An investigation on the application of basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars as longitudinal reinforcement for simple and continuous concrete slabs is presented. Eight continuously and four simply concrete slabs were constructed and tested to failure. Two continuously supported steel reinforced concrete slabs were also tested for comparison purposes. The slabs were classified into two groups according to the type of FRP bars. All slabs tested were 500 mm in width and 150 mm in depth. The simply supported slabs had a span of 2000 mm, whereas the continuous slabs had two equal spans, each of 2000 mm. Different combinations of under and over FRP (BFRP/CFRP) reinforcement at the top and bottom layers of slabs were investigated. The continuously supported BFRP and CFRP reinforced concrete slabs exhibited larger deflections and wider cracks than the counterpart reinforced with steel. The experimental results showed that increasing the bottom mid-span FRP reinforcement of continuous slabs is more effective than the top over middle support FRP reinforcement in improving the load capacity and reducing mid-span deflections. Design guidelines have been validated against experimental results of FRP reinforced concrete slabs tested. ISIS¿M03¿07 and CSA S806-06 equations reasonably predicted the deflections of the slabs tested. However, ACI 440¿1R-06 underestimated the deflections, overestimated the moment capacities at mid-span and over support sections, and reasonably predicted the load capacity of the continuous slabs tested. On the analytical side, a numerical technique consisting of sectional and longitudinal analyses has been developed to predict the moment¿curvature relationship, moment capacity and load-deflection of FRP reinforced concrete members. The numerical technique has been validated against the experimental test results obtained from the current research and those reported in the literature. A parametric study using the numerical technique developed has also been conducted to examine the influence of FRP reinforcement ratio, concrete compressive strength and type of reinforcement on the performance of continuous FRP reinforced concrete slabs. Increasing the concrete compressive strength decreased the curvature of the reinforced section with FRP bars. Moreover, in the simple and continuous FRP reinforced concrete slabs, increasing the FRP reinforcement at the bottom layer fairly reduced and controlled deflections.

Hydraulic systems are used in many fields of applications for different functions like energy storage in hybrid systems. Generally the mass of hydraulic systems plays a key role especially for mobile hydraulics (construction machines, trucks, cars) and hydraulic aircraft systems. The main product properties like energy efficiency or payload can be improved by reducing the mass. In this connection carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) with their superior specific strength and stiffness open up new chances to acquire new lightweight potentials compared to metallic components. However, complex quality control and failure identification slow down the substitution of metals by fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP). But the lower manufacturing temperatures of FRP compared to metals allow the integration of sensors within FRP-components. These sensors then can be advantageously used for many functions like quality control during the manufacturing process or structural health monitoring (SHM) for failure detection during their life cycle. Thus, lightweight hydraulic components made of composite materials as well as sensor integration in composite components are a main fields of research and development at the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) of the TU Dresden as well as at the Leichtbau-Zentrum Sachsen GmbH (LZS).

The natural hip joint in healthy people has a very low friction with very little (or no) wear. It works as a dynamically loaded bearing and is subjected to about 1-2 million cycles of loading per year. The applied load is the body weight which is tripled when walking and even higher during other activities such as running and jumping. Unfortunately these joints are not always healthy due to various causes such as fractures or disease leading to severe pain which necessitates joint replacement. Currently, the orthopaedic industries are working towards developing an ideal artificial hip joint with low wear, low friction, good lubrication, better fixation/stability and biocompatibility. Many different designs and materials have been investigated with some promising new implants which can be used depending on patients' individual need (large or small joint), activity and age. In this work, two types of artificial hip joints were tested for friction and lubrication studies: Metal-on-Metal (MoM) Biomet hip resurfacing ReCaps with large diameters (>35-60 mm) and different diametral clearances (~ 60-350 µm), and Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) heads against carbon-fibre-reinforced poly-ether-ether ketone (CFR PEEK) cups with different diameters (>35-60 mm) and diametral clearances (60-1860 µm). Seven serum-based lubricants with different viscosities were used with and without carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) additions as gelling agent to increase viscosity depending on the CMC content. The maximum load applied was 2000 N for the stance phase with a minimum load of 100 N for the swing phase. A Pro-Sim friction hip simulator was used to investigate the frictional torque generated between the articulating surfaces so as the friction factor can be calculated. Stribeck analysis was then employed to assess the mode of lubrication. For the metal-on-metal hip resurfacing joints, the friction factors were in the range 0.03-0.151 and those for the ZTA ceramic heads versus CFR PEEK cups were in the range 0.006-0.32. Stribeck analyses showed mainly mixed lubrication for both MoM and ZTA ceramic-on-CFR PEEK joints. The experimental results were in agreement with most of the theoretical calculations suggesting mixed lubricating regimes at low viscosities and moving on to fluid film lubrication at higher viscosities. Joints with larger-diameters, lower clearances and lower surface roughness exhibited a higher lambda ratio suggesting improved lubrication. Viscosity flow curves for the serum-based lubricants having viscosity ≤ 0.00524 Pas showed non-linear relationship between viscosity and shear rate indicating non-Newtonian flow with pseudoplastic or shear-thinning characteristic, i.e. viscosity decreased as shear rate increased up to shear rates of ~ 1000 s⁻¹. However, at shear rates greater than 1000 s⁻¹ Newtonian flow became dominant with almost constant viscosity, i.e. a linear relationship between shear stress and shear rate. On the other hand, viscosity flow curves for the lubricants with viscosity ≥ 0.0128 Pas showed non-Newtonian behaviour up to a shear rate of 3000 s⁻¹ with shear-thinning characteristic.

