As lajes alveolares são elementos eficientes do ponto de vista estrutural, pois os alvéolos permitem significativa redução de peso próprio sem comprometer a resistência e a rigidez. Além disso, é muito comum nesses elementos o uso de protensão, o que permite que estas lajes consigam vencer grandes vãos e se tornem uma solução competitiva. No entanto, para certas combinações de vãos, espessura da laje, ligações e propriedades dos materiais, esse sistema estrutural pode ser suscetível a vibrações excessivas. Há poucos estudos sobre a sensibilidade a vibrações destes elementos cuja aplicação é comum em situações de especial interesse como escritórios, nos quais as vibrações podem causar significativos incômodos aos usuários. Este trabalho visa contribuir para o melhor entendimento sobre a sensibilidade a vibrações de pavimentos com lajes sujeitas à ação dinâmica de atividades humanas. Além disso, pretende-se avaliar o comportamento dinâmico dos pavimentos com lajes alveolares em diferentes situações de interesse: painéis isolados, unidos por chaves de cisalhamento e após a concretagem da capa. Foi realizado um estudo experimental em um pavimento de um edifício comercial em estrutura de concreto pré-moldado nas três situações distintas da construção e foram obtidas as frequências naturais, modos de vibração e amortecimento para cada etapa, bem como uma análise do conforto ao usuário, a partir dos limites previstos em normas nacionais e internacionais. Foi também realizada uma análise numérica, na qual, além da determinação teórica de modos de vibração e frequências naturais, foram determinados os níveis de vibração gerados pelo caminhar de pessoas. As frequências naturais obtidas numericamente apresentaram diferença média de 11% com relação às experimentais. A diferença média dos picos de aceleração numéricos e experimentais foi de 9%. Tais resultados possibilitaram validar o modelo numérico proposto. A análise de conforto do pavimento indicou que a norma brasileira ANBT NBR 6118 (2014) não apresenta prescrições suficientes para se evitar vibrações excessivas em pavimentos com lajes alveolares protendidos. Os resultados permitiram concluir que as chaves de cisalhamento e a capa estrutural foram determinantes para garantir níveis aceitáveis de vibração no pavimento analisado. / Hollow core slabs are very efficient structural members, since their voids allow a significant reduction of self-weight, without jeopardizing the strength and stiffness. Moreover, prestressed concrete is commonly employed in this type of structure, allowing their use in large spans. Consequently, this is a very competitive solution. However, for certain combination of spans, slab thickness, connections and materials properties, this structural system can be susceptible to excessive vibrations. There is a lack of studies on vibration sensitivity of these elements, which are commonly applicable in situations of special interest, as offices, in which vibration can cause significant annoyance to users. This work aims to contribute to a better understanding about vibration sensitivity of hollow core slabs floors. Moreover, we intend to evaluate the dynamic behavior of hollow core slabs in different situations of interest: single panels, panels joined by shear keys and after completion of concrete topping. This analysis involves the determination of natural frequencies, mode shapes, damping ratios and vibrational levels generated by walking. An experimental study was carried out on a floor of a precast concrete structure of a commercial building in three different stages of construction. In this study, the natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping for each step were obtained, as well as an analysis of comfort, based on limits defined by national and international standards. A numerical analysis was also performed in which the vibration modes and natural frequencies were theoretically determined and the vibration levels generated by walking were estimated. The natural frequencies obtained numerically showed an average difference of 11% compared to experimental. The average difference between the numerical and experimental peak acceleration was 9%. These results allowed the validation of the numerical model proposed. The comfort analysis of the floor indicated that the Brazilian standard ANBT NBR 6118 (2014) does not provide sufficient provisions to avoid excessive vibrations in floors with prestressed hollow core slabs. The results showed that the shear keys and the structural topping were crucial to ensure acceptable levels of vibration.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-12-12T15:55:02Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação de mestrado - Análise dinâmica de torres para telecomunicações (Revisão Definitiva).pdf: 5572516 bytes, checksum: 3aeb29a09ea2819f49316a79c5388a73 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T15:55:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação de mestrado - Análise dinâmica de torres para telecomunicações (Revisão Definitiva).pdf: 5572516 bytes, checksum: 3aeb29a09ea2819f49316a79c5388a73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-11 / Na última década, o crescimento da telefonia celular no Brasil venceu os limites das grandes capitais, levando a rede a cobrir municípios antes desprovidos de tal tecnologia. A transmissão do sinal pode ocorrer de diversas formas, mas, de fato, a mais comumente utilizada é por meio de antenas sustentadas por torres metálicas. Na prática, as antenas são instaladas em qualquer momento após a montagem da torre, mesmo anos após sua construção, sem qualquer verificação estrutural e, por vezes, excedendo a capacidade de carga nominal. Além disso, na maioria dos casos, não são levados em conta certos cuidados com relação ao posicionamento de suportes e das próprias antenas. Portanto, é comum encontrarmos antenas instaladas de forma inadequada, sendo colocadas fora da silhueta da torre. Este posicionamento, aliado com a ação dinâmica ocasionada pelo vento, pode trazer problemas graves à estrutura. Neste trabalho, são apresentados dois casos reais de torres metálicas que sofreram danos estruturais devido ao problema em questão. Este trabalho tem como principal objetivo apresentar uma solução de amortecimento para as vibrações causadas pelo vento em antenas para telecomunicações. A proposta visa utilizar elastômeros, como o Neoprene, entre a cantoneira do montante e as abraçadeiras dos suportes, reduzindo assim o período de vibração e, consequentemente, os efeitos da fadiga. / In the last decade, the growth of mobile telephony in Brazil won the boundaries of the great capitals, leading the network to cover cities before devoid of such technology. The signal transmission can occur in various ways, but, in fact, the most commonly used is through antennas supported by steel towers. In practice, the antennas are installed at any time after assembly of the tower, even years after its construction, without any structural verification and sometimes exceeding the rated load capacity. Moreover, in most cases, care is not taken into account in relation to the positioning brackets and their antennas. Therefore, it is common to find antennas installed improperly, being placed outside the tower silhouette. This positioning, combined with dynamic action brought by the wind, can bring serious problems to the structure. In this work, we present two real cases of metal towers that have suffered structural damage due to the problem at hand. The objective of this work is to present a solution for damping the vibrations caused by the wind in telecommunications antennas. The proposal to use elastomers, such as neoprene, between the bracket and the tower column, thus reducing the vibration period and, consequently, the effects of fatigue.

