Este libro recopila, por vez primera, los ensayos del profesor Heyman sobre el funcionamiento de las estructuras de fábrica. Corresponde al profesor Heyman el mérito de haber "traducido" las teorías y teoremas del análisis límite a las fábricas. Esto supone, sin pérdida de rigor, una simplificación importante del aparato teórico pero, sobre todo, permite una compresión cualitativa ( y cuantitativa) del funcionamiento de estas construcciones. Así, es posible entender por qué las catedrales góticas tienen arbotantes, cuál es la función de los nervios de las bóvedas de crucería o cómo se comportan los puentes de piedra. Aún más, permite explicar la enorme estabilidad de las antiguas fábricas (el Panteón de Roma lleva en pie casi dos milenios sin reparaciones de importancia; Santa Sofía soporta desde el siglo VI sismos de importancia; los puentes romanos transportan cargas muy superiores a las de su época, etc.). Además, el análisis límite de las fábricas, permite interpretar correctamente y sin alarmismos la presencia, inevitable en estas construcciones, de grietas. Éstas no son, necesariamente, signos de ruina; simplemente expresan la naturaleza del material y la adaptación del edificio a los pequeños movimientos del entorno. En resumen, el libro es un "manual" de las estructuras de fábrica y mejorará el conocimiento sobre nuestro patrimonio construido.
Les ponts en arc font actuellement face au double défi de protéger leur patrimoine et de rivaliser avec d'autres formes plus récentes de structures. La conservation des ponts en arc implique de multiples impératifs : une politique saine d'inspection et de suivi, des méthodes précises d'investigation, une évaluation fiable et un éventuel diagnostic, des moyens efficaces de maintenance, de réparation, de renforcement et d'élargissement. Pendant que des ouvrages existants sont réparés et revalorisés, de nouveaux ponts en arc, de -nies traditionnelles et à " l'échelle humaine ", continuent à se construire, en utilisant des matériaux et procédés améliorés et rentables, assurant longévité et respect de l'environnement. Au premier plan de cette continuité, les concepteurs des ponts en béton, dans les hémisphères Nord et Sud, s'efforcent avec succès de réaliser des portées en arc de plus en plus longues, frôlant les 400 mètres dans les années 1980. Récemment, sur d'autres sites spectaculaires, des records de portées ont été battus par trois ponts en arc respectivement en pierre, en béton, en tubes d'acier remplis de béton. Une telle avancée ne manquera pas d'inciter les ingénieurs à rechercher des formes d'arc encore plus audacieuses et élégantes. Sur le large éventail des thèmes proposés, de nombreux auteurs, de plus de vingt-cinq pays, ont apporté des contributions majeures rappelant que les ponts en arc n'ont rien perdu de leur actualité et que, malgré les leçons assimilées de leur prestigieux héritage, leur conception stimule toujours la créativité des ingénieurs et des architectes. Ces contributions sont réunies dans le présent volume édité à l'occasion de la Troisième Conférence internationale sur les Ponts en Arc, tenue à Paris en septembre 2001. Arch bridges face at present the double challenge of protecting their heritage and competing with other more recent structural forms. The conservation of the arch bridge heritage successively requires sound inspection and monitoring policies, accurate investigative methods, reliable assessment and eventual diagnosis, efficient means for maintenance, repair, strengthening and widening. While existing structures are being repaired and upgraded, new arch bridges, of traditional forms and on a "human scale", continue to be constructed, using improved and cost-effective materials and procedures, ensuring longevity and respect for the environment. In the forefront of this continuity, concrete bridge designers, in the northern and southern hemispheres, have successfully been striving for ever larger arch spans, closely approaching 400 m in the 1980's. Lately, at other spectacular sites, span records were beaten in three arch bridges respectively using stone, concrete and slender concrete-filled steel tubes. This breakthrough may encourage engineers to seek more daring and elegant forms of arch. On the broad spectrum of the suggested topics, numerous authors, from more than twenty-five countries, have recently offered major contributions, reminding that arch bridges have nothing lost of their appeal and that, for all the lessons learnt from their prestigious heritage, their design still simulates the creativity of engineers and architects. These contributions are put together in the present volume edited on the occasion of the Third International Arch Bridge Conference held in Paris in September 2001.
This book traces the evolution of theory of structures and strength of materials - the development of the geometrical thinking of the Renaissance to become the fundamental engineering science discipline rooted in classical mechanics. Starting with the strength experiments of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo, the author examines the emergence of individual structural analysis methods and their formation into theory of structures in the 19th century. For the first time, a book of this kind outlines the development from classical theory of structures to the structural mechanics and computational mechanics of the 20th century. In doing so, the author has managed to bring alive the differences between the players with respect to their engineering and scientific profiles and personalities, and to create an understanding for the social context. Brief insights into common methods of analysis, backed up by historical details, help the reader gain an understanding of the history of structural mechanics from the standpoint of modern engineering practice. A total of 175 brief biographies of important personalities in civil and structural engineering as well as structural mechanics plus an extensive bibliography round off this work.
Starting in antiquity and finishing in the Baroque, this book provides a complete analysis of significant works of architecture from a structural viewpoint. A distinguished architect and academic, the author's highly illustrated exploration will allow readers to better understand the monuments, get closer to them and to explore whether they should be conserved or modified. Contents: Stones Resting on Empty Space; The Invention of the Dome; The Hanging Dome; The Ribbed Dome; A Planified Revenge - Under the Shadow of Brunelleschi; The Century of the Great Architects; The Omnipresent Sinan; Even Further; Scenographical Architecture of the 18th Century; The Virtual Architecture of the Renaissance and the Baroque.
Edoardo Benvenuto was born in Genoa on December 11, 1940. From 1965 to 1974 Edoardo Benvenuto worked at the Istituto Ligure Ricerche Economiche e Sociali (ILRES) as a researcher in Urban Studies, and also had an illustrious academic career in the Faculty of Engineering at Genoa University. In 1975 he was called to teach at the new Faculty of Architecture in Genoa; he became ist Dean in 1979 and remained in this post until 1997. While carrying out his institutional work, Benvenuto also maintained his interests in other studies concerning scientific, philosophic and theological thought. In recognition of his great devotion to work both as a teacher and researcher, in 1996 he was elected member of the UNESCO Committee for Exact Sciences; he also collaborated with the Committee for Culture. In 1997 the Order of Architects in Genoa made him an honorary member of the "Roll of Honour". In 1998 he became President of the Ligurian Academy of Science and Letters. He died in Genoa on November 27, 1998. On the first anniversary of the death of Edoardo Benvenuto, the Association "Associazione Benvenuto" chose to commemorate his scientific personality by holding an International Seminar "Homage to Edoardo Benvenuto" in Genoa from November 29, to December 1, 1999. On that occasion scholars of structural mechanics, architectural restoration and history of science, mathematics, architecture and construction presented the results of their research, thus reflecting the multiplicity of the interests he cultivated. With these proceedings, the Edoardo Benvenuto Association wishes to add its contribution to the research programme begun in 1993 with the Symposium "Between Mechanics and Architecture", organised by E. Benvenuto and P. Radelet de Grave and held during the XIX International Congress of History of Science, Zaragoza 1993.
"Aquesta publicació recull la transcripció de les comunicacions presentades al Seminari sobre l'Estudi i la Restauració Estructural de les Catedrals Gòtiques de la Corona Catalano-Aragonesa celebrat a Girona i Ciutat de Mallorca els dies 14, 15 i 16 de juny de 2001."
