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StroNGERStructures of the Next Generation – Energy harvesting and Resilience

C. Crosti, S. Arangio, F. Petrini, K. Gkoumas, F. Bontempi

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StroNGER

Stronger S.r.l. is a consulting spin-off company that works as a link between AcademicSector and Industry in Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Company offers high-profile methodologies and tools, which help the constructionindustry to realize high performance structures from the point of view of dependability,resilience and sustainability.

The team of Stronger S.r.l. is able to analyze structural problems in a scientific and technicalmanner, by developing specialized numerical analyses with different finite element codesand advanced multiphysics simulations.

The Company’s expertise regards long-span bridges, tunnels, high-rise buildings, offshorewind turbines, innovative precast connections, structures subject to accidental actions suchas fire and explosion, devices for energy harvesting, structural assessment of existingbuildings and their retrofitting.

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3/35 University Research Group

FRANCO BONTEMPI

STEFANIA ARANGIO

FRANCESCO PETRINI

KONSTANTINOS GKOUMAS

CHIARA CROSTI

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Prof. Ing. Franco Bontempi, Coordinatore scientifico

Professor Bontempi is full Professor of Structural Analysis and Design in the Faculty of Civil Engineering ofthe Sapienza University of Rome since 2000. He is currently responsible for the courses of “StructuralAnalysis and Design”, “Steel Structures”, “Structural Fire Design”. His main research interests are thestructural analysis and performance based design of high-rise buildings and bridges, leading a researchgroup among the most active in the field of numerical analysis and structural modeling. He was part of thescientific committees for the new Italian Building Code (Norme Tecniche delle Costruzioni) and for theMessina Strait Bridge. He was also involved in consulting activity on Offshore Wind Turbines and high-risebuildings. He serves frequently as special expert for forensic engineering hearings, regarding structuralcollapses. He is also member of the board of directors of the Science and Technology Research Center forCultural Heritage Conservation (CISTeC - Centro di Ricerca di Scienza e Tecnica per la Conservazione delPatrimonio Storico-Architettonico).

People

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Ing. Chiara Crosti, Co-founder & CEO

Chiara Crosti received her bachelor and master degree in Civil Engineering from Sapienza University ofRome and a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the same school in 2011. She collaborated actively invarious national and international projects. In particular, during the Ph.D. she worked for almost two yearsat the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA). Her expertise is in the numericalmodeling and the assessment of the structural safety of structures and bridges. She also deals with thedesign and rehabilitation of structures under fire. She was involved as consultant in forensic engineeringdisputes. Since 2008 she is teaching assistant for the class of Structural Analysis and Design and since2013 for the class of Structural fire safety in the School of Civil Engineering of Sapienza University ofRome. She also teaches classes for Professional Engineers.

Ing. Stefania Arangio, Co-founder & Director

Stefania Arangio received a 5-years Laurea degree (equivalent with MEng + MSc) in Civil Engineering fromSapienza University of Rome, and a Ph.D. from the same University in Structural Engineering in 2008.During her Ph.D. she spent several months abroad at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech, USA).Then she had a post-doc position in a project of the Italian Council of Research (CNR) on the structuralassessment of urban areas subjected to geological and hydrogeological hazards. During the post-doc shespent some work periods abroad: she was visiting scholar at the City University of New York (USA) and shehad a contract with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA). Her expertise is in thestructural monitoring of buildings and bridges and the structural assessment of the built heritage. She wasinvolved as consultant in forensic engineering disputes. Since 2005 she is teaching assistant for the classof Structural Analysis and Design in the School of Civil Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome. Shewas also appointed Professor of Precast Structures (2008) in the School of Engineering and Staticbehavior of the structures (2009) in the School of Architecture “Ludovico Quaroni”. She co-authored twotechnical books on steel structures and she teaches classes for Professional Engineers.

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Ing. Francesco Petrini, Co-founder & Director

Francesco Petrini received a 5-years Laurea degree (equivalent with MEng + MSc) in Civil Engineeringfrom Sapienza University of Rome, and a Ph.D. from the same University in Structural Engineering in 2009.Then he had a post-doc position at Sapienza and worked on the Performance-based wind Design ofstructures and bridges. He worked also as consultant in the field of complex structures. He spent researchperiods abroad at the Louisiana State University (USA) and in Greece at the National Technical Universityof Athens (NTUA). His expertise is in the numerical modeling and the performace-based design ofbuildings, bridges and special structures subject to wind and seismic actions. Since 2005 he is teachingassistant for the class of Steel structures in the School of Civil Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome.He was also appointed professor of Structural aspects of Engineering (2009) and Structural reliability(2008) in the School of Engineering and Static behavior of the structures (2009) in the School ofArchitecture “Ludovico Quaroni”.

Konstantinos Gkoumas, Co-founder & Partner

Dr Gkoumas holds a 5-year Laurea degree (equivalent with MEng + MSc) in Civil Engineering from theSapienza University of Rome, and a Ph.D. from the same University in Transportation and Infrastructures(with a Thesis on operational research). Dr Gkoumas is currently a research associate at the SapienzaUniversity of Rome (ITALY). He is a registered engineer in Italy (Rome) and Greece since 2004. He has aprofessional activity of three years at the Co.Re. Ingegneria (2005-2007). After obtaining his Ph.D. heconducted research on different topics of public transport and structural robustness. Dr Gkoumas spentresearch periods abroad at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA), at the Lehigh University(USA) and the Harbin Institute of Technology (PRC). In 2009 he won a scholarship from the GermanAcademic Exchange Service (DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) and he spent a researchperiod at the Institute for Numerical and Applied Mathematics of the University of Goettingen (DE). Thecurrent field of research of Dr Gkoumas is Energy Harvesting (EH), focusing on the numerical modelingand on innovative and practical aspects .