Em estruturas de concreto pré-moldado, as ligações usualmente apresentam comportamento semi-rígido, apesar desse tipo de vinculação não ser sempre considerado no projeto e análise das estruturas. Ensaios dinâmicos para a determinação da rigidez da ligação apresentam a vantagem de serem não-destrutivos e a possibilidade de serem utilizados na verificação das condições reais de vínculo ou para a avaliação da necessidade de um eventual reforço estrutural. Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um método para a análise da deformabilidade de estruturas de concreto baseado em ensaios dinâmicos, focalizando a semi-rigidez das ligações de elementos pré-moldados. Os objetos de estudo específicos são as ligações viga-pilar com capacidade de transmissão de forças e momentos. Em uma etapa preliminar desta pesquisa, realizaram-se ensaios-piloto em diferentes modelos de estruturas de concreto e de aço, em tamanho real e reduzido, com diferentes condições de contorno, para avaliar os instrumentos, equipamentos e sensores disponíveis. A partir da verificação da metodologia experimental proposta, realizou-se um estudo comparativo dos resultados obtidos com ensaios estáticos e dinâmicos em um modelo reduzido de pórtico de concreto pré-moldado, utilizando métodos diretos na obtenção da rigidez da ligação entre os elementos. Na confecção das ligações viga-pilar, foram empregados dispositivos usuais, tais como: dente e consolo, chumbador, almofada de apoio e preenchimento com graute e, posteriormente, aplicados reforços por inserção de laminado de PRFC inseridos no concreto de cobrimento, que permitiu o incremento da resistência e da rigidez à flexão das ligações. A metodologia experimental para determinar a rigidez da ligação viga-pilar envolveu procedimentos diretos, com ensaios dinâmicos de vibração forçada e sinais medidos por acelerômetros, e ensaios estáticos usuais em que se utilizam transdutores de deslocamento e clinômetros. Os resultados dos ensaios com os modelos de concreto, corroborados pelos resultados dos modelos metálicos, demonstram a validade da utilização da metodologia experimental dinâmica para determinação direta da rigidez de ligações. As conclusões obtidas aplicam-se diretamente ao projeto das estruturas e à prática da investigação estrutural, dentro do ambiente acadêmico e da indústria. / Usually precast concrete connections are considered as perfect joints (pinned or rigid), however the real behavior can be intermediate what is called semi-rigid. The use of dynamic tests is an advantage to obtain stiffness values without damaging the structure and can be used to assess the real boundary conditions or verify the need for structural strengthening. This research aims to develop a dynamic experimental procedure to determine the beam-to-column connection stiffness of precast concrete structures directly from accelerometer measured data. The preliminary tests were carried on specimens of real size or reduced scale, as well as concrete or steel connection specimens with different boundary conditions. The experimental tests were conducted in a reduced scale concrete frame composed of precast columns and beam. The frame was tested through dynamic and static methods in order to obtain the beam-to-column stiffness value directly. The beam was connected to the columns by pinned connections, formed by support cushions and dowels. In addition, the connections were strengthened by embedding CFRP strips in the lateral concrete cover, according to NSM technique (Near-Surface Mounted). Experimental static and dynamic tests were done at different loading steps. The results obtained with concrete and steel models show good agreement between static and dynamic tests.

