The world is facing increasing pressures to reduce the amount of energy and resources that are being used. The UK government has targets to reduce carbon emissions and energy usage. Within the UK buildings are a significant contributor towards both energy and material usage. One approach to reduce the energy and carbon emissions from construction is to use natural materials that require minimal processing and energy input such as straw, timber, unfired earth and hemp-lime. Hemp-lime is a composite solid wall insulating material made from hemp shiv and a lime based binder and water which can be cast between shutters or spray applied. Hemp-lime is typically used with a load bearing timber studwork frame. Current design practice assumes that hemp-lime is a nonstructural material and only provides the insulation to the wall construction. However, as it encapsulates the studs it has to potential to enhance their load capacity by preventing buckling and resisting in-plane forces. This study aimed to establish the contribution of the hemp-lime to the structural performance of composite hemp-lime and studwork frame walls under three loading conditions; vertical compression, in-plane racking and out-of-plane bending. Both theoretical analysis and experimental testing were undertaken in order to establish the contribution. Tradical HF hemp shiv and Tradical HB binder were used to mix hemplime with a density of 275kg/m3. The wall constructions were initially theoretically analysed using existing approaches and both the stiffness and strength of the wall panels were calculated. Experimental testing was undertaken on 24 full size wall panels. Fifteen were tested with compressive loads, five with in-plane racking loads and four with out-of-plane bending loads. Initially two walls were tested with a concentric compressive load applied to the top of the encapsulated timber studs. The studs were shown to be restrained by the hemp-lime preventing buckling and increasing the failure load by over 500%. Four walls were tested with eccentrically applied compressive loads to investigate bursting of the studs through the hemp-lime surface. On three walls the studs burst through the hemp-lime showing that bursting is dependent upon the hemp-lime cover over the studs. In addition unrestrained studs were tested and shown to buckle at much lower loads than the hemp-lime lime encapsulated studs. Under in-plane racking loads two walls were initially tested and found to have increased stiffness and strength over an unrestrained studwork frame. The leading stud joints were found to be a weak point. These joints were improved and two further walls were tested, one with a sheathing board attached to the studwork frame and one without. The strengthened joints were found to improve the stiffness and strength of the wall panels. The wall panel with sheathing was also found to have a higher stiffness than the unsheathed walls. Two walls were initially tested with applied out-of-plane loads. One wall was hemplime with rendered surfaces and the other included a studwork frame. The studwork frame was found to provide continued load capacity once the render and the hemp-lime had failed. Two further wall panels were tested with a sheathing board attached to the studwork frame and render on the other face of the hemp-lime. Again the studwork frames were found to provide post crack load capacity. The walls were also found to perform with differing stiffness according to the load direction. Following experimental testing the theoretical results were compared with the experimental results. Generally good correlation is seen between the results. Prior to the experimental testing it was not possible to predict the bursting of the hemp-lime when the studs were loaded in compression, however following testing a technique was developed to allow this prediction to be made. In conclusion this study has shown that hemp-lime does enhance the load capacity of studwork framing under both compressive and in-plane racking loads. Under out-ofplane bending loads the studwork frame allows continued load capacity after the hemplime and render have cracked. This study has shown that material savings can be made when using this type of construction as a sheathing board is not necessary as the hemplime can fulfil its structural function. This will contribute towards a more efficient construction system and reduced energy and resource use.

In the deformation of layered materials such as geological strata, or stacks of paper, mechanical properties compete with the geometry of layering. Smooth, rounded corners lead to voids between layers, while close packing leads to geometrically induced curvature singularities. When creation of voids is penalized by external pressure, the system trades off these competing effects, leading to various accommodating formations. Three two dimensional energy based nonlinear models are presented to describe the formation of voids at areas of intense geological folding. For each model the layers are assumed to be flexible elastic beams under hard unilateral contact constraint; which are solved as quasi-static obstacle problems with a free boundary. In each case an application of Kuhn-Tucker theory leads to representation as a nonlinear fourth order differential equation. Firstly a single layered model for voiding is presented. An elastic layer is forced into a V-shaped singularity by a uniform overburden pressure, where the fourth order free boundary problem is shown to have a unique, convex, symmetric solution. Drawing parallels with the Kuhn-Tucker theory, virtual work and ideas of duality, the physical significance of this differential equation is emphasised. Finally, appropriate scaling of either the potential energy or the differential equation shows the solutions scale to a single parametric group, for which the size of the void scales inversely with the ratio of overburden pressure to bending stiffness of the layer. Common to structural geology, one or several especially thick layers can dominate the deformation process. As a result, the remaining weak layers must accommodate into the geometry imposed by these competent layers. The second model, extends the first by introducing a plastic hinge to replicate the geometry imposed by the competent layer, and also axial springs to resist the slip over the limbs. The equilibrium equations for the system are investigated using the mathematical techniques developed for the first model. Under rigid loading the system may snap from an initially flat state to a convex voiding solution, as seen in the first model. However, if resistance to slip is high, the slightest imperfection causes the system to jump to a convoluted up-buckled solution, following a de-stiffened path to a point of self contact. These solutions have similarities with the delamination of carbon fibre composites. Finally, we extend the two single layered models to a simple multilayered model, which describes the periodic formation of voids in a chevron fold. The model shows that in the limit of high overburden pressures solutions form voids every layer, producing straight limbs punctured by sharp corners. This analysis shows good agreement when compared with recent experiments. This work provides the basis for future work on the buckling of thin multilayer assemblies in which voids may develop, and emphasizes the importance of the intricate nonlinear constraints of layers fitting together in multilayered folds.

