published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

We discuss a systematic methodology that leads to the reconstruction of the material profile of either single, or assemblies of one-dimensional flexural components endowed with Timoshenko-theory assumptions. The probed structures are subjected to user-specified transient excitations: we use the complete waveforms, recorded directly in the time-domain at only a few measurement stations, to drive the profile reconstruction using a partial-differential-equation-constrained optimization approach. We discuss the solution of the ensuing state, adjoint, and control problems, and the alleviation of profile multiplicity by means of either Tikhonov or Total Variation regularization. We report on numerical experiments using synthetic data that show satisfactory reconstruction of a variety of profiles, including smoothly and sharply varying profiles, as well as profiles exhibiting localized discontinuities. The method is well suited for imaging structures for condition assessment purposes, and can handle either diffusive or localized damage without need for a reference undamaged state. / text

<p>In this report we describe simulation of the surface current density on a PEC cylinder and the diffracted field for a line source above a finite PEC ground plane as a means to verify the Nero2D program. The results are compared with the exact solution and give acceptable errors. A terrain model for a communication link is studied in the report and we simulate the wave propagation for terrain with irregular shapes and different materials. The Nero2D program is based on the fast multipole method (FMM) to reduce computation time and memory. Gaussian sources are also studied to make the terrain model more realistic</p>

A new structural system for multi-storey timber buildings has been developed over the last seven years at the University of Canterbury. The system incorporates large timber structural frames, whereby semi-rigid beam-column connections are created using post-tensioning steel tendons. This system can create large open floor plans required for office and commercial buildings. Several material properties of the engineered timber used were determined based on small-scale experimental testing. Full-scale testing of beams, connections and frames resulted in a more comprehensive understanding of the behaviour of such systems. Numerical, analytical and framework models also led to the development of design equations and procedures which were validated with the acquired experimental data.

We present Bessel function and Gaussian beam models for a study of microwave power deposition in bounded and inhomogeneous lossy media. The aim is to develop methods that can accurately simulate practical results commonly found in electromagnetic hyperthermic treatment, which is a noninvasive method. The Bessel function method has a closed form solution and can be used to compute accurate results of electromagnetic fields emanating from applicators with cosinusoidal aperture fields. On the other hand, the Gaussian beam method is approximate but has the capability to simplify boundary value problems and to compute fields in three-dimensions with extremely low CPU time (less than 30 sec). Although the Gaussian beam method is derived from geometrical optics theory, it performs very well in domains outside the realm of geometrical optics which stipulates that aperture dimension/λ ≥ 5 in the design of microwave systems. This condition has no relevance to the Gaussian beam method since the method shows that a limit of aperture dimension/ λ ≥ 0.9 is possible, which is a very important achievement in the design and application of microwave systems. Experimental verifications of the two theoretical models are integral parts of the presentation and show the viability of the methods.

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