The damaging effects of hurricane landfall on US coastal bridges have been studied using physical model testing. Hurricane bridge damage and failure susceptibility has become very evident, especially during hurricane seasons 2004 and 2005 in the Gulf of Mexico. The combination of storm surge and high waves caused by a hurricane can produce substantial loads on bridge decks leading to complete bridge failure. Several theoretical methods have been developed to estimate these forces but have not been tested in a laboratory setting for a typical bridge section. Experiments were done using a large-scale 3-D wave basin located at the Haynes Coastal Engineering Laboratory at Texas A&M University to provide estimates of the horizontal and vertical forces for several conditions to compare with the forces predicted with the existing models. The wave force results show no strong correlation between the actual force measured and the predicted force of existing theoretical methods. A new method is derived from the existing theoretical methods. This model shows a strong correlation with both the measured horizontal and vertical forces.

The extreme motion and load of ships have been assessed using a linear frequency domain method or a linear energy spectral method and RAOs, which may be too approximate to be used for estimation of ship motion in severest seas. The new technology uses simulation in the time domain to deal with the non-linear responses to the random seas. However, the current simulation technique has been successful only up to the sea state of 7 (“high seas”), defined by the significant wave height of 9 meters. The above cannot provide the extreme wave loads and motions for seas higher than the sea state 7. The ultimate goal of this work would be to develop a new technique that can simulate responses to the seas of states 8 and 9. The objective of the present study is to simulate the vertical relative motion and wave topping of a moored ship in the time domain by varying the significant wave heights. The analysis was able to predict with a fair accuracy the relative motion characteristics of a freely floating body in the head and beam sea conditions. The resonance aspects and its significance in the overall response are also analyzed.

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The shape of bridge deck sections used for long-span suspension bridges has evolved through the years, from the compact box deck girders, to twin box and multi-box decks sections, which proved to have better aerodynamic behaviour, and to bring economic advantages on the construction material usage side. This thesis presents a study of a new type of multi-box bridge deck for the Megane Bridge, consisting of two side decks for traffic lanes, and two middle decks for railway traffic, connected using stabilizing beams. Aerodynamic static force coefficient measurements were performed on a section model with a scale of 1:80, for Reynolds numbers up to 5.1 × 105 under angles of attack from -10° to 10°. Also there-dimensional CFD simulations were performed by employing a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) algorithm with a standard Smagorinsky subgrid-scale model, for Re = 9.3 × 107 and angles of attack 𝛼= -4°, -2°, 0°, 2° and 4°. The experimental and numerical results were compared with respect to accuracy, sensitivity, and practical suitability. Furthermore, the aerodynamic character for each individual decks including static coefficients, wind flow pattern and pressure distribution were studied through CFD simulation. ILS (Iterative Least Squares) method was applied to extract the flutter derivatives of Megane section model based on the results obtained from free vibration tests for evaluating the flutter stability. A comparison of the flutter derivatives was carried out between bridges with different deck configurations and the results are included in this thesis.

Chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcing steel is widely accepted as the primary cause of premature deterioration in concrete bridge decks (Brown, M.C., 2002). Since linear cracking in concrete cover can potentially accelerate chloride ingress to the depth of the reinforcing steel, there is reason to believe that severity of deck cracking can significantly influence the time to first repair and/or rehabilitation of the bridge deck. Surface width, orientation, and length of cracks in 38 Virginia bridge decks were investigated in order to characterize the general distribution of deck cracking in the commonwealth of Virginia. Crack data was correlated to structural/material design parameters and environmental exposure conditions in order to determine significant predictor-response relationships. The majority of surveyed bridge decks were divided into four classifications of deck type based on superstructure type and construction era, either 1968-1971 or 1984-1991. Surveyed bridge decks that did not fit into any of the four classifications were used to form more generalized subsets. These larger subsets were used to determine if significant influence factors could be translated to broader classifications of bridge decks. Transverse beam spacing, annual average daily truck traffic (AADTT), resistivity of the deck concrete, chloride exposure, and the percentage of concrete clear cover depths less than or equal to 38mm (1.5 in) were all determined to have a significant correlation with linear deck cracking. / Master of Science

