Modelización tridimensional de ensayos de adherencia tipo viga del refuerzo NSM-FRP en hormigón

El uso de refuerzos NSM‐FRP en estructuras de hormigón armado se ha incrementado considerablemente en los últimos años como método de refuerzo estructural. Los ensayos de arrancamiento en viga de los refuerzos NSM‐FRP permiten el estudio del comportamiento de la unión pegada. El principal objetivo del presente trabajo aborda la simulación numérica de este tipo de ensayos, con el propósito de caracterizar correctamente la adherencia entre las barras de NSM‐FRP y el hormigón. En una fase inicial se simuló un modelo bidimensional para conseguir evaluar y verificar el comportamiento de los elementos cohesivos y ver su comportamiento primero ante diferentes modelos de material y segundo ante un modo mixto de fallo, debido a la aplicación simultanea de carga axial y carga cortante. En una segunda fase se creó un modelo tridimensional para estudiar el arrancamiento de una barra de material compuesto insertada en hormigón, creando un modelo de material de hormigón y viendo el comportamiento cualitativo del sistema ante variaciones en los parámetros de los diferentes materiales. En la tercera fase, la más importante del presente trabajo, se abordó la simulación numérica del ensayo de arrancamiento en viga. Se simularon todos los componentes del ensayo y se evaluaron diferentes alternativas para representar la interfase NSM‐FRP ‐ hormigón, usando elementos cohesivos y diferentes distribuciones de los mismos en la interfase. Para conseguir representar lo más fielmente posible las condiciones del ensayo, se diseñó también un controlador PID que permite realizar las simulaciones numéricas mediante un control en desplazamientos, lo cual permite capturar más correctamente el comportamiento de reblandecimiento de la unión pegada. El controlador PID aplica técnicas de ingeniería de control para conseguir calcular a priori la amplitud necesaria del desplazamiento impuesto que provoque una evolución establecida en una variable interna del sistema. La variable usada para correlacionar los ensayos es la diferencia en desplazamientos entre dos puntos y se escoge una evolución lineal de la misma, pero en la tesis también se exponen los resultados de escoger otras posibles variables internas con diferentes evoluciones. Se compararon las simulaciones numéricas con resultados de mediciones experimentales previamente publicadas. Los resultados carga‐deslizamiento obtenidos encajan bien con los datos experimentales. El modelo propuesto es también capaz de predecir el modo de fallo en la interfase NSM‐FRP ‐ hormigón. Finalmente, también se han llevado a cabo estudios paramétricos, para evaluar la influencia de cada parámetro en los resultados. También se realizó un estudio cualitativo de cómo se comporta la unión pegada en cada momento de la simulación, mediante el uso macros y gráficas tridimensionales, para conseguir una mejor visualización y facilitar el análisis de los resultados. ABSTRACT The use of near‐surface mounted FRP reinforcement in reinforced concrete structures has seen a considerable increase in recent years as a strengthening method. Beam pull‐out tests for near‐surface reinforcement allow obtaining the local bond‐slip behavior of a bonded joint. The main objective of the current work deals with the three‐dimensional modeling of this kind of test with the purpose of characterizing suitably the mechanics of bond between FRP rods and concrete. In an initial stage, a two bidimensional in order to evaluate and to verify the behavior of the cohesive elements. Its behavior was evaluated first testing different material models and second testing the behavior when mixed mode failure appears, due to simultaneous axial and shear load. In a second stage a tridimensional model was created in order to study the pull‐out of an inserted beam of composite material in concrete. A concrete material model was created and the influence of each material parameter was studied qualitatively. The third part, the most relevant of the present work, the numerical simulation of the Beam Pull‐Out test was faced. All the parts of the Beam Pull‐Out test were included inthe simulation and different alternatives to represent the FRP bar – concrete interface have been evaluated, using cohesive elements and different distributions of them. In order to reproduce the test conditions more reliably, a PID controller has also been designed to conduct suitably the numerical tests in order to properly capture the softening branch of the load‐slip behaviour. The PID controller applies control techniques to calculate a priori the necessary amplitude of the load in order to achieve a given evolution through the simulation of an internal variable previously chosen. The variable used in order to correlate the simulation with the test results is the difference in displacements between two points and a linear evolution was chosen, but in the thesis the results of choosing other possible internal variables with different evolutions are also shown. The numerical FE simulations were compared with experimental measurements previously published. Load‐slip predictions compare well with the corresponding experimental data. The proposed model is also able to predict the failure mode at the FRP‐concrete interface. Some parametric studies have also been carried out, in order to evaluate the influence of each material parameter in the results. A qualitative study of the behaviour of the joint was also performed, using the results of the numeric simulations and through the use of macros and 3D graphs, the tensional state of each point of the joint can be visualized in each moment of the simulation.

