Artigos de Revista

In designing tunnels for fires, the design fire needs to be quantified. Design fires form the base input for emergency ventilation, evacuation, and structural design analyses. A design fire is the idealization of a real fire that may occur in a tunnel. It describes, quantitatively, the characteristics of a particular fire with respect to time and space, e.g. fuel state (solid, liquid, or gas), fuel type and quantity, fuel configuration and location, heat release rate, rate of growth, production rate of combustion products (smoke, CO, CO2, etc.). A design fire is in general defined in terms of heat release rate, and species output as functions of time. This paper summarizes the efforts to develop a set of idealized design fire curves as a useful tool for road tunnel fire risk assessment. The developed idealized design fire curves include the following phases: (1) incubation phase, (2) growth phase, (3) fully-developed phase, and (4) decay phase.

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Colwyn Bay beach is undergoing a process of erosion. The present study aims at characterizing the beachdynamics and developing alternative solutions for beach rehabilitation and protection. The method applied tocharacterize the foreshore morphological evolution was the assessment of the shoreline evolution, the analysis ofthe foreshore 3D evolution and the analysis of cross-shore profile evolution. The sedimentologic contents of thebeach were characterized based on the analysis of superficial samples. The hydrodynamic characterization wasbased on the analysis of the wave climate at three inshore points in front of the beach and of the tidal and surgelevels. These data provided the necessary information for the characterization of the longshore transport andevaluation of the beach active zone. The first part of developing alternative solutions was the definition of theoptimum long-term recharged beach profile, which, due to the high tidal range, was calculated based on the2S-EBP method. The beach berm was designed to avoid direct wave action on the seawall existent at the beachbackshore. For that, a morphodynamic model was applied to test the beach retreat under storm events. Finally,alternative long-term solutions based on a nourishment strategy were tested with two shoreline evolution models.Two initial alternative solutions of beach recharge with different grain size sand followed by six alternativesolutions of beach recharge with sand retention structures arrangements were tested. The results, herequalitatively and qu

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Epoxy adhesives have been used for many years in the rehabilitation of timber structures and are currently the most appropriate adhesive type for on-site operations. However, because they exhibit excellent initial joint strength when tested in standard climate conditions, there has not been a major concern about their service durability. In order to contribute to the ongoing discussion on the reliability of these adhesives, a study was conducted to evaluate the effect of environmental service conditions on the durability of four commercial two-component structural epoxy adhesives, as well as the effect that the type of mixing, curing and postcuring conditions, as well as the presence of moisture have on the adhesives viscoelastic properties. It was found that the preparation conditions, cure schedule and moisture have a significant effect on the performance of the bulk adhesives. Moreover, it was found that under ambient conditions there is potential for under-cure or slow progression of cure for the epoxy adhesive products typically employed in these applications, which in turn can compromise the durability of a bonded joint.

Rehabilitation/restoration systems involvingbonded-in rods represent an efficient alternative method for the repair and/or reinforcement of structural timber members. However, in spite of their advantages, their use is still restrained by the lack ofknowledge about their long-term performance. In order to correct this situation it is necessary to gain a greater understanding of their durability, creep and fatigue behaviour. However, reliable and realisticaccelerated ageing tests do not yet exist, and the application of the existing European or American standards to epoxy bonded products are much too penalising, since they merely impose severe conditions that are not verified in service although these may be suitable for other adhesives. To address these concerns a test procedure to assess long-term behaviour of bonded-in rod connections was developed with the aim of providing a simple method for the selection of candidate repair system materials forspecific applications. The data collected so far using the realistic performance assessment test (RPAT) appears to predict correctly the end-use performance for different adhesives as well as for differenttimbers.

Neste artigo é analisado o risco de incêndio numa instalação de tratamento de resíduos sólidos urbanos, nomeadamente ao nível da sua fossa de deposição desses resíduos. Foram realizadas simulações do desenvolvimento do incêndio usando um modelo de duas zonas, o Consolidated Model of Fire and Smoke Transport (CFAST) e um modelo de campo,o Fire Dynamics Simulator and Smokeview (FDS-SMV), ambos do National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), sendo os resultados analisados e discutidos.

New experiments under sheet flow conditions were conducted in an oscillating water tunnel to study the effects of flow acceleration on sand transport.The simulated hydrodynamic conditions considered flow patterns that drive cross-shore sediment transport in the nearshore zone: the wave nonlinearitiesassociated with velocity and acceleration skewness and a negative mean current, the undertow. Net transport rates were evaluated from the sedimentbalance equation and show that (1) the acceleration skewness in an oscillatory flow produces a net sediment transport in the direction of the highestacceleration; (2) the net transport in the presence of an opposing current is negative, against the direction of the highest acceleration, and reduces with anincrease in flow acceleration; and (3) velocity skewness increases the values of the net onshore transport rates.

This article defines short-term (tidal cycle) sediment-transport patterns at a backbarrier beach based on detailed fieldstudies. Fieldwork was planned to record nonstorm, spring tide conditions that enable the definition of backgroundsediment dynamics at the study area. The experiment was set at two beach morphologies: beach face and sandbank.Current meters were deployed at both sites. Fluorescent tracer techniques were applied to determine rates and directionof transport. Topographic surveys and sediment sampling were undertaken. During the experiment, limited tracerdisplacement and small morphological changes occurred. The low magnitude changes are representative of predominant,low-energy hydrodynamic conditions. Sediment transport was primarily longshore orientated and dependent on thevelocity of tidal currents. Tidal currents had the potential for sediment transport only during a short period of the tidalcycle and had higher velocities during ebb, which results in a net sediment transport orientated towards the nearby inlet.It is suggested that there is dependence on sediment transport rate at the study site and on the variability of tidalcurrents, which are greatly influenced by the distance to, and conditions of, the nearby Anca