The objective of this study is to investigate the accuracy and computational efficiency of two commonly used formulations for performing the geometrically nonlinear thermal analysis of plane framed structures. The formulations considered are the followings: the Beam-Column formulation and the updated Lagrangian version of the finite element formulation that has been adopted in the commercially well-known software SAP2000. These two formulations are used to generate extensive numerical data for three plane frame configurations, which are then compared to evaluate the performance of the two formulations. The Beam-Column method is based on an Eulerian formulation that incorporates the effects of large joint displacements. In addition, local member force-deformation relationships are based on the Beam-Column approach that includes the axial strain, flexural bowing, and thermal strain. The other formulation, the SAP2000, is based on the updated Lagrangian finite element formulation. The results for nonlinear thermal responses were generated for three plane structures by these formulations. Then, the data were compared for accuracy of deflection responses and for computational efficiency of the Newton-Raphson iteration cycles required for the thermal analysis. The results of this study indicate that the Beam-Column method is quite efficient and powerful for the thermal analysis of plane frames since the method is based on the exact solution of the differential equations. In comparison to the SAP2000 software, the Beam-Column method requires fewer iteration cycles and fewer elements per natural member, even when the structures are subjected to significant curvature effects and to restrained support conditions. The accuracy of the SAP2000 generally depends on the number of steps and/or the number of elements per natural member (especially four or more elements per member may be needed when structure member encounters a significant curvature effect). Succinctly, the Beam-Column formulation requires considerably fewer elements per member, fewer iteration cycles, and less time for thermal analysis than the SAP2000 when the structures are subjected to significant bending effects.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the footing fixity effect on the lateral deflection of a bridge pier for different types of soil. Generally, the rotational restraint coefficient at top and bottom of pier (degree of fixity of the pier) is used to compute the effective length factor of pier which is in turn used to determine the pier deflection. The magnitude of the deflection is used to determine whether the p-delta force effect should be considered while designing the pier. However, the pier deflection is usually computed by assuming that the pier footing is completely fixed to the ground. In case of soil under footing, rotational restraint coefficient is taken as five for all types of soils. In this study, finite element analysis method was used to determine the pier deflection by providing three actual soil environments and compare the results with the traditional approach. Hence, the rotational restraint coefficient will be modified according to the deflection computed from the finite element analysis.

The increasing use of composite materials in many industries such as aerospace, automotive, and civil industries has increased the need for the development of effective techniques to detect defects in the bondlines of adhesive joints in composite structures. Currently, composite structures used in commercial applications such as modern aircraft use mechanical fasteners in redundancy to adhesive bonds to ensure structural integrity due to a lack of methods to reliably detect defects in the bondline of composite structure. As such, this thesis facilitates the development of nondestructive evaluation techniques for detecting bondline defects by using finite element (FE) modeling to simulate the effects of disbond defects caused by contamination of the bondline. These models were developed for single-lap joint specimens made of metal, composite, and dissimilar materials (metal bonded with composite) with contamination induced disbonds. The created FE models were used to generate whole-field strain data for single-lap joints under tensile loading. This generated strain data was then used to provide a model for evaluating and interpreting experimental strain measurements captured by digital image correlation (DIC). Finally, conclusions were drawn outlining the observed capability of strain measurement in the evaluation of bondline contamination in single-lap joints.

Often bone fractures are joined by inserting metal plates and screws to hold the fragmented bone under compression. However, after the fractured bone is healed removing the screws leaves holes in the bone which takes months to fill up and heal completely. The goal of this research is to investigate those voids specifically in a finite element model of a femur. The holes were found to experience high stress that can easily lead to crack propagations during everyday activities. Finite element models of femurs were modeled after two common fracture fixation systems, specifically just after the plates, rods and screws are removed. To observe the stress levels bones are likely to experience, common mechanical tests that are relevant to or associated with common daily activities were performed. While the 3-point bending tests did not yield significant results, the compression and torsion tests produced high stress areas near the screw holes. In certain cases, the von Mises’ stress reached 3.66 x 106 N/mm2. Our finite element modeling seeks to establish groundwork for future explorations on the holes created by fracture fixation hardware. In the future, this work will lead to redesigning of fixation systems with reduced stress concentration around the holes. Therefore, the initiation of new cracks around these holes will be limited during everyday activity.

