The search for innovative and sustainable solutions to improve the energy efficiency of the construction industry has been a hot topic for researchers due to the tremendous impact of insulator materials in the thermal comfort of buildings. In the present work, an innovative lightweight composite material with thermal insulation properties was developed, for the first time, by using cardoon particles and polyurethane. The formulation of the composite material was optimized in terms of cardoon fraction and the polyol/isocyanate ratio, to achieve the best compromise between internal bond (IB) strength and thickness swelling (TS). The best performing composite was PU75-CP45, with 45 wt% of cardoon particles and 75% of isocyanate, achieving an IB of 0.41 MPa and a TS of 5.3%. Regarding insulation properties, the PU75-CP45 composite material exhibits a promising performance when compared to conventional construction industry materials by tuning its thickness. Additionally, the composite material presented very low emissions of volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde (bellow to legislation levels) and high resistance to biological degradation.

Aircraft operations at an airport result in the emission of various substances. Simultaneously, in an airport area, road traffic is very intense, also contributing to the emission of the same substances. In this work, potentially toxic elements, essentially trace metals, and others not categorised as such (alloys elements and ceramic particles that constitute particulate matter) are considered, which end up being deposited on soils. The main purpose of this study is to identify soil quality degradation potentially connected to aircraft operations related to Lisbon airport, Portugal. At the same time, an attempt was made to differentiate the contribution of soil quality degradation resulting from road traffic. Several geotechnical and chemical parameters were determined for all of the 102 collected samples. X-ray fluorescence analysis was performed to identify and quantify the main elements present in all samples. Some samples were also subjected to X-ray diffraction to determine the mineralogical composition. The data obtained allow the creation of distribution maps of the detected elements and, after multivariate statistical analysis, conclude which ones are related to very intense road traffic and which ones are related to aircraft traffic emissions, in an urban area, based on a holistic interpretation of all intervenient variables.

Fires in large buildings can have tragic consequences, including the loss of human lives. Despite the advancements in building construction and fire safety technologies, the unpredictable nature of fires, particularly in large buildings, remains an enormous challenge. Acknowledging the paramount importance of prioritising human safety, the academic community has been focusing consistently on enhancing the efficiency of building evacuation. While previous studies have integrated evacuation simulation models, aiding in aspects such as the design of evacuation routes and emergency signalling, modelling human behaviour during a fire emergency remains challenging due to cognitive complexities. Moreover, behavioural differences from country to country add another layer of complexity, hindering the creation of a universal behaviour model. Instead of centring on modelling the occupant behaviour, this paper proposes an innovative approach aimed at enhancing the occupants’ behaviour predictability by providing real-time information to the occupants regarding the most suitable evacuation routes. The proposed models use a building’s environmental conditions to generate contextual information, aiding in developing solutions to make the occupants’ behaviour more predictable by providing them with real-time information on the most appropriate and efficient evacuation routes at each moment, guiding the occupants to safety during a fire emergency. The models were incorporated into a context-aware recommender system for testing purposes. The simulation results indicate that such a system, coupled with hazard and congestion models, positively influences the occupants’ behaviour, fostering faster adaptation to the environmental conditions and ultimately enhancing the efficiency of building evacuations.

Encapsulated rejuvenators embedded in asphalt mixtures are a promising technology to extend the service life of asphalt pavements. However, their effects on the asphalt mixture’s performance still need to be properly understood. A recently developed three-dimensional discrete element method framework enables the evaluation of non-homogeneous distributions of the rejuvenator, closely resembling real conditions. This includes different scenarios involving capsule content and release efficiency. The presented numerical results show that the rejuvenator-to-mastic ratio and the number of rejuvenator-modified contacts influence the stiffness properties of asphalt mixtures. In cases where a homogeneous rejuvenator distribution is assumed, the three-dimensional DEM model predicts a significant reduction in the asphalt mixture’s stiffness that compromises the pavement’s performance. Simulations show that the diffusion effect needs to be considered for predicting the post-healed behavior of asphalt mixtures. For cases considering more suitable modified mastic amounts (less than 1.20 wt%), the effect on the asphalt mixture’s stiffness modulus is less pronounced, and the phase angle is not significantly affected. Additionally, the presented simulations suggest that the capsule content can be increased up to 0.75 wt%, and capsules with a release rate higher than 48% can be used without compromising the rheological performance of asphalt mixtures, possibly improving their self-healing properties. These numerical insights should be considered in future designs to achieve optimal post-healed behavior.

