Browsing by Author "Costa, A."
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- Autonomous Wireless Sensor with a Low Cost TEG for Application in Automobile VehiclesPublication . Costa, A.; Costa, D.; Morgado, J.; Santos, Helder; Ferreira, Carlos Daniel HenriquesThe present work consists in the development of an autonomous, low cost, reliable, energy scavenger sensor for automotive applications. Thermoelectric generators typically exhibit low efficiency but high reliability, making them suitable for autonomous, low average energy consumption, applications. A prototype sensor was developed for mounting in the engine exhaust pipe using a step-up voltage converter, a microcontroller, temperature and pressure sensing elements, conditioning electronics and a wireless transceiver, all powered by a low cost TEG (Peltier module TEC1-12706), through the scavenging of exhaust gases thermal energy. During the tests the prototype was able to sustain a regular signal transmission throughout the engine operation. The sensor was installed directly at the measuring point eliminating wired cables to hot and vibrating parts, thus, simplifying the installation of components and improving the reliability of the vehicle systems.
- Historic Appraisal Review and Geometric Characterization of Old Masonry Buildings in Lisbon for Seismic Risk AssessmentPublication . Bernardo, V.; Sousa, R.; Candeias, P.; Costa, A.; Costa, A. CamposThe Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (MAL) has the highest population and building density in Portugal, and is exposed to medium to high magnitude earthquakes due to its geographical location. Currently, the MAL housing stock is constituted by approximately 35% of masonry residential buildings with a large variability of materials and construction techniques, as a result of many centuries of history. Most of these buildings were built before the introduction of the first design code for building safety against earthquakes (RSSCS) in Citation1958 and therefore were only designed to support gravity loads. Given the presence of these buildings in areas of significant seismicity, a comprehensive research is needed to assess the seismic risk and define mitigation policies for this population of unreinforced masonry buildings. The main purpose of this work is thus to geometrically characterize these typologies, through an exhaustive survey of dozens of masonry buildings collected from original drawings and identify the most important aspects that can influence their seismic behavior. After a compressive historical background, the information collected is statistically analyzed and expressed through probability distributions that can be used for the development of numerical models and derive seismic vulnerability functions, fundamental to conduct seismic risk analyses.
- Seismic behavior of RC building structures designed according to current codesPublication . Mosleh, A.; Rodrigues, Hugo; Varum, H.; Costa, A.; Arêde, A.Earthquakeswhich recently occurred in highly populated regions showthat existing buildings constructed without appropriate seismic resisting characteristics may constitute as an important source of risk and may cause economical loses and casualties. It is recognized the progress of the knowledge in earthquake engineering in the last decades. In this paper, two 6 irregular storey buildings were studied consisting of frame structures, representative of the common practice in Portugal, i.e. designed without considering earthquake actions. Push-over and non-linear time history analyses were done, with non-inear 3-D models in longitudinal and transverse directions. The building responseswere analyzed in two different levels: global and local. For the global response analyses: max displacement, inter-storey drift (IS drift), floor rotation for each storey and base shear were compared. For local response four columns were chosen and the variation of axial load in terms of base shear and drift as well as the biaxial demand was considered. The result shows that most variation of axial load happens in corner, facade-X, facade-Y and centre column respectively. It is noteworthy that by increasing the initial axial load the biaxial demand decreases. The seismic vulnerability was analyzed for earthquake of different return periods, and the seismic demands were compared with limit proposed in international codes and conclusion are drafted in terms of safety. The vulnerability assessment based on seismic codes clearly shows that the building 2 presented a better performance with low inter-storey drifts. The main goal of this study is considering the application andmethodology for the seismic assessment of existent real buildings. In fact this is an important topic, to understand the seismic vulnerability of certain particularities in existing buildings to assure that the common observation can be applied for a prototype building, especially irregular ones. Also one of the major observations in this study is the comprehension of the effect and importance of biaxial loading in columns and the influence of the axial load variation, relating the position of the columns in plan and in height.
- Seismic Retrofitting: Learning from Vernacular ArchitecturePublication . Costa, A.; Varum, H.; Pinheiro Rodrigues, Hugo Filipe; Lourenço, P.B.; Vasconcelos, G.; Mariana R. Correia; Paulo B. Lourenço; Humberto VarumRammed earth is one of the oldest building materials in the world, and it is present in Portugal with a particular focus in the South of the country. The mechanical properties and the structural behaviour of rammed earth constructions have been the subject of study of many researchers in the recent years. This study is part of a broader research on vernacular seismic culture in Portugal. Numerical analyses were carried out to assess the influence of different retrofitting solutions in the behaviour and seismic performance of a rammed earth building, representative of the vernacular heritage of Alentejo region. Understating the structural fragilities of this type of constructions allowed determining the most appropriate retrofitting solutions.