One view of conceptual design in architecture is as a negotiation between materials and forms. The process of configuring materials: organizing them, ordering them, arraying them emerges in the creative nature of design practice and the underpinnings of this process are embodied in the tools of architectural inquiry, traditionally: sketching, diagramming, modeling and drawing, and now in the di...

A three span stone masonry bridge dating back to the middle of 19th century, still in roadway network, is assessed prevent its demolition. Its industrial heritage value and ecological concerns were principal reasons for assessment. The carbon footprint arch replacement would be approximately 200 t CO2 emission owing 430 m3 reinforced concrete new structure. Besides cultural monument, considerab...

Various methodologies are available today in engineering professional practice to analyse structures, in particular in the field of masonry structures. Many of the methods are derived from reinforced concrete frames but sometimes they suffer of lack of comprehensive experimental validation due to difficulties to simulate the many different kinds of masonries and they suffer from lack of critica...

Due to their physical and chemical properties, mortars made with lime are considered to be more compatible with historic fabrics than those made with artificial cements. This paper explores the mechanical properties of clay brick masonry bound with hydraulic limes of different strengths, and hydrated calcium lime (CL90-s) with no hydraulic properties. Masonry wallettes built with a CL90-s morta...

New geologic mapping, morphologic fault scarp modeling, and geomorphic metrics in the Red Rock Valley, southwestern Montana, help characterize the Quaternary history of the virtually unstudied Monument Hill fault and tectonics of the youthful and seismically active Red Rock graben. Two generations of Pleistocene surface ruptures are preserved along the Monument Hill fault. Similarity in rupture...

The problem of structural stability of two medieval masonry towers is addressed. The geometrical and structural aspects of the towers were analysed and non-destructive tests were performed to assess the evolution of damage phenomena. The damage processes underway in some portions of the masonry were monitored using the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique. This method makes it possible to estimate ...

Our research focuses on how new computational tools and design methods can support the design process of masonry buildings. Specifically we discuss the potential of parametric modeling technologies to promote innovation by embedding knowledge on masonry construction as both generative rules and checker functions. Their goal is to inform designers on the feasibility of their intents on early sta...

Despite considerable experimental and analytical research in the past, modern regulations still adopt very conservative simplified formulas for the compressive strength of masonry. The present paper contributes to the understanding of masonry under compression, using a novel non-linear homogenisation tool that includes the possibility of tensile and compressive progressive damage, both in the u...

ALTHOUGH Boston is well known for its place in the history of anesthesiology, many people do not know that a monument in the city exists to commemorate the first public demonstration of ether anesthesia (fig. 1). In fact, in decades past, every Bostonian knew of the monument erected in 1868 to honor the great discovery. But today, the structure is often overlooked. There are even some in the fi...

confined masonry buildings are used in rural and urban areas of iran. they performed almost satisfactoryduring past moderate earthquakes of iran. there is not a methodology in iranian seismic code (standard 2800-3rdedition) to estimate their capacities quantitatively. in line with removing this constraint, an attempt is made to studyin-plane behavior of two squared confined masonry walls with a...