A novel type of precast, prestressed concrete structural element is being implemented in load-bearing systems in buildings. These structural elements combine the use of high-performance, self-consolidating concrete (HPSCC) and non-corroding carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) prestressing tendons; this produces highly optimized, slender structural elements with excellent serviceability and (presumed) extended service lives. More widely, the use of new construction techniques, innovative materials, and ground-breaking designs is increasingly commonplace in today's rapidly evolving building construction industry. However, the performance of these and other structural elements in fire is in general not well known and must be understood before these can be used with confidence in load-bearing applications where structural fire resistance is a concern. Structural fire testing has traditionally relied on the use of the standard fire resistance test (i.e. furnace test) for assuring regulatory compliance of structural elements and assemblies, and in many cases also for developing the scientific understanding of structural response to fire. Conceived in the early 1900s and fundamentally unchanged since then, the standard testing procedure is characterized by its high cost and low repeatability. A novel test method, the Heat-Transfer Rate Inducing System (H-TRIS), resulting from a mental shift associated with controlling the thermal exposure not by temperature (e.g. temperature measured by thermocouples) but rather by the time-history of incident heat flux, was conceived, developed, and validated within the scope of the work presented in this thesis. H-TRIS allows for experimental studies to be carried out with high repeatability, imposing rationally quantifiable thermal exposure, all at low economic and temporal cost. The research presented in this thesis fundamentally seeks to examine and understand the behaviour of CFRP prestressed HPSCC structural elements in fire, with emphasis placed on undesired 'premature' failure mechanisms linked to the occurrence of heat-induced concrete spalling and/or loss of bond between the pretensioned CFRP tendons and the concrete. Results from fire resistance tests presented herein show that, although compliant with testing standards, temperature distributions inside furnaces (5 to 10% deviation) appear to influence the occurrence of heat-induced concrete spalling for specimens tested simultaneously during a single test; fair comparison of test results is therefore questionable if thermal exposure variability is not explicitly considered. In line with the aims of the research presented in this thesis, H-TRIS is used to carry out multiple comprehensive studies on the occurrence of concrete spalling and bond behaviour of CFRP tendons; imposing a quantified, reproducible and rational thermal exposure. Test results led to the conclusion that a "one size fits all" approach for mitigating the risk of heat-induced concrete spalling (e.g. prescribed dose of polypropylene (PP) fibres included in fresh concrete), appears to be ineffective and inappropriate in some of the conditions examined. This work demonstrates that PP fibre cross section and individual fibre length can have an influence on the risk of spalling for the HPSCC mixes tested herein. The testing presented herein has convincingly shown, for the first time using multiple repeated tests under tightly controlled thermal and mechanical conditions, that spalling depends not only on the thermal gradients in concrete during heating but also on the size and restraint conditions of the tested specimen. Furthermore, observations from large scale standard fire resistance tests showed that loss of bond strength of pretensioned CFRP tendons occurred at a 'critical' temperature of the tendons in the heated region, irrespective of the temperature of the tendons at the prestress transfer length, in unheated overhangs. This contradicts conventional wisdom for the structural fire safety design of concrete elements pretensioned with CFRP, in which a minimum unheated overhang is generally prescribed. Overall, the research studies presented in this thesis showed that a rational and practical understanding of the behaviour of CFRP prestressed HPSCC structural elements during real fires is unlikely to be achieved only by performing additional standard fire resistance tests. Hence, H-TRIS presents an opportunity to help promote an industry-wide move away from the contemporary pass/fail and costly furnace testing environment. Recommendations for further research to achieve the above goal are provided.

