Artículos (Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno)

URI permanente para esta colecciónhttps://hdl.handle.net/11441/24701

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Urban-scale building assessment and energy vulnerability mapping through an interactive geo-referenced web tool: demonstration applicability to southern Spain
(Springer, 2025-06-27) Calama-González, Carmen María; Escandón Ramírez, Rocío; Suárez, Rafael; Abajo Casado, María Encarnación; Diánez Martínez, Ana Rosa; Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Construcciones Arquitectónicas I (ETSA); Matemática Aplicada I (ETSII); European Commission (EC). Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); Junta de Andalucía; TEP999: HABITAE: Habitabilidad, Acondicionamiento y Energía en Arquitectura; FQM240: Invariantes en Teoría de Grafos y Optimización
Building decarbonization through energy renovation is a key challenge across the European Union, particularly in social housing sectors marked by high vulnerability. To support this goal, this study introduces a GIS-based open-access web tool for evaluating the energy performance and social vulnerability of the existing residential stock at the urban scale. The tool integrates data from public and open-source databases into a georeferenced environment, enabling systematic characterization of geometric, constructional, energy and social parameters at the urban-level, and supporting bottom-up and top-down approaches. This allows for performance evaluations, simulation model construction and the identification of high-priority buildings through energy and socioeconomic vulnerability indicators. Results from the city of Seville, used as a case study involving 2,888 dwellings) reveal that over 90% of buildings present severe winter energy vulnerability, while summer vulnerability is generally low. Socioeconomic analysis shows that more than a third of buildings house users living in severe poverty conditions. The combined vulnerability index highlights specific neighbourhoods, such as Polígono Sur, with particularly acute vulnerability levels. The tool’s scalability was demonstrated by extending it to 41 municipalities in southern Spain. This study concludes that this approach enables detailed diagnosis of structural and energy-related inequalities, integrating and analysing existing open data to perform thorough building performance assessment at urban level, and offers a rapid and reliable method for acquiring key building data and ensuring long-term adaptability through continuous updates.
How do natural ventilation strategies affect thermal comfort in educational buildings? A comparative analysis in the Mediterranean climate
(MDPI, 2025-06-12) Escandón Ramírez, Rocío; Ferrari, Simone; Cardelli, Riccardo; Blázquez de Pineda, María Teresa; Suárez, Rafael; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I (ETSA); Universidad de Sevilla; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICIU). España; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP999: HABITAE: Habitabilidad, Acondicionamiento y Energía en Arquitectura
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of indoor air quality in buildings for the well-being of their occupants. In long-term occupancy buildings such as schools, where environmental conditions also impact academic performance, this importance was heightened. Despite the significant changes in ventilation practices resulting from the pandemic, recommendations have varied across different countries. This study aimed to provide a comparative analysis of the environmental conditions and air quality in classrooms in southern Spain and northern Italy (representative Mediterranean locations with different post-pandemic heating and natural ventilation approaches). Data measured on-site during periods with similar outdoor conditions were analysed to ascertain how ventilation strategies influence thermal comfort and indoor air quality. According to the results, during mild periods, high-intensity ventilation ensures excellent indoor air quality results based on CO2 concentrations, without compromising thermal comfort. Nevertheless, ventilation rates should be controlled in more adverse climate conditions to avoid negative effects on thermal comfort.
