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Ramón González-Drigo

Bio: Ramón González-Drigo is an academic researcher from Polytechnic University of Catalonia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ground-penetrating radar & Radar. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 29 publications receiving 369 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a multidisciplinary approach to heritage documentation involving close range photogrammetry and ground penetrating radar techniques, as well as the development of finite elements based structural models is presented.

99 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, two typical central buildings and one typical corner building are modeled as C1, C2, and E buildings and a capacity spectrum based method is used to analyze the seismic behavior of these buildings considered as individual buildings and as an aggregate.
Abstract: Between the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, Barcelona was expanded, occupying the terrains connecting the old walled city and the nearby towns of the plateau of Barcelona. At that time, a large number of unreinforced masonry buildings were constructed and nowadays many of them are still used as dwellings. Though built individually, these buildings are connected to adjacent buildings, forming blocks composed of aggregates. In order to analyze the seismic behavior of isolated buildings and aggregates, two typical central buildings and one typical corner building have been chosen. The two central buildings and the corner building are referred as C1, C2, and E buildings. Two corner buildings and two central buildings have been connected in order to simulate a block side. This aggregate is referred as AGG and it is composed by the following sequence of individual buildings: E-C1-C2-E. Original plans and drawings of existing buildings are then used to model these buildings. The modeled buildings have five stories. Standard pushover analyses lead to evaluate their seismic performance by means of capacity spectra and fragility curves. The analysis has been carried out in the parallel (Ux) and transversal (Uy) directions to the street. Then, a capacity spectrum based method is used to analyze the seismic behavior of these buildings considered as individual buildings and as an aggregate. Two earthquake scenarios are considered. The first one is a deterministic scenario which is based on a historical earthquake occurred in 1,824, 25 km away from the city and the second one is a probabilistic scenario, which represents the ground motion with a probability of occurrence of 10% in 50 years. The soil local effects have been also considered and both scenarios have been used to assess the expected damage. Four non-null damage states are considered: slight (1), moderate (2), severe (3) and extensive-to-collapse (4). For the type of soil where most of the buildings are, and in the Ux direction, the four buildings show a similar behavior. The mean damage grade is 2.3 for the deterministic scenario and 2.7 for the probabilistic one. This means that moderate to severe damage is expected in both cases; furthermore, in the case of the deterministic scenario more than 10% of the buildings would suffer extensive-to-collapse damage and nearly 20% for the probabilistic scenario, confirming the high vulnerability of such buildings. The differences in the expected damage are due to the significant different characteristics of the response spectra of the earthquake scenarios in the range of the fundamental periods of the buildings.

60 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the experimental determination of the radiation pattern of a commercial 1.6 GHz antenna, which forms part of a comprehensive experimental characterization, and the footprint of the antenna is measured in air using simple devices at different distances.
Abstract: High-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) evaluations of structures are usually carried out using antennas with high nominal centre frequencies (between 1 and 2 GHz). A comprehensive characterization of such an antenna would make it possible to determine the capabilities of a system and obtain accurate data interpretations. This paper describes the experimental determination of the radiation pattern of a commercial 1.6 GHz antenna, which forms part of a comprehensive experimental characterization. Radiation patterns are closely related to spatial resolution, so the horizontal and vertical resolutions are evaluated first. The footprint of the antenna is then measured in air using simple devices at different distances. The final result is the approximate spatial radiation pattern of the emitted energy, measured in air. Finally, these measurements are also taken in sand to obtain the radiation pattern and footprint of the antenna in this medium.

53 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared various approaches to determine the spatial resolution (SR) in non-destructive ground-penetrating radar (GPR) studies and compared the results obtained in these approaches to experimental data acquired in two different media.
Abstract: This paper summarizes various approaches to determine the spatial resolution (SR) in non-destructive ground-penetrating radar (GPR) studies and compares the results obtained in these approaches to experimental data acquired in two different media. In one of the experimental measurements, we used 0.4 mS/m conductivity water, which is a low-attenuating medium. In the other case we used sand. Due to the water content in the sand, we obtained velocities similar to the usual velocities in concrete. Experimental radar data showed two different zones: first, the zone in which the recorded anomalies indicate the presence of more than one target; and second, the zone in which the recorded anomalies are related to the existing targets and the interference effects are minimized. We associate the first zone with the antenna's ability to detect two close targets buried at the same depth, and we associate the second zone with the path of the antenna, which is usually estimated as the first Fresnel zone. All of these estimations were carried out using the nominal frequency of the antennas and the dominant frequency obtained from the spectra of the reflected waves.