L’objectif de ce travail est d’effectuer une campagne d’essais expérimentaux d’impact et de compression après impact sur chant de stratifiés composites afin d’établir les scénarios d’endommagements. Un dispositif d'essai au poids tombant a été utilisé afin de réaliser les impacts sur chant sur stratifiés avec différents drapages. Des coupes microscopiques, des radiographies aux rayons X et des analyses ultrasonores ont ensuite été effectuées afin de visualiser et de déterminer le scénario d’endommagement. Des essais de compression après impact ont également été réalisés. Les résultats des tests expérimentaux sont comparés avec un modèle numérique composé d'éléments d’interface pour décrire les fissures matricielles et d’éléments volumiques. Enfin, la prédiction numérique de la tenue résiduelle après impact permettra de diminuer les masses, d’éviter des essais coûteux, et donc de raccourcir la durée de développement. / Low velocity / low energy edge impact and quasi-static experiments have been carried out on carbon fiberreinforced plastic (CFRP) structures. A drop-weight testing machine was used to impact four different UDlaminates at 10, 20 and 35 J impact energy levels. In parallel, a quasi-static study has been conducted in order to compare its results with the impact ones. The impact results show that the static and dynamic behaviors are different. An analytical approach, to understand the impact damage scenario, is provided in order to explain the difference between static and dynamic edge impacts, regardless the stacking or impact energy. This approach explains well the dynamic and static initial stiffness and a crushing plateau. The fiber properties control the initial impact stiffness, while in the quasi-static indentation case, the properties of the matrix control the initial indentation stiffness. The crushing plateau is also controlled by the matrix properties. The impact scenario could be simulated easily knowing the material properties, the stacking sequence and the impact energy. In addition, that is crucial to model the residual strength. And all these experimental results have been compared with a finite element analysis that consists of interface elements to describe the matrix cracks and volume elements in order to simulate the impact and compression after impact damage and to predict the residual strength after impact. The model is in good agreement with the experiment. That will avoid expensive tests, and thus shorten the development time.

O projeto estrutural de túneis envolve o conhecimento da variável convergência (fechamento radial) para definição da pressão atuante sobre o revestimento e do nível de descompressão do solo circundante (maciço). A adoção de modelos contínuos em elementos finitos consegue discretizar de forma mais adequada o modelo mecânico estrutural considerando a interação com o solo. Dessa forma, esta dissertação recai sobre a variação da razão de cobertura (profundidade) de um túnel, a fim de determinar a profundidade limite que o modelo numérico segue o padrão de tensões geostáticas crescentes com a profundidade versus um padrão geostático uniforme profundo. A validação do modelo numérico ocorre junto a soluções analíticas desenvolvidas por Park (2004) e Kirsch (1898) para túneis em maciços elásticos superficiais e profundos respectivamente. Nos exemplos analisados, quando a profundidade do eixo do túnel é dez vezes maior que seu diâmetro as convergências se aproximam daquelas dadas pelo GEOMEC 91 (Bernaud, 1991) e o túnel pode ser considerado profundo. A curva de assentamentos (recalques) foi considerada consequência importante a ser notada em túneis superficiais que mostraram um recalque máximo até duas vezes maior quando se reduz a profundidade Para esse estudo foram desenvolvidos scripts com profundidade variável adicionando a superfície de plasticidade de Drucker-Prager (utilizada em solos friccionais). O modelo numérico desenvolvido para túneis superficiais é validado junto a túneis reais instrumentados que tenham sido avaliados a partir de algum outro modelo contínuo, são eles: Heathrow Express, Green Park, Metrôs de Barcelona, Brasília e São Paulo com resultados variando entre 1,20% e 6,78%. Eventualmente, uma breve análise do desenvolvimento de tensões no revestimento para túneis circulares, elípticos e ferradura é realizada a fim de encontrar zonas de tração. Enquanto túneis em seção ferradura desenvolveram tração para qualquer profundidade devido ao formato retilíneo, túneis circulares precisaram se encontrar com baixa profundidade a fim de desenvolver zonas descomprimidas decorrentes da ovalização de túneis rasos. / The