In the strengthening interventions of past and historical masonry constructions, the non-standardized manufacture processes, the ageing and the damage of masonry units, could significantly affect the properties of the surfaces where strengthening materials are applied. This aspect requires particular care in evaluating the performance of externally bonded strengthening layers, especially with r...

In this paper a Romanesque masonry church is analysed in order to assess its structural behaviour and its seismic vulnerability with respect to the actual state of conservation. Starting from a specific case study, a contribution to the issue of modelling and analysis of monumental masonry buildings under seismic action is provided. A finite element methodology for the static and dynamic nonlin...

Near the US Capitol, in front of the National Academy of Sciences sits a gigantic bronze statue of Albert Einstein. The monument was created to celebrate Einstein and the sense of awe and wonder his work represents. However, while under construction, art critics and some scientists derided the idea of the memorial. They felt the scale of such a giant memorial did not fit the modesty of Einstein...

We present a novel approach for the analysis and design of selfsupporting simplicial masonry structures. A finite-dimensional formulation of their compressive stress field is derived, offering a new interpretation of thrust networks through numerical homogenization theory. We further leverage geometric properties of the resulting force diagram to identify a set of reduced coordinates characteri...

Citation: Bhaswara A, Keum H, Mathieu F, Legrand B, Kim S, Nicu L and Leïchlé T (2016) A Simple Fabrication Process Based on Micro-masonry for the Realization of Nanoplate Resonators with Integrated Actuation and Detection Schemes. Front. Mech. Eng. 2:1. doi: 10.3389/fmech.2016.00001 a simple Fabrication Process Based on Micro-masonry for the realization of nanoplate resonators with integrated ...

Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) have caused considerable damage where they have been introduced around the world. At Pinnacles National Monument, California, USA, managers were concerned that feral pigs were damaging wetland habitats, reducing oak regeneration, competing with native wildlife, and dispersing nonnative plant species through soil disturbance. To address these threats the National Park Ser...

A week ago I was standing with my wife by the River Tagus in Lisbon, next to the Monument to the Discoveries. The monument is at the spot where Vasco da Gama set out to discover the southeast passage from Europe to Asia, past the Cape of Good Hope. Vasco’s discovery marked the beginning of the Portuguese maritime empire. At the furthest tip of Europe, Portugal was perfectly situated to found su...

The U.S. National Park Service initiated a 10-year study of the Lepidoptera at White Sands National Monument, Otero County, New Mexico in late 2006. Givira delindaesp. n., discovered in 2007 during the first year of study, is described here. The male and female adult moths and genitalia are illustrated. The name is dedicated to Delinda Mix, mother of Steve Mix. The species of Cossidae recorded ...

In 2006 the U.S. National Park Service initiated a long term study of the Lepidoptera at White Sands National Monument, Otero County, New Mexico. Sparkia immacula (Grote, 1883), previously known only from historical specimens collected in Arizona and New Mexico, was discovered in the Monument in 2007 during the second year of the study. The adult moths and male and female genitalia are illustra...

This paper presents an accurate and efficient computational strategy for the simulation of coupled masonry structures which combines a partitioned mesoscale modelling approach for brick-masonry components with a mortar mesh tying method for non-conforming interfaces. This allows the independent modelling of the individual structural components and the efficient tying of the subdomains with accu...