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Performance assessment of ferrite- and neodymiumassisted synchronous reluctance machines
No full textGrowing attention towards environmental sustainability of energy conversion and stricter efficiency standards are encouraging the market penetration of high-efficiency electrical motors. Current regulations define international efficiency classes and the testing procedures for direct-on-line machines only, commonly induction motors. Synchronous reluctance machines are a valid alternative to the widely employed induction motors for variable-speed applications, due to their low manufacturing cost and higher efficiency. With proper design, torque ripple can be mitigated as much as to make rotor skewing unnecessary for most of applications. The low power factor downside can be fixed by inserting low-cost ferrite magnet into the rotor barriers, with benefits also on the torque capability and constant power speed range. The aim of this paper is to assess the performance and efficiency potential of one synchronous reluctance and two permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance machine prototypes, obtained by replacing the rotor of a general-purpose induction motor with the said synchronous reluctance ones. The rotor barriers have been designed by means of a genetic optimization algorithm has and then adapted to insert commercially available magnets, compliant with minimum extracost requirements. The two prototypes were comprehensively characterized, to validate the design phase and to investigate the performance of the machines. The provided experimental results are critically examined and commented
Collaborative Contract with Building Information Modelling: comparison between USA and European approach
No full textAt present, contracts are evolving to a collaborative form such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) or Multiparty agreements. Some states are using this new ways of interaction to reduce fragmentation and self- interest of the component of the AEC sector. The productivity index of construction sector is the same in the last decreased, on the contrary the one of the mechanic industry increased. Collaborative contracts are the way to improve the sector profitability. Its aim is to enable and develop collaboration between the owner, the designer and the constructors. Evolution of new technologies imposed a change in the type of contract into a collaborative one. A comparison is presented between the one used in USA and the one used in UK, the latter is becoming a new standard for European contract. This fact have demonstrated to generate an increase in productivity and a decrease in waste of time in the design, in construction and in operational phases. The requirement of this project is the necessity to better satisfy the owner needs, to clearly identify the contractual and extra-contractual responsibilities of individual operators. These are the reasons why Building Information Model and collaborative contracts are conceived to work on the same project
Analyzing the diffusion of eco-friendly van for urban freight distribution
No full textPurpose: This paper investigates the diffusion dynamics of electric and hybrid commercial vans in City Logistics (CL) contexts and its enabling factors in the cCity lLogistics (CL) contexts. The case of parcel delivery in of Torino, (Italy, is considered). Particular aAttention is paidgiven to the influence on the choice of low impact vehicles of not only the influence ofpublic strategies but also the operational aspects characterising the urban freight distribution systems on the choice of low impact vehicles. Design/Methodology/Approach: A System Dynamics model based on Bass diffusion theory computes the number of the adopters of low emission vehicles together with the quantity of vans required and the associated economic savings and the quantity number of vehicles required. The model includes variables about freight demand, delivery frequency, van carrying capacity, routes, stops, distances travelled, and vehicle charging stations. A sensitivity analysis has been completed to identify the main diffusion levers. The focus is on advertising and other diffusion drivers such as public contributions, taxes traditional polluting vehicles are subjected to as well as routing optimization strategies, regulatory pressure, and route redesign actions. Findings: Advertising programs, green image, and word of mouth drive market saturation although in a long time period. In fact, low impact vehicles do not offer any economic advantage over traditional ones vans requiring higher greater investment and operating costs. In order to shorten the adoption time pPublic incentives to purchase both green vehicles and charging stations, together with and carbon taxes and a congestion charge affecting polluting vehicles, are able to shorten the adoption time advisable. In particular, public intervention reveals to be effective only when it unfolds through a number of measures that both facilitate the use of environmentally friendly vehicles and discourage the adoption of traditional commercial vans. The use of low impact vehicles associated with rRoute optimization also hastens the complete market saturation. Research implications: This work fosters research about the mutual relationships between the diffusion of low emission commercial vehicles and the operational and contextual CL factors. It provides a structured approach for investigating the feasibility of innovative good vehicles that might be part of assessments of CL measures and requirements. Finally, the model supports studies about the cooperation among stakeholders to identify effective commercial vehicle fleets. Practical implications: Thise study fosters collaboration among CL players by also providinges a roadmap to identify the key factors for the diffusion of environmentally friendly freight vehicles. It also enables freight carriers to