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The Varina-Enon Bridge is a cable-stayed, post-tensioned segmental box girder bridge in Richmond, Virginia. A large flexural crack was noted by inspectors in July 2012 which prompted a number of investigations into the current condition of the bridge. Particular focus has been put on prestress losses which have a significant impact on the strength and serviceability of the bridge. Previous work has been conducted to monitor the behavior of the bridge and to back-calculate effective prestress. This was done using field data from a long-term data collection system in the bridge as well as a finite element model which includes a staged-construction analysis. Creep and shrinkage are accounted for using the CEB-FIP '90 model code. Effective prestress in the Varina-Enon Bridge is back-calculated using live load strain data from the long-term data collection system. Previous work has overestimated live load moment since the influence of the crack opening has not been accounted for. This research refines the methods used to determine live load moment from live load strain. Two new methods are developed based on influence lines matching crack gauge data during a live load event. The new methods are compared to the method used in previous studies. Results using two elastic moduli for concrete are compared for each method of live load moment calculation. Finally, back-calculated effective prestress values are compared against effective prestress from the finite element model. Depending on the method used for live load moment calculation, back-calculated effective prestress ranged from 167.4 ksi to 170.8 ksi. Both new methods for live load moment calculation yielded slightly smaller values for effective prestress compared to the method used previously. Increasing the elastic modulus from 6000 ksi to 6200 ksi increased back-calculated effective prestress values from an average of 168.3 ksi to 168.6 ksi. For elastic moduli of 6000 ksi and 6200 ksi, the finite element model returned an effective prestress of 170.3 ksi and 170.8 ksi, respectively. / Master of Science / Prestressing in concrete uses steel tendons to apply a compressive force to a structure. This technique allows for stiffer and lighter structures with longer span lengths to be built. The force in the steel tendons decreases over time, and this is called prestress loss. Prestress losses can have a significant impact on the strength and service life of a structure, so estimating the magnitude of prestress loss is of great importance in prestressed concrete structures. The Varina-Enon Bridge is a cable-stayed, prestressed concrete box-girder bridge in Richmond, Virginia. In July 2012, cracking was observed in the bridge, and this prompted several investigations into its performance. This research calculates effective prestress (prestress force leftover after prestress loss) in several ways. A long-term data collection system collects sensor data which is used to calculate effective prestress experimentally, and a computer model is used to determine effective prestress computationally. Effective prestress results from sensor data are slightly smaller than results from the computer model. However, the differences in results are fairly small, and all values are within expectations, so it is concluded that the Varina-Enon Bridge has not experienced more than expected prestress losses.

Thesis. 1975. Ph.D. cn--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 180-186. / Ph.D.cn

Thesis. 1976. M.S. cn--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 39-40. / by Brenda J. Blake. / M.S.cn

High density polyethylene (HDPE) films having simple and well-defined stacked lamellar morphology, either with or without a distinct presence of row-nucleated fibril structures, have been utilized as <i>model</i> materials to carry out investigations on solid state structure-property relationships. Four different subjects that were addressed are: 1) mechanical properties and deformation morphologies, 2) orientation anisotropy of the dynamic mechanical α relaxation, 3) orientation dependence of creep behavior, and 4) crystalline lamellar thickness and its distribution. For the first three topics, appropriate mechanical tests, including tensile (INSTRON), creep (TMA), and dynamic mechanical (DMTA) tests, were performed at <i>different angles with respect to the original machine direction (MD)</i> of the melt extruded films; morphological changes as a result of these mechanical tests were detected by WAXS, SAXS, and TEM. For the forth topic, crystalline lamellar thickness and its distribution were determined by DSC, SAXS, TEM and AFM experiments. In the <i>large strain deformation</i> study (chapter 4.0), samples were stretched at 00°, 45° and 90° angles with respect to the original MD. A distinct orientation dependence of the tensile behavior was observed and <i>correlated</i> to the corresponding deformation modes and morphological changes, namely 1) lamellar separation and fragmentation by chain slip for the 00° stretch, 2) lamellar break-up via chain pull-out for the 90° stretch, and 3) lamellar shear, rotation and break-up through chain slip and/or tilt for the 45° stretch. A strong strengthening effect was observed for samples with row-nucleated fibril structures at the 00° stretch; whereas for the 90° stretch, the presence of such structures significantly limited deformability of the samples. In the <i>dynamic strain mechanical α relaxation</i> study (chapter 5.0), samples were tested at nine different angles with respect to the original MD, and the morphologies of samples <i>before</i> and </i>after</i> the dynamic tests were also investigated. The mechanical dispersions for the 00° and 90° tests were believed to arise essentially from the crystalline phase, and they contain contributions from two earlier recognized sub-relaxations of α_I and α_II. While for the 45° test, in addition to a high temperature α_II relaxation, a interlamellar shear induced low temperature mechanical relaxation was also observed. It is concluded that the low temperature relaxation is related to the characteristics of the interface between the crystalline lamellae and amorphous layers. In the <i>small strain creep</i> study (chapter 6.0), samples were tested at the 00°, 45° and 90° angles at the original MD. Both creep strain and creep rate for samples at the three angles were very different. An Eyring-rate model was utilized to analysis the observed creep behavior, and structural parameters associated with this model, including population of creep sites, activation energy and volume, were obtained by fitting the experimental data to the Eyring-rate equation. It was concluded that the plateau creep rate in these model materials is primarily controlled by the density and physical state of tie-chains in the amorphous phase. For the lamellar thickness and distribution study, DSC, SAXS, TEM and AFM experiments were conducted for samples having a well-defined stacked lamellar morphology. It was found that the most probable lamellar thickness from SAXS and TEM agreed very well; however, these values did not match with those obtained by DSC and AFM. It was pointed out that the use of DSC to determine lamellar thickness and distribution is so sensitive to heating rate and numerical values for the parameters in the Gibbs-Thomson equation that it is not believed to be suitable for quantitative analysis. / Ph. D.