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Les avancées des nouvelles technologies de séquençage ont permis aux études cliniques de produire des données volumineuses et complexes. Cette complexité se décline selon diverses modalités, notamment la grande dimension, l’hétérogénéité des données au niveau biologique (acquises à différents niveaux de l’échelle du vivant et à divers moments de l’expérience), l’hétérogénéité du type de données, le bruit (hétérogénéité biologique ou données entachées d’erreurs) dans les données et la présence de données manquantes (au niveau d’une valeur ou d’un individu entier). L’intégration de différentes données est donc un défi important pour la biologie computationnelle. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans un projet de recherche clinique sur l’obésité, DiOGenes, pour lequel nous avons fait des propositions méthodologiques pour l’analyse et l’intégration de données. Ce projet est basé sur une intervention nutritionnelle menée dans huit pays européens et vise à analyser les effets de différents régimes sur le maintien pondéral et sur certains marqueurs de risque cardio-vasculaire et de diabète, chez des individus obèses. Dans le cadre de ce projet, mes travaux ont porté sur l’analyse de données transcriptomiques (RNA-Seq) avec des individus manquants et sur l’intégration de données transcriptomiques (nouvelle technique QuantSeq) avec des données cliniques. La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée aux données manquantes et à l’inférence de réseaux à partir de données d’expression RNA-Seq. Lors d’études longitudinales transcriptomiques, il arrive que certains individus ne soient pas observés à certains pas de temps, pour des raisons expérimentales. Nous proposons une méthode d’imputation multiple hot-deck (hd-MI) qui permet d’intégrer de l’information externe mesurée sur les mêmes individus et d’autres individus. hd-MI permet d’améliorer la qualité de l’inférence de réseau. La seconde partie porte sur une étude intégrative de données cliniques et transcriptomiques (mesurées par QuantSeq) basée sur une approche réseau. Nous y montrons l’intérêt de cette nouvelle technique pour l’acquisition de données transcriptomiques et l’analysons par une approche d’inférence de réseau en lien avec des données cliniques d’intérêt. / The development of high-throughput sequencing technologies has lead to a massive acquisition of high dimensional and complex datasets. Different features make these datasets hard to analyze : high dimensionality, heterogeneity at the biological level or at the data type level, the noise in data (due to biological heterogeneity or to errors in data) and the presence of missing data (for given values or for an entire individual). The integration of various data is thus an important challenge for computational biology. This thesis is part of a large clinical research project on obesity, DiOGenes, in which we have developed methods for data analysis and integration. The project is based on a dietary intervention that was led in eight Europeans centers. This study investigated the effect of macronutrient composition on weight-loss maintenance and metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors after a phase of calorie restriction in obese individuals. My work have mainly focused on transcriptomic data analysis (RNA-Seq) with missing individuals and data integration of transcriptomic (new QuantSeq protocol) and clinic datasets. The first part is focused on missing data and network inference from RNA-Seq datasets. During longitudinal study, some observations are missing for some time step. In order to take advantage of external information measured simultaneously to RNA-Seq data, we propose an imputation method, hot-deck multiple imputation (hd-MI), that improves the reliability of network inference. The second part deals with an integrative study of clinical data and transcriptomic data, measured by QuantSeq, based on a network approach. The new protocol is shown efficient for transcriptome measurement. We proposed an analysis based on network inference that is linked to clinical variables of interest.

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) deck has some significant advantages compared to concrete deck in use of bridges, such as light self-weight, high stiffness and strength, good durability and easy to install. FRP deck has already been used in some bridge rehabilitation and short span bridges. But for widely used in bridges, FRP deck bridges still need further research. Currently many research efforts focus on the filed tests of FRP deck bridges. Compared to field tests, Finite element analysis also has great advantages, such as low cost and convenient to conduct. Therefore, in this thesis finite element analysis is conducted by ABAQUS on the Boyer Bridge in Pennsylvania. The finite element model is verified by the static field test result. Then a simplified moving truck load is applied on the bridge model in order to analyze the dynamic responses of the FRP deck bridge, including the displacements and stress of each girder at the middle span. The dynamic effect is shown by comparing the dynamic responses and the static responses of the bridge. The connection between the FRP deck and girder is very important to the behavior of the bridge. In this thesis shear studs serve to connect the FRP deck and girder. This thesis also analyzes the effect of shear studs to the dynamic responses of the bridge by changing the number of the shear studs.

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) deck has some significant advantages compared to concrete deck in use of bridges, such as light self-weight, high stiffness and strength, good durability and easy to install. FRP deck has already been used in some bridge rehabilitation and short span bridges. But for widely used in bridges, FRP deck bridges still need further research. Currently many research efforts focus on the filed tests of FRP deck bridges. Compared to field tests, Finite element analysis also has great advantages, such as low cost and convenient to conduct. Therefore, in this thesis finite element analysis is conducted by ABAQUS on the Boyer Bridge in Pennsylvania. The finite element model is verified by the static field test result. Then a simplified moving truck load is applied on the bridge model in order to analyze the dynamic responses of the FRP deck bridge, including the displacements and stress of each girder at the middle span. The dynamic effect is shown by comparing the dynamic responses and the static responses of the bridge. The connection between the FRP deck and girder is very important to the behavior of the bridge. In this thesis shear studs serve to connect the FRP deck and girder. This thesis also analyzes the effect of shear studs to the dynamic responses of the bridge by changing the number of the shear studs.