Structural wood design standards recognize lateral torsional buckling as an important failure mode, which tends to govern the capacity of long span laterally unsupported beams. A survey of the literature indicates that only a few experimental programs have been conducted on the lateral torsional buckling of wooden beams. Within this context, the present study reports an experimental and computational study on the elastic lateral torsional buckling resistance of wooden beams. The experimental program consists of conducting material tests to determine the longitudinal modulus of elasticity and rigidity modulus followed by a series of 18 full-scale tests. The buckling loads and mode shapes are documented. The numerical component of the study captures the orthotropic constitutive properties of wood and involves a sensitivity analysis on various orthotropic material constants, models for simulating the full-scale tests conducted, a comparison with experimental results, and a parametric study to expand the experimental database. Based on the comparison between the experimental program, classical solution and FEA models, it can be concluded that the classical solution is able to predict the critical moment of wood beams. By performing the parametric analysis using the FEA models, it was observed that loads applied on the top and bottom face of a beam decrease and increase its critical moment,respectively. The critical moment is not greatly influenced by moving the supports from mid-span to the bottom of the end cross-section.

Structural wood design standards recognize lateral torsional buckling as an important failure mode, which tends to govern the capacity of long span laterally unsupported beams. A survey of the literature indicates that only a few experimental programs have been conducted on the lateral torsional buckling of wooden beams. Within this context, the present study reports an experimental and computational study on the elastic lateral torsional buckling resistance of wooden beams. The experimental program consists of conducting material tests to determine the longitudinal modulus of elasticity and rigidity modulus followed by a series of 18 full-scale tests. The buckling loads and mode shapes are documented. The numerical component of the study captures the orthotropic constitutive properties of wood and involves a sensitivity analysis on various orthotropic material constants, models for simulating the full-scale tests conducted, a comparison with experimental results, and a parametric study to expand the experimental database. Based on the comparison between the experimental program, classical solution and FEA models, it can be concluded that the classical solution is able to predict the critical moment of wood beams. By performing the parametric analysis using the FEA models, it was observed that loads applied on the top and bottom face of a beam decrease and increase its critical moment,respectively. The critical moment is not greatly influenced by moving the supports from mid-span to the bottom of the end cross-section.

Many bridges are damaged by collisions from over-height vehicles resulting in significant impact to the transportation network. To reduce the likelihood of impact from over-height vehicles, steel pedestals have been used as a cost-effective, efficient means to increase bridge clearance heights. However, these steel pedestals installed on more than 50 bridges in Georgia have been designed with no consideration of seismic loads and may behave in a similar fashion to high-type steel bearings. Past earthquakes have revealed the susceptibility of high-type bearings to damage, resulting in the collapse of several bridges. Although Georgia is located in a low-to-moderate region of seismicity, earthquake design loads for steel pedestals should not be ignored. In this study, the potential vulnerabilities of steel pedestals having limited strength and deformation capacity and lack of adequate connection details for anchor bolts is assessed experimentally and analytically. Full-scale reversed cyclic quasi-static experimental tests are conducted on a 40' bridge specimen rehabilitated with 19" and 33" steel pedestals to determine the modes of deformation and mechanisms that can lead to modes of failure. The inelastic force-deformation hysteretic behavior of the steel pedestals obtained from experimental test results is used to calibrate an analytical bridge model developed in OpenSees. The analytical bridge model is idealized based on a multi-span continuous bridge in Georgia that has been rehabilitated with steel pedestals. The analytical bridge model is subjected to a suite of ground motions to evaluate the performance of the steel pedestals and the overall bridge system. Recommendations are made to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for the design and construction of steel pedestals. The results of this research are useful for Georgia and other states in low-to-moderate seismic zones considering the use of steel pedestals to elevate bridges and therefore reduce the likelihood of over-height vehicle collisions.