Thermal comfort assessment of secondary school building stock in southern Spain using parametric numerical models and applying different climatic and ventilation scenarios
(Elsevier, 2025-10-01) Aguilar Carrasco, María Teresa; Calama-González, Carmen María; Escandón Ramírez, Rocío; Mauro, Gerardo Maria; Suárez, Rafael; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I (ETSA); Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP999: HABITAE: Habitabilidad, Acondicionamiento y Energía en Arquitectura
Climate change is accelerating global warming, leading in turn to increased thermal stress and indoor overheating, particularly in buildings with high occupancy in southern Europe. This study examines the thermal performance of secondary school buildings in southern Spain, focusing on the influence of ventilation on thermal comfort. Given the reliance on natural ventilation of a significant portion of the Mediterranean school building stock, this research aims to characterize thermal comfort conditions using validated parametric simulation models on a regional scale. The study analyses current and future comfort conditions across different climatic zones, incorporating climate change projections, and assessing overheating and undercooling risks. Results show how ventilation without thermal treatment plays a crucial role in both overheating and undercooling. Higher ventilation rates generally lead to discomfort during winter but improve comfort in summer. Building orientation and solar exposure further influence comfort, with south-facing buildings benefiting from solar gains. Projections for 2050 suggest an increase in overheating risks, particularly in cities with higher cooling degree days (CDD). Despite the benefits of higher ventilation rates, these may not fully mitigate the anticipated increase in overheating, which showcases the need for additional strategies, such as active ventilation systems, to address these challenges. The findings highlight the need for improved adaptation strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Contribution of the soil-structure interaction to the seismic behaviour of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba
(Elsevier, 2025-09-15) Requena García de la Cruz, María Victoria; Romero Sánchez, Emilio; Morales Esteban, Antonio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP107: Estructuras y Geotecnia
This paper deals with the contribution of the soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects to the seismic analysis of cultural heritage buildings. This issue is addressed by considering, as a case study, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba (Spain). This study is focussed on the Abd al-Rahman I sector, which is the most ancient part, that dates from the 8th century. The building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is located in a moderate seismic hazard zone. It is built on soft alluvial strata, which amplifies the SSI. Since invasive tests are not allowed in heritage buildings, in this work a non-destructive test campaign has been performed for the characterisation of the structure and the soil. Ambient vibration tests have been used to calibrate a refined 3D macro-mechanical-based finite element model. The soil parameters have been obtained through an in situ geotechnical campaign, that has included geophysical tests. The SSI has been accounted for by following the direct method. Nonlinear static and dynamic time-history analyses have been carried out to assess the seismic behaviour. The results showed that the performance of the building, if the SSI is accounted for, is reduced by up to 20 % and 13 % in the direction of the arcades and in the perpendicular direction, respectively. Also, if the SSI is taken into account, the damage increased. This study showed that considering the SSI is important to properly assess the seismic behaviour of masonry buildings on soft strata. Finally, it should be highlighted that special attention should be paid to the SSI, which is normally omitted in this type of studies, to obtain a reliable dynamic identification of the built heritage.
Structural assessment of the medieval city wall of Seville (Spain) using low-cost accelerometers
(Elsevier, 2025-06) Serrano Chacón, Álvaro Rubén; Mascort-Albea, Emilio J.; Romero Hernández, Rocío; Canivell, Jacinto; Muñoz Chavero, Fernando; Hidalgo Fort, Eduardo; Jaramillo Morilla, Antonio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Ingeniería del Diseño; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas II (ETSIE); Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Ingeniería Electrónica; Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (MECD). España; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP018: Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP211: Conservación Preventiva del Patrimonio Construido; Universidad de Sevilla. TIC192: Ingeniería Electrónica
The remains of fortifications are commonly found embedded in the contemporary urban fabric of historic cities. Due to their typological nature, these heritage assets are usually elements of great size and impact on the urban landscape. Their location within cities exposes them to very specific risks, such as pollution, vibration, biodegradation, and anthropic factors, which must be taken into account for the proper conservation and maintenance of such remains. The case of the medieval wall of Seville (Spain), built on rammed earth, shows specific factors of vulnerability, degradation, and erosion which prompt the need for non-destructive techniques (NDT). In the present research, vibration-based inspection is used and, specifically, when subjected to ambient vibrations. The collection of accelerations, which covered a period of nine months, was conducted in different parts of the structure under study by using mainly high-resolution accelerographs. These data allowed to perform an exhaustive dynamic characterisation of this defensive structure. Among other findings, it was determined that the filling of cracks and voids in the walls increased the fundamental frequency by about 2 %. In addition, no serious damage to the structure was found. Knowledge of the historic buildings' condition is essential in order to determine the most appropriate intervention. To this end, a protocol for the global structural diagnosis of these buildings has been proposed. It is based on the recording of accelerations with low-cost accelerographs. Besides being an inexpensive protocol, it allows a quick decision making, since the dynamic characterization of the structure is performed by means of the fast Fourier transform. Basically, the designed protocol is based on the variation of the fundamental frequency of the structure between two time instants. These values are used for the calculation of a damage index. By means of an exhaustive review of conventional masonry buildings tested in the laboratory, the damage index has been correlated with the state of the structure prior to collapse. Specifically, this threshold, which ranges from DS4 to DS5 according to the criteria of the European Macroseismic Scale 1998 (EMS-98), provides a valuable reference point for the structural assessment of historical box-shaped constructions with conventional masonry load-bearing walls. This simplified procedure for structural diagnosis was applied in its initial phase at the White Tower. It was found that this protocol is able to identify the fundamental frequency of the structure with an error of <0.65 % in comparison to the results obtained through operational modal analysis methods.
