Os materiais utilizados nas osteossínteses passam constantemente por avanços tecnológicos. Um dos mais recentes dispositivos é a chamada placa bloqueada, suas principais indicações são fraturas com alto grau de cominução, fraturas que não exigem uma redução anatômica, ossos osteopenicos, por exemplo, acometidos pela osteoporose, entre outras. Atualmente novos modelos de placas com bloqueio estão sendo desenvolvidos, onde a interface do parafuso e a placa são feito pela deformação do orifício, com a vantagem da instalação do parafuso em diversos ângulos. O presente projeto tem por objetivo estudar comparativamente a diferença entre os dois tipos de interface parafuso placa, como também realizar teste de quatro pontos comparando o sistema novo de bloqueio com o sistema convencional de bloqueio. Realizamos ensaios de arrancamento com sistema convencional de bloqueio (Synthes) e com o novo sistema de bloqueio (PAX) em parafusos 2,0mm; 2,4mm; 2,7mm e 3,5mm. Em todos os grupos testados o sistema convencional de bloqueio foi mais resistente e apresentou diferença significativa estatisticamente, teste de Mann- Witney (p< 0,05). Os valores de P obtidos foram: sistema 2.0mm p = 0,008; sistema 2.4 mm p= 0,008; sistema 2.7 mm p= 0,016; sistema 3.5 mm p= 0,008. No teste de 4 pontos utilizamos 20 placas da marca Synthes (sistema convencional de bloqueio) e 20 da marca PAX (novo sistema de bloqueio) e o sistema convencional de bloqueio se mostrou novamente mais resistente com diferença significativa. Os valores de P obtidos foram: sistema 2.0mm p = 0,008; sistema 2.4 mm p= 0,008; sistema 2.7 mm p= 0,008; sistema 3.5 mm p= 0,008. Conclui-se que o sistema convencional de bloqueio se mostrou mais resistente tanto no teste de arrancamento quanto no teste de flexão de quatro pontos. / The materials used in osteosynthesis constantly technological advances. One of the most recent devices is called the locking plate, its main indications are fractures with a high degree of comminution, fractures which do not require anatomical reduction, osteopenic bones, for example, affected by osteoporosis, among others. Currently new locking plate designs are being developed, where the screw interface and the plate are made by deformation of the hole, with the installation of the advantage screw at various angles. This study aims to compared the difference between the two types of interface screw - plate but also perform four-point test comparing the new locking system with the conventional system lock. Pullout tests conducted with conventional locking system (Synthes) and the new locking system (PAX) by screws 2.0mm; 2.4mm; 2.7mm and 3.5mm. In all groups tested the conventional system of blockade was stronger and showed a statistically significant difference, Mann-Witney test (p <0.05). P values were obtained: System 2.0mm P = 0.008; system 2.4 mm p = 0.008; System 2.7 mm p = 0.016; system 3.5 mm p = 0.008. In test points 4 used 20 Synthes plate mark (conventional blocking system) and 20 brand PAX (new locking system), the conventional locking system again showed a significant difference resistant. P values were obtained: System 2.0mm P = 0.008; system 2.4 mm p = 0.008; system 2.7 mm p = 0.008; system 3.5 mm p = 0.008. It follows that the conventional locking system has proved much more resistant peel test as in the four point bending test.