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries / Department: Civil Engineering.

The three differential equations describing the behavior of the beam columns in three dimensions are derived and presented in finite difference form. A computer model is developed to solve the simultaneous equations in the elastic regions and predict the member behavior. The computer program is checked by comparing the results obtained from the program with data from other investigators, and classical analytical techniques.

This thesis presents a theoretical study into the behaviour of thin-walled metal tubes that are filled with elastic material. The study has considered the behaviour and design of concrete-filled steel columns by analysing the effect of the combined actions of axial compression and bending on closed stainless steel cross-sections with a concrete infill as well as the elastic buckling of square, circular and elliptical thin-walled steel tubes, when filled with elastic material. The elastic local buckling of a rectangular plate having four edges clamped and subjected to in-plane linearly varying uniaxial loading with and without juxtaposition with a rigid infill has also been studied. Concrete-filled composite columns find widespread use globally in engineering structures because of their optimal strength and ease of construction. Enhancing the strength of filled columns by utilising newer materials such as stainless steel or shape memory alloys for the skin of the cross-section of the column will increase the construction cost of the column. In order to circumvent this increased construction cost, or to minimise it, the metal skin should be as thin as possible. Members with thin-walled cross-section are prone to lateral torsional buckling, and in particular they are prone to local buckling, with the latter buckling mode playing an important role in the strength of a composite column with a concrete infill. The local buckling coefficient is enhanced by the provision of a rigid concrete infill, and efficient design must make use of this fact to minimise the cost of the skin. The initial portions of this thesis demonstrate the beneficial effects that the rigid concrete core has on the overall strength, and also on the local buckling behaviour of thin-walled metal tubes. The local buckling of the metal skin has been modelled in this thesis by using a Ritz-based energy method. In bi-lateral and uni-lateral buckling studies of rectangular plates, a more general trigonometric function has been selected by application of boundary conditions to the chosen shape function, with these boundary conditions being implemented to make the chosen shape function satisfy the edge conditions for the problem under consideration. The restraining medium is modelled as a tensionless foundation and this restraint condition is introduced through a penalty method formulation. Extensive comparative, convergence, and parametric studies have been carried out by considering a wide range of uni-laterally constrained plates. Following a concise review of the available literature, techniques for analysing the elastic local buckling of thin-walled square tubes, fully filled with elastic materials and subjected to concentric uni-axial compression, are formulated by means of a simple stiffness approach and a proper Ritz-based technique. This method is then extended to account for the local buckling of thin-walled circular and elliptical cylinders with elastic infill. By representation of a proper trigonometric displacement function in the formulation which is capable of incorporating the effects of the penetration zone in a harmonic form, in addition to satisfying all the necessary boundary conditions, it is shown that the buckling solution reduces to a dimensionless representation for which the relevant geometrical and material properties that govern the local buckling coefficient can be identified. It was found that the provision of lightweight and low density infill is functional and attractive with respect to an increase in the efficacy of the restraint. A comparison was made, and good agreement was found to exist, between the results obtained from this study and results that are available in the literature. Finally, a strength to weight index is introduced that quantifies the enhancement in the local buckling coefficient for a number of materials with a wide range of stiffness and density. This index has potential applications for optimal design in aerospace and other specialized engineering applications.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 443-450).

