When a clay soil is sheared, clay particles along the shear plane become aligned in the direction of shear, forming "slickensided" surfaces. Slickensided surfaces are often observed along the sliding plane in field landslides. Because the clay particles along a slickensided surface are already aligned in the direction of shear, the available shear resistance is significantly less than that of the surrounding soil. During an earthquake, ground shaking often causes landslide movement. For existing landslides or repaired landslides that contain slickensided rupture surfaces, it is reasonable to expect that the movement will occur along the existing slickensided surfaces, because they are weaker than the surrounding soil. The amount of movement that occurs is controlled by the dynamic resistance that can be mobilized along the slickensided surfaces. The objective of this study was to investigate, through laboratory strength tests and centrifuge model tests, the shearing resistance that can be mobilized on slickensided rupture surfaces in clay slopes during earthquakes. A method was developed for preparing slickensided rupture surfaces in the laboratory, and a series of ring shear tests, direct shear tests, and triaxial tests was conducted to study the static and cyclic shear resistance of slickensided surfaces. Two dynamic centrifuge tests were also performed to study the dynamic shear behavior of slickensided clay slopes. Newmark's method was used to back-calculate cyclic strengths from the centrifuge data. Test results show that the cyclic shear resistance that can be mobilized along slickensided surfaces is higher than the drained shear resistance that is applicable for static loading conditions. These results, coupled with a review of existing literature, provide justification for using cyclic strengths that are at least 20% larger than the drained residual shear strength for analyses of seismic stability of slickensided clay slopes. This represents a departure from the current state of practice, which is to use the drained residual shear strength as a "first-order approximation of the residual strength friction angle under undrained and rapid loading conditions" (Blake et al., 2002). / Ph. D.

This work investigates the modal properties of general cyclically symmetric systems and the multi-stage systems with cyclically symmetric stages. The work generalizes the modal properties of engineering applications, such as planetary gears, centrifugal pendulum vibration absorber (CPVA) systems, multi-stage planetary gears, etc., and provides methods to improve the computational efficiency to numerically solve the system modes when cyclically symmetric structures exist. Modal properties of cyclically symmetric systems with vibrating central components as three-dimensional rigid bodies are studied without any assumptions on the system matrix symmetries: asymmetric inertia matrix, damping, gyroscopic, and circulatory terms can be present. In the equation of motion of such a cyclically symmetric system, the matrix operators are proved to have properties related to the cyclic symmetry. These symmetry-related properties are used to prove the modal properties of general cyclically symmetric systems. Only three types of modes can exist: substructure modes, translational-tilting modes, and rotational-axial modes. Each mode type is characterized by specific central component modal deflections and substructure phase relations. Instead of solving the full eigenvalue problem,all vibration modes and natural frequencies can be obtained by solving smaller eigenvalue problems associated with each mode type. This computational advantage is dramatic for systems with many substructures or many degrees of freedom per substructure. Group theory is applied to further generalize the modal properties of cyclically symmetric systems when both rigid-body and compliant central components exist, such as planetary gears with an elastic continuum ring gear. The group theory for symmetry groups is introduced, and the group-theory-based modal analysis does not rely on any knowledge of the properties of system matrices in system equations of motion. The three types of modes (substructure modes, translational-tilting modes, and rotational-axial modes) are characterized by specific rigid-body central component modal defections, substructure phase relations, and nodal diameter components of compliant central components. The general formulation of reduced eigenvalue problems for each mode type is obtained through group-theory-based method, and it applies to discrete, continuous, or hybrid discrete-continuous cyclically symmetric systems. The group-theory-based modal analysis also applies to systems with other symmetry types. The group-theory-based modal analysis is generalized to analyze the multi-stage systems that are composed of symmetric stages coupled through the motions of rigid-body central components. The proposed group-theory-based modal analysis applies to multi-stage systems with cyclically symmetric stages, such as multi-stage planetary gears and CPVA systems with multiple groups of absorbers. The method also applies to multi-stage systems with component stages that have different types of symmetry. For a multi-stage system with symmetric stages, a unitary transformation matrix can be built through an algorithmic and computationally inexpensive procedure. The obtained unitary transformation matrix provides the foundation to analyze the modal properties based on the principles of group-theory-based modal analysis. For general multi-stage systems with symmetric component stages, the vibration modes are classified into two general types, single-stage substructure modes and overall modes, according to the non-zero modal deflections in each component stage. Reduced eigenvalue problems for each mode type are formulated to reduce the computational cost for eigensolutions. Finite element models of multi-stage bladed disk assemblies consist of multiple cyclically symmetric bladed disks that are coupled through the boundary nodes at the inter-stage interface. To improve the computational efficiency of calculating the full system modes, a numerical method is proposed by combination of the multi-stage cyclic symmetry reduction method and the subspace iteration method. Compared to the multi-stage cyclic symmetry reduction method, the proposed method improves the accuracy of obtained eigensolutions through an iterative process that is derived from the subspace iteration method. Based on the cyclic symmetry in each component stage of bladed disk, the proposed iterative method that can be performed using single stage sector models only, instead of using matrix operators for the full multi-stage bladed disks. Parallel computations can be performed in the proposed iterative method, and the computational speed for eigensolutions can be increased significantly. / Doctor of Philosophy / Cyclically symmetric structures exist in many engineering applications such as bladed disks, circular plates, planetary gears, centrifugal pendulum vibration absorbers (CPVA), etc. During steady operation, these cyclically symmetric systems are subjected to traveling wave dynamic loading. Component vibrations result in undesirable effects, including high cycle fatigue (HCF) failure, noise, performance reduction, etc. Knowledge of the modal properties of cyclically symmetric systems is helpful to analyze the system forced response and understand experimental modal testing. In this work, single stage cyclically symmetric systems are proved to have highly structured modes. The single stage systems considered in this work can have both rigid bodies and elastic continua as components. Group theory is used to study the modal properties, including the system mode types and the characteristics of different mode types. All the vibration modes of single stage cyclically symmetric systems can be solved from reduced eigenvalue problems. The methodology also applies to systems with other types of symmetry. For multi-stage systems with cyclically symmetric substructures, such as multi-stage planetary gears, a group-theory-based method is developed to analyze the modal properties. For industrial applications, such as multi-stage bladed disk assemblies, this work develops an iterative method to facilitate the calculations of system modes. The modal properties and methods for solving system modes apply to mechanical systems, including CPVA systems, the single/multi-stage planetary gears in power transmission systems, bladed disk assemblies in turbines, circular plates, elastic rings, etc.