Ein großer Vorteil von Kunststoffbauteilen ist neben funktionellen Vorzügen die Kosten- und Gewichtsreduzierung durch integrale Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten. Es können Geometrien umgesetzt werden, die mit metallischen Werkstoffen nur unter hohem Aufwand realisierbar sind. Insbesondere im Bereich der Faser-Kunststoff-Verbunde (FKV) gibt es hohen Forschungsbedarf hinsichtlich Reduzierung von Herstellungskosten, Erhöhung der Langlebigkeit aber auch der Reparaturfähigkeit. Die Erkennung von Defekten ist dabei eine grundlegende Voraussetzung. Für einen FKV-Serieneinsatz im Automobilbau gibt es jedoch kein bekanntes und ausreichendes Prüfkonzept der Schadenserkennung für die geforderten Stückzahlen. Die aus der Luft- und Raumfahrt bekannten Methoden lassen sich aufgrund ihres hohen apparativen Aufwandes und der eingeschränkten Tauglichkeit bezüglich geometrisch komplexer Bauteile nicht unmittelbar übernehmen. Es bestehen andere Anforderungen an ein Prüfkonzept für FKV-Bauteile im Automobilbau. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden zerstörungsfreie Prüfmethoden hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung zur Detektion nicht sichtbarer Schäden systematisch untersucht und bewertet. Der Fokus lag dabei auf Bauteilen aus kohlenstofffaserverstärkten Kunststoffen des Automobils, die sowohl eine flächige als auch eine mehrfach gekrümmte Bauteilstruktur mit nicht-homogenen Wanddicken aufweisen können. In Abhängigkeit von der Art der Schädigung, etwa Einschlüsse, Zwischenfaserrisse oder Delaminationen wurden die unterschiedlichen Verfahren vergleichend in Hinblick auf Detektionssicherheit, -grenzen und Einschränkungen durch gegebene geometrische sowie werkstoffliche Bauteilausführungen bewertet und ein Konzept für eine fertigungsbegleitende Qualitätssicherung entwickelt.

Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites are extensively used in aircraft structures because of its high specific stiffness, high specific strength and tailorability. Though Fibre Reinforced Polymers offer many advantages, they are not free from problems. The damage of different nature, e.g., service mechanical damages, fatigue damage or environmental damage can be observed during operating conditions. Among all the damages, manufacturing or service induced, delamination related damage is the most important failure mechanisms of aircraft-composite structures and can be detrimental for safety. Delamination growth under fatigue loading may take place due to local buckling, growth from free edges and notches such as holes, growth from ply-drops and impact damaged composites containing considerable delamination. Delamination growth can also occur due to interlaminar stresses, which can arise in complex structures due to unanticipated loading. The complex nature of composite failure, involving different failure modes and their interactions, makes it necessary to characterize/identify the relevant parameters for fatigue damage resistance, accumulation and life prediction. An effort has been made in this thesis to understand the fatigue behavior of carbon fibre reinforced epoxy laminates under aircraft wing service loading conditions. The study was made on laminates with different lay-up sequences (quasi-isotropic and fibre dominated) and different geometries (plain specimen, specimen with a hole and ply-drop specimen). The fatigue behaviour of the composite was analyzed by following methods: . Ultrasonic C-Scan was used to characterize the delamination growth. . Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) was done to study the interfacial degradation due to fatigue loading. In this analysis, the interfacial strength indicator and interfacial damping were calculated. The DMA also provides the storage modulus degradation under fatigue loading. . Scanning electron microscope examination was carried out to understand the fatigue damage mechanisms. . A semi-empirical phenomenological model was also used to estimate the residual fatigue life. This research work reveals that the Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer laminates are in the safe limit under service loading conditions, except the specimen with a hole. The specimen with a hole showed delaminations around the hole due to stress concentration and higher interlaminar stresses at the hole edges and this delamination is found to be associated with fibre breakage and fibre pullout. The quasi-isotropic laminate is found to show poorer fatigue behaviour when compared to fibre dominated laminate and ply-drop also shows poor performance due to high stress concentration in the ply-drop region.

