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Theories are developed herein for the prediction of the static behavior of reinforced concrete shear walls with openings. The thesis deals basically with: (a) stiffness, in the elastic range; and (b) strength, in both the elastic and ultimate ranges. The theories developed can be applied to walls with either reinforced or unreinforced openings. Four models of shear walls with reinforced openings and one solid wall were tested. All values obtained from the tests are in close agreement with theoretic values computed on the basis of the methods proposed in this thesis. [...]

F denotes the forcing function which is known as a stress or strain imposed on the material. This may be a harmonic function of infinite duration, or a step function. R denotes the response function which is the strain or stress exhibited by the material corresponding to the type of forcing function ( stress or strain ) applied. r denotes the correlatiag function which gives the reaction of the system to the applied forcing function, It is usually composed of moduli, compliances, time factors and structure factors. [...]

Two common assumptions as to the behaviour of a building frame are: 1) The beams behave as simply supported, and hence are free to rotate at their connections. 2) The members of the structure are rigidly framed, i.e, the angle formed by the tangents to the elastic curves of the beam and the column remains unchanged. The first assumption makes the structure statically determinate with respect to the beams. The second assumption, on the other hand, makes the structure statically indeterminate. [...]

The basic idea of detailing a beam-to-column connection capable of transmitting moments from one member to the other - by using angles and fasteners, is almost as old as structural steel itself. The author witnessed the demolishing of old houses in Montreal, where this type of connection had been used. Up until today, however, the angle-connection has been applied to relatively low (max. three stories) buildings; and only to a very limited extent. The reason behind this hesitancy can be traced to the unknown and highly complicated nature of the angle connection, and to the fact, that in an elastic design - a plastic hinge with clearly non-linear characteriatics was to be incorporated. [...]

An experimental arrangement consisting of a drop weight system was developed to induce a compression wave through a granular medium. The medium was instrumented to study the characteristics of the compression wave. It was found that the wave attenuates exponentially and the velocity of propagation increases with depth. The wave front progressing through the medium was non-planar. [...]

The effect of the oil contamination variable on the coefficient of friction of a road surface was studied in the experiments outlined in this report. This variable was isolated in controlled laboratory tests that attempted to stimulate the actual field conditions. [...]