This thesis project was conducted to compare the environmental impacts between two types of material for a superstructure of cruising ship (Norwegian Gem) using life cycle assessment (LCA) methods. With the increasing price of industrial raw materials and finite resources, more and more corporations or manufacturers endeavor in seeking more economical materials and less environmental impacts within the ship building field. In recent years, lightweight composite material has been applied in various industrial fields, for instance, green buildings, aircraft and wind turbine blade. In order to study impacts of steel superstructure and composite material superstructure of the ship, a detail study was conducted which using the comparative LCA method and SimaPro software. Two different superstructures are compared, steel superstructure and sandwich material superstructure. The results showed thatover the life cycle the environmental impacts of sandwich superstructure type are much less than for the steel superstructure. The main contribution of impacts over the life time is operation phase due to fuel consumption. When increasing the waste recycling section for composite structure, the influence on environment has an obvious decrease compared to steel superstructure.

Most engineering as well as pavement materials are composites composed of two or more components to obtain a variety of solid properties to support internal and external loading. The composite materials rely on physical or chemical properties and volume fraction of each component. While the properties can be identified easily, the volume fraction is hard to be estimated due to the volumetric variation during the performance in the field. Various test procedures have been developed to measure the volume fractions; however, they depend on subjective determination and judgment. As an alternative, electromagnetic technique using dielectric constant was developed to estimate the volume fraction. Empirical and mechanistic approaches were used to relate the dielectric constant and volume fraction. While the empirical models are not very accurate in all cases, the mechanistic models require assumptions of constituent dielectric constants. For those reasons, the existing approaches might produce less accurate estimate of volume fraction. In this study, a mechanistic-based approach using the self consistent scheme was developed to be applied to multiphase materials. The new approach was based on calibrated dielectric constant of components to improve results without any assumptions. Also, the system identification was used iteratively to solve for dielectric parameters and volume fraction at each step. As the validation performed to verify the viability of the new approach using soil mixture and portland cement concrete, it was found that the approach has produced a significant improvement in the accuracy of the estimated volume fraction.

Statistic data indicates that about 100,000 tones of waste tire were generated each year. Current recycling market of waste tire is very small. Therefore, many waste tires remain untreated and cause severe health and safety problems in storage. PP fiber cut end is the waste material after cutting off the fiber. Traditional reuse way was to be the toy¡¦s fillers. If we can reuse the materials properly to develop a market of additional value, it will be a big contribution to the society. In this research, recycled waste tire powder and PP fiber cut end are used as oil adsorbents for the purpose of oil recovery during the process of oil spill emergency response. PP fiber cut end and waste tire powder are capable of adsorbing oil due to their hydrophobic surface property and the capillary forces developed during the contact with oil, therefore, makes them a perfect material for oil recovery. The major advantage of recycled PP fiber cut end is its high oil adsorbing capacity (approximately 48.4g/g). But, after reuse, its oil adsorbing speed was slow down, so does the oil adsorbing capacity. On the other hand, with good elasticity, the waste tire powder can be reused for more than 100 times without loosing its capability. However, the oil adsorbing capacity of waste tire powder is far less than PP fiber (approximately 2.84g/g). Finally, we combine PP fiber cut end and waste tire powder, to see if we can take the advantage of each product and make the best utilization of the composite material. Results indicate the composite material can be reused for more than 100 times without loosing its capability, and its performance is even better than the combination of each individual product. In the other test, we can see the composite material can not only adsorb engine oil and crude oil, but also adsorb emulsified oil. In the test, the composite material can recover up to 28 times of its own weight of oil. With the invented set up, the oil recover work is much easier to operate, and moreover, the composite material is less expensive. Only a squeeze roller and a collection container are required to recover oil. So, the composite material is indeed having practicability and mobility. Finally, the composite material is an excellent adsorbent compares with other products available on the market.