structural design of tunnels involves the knowledge of the variable convergence (radial closure) for the definition of the acting pressure upon the lining and for the decompression level of the involving soil (rockmass). The adoption of continuous models using finite element analysis (FEA) is able to assess the structural mechanical model accurately, concerning the soil interaction. This way, this work studies the covering ratio (depth) of tunnels, in a way to determine the threshold point which divides the geostatic growing stresses versus the deep uniform stresses pattern. The validation of the numerical model under an elastic rockmass is done by comparison with analytical solutions developed by Park (2004) and Kirsch (1898) for shallow and deep tunnels respectively. Regarding the analyzed examples, when the depth of the tunnel axis is ten times greater than its diameter; the convergences approach to the ones given by GEOMEC 91 (Bernaud, 1991) and the tunnel may be considered deep. The settlement through (ground movement) is considered an important consequence to be noticed upon shallow tunnels; these tunnels have led to a maximum settlement twice deeper when the covering ratio is shallow (H/D = 1). For this study, several scripts have been developed concerning the variable depth and adding the Drucker-Prager plasticity criterion for frictional soils. The numerical model developed for shallow tunnels is validated with other continuous models relied on real instrumentation of subway network tunnels, such as: Heathrow Express, Green Park, Barcelona, Brasília and São Paulo with the solutions ranging between 1,20% and 6,78%. Eventually, a brief analysis of the stress development in the lining for circular, ellipsoid and horseshoe tunnels is done in search of tension zones. In one hand, horseshoe tunnels develop tension for any depth due to its straight walls; in the other hand, circular tunnels need to have a small covering ratio in order to develop decompression zones caused by the shallow tunnels ovalization.

Submitted by Matheus Mendes (matheus.strelow@hotmail.com) on 2016-03-18T18:31:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Matheus ultima versao.pdf: 1399576 bytes, checksum: 4c2bad16d434d17db1ee6f928b75c478 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-03-22T12:20:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 mendes_ms_me_arafo.pdf: 1399576 bytes, checksum: 4c2bad16d434d17db1ee6f928b75c478 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-22T12:20:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 mendes_ms_me_arafo.pdf: 1399576 bytes, checksum: 4c2bad16d434d17db1ee6f928b75c478 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-27 / Avaliar as forças ortodônticas liberadas pelo arco lingual por meio do Método de elementos Finitos nos dentes molares inferiores. MËTODO: Através da criação de um modelo geométrico computacional, com metodologia e softwares específicos, é possível o estudo do desempenho de estruturas através do método de análise com elementos finitos. Foi utilizada uma tomografia da região da mandíbula, em cortes de 0.25 mm de altura, para um total de 428 cortes com 640 x 640 voxels cada. O exame foi salvo no formato DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine Standard) e importado para um programa de processamento de imagem e reconstrução digital (Simpleware 4.2, Simpleware Ltd, Exeter, United Kingdom), para obtenção das geometrias desejadas, os dentes e a superfície óssea externa foram segmentados manualmente e reconstruídos tri dimensionalmente num modelo não paramétrico, gravados no formato STL (3D Systems, Rock Hill, USA). Para possibilitar a edição posterior, mas sem distorção significativa, os modelos foram parametrizados através do programa Solidworks Premium “Scan to 3D” (Dassault Systemes, Solidworks Corps, USA). Foi confeccionado um modelo em três dimensões do dispositivo ortodôntico arco lingual através do mesmo programa. Uma simulação da ativação do arco lingual foi realizada com o programa de simulação de elementos finitos Ansys Workbench V11. (Ansys Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA) e os resultados relativos as pressões recebidas pelo dente e ligamento periodontal foram analisados através de plotagens gráficas e numéricas. RESULTADOS: A ativação do arco lingual provocou uma movimentação no sentido mesio-lingual nos dentes molares,ao final da simulação os dentes molares tiveram uma movimentação de até 3,59 µm e o pico de pressão entre ligamento periodontal e dentina nos primeiros molares foi de 0,44 MPa. Já as tensões recebidas pelo fio de aço do arco lingual foram de