Talks by Filippo Gentili
Prescriptive measures and procedures developed over the past here are mostly aimed at preventing ... more Prescriptive measures and procedures developed over the past here are mostly aimed at preventing structural failures of single elements for the time required for the evacuation (Giuliani&Budny, 2010). The response to fire and fire effects of the structural system as a whole remains often unknown and the survival of the construction after this time cannot always be granted. This is even more true in case of unaccounted events like human errors or rare but severe occurrence like a fire after explosion, which cannot be contemplated in the usual design. Even if a structure could be hardly designed to resist fully integer all these kinds of events, the mitigation of possible collapse induced by fire should be achieved. In this respect, a performance-based investigation of the structure aimed at highlight fire effects and fire-induced collapse mechanisms becomes of interest. In the paper collapse mechanisms of some simple structures are presented and discussed, with particular attention to methodological aspects. The effects of different assumptions in the modeling and in the definition of the collapse are highlighted, as critical aspects of a performance-based investigation.
Papers by Filippo Gentili
Tunnels and underground structures are becoming more and more essential these days, when installi... more Tunnels and underground structures are becoming more and more essential these days, when installing new transportation infrastructures in congested areas as well as when raising the qualities within the existing urbanizations. The realization of such structures calls for specific measures regarding durability provisions, commitment to environmental aspects, issues of sustainability and safety assurance, for their whole lifecycle. The design for safety of tunnel infrastructures is a multifaceted process, since there are many aspects that need ...
The use of the structural systems combining members of different nature, such as reinforced concr... more The use of the structural systems combining members of different nature, such as reinforced concrete walls with steel/composite beams and columns, presents a competitive solution benefiting from the structural efficiency of each type of member. This paper investigates the behavior of a composite beam to reinforced concrete wall moment-resistant joint configuration. The proposed joint configuration is a simple solution with structural capacity to connect these types of members in a non-seismic region. An experimental campaign was conducted within the work programme of a RFCS research project that demonstrated the structural efficiency of the joint.
Fire represents a significant danger for frame structures hosting industrial activities. In this ... more Fire represents a significant danger for frame structures hosting industrial activities. In this context, the numerical investigation of fire effects and fire induced collapse mechanisms becomes of interest. According to many studies on the topic, two failure modes are identified for a steel frame in fire: an outward (or sway) collapse and an inward (or no-sway) collapse. Above others the failure mode is determined by the following parameters: i) the acting load combination; ii) the typology of the column base restrain and iii) the two interacting mechanical effects of the fire (thermal expansion of the structural elements and thermal degradation of the steel properties). In this paper, a set of nonlinear transient analyses, which take into account for thermo-plastic material behavior and geometrical nonlinearities, has been performed in order to understand the influence of different parameters on the collapse mode of the frame.
OPTIMIZATION OF THE TALL BUILDINGS STRUCTURAL SYSTEM AGAINST PROGRESSIVE COLLAPSE. Vertical braci... more OPTIMIZATION OF THE TALL BUILDINGS STRUCTURAL SYSTEM AGAINST PROGRESSIVE COLLAPSE. Vertical bracing systems and outriggers play a decisive role on the progressive collapse susceptibility. In relation to a steel tall building. Evaluation of structural performances of steel tall building is performed thought full non-linear analyses on finite element models. Performances of initial and optimized configuration are compared.
Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management, 2012
The use of the structural systems combining members of different nature, such as reinforced concr... more The use of the structural systems combining members of different nature, such as reinforced concrete walls with steel/composite beams and columns, presents a competitive solution benefiting from the structural efficiency of each type of member. This paper investigates the behavior of a composite beam to reinforced concrete wall moment-resistant joint configuration. The proposed joint configuration is a simple solution with structural capacity to connect these types of members in a non-seismic region. An experimental campaign was conducted within the work programme of a RFCS research project that demonstrated the structural efficiency of the joint.
Fire represents a significant danger for frame structures hosting industrial activities. In this ... more Fire represents a significant danger for frame structures hosting industrial activities. In this context, the numerical investigation of fire effects and fire induced collapse mechanisms becomes of interest. According to many studies on the topic, two failure modes are identified for a steel frame in fire: an outward (or sway) collapse and an inward (or no-sway) collapse. Above others the failure mode is determined by the following parameters: i) the acting load combination; ii) the typology of the column base restrain and iii) the two interacting mechanical effects of the fire (thermal expansion of the structural elements and thermal degradation of the steel properties). In this paper, a set of nonlinear transient analyses, which take into account for thermoplastic material behavior and geometrical nonlinearities, has been performed in order to understand the influence of different parameters on the collapse mode of the frame.
Proceedings of The 2011 International Conference on Advances in Structural Engineering and Mechanics (ASEM’11), Seoul (South Korea), Sep 1, 2011
The paper deals with the problem of understanding and evaluating the structural response of steel... more The paper deals with the problem of understanding and evaluating the structural response of steel buildings to fire and outlines a general framework for the structural fire safety design of high-rise building. Among all building typology, the fire design of high-rise buildings is particularly challenging with respect to both non-structural and structural design aspects: the enhanced design difficulties in providing i) a safe and prompt vertical evacuation of the building and ii) an effective vertical compartmentalization for ...
Observations from the tests and the real fire investigations have consistently shown that the per... more Observations from the tests and the real fire investigations have consistently shown that the performance of a whole steel-framed building in fire is very different from the performance of its individual members (Usmani et al, 2000). In this context, it is of interest to investigate the failures mechanism of a structure under fire and to highlight a possible disproportionate influence of a local failure triggered by the fire on the response of the whole structure (Bontempi et al., 2010). The propagation of the collapse has to be traced up to the global ...
Abstract Due to the significant vertical elevation and complexity of the structural system, high ... more Abstract Due to the significant vertical elevation and complexity of the structural system, high rise buildings may suffer from the effects of fire more than other structures. For this reason, in addition to evacuation strategies and active fire protection, a careful consideration of structural response to fire is also very important. In this context, it is of interest to investigate the characteristics of the structural system that could possibly reduce local damages or mitigate the progression of failures in case of fire.
The aim of this paper is the analysis of the response to fire of single storey steel structures. ... more The aim of this paper is the analysis of the response to fire of single storey steel structures. The performance-based design allows a more realistic evaluation of fire safety than the usual prescriptive design. Several factors can affect the fire safety assessment. The paper seeks to evaluate some of them. The study of substructure may not be sufficient in some cases for highlighting the actual behaviour of the whole structure. The progression of the collapse has to be traced up to the global collapse of the structure and numerical problems due to the triggering of local mechanisms should be overcome to this purpose. The interaction of the heated elements with the rest of the structure can raise different collapse mechanisms depending on the mutual position of the elements. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model represents an advanced solution to study the development of fire.
Uploads
Talks by Filippo Gentili
Papers by Filippo Gentili