Μια από τις πολλές δομικές εφαρμογές των συνθέτων υλικών, είτε αυτά έχουν την μορφή ινοπλισμένων πολυμερών είτε την μορφή ινοπλισμένων κονιαμάτων, είναι και η ενίσχυση τοιχοποιίας, φέρουσας ή μη. Τα σύνθετα υλικά είναι δυνατό να δώσουν λύση σε προβλήματα στατικής επάρκειας και αναβάθμιση στάθμης επιτελεστικότητας κτηρίων σύμφωνα με τους Ευρωκώδικες. Ο στόχος της συγκεκριμένης μεταπτυχιακής διατριβής είναι: i. Να μελετηθούν οι τρόποι με τους οποίους είναι δυνατόν να ενισχυθεί μια τοιχοποιία από οπτοπλινθοδομή και να πραγματοποιηθούν πειραματικές δοκιμές, (για να καταστεί με αυτό τον τρόπο δυνατή η σύγκριση των θεωρητικών με τα πειραματικά δεδομένα). ii. Η κατασκευή αντιπροσωπευτικών δοκιμίων που να εξετάζουν και να απεικονίζουν την πλειονότητα των δομημάτων και τελικά η πειραματική επεξεργασία τους. iii. Η επιλογή των κατάλληλων υλικών με τα οποία είναι δυνατή η αποτελεσματική και πρακτική η ενίσχυση της τοιχοποιίας. iv. Η μελέτη του τρόπου με τον οποίο αλληλεμπλέκονται τα σύνθετα υλικά με την τοιχοποιία και η τελική αστοχία της τελευταίας, με στόχο την απόκτηση μεγαλύτερης αντοχής και πλαστιμότητας. v. Η σύγκριση των τρόπων ενίσχυσης με ανόργανη (τσιμεντοκονίαμα) και οργανική (εποξειδική ρητίνη) μήτρα και ανθρακονήματα. vi. Η εφαρμογή και εκτίμηση της αποτελεσματικότητας της ενίσχυσης με ράβδους ινών άνθρακα σε βαθιά αρμολογημένο τοίχο με την βοήθεια εποξειδικού τσιμεντοκονιάματος. vii. Η εκτίμηση κατά πόσο με την βοήθεια ενίσχυσης φέρουσας οπτοπλινθοδομής με σύνθετα υλικά είναι δυνατή η κάλυψη των σύγχρονων αντισεισμικών απαιτήσεων. / One of the many uses of composite materials, either in the form of fiber reinforced plastics "FRP" either in the form of fiber reinforced mortars, is the structural reinforcement of masonry. The composite materials are capable to provide a structural upgrade to a building so that it meats the contemporary eurocode demands. The goal of this master thesis is: 1. to study the possible ways of brick masonry reinforcement and perform experimental studies (so that it become possible to compare the theoretical with the experimental data) 2. the construction of representative experimental specimens that examine end picture the majority of civil masonry constructions end finally the experimental elaboration of these specimens. 3. The selection of the suitable material with witch it is possible end practical the reinforcement of the masonry. 4. The study of the ways that composite materials collaborate with the brick masonry up to the point of destruction end finding a way that the reinforced specimens would have more strength end ductility than the unreinforced ones. 5. The comparison end effectiveness of the specimens reinforced with inorganic matrix (cement mortar) versus the ones reinforced with organic matrix (epoxy resin) end carbon fibers. 6. The application end estimation of the effectiveness of carbon fiber bar reinforcement that is applied near the surface in the bed joints of the masonry specimens with the help of epoxy resin cement mortar. 7. To estimate if it is possible with the help of composite materials to reinforce masonry so that it meats contemporary antiseismic construction demands.