Full-scale dynamic lateral load tests were performed on a pile cap with a dense silty sand backfill condition. Two hydraulic load actuators connected a test pile cap with a reaction cap. The load actuators incrementally loaded the test cap up to 50 mm of displacement. After each load increment, the displacement was held constant while an eccentric mass shaker induced dynamic loads under a ramping sequence from 1 Hz to 10 Hz. A baseline response was developed under a no backfill condition. Passive soil pressure was measured using pressure cells and tactile sensors. It was concluded that the presence of the backfill significantly increased the lateral load resistance of the pile-cap system, with the resistance nearly doubling at a 50 mm deflection level. After initial loading, the pile cap system experienced a loss in load resistance. In the case with backfill present, this relaxation generally represented a 10 to 15% loss in resistance. Additionally, after undergoing dynamic, cyclic loading, the resistance was approximately 40 to 80% of its initial value. Dynamic displacement amplitudes were on the order of 0 to 2 mm. Passive pressure from the backfill was observed to be non-linear with a concentration of pressure near the bottom of the pile cap. Rankine, Coulomb, and log-spiral earth pressure theories underestimated the passive earth pressure from the backfill by at least 30%. The natural frequency of the pile cap increased with increasing with static displacement level while placement of the backfill further increased the frequency of the pile cap. On average, the presence of the backfill increased the reloading stiffness of the pile cap by a factor of three to four, whereas the damping ratio increased by a factor of two. The dense silty sand backfill acting by itself on the face of the 1.12 m tall and 5.18 m wide pile cap face exhibited a reloading stiffness on the order of 120 to 250 kN/mm and a damping ratio of 30 to 70%. These damping ratios are significantly higher than that typical expected for structural materials but appear to be consistent with values for soils.

This paper presents test results and code predictions of four continuously and two simply supported concrete slabs reinforced with basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) bars. One continuously supported steel reinforced concrete slab was also tested for comparison purposes. All slabs tested were 500 mm in width and 150 mm in depth. The simply supported slabs had a span of 2000 mm, whereas the continuous slabs had two equal spans, each of 2000 mm. Different combinations of under and over BFRP reinforcement at the top and bottom layers of slabs were investigated. The continuously supported BFRP reinforced concrete slabs exhibited larger deflections and wider cracks than the counterpart reinforced with steel. Furthermore, the over reinforced BFRP reinforced concrete slab at the top and bottom layers showed the highest load capacity and the least deflection of all BFRP slabs tested. All continuous BFRP reinforced concrete slabs failed owing to combined shear and flexure at the middle support region. ISIS-M03-07 and CSA S806-06 design guidelines reasonably predicted the deflection of the BFRP slabs tested. However, ACI 440-1R-06 underestimated the BFRP slab deflections and overestimated the moment capacities at mid-span and over support sections.

Deep foundations, including driven piles, are used to support vertical loads of structures and applied lateral forces. Many pile supported structures, including bridges, are subjected to large lateral loads in the form of wind, wave, seismic, and traffic impact loads. In many practical situations, structures subjected to lateral loading are located near or in excavated and fill slopes or embankments. Full-scale research to examine the effects of soil slope on lateral pile capacity is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects on lateral capacity of piles located in or near cohesionless soil slopes. A full-scale lateral load testing program was undertaken on pipe piles in a cohesionless soil at Oregon State University. Five piles were tested near a 2H:1V test slope and located between 0D to 8D behind the slope crest, where D is the pile diameter. Two vertical baseline piles and three battered piles were also tested in level ground conditions. The cohesionless backfill soil was a well-graded material with a fines content of less than 10% and a relative compaction of 95%, meeting the Caltrans specification for structural backfill. Data collected from the instrumented piles was used to back calculate p-y curves, load-displacement curves, reduction factors, and load resistance ratios for each pile. The effects of slope on lateral pile capacity are insignificant at displacements of less than 2.0 inches for piles located 2D and further from the crest. For pile located at 4D or greater from the slope crest, the effect of slope is insignificant on p-y curves. A simplified p-multiplier design procedure derived from back-calculated p-y curves is proposed to account for the effects of soil slope. Comparisons of the full-scale results were made using proposed recommendations from the available literature. Lateral resistance ratios obtained by computer, centrifuge, and small scale-models tend to be conservative and overestimate the effects of slope on lateral capacities. Standard cohesionless p-y curve methods slightly over predict the soil resistance at very low displacements but significantly under predict the ultimate soil resistance. Available reduction factors from the literature, or p-multipliers, are slightly conservative and compare well with the back-calculated p-y curves from this study. / Graduation date: 2012