Traditional mortise and tenon timber frames have been used in modern construction for a substantial period of time with acceptable performance against weather phenomena and other hazards. However, performance criteria for this style of timber framing are not well defined in current codes and standards. To determine performance criteria for free-standing timber frames with knee-braces, three tasks were undertaken: (1) Two timber frame specimens were tested under cyclic loads to determine hysteretic behavior, damage states, and to explore rehabilitation of a damaged member using self-tapping screws. Three damage states for were identified: peg shear, tenon tearout, and post or beam splitting. Self-tapping screws were able to restore the strength of the 2-peg timber frame with the damaged beam, but not the stiffness of the frame. (2) Four timber frame mortise and tenon connection specimens were subjected to damp conditions for six months and then tested under monotonic tensile load to determine the effect of joint details. The results indicated that connection types tested had similar strength and stiffness. (3) Twelve free-standing timber frames with knee braces located at various sites across the United States were tested in the field under impulse loading to determine the fundamental period of vibration and to estimate damping. A relationship between the fundamental period and the mean roof height was fit to the test data using a power-law equation, and three sets of parameters were determined: a lower-bound equation for seismic loads, an upper-bound equation for wind loads, and mean equation for human-induced vibration performance criteria.

Fusarium head blight is a devastating fungal disease of cereals caused by the pathogen Fusarium graminearum that leads to important economic losses due to diminished yields and grain downgrading. F. graminearum deploys several secondary metabolites known as virulence factors to facilitate its invasion of host tissues. These include the gramillins, a group of bicyclic lipopeptide ionophores that cause cell death and increased virulence in Arabidopsis, maize, and barley, but not wheat. Ionophores are involved in many plant-microbe interactions, but current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms governing host response to these molecules is limited. Susceptibility to gramillin varies among cultivars of affected species, but the basis for insensitivity has not yet been described, nor has the function of gramillin during infection. Here, we establish ion leakage as a method to survey Canadian barley for sensitivity, demonstrate that insensitivity to gramillin is likely mediated by a plant protease rather than inducible immune responses, and suggest a possible function of gramillin in positively regulating the expression of other fungal virulence factors during infection. This contributes to deepening our understanding of cyclic lipopeptide ionophores and their role during plant-microbe interactions.

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