A weight function based modified strip-yield model is adapted to include the mode I effects of roughness induced crack closure. The weight function methodology is verified for arbitrary mixed mode loading conditions under load levels experienced in fatigue crack growth. A rough crack geometry is simulated as a sine wave fitted to a sawtooth defined by an asperity angle and period. Additional mode I crack closure due to mode II sliding of crack faces is calculated and incorporated into the strip-yield model by lengthening and shortening the crack face elements. Simulations of fatigue crack growth using the newly developed model are examined via a design and analysis of computer experiments. The effects of model parameters are identified. Combined roughness and plasticity induced crack closure for long cracks is studied.

Fatigue and crack-growth tests were conducted on 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy under a wide range of loading conditions. Crack-growth tests were conducted on compact, C(T), specimens under constant-amplitude loading, single-spike overloads, and a simulated aircraft spectrum loading. Fatigue tests were also conducted on single-edge-notch bend, SEN(B), specimens under constant-amplitude loading and three aircraft load spectra. The FASTRAN, life-prediction code, was used to make crack-growth predictions on the C(T) specimens; and to make fatigue-life calculations using a 12-micrometer initial flaw size at the center of the edge-notch on the SEN(B) specimens. The predictions agreed fairly well with most of the tests, except the model was unconservative on the single-spike overload tests and the severe spectrum Mini-TWIST+ Level 1 tests. The discrepancy was suspected to be caused by a low constraint factor and/or crack paths meandering around overload plastic zones. A roughness- and plasticity-induced crack-closure model would be needed to improve the model.

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Image-based techniques are a promising non-destructive approach for road pavement condition evaluation. The main objective of this study is to extract, quantify and evaluate important surface defects, such as cracks, using an automated computer vision-based system to provide a better understanding of the pavement deterioration process. To achieve this objective, an automated crack-recognition software was developed, employing a series of image processing algorithms of crack extraction, crack grouping, and crack detection. Bottom-hat morphological technique was used to remove the random background of pavement images and extract cracks, selectively based on their shapes, sizes, and intensities using a relatively small number of user-defined parameters. A technical challenge with crack extraction algorithms, including the Bottom-hat transform, is that extracted crack pixels are usually fragmented along crack paths. For de-fragmenting those crack pixels, a novel crack-grouping algorithm is proposed as an image segmentation method, so called MorphLink-C. Statistical validation of this method using flexible pavement images indicated that MorphLink-C not only improves crack-detection accuracy but also reduces crack detection time. Crack characterization was performed by analysing imagerial features of the extracted crack image components. A comprehensive statistical analysis was conducted using filter feature subset selection (FSS) methods, including Fischer score, Gini index, information gain, ReliefF, mRmR, and FCBF to understand the statistical characteristics of cracks in different deterioration stages. Statistical significance of crack features was ranked based on their relevancy and redundancy. The statistical method used in this study can be employed to avoid subjective crack rating based on human visual inspection. Moreover, the statistical information can be used as fundamental data to justify rehabilitation policies in pavement maintenance. Finally, the application of four classification algorithms, including Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Decision Tree (DT), k-Nearest Neighbours (kNN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is investigated for the crack detection framework. The classifiers were evaluated in the following five criteria: 1) prediction performance, 2) computation time, 3) stability of results for highly imbalanced datasets in which, the number of crack objects are significantly smaller than the number of non-crack objects, 4) stability of the classifiers performance for pavements in different deterioration stages, and 5) interpretability of results and clarity of the procedure. Comparison results indicate the advantages of white-box classification methods for computer vision based pavement evaluation. Although black-box methods, such as ANN provide superior classification performance, white-box methods, such as ANFIS, provide useful information about the logic of classification and the effect of feature values on detection results. Such information can provide further insight for the image-based pavement crack detection application.

A moral panic erupted during the 1980s among the American public when stories about crack cocaine saturated the media. In this thesis I analyze how discursive productions of deviancy operated in the CBS news documentary: 48 Hours on Crack Street (1986) and other print news sources at that time. Three salient characters that appear in news media discourse during the panic are "crack mothers," "crack babies," and "Black male dope dealers." The news media frightened the public with such representations (among others) and the public urged politicians to get tough on drug crime to control the so-called crack cocaine plague. Politicians responded with omnibus drug reforms that established mandatory minimum sentences and the controversial 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. The enforcement of the draconian drug laws that were passed in response to the crack cocaine panic continues to be a contributing factor to America's current prison crisis. Moreover, the laws are enforced in ways that disproportionately punish the poor and African-Americans. I conclude that the criminal disenfranchisement of millions of people since the 1980s relates to the media's representation of the crack cocaine "epidemic" and the legislation that was passed to control illicit drugs such as crack cocaine.