assess the operational and economic feasibility of adopting low impact vehicles. Finally, it might This contribution assists public authorities in capturing the effects of new urban transportation policies prior to their implementation. It enables freight carriers to assess the operational and economic feasibility of adopting low impact vehicles. The study also provides a roadmap to identify the key factors for the diffusion of environmental friendly freight vehicles. Originality/Value: Most of the current CL literature defines policies and analyses their effects. Also, there are several contributions on the diffusion of low emission cars. The present study is one contributes to the lack of the firstew works on the diffusion of low impact commercial vehicles in urban areas by considering the associated key operational factors, economic, and environmental issues. A further nother vvalue is that the proposed model combines operational variables with economic and environmental issues
1783-1908. Dalle case baraccate in legno agli edifici intelaiati in calcestruzzo armato nell'area dello stretto di Messina
No full textThis short review focuses on the Strait of Messina seismic area to point out the evolution of the aseismic legislation from the 1783 earthquake to the one in 1908, as far as quake proof building techniques are concerned. The wood based Casa Baraccata system was standardized after the 1783 to provide safe houses to rebuild cities and proved to be quake re-sistant during the catastrophic earthquake in 1908. After this quake, the Italian legislation posed again the compulsory adoption of this building system and opened the path to updated materials, like reinforced concrete and steel-concrete (ferbeton) self-adapting to the market trends. The opportunity to study the files of Porcheddu's archives (here limited to two different buildings) reveals the mood of the time in considering "new" materials, techniques and design criteria. Two centu-ry later, the Casa Baraccata system has been re-studied because of its favourable behaviour, while the ferbeton system and theHennebique system are waiting for an on-field validation
The Informal Stance. Disciplinary Representations of Architectural Design and Informal Settlements
No full textThis dissertation looks to the moment of encounter between architectural design and informal settlements as the most extreme demonstration of an increasingly evident disciplinary fascination for urban informality. It is an enduring fascination, arising from the need to test the boundaries of the discipline in the hope of finding it adaptable to change and willing to adapt. It is also a fascination that feeds off the gap that exists between the search for a renewed relevance of disciplinary tools, and the wider loss of faith in the project as a way to envision societal change. In fact, such fascination is played out within a seemingly structural contradiction: informal settlements originate as the effect of economic and political strategies that are deployed at the global scale; conversely, when dealing with informality, architecture searches for legitimization at the very small scale of the tactical and ultralocal. A relationship of inverse proportion is in place, between the constrained scope of architectural design and the scale of the issues it sets out to address. The on-the-ground effectiveness of individual practices and of disciplinary tools are the object of specific debates, as is the effectiveness of discourse around urban informality and informal settlements. What is missing, and what this book sets out to assess, is the way in which these two intertwine and influence each other, in order to understand if said contradiction is, in fact, structural - and thus unchangeable - or rather epistemological, existing as a consequence of the discursive frames it originated in - and thus susceptible to improvement. By analyzing a number of selected media products (books, journal issues and exhibitions), this book constructs a history of ideas of informal architecture, and observes the way in which the concept evolves within disciplinary discourse in order to expose the epistemological contradiction that makes it difficult for design to exert any agency through its defining tool, the project
Intencity. Il parametro intensità misura lo spazio-tempo dell'architettura urbana. | Intencity. Measuring the space-time of urban architecture: the intensity parameter
No full textThis work intends to address new questions posed by contemporary urban context, concerning the reactivation of use and practices within the consolidated spaces of the city: it becomes necessary to implement qualitative and social-dynamic instruments such as Intensity. The base to define and build this parameter is set through its ethymological analysis, thorugh the different interpretations about the city and the role of project in generating vitality within the urban space. This matrix of analysis is applied to New York City as a case study - chosen for its spatial conformation, its history and its social practices - selecting projects ranging across different scales, from the house to the city, thus becoming the testing ground of intensity, to investigate urban transformation and different uses of the space: a design/analysis process aiming to make intensity an operational parameter in architecture
Data to decisions: Real-time structural assessment from sparse measurements affected by uncertainty
No full textCo-design of use patterns to rethink offline activities through civic technologies
No full textIn this paper, we describe one of the methodologies used to co-design a civic platform oriented to support local project and activities carried out by different stakeholders operating in the city. Combining storytelling, gaming and sketching, we defined with them a set of use patterns to integrate social network technologies in offline activities, highlighting the strong connection between analogical and digital tools
