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The use of high strength steel has the potential to reduce the amount of steel used in bridge structures and thereby facilitate a more sustainable construction. The amount of steel and what steel grade that can be used in bridge structures and other cyclic loaded structures are often limited by a material degradation process called fatigue. The fatigue resistance of steel bridges are to a large extent depending on the design of structural details and connections. The design engineer is limited by a few pre-existing structural details and connections – with rather poor fatigue resistance – to choose from when designing steel bridges, and is therefore often forced to increase the overall dimensions of the structure in order to cope with the design requirements of fatigue. This licentiate thesis aims at increasing the fatigue resistance of fatigue prone structural details and connections by implementing new and innovative structural solutions to the already pre-existing details given in the design standards. A typical fatigue prone detail is the vertical stiffener at an intermediate cross-beam, which will be in focus. By improving the fatigue resistance, less steel material will be required for the construction of new steel bridges and composite bridges of steel and concrete. It is shown in this thesis and the appended papers that the use of high strength steel for bridge structures can considerably reduce the amount of steel used, the steel cost and the harmful emissions. However, this is only true if the fatigue strength of critical details can be substantially improved. Furthermore, a few new and innovative structural details and modifications to already existing details are proposed in this thesis and in the appended papers, that have the potential to increase the fatigue resistance of steel bridges and composite bridges of steel and concrete. However, further analyses are required in order to make these structural details viable for construction. / Genom användandet av höghållfast stål så kan en mindre mängd material användas som i sin tur leder till ett mer hållbart byggande. Mängden stål och vilken stålkvalité som kan användas vid byggandet av stålbroar och andra cykliskt belastade konstruktioner avgörs ofta av nedbrytningsprocessen utmattning. Utmatningskapaciteten hos stålbroar är till stor del beroende av brons anslutningsdetaljer. Brokonstruktören har vid designstadiet ett begränsat antal beprövade anslutningsdetaljer att välja bland – vilka ofta har relativt låg utmattningskapacitet – och konstruktören är därmed ofta tvungen att öka konstruktionens dimensioner för att klara av kraven gällande utmattning. Den har licentiatuppsatsen har till syfte att förbättra utmattningskapaciteten för utmattningsbenägna anslutningsdetaljer i stål genom att införa nya och innovativa anslutningsdetaljer, bland de redan existerande detaljerna som finns i de olika standarderna. En utmattningskritisk detalj som kommer att ligga i fokus är anslutningen mellan livavstyvningen och tvärförbanden hos en I-balk. Genom att förbättra utmattningskapaciteten så kan en mindre mängd stålmaterial användas vid byggandet av stålbroar och samverkansbroar i betong och stål. I denna uppsatsen kunde det påvisas att höghallfast stål for broar kan betydligt sänka mängden stålmaterial, stålkostnaden och koldioxidutsläppen. Dock så gäller detta enbart om utmattningskapaciteten for kritiska anslutningsdetaljer kan ökas avsevärt. Dessutom, som en del av den har uppsatsen så har ett par nya och innovativa anslutningsdetaljer föreslagits som har potential att forbättra utmattningskapaciteten. Dock, så krävs ytterligare studier for att dessa förslag skall kunna användas i byggnation av nya stålbroar. / <p>QC 20190925</p>

Third generation advanced high-strength steels (3G-AHSS) have received significant interest from leading auto steel industries and OEMs as candidate materials for reduced mass Body In White (BIW) components due to their unique combination of high specific strength and ductility. However, the continuous hot-dip galvanizing of these steels is challenging due to selective oxidation of the main alloying elements such as Mn, Si, Al and Cr at the steel surface during the annealing step prior to immersion in the galvanizing Zn(Al, Fe) bath, as extensive coverage of the substrate surface by these oxides is detrimental to reactive wetting, good coating adhesion and integrity. Simulated galvanizing treatments were conducted on two prototype Fe-0.1C-6Mn-2Si (wt pct) 3G steels; one as the reference steel and the other with 0.05 wt pct Sn added to the composition. The combined effects of annealing temperature, time, process atmosphere oxygen partial pressure and 0.05 wt pct Sn addition on the selective oxidation of the steel substrates were determined. Subsequently, the reactive wetting of the steels with respect to the pre-immersion surface structures of the samples annealed for 120 s was examined. Annealing heat treatments were carried out at 800˚C and 690˚C in a N2-5 vol pct H2 process atmosphere under three dew points of –50˚C, –30˚C and +5˚C, covering process atmosphere oxygen partial pressures within the range of 1.20  10-27 atm to 1.29  10-20 atm. MnO was present at the outmost layer of the external oxides on all samples after annealing. However, the morphology, distribution, thickness and surface coverage were significantly affected by the experimental variables. Annealing the reference steel under the low