In this thesis, the dynamics of two plates overlapping and connected by three bolts are studied. The data collected in the test are used in modal analysis. The vibrational test and the modal analysis were made using an LMS system. Hammer excitation is used for the tests. The main purpose of this thesis is to study how the suspensions affect the extracted eigenfrequencies and modal dampings. In this thesis, more than 10 suspensions were examined. Another objective in this thesis work is to build an FE-model. This model is made using the software Abaqus. To improve the reliability of the FE-model, a set of reliable experimental data is used to calibrate the model. The calibrated FE-model, using the measurement data, has a dynamic behavior close to the measurement data.

No description available.

Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) offer several advantages compared to traditional metallic counterparts when employed in high-performance products that need to be lightweight, yet strong enough to sustain harsh loading conditions - such as aerospace components and protective structures in military applications- armours, helmets, and fabrications retrofitted to transport vehicles and bunkers. These are often subjected to highly dynamic loading conditions under blast and ballistic impacts. Severe impact energy involved in these dynamic loading events can initiate discrete damage modes in PMCs such as matrix cracking, matrix splitting, delamination, fibre-matrix debonding, fibre micro-buckling and fibre pull-out. Interaction of these damage modes can severely reduce the load carrying capacity of such structures. This needs to be understood to design structures with improved resistance to such loading.

Finite element models have the potential to accurately represent the pediatric body, both from the anatomical and topological point of view. They can describe changes in size and shape as well as changes in the biomechanical properties. Starting from the PIPER human body model, whose baseline represents the anatomy of a 6 years old child, a family of five models between the age of 2 and 6 was created with the purpose of investigating how the body reacts to a traumatic impact. To create these models, a detailed knowledge of pediatric biomechanics was needed, so a deep literature research was performed to characterize all the human body tissues with age-related material properties. Then, an environment model was chosen to investigate how injuries are related to the age of the subject. Since car crashes are a leading cause of death among children, a car accident was simulated to reach the aim of the project. The anatomical and biomechanical scaling process, as well as the positioning of the child in the environment model, were performed with the PIPER tools, while simulations were run with Ls-Dyna. From the literature, age-dependent material properties were found for almost all the tissues of the human body, allowing the development of a detailed pediatric FE model. Then, biomechanical injury predictors, such as the brain strain, the skull acceleration, the chest displacement, the lung pressure and the Von Mises stress in the limbs, were extracted from the simulations to evaluate how injuries changes with the age. The head showed to be the body segment most affected by the age, with an increasing injury severity with the decreasing of the age. Moreover, it was observed that the probability of bone fractures increases for higher bone stiffness.