Dynamic regulation of the tryptophan operon: A modeling study and comparison with experimental data

A mathematical model for regulation of the tryptophan operon is presented. This model takes into account repression, feedback enzyme inhibition, and transcriptional attenuation. Special attention is given to model parameter estimation based on experimental data. The model's system of delay differential equations is numerically solved, and the results are compared with experimental data on the temporal evolution of enzyme activity in cultures of Escherichia coli after a nutritional shift (minimal + tryptophan medium to minimal medium). Good agreement is obtained between the numeric simulations and the experimental results for wild-type E. coli, as well as for two different mutant strains.

SAR calculation using FDTD simulations

The main intend of this work, is to determinate the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) on human head tissues exposed to radiation caused by sources of 900 and 1800MHz, since those are the typical frequencies for mobile communications systems nowadays. In order to determinate the SAR, has been used the FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain), which is a numeric method in time domain, obtained from the Maxwell equations in differential mode. In order to do this, a computational model from the human head in two dimensions made with cells of the smallest possible size was implemented, respecting the limits from computational processing. It was possible to verify the very good efficiency of the FDTD method in the resolution of those types of problems.

Numeric simulation of pollutant dispersion by a control-volume based on finite element method

The dispersion of pollutants in the environment is an issue of great interest as it directly affects air quality, mainly in large cities. Experimental and numerical tools have been used to predict the behavior of pollutant species dispersion in the atmosphere. A software has been developed based on the control-volume based on the finite element method in order to obtain two-dimensional simulations of Navier-Stokes equations and heat or mass transportation in regions with obstacles, varying position of the pollutant source. Numeric results of some applications were obtained and, whenever possible, compared with literature results showing satisfactory accordance. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modified routine for decreasing numeric oscillations at associations of lumped elements

Some changes in the application of the numeric trapezoidal integration are analyzed for applications considering pi circuits. It is considered numeric and computational proceedings for improving the numeric results obtained with associations of pi circuits. In numeric integration solutions of the linear systems, it is common to represent these associations of pi circuits by only one matrix. This representation introduces undesirable numeric oscillations in simulations of the dynamics of wave propagation in electrical systems. The proposed changes improve the results of application of cascades of pi circuits associated to the trapezoidal integration, avoiding that the numerical oscillations, or Gibb's oscillations, have high values and are slowly damped. For the carried out simulations, different number of pi circuits and voltage sources are checked, confirming the reduction of the influence of the numeric oscillations on the obtained results. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On The Consistency Of Monte Carlo Track Structure Dna Damage Simulations.