Design methods for side shear of drilled shafts, including the resistance factors that should be applied, do not account for any specific construction procedure. Instead, design often relies on analysis of case studies which include all construction methods used in each geomaterial type (e.g. clays, sands and rocks), or on parametric analysis. Nonetheless, literature suggests that different construction procedures result in varying side shear. This research investigated 2 types of construction: (1) slurry stabilization in sandy soils using bentonite and polymer products that are commonly used on the field, with exposure times from near 0h to 96h, and (2) temporary casing stabilization in simulated limestone using 3 different methods for installation and extraction of the casings which included: driven, coarse-tooth rotated and fine-tooth rotated. All specimens were 1/10th scale in relation to the most common shafts sizes constructed in the field. The results showed that bentonite slurry causes a significant reduction on the side shear within relatively short periods of time (between 2h and 4h of open excavation), whereas polymer slurry did not show appreciable variations up to 96h. The driven and coarse-tooth rotated temporary casing exhibited lower side shear resistance than the fine-tooth rotated casings, which can be attributed to the larger annulus outside the casing and the additional crumbled pieces of rock that degrades the contact interface with the socket concrete. Construction-based resistance factors are suggested for each construction procedure investigated in this study and clearly show the effects from different methods.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect on side shear resistance in limestone when temporary casing is used. Due to testing in actual limestone being an unrealistic goal, simulated limestone mixes were prepared and cast into 6 – 42 in. diameter beds. Limestone throughout Florida can be quite varied (e.g. 50-5000 psi) but where stronger limestone is not likely to be penetrated by casing installation. Therefore, target unconfined compressive strengths of the study specimens ranged between 60 psi to 850 psi. A simulated limestone material was developed based on over 200 cylinders cast for unconfined compression testing where the binder (cement or lime), water to binder ratio, aggregate types (sand, coquina, and oyster shells), and binder content were all varied. Results of the laboratory tests were used to establish simulated limestone mixes for 42 in. diameter specimen beds in which 1/10th scale drilled shaft rock sockets were cast. Drilled shaft casing installation techniques were adapted to 1/10th scale where driven casing and oscillated/rotated casing methods were simulated. Within each of the simulated limestone test beds, 5 shaft specimens were cast with and without temporary casing where at least one of the specimens was cast without temporary casing (control specimen). Pullout tests of each specimen revealed that the presence of temporary casing reduced the side shear by 25 to 28 percent depending on the casing installation/extraction method. However, in all cases representative of weaker limestone, the measured reduction did not affect the anticipated design side shear resistance.

Drilled shafts are cylindrical deep foundations constructed by casting fluid concrete into an excavated hole. These elements rely largely on side shear resistance generated by their substantial diameters and lengths to effectively transfer loads. Therefore, an exceptional concrete to soil interface is essential for proper performance of these structures. The FDOT preferred stabilization fluid, bentonite slurry, has been proven to degrade this interface with increased exposure time due to filter cake formation. For this reason, slurry exposure time has been limited to 36 hours by FDOT. Alternately, polymer slurries do not form a filter cake but rather stabilize excavations through continuous soil infiltration and the associated cohesion that accompanies the slurry presence. As polymer slurry use is relatively new to the state of Florida, FDOT does not presently have clear specifications regarding polymer exposure time limits. Hence, this thesis presents the results of pullout tests performed on 1/10th scale drilled shafts constructed with both polymer and bentonite slurries and with varying exposure times. To explore the effect of exposure time on side shear resistance, 24 - 4in diameter 8ft long shafts were constructed: 6 with bentonite and 18 with three different polymer products (6 each). After being exposed to the respective slurry for 0, 1, 2, 4, 8 or 24 hours, each excavated hole was concreted and tested after 7 days of curing. Pullout tests served as a direct measure of side shear resistance due to the absence of base resistance associated with compression testing. After testing, shafts were exhumed and sectioned for filter cake measurement. As expected, shafts constructed using bentonite slurries immediately exhibited a decrease in capacity with increased exposure time. Between 0 and 24 hours a 34% reduction in capacity was witnessed. These reductions were attributed to filter cake thickness which increased with exposure time along with the reduction in effective shaft. After 4 hours of exposure, side shear resistance for the bentonite shafts approached an asymptote, likely defined by the strength of the filter cake formed. The side shear resistance of all polymer shafts exceeded that of the 24hr bentonite control shaft by 20-50 percent depending on the polymer product used. For a given polymer product no capacity reduction was noted with respect to time. Inspection of exhumed shafts revealed the formation of a soil cake (region of stabilized soil stuck to the shaft) around the perimeter of the polymer shafts. Therefore, the side shear resistance of the polymer shafts was defined by the soil-to-soil interface surrounding the shaft and not by an intermediate filter cake. The study resulted in the following findings: (1) open excavations using polymer slurry stabilization are not adversely affected by extended exposure time, (2) the effect of filter cake formation in bentonite supported excavations slows with time whereby no significant degradation in capacity was noted after 8 hours, (3) shafts constructed with polymer slurry performed better than those constructed with bentonite, and (4) as polymer slurry flow into the surrounding soil does not slow with time, more slurry volume is required (compared with bentonite) and slurry level must be continuously maintained.