In this work, the deformation and strength of an oxide/oxide ceramic matrix composite system under stress-rupture conditions were studied both experimentally and analytically. A rupture model for unidirectional composites which incorporates fiber strength statistics, fiber degradation, and matrix damage was derived. The model is based on a micromechanical analysis of the stress state in a fiber near a matrix crack and includes the effects of fiber pullout and global load sharing from broken to unbroken fibers. The parameters required to produce the deformation and lifetime predictions can all be obtained independently of stress-rupture testing through quasi-static tension tests and tests on the individual composite constituents. Thus the model is truly predictive in nature. The predictions from the model were compared to the results of an extensive experimental program. The model captures the trends in steady-state creep and tertiary creep but the lifetime predictions are extremely conservative. The model was further extended to the behavior of cross-ply or woven materials through the use of numeric representations of the fiber stresses as the fibers bridge matrix cracks. Comparison to experiments on woven materials demonstrated the relationship between the behavior of the unidirectional and cross-ply geometries. Finally, an empirical method for predicting the durability of materials which exhibit multiple damage modes is examined and compared to results of accurate Monte Carlo simulations. Such an empirical method is necessary for the durability analysis of large structural members with varying stress and temperature fields over individual components. These analyses typically require the use of finite element methods, but the extensive computations required in micromechanical models render them impractical. The simple method examined in this work, however, is shown to have applicability only over a narrow range of material properties. / Ph. D.

Long-term creep and recovery models (master curves) were developed from short-term data using the time temperature superposition principle (TTSP) for kiln-dried southern pine loaded in compression parallel-to-grain and exposed to constant environmental conditions (~70°F, ~9%EMC). Short-term accelerated creep (17 hour) and recovery (35 hour) data were collected for each specimen at a range of temperature (70°F-150°F) and constant moisture condition of 9%. The compressive strain was measured using bonded electrical resistance strain gages. For each specimen, the compliance curves for all the temperature levels were plotted against log-time on the same plot. The curve segments at successively higher temperature levels were shifted along the log-time axis with respect to the curve section at 70°F to construct a master curve for each specimen. The extrapolation of the developed master curves ranged from 0.23 to 6.4 years. The requirement that the shift factors below glass transition temperature follow Arrhenius formulation was satisfied by the empirical shift factors. The activation energy for creep and recovery of kiln-dried southern pine derived from the slope of the plot of horizontal shift factor and the inverse of the absolute temperature was 28 KCal/mole. Creep and recovery master curves were represented by power functions and the nonlinear regression analysis was used to estimate the model parameters. Linear regression models were developed to predict one parameter in creep and recovery models from Young's modulus. The other model parameter showed weak correlations with material properties; therefore, an average value was recommended. The validity of the master curves for predicting creep of wood exposed to normal interior environmental conditions in buildings was tested by conducting long-term (10 month) creep tests in a heated/cooled laboratory environment. The fluctuating test environmental conditions caused geometry changes in the surface of the wood specimens in addition to mechanosorptive creep leading to fluctuating long-term data. Therefore, a good agreement between the master curves and long-term data was not found. Creep behavior of shallow southern pine arches was studied to demonstrate the application of the finite element method, incorporating the long-term curves based on TISP, to predict creep in wood structures. Creep tests were conducted at various load levels applied at ambient environmental conditions for two months. One arch failed (i.e., snapped-through) nine days after the tests began indicating that creep can indeed cause instability failure in shallow structures. It was found that the supports in the arch test fixture deflected elastically; therefore, the arches were modeled as three pin structures with base pin joints supported by zero-length linear elastic springs. However, the elastic analysis results revealed the presence of other factors affecting the experimental response which complicated the modeling procedure. The creep analysis was performed using a finite element model incorporating the developed creep master curves; however, due to the complexity in the creep experimental apparatus, the numerical predictions were not validated experimentally. / Ph. D.