Automated building typology clustering and identification using a variational autoencoder on digital land cadastres
(Elsevier, 2025-06) Miguel Rodríguez, Jaime de; Requena García de la Cruz, María Victoria; Romero Sánchez, Emilio; Morales Esteban, Antonio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICIN). España; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP107: Estructuras y Geotecnia
This study introduces a novel, automated methodology for extracting urban building typologies from digital land cadastres using a Variational Autoencoder (VAE). Unlike traditional shape clustering approaches, that depend on predefined rules or manual labelling, the method employs unsupervised learning to identify building typologies, based solely on geometric features, derived from roof-print shapes. Leveraging a large-scale dataset of over 100,000 buildings from the Seville, Spain cadastre, the VAE has been trained with augmented data to generate a latent space that captures dominant morphological patterns. The analysis has revealed 24 to 26 distinct building typologies, encompassing both prevalent and rare urban forms. The approach effectively filters out non-representative shapes and is scalable for application across entire cities. By automatically identifying representative building shapes, the method facilitates the creation of parametric structural models, which are essential for developing machine learning tools to predict seismic damage. This replicable and automated strategy significantly reduces the time and resources required for typology-based seismic vulnerability assessments, providing valuable support for civil protection agencies and urban planners.
Experimental assessment of the interaction between indoor air quality and thermal comfort in naturally ventilated secondary classrooms in southern Spain
(Elsevier, 2025-08) Escandón Ramírez, Rocío; Calama-González, Carmen María; Suárez, Rafael; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I (ETSA); Universidad de Sevilla; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP999: HABITAE: Habitabilidad, Acondicionamiento y Energía en Arquitectura
Current European policies focus on achieving climate neutrality by 2050. However, the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted social conditions, reigniting the debate on buildings with high occupancy and static users for long periods, such as schools, given their inadequate health and comfort conditions. In the Mediterranean climate, most school buildings lack suitable ventilation systems, due to either their age or a reluctance to use mechanical ventilation systems. This study provides a quantitative analysis of current behavioural and environmental factors affecting pollutant exposure, covering the gap in the existing literature on simultaneous assessment on indoor air quality conditions (CO2, PM2.5, PM10), and hygrothermal comfort (temperature and relative humidity) in a post-COVID scenario in existing secondary school buildings in southern Spain. For this purpose, a continuous monitoring of indoor environmental conditions in cooling, mild, and heating seasons is proposed to assess the influence of natural ventilation conditions on indoor air quality and thermal comfort, instead of the short-term monitoring focused on specific periods frequently found in previous studies. The results show a widespread use of natural overventilation through windows, especially in summer (more than 50 % of the occupied hours), to guarantee indoor air quality conditions (with CO2 below 900 ppm during almost 100 % of the occupied hours). However, in general, this involves clearly compromising thermal conditions (with seasonal average values above 25 °C and 100 % of the occupied hours in discomfort during the hottest weeks) and a moderate loss of cognitive performance during more than 97 % of the summer occupied hours.
