The wood for the civil engineering: A proposal of distance education

The majority of the Brazilian schools of Civil Engineering have taught the subject works with wood in the traditional only by disciplines of Metallic Structures and Wood at a topic in the content of the program on disciplines at the Materials of Civil Construction. To extend of the wood studies is being made possible that all the pupils have a wider understanding of this material and its adapted use is the goal of the proposal, that by the means of the education modality e-learning, disclosing the first one: Module I - Introduction to the Study of the Wood. This methodology tries to use the theoretical beddings in projects that are related to the pupil daily tasks and its practical professional. The article presents the theoretical bases of the conception proposal and its structure, and at the conclusions, the problems found during its application are displayed. Basically, the methodology considers that the professor and the pupil must share the learning, and adopt it as main in the interdisciplinary.

Probabilistic approaches in civil engineering: generation of random fields and structural identification with genetic algorithms

The inherent stochastic character of most of the physical quantities involved in engineering models has led to an always increasing interest for probabilistic analysis. Many approaches to stochastic analysis have been proposed. However, it is widely acknowledged that the only universal method available to solve accurately any kind of stochastic mechanics problem is Monte Carlo Simulation. One of the key parts in the implementation of this technique is the accurate and efficient generation of samples of the random processes and fields involved in the problem at hand. In the present thesis an original method for the simulation of homogeneous, multi-dimensional, multi-variate, non-Gaussian random fields is proposed. The algorithm has proved to be very accurate in matching both the target spectrum and the marginal probability. The computational efficiency and robustness are very good too, even when dealing with strongly non-Gaussian distributions. What is more, the resulting samples posses all the relevant, welldefined and desired properties of “translation fields”, including crossing rates and distributions of extremes. The topic of the second part of the thesis lies in the field of non-destructive parametric structural identification. Its objective is to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of constituent bars in existing truss structures, using static loads and strain measurements. In the cases of missing data and of damages that interest only a small portion of the bar, Genetic Algorithm have proved to be an effective tool to solve the problem.

Fluid-Structure Interaction in Civil Engineering Structures

The problems being addressed involve the dynamic interaction of solids (structure and foundation) with a liquid (water). Various numerical procedures are reviewed and employed to solve the problem of establishing the expected response of a structure subjected to seismic excitations while duly accounting for those interactions. The methodology is applied to the analysis of dams, lock gates, and large storage tanks, incorporating in some cases a comparison with the results produced by means of simplified analytical procedures.

Preface. The Language of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Preface

Types of metaphor in civil engineering communication

La metáfora y otros mecanismos imaginativos subyacentes al pensa- miento y lenguaje humanos pueden ser utilizados en el discurso diario y especializado (Lakoff y Johnson 1980; Lakoff y Nuñez 2000). Asimismo pueden aparecer en la comunicación no verbal (Forceville y Urios-Aparisi 2009; Littlemore et al. Este volumen).Partiendo de estudios cognitivos y de la teoría de integración conceptual (Fauconnier 1997; Fauconnier y Turner 2002), este artículo examina la presencia de la metáfora en la ingeniería. Primeramente, se analiza un corpus lingüístico procedente de artículos de investigación de ingeniería civil. Los datos revelan el uso de la metáfora antropomórfica, sobre todo en expresiones relativas a la salud, como “diagnóstico”, “auscultación” o “proceso de curación”. Se exploran además ejemplos de ingeniería cuya fuente son proyecciones conceptuales corporales. Finalmente, abordamos la función de la metáfora visual bajo la teoría de integración conceptual mediante representaciones de ingeniería que evocan la anatomía humana o animal. Metaphor and other imaginative mechanisms that underlie human thought and language such as metonymy are used in everyday and specialised discourse (Lakoff and Johnson 1980; Lakoff and Nuñez 2000) They can also be involved in non- verbal forms of communication (Forceville and Urios-Aparisi 2009; Littlemore et al. this volume). Drawing on metaphor cognitive studies and on conceptual integration theory (Fauconnier 1997; Fauconnier and Turner 2002) this paper examines the occurrence of metaphor in engineering. First, we analyse results from a linguistic corpus formed by research papers from civil engineering journals. These data reveal the use of anthropomorphic metaphor, especially related to health or medical mappings such as “diagnosing”, “auscultation” or “curing”. Then, we explore how engineering notions are instantiated by bodily conceptual mappings according to conceptual integration theory. Finally, the function of visual metaphor is examined with conceptual integration theory by using engineering images evoking parts of human or animal anatomy.

Image processing for safety assessment in Civil Engineering

Behaviour analysis of construction safety systems is of fundamental importance to avoid accidental injuries. Traditionally, measurements of dynamic actions in Civil Engineering have been done through accelerometers, but high-speed cameras and image processing techniques can play an important role in this area. Here, we propose using morphological image filtering and Hough transform on high-speed video sequence as tools for dynamic measurements on that field. The presented method is applied to obtain the trajectory and acceleration of a cylindrical ballast falling from a building and trapped by a thread net. Results show that safety recommendations given in construction codes can be potentially dangerous for workers.

The development of the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Illinois during the period 1934 to 1942.

November 12, 1942

Civil engineering bibliography on the design and construction of nuclear facilities /

"DTIE Issuance Date: December 1962."

Applied geophysics and civil engineering.

Mode of access: Internet.