Background Running is a popular form of exercise that more than 55 million Americans actively participate. Endurance running like marathon and half- marathon is getting increasingly popular among active runners. Although the effect of running is considered beneficial to bone health, the direct relationship between strains and strain gradients occurred during long distance running and bone changes is still not clear. Especially, given a high rate of injury associated with the first-time marathon, understanding the direct effect of strain stimuli on bone health is an important issue. Based on the previous studies, we hypothesized that the higher values of strain will induce bone adaptation more effectively and will lead to higher bone osteogenic changes. Since osteocytes sense shear stress caused by the interstitial fluid flow, which is created by the deformations, and regulate activities of osteoblasts and osteoclast that govern bone adaptation, we also hypothesized that the local strain gradient will create pressure differences within the interstitial fluid network and will increase fluid flow. Furthermore, due to that increased fluid flow, the regions with the higher strain gradient will experience a higher amount of bone adaptation. Thus, in this study, our purpose was to define the effect of the strains and strain gradients on bone changes within distal tibia, which is the most prone anatomical site to low risk stress fracture, during training for first-time marathon. Methods High-resolution and low-resolution computed tomographic (CT) images of the distal tibia were obtained before and after a self-selected training from runners who were actively training to participate in their first-time marathon in the next calendar year. The low resolution scan covered a 69.864 mm length of the distal end of the tibia while the high resolution CT scan covered a 9.02 mm region of the distal tibia. Using low resolution CT image based subject specific finite element (FE) models, the strains and strain gradients of the distal tibia at the instance of the peak ground reaction force (GRF) were calculated. The baseline and follow-up high resolution CT scans were used in high resolution peripheral quantitative CT (HRpQCT) analysis and the estimation of bone changes over the training period. Finally, the effect of strains and strain gradients on the distal tibia bone changes was estimated based on the FE model driven strain values and HRpQCT analysis driven bone changes. We used a linear mixed model to define the relationship between strain values and bone changes in the distal tibia. Results The strain values that occurred during marathon training had significant effects on bone changes in the distal tibia. Particularly, the strain gradients showed a higher effect than the strains. In the cortical compartment, the strain gradients, which were calculated as a strain difference of a node from the surrounding nodes (Strain Gradient-1), affected the bone mineral density (BMD) negatively, and per 1000 µε increase resulted in 2.123% decrease in the cortical BMD. The strain gradients, which were calculated as a strain difference of a node from the surrounding nodes normalized to distance to surrounding nodes (Strain Gradient-2), presented a positive effect on the cortical bone volume with a slope of 4.335% / 1000 µε. In the trabecular compartment, the strain gradient-1 showed negative effects on the percent change in BMD and bone mineral density (BMC), whereas the strain gradient-2 showed positive effects on the percent change in BMD and BMC. Conclusion The linear mixed model analysis revealed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) relationship between strain gradients that occurred during running and distal tibia bone changes. The strains, biometrics, and initial parameters of bone did not show any significant effect on the bone changes. The connection between local strain environment and bone changes in the distal tibia investigated in this study is an important step to understand the mechanism of mechanically induced bone adaptation.

<p>Avsikten med denna avhandling är att utvärdera den FE-modell som använts i modalanalyser av komponenten fan booster spool, framtagen och tillverkad av Volvo Aero Corporation, Trollhättan. Detaljen ingår i den civila flygplansmotorn GEnx som är utvecklad för flygplanet Boeing 787 Dreamliner.</p><p>Inledande tester av spolen påvisade en mycket god korrelation mellan analys och test men när spolen senare provkördes i en komplett monterad motor noterades en uppenbar skillnad i resultat. Den andra noddiameterns egenfrekvenser indikerade att spolen i test hade ett något styvare beteende än vad som beräknats i analys.</p><p>En teori utvecklades som byggde på att en initiell kontakt mellan rotor och ett slitskikt på statorn kunde framkalla en förstyvande effekt på spolen när rotorn på grund av rotationslaster expanderar radiellt. Detta examensarbete initierades då för att undersöka om denna kontakt kunde inkluderas i FE-modellen och för att utreda om kontakten har en möjlighet att förstyva spolen.</p><p>Avhandlingen utvärderar FE-modellen med avseende på randvillkor, laster och modelleringsteknik i FE-programmet Ansys 10.0. En grundlig kartläggning av spolens känslighet påvisar en robust komponent med hög motståndskraft mot yttre och inre störningar.</p><p>En förstyvande effekt relaterad till en initiell kontakt mellan slitskikt och spole bekräftas i denna avhandling. Kontakten har visat sig ha särskild inverkan på den andra noddiametern och dess egenfrekvenser. Ett förslag på modelleringsteknik där den förstyvande effekten inkluderas har däremot inte föreslagits i detta arbete då effekten enligt uppgift går förlorad efter en inkörningsperiod.</p><p>Det har i detta arbete visats att det kommando som i Ansys tidigare använts för att kompensera för så kallade spin softening-effekter, kspin, resulterar i konservativa värden för spolens egenfrekvenser. En rekommendation baserad på de resultat som framkommit är därför att utesluta funktionen kspin i modalanalyser för denna komponent. Valet av sektorstorlek och kopplingsmetod mellan masselement och spole har också visats ha en tydlig inverkan på de beräknade egenfrekvenserna.</p><p>Spolens radiella förskjutningar har analyserats som funktion av rotationshastigheten. Resultatet visar att den hastighet då kontakt mellan tätningständer och spole etableras är nästintill identisk med den hastighet då töjningar först börjar uppträda i spolen enligt testdata från töjningsgivarprov.</p>

