Simulation of masonry out-of-plane failure modes by multi-body dynamics

The seismic assessment of the local failure modes in existing masonry buildings is currently based on the identification of the so-called local mechanisms, often associated with the out-of-plane wall behavior, whose stability is evaluated by static force-based approaches and, more recently, by some displacement-based proposals. Local mechanisms consist of kinematic chains of masonry portions, often regarded as rigid bodies, with geometric nonlinearity and concentrated nonlinearity in predefined contact regions (unilateral no-tension behavior, possible sliding with friction). In this work, the dynamic behavior of local mechanisms is simulated through multi-body dynamics, to obtain the nonlinear response with efficient time history analyses that directly take into account the characteristics of the ground motion. The amplification/filtering effects of the structure are considered within the input motion. The proposed approach is validated with experimental results of two full-scale shaking-table tests on stone masonry buildings: a sacco-stone masonry façade tested at Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil and a two-storey double-leaf masonry building tested at European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE).

La construction de l'europe sociale entreprises, territoires, circulation de main d'oeuvre

The building of social Europe: companies, territories, movement of the workforce. For ten years, companies have been obliged to standardize the quality of their products interaationally, which goes along with a dismantling of the landmarks of the territories of political action in France. This article presents some current research about the movement of the labour force in Europe and raise the issue of coordination between the different legitimate categories and the attitude of the various administrations (work, health) concemed by this phenomenon.

Ambivalent Islam: the identity construction of Muslims under Portuguese colonial rule

This article wishes to contribute to the study of the historical processes that have been spotting Muslim populations as favourite targets for political analysis and governance. Focusing on the Portuguese archives, civil as well as military, the article tries to uncover the most conspicuous identity representations (mainly negative or ambivalent) that members of Portuguese colonial apparatus built around Muslim communities living in African colonies, particularly in Guinea- Bissau and Mozambique. The paper shows how these culturally and politically constructed images were related to the more general strategies by which Portuguese imagined their own national identity, both as ‘European’ and as ‘coloniser’ or ‘imperial people’. The basic assumption of this article is that policies enforced in a context of interethnic and religious competition are better understood when linked to the identity strategies inherent to them. These are conceived as strategic constructions aimed at the preservation, protection and imaginary expansion of the subject, who looks for groups to be included in and out-groups to reject, exclude, aggress or eliminate. The author argues that most of the inter-ethnic relationships and conflicts, as well as the very experience of ethnicity, are born from this identity matrix.

Lime-metakaolin mortars for historical buildings repair: study of the hardening reaction

International Conference Durable Structures: from construction to rehabilitation. Lisbon, LNEC, 31 May-1 June 2012

Development of a fuzzy qualitative risk assessment model applied to construction industry

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Industrial

Grout optimization for masonry consolidation

Tese apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Civil na especialidade de Reabilitação do Património Edificado, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Tornando lean mais lean – uma nova abordagem da elaboração do mapeamento do fluxo de valor com base em sinergias lean construction e PMBOK

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau Mestre em Engenharia Civil – Perfil de Construção

Evaluating the potential benefits and challenges of lean construction adoption in the portuguese construction industry: a survey study

Proceedings IGLC-18, July 2010, Technion, Haifa, Israel

Lean construction in rehabilitation works – suitability analysis and contribution for the definition of an implementation model

Proceedings IGLC-19, July 2011, Lima, Perú

Lean construction and sustainability - complementary paradigms - a case study

Proceedings IGLC-19, July 2011, Lima, Perú

Lean Construction – How reducing waste can contribute to sustainability

World in Progress, Soares da Costa Magazine, 2, Set., 2011

Implementing quality management systems in small and medium construction companies: a contribution to a road map for success

Leadership and Management in Engineering, January 2009

ISO 9001:2000 - advantages and obstacles in the portuguese construction business

Innovations in Structural Engineering and Construction - ISEC, 2008

An Exploratory Study Of Lean Construction in Portugal – Owners and Designers`Perspectives

21th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 21), July 2013, Fortaleza, Brazil