até 2136 MPa. CONCLUSÃO: O Método de Elementos Finitos, é capaz de identificar as áreas de tensão do fio do arco lingual, ligamento periodontal e dente. As áreas de maior tensão na ativação bilateral do arco lingual localizaram-se próximas as bifurcações dos primeiros molares. / Evaluate the orthodontic forces released by the lingual arch through the finite elements method in lower molar teeth. Method: creating a computational geometric model with methodology and specific software the study of structural performance through the analysis of finite element method is possible. A tomographic scan of mandible was used in 0.25 mm high cuts to a total of 428 sections with 640 x 640 voxels each. The data was saved in DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine standard) and imported into an image processing program and digital reconstruction (Simpleware 4.2 Simpleware Ltd, Exeter, United Kingdom), to obtain the desired geometry, the teeth and the external bone surface were manually segmented and reconstructed three dimensionally in a non-parametric model, written in STL format (3D Systems, Rock Hill, USA). The models were parameterized by program Solidworks Premium "Scan to 3D" (Dassault Systemes, Solidworks Corps, USA). A model was made in three dimensions of the lingual arch orthodontic appliance using the same program. A simulation of the lingual arch activation was conducted with the simulation with ANSYS finite element Workbench V11. program (Ansys Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA) and the results for the pressures received by the tooth and periodontal ligament were analyzed through graphical and numerical plots. RESULTS: the activation of lingual arch caused a movement in the mesio lingual direction, the molar teeth had a movement of 3.59 µm and the highest pressure between periodontal ligament and dentin in the first molars was 0, 44 MPa. Tensions received by the steel wire of lingual arch were up to 2136 MPa. CONCLUSION: The Finite Element Method, is able of identifying the areas of tension on wire lingual arch, tooth and periodontal ligament. The areas of greatest tension in lingual arch bilateral activation were located near the forks of the first molars.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-07-06Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:20:23Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 yamamoto_etc_dr_sjc.pdf: 2267197 bytes, checksum: 537fb4ee2e9f4f60f9c4e4cdae9ad336 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo do estudo foi verificar o comportamento de prótese fixa de três elementos confeccionada em Zircônia e dos dentes suportes quando são utilizados diferentes preparos dos dentes suportes e diferentes formas da infra-estrutura. Simulou-se a ausência do segundo pré-molar superior e realizou-se preparos do tipo ocluso-proximal, proximal-ocluso-proximal, preparo para overlay e para coroa total nos dentes suportes. Utilizou-se dois tipos de formato de conector, o convencional e em forma de arco. Os modelos tridimensionais foram realizados em softwares CAD Rhinoceros® e 3D Studio Max®. Os modelos tridimensionais simularam uma secção da maxila na região entre primeiro pré-molar e primeiro molar e foram compostos por osso medular e cortical, ligamento periodontal, dentina e esmalte. Foi realizada análise de elementos finitos, as análises de tensões foram processadas no programa Ansys®. Os resultados foram apresentados por meio de mapas de cores de tensão/deformação, com a distribuição de tensões e valores numéricos. Os diferentes preparos dos dentes suportes não influenciaram na distribuição de tensões nos dentes suportes. O preparo de coroa total foi o único preparo que diminui a tensão sobre a infra-estrutura. O formato do conector foi significativamente diferente. O conector em forma de arco distribui melhor as tensões na infra-estrutura do que o conector convencional / The aim of this study was to investigate the behavior of three elements fixed partial denture made of three elements made of Zirconia and support teeth when use different preparations of the support teeth and different forms of framework. Simulated the absence of the superior second premolar and the support teeth preparation was occlusal-proximal, proximal-occlusal-proximal, overlay preparation and full crown. We used two types of connector format, the conventional and arc-shaped. The three-dimensional models were made in Rhinoceros CAD software and 3D Studio Max. The model was composed with maxillary first premolar and first molar, cortical and medullary bone, periodontal ligament, dentin and enamel. Analyses of stresses were processed in the program ANSYS ®. The results were presented in color maps of stress / strain, with the stress distribution and numerical values. The different preparations of the support teeth didn´t influence the stress distribution in supppot teeth. The preparation of full crown was the only preparation that reduces the strain on the infrastructure. The shape of the connector was significantly different. The arch-shaped connector was better than conventional connector in the framework stress distribution