La vérification de logiciels repose le plus souvent sur une spécification formelle encodant les propriétés du programme à vérifier. La tâche de spécification et de vérification déductive des programmes est longue et difficile et nécessite une connaissance des outils de preuve de programmes. En effet, un échec de preuve de programme peut être dû à une non-conformité du code par rapport à sa spécification, à un contrat de boucle ou de fonction appelée trop faible pour prouver une autre propriété, ou à une incapacité du prouveur. Il est souvent difficile pour l’utilisateur de décider laquelle de ces trois raisons est la cause de l’échec de la preuve car cette information n’est pas (ou rarement) donnée par le prouveur et requiert donc une revue approfondie du code et de la spécification. L’objectif de cette thèse est de fournir une méthode de diagnostic automatique des échecs de preuve afin d’améliorer le processus de spécification et de preuve des programmes C. Nous nous plaçons dans le cadre de la plate-forme d’analyse des programmes C FRAMA-C, qui fournit un langage de spécification unique ACSL, un greffon de vérification déductive WP et un générateur de tests structurels PATHCRAWLER. La méthode que nous proposons consiste à diagnostiquer les échecs de preuve en utilisant la génération de tests structurels sur une version instrumentée du programme d’origine / Software verification often relies on a formal specification encoding the program properties to check. Formally specifying and deductively verifying programs is difficult and time consuming and requires some knowledge about theorem provers. Indeed, a proof failure for a program can be due to a noncompliance between the code and its specification, a loop or callee contrat being insufficient to prove another property, or a prover incapacity. It is often difficult for the user to decide which one of these three reasons causes a given proof failure. Indeed, this feedback is not (or rarely) provided by the theorem prover thus requires a thorough review of the code and the specification. This thesis develops a method to automatically diagnose proof failures and facilitate the specification and verification task. This work takes place within the analysis framework for C programs FRAMAC, that provides the specification language ACSL, the deductive verification plugin WP, and the structural test generator PATHCRAWLER. The proposed method consists in diagnosing proof failures using structural test generation on an instrumented version of the program under verification.

Water scarcity is both natural and man-made phenomenon. Water control and uneven distribution of upstream TeestaRiver water makes artificial scarcity in downstream areas which can be minimized at least to the water stress level by balancing distribution and sustainable water use. Tasseled Cap transformation and NDVI methods were used in this study in order to find the magnitude of water scarcity in the downstream areas. NDVI and Tasseled Cap Greenness methods were applied to get proxy for soil moisture values in the form of biomass content and Tasseled Cap Wetness method were used to detect change in soil moisture content from Landsat TM and ETM+ data (1989-2010). System dynamic analysis method was applied to identify temporal and spatial differences between supply and demand of water in the TeestaRiver catchments area in the northwestern part of Bangladesh. It was found that, the vegetation cover and soil moisture content changed and shifted over time. Overall vegetation declined between 1989 and 2010 and soil moisture content also turned down. Moreover, TeestaRiver water is playing an important role for maintaining the balance between water supply and water scarcity in this region. There is a correlation between water scarcity in the downstream and availability of water in the TeestaRiver during dry seasons. / Master's Thesis

Memorization of a method is a commonly used re-factoring wherein developer modules the code of a method to save return values for some or all incoming parameter values. Whenever a parameter-tuple is received for the second or subsequent time, the method's execution can be elided and the corresponding saved value can be returned. It is quite challenging for developers to identify suitable methods for memorization, as these may not necessarily be the methods that account for a high fraction of the running time in the program. What are really sought are the methods that cumulatively incur signi_cant execution time in invocations that receive repeat parameter values. Our primary contribution is a novel dynamic analysis approach that emits a report that contains, for each method in an application, an estimate of the execution time savings to be expected from memorizing this method. The key technical novelty of our approach is a set of design elements that allow our approach to target real-world programs, and to compute the estimates in a re-grained manner. We describe our approach in detail, and evaluate an implementation of it on several real-world programs. Our evaluation reveals that there do exist many methods with good estimated savings that the approach is reasonably ancient, and that it has good precision (relative to actual savings).