Ein großer Vorteil von Kunststoffbauteilen ist neben funktionellen Vorzügen die Kosten- und Gewichtsreduzierung durch integrale Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten. Es können Geometrien umgesetzt werden, die mit metallischen Werkstoffen nur unter hohem Aufwand realisierbar sind. Insbesondere im Bereich der Faser-Kunststoff-Verbunde (FKV) gibt es hohen Forschungsbedarf hinsichtlich Reduzierung von Herstellungskosten, Erhöhung der Langlebigkeit aber auch der Reparaturfähigkeit. Die Erkennung von Defekten ist dabei eine grundlegende Voraussetzung. Für einen FKV-Serieneinsatz im Automobilbau gibt es jedoch kein bekanntes und ausreichendes Prüfkonzept der Schadenserkennung für die geforderten Stückzahlen. Die aus der Luft- und Raumfahrt bekannten Methoden lassen sich aufgrund ihres hohen apparativen Aufwandes und der eingeschränkten Tauglichkeit bezüglich geometrisch komplexer Bauteile nicht unmittelbar übernehmen. Es bestehen andere Anforderungen an ein Prüfkonzept für FKV-Bauteile im Automobilbau. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden zerstörungsfreie Prüfmethoden hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung zur Detektion nicht sichtbarer Schäden systematisch untersucht und bewertet. Der Fokus lag dabei auf Bauteilen aus kohlenstofffaserverstärkten Kunststoffen des Automobils, die sowohl eine flächige als auch eine mehrfach gekrümmte Bauteilstruktur mit nicht-homogenen Wanddicken aufweisen können. In Abhängigkeit von der Art der Schädigung, etwa Einschlüsse, Zwischenfaserrisse oder Delaminationen wurden die unterschiedlichen Verfahren vergleichend in Hinblick auf Detektionssicherheit, -grenzen und Einschränkungen durch gegebene geometrische sowie werkstoffliche Bauteilausführungen bewertet und ein Konzept für eine fertigungsbegleitende Qualitätssicherung entwickelt.

Carbon fibre reinforced composites are known for their high specific strength-to-weight ratio and are of great interest to the aerospace industry. Incorporating these materials into the fuselage, like in Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner", offers considerable weight reduction which increases flying efficiency, and reduces the cost of flying. In flight, aircraft are often subject to lightning strikes which, in the case of composites, can result in localized melting given the high resistive nature of the material. Aerospace carbon fibre composites often incorporate a metallic mesh or foil within the composite layers to dissipate the electrical charge through the large aircraft. The damage to the aircraft is minimized but not always eliminated. This research aims to elaborate a practical technique to deposit thin layers of conductive material on the surface of aerospace grade composites. Using Cold Gas Dynamic Spray (CGDS), such coatings could be used to repair damaged components. An experimental research approach was used to develop metallic coated composites. Using the CGDS equipment of Centerline (SST-P), specific parameters (such as gas temperature and stagnation pressure) were determined for each type of metallic coating (tin-based & copper-based). The use of bond coats was explored in order to attain the desired coatings. Once optimized, these coatings were evaluated with respect to their corrosive, adhesive, and electrical properties following industry standards.

