Daniel Souto Rodrigues

Database for the semi-rigid behaviour of beam-to-column connections in seismic regions

The behaviour of steelwork connections has long been recognised as complex. A database of test results for connection behaviour constitutes an essential step towards the development of design methodologies, allowing more researchers to investigate in this field without the financial burden of carrying out experimental work, avoiding being misled by incomplete or incorrect data, and opening the way to design assisted by testing. A database of experimental results for steel and steel-concrete composite connections is presented which encompasses graphical treatment of data, numerical manipulation and statistical treatment of groups of results, allowing easy comparison of connection behaviour. Simplified constitutive models for the hysteretic behaviour of connections are presented and included in the database for comparison and calibration with experimental results. The database SERIWWW was developed according to the following specifications: Possibility to introduce test results for any type of connection in free form format, irrespective of the type of connection (existent or not); Possibility to deal with any material; Possibility to deal with dynamical tests; Possibility to deal with numerical simulations; Easy interchange (import-export) with any commercial program (EXCEL, ACCESS, etc.); INTERNET on-line implementation. and implemented as independent modules which correspond to different levels of utilisation, as shown in Table 1. An experimental project of beam-to-column composite connection cyclic and dynamic tests currently under execution is presented where both con

A GIS-based multicriteria model for the the evaluation of territorial accessibility

In most of the land-use planning and management processes location analysis is present and often plays a major role. Accessibility models were developed by many authors as a way to evaluate how easy or difficult it can be to link origins and destinations, adopting different formulations. In this paper, a multicriteria approach for the evaluation of accessibility is presented. The model was developed and implemented within a GIS context and applied to three different typologies of problems: general accessibility evaluation; accessibility evaluation in the context of industrial location; and accessibility evaluation of a University campus.

Assessing the influence of urban geometry on noise propagation by using the sky view factor

The impact of traffic noise can be prevented by suitable planning measures. This study analyses the relationship between urban geometry and traffic noise, recognizing that the arrangement of buildings and streets greatly influences urban noise. The study was carried out in Braga, a medium-sized Portuguese city, by selecting locations with different urban geometries. At each site, the equivalent continuous sound level was measured. Furthermore, the urban geometry was evaluated by using the sky view factor, a parameter which shows the degree of sky obstructed by buildings. Results show an inverse proportionality between noise and the sky view factor. The highest noise levels were found in areas with a low sky view factor. The results also indicate that the sky view factor is a parameter which can potentially be used in research on urban noise.

Enhancing 3DSkyView Extension Performance

This paper presents a second version of the 3DSkyView extension. The purpose of that extension was to implement a calculation algorithm for assessment and visualization of sky view factors (SVF) by means of tools available in a Geographical Information System (GIS). The sky view factor is a thermal and geometric parameter pointed out in the specialized literature as one of the main causes of urban heat islands. A 3D-GIS is a powerful tool for reaching the goal of this research because it allows the storage, treatment and analysis of tri-dimensional urban data, in addition to a high level of flexibility for incorporating calculation algorithms. The objective in the 3DSkyView extension is to optimize the determination of that factor, not only reducing its demanding calculation and graphical representation time, but also generating a simplified tool for replacing expensive photographic equipment usually applied on this matter. Enhancing functions of ArcView GIS 3.2, the first version of that extension showed a very good performance allowing the automatic delineation and determination of SVF. That performance was although limited to a single observer point. The simulation of SVF for several view points in urban canyons was only possible by applying the extension as many times as the number of observers considered. Therefore, this second version was now developed in order to allow simultaneous determination of SVF for many view points. In addition, the 3DSkyView new interface is more flexible, in a way that the user may choose the kind of output wanted (graphical and/or tabular). With this new feature it is then easier to create a continuous SVF map for an entire area.

THIS – Tool for Heat Island Simulation: A GIS extension model to calculate urban heat island intensity based on urban geometry

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (2012/00594-5) (FAPESP), the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (8802/13-0) (CAPES) and the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) for their financial support.

A mobile environmental monitoring station for sustainable cities

The aim of this paper is to present a mobile environmental monitoring station to evaluate the urban environment.The different phases of the mobile unit development are presented from its construction and operation mode for handling and sharing the data obtained. This mobile unit measures the following urban environmental parameters: environmental noise (Leq, L10 and L90), air quality (PM10, PM2.5 and Total Suspended Particles) and meteorological parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction). This mobile unit is part of a project developed for the Portuguese city of Vila Real, called SMMART (in English “Municipal System for Monitoring Air, Noise and Traffic”). The municipality accepted the challenge of developing a platform whereby the population could be informed about the quality of the urban environment (air and noise) of the city where they live.