The emphasis on seismic design and assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) frame structure has shifted from force-based to performance-based design and assessment to accommodate strength and ductility for required performance of building. RC frame structure may suffer different levels of damage under seismic-induced ground motions, with potentials for formation of hinges in structural elements, depending on the level of stringency in design. Thus it is required to monitor the seismic behaviour and performance of buildings, which depend on the structural system, year of construction and the level of irregularities in the structural system. It is the objective of the current research project to assess seismic performance of RC frame buildings in Canada, while developing fragility curves as analytical tools for such assessment. This was done through dynamic inelastic analysis by modelling selected building structures and using PERFORM-3D as analysis software, while employing incremental dynamic analysis to generate performance data under incrementally increasing seismic intensity of selected earthquake records. The results lead to probabilistic tools to assess the performance of buildings designed following the National Building Code of Canada in different years of construction with and without irregularities. The research consists of three phases; i) regular buildings designed after 1975, ii) regular buildings designed prior to 1975, and iii) irregular buildings designed prior to 1975. The latter two phases address older buildings prior to the development of modern seismic building codes. All three phases were carried out by selecting and designing buildings in Ottawa, representing the seismic region in eastern Canada, as well as buildings in Vancouver, representing the seismic region in western Canada. Buildings had three heights (2; 5; and 10-stories) to cover a wide range of building periods encountered in practice. The resulting fragility curves indicated that the older buildings showed higher probabilities of exceeding life safety and/or collapse prevention performance levels. Newer buildings showed higher probabilities of exceeding target performance levels in western Canada than those located in the east.

The freshmen programming courses at the University of Economics in Prague offer a unique approach to learning the art of programming and software engineering. The introductory courses follow the Architecture First methodology that gives students the opportunity to learn programming from the top down, without being constrained by the specifics and syntax of any one programming language. It teaches the thought processes needed to build programs, allowing the student to absorb the big ideas of computer programming. The average number of freshmen at the faculty of Informatics and Statistics is around seven hundred students. The task of correcting programming assignment and preparing appropriate feedback would be a mammoth undertaking for teaching staff in most university settings worldwide that offer similar computing degrees. It is therefore quite often the case that the faculty provisions some sort of automated testing technology that can handle the volume and provide both the teaching staff and the students with the tools needed to manage the assignments. These automated tools or systems have been, and continue to be, the subject of many research topics across the world and continue to evolve as new technologies and teaching methods evolve. This study first introduces the theoretical background of automated assessment and grading tools and systems and then provides an analysis of the fields current state. Taking that as input to the next phase, the study uses that information to then design and implement a custom-built system that would enable the automated testing of the structure and other aspects of student assignments. The main goal for the resulting system is to provide an intuitive and convenient way of declaring what needs to be tested for a given assignment and then providing the mechanism to run those tests automatically. The resulting system, DynoGrader, dynamically validates student assignments at runtime using Java runtime annotation processing mechanisms and Java Reflection API.

The CSA S850 Blast standard provides guidelines that can be used to enhance the blast performance of reinforced concrete structures. In the case of beams, the standard requires the use of top continuity (compression) bars and well-detailed transverse steel to ensure strength and ductility under blast loads. However, the requirements in the CSA S850 standard are intended for normal-strength concrete structures. Given the increased use of high-strength concrete (HSC) in practice, there is a need to explore the effects of modern blast designs on the behavior of HSC structures subjected to blast loads. Accordingly, this project examines the effect of modern reinforcement detailing on the static, dynamic and post-blast performance of high-strength concrete beams. The study further examines the ability to use fibers to relax such detailing and simplify construction. A total of seventeen beams are tested. Static testing is conducted under four-point bending, with blast testing conducted using the University of Ottawa shock-tube. The post-blast behavior of the beams is assessed by conducting residual static tests on the blast-damaged specimens. The parameters investigated include the effects of: blast detailing vs. nominal detailing, steel fibers, the effect of longitudinal steel ratio (in compression and tension) and tie spacing. The results show that under static loads, the use of blast detailing significantly improves the flexural behavior of the beams in terms of ductility. Likewise, the provision of continuity (compression) bars and closely spaced ties is found to improve blast performance by better controlling displacements, increasing blast resistance, limiting damages and allowing for important post-blast residual capacity. The use of steel fibers and relaxed detailing (increased tie spacing) is found to increase resistance and improve cracking behavior under static loads, with an ability to match the blast performance of more heavily-detailed HSC specimens. The use of fibers also allowed for substantial post-blast capacity. Finally, the steel ratio (in tension, in compression and in the transverse direction) was found to affect the blast behavior of the HSC beams. In addition to the experiments, the analytical study predicts the static and blast response of the tested beams using sectional analysis and non-linear SDOF modeling. Results show that the analysis methodology was able to predict the static and blast responses of the blast-detailed and fiber-reinforced HSC beams with reasonable accuracy.

This master thesis deals with the design and implementation of dynamic analyzer of parametrized contracts . In the first part of the thesis , the problematics of testing of parallel programs are discussed and issues when dealing with parallelism are described . Further , methods how to reveal concurrency bugs via dynamic analysis are described , in particular FastTrack and Contract validator. The second part of the thesis proposes an extension for RoadRunner framework and SearchBestie platform for contract validator with parameters.