This special issue contains selected papers first presented in a short format at the Congress CILAMCE 2018 ($39^{th}$ Ibero-Latin American Congress on Computational Methods in Engineering) held in Paris and in $Compi{\grave{e}}gne$, France, from 11 to 14 November 2018.

This work investigates the accuracy and performance of a $FE^2$ multi-scale implementation used to predict the behavior of composite materials. The equations are formulated assuming the small deformations solid mechanics approach in non-linear material models with hardening plasticity. The uniform strain boundary conditions are applied for the macro-to-micro transitions. A parallel algorithm was implemented in order to solve large engineering problems. The scheme proposed takes advantage of the domain decomposition method at the macro-scale and the coupling between each subdomain with a micro-scale model. The precision of the method is validated with a composite material problem and scalability tests are performed for showing the efficiency.

In this paper, we present a 2D multi-scale coupling computation procedure for localized failure. When modeling the behavior of a structure by a multi-scale method, the macro-scale is used to describe the homogenized response of the structure, and the micro-scale to describe the details of the behavior on the smaller scale of the material where some inelastic mechanisms, like damage or plasticity, can be defined. The micro-scale mesh is defined for each multi-scale element in a way to fit entirely inside it. The two scales are coupled by imposing the constraint on the displacement field over their interface. An embedded discontinuity is implemented in the macro-scale element to capture the softening behavior happening on the micro-scale. The computation is performed using the operator split solution procedure on both scales.

The main goal of this work is to develop a numerical simulator to study an isothermal single-phase two-component flow in a naturally fractured oil reservoir, taking into account advection and diffusion effects. We use the Peng-Robinson equation of state with a volume translation to evaluate the properties of the components, and the discretization of the governing partial differential equations is carried out using the Finite Difference Method, along with implicit and first-order upwind schemes. This process leads to a coupled non-linear algebraic system for the unknowns pressure and molar fractions. After a linearization and the use of an operator splitting, the Conjugate Gradient and Bi-conjugated Gradient Stabilized methods are then used to solve two algebraic subsystems, one for the pressure and another for the molar fraction. We studied the effects of fractures in both the flow field and mass transport, as well as in computing time, and the results show that the fractures affect, as expected, the flow creating a thin preferential path for the mass transport.

This work aims to simulate three-dimensional heavy oil flow in a reservoir with heater-wells. Mass, momentum and energy balances, as well as correlations for rock and fluid properties, are used to obtain non-linear partial differential equations for the fluid pressure and temperature, and for the rock temperature. Heat transfer is simulated using a two-equation model that is more appropriate when fluid and rock have very different thermal properties, and we also perform comparisons between one- and two-equation models. The governing equations are discretized using the Finite Volume Method. For the numerical solution, we apply a linearization and an operator splitting. As a consequence, three algebraic subsystems of linearized equations are solved using the Conjugate Gradient Method. The results obtained show the suitability of the numerical method and the technical feasibility of heating the reservoir with static equipment.

This research work presents a study that aims to assess the dynamic structural behaviour and also investigate the human comfort levels of a reinforced concrete building, when subjected to nondeterministic wind dynamic loadings, considering the effect of masonry infills on the global stiffness of the structural model. In general, the masonry fills most of the empty areas within the structural frames of the buildings. Although these masonry infills present structural stiffness, the common practice of engineers is to adopt them as static loads, disregarding the effect of the masonry infills on the global stiffness of the structural system. This way, in this study a numerical model based on sixteen-storey reinforced concrete building with 48 m high and dimensions of $14.20m{\times}15m$ was analysed. This way, static, modal and dynamic analyses were carried out in order to simulate the structural model based on two different strategies: no masonry infills and masonry infills simulated by shell finite elements. In this investigation, the wind action is considered as a nondeterministic process with unstable properties and also random characteristics. The fluctuating parcel of the wind is decomposed into a finite number of harmonic functions proportional to the structure resonant frequency with phase angles randomly determined. The nondeterministic dynamic analysis clearly demonstrates the relevance of a more realistic numerical modelling of the masonry infills, due to the modifications on the global structural stiffness of the building. The maximum displacements and peak accelerations values were reduced when the effect of the masonry infills (structural stiffness) were considered in the dynamic analysis. Finally, it can be concluded that the human comfort evaluation of the sixteen-storey reinforced concrete building can be altered in a favourable way to design.

Considering the increasing use of tubular profiles in civil construction, this paper highlights the study on the behavior of welded connections between square hollow section column and I-beam, with emphasis on the assessment of the joint stiffness. Firstly, a theoretical analysis of the welded joints has been done focusing on prescriptions of the technical literature for the types of geometries mentioned. Then, a numerical analysis of the proposed joints were performed by the finite element method (FEM) with the software ANSYS 16.0. In this study, two models were evaluated for different parameters, such as the thickness of the cross section of the column and the sizes of cross section of the beams. The first model describes a connection in which one beam is connected to the column in a unique bending plane, while the second model describes a connection of two beams to the column in two bending planes. From the numerical results, the bending moment-rotation ($M-{\varphi}$) curve was plotted in order to determine the resistant bending moment and classify each connection according to its rotational capacity. Furthermore, an equation was established with the aim of estimating the rotational stiffness of welded I beam-to-RHS column connections, which can be used during the structure design. The results show that most of the connections are semi-rigid, highlighting the importance of considering the stiffness of the connections in the structure design.