Avsikten med denna avhandling är att utvärdera den FE-modell som använts i modalanalyser av komponenten fan booster spool, framtagen och tillverkad av Volvo Aero Corporation, Trollhättan. Detaljen ingår i den civila flygplansmotorn GEnx som är utvecklad för flygplanet Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Inledande tester av spolen påvisade en mycket god korrelation mellan analys och test men när spolen senare provkördes i en komplett monterad motor noterades en uppenbar skillnad i resultat. Den andra noddiameterns egenfrekvenser indikerade att spolen i test hade ett något styvare beteende än vad som beräknats i analys. En teori utvecklades som byggde på att en initiell kontakt mellan rotor och ett slitskikt på statorn kunde framkalla en förstyvande effekt på spolen när rotorn på grund av rotationslaster expanderar radiellt. Detta examensarbete initierades då för att undersöka om denna kontakt kunde inkluderas i FE-modellen och för att utreda om kontakten har en möjlighet att förstyva spolen. Avhandlingen utvärderar FE-modellen med avseende på randvillkor, laster och modelleringsteknik i FE-programmet Ansys 10.0. En grundlig kartläggning av spolens känslighet påvisar en robust komponent med hög motståndskraft mot yttre och inre störningar. En förstyvande effekt relaterad till en initiell kontakt mellan slitskikt och spole bekräftas i denna avhandling. Kontakten har visat sig ha särskild inverkan på den andra noddiametern och dess egenfrekvenser. Ett förslag på modelleringsteknik där den förstyvande effekten inkluderas har däremot inte föreslagits i detta arbete då effekten enligt uppgift går förlorad efter en inkörningsperiod. Det har i detta arbete visats att det kommando som i Ansys tidigare använts för att kompensera för så kallade spin softening-effekter, kspin, resulterar i konservativa värden för spolens egenfrekvenser. En rekommendation baserad på de resultat som framkommit är därför att utesluta funktionen kspin i modalanalyser för denna komponent. Valet av sektorstorlek och kopplingsmetod mellan masselement och spole har också visats ha en tydlig inverkan på de beräknade egenfrekvenserna. Spolens radiella förskjutningar har analyserats som funktion av rotationshastigheten. Resultatet visar att den hastighet då kontakt mellan tätningständer och spole etableras är nästintill identisk med den hastighet då töjningar först börjar uppträda i spolen enligt testdata från töjningsgivarprov.

The development of the construction industry brought the new methods of structural design, which have been introduced to engineers, although overall this phenomenon has increased building costs. A cost-effective construction is one of the major decision points during the definition of any engineering project, therefore, due to the opposing concepts of these two statements, revising design standards and codes are essential in order to provide adequate and cost-effective design requirements. A single-ply roof system is a relatively new method of roof construction that has been used in the building industry in recent decades, which seems to have undergone dramatic changes due to significant structural failures that have occurred through the years. Wind-induced damage on flat roofs is a common problem for low-rise buildings and much of this damage is initiated when the steel deck roof fails, leading to the overall roofing system collapse. The FM (Factory Mutual) design recommendations, which is a standard that recommends allowable dimensions and wind rating for the roofing products, have provided tabulated steel deck span dimensions and fasteners distance for many years. To update the FM design recommendations extensive experimental and analytical investigations are required. In the current study an experimental program was conducted at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) on flat roofing systems, for simulating the wind uplift effect on several roofing systems samples, as recommended by FM design recommendations. A Finite Element Model (FEM) of the same roofing systems as those used in the experimental cases was developed and different loading patterns were analysed for providing a better simulation of the deflection, moments and forces responses, as measured during the experiments. The FEM was validated with the experimental results and was further employed for applying the FE analysis for more steel deck span dimensions and wind rating cases, as provided in the FM design recommendations tables. These results were reported to the Single Ply Roof Industry (SPRI) Committee where the updating of the FM design tables is currently under discussion.