This research presents the results on an experimental investigation to identify the significant factors influencing horizontal cracking in continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCP). An in-depth analysis of the microstructure, morphological characteristics of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) and the observation of cracking using the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) was done. Characterization of oxides using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was also performed. Water to cement ratio (w/c) and rebar temperature had a significant influence on the rebar-concrete bond strength. The 28-day shear strength measurements showed an increase in rebar-concrete bond strength as the water to cement ratio (w/c) was reduced from 0.50 to 0.40. There was a reduction in the peak pullout load as the temperature increased from 14oF to 252oF for the corroded and non-corroded rebar experiments. The corroded rebar pullout test results showed a 20-50 % reduction in bond strength compared to the non-corroded rebars. FTIR measurements indicated a presence of lepidocrocrite (γ -FeOOH) and maghemite (γ -Fe2O3) on the ITZ. ESEM images showed the existence of microcracks as early as three days after casting with the bridging of these cracks between coarse aggregate locations in the interfacial zone propagating through the mortar.

The compressive strength of mortar is typically determined using the American Societyfor Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard method using 2 inch cubes which are compressed tillfailure. There is however a disparity between the compressive strengths of mortar cubes, and insitumortar. This disparity is a result of the differences in thickness, aspect ratio, curingconditions, water content, and confinement between mortar cubes and mortar joints. While thesedifferences lead to mortar joints being stronger than mortar cubes, a relationship between theirstrengths is desired.Two less-common mortar strength tests were used to determine more accurately thecompressive strength of in-situ mortar. The results of both tests were compared to the results ofASTM standard compressive testing with mortars of the same water content. The first was theDouble Punch test which involves the use of two metal punches that compress either side of athin mortar sample till failure. The Double Punch test is more difficult to perform than theASTM standard compression test, but was useful because it simulates the confinement that insitumortar will experience. The Double Punch test was also used with mortar specimens ofvarying thickness to determine a relationship between specimen thickness and compressivestrength. The second test used was the Helix Pullout test. This test is performed by insertingmetal helical screws into a mortar joint, and pulling from the joint while restricting rotation. Themaximum load used to extract the Helix is recorded as the Pullout Load, and is used to find thecompressive strength by use of a calibration curve. This test was used on a masonry wall paneland mortar cubes were also made with the same mortar for compressive testing.The tested mortar exhibited decreased compressive strength with increased water content.The mortar also decreased in strength with increasing specimen thickness. Mortar joints wereshown to be significantly stronger than mortar cubes based on factors of specimen thickness andconfinement by an average factor of at least 2.40. Although results are affected by punchdiameter, the Double Punch test was shown to be a consistent and reliable means of estimatingmortar compressive strength. The Helix Pullout test exhibited wide variation, and wasdetermined to be primarily useful for qualitative comparison as opposed to quantitativedetermination of strength.

Avaliou-se experimentalmente o comportamento da resistência ao cisalhamento de interface em reforços unidirecionais utilizados em estruturas de contenção. Para tal, foram realizados ensaios de arrancamento em fitas metálicas, utilizadas para soluções em terra armada e chumbadores, para soluções em solo grampeado. Os ensaios, em campo e laboratório, permitiram constatar a pouca influência do diâmetro dos chumbadores no valor da resistência ao cisalhamento de interface (qs). Ainda em relação aos chumbadores, os resultados mostraram que o volume de calda de cimento para preenchimento da cavidade escavada está diretamente associado ao ganho de qs. Os ensaios em fitas metálicas, em obras executados com solos finos, mostraram que o seu uso requer um estudo mais detalhado do seu comportamento, visto que os parâmetros sugeridos pela NBR 9286/86 não condiz com os resultados experimentais desta pesquisa. / This study evaluated experimentally the behavior of interface shear strength in unidirectional reinforcements used in reinforced soil structures. Pullout tests were carried out on reinforcements used in reinforced earth and soil nailing techniques. Nail diameter has little influence on interface shear strength (qs), according to field and laboratory tests. Additionally, increasing grout volume in nail cavity was directly linked to gain of qs. Tests on reinforced earth reinforcements using fine-grained soils showed that the results do not match with the suggestion of NBR 9286/86.

