Mechanical behaviour of masonry walls subjected to fire action

This dissertation deals with an experimental campaign executed to determine the effect of high temperature to the mechanical properties of several materials for masonry walls (blocks, mortars), testing a series of cylindrical specimen (diameter 100 mm – height 200 mm). After compression tests at 20°C, an experimental procedure has been designed for high temperatures testing. The cylindrical elements are inserted on a muffle furnace, to reach the required temperature, and then subjected to mechanical compression after entering in a specific apparatus (called “thermos”) to maintain the prescribed temperature. The results show variation in strength and ultimate strainy and correspondingly of the modulus of elasticity, with increasing temperature: specific diagrams are performed for each material. Moreover, stress-strain curves in function of temperature are proposed and compared with those drown by European regulations. A methodology for the prediction of equivalent masonry parameters is also proposed with a model of layered elastic wall panels. The out-of-plane mechanical behaviour is also investigated. The method proposed herein aims to define such interaction diagrams for walls subjected to the eccentric normal force applied on various types of blocks exposed to fire on one side. To this end, the temperature distributions across the wall thickness are first determined. Then, as the laws governing the decay of the material resistance and axial stiffness as a function of the temperature are known, the wall crushing strain fields are calculated as a function of the curvature. Lastly, based on the isotherms already calculated and the stress–strain–temperature constitutive relation, we determine the crushing surfaces on the plane N–e (in which "N" is the axial force and "e" is the out-of-plane eccentricity) for increasing exposure time to nominal fire

Globalization Vs. Territorial Markets: Selling Typical Products On The Internet

Technology, and most of all Internet, is considered the most important tool for the ongoing economic globalization process, allowing the commercialization of standardized products on a large international scale (Levitt, 1983).  Internet is also the real opportunity for micro companies to reach foreign markets at affordable costs (Hoffman and Novak, 1996).This paper focuses on the case of sales of gastronomic typical products on the Internet, probably one of the best e-commerce applications. In fact, no any other old goods can suit so naturally to the virtual market as typical products do.  Two are the fundamental characteristics of typical, “made in” products: first of all, they have to be specialty goods, differentiated from their competitors; then they have to be regional goods, that means having deep roots in their original territory. In the second part of the paper it will be interpreted how typical products find in Internet the way to valorize their local and regional diversities on international markets: this way Internet has reversed the famous international management postulate “think global, act local” into a new one: “think local, act global”.  Moreover, a partial empirical research about Italian companies selling gastronomic products on the Internet will be illustrated in order to verify quantitatively and qualitatively the state of art of this virtual business

Through the Lens of Archaeology: Data Cross-Referencing between Received and Manuscript Sources Related to Confucius and the Lunyu 論語

Data Cross-Referencing between Received and Manuscript Sources Related to Confucius and the Lunyu 論

Economic efficiency and wealth prospects in the global network of countries

openIn recent years, the integration of physics into the economic field has proven to supply a deeper understanding of the complex web of interactions between the countries and the global markets, leading to a substantial development of the Econophysics branch of research. This work provides a contribution in this context through the characterization of the quantitative nexus which links the economic growth of the countries to the evolution over time of their trades and to the overall diversification of their commercial activity. The global trade system is effectively represented by a bipartite network, whose properties are investigated by means of a dynamic model consisting in a set of coupled stochastic differential equations and of a set of complexity measures derived from the celebrated Shannon's entropy function. The unification of these two methods of analysis provides a measure of the economic efficiency of the countries and leads to the realization of meaningful assessments of their wealth prospects. From the practical point of view, the theoretical models are implemented through proper Python and C++ codes.In recent years, the integration of physics into the economic field has proven to supply a deeper understanding of the complex web of interactions between the countries and the global markets, leading to a substantial development of the Econophysics branch of research. This work provides a contribution in this context through the characterization of the quantitative nexus which links the economic growth of the countries to the evolution over time of their trades and to the overall diversification of their commercial activity. The global trade system is effectively represented by a bipartite network, whose properties are investigated by means of a dynamic model consisting in a set of coupled stochastic differential equations and of a set of complexity measures derived from the celebrated Shannon's entropy function. The unification of these two methods of analysis provides a measure of the economic efficiency of the countries and leads to the realization of meaningful assessments of their wealth prospects. From the practical point of view, the theoretical models are implemented through proper Python and C++ codes