Study of ground motion signal reduction for the optimisation of computation time in dynamic nonlinear analysis
(Elsevier, 2025-02) Requena García de la Cruz, María Victoria; Miguel Rodríguez, Jaime de; Romero Sánchez, Emilio; Morales Esteban, Antonio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP107: Estructuras y Geotecnia
Nonlinear dynamic analyses are required to account for the structural performance of mid- to high-rise buildings and complex structures. Generally, time history analyses are carried out considering several ground motions for a certain seismic action. These analyses are often very time-consuming, mainly because of the high resolution of the ground motion signal. Therefore, performing these calculations based on lower resolution accelerograms can be very useful, especially when dealing with large sets of buildings (e.g., seismic vulnerability studies on an urban scale). In this paper, two methods for signal reduction are tested against each other: i) an open-source Fourier-based resampling implementation; and, ii) a simple reduction algorithm that preserves both the highest and lowest peaks of the signal. The experiments compare the two methods at several levels of resolution reduction and for three different accelerograms. The influence of amplitude scaling on important earthquake demand parameters (EDPs), namely, the peak floor displacements and accelerations have been studied for three reinforced concrete case study buildings modelled in OpenSees: low- (5-storey), mid- (8-storey) and high-rise (11-storey). The results allow establishing a set of criteria to choose the appropriate reduction method and level. This depends on the balance desired of computation time versus calculation accuracy. Real accelerograms without baseline corrections have been for the tests. The simple reduction algorithm method appears to capture better the accelerograms by avoiding excessive interpolation. This results in peaks and areas closer to the original signal. However, it presents greater variability in energy preservation, introducing large abrupt changes in acceleration. These large fluctuations have led to inducing significantly larger displacements in OpenSees, causing greater structural damage. The Fourier method led to better and consistent results than the reduction algorithm proposed. Resolution 50 provided a reduction in time of up to 30 % and an error margin of the engineering demand parameters of around ± 15 %.
A numerical model for settlement analysis of circular plates on multilayered soil
(Elsevier, 2025-05-15) Justo Moscardó, Enrique de; González de León, Isabel; Vázquez-Boza, Manuel; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP107: Estructuras y Geotecnia
This paper presents a numerical model for calculating settlements and contact stresses of a circular plate resting on an elastic subgrade. The method is an extension of the elastic continuum method developed by Poulos and Davis for piles. Soil settlements are calculated with Mindlin’s equations. Plate settlements are calculated through a finite difference approximation of Kirchhoff’s equations for thin plate bending. The method, originally devised for homogenous soils, has been extended for multilayered soils using the Steinbrenner approximation. Model validation was performed by comparing results with a finite element solution and with previously published methods. The results prove that the method provides a very good approximation for homogenous soils and also for multilayered soils in which soil stiffness increases with depth, while for layered soils with stiffness decreasing with depth the Steinbrenner approximation was found not to be sufficiently accurate. Compared to alternative numerical methods, such as those using variational calculus, the proposed method has the advantage of its greater simplicity.
Decision-making for renovating the Mediterranean social housing: a practical approach through an interactive open access tool
(Elsevier, 2025) Calama-González, Carmen María; Escandón Ramírez, Rocío; Suárez, Rafael; Ascione, Fabrizio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I
To achieve 2050 Climate Neutrality, building stock requires a multidimensional renovation process. This is particularly urgent in most vulnerable households, with higher exposure to climate change, where this procedure should focus on cost-controlled passive measures. Given the complexity of identifying optimal strategies, it is imperative to improve the retrofitting process of the social housing stock to enhance its energy performance guaranteeing health and comfort. For this, an interactive tool was developed focused on the case of southern Spain. Able to provide optimized combinations of energy retrofit strategies, using NSGA-II genetic algorithms and setting two optimization objectives: minimizing thermal discomfort and economic costs. The freely accessible tool was designed with practical and didactic approach to facilitate decision-making. The results obtained suggest the feasibility of implementing phase actions instead of a single large-scale intervention and show the tool’s ability to quantify the percentage of thermal comfort improvement achieves at each phase.
Student Competitions as a Learning Method with a Sustainable Focus in Higher Education: the University of Seville “Aura Projects” in the “Solar Decathlon 2019”
(MDPI, 2020) Herrera-Limones, Rafael; Rey Pérez, Julia; Hernández Valencia, Miguel; Roa Fernández, Jorge; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Historia, Teoría y Composición Arquitectónicas; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I (ETSA); Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno
In recent times, teaching in higher education has undergone a significant transformation. Current advances and innovative proposals in educational science research are centred around a transdisciplinary approach, the so-called integrated curriculum and the incorporation of the transversal concept of sustainability. In summary, the so-called learning processes through problem-solving. The Solar Decathlon Competition is the most prestigious international university student competition for sustainable habitat. The aim of this article is to show how the Aura Strategy, developed by the University of Seville Solar Decathlon Team to participate in the Solar Decathlon 2019 Latin America and Europe competitions, is aligned with the aforementioned proposals. Among the results, the generation of a transforming teaching network of the departmental structures in the University of Seville is to be highlighted. These transformations in teaching lead students to new, broader and more holistic approaches to study, as well as new capabilities and skills. The question of interdisciplinarity requires new tools and research lines to achieve successful implementation in higher education, and the participation in the Solar Decathlon Competition is one of them.
