Artigos de Revista

Purpose

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Characterization of water demand can be of great value for the management of water supplysystems. Especially when water resources are limited, permanently or seasonally, the identificationof the types of consumers and their characteristics is essential to identify opportunities to promoteefficiency and demand management options. For each customer category, information to be obtainedincludes individual uses, typical daily usage patterns (average and dispersion), specific characteristicsand magnitude. Knowledge and systematization of water uses also provide data to improvewater balance and thus allow reducing uncertainty in estimation of losses. A study carried out inAlgarve, a region where stress on water supply resources has been increasing, is presented aimingat better characterization of water consumption in the region to improve response both to normaland emergency situations.

Due to the increasing sand demand for construction and beach nourishment, offshore extraction is being considered as an alternative source. Long term morphological changes caused by such an extraction must be predicted because they can affect the sediments budget and potentially promote coastal erosion. Numerical models are powerful tools that can help in the evaluation of environmental impacts induced by this activity. They should, however, be used with caution, the validation of a particular model being an important task. The objective of this study is to describe the hydrodynamics in the area surrounding a sandpit through the use of numerical models, namely ELCIRC for the tidal flow and SWAN for the waves. The sandpit under study is located offshore Vale do Lobo, an important beach and golf resort located on the Southern Portuguese coast. A wave climate analysis was done in order to assess mean wave conditions and to choose extreme events to propagate with SWAN. Four wave conditions were identified as representative. The numerical results obtained show that the tidal flow and the orbital wave velocities within the pit and neighbouring areas are modified by the presence of the pit. The excavation influences the tidal flow in an area of approximately 3000 * 3000 m2 around it. In this area the maximum velocity increase is of 2%, occurring in the nearby surroundings of the pit, and the maximum decrease is of 16%, in the pit deepest zone. The orbital velocities for the storm wave conditions show a decrease of 15% within the pit and its influence extends up to the 4 m contour, not reaching the shore.

This paper describes the implementation of a new boundary conditions in the BOUSSIIW model (BOUSSinesq model with Internal Irregular Wave generation). BOUSSIIW is a finite element numerical model for wave propagation in near shore regions that is able to describe the wave field outside and inside harbours and sheltered zones. It is based upon the extended Boussinesq equation derived by Nwogu. These equations describe the nonlinear evolution of waves over a sloping impermeable bottom and are able to reproduce some of the most important physical effects associated with the nonlinear wave transformation in near shore regions. Their range of validity extends from shallow up to intermediate water depths. Monochromatic and irregular waves can be generated by the model using the source function method. The two boundary conditions available were full reflection or full absorption. A new partial reflection boundary condition is implemented. The model is validated with a simple test case. Reflection coefficients obtained with BOUSSIIW were compared to widely used empirical formula, enabling the assessment of the new condition

A presença de fendas em elementos de madeiraconstitui com frequência uma fonte de preocupações e litígios, quer no âmbito da construção de estruturas novas de madeira, quer no da avaliação da segurança de estruturasem serviço.No entanto, a existência de fendas é muitas vezes sobrevalorizada pelos intervenientes no processo de construção, quer em importância absoluta, quer em importância relativa face a outras anomalias presentes, muitas vezes mais graves embora menos evidentes.

In the framework of a research project entitled

This paper presents a study of the viability of improving the performance of cementitious mortars through the addition of very fine aggregates from crushed red clay ceramics. For that purpose, an experimental campaign was performed with the main purpose of testing the possibility of improving the performance of cementitious mortars at several levels: strength, water absorption, shrinkage, water permeability, durability, among others. The results obtained look very promising, even though this line of research needs to be further pursued.

The degradation of concrete structures caused by delayed ettringite formation (DEF) is a problem that affects many concrete structures worldwide [1]. This pathology is due to the formation of expansive ettringite inside the material and is very difficult to deal with, because presently there is no efficient method to repair concrete structures affected by DEF. Hence, there is an urgent need to find preventive methods that may enable the inhibition of DEF in new constructions. This paper presents the findings of a long-term study [2,3] on the expansion rate and microstructure of heat-cured concretes with different amounts of mineral additions, like fly ash, metakaolin, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, silica fume and limestone filler. For this purpose different concrete compositions were produced using the same binder, water/binder (w/b) ratios and aggregate type. The concretes were prepared and subjected to a heat-curing cycle and subsequently to two dryinghumidification cycles. After these cycles the concrete specimens were immersed in water for longterm storage at 20 ± 2ºC. Length changes of specimens were measured at regular intervals. The microstructures of old heat curing specimens were investigated by optical microscopy and SEMEDS analysis. The results of the blended-concrete compositions were compared with control compositions, and the conclusions were extracted.

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