Why did modern post-tensioned floors flourish in the us and not in europe -a matter of tradition?

Unlike in Europe, prestressed concrete with post-tensioned reinforcement came to be a standard technique in building construction in the US. Kenneth Bondy has been the only one who has made a significant contribution to clarify why this occurred, by writing about his insights on the origins of post-tensioned floors in the United States. His vision is completed here with new data and put into context. Moreover, the American and European situations are compared in an attempt to explain why things developed so differently on each side of the Atlantic.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Arquitectura con hormigón postensado y reflexiones para mejorar la transferencia de conocimiento de otras ciencias hacia la arquitectura europea

El hecho que el uso del hormigón pretensado sea aún limitado tanto en la arquitectura española como en la europea es un caso claro de lentitud en la transferencia de tecnología de la ingeniería civil a la arquitectura. Observando el fenómeno superficialmente podríamos pensar que sólo se trata de una casualidad o que simplemente no se ha producido transferencia porque no es una tecnología útil para la arquitectura. Pero si recordamos que hace más de 70 años que Freyssinet en Francia -en el corazón de Europa- desarrolló y puso en práctica 3 de las 4 principales variantes del hormigón pretensado, y que actualmente todas se utilizan cotidianamente en arquitectura en todo el mundo, quizás es más razonable pensar que en Europa hay algún problema estructural en la transferencia de tecnología entre estas dos áreas de saber tan cercanas. [ANGLÈS] The fact that the use of prestressed concrete is still limited in both Spanish and European architecture is a clear case of delay in the technology transfer from civil engineering to architecture. When observing the phenomenon in a superficial way one might think that this is only a coincidence or simply that the transfer did not happen because this is not a technology useful for architecture. But if we remember that more than 70 years ago Freyssinet in France, in the heart of Europe, developed and implemented 3 of the 4 main variants of prestressed concrete, and that all currently of them are used daily in architecture around the world, perhaps it would be more reasonable to think that in Europe there is a structural problem in technology transfer between these two so close areas of knowledge.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Geometric and structural-based symbol spotting : application to focused retrieval in graphic document collections /

Descripció del recurs: el 23 de febrer de 201

São Paulo: urbanidad y metrópolis

El concepto de urbanidad es difícil pero esencial para el abordaje del mundo urbano contemporáneo, asociándose a los espacios que estructuran la ciudad funcional y socialmente. En base a un urbanismo racionalista, los modelos de expansión metropolitana aumentaron los límites de la ciudad tradicional y transformaron la idea de urbanidad. Este trabajo pretende aproximarse a una comprensión de este término y entender cómo procesos de metropolización contemporáneos, identificados en la ciudad de São Paulo, afectan a algunos de sus espacios de interacción ciudadana más significativos. Con ello se pretende comprender la importancia de esa expresión aparentemente ambigua para pensar en los espacios de acción de la vida pública en nuestras ciudades del mañana.The concept of urbanity is difficult but essential for studying the contemporary urban world, analyzing spaces that structure socially and functionally the city. Based on a rationalist urbanism, metropolitan expansion models increased the limits of the traditional city and transformed the idea of urbanity. This work aims to approximate to a comprehension of this term and understand how processes of contemporary metropolis, identified in the city of São Paulo, affected some of its most significant public spaces of interaction. Understanding the importance of this apparently ambiguous expression, the aim is to think about the action spaces of public life in our cities of tomorrow.Peer Reviewe

Enhancement of Maritime Safety and Economic Benefits of Short Sea Shipping Ship Routing

The relevance of ship routing system is increasing according to the mitigation of carbon emissions and enhance the maritime safety. New generation of high-resolution meteo-oceanographic predictions provides useful tools for routing of ship. However, scientific efforts have been focused on inter-oceanic routes. This contribution investigates the economic benefits and improvement on maritime safety of ship routing of Short Sea Shipping (SSS) routes. The investigation is supported with the development of a ship routing system based on a path finding algorithm and meteo-oceanographic predications. Results show that the economic benefits using ship routing in SSS is estimated in percentage of the total cost during energetic wave episodes. The work establishes the basis of further developments in optimal route applied in relatively short-distances and its systematic use in the SSS maritime industry. In this work, the optimal ship routing analysis is investigated in a relative short distance maritime route between Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca (Spain). Dijkstra algorithm is implemented in order to obtain the optimal path under an energetic wave event. The methodology is based on the inclusion of the drag resistance due to waves. The results reveal how the wave direction has a relevant role in the optimum path due to the relative direction with the ship and the enhancement of the navigational safety.Postprint (published version

II Jornades d'Història del Monestir de les Avellanes

Ressenya sobre les II Jornades d'Història del Monestir de les Avellanes (Os de Balaguer) sobre el Monacat Femení a l'Europa Medieval. Informaciósobre les jornades, nous projecte

Theorical and descriptive analysis of the wave energy in the Barcelona World Race

The main objective of this paper is the presentation of a theoretical study of the wave energy in some zones of the Barcelona World Race (BWR) considering different theories, how much of this energy is transferred to the boat and if it is possible to use that energy, as propulsion energy. Nowadays, the absorption of wave energy (offshore, inshore or on board) is low utilized and has important costs. That makes this subject become more interesting. The first section of this paper is a study of the movement of the waves with different descriptions and of the energy potential depending on characteristic’s value. Secondly, a categorization of the wave’s characteristics is done of a part of BWR with the objective to be able to do an energy atlas of different areas. After that, a model of the vertical motion (simplified motion) is done in order to express the energy which is in the kinetic phase difference between the wave action and the boat reaction. Finally, all factors in the synchronism motion between wave and boat have been evaluated (in surf navigation) in order to analyze the results of equilibrium and the result force with different power propulsion.Postprint (published version