Capacity spectrum procedures developed for the assessment and strengthening of existing buildings have become the basis of methods for estimating potential post-earthquake losses which are today widely used in the insurance industry, and for urban risk mitigation programmes. The areas to which these methods are applied often contain (or largely consist of) reinforced concrete apartment building...

This article presents an experimental investigation on ductile-mode micro-milling of monocrystalline silicon using polycrystalline diamond (PCD) end mills. Experimental results indicate that the irregular fluctuation of cutting force always induces machined surface failure, even in ductile mode. The internal mechanism has not been investigated so far. The multiscale discrete dislocation plastic...

Despite observations of massive methane release and geohazards associated with gas hydrate instability in nature, as well as ductile flow accompanying hydrate dissociation in artificial polycrystalline methane hydrates in the laboratory, the destabilising mechanisms of gas hydrates under deformation and their grain-boundary structures have not yet been elucidated at the molecular level. Here we...

Acoustic emission methods are used to investigate the nature and evolution of microfracture damage during uniaxial compression of ductile amorphous and brittle crystalline metal foams made from a commercial Zr-based bulk metallic glass, and to compare this behavior against that of aluminum-based foam of similar structure. For the amorphous foam, acoustic activity reveals evolution of the damage...

In assessments of the seismic adequacy of existing steel bridges, the anchorage of steel truss piers to their foundations often has insufficient strength to resist seismic demands. Many other non-ductile failure locations may also exist along the seismic load path that cannot provide adequate seismic performance. Although strengthening is an option, this approach may only transfer damage to ano...