<p>Complete Joint Penetration (CJP) welds are commonly used in many industries such as structural steel-fabrication, pressure vessels, pipelines, nuclear industries, etc. However, CJP weld could be susceptible to defects such as lack of fusion, slag, porosity, etc. The 1994 Northridge earthquake and the 1995 Kobe earthquake revealed that there was a significant loss in the ductility of CJP welded connections due to the presence of defects. There are very limited experimental and numerical studies available to understand the overall behavior and strength of CJP welded connection in the presence of defect. This study aims to bridge this gap. The objective of this study is to understand the influence of defects on ultimate strength and ductility of the CJP welded connection. To achieve this objective, a total of twelve specimens were tested, out of which four specimens were without any defect, while eight specimens had defects in the weld. A process was developed to introduce defects in the CJP weld specimens. A simplified lower bound approach using ductile damage criteria was proposed based on benchmarked finite element models to simulate the weld fracture. Moreover, a parametric study was performed to understand the effects of various parameters such as length and depth of defect, failure criteria, etc. on behavior and ductility of the welded connections. It was found that the welded specimens having no defect were able to reach the ultimate strength and ductility of the base metal. Whereas loss in ductility and strength was observed in the specimens with defects. The loss in ductility as compared to base metal ranges from 30% to 88% for different specimens. The maximum loss in strength was observed to be 12% only for specimens with the worst defect. The study concluded that the depth of defect had significant influence over ductility as compared to length of defect. If the depth of defect (d) is greater than half of plate thickness (d > t/2), it exhibits similar behavior regardless of actual depth. However, no significant influence of defect was observed if the depth of defect was less than t/8.</p>

This thesis is mainly focused on the seismic behaviour of cross laminated timber (CLT) buildings. The document can be subdivided into three main sections closely related to each other. In the first part, after a short introduction on the state of the art on timber buildings regarding the constructive and legislative issues, the behaviour of CLT buildings is presented. The research is focused on the study on single shear-walls, on the multi-storey single-walls and on the behaviour of the whole buildings. The analyses are performed in order to assess the ductility level achievable by a CLT building as a result of different choices for the ductility of the connections at the foundation level. In order to estimate the ductility level, a large number of non-linear analyses were performed. This was possible thanks to a Matlab code, specifically developed, which allowed to reduce the computational burden. The results are used to evaluate a reliable set of behaviour factors to be applied in the seismic design of CLT buildings. In the second part of thesis, the low-cyclic fatigue strengths for different typologies of dissipative timber connections are presented. The low-cyclic fatigue strength represents a key-parameter in the assessment of the seismic behaviour of timber connections. In fact, high values of ductility associated with low values of strength degradation ensure a remarkable and reliable energy dissipation without a significant loss of strength. Despite the current version of chapter 8 of Eurocode 8 requires specific values of seismic demand for timber connections in terms of low-cyclic fatigue strength, no specific provision is reported to this regard in the European Standard for the cycling testing of timber connections and assemblage in seismic design (EN 12512). In This Standard the ductility capacity and the impairment of strength are calculated as separate mechanical parameters. For this reason, a proposal of revision of European Standard EN12512 is presented and discussed. The third and last part of the thesis describes an innovative connection for CLT buildings. This innovative connection was originally developed in order to absorb both traction and shear actions. Furthermore, a good performance has been obtained in terms of low-cyclic fatigue strength and ductility, with the aim of conceiving a connection able of satisfy the requirements of the current seismic European Standard. The design of this new connection was an iterative process, starting from some simplified numerical models. After some improvements, it was possible to obtain the expected performance levels. The strength and rigidity of the designed connection were initially obtained through numerical analysis, and then compared with the results of physical tests carried out in the Materials and Structures Testing Laboratory (MSTL), that is a part of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering (DICAM) of the University of Trento.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

The aim of this report is to investigate the ductile performance of concrete tilt-up panels reinforced with cold-drawn mesh to improve the current seismic assessment procedure. The commercial impact of the project was also investigated. Engineering Advisory Group (EAG) guidelines state that a crack in a panel under face loading may be sufficient to fracture the mesh. The comments made by EAG regarding the performance of cold-drawn mesh may be interpreted as suggesting that assessment of such panels be conducted with a ductility of 1.0. Observations of tilt-up panel performance following the Christchurch earthquakes suggest that a ductility higher than μ=1.0 is likely to be appropriate for the response of panels to out-of-plane loading. An experimental test frame was designed to subject ten tilt-panel specimens to a cyclic quasi-static loading protocol. Rotation ductility, calculated from the force-displacement response from the test specimens, was found to range between 2.9 and 5.8. Correlation between tensile tests on 663L mesh, and data collected from instrumentation during testing confirmed that the mesh behaves as un-bonded over the pitch length of 150mm. Recommendation: Based on a moment-rotation assessment approach with an un-bonded length equal to the pitch of the mesh, a rotation ductility of μ=2.5 appears to be appropriate for the seismic assessment of panels reinforced with cold-drawn mesh.