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Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have found a wide range of applications in the aerospace, marine, sports and automotive industries owing to their lightweight and acceptable mechanical properties compared to the commonly used metallic materials. The currently dominating method of machining CFRP is by mechanical means that has found many problems including extensive tool wear, fibre pull-out and delamination. Lasers as non-contact tools have been widely applied for cutting and drilling materials. However, machining of CFRP composites using lasers can be challenging due to inhomogeneity in the material properties and structures, which can lead to thermal damage such as charring, heat affected zones (HAZs), resin recession and delamination. In previous studies, Nd:YAG, diode pumped solid state (DPSS), CO2 (continuous wave), disk and fibre lasers were used in machining CFRP composites and the control of damage such as the size of heat affected zones (HAZ) and achieving comparable material removal rate with the mechanical processes remain a challenge. Most reported work showed a typical heat affected zone of 0.2-1.2 mm. The availability of short pulsed transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) CO2 lasers and ultra-short laser pulse sources such as picosecond lasers make it possible to improve the laser machining quality of CFRP materials. In this research, the machining of CFRP composites using a microsecond pulsed TEA CO2 laser, a state of the art high power picosecond laser and a 1 kW single mode fibre laser system was investigated. The yielded heat affected zone was less than < 25 µm for the TEA CO2 and the picosecond laser machining, although the material removal rate was low. Additionally, it has been shown that the pulsed fibre laser improved the machining quality compared to that with the continuous mode. A potential application of the fibre laser for composite repair and remanufacturing was investigated. The interactions between picosecond laser beam and CFRP composite were studied in more detail including understanding the self-limiting effect in single and multiple parallel tracks drilling/machining through both experimental and theoretical studies. Furthermore, a sequential laser and mechanical drilling of CFRP was investigated to improve the machining rate. The work performed in this PhD was driven by aerospace industry needs, with the collaboration of Rolls-Royce plc and BAE Systems as industrial partners.

Dans le domaine aéronautique les structures sont soumises à de la fatigue sonique due aux phénomènes aéro-acoustiques. Le dimensionnement statique actuel des avions composites couvre les cas de charge en fatigue. Mais avec le besoin de toujours plus réduire la masse de l’avion et l’augmentation des connaissances dans le comportement matériau, les marges statiques vont être réduites dans un futur proche et la propagation par fatigue deviendra un enjeu majeur. Il sera donc nécessaire d’évaluer la possibilité de propagation d’un délaminage dû à une erreur de fabrication ou un impact dans une structure composite. Dans ce contexte, une méthode a été proposée pour étudier la propagation de délaminage sous chargement vibratoire. Tout d’abord, des essais de caractérisation de la propagation de délaminage sous chargement vibratoire ont été mis en place et validés pour les deux principaux modes de rupture. Les effets induits par la fréquence élevée de sollicitation, auto-échauffement induit et vitesse de chargement élevée, ont été pris en compte dans la mise au point et le traitement de ces essais. Ensuite, des outils numériques ont été développés pour permettre la simulation d’une structure délaminée sous chargement vibratoire et l’étude de la propagation du délaminage. A l’aide des approches expérimentales et numériques mises en place et des données matériau identifiées, l’analyse a pu être conduite sur un cas réel de structure aéronautique. Un essai de fatigue vibratoire sur une structure de reprise de plis a ainsi été réalisé. L’évolution du délaminage pendant l’essai est représenté de façon satisfaisante par le modèle numérique. / Because of their lightness, stress adaptive design and strong stiffness, composite materials are more and more used in aeronautics. Aeronautical structures are submitted to vibrations during their service life due to aerodynamic turbulent flow around the structure. The current static design of composite aircraft covers fatigue loading cases. But with the need to more and more lighten the structure, and the knowledge increase in material behavior, the static reserve factors will be reduced in the near future and sonic fatigue will become a major issue. It will be necessary to evaluate the possibility of a delamination propagation in a composite structure due to a manufacturing error or to an impact. In this context, a method has been proposed to study the propagation of a delamination under vibratory loading. Firstly, tests to characterize the propagation of delamination under vibration loading have been developed and validated for the two main failure modes. The effects induced by the highfrequency loading, self-heat generation and high speed loading, were considered in the elaboration of these tests and in the data reduction. Then, numerical tools have been developed to allow the simulation of a delaminated structure under vibratory loading in order to study the delamination propagation. Using experimental and numerical approaches and the material data identified, the analysis could be conducted on a real case of aircraft structure. A vibration fatigue test on a ply-drop structure has been achieved. The evolution of delamination during the test is adequately modelized by the numerical model.