Valeria Bandini, Ernesto Cascone, Giovanni Biondi, Elisabetta Feudale Foti
This paper presents the results of a physical and mechanical characterization of a volcanic ash collected during a recent eruptive episode of Mount Etna. The mineralogy and microstructure of the material are examined by means of X-ray diffractometry and electron scanning microscopy (SEM). Because of their lightweight, highly crushable and compressible nature, they are problematic from engineering and construction viewpoint. The laboratory testing programme consisted of standard drained and undrained triaxial compression tests, one-dimensional compression tests and direct shear tests. Herein,...
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Silvia Bersan, Luca Schenato, Aneesh Rajendran, Luca Palmieri, Simonetta Cola, Alessandro Pasuto, Paolo Simonini
A distributed temperature optical fibre sensors system with a sub-centimetre spatial resolution has been incorporated in a sand-box model. Its function is monitoring the temperature field induced in the sand by a horizontal water flow with inflowing water maintained at a constant temperature higher than the room temperature. The setup has been designed to investigate the variations of the temperature field induced by internal erosion in a dike. The paper presents preliminary results concerning heat transfer in the intact sample, before internal erosion is triggered. The results show that,...
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Claudio Mancuso, Raffaele Papa
A new high capacity tensiometer (HCT) have been developed at the University of Napoli Federico II (UNINA) using a design similar to that of Ridley and Burland (1993). With respect to a first prototype developed at UNINA, the new HCT is designed to be submergible, to enhance the measurements of soil suction, to make easier the calibration in the negative water pressure range and to improve the time-response of the probe. The new HCT can be accurately calibrated either for positive value of water pressure (i.e., to act as standard pressure transducer) or for measurement of negative water...
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Filomena de SIlva, Anna d'onofrio, Lorenza Evangelista, Flavia Fascia, Francesco Silvestri, Anna Scotto di Santolo, Stefania Sica, Giuseppe Cavuoto, Vincenzo Di Fiore, Michele Punzo, Paolo Scotto di Vettimo, Daniela Tara
The paper presents two recent examples of application of Electrical Resistivity (ERT) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), for reconstructing buried subsoil and structural geometries in two historical sites in the city of Napoli. Both investigation sites were characterized by complex environmental and logistic conditions. The first case study was an ancient hypogean cavity excavated in the tuff, where the integration between ERT and GPR allowed to identify the depth of the soft rock below the natural and anthropic filling. The second investigation was finalized to detect the foundation...
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Paola Monaco, Sara Amoroso, Diego Marchetti, Gianfranco Totani
The seismic dilatometer (SDMT) is the combination of the standard flat dilatometer (DMT) with a seismic module for measuring the shear wave velocity VS, a basic input parameter for site seismic response analyses. This paper presents an overview of the SDMT equipment, test procedure and interpretation, as well as examples of SDMT results and related comments.
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Adolfo Cavallari
The Resonant Column (RC) test is the standard to determine dynamic and static parameter of soils and rocks under different shear strain and confining conditions. The test consists of vibrating a cylindrical specimen in torsion establishing a fundamental mode, measuring the resonant frequency and amplitude of vibration with a frequency search. In order to minimize the spectral content beyond the used frequency range, borrowing a radar technique, a “Chirp” is used. This continuous modulation improves the system measurement performances, minimizing the effect of the number of cycles, reducing...
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Jesus Mirapeix, Adolfo Cobo, Jose J. Valdiande, Ruben Ruiz-Lombera, Pilar B. Garcia-Allende, Olga M. Conde, Luis Rodriguez-Cobo, Jose Miguel Lopez-Higuera
A review of solutions involving plasma optical spectroscopy applied to on-line welding quality monitoring is presented in this paper. After a brief introduction to welding processes and their requirements in terms of quality monitoring, different proposals for on-line monitoring will be addressed. The basics of welding monitoring via plasma spectroscopy in terms of light capture and hardware and processing requirements will be also introduced, and different approaches will be presented. Finally, a variety of examples regarding field trials in different sectors will be also discussed.
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Bernhard Baumgartner, Christian Riesch, Wolfgang Schenk
The failure of time references can result in operational distortions of power plants or substations. Rumours say that simply a truck, illegally equipped with a GPS jammer to camouflage its position, parking outside a substation can cause GPS failure in the substation. Is this really true? How vulnerable are today's GPS synchronized time references? And what are the consequences of short term to long term GPS reception losses? In this paper the authors address these questions for different time synchronisation infrastructures and applications in the power industry. The paper concludes with an...
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Patricia Derler, Edward A. Lee, Michael Zimmer
Globally asynchronous, locally synchronous (GALS) has become the standard model of computation (MoC) for designing distributed software systems. Essentially, distributed components are each internally synchronous, but operate in different clock domains and communicate with other components asynchronously. Advances in clock synchronization mechanisms, supported by the increasing availability of clock synchronization implementations, allow for establishing a common notion of time across distributed platforms. We therefore advocate for a synchronous model of computation for the distributed...
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download
Luigi Maxmilian Caligiuri, Alfonso Nastro
The conceptual and operative definition of simultaneity is fundamental not only from a purely theoretical point of view but also in order to ensure the correctness of metrological practices, because of its implication upon synchronization procedures. In this paper we’ll critically analyze the main possible definitions of simultaneity, discussing the consequence of each of them upon the synchronization process and how the choice of the right method is far from obvious.
TC4 Symposium 2014
· TC4
· 2014
· Download