Monte Carlo track structures (MCTS) simulations have been recognized as useful tools for radiobiological modeling. However, the authors noticed several issues regarding the consistency of reported data. Therefore, in this work, they analyze the impact of various user defined parameters on simulated direct DNA damage yields. In addition, they draw attention to discrepancies in published literature in DNA strand break (SB) yields and selected methodologies. The MCTS code Geant4-DNA was used to compare radial dose profiles in a nanometer-scale region of interest (ROI) for photon sources of varying sizes and energies. Then, electron tracks of 0.28 keV-220 keV were superimposed on a geometric DNA model composed of 2.7 × 10(6) nucleosomes, and SBs were simulated according to four definitions based on energy deposits or energy transfers in DNA strand targets compared to a threshold energy ETH. The SB frequencies and complexities in nucleosomes as a function of incident electron energies were obtained. SBs were classified into higher order clusters such as single and double strand breaks (SSBs and DSBs) based on inter-SB distances and on the number of affected strands. Comparisons of different nonuniform dose distributions lacking charged particle equilibrium may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the effect of energy on relative biological effectiveness. The energy transfer-based SB definitions give similar SB yields as the one based on energy deposit when ETH ≈ 10.79 eV, but deviate significantly for higher ETH values. Between 30 and 40 nucleosomes/Gy show at least one SB in the ROI. The number of nucleosomes that present a complex damage pattern of more than 2 SBs and the degree of complexity of the damage in these nucleosomes diminish as the incident electron energy increases. DNA damage classification into SSB and DSB is highly dependent on the definitions of these higher order structures and their implementations. The authors' show that, for the four studied models, different yields are expected by up to 54% for SSBs and by up to 32% for DSBs, as a function of the incident electrons energy and of the models being compared. MCTS simulations allow to compare direct DNA damage types and complexities induced by ionizing radiation. However, simulation results depend to a large degree on user-defined parameters, definitions, and algorithms such as: DNA model, dose distribution, SB definition, and the DNA damage clustering algorithm. These interdependencies should be well controlled during the simulations and explicitly reported when comparing results to experiments or calculations.

An Eulerian Immersed Boundary Method for flow simulations over stationary and moving rigid bodies

The fluid flow over bodies with complex geometry has been the subject of research of many scientists and widely explored experimentally and numerically. The present study proposes an Eulerian Immersed Boundary Method for flows simulations over stationary or moving rigid bodies. The proposed method allows the use of Cartesians Meshes. Here, two-dimensional simulations of fluid flow over stationary and oscillating circular cylinders were used for verification and validation. Four different cases were explored: the flow over a stationary cylinder, the flow over a cylinder oscillating in the flow direction, the flow over a cylinder oscillating in the normal flow direction, and a cylinder with angular oscillation. The time integration was carried out by a classical 4th order Runge-Kutta scheme, with a time step of the same order of distance between two consecutive points in x direction. High-order compact finite difference schemes were used to calculate spatial derivatives. The drag and lift coefficients, the lock-in phenomenon and vorticity contour plots were used for the verification and validation of the proposed method. The extension of the current method allowing the study of a body with different geometry and three-dimensional simulations is straightforward. The results obtained show a good agreement with both numerical and experimental results, encouraging the use of the proposed method.

Indoor and outdoor atmospheric fungal spores in the São Paulo metropolitan area (Brazil): species and numeric concentrations

The aim of this study was to estimate the indoor and outdoor concentrations of fungal spores in the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo (MASP), collected at different sites in winter/spring and summer seasons. The techniques adopted included cultivation (samples collected with impactors) and microscopic enumeration (samples collected with impingers). The overall results showed total concentrations of fungal spores as high as 36,000 per cubic meter, with a large proportion of non culturable spores (around 91 per cent of the total). Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp. were the dominant species both indoors and outdoors, in all seasons tested, occurring in more than 30 per cent of homes at very high concentrations of culturable airborne fungi [colony forming units(CFU) m−3]. There was no significant difference between indoor and outdoor concentrations. The total fungal spore concentration found in winter was 19 per cent higher than that in summer. Heat and humidity were the main factors affecting fungal growth; however, a non-linear response to these factors was found. Thus, temperatures below 16°C and above 25°C caused a reduction in the concentration (CFU m−3) of airborne fungi, which fits with MASP climatalogy. The same pattern was observed for humidity, although not as clearly as with temperature given the usual high relative humidity (above 70 per cent) in the study area. These results are relevant for public health interventions that aim to reduce respiratory morbidity among susceptible populations

Turbulence in collisionless plasmas: statistical analysis from numerical simulations with pressure anisotropy