Field investigation and numerical modeling for the seismic assessment of the Castle of Lanjarón, Spain
(MDPI, 2025-02-02) Luger, Hayden; Ramírez Álvarez de Lara, Rafael; Pineda Palomo, Paloma; Lourenço, Paulo B.; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE); Associate Laboratory Advanced Production and Intelligent Systems ARISE; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP1002: Artesa Re_lab | Architecture + Structural Research
The Castle of Lanjarón is a 16th century stronghold located in Andalucía, Spain. After losing its military function, the castle was abandoned, leading to significant decay. Designated a national heritage site in 1985, recent efforts have sought to preserve its historical and cultural value. This study outlines an inspection and diagnosis campaign carried out on the castle. Non-destructive tests (NDTs) were employed to characterize the properties of the masonry, using both mechanical and wave-based methods. Dynamic identification was performed to determine dynamic and modal properties of the structure, which were used to develop and calibrate a three-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) of the west wall, based on homogenized masonry material. Limit analysis and non-linear static (pushover) analysis under various boundary conditions were conducted to determine the maximum relative load factor in the out-of-plane direction. The results were compared to the expected peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the area, showing that the maximum load capacity of the wall exceeds local seismic demands with a safety factor of 1.39. The study highlights the efficacy of pairing a homogenized macro-modeling approach with wave-based and dynamic identification methods, particularly for resource efficiency. Finally, recommendations for future conservation efforts have been provided.
Dynamic performance of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba under different earthquake scenarios: the Abd al-Rahman I sector
(Elsevier, 2023-11-15) Requena García de la Cruz, María Victoria; Romero Sánchez, Emilio; Morales Esteban, Antonio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno
The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba is one of the most important monuments in Spain. Owing to its authenticity, its integrity and its influence on later architecture, it was declared as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1984. The monument is located in Andalusia, in southern Spain. This region presents a moderate seismic hazard, and it is affected by two kinds of seismic sources: a) far away earthquakes of large/very large magnitude; b) close earthquakes of moderate magnitude. Particularly, the Mosque-Cathedral had to endure the well-known 1755 Lisbon’s earthquake (Mw=8.5, at 488 km) and the 1504 Carmona earthquake (Mw=6.8, at 82 km). This research has analysed its dynamic behaviour under several earthquake scenarios: code-base response spectrum, previous historic earthquakes and fault maximum magnitude earthquakes. However, after the seismic hazard analysis and due to the lack of faults registered surrounding the building, no worst-case scenario considering the maximum expected magnitude has been found. Owing to the complexity of the building, this work has focused on the Abd al-Rahman I sector, which is the most aged part, dating from the VIII century. A refined 3D numerical model has been developed and calibrated through free ambient vibration tests. The distribution of the maximum amplitudes (internal displacements and absolute accelerations) under the different scenarios has been comparatively presented. Also, the seismic performance has been assessed considering the drifts and the damage expected. The results showed that the damage would be concentrated in the contact between the arcades and the courtyard wall. Also, the lower part of the North-South closing wall would be damaged. According to the seismic performance, the building is expected to present moderate damage. In contrast, the analysis of the drifts, according to the codes, suggest that the building would resist each damage limit. Also, it was shown that the far fault earthquake scenario is more demanding than the close fault earthquake scenario. Next, it should be noted that the behaviour of the building for a seismic action of 475-year return period is expected to be similar to the far-fault earthquake scenario. The most demanding earthquake scenario has been the 975-year return period one.