This paper investigates the influence of sea severity and mooring line pretension configuration on the operability of a moored vessel at a modified berthing site inside a port. A physical model was constructed to replicate the new layout of the port of Leixões in Portugal, including bathymetry and a future 300 m extension of Leixões’ north breakwater. A tanker ship model was tested with novel custom-made mooring system simulators for two fenders and four mooring lines under various offshore sea states and pretension configurations. The experiments focus on acquiring wave measurements at multiple spots within the port, ship motions, and loads on lines and fenders. The data is analysed in time and frequency domains to examine the relationship between waves, motions, and loads. The results are then compared to standard operational thresholds to estimate downtime and operability for cargo loading operations. The analysis of the results yields several conclusions. It is recommended to use the zero-peak amplitudes in conjunction with the maximum peak-to-peak amplitudes to ensure accurate operability analysis. The application of small-scale physical modelling for a moored tanker in Leixões port is a useful tool not only for investigating the feasibility of port modifications in the existing sheltering structures but also for analysing additional soft countermeasures to strengthen operational conditions at the berth. It also provides site-specific experimental data that may help to develop site-specific safety criteria. The applied mooring simulators help to reduce physical model costs.

The present paper presents a study on the in-plane shear performance of solid clay brick masonry walls reinforced with near-surface mounted twisted steel bars. Masonry assemblages were fabricated representing those used in masonry-concrete buildings such as those found in Lisbon, built during the decades of 1930–1950. Solid clay bricks laid in Flemish bond using cement-lime blended mortar were used in the construction of fifteen wallette specimens. Three reinforcement layouts were applied on both faces of the wallettes, namely: grid (vertical + horizontal bars), vertical-only, and horizontal-only. Three unreinforced and nine reinforced specimens were subjected to diagonal compression tests. Three other unreinforced specimens were subjected to axial compression tests. The effectiveness of the proposed strengthening solution was discussed. The findings indicate that the proposed strengthening solution substantially increased the shear strength and greatly improved the ductility of the masonry wallette assemblages, pointing to its interest in practice. Although the number of tests performed is significant (considering its complexity), it should be noted that the representativeness of the results could be improved by performing more tests. The incorporation of results from other studies (in progress within the RESIST2020 research project), namely, regarding the walls out-of-plane behavior, will allow for a more complete characterization of the benefits of the reinforcement solution.

AbstractMany collective irrigation systems have been operating for decades, facing high degradation of existing infrastructures and huge water-energy efficiency problems. Predominantly composed of open canals, they have been partially or entirely converted into pressurised pipe systems, implying a considerable increase in energy consumption and operation and maintenance costs. Simple, easy-to-use, and comprehensive approaches for energy efficiency assessment in collective irrigation systems are needed for diagnosis and assisting decision-making on implementing adequate improvement measures. This research proposes and demonstrates an innovative approach based on the water and energy balances and performance indicators to assess the effect of water losses, network layout and operation, energy recovery, and equipment on energy efficiency. A novel methodology for energy balance calculation is proposed for open canal, pressurised and combined systems. The application to a real-life open canal system and network areas allowed the identification of efficiency problems mainly due to water losses in canals, followed by the dissipated energy in friction losses. Less critical are pumping and manoeuvring equipment inefficiencies. Also, a considerable excess of gravity energy is recovered in hydropower plants. In raising pipe systems, in which shaft input energy predominates and costs for pumping play a key role, surplus and dissipated energy in friction losses are the most relevant issues. Significant energy is lost in the water conveyance and distribution in both systems. Consequently, the potential to improve energy efficiency through water loss management, network layout, and operation improvement, besides pumping and manoeuvring equipment replacement, is considerable.

Abstract Results of suffusion tests with unidirectional seepage on samples of six coarse soils are evaluated. Samples are from an aging earth fill dam, built at the end of the 18th century, in England, with a driving road at the crest level, in which concerns about the threat of suffusion during major storms existed. Suffusion is a form of internal erosion characterized by the migration of fine particles towards downstream areas along the matrix formed by the soils’ coarser fraction. Seven commonly used geometric criteria are comprehensively evaluated against the experimental data carried out. Experimental data showed that suffusion occurs in most of the tested soil specimens, despite some of the available empirical criteria classifying them as internally stable. Following the studies on suffusion, the dam was subjected to important maintenance works to prevent internal erosion phenomena.