Background Running is a popular form of exercise that more than 55 million Americans actively participate. Endurance running like marathon and half- marathon is getting increasingly popular among active runners. Although the effect of running is considered beneficial to bone health, the direct relationship between strains and strain gradients occurred during long distance running and bone changes is still not clear. Especially, given a high rate of injury associated with the first-time marathon, understanding the direct effect of strain stimuli on bone health is an important issue. Based on the previous studies, we hypothesized that the higher values of strain will induce bone adaptation more effectively and will lead to higher bone osteogenic changes. Since osteocytes sense shear stress caused by the interstitial fluid flow, which is created by the deformations, and regulate activities of osteoblasts and osteoclast that govern bone adaptation, we also hypothesized that the local strain gradient will create pressure differences within the interstitial fluid network and will increase fluid flow. Furthermore, due to that increased fluid flow, the regions with the higher strain gradient will experience a higher amount of bone adaptation. Thus, in this study, our purpose was to define the effect of the strains and strain gradients on bone changes within distal tibia, which is the most prone anatomical site to low risk stress fracture, during training for first-time marathon. Methods High-resolution and low-resolution computed tomographic (CT) images of the distal tibia were obtained before and after a self-selected training from runners who were actively training to participate in their first-time marathon in the next calendar year. The low resolution scan covered a 69.864 mm length of the distal end of the tibia while the high resolution CT scan covered a 9.02 mm region of the distal tibia. Using low resolution CT image based subject specific finite element (FE) models, the strains and strain gradients of the distal tibia at the instance of the peak ground reaction force (GRF) were calculated. The baseline and follow-up high resolution CT scans were used in high resolution peripheral quantitative CT (HRpQCT) analysis and the estimation of bone changes over the training period. Finally, the effect of strains and strain gradients on the distal tibia bone changes was estimated based on the FE model driven strain values and HRpQCT analysis driven bone changes. We used a linear mixed model to define the relationship between strain values and bone changes in the distal tibia. Results The strain values that occurred during marathon training had significant effects on bone changes in the distal tibia. Particularly, the strain gradients showed a higher effect than the strains. In the cortical compartment, the strain gradients, which were calculated as a strain difference of a node from the surrounding nodes (Strain Gradient-1), affected the bone mineral density (BMD) negatively, and per 1000 µε increase resulted in 2.123% decrease in the cortical BMD. The strain gradients, which were calculated as a strain difference of a node from the surrounding nodes normalized to distance to surrounding nodes (Strain Gradient-2), presented a positive effect on the cortical bone volume with a slope of 4.335% / 1000 µε. In the trabecular compartment, the strain gradient-1 showed negative effects on the percent change in BMD and bone mineral density (BMC), whereas the strain gradient-2 showed positive effects on the percent change in BMD and BMC. Conclusion The linear mixed model analysis revealed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) relationship between strain gradients that occurred during running and distal tibia bone changes. The strains, biometrics, and initial parameters of bone did not show any significant effect on the bone changes. The connection between local strain environment and bone changes in the distal tibia investigated in this study is an important step to understand the mechanism of mechanically induced bone adaptation.

Understanding the true behaviour of impacted structures is the only way to assess their robustness under exceptional events such as vehicle collision. The primary objective of this master’s thesis was to perform a finite element parametric investigation on the influence that some parameters have in steel buildings subjected to vehicle impacts. The parameters chosen for the study, involved uncertainties in the material definition and in the load configuration of the bolts used in the impacted column end-connections. By using the Abaqus software, a finite element model of the structure has been created. The five storey steel building considered has been modelled in a simplified manner with the exception of the impacted area which, instead, has been defined in a more detailed fashion. During the simulations, different preload conditions have been used, comparing cases with and without the preload force. Regardless its variation, it has not been observed any increase in the structural resistance. On the other hand, the simulation provided interesting results for what concerns the material variations in the bolts. Although the changes have been small in magnitude, the effect on the structural response during the impact was remarkable. For all the cases considered, an increase of the material ductility, achieved by increasing the ultimate strain at failure, entailed higher resistance of the connections. Various failure modes have been observed when the material properties have been changed. Having clarified the influence of the assumptions made, the results provided helpful information in sight of future studies. Although the model still needs to be validated, the research clarified which of the parameters investigated are to be collected with more attention. Keywords: Vehicle collision, steel building, FE model, Abaqus/Explicit, parametric investigation, bolt preload, bolt material.