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D.Taylor¹
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 1-10, 2006, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2006.002.001
Abstract Current theories of fracture recognize the importance of material length scales, i.e. parameters having the dimensions of length which are included, either explicitly or implicitly, in many methods of fracture prediction. This paper is a review of the development of one particular approach, which we have called the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD). The history of this approach -- which is presented here for the first time - is a story of parallel developments in the areas of fatigue and brittle fracture and in different material fields: metals, polymers, ceramics and composites. A particular milestone More >

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R. Costa¹, J. Alfaiate²
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 11-18, 2006, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2006.002.011
Abstract In this paper a numerical simulation is performed on the behaviour of reinforced concrete beams, submitted to initial damage, subsequently strengthened with external steel plates bonded with epoxy. Modelling these structures requires the characterization of the behaviour of different materials as well as the connection between them. Fracture is modelled within the scope of a discrete crack approach, using a formulation in which strong discontinuities are embedded in the finite elements. In this approach, the displacement field is truly discontinuous and the jumps are non-homogeneous within each parent element [Alfaiate, Wells and Sluys (2000)]. More >

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R.S. Olivito¹, F.A. Zuccarello¹
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 19-28, 2006, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2006.002.019
Abstract During the last decades FRP materials have been utilized in many civil engineering applications for their good performances in substituting traditional restoration techniques, especially in reinforcing and restoring damaged structures. At present, the use of composite materials is greatly increasing as a consequence of the fact that conservation and restoration of existing historic heritage are becoming key issues for civil engineers and architects. This paper deals with the behavior of brick masonry models subjected to cyclic loads with the aim of studying their performances and durability. Firstly the models were damaged by imposing a strain More >

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G. Milani¹, T. Rotunno², E. Sacco³, A. Tralli^1,4
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 29-50, 2006, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2006.002.029
Abstract Aim of the present work is the evaluation of the ultimate load bearing capacity of masonry panels reinforced with FRP strips. The investigation is developed performing both experimental and numerical studies. In particular, several panels subjected to different loading conditions are tested in the Tests Laboratory of the University of Florence (Italy). Then, numerical models based on combined homogenization and limit analysis techniques are proposed. The results obtained by numerical simulations are compared with experimental data. The good agreement obtained shows that the proposed numerical model can be applied for the evaluation of the ultimate More >

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A. Soprano¹, F. Caputo¹
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 51-68, 2006, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2006.002.051
Abstract This work describes the results of the experience acquired by the authors during their participation to some among the European research programs with the aim to develop a probabilistic risk assessment procedure to analyse the spreading of fatigue-induced damage in typical aeronautical components. The several steps of the procedure are pointed out, and especially the modelling of the damage evolutionary process; the initiation and the transitional probabilities, which characterize the passage from one damage level to a higher one, are fully characterized and their dependence from time and from the damage state of surrounding zones More >

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