In recent years, we have experienced increasing interest in the understanding of the physical properties of collisionless plasmas, mostly because of the large number of astrophysical environments (e. g. the intracluster medium (ICM)) containing magnetic fields that are strong enough to be coupled with the ionized gas and characterized by densities sufficiently low to prevent the pressure isotropization with respect to the magnetic line direction. Under these conditions, a new class of kinetic instabilities arises, such as firehose and mirror instabilities, which have been studied extensively in the literature. Their role in the turbulence evolution and cascade process in the presence of pressure anisotropy, however, is still unclear. In this work, we present the first statistical analysis of turbulence in collisionless plasmas using three-dimensional numerical simulations and solving double-isothermal magnetohydrodynamic equations with the Chew-Goldberger-Low laws closure (CGL-MHD). We study models with different initial conditions to account for the firehose and mirror instabilities and to obtain different turbulent regimes. We found that the CGL-MHD subsonic and supersonic turbulences show small differences compared to the MHD models in most cases. However, in the regimes of strong kinetic instabilities, the statistics, i.e. the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of density and velocity, are very different. In subsonic models, the instabilities cause an increase in the dispersion of density, while the dispersion of velocity is increased by a large factor in some cases. Moreover, the spectra of density and velocity show increased power at small scales explained by the high growth rate of the instabilities. Finally, we calculated the structure functions of velocity and density fluctuations in the local reference frame defined by the direction of magnetic lines. The results indicate that in some cases the instabilities significantly increase the anisotropy of fluctuations. These results, even though preliminary and restricted to very specific conditions, show that the physical properties of turbulence in collisionless plasmas, as those found in the ICM, may be very different from what has been largely believed.

PRECESSING JETS AND X-RAY BUBBLES FROM NGC 1275 (3C 84) IN THE PERSEUS GALAXY CLUSTER: A VIEW FROM THREE-DIMENSIONAL NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS

The Perseus galaxy cluster is known to present multiple and misaligned pairs of cavities seen in X-rays, as well as twisted kiloparsec-scale jets at radio wavelengths; both morphologies suggest that the active galactic nucleus (AGN) jet is subject to precession. In this work, we performed three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction between a precessing AGN jet and the warm intracluster medium plasma, whose dynamics are coupled to a Navarro-Frenk-White dark matter gravitational potential. The AGN jet inflates cavities that become buoyantly unstable and rise up out of the cluster core. We found that under certain circumstances precession can originate multiple pairs of bubbles. For the physical conditions in the Perseus cluster, multiple pairs of bubbles are obtained for a jet precession opening angle >40 degrees acting for at least three precession periods, reproducing both radio and X-ray maps well. Based on such conditions, assuming that the Bardeen-Peterson effect is dominant, we studied the evolution of the precession opening angle of this system. We were able to constrain the ratio between the accretion disk and the black hole angular momenta as 0.7-1.4. We were also able to constrain the present precession angle to 30 degrees-40 degrees, as well as the approximate age of the inflated bubbles to 100-150 Myr.

The merging cluster Abell 1758 revisited: multi-wavelength observations and numerical simulations

Context. Cluster properties can be more distinctly studied in pairs of clusters, where we expect the effects of interactions to be strong. Aims. We here discuss the properties of the double cluster Abell 1758 at a redshift z similar to 0.279. These clusters show strong evidence for merging. Methods. We analyse the optical properties of the North and South cluster of Abell 1758 based on deep imaging obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) archive Megaprime/Megacam camera in the g' and r' bands, covering a total region of about 1.05 x 1.16 deg(2), or 16.1 x 17.6 Mpc(2). Our X-ray analysis is based on archive XMM-Newton images. Numerical simulations were performed using an N-body algorithm to treat the dark-matter component, a semi-analytical galaxy-formation model for the evolution of the galaxies and a grid-based hydrodynamic code with a parts per million (PPM) scheme for the dynamics of the intra-cluster medium. We computed galaxy luminosity functions (GLFs) and 2D temperature and metallicity maps of the X-ray gas, which we then compared to the results of our numerical simulations. Results. The GLFs of Abell 1758 North are well fit by Schechter functions in the g' and r' bands, but with a small excess of bright galaxies, particularly in the r' band; their faint-end slopes are similar in both bands. In contrast, the GLFs of Abell 1758 South are not well fit by Schechter functions: excesses of bright galaxies are seen in both bands; the faint-end of the GLF is not very well defined in g'. The GLF computed from our numerical simulations assuming a halo mass-luminosity relation agrees with those derived from the observations. From the X-ray analysis, the most striking features are structures in the metal distribution. We found two elongated regions of high metallicity in Abell 1758 North with two peaks towards the centre. In contrast, Abell 1758 South shows a deficit of metals in its central regions. Comparing observational results to those derived from numerical simulations, we could mimic the most prominent features present in the metallicity map and propose an explanation for the dynamical history of the cluster. We found in particular that in the metal-rich elongated regions of the North cluster, winds had been more efficient than ram-pressure stripping in transporting metal-enriched gas to the outskirts. Conclusions. We confirm the merging structure of the North and South clusters, both at optical and X-ray wavelengths.