This thesis describes the fabrication and characterization of integrated hollow Bragg waveguides fabricated by controlled thin film buckling. Hollow waveguides based on two different set of materials were studied. In the first case, thermal tuning of air-core dimensions was studied using waveguides, with chalcogenide glass and polymer claddings. Results showed that the change in air- core height as a function of small temperature variations was in good agreement with theory. Planar, silicon based, hollow core waveguides with Si/SiO2 Bragg reflector claddings are also described. Fabrication was accomplished by incorporating compressive stress in the sputtered Si and SiO2 layers and then heating samples to induce buckling along predefined areas of low adhesion. Several low adhesion layers were studied, but a fluorocarbon layer was deposited by CVD gave the best results. Optical experiments demonstrated optical confinement in the air-core, with loss in the ~5 dB/cm range at the 1550 nm wavelength. / Photonics and Plasmas

Built-up steel I-girders are very commonly used in bridge construction. Their spans are typically very long, and they are susceptible to lateral torsional buckling if not enough lateral support is provided. This thesis includes guidelines for preventing lateral torsional buckling of steel I-girders under dead and wind load, accompanied with finite element analysis of double girder systems. The first portion includes capacity envelopes for single girders with single and double symmetric cross sections under various loading conditions and boundary conditions for double and single symmetric cross sections with double girders subjected to dead loads only. The second portion is dedicated to finite element analysis of double girders. Buckling analyses have been conducted on single symmetric double girders to verify their capacity equations and investigate the behavior of double girders subjected to wind load. The analyses focus on the weak axis bending of the double girder system as a whole and an evaluation of whether buckling of cross-bracing is an issue when lateral loads are present.

Piezoelectric materials have been widely used in applications such as transducers, acoustic components, as well as motion and pressure sensors. Because of the material’s biocompatibility and flexibility, its applications in biomedical and biological systems have been of great scientific and engineering interest. In order to develop piezoelectric sensors that are small and functional, understanding of the material behavior is crucial. The major objective of this research is to develop a test system to evaluate the performance of a sensor made from polyvinylidene fluoride and its uses for studying insect locomotion and behaviors. A linear stage laboratory setup was designed and built to study the piezoelectric properties of a sensor during buckling deformation. The resulting signal was compared with the data obtained from sensors attached a cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis. Comparisons show that the buckling generated in laboratory settings can be used to mimic sensor deformations when attached to an insect. An analytical model was also developed to further analyze the test results. Initial analysis shows its potential usefulness in predicting the sensor charge output. Additional material surface characterization studies revealed relationships between microstructure properties and the piezoelectric response. This project shows feasibility of studying insects with the use of polyvinylidene fluoride sensors. The application of engineering materials to insect studies opens the door to innovative approaches to integrating biological, mechanical and electrical systems.

The recent development in the marine industry with largerships built in sandwich construction and also the use of moreadvanced materials has enforced improvements of design criteriaregarding wrinkling. The commonly used Hoff’s formula isnot suited for the highly anisotropic fibre reinforced sandwichface sheets of today. The work presented herein investigates the wrinklingphenomenon. A solution to wrinkling of anisotropic sandwichplates subjected to multi-axial loading is presented. Thesolution includes the possibility of skew wrinkling where thewrinkling waves are not perpendicular to the principal loaddirection. The wrinkling angle is obtained from the solutiontogether with the maximum wrinkling load. This method has beensupported with tests of anisotropic plates subjected touni-axial and bi-axial loading. The effect of the face sheet local bending stiffness showsthe importance of including the face sheet stacking sequence inthe wrinkling analysis. The work points out the influence ofthe face sheet local bending stiffness on wrinkling. Threedifferent means of improving the wrinkling load except changingcore material is evaluated. The effect of the differentapproaches is evaluated theoretically and also throughcomparative testing. The transition between wrinkling and pureface sheet compression failure is investigated. Theoreticaldiscussions are compared with compressive test results of twodifferent face sheet types on seven different core densities.The failure modes are investigated using fractography. Theresults clearly show how the actual sandwich compressionfailure mode is influenced by the choice of core material,changing from wrinkling failure to face sheet micro bucklingfailure as the modulus density increases. Finally, a new approach is presented where the wrinklingproblem is transferred from a pure stability problem to amaterial strength criterion. The developed theory providesmeans on how to decide which sandwich constituent will failfirst and at which load it will fail. The method give insightto and develop the overall understanding of the wrinklingphenomenon. A very good correlation is found when the developedtheory is compared with both finite element calculations and toexperimental tests. <b>Keywords:</b>wrinkling, local buckling, imperfection,stability, anisotropy, sandwich