Miguel Azenha

University of Minho · Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE)

Citation: Ramesh, M.; Parente, M.; Azenha, M.; Lourenço, P.B. Influence of Lime on Strength of Structural Unreinforced Masonry: Toward Improved Sustainability in Masonry Mortars. Sustainability 2023, 15, 15320.

The influence of temperature on the hydration of cementitious materials has been traditionally modelled using the maturity concept and Arrhenius law. This approach yields a single material property, called apparent activation energy (Ea), that describes the whole temperature dependence. Determining Ea experimentally has sparked controversy, such as...

It is widely known that corrosion is one of the main problems that reinforced concrete structures may endure during their life-cycle. This problem is usually tackled in a prescriptive manner, by limiting the crack width allowed to occur during structures' service life. In an attempt to better understand the effect that cracking and crack width can...

Physical, mechanical and carbonation progress properties of air lime mortars, formulated with the addition of air entrainers, were analyzed, aiming to investigate the influence of air entrainers on abovementioned properties of lime-based products. Samples were cured in two curing conditions and their properties were evaluated after 14, 28, 60 and 9...

Automating regulations is difficult because they were not drafted for computers. This article suggests decision analysis good practices to structure, analyze and support regulation drafting, namely: structuring rules using a means-ends objectives network, identifying the level at which rules should be set, developing performance measures for each f...

This book highlights the latest advances, innovations, and applications in cement-based materials (CBM) and concrete structures, as presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the International RILEM Conference on synergizing expertise toward sustainability and robustness of CBM and concrete structures (SynerCrete), held in Milo...

This book highlights the latest advances, innovations, and applications in cement-based materials (CBM) and concrete structures, as presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the International RILEM Conference on synergizing expertise toward sustainability and robustness of CBM and concrete structures (SynerCrete), held in Milo...

The EMM-ARM (Elastic Modulus Measurement through Ambient Response Method) allows the continuous monitoring of the elastic modulus of cementitious materials from early ages. The idea is to subject a beam, made of the specimen in its mould, to an excitation and monitor its response via an accelerometer. The excitation can either rely on naturally occ...

The Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operation (AECO) industry is shifting toward the digitalization of its processes, with Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodologies. The use of BIM in AECO industry requires the definition of data requirements for the information exchanges between stakeholders. Data definition and management pr...

Avoiding or limiting crack widths in massive concrete elements can be a challenging problem owing to the physical phenomena inherent to hardening processes occurring at early ages. In restrained elements, the increase of temperature at an early stage, due to the heat of hydration of cement, and the consequent cooldown at a stiffer stage, results in...

The EMM-ARM (Elasticity Modulus Measurement through Ambient Response Method) methodology consists in using ambient vibration tests to monitor the E-modulus evolution of cement-based materials during hydration, right after casting. The dissemination of this methodology may have been hindered by the costs and proprietary platforms associated to the o...

Technology, innovation, and data-driven business models are now transforming many areas of human activity to meet the challenges of a sustainable future, and the AEC sector is no exception since its material processes cause enormous resource depletion and waste generation. Even though a major part of construction and demolition waste is composed of...

The Elastic Modulus Measurement through Ambient Response Method (EMM-ARM) is designed to continuously monitor the elastic modulus of hardening construction materials such as concrete, cement paste, mortars, stabilized soils, and epoxy resin. In practice, a composite beam, made of the tested material in its mould, is induced to vibration by means of...

Crack control throughout the service life of a structure has always been a challenging task for engineers and asset owners, particularly those who are involved with the design and construction of structures with increased durability requirements, such as liquid retaining structures, nuclear containment buildings or structures in direct contact with...

The current work provides an integrated analysis of autogenous shrinkage, isothermal calorimetry, and modulus of elasticity measurement through ambient response method (EMM-ARM), to characterise the hardening behaviour of a non-proprietary and more eco-friendly ultra-high performance fibre reinforced cementitious composite (UHPFRC). Isothermal calo...

This paper gives an insight on the development of new features for an existing Facility Management software solution while presenting the work done during one of the project’s case studies. The work includes the use of ‘Building Information Modelling’ approaches/software to feed relevant information to the facility management database. The generate...

In mass concrete casting applications/structures, the heat evolved during the hydration process at early ages may not dissipate appropriately due to the large size of the pours and the low thermal conductivity of concrete. Embedded pipe cooling systems for circulating water are frequently used for heat removal (control the temperature rise) from th...

Nas barragens abóbada ocorrem significativas deformações volumétricas durante a construção, em resultado do calor libertado pela hidratação do cimento e da baixa condutividade térmica do betão. Se restringidas estas deformações originam trações no betão, e consequentemente a fissuração da abóbada. Por este motivo tradicionalmente as barragens abóba...