Block stability is common and has to be studied in detail for designing tunnels. Stability of block depends upon the shape and size of the blocks, stresses around the block and factors such as clamping forces and the ratio between joint stiffness. These factors are studied in detail and are the main objective of this thesis. In this thesis influence of loading and unloading of blocks on joint stiffness and thus on ultimate pullout force are analyzed. Normal stress on the joint plane is linked with shear stiffness of the joint and relaxation of forces. Changes of forces were considered to estimate joint stiffness and ultimate pullout force using new methods in the present thesis. First method takes into account changing clamping forces considering stiffness ratio constant (Crawford and Bray). The second method was developed in which the ratio between normal and shear stiffness was taken as a function of normal stress (Bagheri and Stille). In third method, gradually pullout force is increased which changes the normal stress and joint stiffness. The lower limit of joint stiffness gives a very conservative design. So a stiffness value based on the average of lower and upper limit of normal force has also been considered. A comparison between the new methods and the previous method proposed by Crawford and Bray which considers a constant ratio of normal and shear stiffness and constant clamping forces shows that Crawford and Bray’s solution overestimates the pullout forces hence the design is unsafe. It was observed that stiffness ratio is an important factor for estimating required rock support and safety.

Many research studies made on hundreds of MSE walls have shown that in order to get lower values of lateral earth pressure coefficients from an active condition on the backfill soil, thus lower exerted loads and stresses on the reinforcement, the wall needs to yield. This is typical of extensible polymer-based wall systems, such as geosynthetics. Steel systems, on the other hand, are very rigid and do not allow enough deformation on the wall to generate the active condition. For this research, steel reinforcement for MSE walls that behaves similar to geosynthetics was developed. This was done by using crimps on steel bars that would allow the wall to deform as the crimps straighten. A pullout box was designed and constructed, where tensile and pullout tests were performed on the crimped reinforcement. Different crimp geometries on different bar diameters were tested under a range of confining pressures. From this, force-displacement curves were developed for these crimp geometries that could be used to predict deflections on walls with crimped reinforcement. In addition, the pullout resistance of the crimps in the straighten process was evaluated. This way, the crimps would not only be used to allow the wall to yield, but also as a pullout resistance mechanism. The pullout resistances per crimp for different tensions on the crimp and under a range of overburden pressures were evaluated. By combining the pullout resistance of the crimps and the force-displacement curves, a new internal stability design method was introduced where crimped reinforcement is used to resist both pullout and rupture failure. Also presented here are the pullout resistances of round bars with improved deformations of different diameters. These were found to have the same pullout resistance of square deformed bars with the same cross-sectional area. Round bars are preferred over square bars because they are more corrosion resistant and have longer design life.

Lightweight cellular concrete (LCC) is a type of concrete that has reduced density and weight compared to traditional concrete. This is achieved by incorporating a large amount of air- filled cells or voids into the mixture. The resulting material is lighter, yet still possesses considerable strength and durability, making it suitable for a range of construction applications, especially in the case of retaining walls because of its reduced weight. Unlike traditional concrete, which can be extremely heavy and place significant stress on the supporting structure, lightweight cellular concrete reduces the pressure on the retaining wall, helping to prevent deformation and failure. Additionally, the reduced weight of the material can also simplify construction processes and make it easier to transport and handle, reducing the cost and labor required to build a retaining wall. The reduced weight also makes it possible to build taller walls with less settlement in the underlying compressible layers, which can be especially beneficial in areas with utility lines sensitive to displacement. Despite these advantages, limited research has been performed on the use of LCC as a backfill for retaining wall applications. This report provides new test data on the pullout resistance of ribbed-strip and welded-wire mesh reinforcements at high pressures. The pullout tests at high pressures were conducted in which four test prisms (2 ft wide x 10 ft long x 2' tall) that were filled with LCC with welded-wire mesh reinforcement on one side and ribbed strip reinforcement on the other. These boxes were loaded with vertical confining pressures of 40, 50, and 60 psi and subjected to a pullout force on the reinforcement until failure. These results were then combined with results from previous BYU tests at lower pressures to define pullout resistance factors, F* (friction coefficients) for MSE reinforcements over a full range of pressures. Finally, the pullout resistance of MSE reinforcements were used in slope stability models to back-calculate the F* values that would lead to failure at the surcharge pressures measured in three previous large-scale tests conducted on 10 ft wide x 10 ft tall x 13 ft long blocks of LCC at BYU. Very good agreement was obtained between the computed F* at failure and the measured F* values confirming the validity of this approach for engineering design in the future involving global stability MSE wall stability under surcharge loading.