Polarization effects in molecular dynamics simulations of glass-formers Ca(NO(3))(2)center dot nH(2)O, n=4, 6, and 8

Thermodynamics, equilibrium structure, and dynamics of glass-forming liquids Ca(NO(3))(2)center dot nH(2)O, n=4, 6, and 8, have been investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. A polarizable model was considered for H(2)O and NO(3)- on the basis of previous fluctuating charge models for pure water and the molten salt 2Ca(NO(3))(2)center dot 3KNO(3). Similar thermodynamic properties have been obtained with nonpolarizable and polarizable models. The glass transition temperature, T(g), estimated from MD simulations was dependent on polarization, in particular the dependence of T(g) with electrolyte concentration. Significant polarization effects on equilibrium structure were observed in cation-cation, cation-anion, and water-water structures. Polarization increases the diffusion coefficient of H(2)O, but does not change significantly the diffusion coefficients of ions. Viscosity decreases upon inclusion of polarization, but the conductivity calculated with the polarizable model is smaller than the nonpolarizable model because polarization enhances anion-cation interactions.

Fragility and glassy dynamics of 2Ca(NO(3))(2)center dot 3KNO(3) under pressure: Molecular dynamics simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations of the glass-forming liquid 2Ca(NO(3))(2)center dot 3KNO(3) (CKN) were performed from high temperature liquid states down to low temperature glassy states at six different pressures from 10(-4) to 5.0 GPa. The temperature dependence of the structural relaxation time indicates that the fragility of liquid CKN changes with pressure. In line with recent proposal [Scopigno , Science 302, 849 (2003)], the change on liquid fragility is followed by a proportional change of the nonergodicity factor of the corresponding glass at low temperature. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

ECAP of Fe. Experiments and simulations of the in-elbow textures

The study of deformation properties of low carbon steels is of particular interest because of their many technological applications. Obtaining fine grained Fe based materials can be approached by one of the several available Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) techniques. The current paper shows experimental data and simulations of the deformation process of iron samples by Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE). The samples were extruded in a 120 degrees channel die either by one or a few passes. The heterogeneity and local development of the deformation on the elbow of the channel has been studied by X-ray measuring and simulation of the texture evolution. The Self Consistent models used for simulation allowed the calculation of the spin of the main texture components which agreed pretty well with the experiments.

Impact on HDPE and PVC plates - Experimental tests and numerical simulations

This paper presents first material tests on HDPE and PVC, and subsequently impact tests on plates made of the same materials. Finally, numerical simulations of the plate impact tests are compared with the experimental results. A rather comprehensive series of mechanical material tests were performed to disclose the behaviour of PVC and HDPE in tension and compression. Quasi-static tests were carried out at three rates in compression and two in tension. Digital image correlation. DIC, was used to measure the in-plane strains, revealing true stress-strain curves and allowing to analyze strain-rate sensitivity and isotropy of Poisson`s ratio. In addition, dynamic compression tests were carried out in a split-Hopkinson pressure bar. Quasi-static and dynamic tests were also performed on clamped plates made of the same PVC and HDPE materials, using an optical technique to measure the full-field out-of-plane deformations. These tests, together with the material data, were used for comparative purposes of a finite element analysis. A reasonable agreement between experimental and numerical results was achieved. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.