The natural hip joint in healthy people has a very low friction with very little (or no) wear. It works as a dynamically loaded bearing and is subjected to about 1-2 million cycles of loading per year. The applied load is the body weight which is tripled when walking and even higher during other activities such as running and jumping. Unfortunately these joints are not always healthy due to various causes such as fractures or disease leading to severe pain which necessitates joint replacement. Currently, the orthopaedic industries are working towards developing an ideal artificial hip joint with low wear, low friction, good lubrication, better fixation/stability and biocompatibility. Many different designs and materials have been investigated with some promising new implants which can be used depending on patients¿ individual need (large or small joint), activity and age. In this work, two types of artificial hip joints were tested for friction and lubrication studies: Metal-on-Metal (MoM) Biomet hip resurfacing ReCaps with large diameters (>35-60 mm) and different diametral clearances (~ 60-350 µm), and Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) heads against carbon-fibre-reinforced poly-ether-ether ketone (CFR PEEK) cups with different diameters (>35-60 mm) and diametral clearances (60-1860 µm). Seven serum-based lubricants with different viscosities were used with and without carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) additions as gelling agent to increase viscosity depending on the CMC content. The maximum load applied was 2000 N for the stance phase with a minimum load of 100 N for the swing phase. A Pro-Sim friction hip simulator was used to investigate the frictional torque generated between the articulating surfaces so as the friction factor can be calculated. Stribeck analysis was then employed to assess the mode of lubrication. For the metal-on-metal hip resurfacing joints, the friction factors were in the range 0.03-0.151 and those for the ZTA ceramic heads versus CFR PEEK cups were in the range 0.006-0.32. Stribeck analyses showed mainly mixed lubrication for both MoM and ZTA ceramic-on-CFR PEEK joints. The experimental results were in agreement with most of the theoretical calculations suggesting mixed lubricating regimes at low viscosities and moving on to fluid film lubrication at higher viscosities. Joints with larger-diameters, lower clearances and lower surface roughness exhibited a higher lambda ratio suggesting improved lubrication. Viscosity flow curves for the serum-based lubricants having viscosity ¿ 0.00524 Pas showed non-linear relationship between viscosity and shear rate indicating non-Newtonian flow with pseudoplastic or shear-thinning characteristic, i.e. viscosity decreased as shear rate increased up to shear rates of ~ 1000 s-1. However, at shear rates greater than 1000 s-1 Newtonian flow became dominant with almost constant viscosity, i.e. a linear relationship between shear stress and shear rate. On the other hand, viscosity flow curves for the lubricants with viscosity ¿ 0.0128 Pas showed non-Newtonian behaviour up to a shear rate of 3000 s-1 with shear-thinning characteristic. / Ministry of Higher Education, Libya

Der Demonstrator für das SPP 1542 sollte die Erkenntnisse der Teilprojekte „Querschnittsadaption für stabförmige Druckbauteile“ und „Leichte Deckentragwerke aus geschichteten Hochleistungsbetonen“ aufgreifen und widerspiegeln. Zudem sollte ein Tragwerk verwendet werden, dessen Kraftfluss für jeden Betrachter deutlich erkennbar ist und dessen Erscheinung dem Prinzip form follows force folgt. Da das Deutschen Museum in München im Zuge der Modernisierung zukunftsfähigen Innovationen mehr Raum bieten möchte, ergab sich die Möglichkeit, eine Ausstellungsbrücke in der Abteilung Brückenbau zu errichten. Das Deutsche Museum zählt zu den weltweit anerkanntesten Institutionen für Naturwissenschaft und Technik und gehört mit jährlich ca. 1,5 Millionen Besuchern zu den meistbesuchten Museen in Deutschland [1]. Für den Demonstrator steht ein ca. 9,5 m langer und ca. 2,0 m tiefer Bereich zwischen zwei Wänden zur Verfügung. Die Ausstellungsbrücke sollte in einer Höhe von ca. 3,50 m installiert werden, um diese sowohl von unten als auch von der in gleicher Höhe benachbarten Besucherbrücke von Jörg Schlaich [2] betrachten zu können. [Aus. Einleitung] / The demonstrator for SPP 1542 should take into account and reflect the findings of the SPP projects “Cross-section adaptation for bar-shaped compression components” and “Lightweight floor structures made of layered high-performance concretes”. In addition, a structure was to be designed where the flow of force is clearly recognisable to any observer from the external shape and whose design follows the principle of form follows force. Since the Deutsches Museum in Munich wants to of er more space to future-oriented innovations in the course of modernisation, the opportunity came up to erect an exhibition bridge in the bridge construction department. The Deutsches Museum is one of the world’s most renowned institutions for natural science and technology and, with around 1.5 million visitors a year, one of the most visited museums in Germany [1]. An area approx. 9.5 m long and approx. 2.0 m deep between two walls was available for the demonstrator. The exhibition bridge was to be installed at a height of approx. 3.50 m so that it could be viewed from below as well as from the neighbouring visitor bridge by Jörg Schlaich [2] at the same height. [Off: Introduction]