Portuguese forests have changed in recent years. These changes were mainly boosted by the wildfires that affected a significant percentage of the softwood area. Data from 2015, conveyed by the Portuguese Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, indicates that hardwoods occupy 70% of the Portuguese forest area. This paper presents the Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon R. Br.) species potential, focusing on construction applications, based on recent studies performed at the University of Coimbra and SerQ-Forest Innovation and Competences Center. The valuation of Blackwood for structural applications has been considered through the non-destructive and destructive assessment of their mechanical properties as sawn wood. Their potential was also assessed for a more technologically engineered wood product, the glulam. The dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE) was estimated through the Longitudinal Vibration Method (LVM) and the Transformed Section Method (TSM); the static MOE and bending strength were assessed through a four-point bending test. Agreement was obtained between both approaches. Sawn Portuguese Blackwood showed a density of 647 kg/m 3 , 13,900 MPa of MOE and a bending strength of 65 MPa (mean values). The glulam beams fabricated with this raw material had improved properties relative to sawn wood, most obviously concerning the bending strength, with an improvement of 29%. This proves the significant ability and potential of these species to be used in construction products with structural purposes like sawn wood and glulam.
The macroalgal flora of the Island of São Miguel (eastern group of the Azores Archipelago) has attracted the interest of many researchers in the past, the first publications going back to the nineteenth century. Initial studies were mainly taxonomic, resulting in the publication of a checklist of the Azorean benthic marine algae. Later, the establishment of the University of the Azores on the Island permitted the logistic conditions to develop both temporal studies and long-term research and this resulted in a significant increase on research directed at the benthic marine algae and littoral communities of the Island and consequent publications. Prior to the present paper, the known macroalgal flora of São Miguel Island comprised around 260 species. Despite this richness, a significant amount of the research was never made public, notably Masters and PhD theses encompassing information regarding presence data recorded at littoral and sublittoral levels down to a depth of approximately 40 m around the Island and the many collections made, which resulted in vouchers deposited in the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha and the LSM- Molecular Systematics Laboratory at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores. The present publication lists the macroalgal taxonomic records, together with information on their ecology and occurrence around São Miguel Island, improving the knowledge of the Azorean macroalgal flora at local and regional scales. A total of 12,781 specimens (including some identified only to genus) belonging to 431 taxa of macroalgae are registered, comprising 284 Rhodophyta, 59 Chlorophyta and 88 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). Of these, 323 were identified to species level (212 Rhodophyta, 48 Chlorophyta and 63 Ochrophyta), of which 61 are new records for the Island (42 Rhodophyta, 9 Chlorophyta and 10 Ochrophyta), one an Azorean endemic (Predaea feldmannii subsp. azorica Gabriel), five are Macaronesian endemisms (the red algae Botryocladia macaronesica Afonso-Carrillo, Sobrino, Tittley & Neto, Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun, Millerella tinerfensis (Seoane-Camba) S.M.Boo & J.M.Rico, Phyllophora gelidioides P.Crouan & H.Crouan ex Karsakoff and the green alga Codium elisabethiae O.C.Schmidt), 19 are introduced species (15 Rhodophyta, two Chlorophyta and two Ochrophyta) and 32 are of uncertain status (21 Rhodophyta, five Chlorophyta and six Ochrophyta).
In this paper the transversal load distribution in timber-concrete systems is analysed and discussed. The analysis is based on experimental and numerical results obtained for real scale timber-concrete systems. Two situations are considered: a timber-concrete floor for a multi-storey building with dimensions of 3.39mx3.48m in plan view and a road bridge deck with dimensions of 5mx14m also in plan view. In both situations the systems were designed to the loads required by the European codes. The effect of the transversal load distribution was experimentally assessed by imposing concentrated loads in various locations, eccentric to both transverse and/or longitudinal direction. Additionally, FEM models were developed to describe the mechanical behaviour of the two composite timber-concrete systems. The results obtained with both methodologies are presented and discussed. Based on this discussion conclusions are drawn regarding the amount of transversal distribution that can be expected in this type of reinforcement solution.
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