dew point process atmospheres, i.e. –50˚C and –30˚C, resulted in the highest Mn surface concentration as well as maximum surface oxide coverage and thickness. The oxides formed under these process atmospheres generally comprised coarse, compact and continuous film forming nodules, whereas the surface morphologies and distributions obtained under the +5˚C dew point process atmosphere, which was consistent with the internal oxidation mode, exhibited wider spacing between finer and thinner MnO nodules. The grain boundary internal oxide networks had a multi layer structure with SiO2 and MnSiO3 at the oxide cores and shells, respectively. Significant morphological changes were obtained as a result of Sn addition. The continuous film-like external MnO nodules were modified to a fine and discrete globular morphology, with less surface coverage by the oxides and reduced external oxide thickness. Both the external and internal oxidations followed parabolic growth kinetics, where the depth of the internal oxidation zone decreased with Sn addition and decreasing oxygen partial pressure. Poor reactive wetting was observed for the reference steel substrates that were annealed for 120 s under the –50˚C and –30˚C dew point process atmospheres at 800˚C and under the –50˚C dew point atmosphere at 690˚C, such that no integral metallic coating was formed after the 4 s immersion in the Zn(Al, Fe) bath. By contrast, excellent coating quality was obtained for the Sn-added steels when the –30˚C and +5˚C dew point process atmospheres were employed when annealing at 690˚C. The remainder of the experimental conditions demonstrated good reactive wetting with intermediate coating quality. For the two reference steels annealed at 800˚C under the –50˚C and –30˚C dew point process atmospheres, poor reactive wetting was due to full coverage of the surface by 116 nm and 121 nm thick and continuous MnO films. In the case of the 690˚C  –50˚C reference steel with the external layer thickness of only 35 nm, however, poor wetting was attributed to substantial coverage of the surface by continuous, film-like oxides. In both cases, exposure of the underlying substrate to the bath alloy and an intimate contact between the substrate Fe and the bath dissolved Al could not take place and the formation of the Fe2Al5Znx interfacial layer was hidered. For the processing conditions that satisfactory reactive wetting was obtained despite the pre-immersion selective oxidation of the surfaces, several reactive wetting mechanisms were determined. For the samples with a sufficiently thin external MnO layer, good reactive wetting was attributed to partial reduction of MnO by the bath dissolved Al, as well as bridging of the Mn sub-oxides by the Zn coating or Fe2Al5Znx interfacial intermetallics. Partial or full formation of the Fe2Al5Znx interfacial layer was observed in the successfully galvanized substrates with Fe-Al crystals formed between, underneath and also on top of the reduced oxides. Furthermore, for cases with widely-spaced, fine oxide nodules, it was found that the liquid bath alloy was able to infiltrate the external oxide/substrate interface, resulting in surface oxide lift-off and enhanced coating adhesion. It was globally concluded that the thin, discrete and fine globular morphology of external MnO, resultant of annealing the steel substrates with 0.05 wt pct Sn addition under the process atmosphere oxygen partial pressures consistent with internal oxidation, allowed for an enhanced reactive wetting by the Zn(Al, Fe) galvanizing bath which was manifested by increased amount of Al uptake and population of the Fe2Al5Znx intermetallics at the coating/steel interface. / Thesis / Doctor of Science (PhD)

Concentrically braced frames (CBFs) have been widely used in seismic areas as efficient structural systems to provide both lateral stiffness and strength. They dissipate earthquake energy through the inelastic deformation of the braces in both tension and compression. While these frames are efficient in providing lateral stiffness and strength, their inelastic mechanism is not ductile when compared to other systems such as moment resisting frames (MRFs). This student proposes a new approach to enhance the ductile behavior of CBFs by locally heat treating gusset plate connections or braces. In this method, the steel is heated locally to austenitizing temperature and then cooled with the appropriate rate to achieve the desired material properties. In gusset plate connections, to permit the rotation imposed from brace buckling, the conventional approach is to use linear fold lines, which can result in overly large plates. A more compact design uses elliptical fold lines, but both designs can lead to damage to welds with surrounding components. To enhance the performance of the gusset plate connection, a yield path is defined with a locally weakened zone within a high strength steel gusset plate. The weakened zone, created through heat treatment concentrated the inelastic deformation, resulting in an efficiently sized connection in which the failure mechanism is tightly controlled. A design methodology for the heat treated gusset plate is proposed, and finite element analysis is used to analyze the behavior of the heat treated gusset plates. In conventional braces, repeated buckling leads to deterioration and low-cycle fatigue which limits the ductility capacity of the CBF, compared to MRFs. As a novel approach, heat treatment is used to increase the local yield strength in the brace. Through this method, the buckling is permitted to occur, but an enhancement in the buckling behavior is intended. Various heat treated configurations are investigated, and finite element analysis is used to compare the behavior of heat treated braces. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The development of high strength hot rolled steels is an important area for improving vehicle fuel efficiency. In collaboration with ArcelorMittal, this project focussed on developing a hot rolled steel with 980 MPa ultimate tensile strength, 800 MPa yield strength and 50% hole expansion ratio. To achieve the target mechanical properties, four different chemistries were trialled which varied the carbon, niobium and vanadium contents. Six combinations of finishing, coiling and intermediate temperatures were trialled for each chemistry. The effects of thermomechanical processing parameters and alloying contents on the mechanical properties were determined through tensile and hole expansion testing. Microstructural analysis was completed to correlate the mechanical properties to the microstructural characteristics. Microscopy techniques performed included optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. The phase transformations which occur during thermomechanical processing were investigated using dilatometry testing. Microstructural characterization was used to determine the breakdown of strengthening contributions from intrinsic, solid solution, grain boundary, precipitation and dislocation strengthening. Trials varying the processing parameters and steel chemistry led to an understanding of how thermomechanical processing and alloying influence the microstructural features and corresponding mechanical properties in hot rolled microalloyed steels. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

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Yes / In this study, bond properties of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars embedded in high-strength concrete (HSC) were experimentally investigated using a pull-out test. The experimental program consisted of testing 84 pull-out specimens prepared according to ACI 440.3R-12 standard. The testing of the specimens was carried out considering bar diameter (9.5, 12.7 and 15.9 mm), embedment length (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 times bar diameter) and surface configuration (helical wrapping with slight sand coating (HW-SC) and sand coating (SC)) as the main parameters. Twelve pull-out specimens reinforced with 16 mm steel bar were also tested for comparison purposes. Most of the specimens failed by a pull-out mode. Visual inspection of the tested specimens reinforced with GFRP (HW-SC) bars showed that the pull-out failure was due to the damage of outer bar surface, whilst the detachment of the sand coating was responsible for the bond failure of GFRP (SC) reinforced specimens. The bond stress – slip behaviour of GFRP (HW-SC) bars is different from that of GFRP (SC) bars and it was also found that GFRP (SC) bars gave a better bond performance than GFRP (HW-SC) bars. It was observed that the reduction rate of bond strength of both GFRP types with increasing the bar diameter and the embedment length was reduced in the case of high-strength concrete. Bond strength predictions obtained from ACI-440.1R, CSAeS806, CSA-S6 and JSCE design codes were compared with the experimental results. Overall, all design guidelines were conservative in predicting bond strength of both GFRP bars in HSC and ACI predictions were closer to the tested results than other codes.

Effective determination of long-term prestress losses is important in the design of prestressed concrete bridges. Over-predicting prestress losses results in an overly conservative design for service load stresses, and under-predicting prestress losses, can result in cracking at service loads. Creep and shrinkage produce the most significant time-dependent effect on prestress losses, and research has shown that high performance and high strength concretes (HPC and HSC) exhibit less creep and shrinkage than conventional concrete. For this reason, the majority of traditional creep and shrinkage models and methods for estimating prestress losses, over-predict the prestress losses of HPC and HSC girders. Nine HPC girders, with design compressive strengths ranging from 8,000 psi to 10,000 psi, and three 8,000 psi lightweight HPC (HPLWC) girders were instrumented to determine the changes in strain and prestress losses. Several creep and shrinkage models were used to model the instrumented girders. For the HPLWC, each model over-predicted the long-term strains, and the Shams and Kahn model was the best predictor of the measured strains. For the normal weight HPC, the models under-estimated the measured strains at early ages and over-estimated the measured strains at later ages, and the B3 model was the best-predictor of the measured strains. The PCI-BDM model was the most consistent model across all of the instrumented girders. Several methods for estimating prestress losses were also investigated. The methods correlated to high strength concrete, the PCI-BDM and NCHRP 496 methods, predicted the total losses more accurately than the methods provided in the AASHTO Specifications. The newer methods over-predicted the total losses of the HPLWC girders by no more than 8 ksi, and although they under-predicted the total losses of the normal weight HPC girders, they did so by less than 5 ksi. / Ph. D.