The dry closure of the Almagrera tailings dam: detailed modelling, monitoring results and environmental aspects
(Springer, 2019) Justo Alpañés, José Luis de; Morales Esteban, Antonio; Justo Moscardó, Enrique de; Jiménez Cantizano, Francisco A.; Durand Neyra, Percy; Vázquez-Boza, Manuel; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno
The Aznalcóllar tailings dam failure moved the Spanish authorities to pay attention to tailings deposits. The Almagrera tailings dam holds one of the largest mining waste deposits in Andalucía. The dry closure of this dam has been detailed in this manuscript. Some serious difficulties had to be solved. Firstly, the dam had undergone up to five raisings before the closure operations started, and this process had not been properly documented. Secondly, the reservoir water was contaminated by the toxic tailings placed several metres below and, due to the high acidity of this water, the geotechnical characterization of the tailings deposit has been really challenging. Thirdly, the definition of the model itself has been a complex task due to the consideration of many phases and different hypotheses. In the finite element calculation, a constitutive model of perfect non-associated plasticity has been used for the dam and a soft soil creep model for the tailings. Next, it has been decided to decontaminate a closed mine by placing its abandoned material—Las Viñas fill—on top of the tailings deposit inside the reservoir. This operation generated important settlements on the tailings deposit. These settlements had to be accelerated by placing drainage wells to avoid the cracking of the final cap. The safety factor during the dry closure operations under dynamic loading was insufficient and a compacted rockfill reinforcement had to be laid on the downstream slope of the dam. Very few papers describe a successful dry closure of a tailings dam as is done here.
Optimal seismic retrofitting techniques for URM school buildings located in the southwestern Iberian Peninsula
(Plos, 2019) Segovia Verjel, María Luisa; Requena García de la Cruz, María Victoria; Justo Moscardó, Enrique de; Morales Esteban, Antonio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno
This paper aims to study different seismic retrofitting techniques to test the reduction of the seismic vulnerability of unreinforced masonry buildings. Three techniques have been considered in a case study: adding steel or carbon fibre reinforced polymer grids in the walls and steel encirclements in the openings. The performance-based method has been used to that purpose. Nonlinear static analyses have been performed to obtain the capacity and fragility curves, the performance point and the damage level states. Moreover, an analysis of the cost-benefit ratio has been carried out. Results have shown that the three techniques have produced considerable improvements. The addition of encirclements has reduced the deformation resulting in a slight increase of the structure’s stiffness. Adding steel grids has produced the maximum peak strength increase while adding polymer grids has produced the largest ultimate displacements. Adding encirclement has had the best cost-benefit ratio
Energy and climate simulation in the Upper Lawn Pavilion, an experimental laboratory in the architecture of the Smithsons
(2015) Escandón Ramírez, Rocío; Sendra, Juan J.; Suárez, Rafael; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I (ETSA); Universidad de Sevilla. TEP999: Habitae Habitabilidad, Acondicionamiento y Energía en Arquitectura; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP130: Arquitectura, Patrimonio y Sostenibilidad: Acústica, Iluminación, Óptica y Energía
This article aims to provide a critical analysis of the work of the Smithsons, with a focus on its interpretation of architecture from the standpoint of environmental commitment, an aspect that is barely touched upon in the extensive literature analysing their work. The main aim is to reveal the strategies of environmental conditioning and the energy behaviour of their major work both from an architectural and environmental standpoint, as well as that of their own home and experimental laboratory: the Upper Lawn Pavilion. These features make it a building of great heritage value, classified as a Grade II listed building according to the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. Energy models reproducing the case study (in its original construction, occupancy and thermal conditions) have been simulated using DesignBuilder software in order to carry out a quantitative assessment of the house’s environmental conditions, perceptively described by Alison Smithson in her diary. Indoor thermal conditions obtained from the energy simulations were studied, identifying the environmental benefits and deficiencies caused by the strategies applied by the Smithsons to their pavilion. It is concluded that its environmental behaviour is far from the current standards of adaptive comfort.