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Yes / Shape memory polymer (SMP) products have been developed for application as crack closure de-vices in concrete. They have been made from PET in the form of both fibres and hollow tubes. Here, manufacturing methods using die-drawing and mandrel-drawing to induce shape memory are reported. The fibre-based devices are incorporated into concrete and, upon triggering, exert shrinkage restraint forces that close cracks in the concrete. The evolution of shrinkage restraint force in the fibres as manufactured was measured as a function of temperature, showing stresses in excess of 35 MPa. Tendons consisting of fibre bundles are incorporated into concreate beams subjected to controlled cracking. When activated, the tendons reduce the crack widths by 80%. The same fibres are used to produce another class of device known as knotted fibres, which have knotted ends that act as anchor points when they incorporated directly into concrete. Upon acti-vation within the cracked concrete, these devices are shown to completely close cracks. The tubes are used to enclose and restrain prestressed Kevlar fibres. When the tubes are triggered, they shrink and release the prestress force in the Kevlar, which is transferred to the surrounding con-crete in the form of a compressive force, thereby closing cracks. The Kevlar fibres also provide substantial reinforcement after activation. The devices are shown to be able to partially and fully close cracks that have been opened to 0.3 mm and achieve post-activation flexural strengths com-parable to those of conventional reinforced and prestressed structural elements. Finally, a pre-liminary life cycle assessment study was used to assess the carbon footprint a nominal unit of concrete made with SMPs fibres compared to conventional concrete. / This research was funded by the UKRI-EPSRC Resilient Materials 4 Life (RM4L), grant number EP/P02081X/1 and the support of ARUP via the UKIMEA research funding.

Atualmente os dados epidemiológicos sobre a exposição ao crack no Brasil são preocupantes, principalmente entre crianças e adolescentes na capital de São Paulo. É sabido que o crack apresenta um potencial maior que o correspondente a outras formas de uso da cocaína para causar dependência. Apesar de haver numerosos estudos e métodos validados para identificação e quantificação de cocaína em fluidos biológicos, o mesmo não ocorre para a caracterização de seu uso na forma de crack. Todos os métodos descritos para diferenciação de exposição ao crack empregam equipamentos de alto custo e que nem sempre são viáveis para a realidade econômica dos laboratórios públicos brasileiros. Este trabalho objetivou desenvolver e aplicar um método eficiente e viável economicamente para identificação e quantificação dos indicadores de uso do crack em amostras de urina provenientes do Núcleo de Toxicologia Forense do Instituto Médico-Legal de São Paulo. O método mostrou-se linear na faixa de interesse (intervalo dinâmico de 0,2 a 20 µg/mL) para éster metilanidroecgonina. Os limites de detecção e quantificação foram de 0,1 e 0,2 µg/mL respectivamente e os testes de estabilidade mostraram-se satisfatórios (degradação menor que 10% após 30 dias). Foram analisadas trinta e sete amostras de urina sendo que onze foram positivas para o indicador escolhido mostrando a utilidade do método no esclarecimento de ocorrências no âmbito forense, no sentido de indicar se a intoxicação da cocaína se deu por esta forma de exposição (utilização de crack). / At the present time, epidemiologic data on the prevalence of crack in Brazil is alarming, principally as it concerns young children and teenagers in the capital city of São Paulo of São Paulo State. It is known that with crack there is a greater potential for dependency than that corresponding to other forms of cocaine use in causing dependency. Although numerous studies and methods have been validated for the identification and quantification of cocaine in biological fluids, the same is not true for the characterization of its use in the form of crack. All the methods described for differentiating the exposure to crack employ very expensive equipment, which is not always viable to the economic reality of the Brazilian public laboratories. This study had as its objective the development and application of a method that is efficient and economically viable for the identification and quantification of products of crack biomarkers in urine samples from the Forensic Toxicology Lab of the Legal Medicine Institute of São Paulo. The method showed to be linear in the interest range (dynamic range from 0.2 to 20 µg/mL ) for anhydroecgonine methyl ester. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.1 and 0.2 µg/mL respectively, and the stability tests proved to be satisfactory (less than 10% lost after 30 days). Thirty seven urine samples were analyzed such that these 11 were positive for the chosen biomarker, showing the usefulness of the method for clarification purposes in the forensic environment, in the sense of indicating whether the intoxication from cocaine was of this form of exposition (crack use).