The use of energy methods and variational principles is widespread in many fields of engineering of which structural mechanics and curve and surface design are two prominent examples. In principle many different types of function can be used as possible trial solutions to a given variational problem but where piecewise polynomial behaviour and user controlled cross segment continuity is either required or desirable, B-splines serve as a natural choice. Although there are many examples of the use of B-splines in such situations there is no common thread running through existing formulations that generalises from the one dimensional case through to two and three dimensions. We develop a unified approach to the representation of the minimisation equations for B-spline based functionals in tensor product form and apply these results to solving specific problems in geometric smoothing and finite element analysis using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. We focus on the development of algorithms for the exact computation of the minimisation matrices generated by finding stationary values of functionals involving integrals of squares and products of derivatives, and then use these to seek new variational based solutions to problems in the above fields. By using tensor notation we are able to generalise the methods and the algorithms from curves through to surfaces and volumes. The algorithms developed can be applied to other fields where a variational form of the problem exists and where such tensor product B-spline functions can be specified as potential solutions.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Hayder A. Rasheed / The structural deterioration of aging infrastructure systems is becoming an increasingly important issue worldwide. To compound the issue, economic strains limit the resources available for repair or replacement of such systems. Over the past several decades, structural health monitoring (SHM) has proved to be a cost-effective method for detection and evaluation of damage in structures. Visual inspection and condition rating is one of the most commonly applied SHM techniques, but the effectiveness of this method suffers due to its reliance on the availability and experience of qualified personnel performing largely qualitative damage evaluations. The artificial neural network (ANN) approach presented in this study attempts to augment visual inspection methods by developing a crack-induced damage quantification model for reinforced concrete bridge girders that requires only the results of limited field measurements to operate. Simply-supported three-dimensional reinforced concrete T-beams with varying geometric, material, and cracking properties were modeled using Abaqus finite element (FE) analysis software. Up to five cracks were considered in each beam, and the ratios of stiffness between cracked and healthy beams with the same geometric and material parameters were measured at nine equidistant nodes along the beam. Two feedforward ANNs utilizing backpropagation learning algorithms were then trained on the FE model database with beam properties serving as inputs for both neural networks. The outputs for the first network consisted of the nodal stiffness ratios, and the sole output for the second ANN was a health index parameter, computed by normalizing the area under the stiffness ratio profile over the span length of the beam. The ANNs achieved excellent prediction accuracies with coefficients of determination (R²) exceeding 0.99 for both networks. Additional FE models were created to further assess the networks’ prediction capabilities on data not utilized in the training process. The ANNs displayed good prediction accuracies (R² > 0.8) even when predicting damage levels in beams with geometric, material, and cracking parameters dissimilar from those found in the training database. A touch-enabled user interface was developed to allow the ANN models to be utilized for on-site damage evaluations. The results of this study indicate that application of ANNs with FE modeling shows great promise in SHM for damage evaluation.