With the rise in constructing using FRP reinforcement, owing to corrosion problems in steel-reinforced structures, there is a need for a system to resist lateral loads induced from wind and earthquake loads. The present study addressed the applicability of reinforced-concrete shear walls totally reinforced with glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars to attain reasonable strength and drift requirements as specified in different codes. Four large-scale shear walls - one reinforced with steel bars (as reference specimen) and three totally reinforced with GFRP bars - were constructed and tested to failure under quasi-static reversed cyclic lateral loading. The GFRP-reinforced walls had different aspect ratios covering the range of medium-rise walls. The reported test results clearly showed that properly designed and detailed GFRPreinforced walls could reach their flexural capacities with no strength degradation, and that shear, sliding shear, and anchorage failures were not major problems and could be effectively controlled. The results also showed recoverable and self-centering behavior up to allowable drift limits before moderate damage occurred and achieved a maximum drift meeting the limitation of most building codes. Acceptable levels of energy dissipation accompanied by relatively small residual forces, compared to the steel-reinforced shear wall, were observed. Finite element simulation was conducted and the analyses captured the main features of behavior. Interaction of flexural and shear deformations of the tested shear walls was investigated. It was found that relying on the diagonal transducers tended to overestimate shear distortions by 30% to 50%. Correcting the results based on the use of vertical transducers was assessed and found to produce consistent results. Decoupling the flexural and shear deformations was discussed. Using GFRP bars as elastic material gave uniform distribution of shear strains along the shear region, resulting in shear deformation ranging from 15 to 20% of total deformation. The yielding of the steel bars intensified the shear strains at the yielding location, causing significant degradation in shear deformation ranging from 2 to 40% of total deformation. The results obtained demonstrated significantly high utilization levels of such shear wall type, therefore, primary guidelines for seismic design of GFRP-reinforced shear wall in moderate earthquakes regions was presented, as no design guidelines for lateral load resistance for GFRP-reinforced walls are available in codes. The ultimate limit state was addressed by providing strength capacity that limit ductility demand to their safe flexural displacement capacity. The strength demands were derived from ground motion spectra using modification factors that depend on both the strength and energy absorption of the structure. Deformation capacity was derived by proposing new definitions for elastic (virtual yield) displacement and maximum allowable displacement. Strength modification factor was proposed based on the test results. The occurrence of "virtual plastic hinge" for GFRP-reinforced shear walls was described providing new definitions convenient with the behavior of the GFRP-reinforced shear walls. "Virtual plastic hinge" length was estimated based on observations and calculations. Subsequently, the experimental results were used to justify the proposed design procedure. The promising results could provide impetus for constructing shear walls reinforced with GFRP bars and constitute a step toward using GFRP reinforcement in such lateral-resisting systems.

The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the ductility and application of titanium alloys, like titanium 6Al-4V, when used in aerospace fasteners compared to more conventional stainless steel aerospace fasteners such as A286. There have been concerns raised about the safe usability of titanium 6-4 in the aerospace industry due to its lack of strain hardening. However, there is a lack of data pertaining to this concern of safe usage which this thesis aims to address. Tensile tests were conducted to find the ductility indexes of these fasteners which quantify the amount of plastic to elastic elongation. From the tests conducted it was found that the two materials yield and tensile strengths were very similar, though the ductility index of A286 is on average ten times greater than that of titanium 6-4. This thesis includes joint diagram examples that analyze typical joints using both materials. It was found from joint diagram examples that the lower ductility index of the titanium alloy will only be detrimental to use at higher preloads. However, the titanium alloy can be used safely in place of A286 in most loading situations just with narrower safety margins in these controlled examples.