In 1994 there was an earthquake occurred in Northridge, California which caused damage in structures built with Steel Moment Frames (SMF) due to the brittle fractures in the beam and column connections. It has led to the major modifications and improvements in the connection detailing prior to the earthquake occurred in the Northbridge. These changes came up with better materials for welding and introduced the use of cover plate and Reduced Beam Section (RBS). RBS connections are the most widely used connection today and it allows the SMF systems to yield extensively and deform plastically by avoiding brittle fracturing at connections. The most important factors that affect the response along with the design of Steel Moment Frames (SMF) and Reduced Beam Section (RBS) connections are connection strength, stiffness, connection type, use of deep columns and phenomena associated with its instability, the strength of ductility of the column panel zone-beam instability.

Abstract This thesis studies the factors that govern transverse cracking during continuous casting of low carbon, niobium microalloyed and boron microalloyed steels. Crack susceptibility in the thick slab, billet and thin slab casting processes are compared by using typical conditions in laboratory hot ductility tests. There is limited published literature on hot ductility in aluminium-killed and siliconkilled boron microalloyed steels and the proposed mechanisms of failure by transverse cracking are contradictory. Few published papers specifically compare hot ductility behaviour of any steels between thick slab, billet and thin slab continuous casting processes. Thus, the basis of this research is to assess the influence of casting parameters and compositional variations on hot ductility behaviour in low carbon steels, niobium microalloyed steels, aluminium-killed boron microalloyed steels and silicon-killed, boron microalloyed steels. The typical temperature ranges, cooling rate and strain rate conditions of the continuous casting processes were used in reheated and in situ melted hot tensile tests performed on steel specimens. Solidification, transformation and precipitation temperatures were calculated using solubility equations and modelled using the Thermo-CalcTM thermodynamics program. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to determine the modes of failure in the tested specimens. In the low carbon steels, hot ductility was improved by increasing the strain rate; by calcium treatment, which minimises copper sulphide and iron sulphide formation; and by maintaining a nickel to copper ratio of 1:1. It was shown that thin slab casting conditions provided the best hot ductility results for the low carbon steels. All the niobium steels showed poor ductility in the single-phase austenite temperature region, indicating that intergranular precipitation of fine niobium carbonitrides was the cause of the poor ductility. It was shown that the hot ductility was greatly improved by calcium treatment, by decreasing the cooling rate and by increasing the strain rate. Slow iv thin slab and thick slab casting conditions provided the best hot ductility results for the niobium steels. Hot ductility was substantially improved in the aluminium-killed boron steels by increasing the boron to nitrogen ratio from 0.19 to 0.75. The results showed that, at cooling rates generally associated with thick slab, bloom and slow thin slab casting, a boron to nitrogen ratio of ≥0.47 was sufficient to avoid a ductility trough altogether. However, under conditions typically experienced in fast thin slab and billet casting, a boron to nitrogen ratio of 0.75 was required to provide good hot ductility. The mechanism of the ductility improvement with increasing boron to nitrogen ratio was found to be enhanced precipitation of boron nitride, leading to a decrease in nitrogen available for aluminium nitride precipitation. In the silicon-killed boron steels, it was found that the boron to nitrogen ratio had the overriding influence on hot ductility and hence on crack susceptibility. Excellent hot ductility was found for boron to nitrogen ratios above 1. Additionally, analysis of industrial casting data showed that the scrap percentage due to transverse cracking increased significantly at manganese to sulphur ratios below fourteen. An exponential decay relationship between the manganese to sulphur ratio and the average scrap percentage due to transverse cracking was determined as a tool to predict scrap levels in the casting plant.

The concept of stay-in-place (SIP) structural formwork has the potential to simplify and accelerate the construction process to a great extent. Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) SIP structural formwork offers further potential benefits over existing formwork systems in terms of ease and speed of construction, improved site safety and reduced long-term maintenance in corrosive environments. However, it is not without its limitations, including primarily the possibility of a lack of ductility, which is a key concern regarding the use of FRP structural formwork in practice. This thesis presents the findings of an experimental and analytical investigation into a novel FRP SIP structural formwork system for a concrete slab with a particular emphasis on its ability to achieve a ductile behaviour. The proposed composite system consists of a moulded glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) grating adhesively bonded to square pultruded GFRP box sections. The grating is subsequently filled with concrete to form a concrete-FRP composite floor slab. Holes cut into the top flange of the box sections allow concrete studs to form at the grating/box-section interface. During casting, GFRP dowels are inserted into the holes to further mechanically connect the grating and box sections. An initial experimental investigation into using GFRP grating as confinement for concrete showed that a significant increase in ultimate strength and strain capacity could be achieved compared to unconfined concrete. This enhanced strain capacity in compression allows greater use of the FRP capacity in tension when used in a floor slab system. Further experimental investigation into developing ductility at the grating/box-section interface showed that the proposed shear connection exhibited elastic-‘plastic’ behaviour. This indicated the feasibility of achieving ductility through progressive and controlled longitudinal shear failure. Following these component tests on the concrete-filled grating and the shear connectors, a total of six (300 x 150 x 3000) mm slab specimens were designed and tested under five-point bending. It was found that the behaviour of all specimens was ductile in nature, demonstrating that the proposed progressive longitudinal shear failure was effective. A three-stage analytical model was developed to predict the load at which the onset of longitudinal shear failure occurred, the stiffness achieved during the post elastic behaviour and, finally, the deflection at which ultimate failure occurred. Close agreement was found between experimental results and the theory.