Publications associées à Monitoring-based safety verification at the Ultimate Limit State of fracture of the RC slab of a short span railway underpass

Influence of model uncertainty and long term deformations in action effects calculation in reinforced concrete structures

Most codes of practice adopt a semi probabilistic design approach for the dimensioning and assessment of structures. Accordingly, structural safety is ensured by performing limit state verifications using design values determined with adequately calibrated ...

EPFL2024

A global framework for data-informed bridge examination

Eugen Brühwiler, Philippe Schiltz, Numa Joy Bertola

Examining the performance of an existing bridge requires information on several aspects, such as design choices, material properties, and ongoing degradation processes. It often happens that some critical information is not available. The traditional appro ...

2024

FLO:RE – A new floor system made of reused reinforced concrete and steel elements

Maléna Bastien Masse, Numa Joy Bertola, Célia Marine Küpfer, Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet

Carefully extracting reinforced concrete (RC) elements from soon-to-be demolished structures and reusing them as load-bearing components is an emerging circular low-carbon alternative to building new structures. As floor construction typically accounts for ...

IABSE2024

Short-term behavior of glass fiber-polymer composite bending-active elastica beam under service load application

Thomas Keller, Landolf-Giosef-Anastasios Rhode-Barbarigos, Tara Habibi

Bending-active elastica beam is a structural configuration that is based on the elastic deformation of an initially straight beam. This deformation occurs when horizontal displacements are applied to a sliding support, causing the beam to bend into an arch ...

2024

Mesh-based topology, shape and sizing optimization of ribbed plates

In this paper, we present a new parameterization and optimization procedure for minimizing the weight of ribbed plates. The primary goal is to reduce embodied CO2 in concrete floors as part of the effort to diminish the carbon footprint of the construction ...

Springer2024

Experimental and analytical investigation of shear-reinforced concrete and dowel action

Marko Pejatovic

Codes of practice can be overly conservative, particularly for the shear resistance of reinforced concrete beams with shear reinforcement when large loads act close to supports. This thesis addresses the topic by proposing a refined design approach based o ...

EPFL2024

Influence of fiber orientation on the tensile behavior of UHPFRC and reinforced UHPFRC under static and fatigue loadings

Jian Zhan

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composite (UHPFRC) is a modern class of cementitious building materials. Because of its superior mechanical properties and durability, it is increasingly used globally to rehabilitate, strengthen and mod ...

EPFL2024

Reuse of cut concrete slabs in new buildings for circular ultra-low-carbon floor designs

Numa Joy Bertola, Célia Marine Küpfer, Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet

The study explores an original idea that responds to the urgent need to reduce the detrimental environmental impacts of load-bearing floor construction in new buildings by reusing saw-cut reinforced concrete (RC) pieces salvaged from soon-to-be demolished ...

2024

Numerical Modeling of FRP-Strengthened Masonry Structures Using Equivalent Frame Models

Katrin Beyer, Francesco Vanin, Ivana Bozulic

The present study focuses on enhancing the seismic resistance of existing masonry structures. To that aim, the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening serves to improve structural behaviour by attaching FRP strips to the masonry walls. Despite ...

Springer2024

A Softening Constitutive Law and Gradient-Inelastic Fiber-Based Element for 3-Dimensional Frame Simulations Under Seismic Excitations

Diego Isidoro Heredia Rosa

Steel frame structures are essential components of modern infrastructure. Understanding their behavior under seismic loading is critical for ensuring public safety and minimizing damage that occurs during earthquakes. To accurately predict the response of ...

EPFL2024

Experimental testing and structural analysis of composite tile – reinforced concrete domes

Savvas Saloustros

Conventional formworks for concrete curved shells either are expensive, complex and wasteful or have formal restrictions. Using tile vaults (also known as timbrel, Guastavino, thin-tile or Catalan vaults) as stay-in-place formwork for concrete shells could ...

2023

Reliability analysis and partial safety format calibration considering the characteristics of the resistance of reinforced concrete structures

Qianhui Yu

Every engineering calculation is an approximation of reality, with inevitable uncertainties involved. This fact implies that a reliability verification accounting for the uncertainties is a necessary step in the design and assessment of structures. Nowaday ...

EPFL2023

Selection of informative monitoring techniques for bridge-performance evaluations

Eugen Brühwiler, Numa Joy Bertola

Decisions regarding the management of civil infrastructure are becoming more crucial as a large share of bridges is presently approaching what is often considered to be the end of their theoretical service duration. Evaluating existing structures using a d ...

Trinity College2023

Combined Passive and Active Ultrasonic Stress Wave Monitoring of UHPFRC Properties on a Structural Level

Eugen Brühwiler, Numa Joy Bertola, Thomas Schumacher

Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composite (UHPFRC) is becoming popular in designing lightweight and durable structures. UHPFRC structural elements remain crack-free and waterproof under service conditions, significantly improving durab ...

2023

Sensing the structural behavior: A perspective on the usefulness of monitoring information for bridge examination

Eugen Brühwiler, Yves Sylvain Gilles Reuland, Numa Joy Bertola

Managing existing civil infrastructure is challenging due to evolving functional requirements, material aging, and climate change. With increasingly limited economic, environmental, and material resources, more sustainable solutions for practical asset man ...

2023

Framework to evaluate the value of monitoring-technique information for structural performance monitoring

Eugen Brühwiler, Numa Joy Bertola

The management of existing civil infrastructure is becoming more crucial as a large share of bridges is approaching their theoretical end of service duration. Structural performance monitoring aims to verify bridge safety at a given time, and it should be ...

2023

Reinforcement bond performance in 3D concrete printing: Explainable ensemble learning augmented by deep generative adversarial networks

Xianlin Wang

Integrating various reinforcements into 3D concrete printing (3DCP) is an efficient method to satisfy critical requirements for structural applications. This paper explores an explainable ensemble machine learning (EML) method to predict the bond failure m ...

Elsevier2023

Modeling and characterization of the nucleation and growth of carbon nanostructures in physical synthesis

Kevin Rossi

Carbon nanostructures formed through physical synthesis come in a variety of sizes and shapes. With the end goal of rationalizing synthetic pathways of carbon nanostructures as a function of tunable parameters in the synthesis, we investigate how the initi ...

ELSEVIER2023

Full Scale Experiments of a Composite Steel Moment Resisting Frame: Behavioral Insights and Implications on Seismic Design

Dimitrios Lignos, Hammad El Jisr

This paper discusses the cyclic performance of a heavily instrumented 2-bay full-scale composite-steel moment resisting frame (CMRF) sub-system from the onset of structural damage up until incipient collapse. The CMRF featured stiffened end plate bolted co ...

EEME2023

The use of ductile steel fuses for the seismic protection of acceleration sensitive non- structural components: Numerical and Experimental verification

Dimitrios Lignos, Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Elkady

Recent seismic events have showcased the vulnerability of non-structural components to even low- or moderate-intensity earthquakes that occur far more frequently than design-basis ones. Thus, community-critical buildings, such as hospitals, telecommunicati ...

EEME2023