ATEM Research Group at UPC-BarcelonaTech

NEW PAPER! "Effect of cross section aspect ratio and bearing surfaces treatment on the compressive strength of solid fired clay brick specimens" in Construction and Building Materials, authored by Albert Cabané, Luca Pelà, and Pere Roca.
The research, based on a big experimental program including 458 compression tests, focused on the assessment of strength in brick specimens with different cross section’s aspect ratio and different bearing surface treatments, such as grinding, capping with cement mortar or gypsum plaster, birch plywood or fibreboard, gypsum powder, and oiled PTFE leaves.
The article is available in open access for everyone at the following link: https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0950-0618(23)01110-8

NEW PAPER! "Robust estimation of axial loads sustained by tie-rods in historical structures using Artificial Neural Networks" just published in Structural Health Monitoring, authored by Nirvan Makoond, Luca Pelà, and Climent Molins.
The research presents a novel robust ANNs methodology to estimate the actual axial load in historical ties from vibration measurements, by employing a data-driven approach to a dataset generated using the finite element method. The method is useful for the assessment of historical ties, including those with irregularities and connectors to unify several segments.
We applied this new methodology to two historical ties in the church of the Monastery of Sant Cugat, an important medieval heritage structure near Barcelona.
Article available at https://doi.org/10.1177/14759217221123326
Postprint available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364098652_Robust_estimation_of_axial_loads_sustained_by_tie-rods_in_historical_structures_using_Artificial_Neural_Networks
Dataset employed for training the ANNs available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7135943

NEW PAPER! "Efficient Constitutive Model for Continuous Micro-Modeling of Masonry Structures", just published in the International Journal of Architectural Heritage, authored by Massimo Petracca, Guido Camata, Enrico Spacone, and Luca Pelà.
The paper presents a novel constitutive plastic-damage model for the microstructural components of masonry, allowing an explicit computation of the stress tensor from the strain tensor, and including a mixed implicit-explicit (IM-PLEX) integration algorithm to improve the numerical stability of the solution.
A 3D FEM model with 177,000 elements and 60,000 nodes (6 DOFs per node, total of about 360,000 equations), ran in 2 hours and 53 minutes only, demonstrating the remarkable computational efficiency of the proposed constitutive model.
50 free online copies of the article available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/P9IASDFEYJDITWHCZWS4/full?target=10.1080/15583058.2022.2124133
Postprint always available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363656245_Efficient_Constitutive_Model_for_Continuous_Micro-Modeling_of_Masonry_Structures

NEW PAPER just published in Construction and Building Materials, entitled "Anisotropy and compressive strength evaluation of solid fired clay bricks by testing small specimens", authored by Albert Cabané, Luca pelà and Pere Roca.
The paper presents a detailed experimental research to evaluate the compressive strength and the anisotropy of different solid clay types, based on 461 tests on non-standard small cubic specimens. Anisotropy was quantified in extruded, press moulded, and handmade solid fired clay bricks, followed by a probabilistic study of the shape effect and comparison with conventional approaches based on standardized specimens.
Article available in open acces at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950061822018591

NEW PAPER! "Modelling of in-plane seismic behaviour of one-way steel or timber jack arch floors in existing buildings. Application to the Eixample district of Barcelona" in Engineering Structures, authored by Sara Dimovska, Savvas Saloustros, Luca Pelà, and Pere Roca.
The research presents a simple and efficient numerical procedure for the simplified modelling of jack arch floor systems in the seismic assessment of unreinforced buildings, with application to multi-storey existing buildings of the historical “Eixample” district in Barcelona.
50 days' free access to the article: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1f63OW4G4XRj%7E
Authors' postprint always available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360744500_Modelling_of_in-plane_seismic_behaviour_of_one-way_steel_or_timber_jack_arch_floors_in_existing_buildings_Application_to_the_Eixample_district_of_Barcelona

NEW PAPER! "Numerical Modelling of Traditional Buildings Composed of Timber Frames and Masonry Walls under Seismic Loading" by Belén Jiménez and Luca Pelà, published in the International Journal of Architectural Heritage.
The research investigates the combined use of simple Lumped Plasticity Models and macro-mechanical Finite Element approaches to evaluate the seismic response of structures composed of frames and walls. The models are used to appraise the seismic response of two existing timber-masonry hybrid buildings, located in the historical centre of Valparaíso, Chile ( World Heritage Site).
50 free online copies of the article: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/DZDDNIYKBQBVNYAKAQFP/full?target=10.1080/15583058.2022.2033885
Authors' postprint always available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358607443_Numerical_Modelling_of_Traditional_Buildings_Composed_of_Timber_Frames_and_Masonry_Walls_under_Seismic_Loading

NEW PAPER! “Experimental cyclic behaviour of shear masonry walls reinforced with single and double layered Steel Reinforced Grout”, by Larisa Garcia-Ramonda, Luca Pelà, Pere Roca, and Guido Camata, published in Construction and Building Materials journal.
The research presents a challenging experimental program investigating the influence of the number of textile layers of Steel Reinforced Grout ( ) on the in-plane cyclic shear response of strengthened masonry walls, in terms of failure mechanism, load-bearing capacity, energy dissipation, and ductility.
This is another publication resulted from the collaboration with Kerakoll Group about the study of solutions for seismic of existing buildings.
50 days' free access to the journal's article: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1eNbg3O1E1MuqV
Authors' postprint always available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357671221_Experimental_cyclic_behaviour_of_shear_masonry_walls_reinforced_with_single_and_double_layered_Steel_Reinforced_Grout

NEW PAPER! "Cyclic shear-compression testing of brick masonry walls repaired and retrofitted with basalt textile reinforced
mortar" in Composite Structures, authored by Larisa Garcia-Ramonda, Luca Pelà, Pere Roca, and Guido Camata.
The paper presents a challenging experimental programme showing the suitability of solutions for seismic and post-earthquake of existing buildings, with remarkable advantages in terms of resistance, ductility, and energy dissipation.
The research is a result of a fruitful collaboration with Kerakoll. The authors gratefully acknowledge the company for supplying the materials and assisting during the experimental program.
50 days' free access to the journal's article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.115068
Authors' postprint always available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357316559_Cyclic_shear-compression_testing_of_brick_masonry_walls_repaired_and_retrofitted_with_basalt_textile_reinforced_mortar

NEW PAPER! "Validation of non-linear equivalent-frame models for irregular masonry walls" in Engineering Structures, resulted from a research collaboration with colleagues from the University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy).
The research evaluates the reliability of equivalent frame models ( ) in the pushover seismic analysis of irregular masonry buildings when using fiber modelling of wall panels. The study compares the EFM results with those derived from detailed micromodelling. The paper shows the potential of the EFM approach, as well as possible modelling strategies to improve EFM accuracy based on careful calibration of the EFM static scheme geometry by comparison with advanced FEM micromodels.
50 days' free access to the journal's article: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1eL2yW4G4Tgy0
Authors' postprint always available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357458661_Validation_of_non-linear_equivalent-frame_models_for_irregular_masonry_walls

TODAY KEYNOTE LECTURE!! about DIGITAL TWINS by Professor Rolando Chacón at "The XIII Portuguese Conference on Steel and Composite Construction".
For more info check out:
https://events.cmm.pt/event/home/index.php?target=home&defLang=1&event=3