Smart concrete is a structural element that can combine both sensing and structural capabilities. In addition, smart concrete can monitor the curing of concrete, positively impacting design and construction approaches. In concrete, if the curing process is not well developed, the structural element may develop cracks in this early stage due to shrinkage, decreasing structural mechanical strength. In this paper, a system of measurement using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors for monitoring the curing of concrete was developed to evaluate autogenous shrinkage strain, temperature, and relative humidity (RH) in a single system. Furthermore, K-type thermocouples were used as reference temperature sensors. The results presented maximum autogenous shrinkage strains of 213.64 $\mu \epsilon$, 125.44 $\mu \epsilon$, and 173.33 $\mu \epsilon$ for FBG4, FBG5, and FBG6, respectively. Regarding humidity, the measured maximum relative humidity was 98.20 %RH, which was reached before 10 h. In this case, the recorded maximum temperature was 63.65 °C and 61.85 °C by FBG2 and the thermocouple, respectively. Subsequently, the concrete specimen with the FBG strain sensor embedded underwent a bend test simulating beam behavior. The measurement system can transform a simple structure like a beam into a smart concrete structure, in which the FBG sensors’ signal was maintained by the entire applied load cycles and compared with FBG strain sensors superficially positioned. In this test, the maximum strain measurements were 85.65 $\mu \epsilon$, 123.71 $\mu \epsilon$, and 56.38 $\mu \epsilon$ on FBG7, FBG8, and FBG3, respectively, with FBG3 also monitoring autogenous shrinkage strain. Therefore, the results confirm that the proposed system of measurement can monitor the cited parameters throughout the entire process of curing concrete.

In this paper, a numerical analysis using the finite element method, employing the commercial code Ansys, is performed to evaluate the influence of transverse stiffeners welded to the web of the steel profile on the lateral stiffness and resistant bending moment of continuous steel and concrete composite beams subjected to lateral-torsional buckling (LTB). The developed numerical model was validated by comparison with the results of tests performed by another researcher. Subsequently, a parametric analysis was carried out for beams with two and three spans, varying the spacing between the stiffeners. Finally, based on the analysis performed, it was concluded that the transverse stiffeners can significantly increase the lateral stiffness and the resistant moment of continuous composite beams. A calculation procedure to obtain this moment is proposed, having as reference the prescriptions of the Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 8800:2008.

Resumo Este trabalho apresenta uma análise da influência do tipo de combate a incêndio nas temperaturas desenvolvidas em um compartimento utilizado pelo Corpo de Bombeiros Militar de Minas Gerais (CBMMG) em seus treinamentos. Os tipos de combate variaram com o modo de aplicação de água em pulsos simples, dois pulsos ou pulsos mais longos. Os resultados demonstraram que os treinamentos representam bem os incêndios reais em ambientes construídos com as fases de início do incêndio e sua propagação, inflamação generalizada (flashover) e pós-flashover. Observou-se que a taxa de aplicação de água influencia inversamente no tempo de duração do incêndio e na temperatura da região onde os combatentes se localizam. Foram realizados também ensaios sem intervenção e constatou-se que não há uma diferença significativa nas temperaturas máximas atingidas em comparação com os treinamentos normais. Os ensaios realizados no compartimento também demonstraram que ele pode ser utilizado para estudo de elementos construtivos e estruturais em situação de incêndio.

The occurrence of fires can lead to accidents with high potential, and vertical fire compartmentation is a measure to reduce these incidents. Increasingly, computational numerical analyses play a crucial role in studying fire behavior for control and mitigation. The computational tool Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is one of the main programs aimed at numerically analyzing fire spread. By using the FDS program, this research aims to numerically analyze the effectiveness of using horizontal projection and the combination of horizontal and vertical projections simultaneously, as specified in the Technical Instruction of the Fire Department of the State of São Paulo in combating the propagation of external vertical fire to the facade. Temperature measurements on the compartment facade were used to compare temperatures on the upper floor with the autoignition of material values commonly found in facades. Models with only horizontal projections showed greater effectiveness compared to models with the combinations of projections, mainly due to the presence of the spandrel component, which has a harmful effect on fire propagation. Despite the lower effectiveness of combination models for a fire with a heat release rate of 300 MJ/m², there would be no external vertical fire propagation.