A metodologia EMM-ARM (Elasticity Modulus Measurement through Ambient Response Method) foi desenvolvida para permitir a monitorização contínua da evolução do módulo de elasticidade de materiais cimentícios desde as primeiras idades. A metodologia consiste em monitorizar a vibração de um provete, a partir da qual identifica-se a frequência natural d...

BIM-based construction specification and quantity takeoff (QTO) processes have proven faster and more reliable than traditional methods. However, their execution and integration still rely on time-consuming and error-prone manual or semi-automatic interventions to deal with the lack of completeness, suitability and granularity of produced BIM model...

Characterization of deformation related properties like creep, moisture expansion, drying shrinkage, and others, usually require a high number of specimens and long-term tests. Traditional measuring methods, such as LVDTs or Strain Gauges, end up being expensive, considering the initial cost, the time they are allocated to the experimental campaign...

The work reported paper aimed to develop a BIM-based framework to facilitate the process of seismic analysis of existing reinforced concrete buildings, through a streamlined set of modelling rules and interoperability between Autodesk Revit (BIM platform) and SeismoStruct (seismic analysis software). This is achieved through a visual programming sc...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

A normalização é um dos elementos mais importantes para a implementação dos processos BIM. De facto, trata-se de fator primordial para colaboração eficaz entre os intervenientes da indústria AECO. Um dos importantes vértices a ter em conta na normalização diz respeito à definição da informação alfanumérica relevante, bem como a sua respetiva nomenc...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

Livro de atas do Congresso ptBIM 2022, onde se promove um fórum de discussão técnico-científica em língua Portuguesa nas metodologias ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), envolvendo a participação ativa das comunidades profissional e académica das áreas de Arquitetura e Engenharia. Pretende-se enfatizar os problemas e esforços de implementação n...

The benefits of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the building sector pushed for its use in the geotechnical sector with evident benefits in projects around the world. Standardization, interoperability, and improved data management are some of the benefits of BIM if used on geotechnical data. This work focuses on transforming traditional work...

Refurbishing historic buildings to ensure accredited environmental sustainability is increasingly demanded within the AEC industry. GBC Historic Building Certification is a protocol for evaluating sustainable heritage renovation. The certification demands well-organized means, as establishing sustainability without endangering the heritage value im...

In this paper, the focus is placed on essential aspects of finite element modelling of thermo-mechanical behaviour of massive foundation slabs at early ages. Basic decision-making issues are discussed in this work: the potential need to explicitly consider the casting process in the modelling, the necessary size of the underlying soil to be modelle...

The structural design of reinforced concrete (RC) structures requires the use of adequate methodologies for control of crack widths, in order to ensure proper service life behavior. When RC elements are subjected to the combined effect of restrained deformations and external loads, which is a relatively common situation in civil engineering structu...

Mass foundation slabs represent unique structures because of the considerable thermal effects generated by the exothermic reactions of cement hydration that occur during concrete curing. Arising temperature variations in early age concrete generate tensile thermal stresses that may reach values resulting in cracking in foundation slabs. That is why...

The use of reinforced concrete (RC) in retrofitting interventions on existing unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings has been spreading all over the world since the beginning of the twentieth century. However, many of these mixed URM–RC buildings have revealed to be particularly vulnerable to seismic action, and their inherent complex structural beha...

These recommendations have been prepared by the corresponding working group within RILEM TC 287-CCS “Early-age and long-term crack width analysis in RC structures”, following work by the previously ceased RILEM TC 254-CMS “Thermal cracking of massive concrete structures”. This recommendations document is developed in complementarity to the state-of...

The study aims at defining and characterizing a specific restoration mortar for archaeological masonry structures made with traditional materials and to assess the suitability of the mixture compared to other mortars; such a goal is crucial to develop and define interventions in the archaeological sites. The mixture was defined to ensure compatibil...

Mass concrete members such as thick foundation slabs and blocks have always been an integral part of our human-created environment. Building with mass concrete is a challenging task as improper design or performance of the execution process may lead to considerable risk of thermal cracking. The presented paper is initially focused on a summary of e...

There is a frequent need to take measures for temperature control in massive concrete structures, as to avoid thermal cracking risk at early ages (induced by temperature gradients inherent to hydration heat release). This research work has explored a procedure for temperature control through the incorporation of phase change materials (PCMs) in lab...