In homogenous materials the life of a component is controlled by damage associated with a single crack while that of non-homogenous materials is the result of a distributed damage state. The life prediction of composite materials is thus carried out using damage mechanics two common approaches of which are, macro- and micro-mechanical modeling. The former assumes homogeneity at the lamina level while the latter evaluates failure processes at the fiber-matrix level. In the first part of this study the remaining strength life prediction methodology MRLife, modified for ceramic composites (CCLife), is integrated into the finite element package CSTEM. to create an integrated design tool for ceramic matrix composites. Using this tool, a case study is carried out to predict the life of a notched Nicalon™/Silicon Carbide 2-D woven laminated composite coupon with a temperature distribution subject to fatigue loading. Global failure of the notched plate is predicted based on a Whitney-Nuismer type average strength criterion. In the second part of this study, simulation of events occurring at the fiber-matrix level are used to develop micro-mechanical models for the time-dependent behavior of fiber-reinforced composites due to shear creep of the fiber-matrix interface and slow crack growth in the fibers. At first, simulations of the time-dependent failure of the composite are performed using a modified Monte-Carlo fast-fracture model the results of which are then used to validate the analytical models developed for the two mechanisms. Finally, an analytical model for the time-dependent failure of a composite due to the combined effects of the two mechanism, shear creep and slow crack growth is presented. The potential for including the time-dependent failure model into CCLife is evaluated by comparing these results with those form CCLife results under the same conditions. / Ph. D.

Three theories - the time-hardening theory, the strain-hardening theory, and the life-traction theory - are investigated in an effort to predict creep strains under conditions of varying loads from data obtained at constant load in the range of interest to the structural designer. A method is presented for computing an equivalent rupture stress for the varied load case using the lite-traction theory and the rupture curve tor constant stress tests. The analytical methods are compared with data obtained from 2024-T3 aluminum-alloy sheet under tensile creep at constant and varying loads. / M.S.

The aim of this study is to develop a combined experimental and analytical framework for accelerated lifetime estimates of semi-crystalline plastic pipes which is sensitive to changes in structure, orientation, and morphology introduced by processing conditions. To accomplish this task, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is chosen as the exemplary base material. As a new accelerated test protocol, several characterization tests were planned and conducted on as-manufactured HDPE pipe segments. Custom fixtures are designed and developed to admit uniaxial characterization tests. The yield behavior of the material was modeled using two hydrostatic pressure modified Eyring equations in parallel to describe the characterization test data collected in axial tension and compression. Subsequently, creep rupture failure of the pipes under hydrostatic pressure is predicted using the model. The model predictions are validated using the experimental creep rupture failure data collected from internal pressurization of pipes using a custom-designed, fully automatic test system. The results indicate that the method allows the prediction of pipe service lifetimes in excess of 50 years using experiments conducted over approximately 10 days instead of the traditional 13 months. The analytical model is joined with a commercial finite element package to allow simulations including different thermal-mechanical loading conditions as well as complicated geometries. The numerical model is validated using the characterization test data at different temperatures and deformation rates. The results suggest that the long-term performance of the pipe is dominated by the plastic behavior of the material and its viscoelastic response is found to play an insignificant role in this manner. Because of the potential role of residual stresses on the long-term behavior, the residual stress across the wall thickness is measured for three geometrically different HDPE pipes. As expected, the magnitude of tensile and compressive residual stresses are found to be greater in pipes with thicker walls. The effect of the residual stress on the long-term performance of the pipes is investigated by including the residual stress measurements into the numerical simulations. The residual stress slightly accelerates the failure process; however, for the pipe geometries examined, this acceleration is insignificant. / Doctor of Philosophy / The use of plastic pipes to carry liquids and gases has greatly increased in recent decades, primarily because of their moderate costs, long service lifetimes, and corrosion resistance compared with materials such as corrugated steel and ductile iron. Before these pipes can be effectively used, however, designers need the capability to quickly predict the service lifetime so that they can choose the best plastic material and pipe design for a specific application. This capability also allows manufacturers to modify materials to improve performance. The aim of this study is to develop a combination of experiments and models to quickly predict the service lifetime of plastic pipes. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) was chosen as the plastic material on which the model was developed. Several characterization tests are planned and conducted on as-manufactured HDPE pipe segments. The yielding behavior of the material is modeled and the lifetime predictions are evaluated. The predictions are validated by experimental data captured during pipe burst tests conducted in the lab. The results indicate that the method allows the accurate prediction of pipe service lifetimes in excess of 50 years using experiments conducted over approximately 10 days instead of the traditional 13 months, resulting in significant savings in time (and consequently costs) and making it possible to introduce new materials into production more rapidly.