People

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POLITECNICO MILANOProf. P.G. Malerba

Prof. F. BiondiniProf. L. Sgambi

UNIVERSITY OF PAVIAProf. S. Manenti

Academic collaboration in ITALY

POLITECNICO DI TORINOProf. A. De StefanoProf. G.P. Cimellaro

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UN. OF EDINBURGHProf. J. Torero

LOUGHBOROUGH UN.Prof. A. Palmeri

UPCProf. J.R. Casas

TU DelftProf. M.A.N. Hendriks

DTUProf. L. Giuliani

TUHHProf. U. Starossek

NTUAProf. C. Gantes

Academic collaboration in EUROPE

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CUNY - Prof. M. Ghosn

NIST - Prof. E. SimiuDr. D. Duthinh

Prof. M. BarbatoCALTECH - Prof. J. L. Beck

ILLINOIS Prof. L. A. Bergman

Prof. J.C. Naito

Prof. D. Jauregui

Academic collaboration in USA

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HARBIN ITProf. Hui LI

The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityProf. Y.Q. Ni

Academic collaboration in CHINA

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11/35 Active contacts with major companies operating in the sector

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1. Design, rehabilitation and optimization of structures and infrastructures

2. Design against fire and explosion

3. Forensic engineering

4. Teaching activities

5. Research and development

Services

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1. Design, rehabilitation and optimization of structures and infrastructuresConsulting activities for:

• Analyis of complex and strategic structures in steel, reinforced concrete, masonry,precast elements or with innovative materials;

• Development of numerical finite element models of different scale and complexity;

• Pedestrian, highway and railway bridges;

• Tunnels and foundation works;

• Assessment of the safety and reliability of existing structures and design of therehabilitation interventions;

• Design and optimization of special structural components;

• Offshore and onshore wind turbines;

• Performance-based Wind Design and Performance-based Eartquake design;

• Structural Health Monitoring also with the integration of remote sensing data.

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Review of the final design of the Messina Bridge

Services

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x,x’

z’

y’

Waves

Current

P

(t)vP

(t)w P

(t)uP

Turbulent wind

P

Mean wind

Vm(zP)

zy

H

h

vw(z’)

Vcur(z’)

d

1 Dynamic response

-1.00

-0.80

-0.60

-0.40

-0.20

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

200 700 1200 1700 2200 2700 3200

time [s]

dalong hub

2 Design and optimization

3 Detailing

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Monopile Tripod Jacket[KN]

6.1b 6.1c 6.3b

Numerical modeling for the design of wind turbines

Services

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Structural analysis of structures and infrastracturesfor the operation of an aqueduct

Services

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Damage assessment with the support of remote sensing techniques

Dati DinSAR da:

Services

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Vulnerability assessment of existing buildings

Services

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Structural analysis for the use of innovative materials in the natural restoration of a slab supporting a Roman mosaic

Services

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Structural analysis for rib supports for tunnels

Services

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Numerical simulation for an innovative connection for rib supports of tunnels

Services

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Test of the innovative connection

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Numerical analysis for the evaluation of the performance of a connection between precast elements in case of earthquake

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Numerical analysis for the evaluation of the performance of a connection between precast elements in case of earthquake

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Modeling and optimization of connections between precast elements

Services

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STRAUS

ABAQUS ANSYS

STRAUS7

Services

Modeling and optimization of connections between precast elements

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2. Design against fire and explosion

Services

- Advanced numerical analysis for design against fire, blast and explosions;

- Vulnerability assessment of existing structures;

- Modeling of actions and loads by means of advanced software

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3) Forensic Engineering

- Technical consulting;

- Back analysis for the interpretation of structural failures and collapse of civil structures;

- Advanced numerical modeling.

Services

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Collapse of the I-35W Bridge, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2007

Services

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Collapse of a musical stage, Reggio Calabria, 2011

Services

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Back analysis of the collapse of a masonry building, Barletta, 2011

Services

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Assessment of the damage in a building due to thecollapse of the adjacent building Subiaco, 2012

Services

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4) Teaching activityTeaching activity for Professional Engineers in the field of Civil and Environmental Engineering:

- Fire Safety Design;

- Design against accidental actions;

- Numerical modeling;

- Steel structures;

- Performance-Based wind Design & Performance-Bases Earthquake Design;

- Technical codes;

Services

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4. Research and development

Stronger was born as an academic spin off and the Research and Development has animportant role. Stronger would like to participate actively as a SME partner in researchproposals.

A presentation that describes Stronger and its expertise for programs as Horizon 2020 isdownloadable at http://www.slideshare.net/StroNGER2012/stro-nger-forhorizon2020.

The main topics are:

• Sustainability and Henergy Harvesting. StroNGER S.r.l. is working on methodologies andtools for harvesting energy from the vibrations of civil structures and infrastructures.

• Resilience assessment – Multihazard approach. StroNGER S.r.l. is developing methodsand quantitative indices for the assesment of the resilience of urban areas, also in case ofmultiple actions as fire after an earthquake.

• Performance-based Design. StronGER S.r.l. deals with Performance-Based Wind Design& Performance-Based Earthquake Design of complex structures as long span bridges andhigh-rise buildings.

• Structural health monitoring and damage assessment

StroNGER works on advanced methods for the damage assessment of structures andinfrastructures by using traditional approaches and soft computing techniques.They worked on the assessment of damage with the integration of remote sensing data (incollaboration with the spin off Survey Lab and the CNR research center IREA):

In collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome the Stronger team joined the benchmarkon the structural health monitoring

Services

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Integration of piezoelectric devices to generate energy by means of air flow present in air conditioning systems

Services

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