Nowadays, many different efficient solutions are being studied to solve engineering problems. Inside this group of solutions we can find the Soil Steel Composite Bridges (SSCB) as an alternative to traditional bridges. SSCB are being used more often every day and they are showing themselves as competitive structures in terms of feasibility and constructability. This project was started to achieve two different goals. The first one was to create a general database of SSCB including few selected tests all around the world and the second one was to compare and discuss full scale tests using the Pettersson-Sundquist design method. To create the database and the following comparisons, twenty-five different full scale tests were used. From this tests all the necessary information was extracted and used to create the database. After creating the database, the project continued with the discussion and comparison of the full scale tests. Specifically those discussions and comparisons were related to the resistance of the soil (the soil modulus) used in the construction of the SSCB. All the values of the different soil modulus of each full scale test used in the comparisons were calculated using the Swedish Design Manual (SDM). Two different types of soil modulus were calculated in this project using SDM, ones are the soil modulus back calculated using the values reported from the live load tests performed on the culverts and the others are theoretical soil modulus calculated using the detailed information of the soil. The report continues with the explanation of the different conclusions ended up with during this project. It can be highlighted within this group of conclusions, the one related to the importance of reporting all the necessary information from the full scale tests including the soil parameters, the measures of the culvert, the cross sectional parameters and the vehicle dimensions among others. Another important conclusions are the effect of using the slabs over the top of the culvert and how it would effect to the sectional forces over the culvert and also the limitations using method B of the SDM regarding the type of soil used as backfilling Finally, the project finishes explaining some proposals for future research about other fields of the study of SSCB.

For members and flat slabs without shear reinforcement, the shear and punching shear strength are often the determining design criteria. These failure modes are characterized by a fragile behaviour implying possible partial or total collapse of the structure. Despite extensive research in this field, shear and punching shear in reinforced and prestressed concrete structures, remain complex phenomena so much that the current approach is often empirical or simplified. The ability of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) to reduce shear reinforcement in reinforced and prestressed concrete members and slabs,or even eliminate it, is supported by several experimental studies. However its practical application remains marginal mainly due to the lack of standard, procedures and rules adapted to its performance. The stationary processes in precast industry offer optimal possibilities for using high performance cementitious materials such as Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) and High Strength Concrete (HSC). For the author, the combination of High Performance Concrete and steel fibres is the following step in the development and the optimization of this industry. The High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (HPFRC) stands between conventional SFRC and Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC). The HPFRC exhibiting a good strength/cost ratio is, thus, an alternative of UHPFRC for precast elements. The principal aim of this work was to analyse the shear and punching shear behaviour of HPFRC and UHPFRC structures without transversal reinforcement and to propose recommendations and design models adapted for practitioners. Several experimental studies on structural elements, i.e. beams and slabs, were undertaken for this purpose. Firstly, an original experimental campaign was performed on pre-tensioned members in HPFRC. A total number of six shear-critical beams of a 3.6 m span each, and two full scale beams of a 12 m span each, were tested in order to evaluate the shear and flexural strength. The principal parameter between the specimens was the fibres (...)

Modern volume carriers such as container vessels, cruise ships and Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTC’s) have become more vulnerable to critical roll responses as built in margins have been traded against increased transport efficiency. The research presented in this doctoral thesis aims at enhancing the predictability and control of these critical roll responses. The thesis presents a holistic framework for predicting and assessing the roll damping, which is a crucial parameter for predicting roll motions, based on a unique combination of full scale trials, model tests, semi-empirical methods and computational fluid dynamics. The framework is intended to be used from the early design stage and gradually improved until delivery of the ship and finally to provide input for decision support in the operation. The thesis also includes a demonstration of a new application for rudder control to be used for mitigation of parametric roll. This is performed by simulating real incidents that have occurred with PCTC’s in service. Simulations with rudder roll control show promising results and reveal that the approach could be very efficient for mitigation of parametric roll. Finally, an approach for monitoring of roll induced stresses, so-called racking stresses in PCTC’s, is presented. The approach involves measurement of the ship motions and scaling of pre-calculated structural responses from global finite element analysis. Based on full scale motion and stress measurements from a PCTC in-service the approach is evaluated and demonstrated to be an efficient alternative to conventional methods. / <p>QC 20170516</p>