The development of new solutions and techniques targeted towards better control of the temperature rise in massive concrete at early ages aiming at the reduction of thermal cracking risk, is of paramount importance, namely in respect to durability. To mitigate this issue, one of the most researched solutions that has attracted most interest is the...

In arch dams, significant volumetric deformations occur during construction – as a result of the heat released by cement hydration and the low thermal conductivity of the concrete –, which, if restrained, can lead to the occurrence of high tensile stresses. Consequently, arch dams are built through individual cantilever blocks, separated by contrac...

Electricit´e de France (EDF) operates a large fleet of nuclear reactors and is responsible for demonstrating the safety of facilities, including concrete containment buildings (CCB), which are non-replaceable components. The leak-tightness of CCBs is assessed every 10 years during integrated leak-rate tests (IRLT). For double-wall containments, whi...

In recent past, the authors developed an innovative modular system for low rise building made by structural sandwich panels. This system was conceived with the focus on the rationalization of the construction process and on the thermal efficiency of the building. Thus, the precast panels comprise two outer Steel Fibre Reinforced Self-Compacting Con...

Chimneys are architectural elements of difficult access and analysis in heritage buildings. This paper presents a method for automatic modelling of round brick chimneys and analysing their inclination, straightness and surface. The method uses as input data point clouds acquired with a Terrestrial Laser Scanner. Four chimneys have been surveyed on...

A thermo-chemo-hygro-mechanical (TCHM) simulation approach for modelling the concrete behaviour during restrained shrinkage ring tests under two distinct drying conditions, namely, top and bottom as well as circumferential drying, is presented herein. The models were calibrated using data from an extensive round robin testing programme, which invol...

Crack width control is an important design task to achieve the required durability and serviceability of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The thickness of the member is an important contributing factor for the mode of cracking—and thus for the required reinforcement for crack control. While in thin RC elements, e.g. industrial floors or tank wa...

Expansive additives are being widely used as shrinkage reducing/compensating admixture to reduce the early-age cracking and chemical prestressing. Such expansive additives influence the composition of cement hydration products and mechanical properties (stiffness and strength) of the cement and concrete, which ultimately affects the early age defor...

Numerical and analytical simulation of cracking in reinforced concrete (RC) structures requires laboratory testing for validation of assumptions and calibration of modelling strategies. The scale, complexity and innovation of these experiments can present a challenge, even for experienced professionals, and a significant amount of time, effort and...

Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology is becoming widespread with many potential uses, such as facility and asset management for new buildings. Recently, it has also been applied for the maintenance of built heritage, within the so-called Historical BIM (HBIM) field. A BIM model, empowered by detailed embedded information, is an excellen...

Tensile stresses resulting from a combination of thermal volumetric changes, due to the heat of hydration and ambient conditions, autogenous deformations and boundary restraints, often induce a significant intrinsic load on massive concrete structures. Whenever such stresses attain the concrete tensile strength, cracking occurs, which may in turn i...

In determining the temperature field generated within a room subjected to exterior daily variation of temperatures and solar radiation, and in view of the difficulty (or even impossibility) of obtaining analytical solutions for the descriptive differential equations of the phenomenon in most practical applications, numerical tools are used. The cho...

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations and applications in the field of crack control in concrete, as presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the International RILEM Conference on Early-age and Long-term Cracking in RC Structures (CRC 2021), held in Paris, France on April 9, 2021. It covers early-age and long-t...

This paper deals with the analytical assessment of restraint forces and crack widths in end-restrained building slabs. The analysis concentrates on the service limit state (SLS) and the challenge is hereby the appropriate consideration of the combined effect of axial restraint due to imposed deformations and bending cracking due to loading. As for...

This presents a BIM-based methodology for the seismic performance assessment of existing mixed URM-RC buildings that consists of four phases: (1) Anamnesis, dedicated to the survey and collection of facts about the existing building, the structure and its environs. It aims at a better understanding of the complexity of different layers, historic ph...

This study proposes a new methodology for the embedment of flexible PVC hoses (with the shape/geometry of the intended cooling pipes) that allows their removal a few hours after casting (i.e. after setting), while allowing that water is pumped through the circular cavity afterward (through a flexible/impermeable sleeve placed to shield the exposed...

In this study, internal curing by superabsorbent polymers (SAP) is utilized to mitigate self-desiccation and au-togenous shrinkage of alkali-activated slag (AAS) pastes. Absorption and desorption kinetics of SAP incorporated in AAS pastes were studied with X-ray tomography. Internal curing delayed the peak of the rate of heat liberation but increas...

This study investigates the influences of internal curing on reducing the autogenous shrinkage of alkali-activated slag/fly ash (AASF) paste. The influences of internal curing with superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) on the reactions and microstructure of AASF paste are investigated. It is found that the SAPs absorb liquid mainly before the initial sett...

