Extreme hurricane events of the past decade are responsible for several drag embedment anchor (DEA) mooring failures of mobile offshore drilling platforms stationed within the Gulf of Mexico. A proposed failure mechanism is caused by out-of-plane loading. The current status of DEA holding capacity is based on empirical design charts and does not include the effects of out-of-plane loading. Experimental modeling using a 1:10 scale generic DEA was performed at the Haynes Coastal Engineering Laboratory at Texas A & M University to examine the effects of out-of-plane load conditions. Instrumentation and specialized devices were constructed to measure the anchor's trajectory through a representative sample of Gulf of Mexico clay with average un-drained shear strength of 0.764 kPa (16 psf). The sediment basin allowed for drag distances of 4.87 m (16 ft) and an embedment depth of 1.37 m (4.5 ft). The measurements included pitch and roll of the anchor and line tension measured at the shank pad-eye. The variables modeled were fluke angle settings of 22°, 36° and 50°. The initial towline angle was varied from a minimum of 5° to upwards of 20°. Surface out-of-plane angles of 45° and 90° and embedment loading of 15°, 30° and 45° were examined. Curves of the ultimate holding capacity with respect to the out-of-plane towline angle and ultimate embedment depth were developed as functions of out-of-plane loading angles. Analysis of the rate effect indicates that a 46 percent increase in towing velocity causes an average 3 percent increase of holding capacity. The 50° fluke angle embeds an average of 0.7 fluke lengths deeper and has a holding capacity of 0.73 units greater than the 36° setting. The surface out-of-plane tests have a 5.1 percent reduction in holding capacity as the out-of-plane load angle increases from 45° to 90°. For all one fluke length initial towing distance tests, the ultimate holding capacity increases and the ultimate embedment depth decreases as the out-of-plane towing angle increases from 15° to 45°. The three fluke length initial towing distance tests indicate a contrasting trend, in that as the out-of-plane tow angle increases, both the ultimate holding capacity and ultimate embedment depth decrease.

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The failed anchoring systems of mobile offshore drilling units from hurricanes occurring in 2004 and 2005 established a need to better understand the ultimate pullout capacity and trajectory of scaled model anchors under typical and out-of-plane loading conditions. The six degrees of freedom of small scale drag embedment anchors were studied in a laboratory testing environment with the intent that reasonable trends in anchor behavior will be found. Investigations within this experimental research program demonstrated the in-plane and out-of-plane loading behavior of conventional and prototype scaled model anchors embedded to predetermined depths in two different test beds of kaolinite clay with undrained shear strength profiles constant and increasing with depth. The anchors were loaded to failure in concentric, normal, concentric, shear, eccentric, normal, eccentric, shear, inclined, and drag embedment loading configurations. This series of pullout and drag embedment tests provided a suite of test results indicating behavioral trends of the varying holding capacities and anchor trajectories. Results were compared with similar research presented in the literature and an analytical model predicting out-of-plane loading behavior of similar anchors. It was concluded that increasing eccentricities from both concentric, normal and concentric, shear loading configurations resulted in decreasing bearing capacity factors, confirming the predicted trend from the analytical model for these loading configurations. Trajectories observed for the concentric, normal, concentric, shear, and eccentric, shear loading configurations showed that the anchors tracked straight out of the soil without deviation, but eccentric, normal loading found the anchor tending to track away from the initial loading location. For inclined loads, both anchors to track to whichever direction the anchor faced upon loading. Drag embedment trajectory was found to vary depending on the anchor, as the conventional anchor dove with an applied load and the prototype anchor rose towards the surface. / text