Pour les poutres et les dalles ne comportant pas d'armatures de cisaillement, la résistance à l'effort tranchant ou au poinçonnement est souvent un critère important de dimensionnement. Ce type de rupture est caractérisé par un comportement fragile pouvant conduire à l'effondrement partiel voir total de la structure. Malgré de nombreuse recherche dans ce domaine, la résistance à l'effort tranchant et au poinçonnement des structure en béton armé ou précontraint demeure un phénomène complexe et dont l'approche normative est souvent empirique est simplifiée. La capacité des bétons renforcés de fibres métalliques à réduire voir à remplacer totalement les armatures de cisaillement des structures en béton armé et précontraint a été mis en évidence par plusieurs études expérimentales. Cependant, et malgré ses nombreux atouts, l'application à l'échelle industrielle des bétons de fibres est restée marginal, principalement due au manques d'un cadre normatif cohérent et reconnu. Les processus fixes d'une usine de préfabrication d'éléments en béton offre des possibilités optimales pour utiliser des matériaux cimentaires à hautes performances tel que les bétons autoplaçant, les bétons à hautes résistances, etc. Du point de vue de l'auteur, l'utilisation de bétons à hautes performances renforcés de fibres métalliques est le pas de développement et d'optimisation pour cette industrie. Les Bétons Fibrés à Hautes Performances (BFHP) reprennent une matrice similaire aux Bétons à Hautes Performances (BHP) auxquels est ajouté une certaine quantité de fibres métalliques conférant au matériau un comportement au niveau de la structure exploitable dans le dimensionnement. Les BFHP présentent un ratio résistances/coûts intéressant ainsi qu'une alternative au Béton Fibré Ultra-Performants (BFUP). L'objectif principal de ce travail est d'analyser le comportement au cisaillement et au poinçonnement d'éléments de structures en BFHP et en BFUP sans armatures de cisaillement et proposé des recommandations et des règles de dimensionnement adaptées aux ingénieurs de la pratique (…) / For members and flat slabs without shear reinforcement, the shear and punching shear strength are often the determining design criteria. These failure modes are characterized by a fragile behaviour implying possible partial or total collapse of the structure. Despite extensive research in this field, shear and punching shear in reinforced and prestressed concrete structures, remain complex phenomena so much that the current approach is often empirical or simplified. The ability of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) to reduce shear reinforcement in reinforced and prestressed concrete members and slabs,or even eliminate it, is supported by several experimental studies. However its practical application remains marginal mainly due to the lack of standard, procedures and rules adapted to its performance. The stationary processes in precast industry offer optimal possibilities for using high performance cementitious materials such as Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) and High Strength Concrete (HSC). For the author, the combination of High Performance Concrete and steel fibres is the following step in the development and the optimization of this industry. The High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (HPFRC) stands between conventional SFRC and Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC). The HPFRC exhibiting a good strength/cost ratio is, thus, an alternative of UHPFRC for precast elements. The principal aim of this work was to analyse the shear and punching shear behaviour of HPFRC and UHPFRC structures without transversal reinforcement and to propose recommendations and design models adapted for practitioners. Several experimental studies on structural elements, i.e. beams and slabs, were undertaken for this purpose. Firstly, an original experimental campaign was performed on pre-tensioned members in HPFRC. A total number of six shear-critical beams of a 3.6 m span each, and two full scale beams of a 12 m span each, were tested in order to evaluate the shear and flexural strength. The principal parameter between the specimens was the fibres (…)