Shrinkage of hardened cement paste is a direct result of its desorption isotherm. The relationship between the desorption isotherm and the relative humidity in a hydrating cement paste is mainly controlled by the pore size distribution (nanopores to micropores). There are several hydration models to describe the microstructure of cement paste, but...

This paper is an effect of coordinated efforts of Working Group 7 of RILEM TC 254-CMS: Thermal cracking in massive concrete structures. The paper deals with a negative effect of restrained hardening-induced strains in reinforced concrete wall-on-slab structures which is cracks formed at the stage of construction of the walls. The aim of the paper w...

Carbonation is widely recognized as a cause of significant pathologies in reinforced concrete structures and different modelling strategies are presented in literature the simulate the phenomenon evolution. In opposition to the deleterious effect in reinforced concrete, for historical mortar made with aerial lime, the carbonation is essential for t...

The constant changes in the world market demand flexible and fluid organizational structures, such as rotating and engaging human effort, to provide high performance. Therefore, organizations make use of distributed multicultural teams, meetings, and online lead projects. However, these social categorization processes can become a disadvantage if t...

This paper presents mesoscale thermo-mechanical analyses of plain (unreinforced) concrete based on the discrete element method (DEM). The proposed discontinuum modelling strategy represents the aggregates and matrix as a system of deformable polyhedral blocks, interacting along their boundaries. The nodal velocities of each block are calculated via...

The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been changing the paradigm in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Regarding the assessment of existing buildings, one of the applications of BIM with significant potential concerns the so-called "reverse engineering" (i.e., the reverse process compared with the tradition...

Round Robin Testing (RRT) is a well-known method for assessing the reproducibility of a test or verification of a new test procedure of almost any kind. In the EU funded network COST Action TU1404 “Towards the next generation of standards for service life of cement-based materials and structures”, an Extended Round Robin Testing program (RRT⁺) was...

Cracking control of reinforced concrete (RC) is of paramount importance to ensure a proper service behaviour on RC structures, during their lifespan, without excessive maintenance costs. Current design codes and recommendations for RC structures provide methodologies for reinforcement design on elements subjected to the independent effects of eithe...

In passive solar buildings, energy can be stored using either sensible heat materials or latent heat materials. Phase change materials (PCM) can contribute to temperature control in passive solar buildings when melting occurs near to comfort temperature required for building’s interior spaces. The use of finite element method (FEM) as a numerical m...

The problem of thermal and shrinkage cracking in concrete has been long recognised by researchers and engineers as it can jeopardise the intended serviceability of a concrete structure. This has led researchers to develop testing devices which aim to simulate the behaviour of concrete under restrained deformations. Such devices are discerned in pas...

This paper presents a 2-D finite element (FE) based micro modelling framework for thermo-mechanical response history analysis of solid brick masonry structures subjected to fire. The 2-D FE framework considers geometric and material nonlinearities, and transient states of strain in conjunction with the temperature-dependent material properties. Mat...

The so-called N2 method is a widely used nonlinear static method for the seismic design and/or assessment of different building typologies. In this paper, the idea of reversing the so-called N2 method currently adopted in the Annex B of Eurocode 8 (the code on which the present paper is based) in a direct displacement-based procedure is presented i...

Predicting the evolution of stiffness in cement paste requires linking morphological properties of the microstructure to the evolution of mechanical properties. Measures are typically difficult to obtain with sufficient time resolution to capture the transitions as the morphology evolves. In this work, we show the combined result ¹H NMR and EMM-ARM...

There is a frequent need to take measures for temperature control in massive concrete structures, as to avoid thermal cracking risk at early ages (induced by temperature gradients inherent to hydration heat release). This research work has explored a procedure for temperature control through the incorporation of phase change materials (PCMs) in lab...

Crack control throughout the service life of a structure has always been a somewhat challenging task for engineers and asset owners who are involved particularly with the design and construction of liquid retaining structures , such as tanks, nuclear containment buildings, basements or even dams. For these reasons, several standardised methods exis...

The development of new solutions and techniques targeted towards better control of the temperature rise in massive concrete at early ages aiming at the reduction of thermal cracking risk, is of paramount importance, namely in respect to durability. To mitigate this issue, one of the most researched solutions that has attracted most interest is the...

Concrete endures strong evolution in its mechanical behaviour since casting, passing from a solid suspension to a structural material. It is extremely important to understand and be able to predict the structural behaviour of concrete since the beginning of the hardening process for a good structural design, particularly in regard to the developmen...