L’objectif principal de cette étude est de développer des outils de simulation numérique pour évaluer la vulnérabilité des constructions en maçonnerie sous chargements variés. Ainsi, le comportement de la maçonnerie non armée sous chargement monotone en macro- et micro-échelles est étudié. La simulation du comportement non linéaire du mur de maçonnerie avant et après le pic et la capture de son mécanisme de rupture sont les points centraux de ce travail. Tout d'abord, le mur de maçonnerie d’un panneau est remplacé par deux barres simples utilisant la stratégie des macros-éléments et un comportement tri-linéaire est proposé pour évaluer la résistance à la rupture de la paroi ainsi que son comportement avant et après le pic. L'absence de l'information sur le mécanisme de rupture du mur de maçonnerie et la relation entre le mécanisme de rupture et les propriétés mécaniques des éléments barres dans ce type de modélisation conduisent à opter pour une autre description de ces structures à savoir la stratégie de micro-modélisation. Dans cette stratégie, les unités et les mortiers sont modélisés séparément et l’ensemble du comportement inélastique du mur de maçonnerie est supposé se produire dans les mortiers. Par conséquent, une attention particulière sera accordée au développement d'une description fiable des propriétés matérielles de ces éléments à l'aide d'une loi constitutive précise. La représentation tridimensionnelle d'un mur de maçonnerie faite dans ce travail, améliore la capacité des méthodes actuelles pour prédire le comportement de la maçonnerie sous les deux chargements en plan et hors du plan. D’abord, des enveloppes de rupture comprenant la tension limite et la surface de charge de Mohr-Coulomb sont assignées à l'élément d'interface du code éléments finis GEFDyn. Ensuite, la loi de comportement est améliorée en ajoutant un seuil de compression aux surfaces de charge pour inclure l’endommagement en compression de la maçonnerie à travers l'élément d'interface. Dans le nouveau modèle élastoplastique, les écrouissages négatifs des seuils de traction et de compression ainsi que la cohésion du mortier sont pris en considération. La capacité des deux modèles pour reproduire le comportement avant et après le pic de la résistance au cisaillement du mur de maçonnerie est vérifiée en comparant les résultats numériques avec les données expérimentales. L'importance de l’interaction entre les seuils de compression et celui du cisaillement est montrée en comparant les résultats obtenus avec ceux d'un test réel. Les résultats ont révélé que le second modèle est capable de simuler le comportement du mur de maçonnerie avec une bonne précision. Ensuite, l'effet des propriétés géométriques de la paroi telles que l’existence d’une ouverture et l'élancement, les propriétés des mortiers comme la cohésion, la résistance en traction et la résistance en compression ainsi que la contrainte verticale initiale dans le mur, sur la résistance latérale et le mécanisme de rupture des murs de maçonnerie est démontré. En outre, afin de présenter l’état d’endommagement, des indices de dommage, portant sur la longueur totale des fissures dans différentes rangées et colonnes de mortiers sont introduits et comparés pour différentes configurations. Les longueurs de glissement et d’ouverture de fissures dans les mortiers horizontale et verticale respectivement, sont les paramètres les plus importants qui contrôlent le comportement du mur. Enfin, la relation entre les profils de fissuration différents et les propriétés des matériaux y contribuant sont résumées dans un tableau. / The aim of this thesis is to develop numerical models for evaluating the vulnerability of unreinforced masonry construction under different types of loading. Therefore, the behavior of unreinforced masonry panels under monotonic loading in both macro- and micro- scales is studied. Simulating the nonlinear behavior of the masonry wall in pre and post-peak regions and capturing its failure mechanism is the main focus of this study. First, the masonry wall in the panel is substituted by two simple bars using the so-called macro-element strategy and a tri-linear behavior is proposed to assess the ultimate strength of the wall as well as its response before and after peak. The lack of information about the failure mechanism of the masonry wall and relation between the failure mechanism and mechanical properties of the bar elements in this type of modeling lead to another description of this structure namely micro-modeling strategy. In this strategy, units and mortars are modeled separately and all inelastic behavior of the masonry wall is supposed to happen in mortars. Hence, special attention is paid to development of a reliable description of material properties for these elements using an accurate constitutive law. Three dimensional representation of a masonry wall in this work enhances the capability of existing methods to predict the masonry behavior under both in-plane and out-of-plane loadings. Firstly, failure envelopes including tension cut-off and the Mohr-Coulomb yield surface are assigned to interface elements in GEFDyn finite element software. Then, the elstoplastic constitutive law is improved by adding a compression cap to the yield surfaces in order to include compressive failure of masonry in the interface element. In the new model, softening behavior for tensile and compressive strength as well as cohesion of mortar is considered. The ability of both models to reproduce the pre- and post-peak behavior of the masonry wall is verified by comparing the numerical results with experimental data. The importance of defining the compression failure of masonry by limiting the shear strength of the wall with its compressive strength is shown by comparing the obtained results with those of a real test. The results showed that the second model is capable to simulate the behavior of masonry wall with a good accuracy. Then, the effect of initial stresses and geometrical properties of the wall such as opening and aspect ratio and material properties of the mortar like its cohesion, tensile strength and compressive strength, on lateral strength and failure mechanism of the masonry walls are demonstrated. Moreover, in order to comprehend failure characteristics damage indexes based on the total length of cracks in different rows and columns of mortars are introduced and compared for different configurations. The lengths of sliding in horizontal mortars and opening in vertical ones are the most important parameters that control the behavior of the wall. Finally, the relation between different cracking profiles and contributing material properties are summarized into a table.

<p>Finite element modeling of the structural response of hollow concrete block walls subject to out-of-plane loading has become more common given the availability of computers and general-purpose finite element software packages. In order to develop appropriate models of full-scale walls with and without openings, a parametric study was conducted on simple wall elements to assess different modeling techniques. Two approaches were employed in the study, homogeneous models and heterogeneous models. The linear elastic analysis was carried out to quantify the effects of the modeling techniques for hollow blocks on the structural response of the assembly, specifically for out-of-plane bending. Three structural elements with varying span/thickness ratios were considered, a horizontal spanning strip, a vertical spanning strip and a rectangular wall panel supported on four edges. The values computed using homogeneous and heterogeneous finite element models were found to differ significantly depending on the configuration and span/thickness ratio of the wall.</p><p>Further study was carried out through discrete modeling approach to generate a three-dimensional heterogeneous model to investigate nonlinear behaviour of full-scale walls under out-of-plane loading. The Composite Interface Model, established based on multi-surface plasticity, which is capable of describing both tension and shear failure mechanisms, has been incorporated into the analysis to capture adequately the inelastic behaviour of unit-mortar interface.An effective solution procedure was achieved by implementing the Newton-Raphson method, constrained with the arc-length control method and enhanced by line search algorithm. The proposed model was evaluated using experimental results for ten full-size walls reported in the literature. The comparative analysis has indicated very good agreement between the numerical and experimental results in predicting the cracking and ultimate load values as well as the corresponding crack pattern. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Yes / Experimental study of five full scale masonry wall panels subjected to prescibed pre-compressive vertical loading and increasing in-plane lateral loading is discussed. All five walls were constructed using interlocking mortarless load bearing hollow concrete blocks. The behaviour of wall in term of deflections along the wall height, shear strength, mortarless joint behaviour and local and overall failures under increasing in-plane lateral loading and pre-compressive vertical loading are reported and analysed. Simple strut-and-tie models are also developed to estimate the ultimate in-plane lateral capacity of the panel walls tested. The results indicate that, as the pre-compressive load increases, the in-plane lateral load capacity of walls increases. All walls tested failed due to diagonal shear and/or moderate toe crushing depending on the level of the pre-compressive load. The proposed strut-and-tie models were able to give reasonable predictions of the walls tested.