51 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The campus of the College of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona was recently declared an Architectural Heritage Site due to the value of its Modernista buildings, which were built in 1868 under the direction of the architect Rafael Guastavino (1842-1908) as mentioned in this paper.

28 citations


Cited by
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01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: The ASCE/SEI 7-05 standard as discussed by the authors provides a complete update and reorganization of the wind load provisions, expanding them from one chapter into six, and includes new ultimate event wind maps with corresponding reductions in load factors.
Abstract: Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures provides requirements for general structural design and includes means for determining dead, live, soil, flood, wind, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, and earthquake loads, as well as their combinations, which are suitable for inclusion in building codes and other documents. This Standard, a revision of ASCE/SEI 7-05, offers a complete update and reorganization of the wind load provisions, expanding them from one chapter into six. The Standard contains new ultimate event wind maps with corresponding reductions in load factors, so that the loads are not affected, and updates the seismic loads with new risk-targeted seismic maps. The snow, live, and atmospheric icing provisions are updated as well. In addition, the Standard includes a detailed Commentary with explanatory and supplementary information designed to assist building code committees and regulatory authorities. Standard ASCE/SEI 7 is an integral part of building codes in the United States. Many of the load provisions are substantially adopted by reference in the International Building Code and the NFPA 5000 Building Construction and Safety Code. Structural engineers, architects, and those engaged in preparing and administering local building codes will find this Standard an essential reference in their practice. Note: New orders are fulfilled from the second printing, which incorporates the errata to the first printing.

974 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: gprMax is open source software that simulates electromagnetic wave propagation, using the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method, for the numerical modelling of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).

534 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper reviews the latest development of the GPR’s primary infrastructure applications, namely buildings, pavements, bridges, tunnel liners, geotechnical and buried utilities and outlines the path to a more rigorous development in terms of standardization, accreditation, and procurement policy.
Abstract: The GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) conference in Hong Kong year 2016 marked the 30th anniversary of the initial meeting in Tifton, Georgia, USA on 1986. The conference has been being a bi-annual event and has been hosted by sixteen cities from four continents. Throughout these 30 years, researchers and practitioners witnessed the analog paper printout to digital era that enables very efficient collection, processing and 3D imaging of large amount of data required in GPR imaging in infrastructure. GPR has systematically progressed forward from “Locating and Testing” to “Imaging and Diagnosis” with the Holy Grail of ’Seeing the unseen’ becoming a reality. This paper reviews the latest development of the GPR’s primary infrastructure applications, namely buildings, pavements, bridges, tunnel liners, geotechnical and buried utilities. We review both the ability to assess structure as built character and the ability to indicate the state of deterioration. Finally, we outline the path to a more rigorous development in terms of standardization, accreditation, and procurement policy.

293 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, state-of-the-art techniques such as digital image processing, infrared thermography, ground penetrating radar, ultrasonic testing and fiber-optic microscopy are used for the protection of built cultural heritage.

194 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review focuses on the survey and digitisation phases, which can be seen as the initial phases of application of BIM in conservation projects, and briefly covers the modelling stage.
Abstract: Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a new process that is spreading in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction field. It allows the creation of virtual building models, which can be linked to numerical data, texts, images, and other types of information. Building components, such as walls, floors, etc. are modelled as “smart objects”, i.e. they are defined by numerical parameters, such as dimensions, and are embedded with other kinds of information, such as building materials and properties. Stored data are accessible and modifiable by all different professionals involved in the same project. The BIM process has been developed for new buildings, and it allows to plan and manage the whole building life-cycle. BIM for built heritage has started to be researched recently, and its use is still not widespread. Indeed, built heritage is characterised by complex morphology and non-homogeneous features, which clash with BIM’s standardised procedures. Moreover, to date, BIM does not allow fully automated procedures to model heritage buildings. This review focuses on the survey and digitisation phases, which can be seen as the initial phases of application of BIM in conservation projects. It also briefly covers the modelling stage. Here we present the main methodologies developed for BIM for built heritage. Issues about digitisation are also highlighted, principally in connection with the unavailability of automated processes. During the last 10 years, research has led to promising results; for example, videogame interfaces have been used to simulate virtual 3D tours that display in a single interface the 3D model and the database containing metadata, and new software plug-ins have been developed, to easily create “smart objects”. Nevertheless, further research is needed to establish how BIM can support the practice of building conservation. There is a gap in BIM’s information holding capacities, namely the storage of cultural and historical documentation, as well as monitored and simulated data relevant for preventive conservation. Future work should focus on the development of new tools that will be able to store and share all the relevant metadata.

141 citations