Bespoke footbridge for studying pedestrian-structure interaction with vertical vibration
(American Society of Civil Engineers, 2025-01) García Diéguez, Marta; Zapico Blanco, Beatriz; Živanovic, Stana; Zapico Valle, José Luís; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO). España; Universidad de Sevilla. TEP107: Estructuras y Geotecnia
Progress in quantifying and codifying pedestrian–structure interaction with a vertical structural vibration and the effects on both human beings and structures has been slow, primarily owing to a lack of experimental facilities that can simulate a wide range of vibration conditions. To accelerate the progress of pedestrian–structure interaction research, a new experimental facility (the UNIOVI footbridge) has been developed at the University of Oviedo, Gijón, Spain, and is presented in this paper. The UNIOVI footbridge is a unique laboratory structure, whose fundamental vertical vibration mode can be finely tuned in the frequency range between 1.6 and 9.3 Hz by altering its mass or stiffness. The clear separation of the first vibration mode from higher vibration modes and a low damping ratio make the structure ideal for interaction studies. The paper describes unique features of the facility and provides analytical expressions for modeling its dynamics. Time-domain procedures based on free decay response data are proposed to identify the dynamic parameters of both the structure and the human body in stationary postures. The use of the facility was successfully demonstrated by identifying body dynamics for six test subjects in three passive postures: one standing posture and two instantaneous postures extracted from the walking gait. The next task is to employ the facility in studying walking, for which the facility was primarily designed.
Optimisation of steel bars to repair and reinforce masonries
(Elsevier, 2024) Rodríguez-Mayorga, Esperanza; Fernández Ancio, Fernando; Hortigón Fuentes, Beatriz; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Mecánica de Medios Continuos y Teoría de Estructuras
The insertion of rebars in masonry is a well-established repair and reinforcing technique. To this end, standard thin rebars are usually employed. In this research, the standard Spanish shape for the stainless-steel wires and rebars is optimised, from the bonding point of view, to work while both highly confined and thinly covered by mortar, thereby reproducing the conditions of rebars between masonry units. A detailed finite-element analysis is employed to choose the best-performing model from of a set of possible designs of 5-mm diameter rebars. The standard shape is set as the starting point for the design of these rebars. In the analyses, the influence of the shape of the ribs, the orientation of the ribs, and the spacing between the ribs on bonding is assessed by finite-element analysis. Finally, a prototype of the best-performing design is manufactured and tested in the laboratory. In order to reproduce more accurately the boundary conditions of rebars once inserted into ma sonries, the standard pull-out test has been adapted with certain modifications expressly designed for this research. The comparison of results with those attained by the standard rebar confirms the improvement achieved by the new design.
Numerical and experimental validation of the solar radiation transfer for an egg-crate shading device under Mediterranean climate conditions
(Pergamon-Elsevier, 2019) Domínguez Torres, Carlos Antonio; León-Rodríguez, Ángel Luis; Suárez, Rafael; Domínguez Delgado, Antonio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Matemática Aplicada I (ETSII); Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I (ETSA)
Future global warming scenarios will have a significant influence on existing building, especially in those most vulnerable due to major percentages of glazed area. Increasing temperatures will result in an increase in energy consumption due to cooling, especially in the Mediterranean climate with high solar radiation levels. Sun protection systems may be one of the first strategies employed to resolve this issue. Among these, bidirectional shading devices display an excellent behavior although its numerical simulation is very difficult. This research aims to develop an open source numerical method to calculate the short wave solar transmittance in an egg-crate shading device for use in the rehabilitation of tertiary buildings in Mediterranean climate. For this purpose a dynamic three-dimensional hybrid model has been developed combining raytracing and radiosity methods. The numerical method has been validated with monitoring data in southern Spain. The results obtained confirmed the accuracy of the model and the suitability of this type of shading devices in reducing the solar gains in summer with reduced blocking of solar radiation in winter.
Pneumatic concrete laminar structures revisited: a singular architectural structural type
(Universitat Politècnica de València, 2024) López Ortiz, Elena; Pineda Palomo, Paloma; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Estructuras de Edificación e Ingeniería del Terreno
The 20th century was a time for architectural change, technical innovation and the search for affordable construction and prefabrication. In this context, pneumatic concrete laminar structures represent the advances towards a new architecture that could give answers to the challenges of the century. This work identifies the systems that were explored during that period and describes the experimental designs developed by W. Neff, H. Heifetz, H. Isler, D. B. South and D. Bini. In addition, the adaptation capability of this singular type and the reasons that caused the abandonment of these structures are also analysed

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