—CAD), and arts and archeology, among many others. In the arts and archeology field, infrared technology provides significant contributions in terms of finding defects of possible impaired regions. This has been done through a wide range of different thermographic experiments and infrared methods. The proposed approach here focuses on application of some known factor analysis methods such as standard nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) optimized by gradient-descent-based multiplicative rules (SNMF1) and standard NMF optimized by nonnegative least squares active-set algorithm (SNMF2) and eigen-decomposition approaches such as principal component analysis (PCA) in thermography, and candid covariance-free incremental principal component analysis in thermography to obtain the thermal features. On the one hand, these methods are usually applied as preprocessing before clustering for the purpose of segmentation of possible defects. On the other hand, a wavelet-based data fusion combines the data of each method with PCA to increase the accuracy of the algorithm. The quantitative assessment of these approaches indicates considerable segmentation along with the reasonable computational complexity. It shows the promising performance and demonstrated a confirmation for the outlined properties. In particular, a polychromatic wooden statue, a fresco, a painting on canvas, and a building were analyzed using the above-mentioned methods, and the accuracy of defect (or targeted) region segmentation up to 71.98%, 57.10%, 49.27%, and 68.53% was obtained, respectively

Santa Maria di Collemaggio Church (L’Aquila, Italy) : historical reconstruction by non-destructive testing techniques

The main goal of this work was the non-destructive testing (NDT) of an ancient fresco (15th century) preserved in the Santa Maria di Collemaggio Church (L’Aquila, Italy) and damaged after the 2009 earthquake. Active infrared thermography (IRT), near-infrared (NIR) reflectography and ultraviolet imaging (UV) were used. In addition, the state of the fresco prior to the earthquake was analyzed by electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI), digital speckle correlation (DSC), raking light, tap, and chemical NDT techniques. The use of these techniques was important for the monitoring of new damages and for a comparison between the results over the years. Square heating thermography (SHT) data were processed using principal component thermography (PCT) and pulsed phase thermography (PPT) algorithms, in order to improve the defects’ signature and to reduce the impact of non-uniform heating and emissivity variations due to the painting’s pigments. A multi-analysis approach, segmentation operators and a specific data correlation method emphasize the overall study of the fresco. Furthermore, the facade and the high altar area were inspected by passive thermography and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), respectively. In the present case, the combined use of NDT techniques was useful to fill in the gaps in the construction history of the building