No / This paper presents the structural behaviour of cold-formed steel cassette wall panels subjected to in-plane shear loads. To understand the influence of configuration, lining material and connector arrangement on the overall shear behaviour of typical cassette wall panels, different lining materials, fastener spacing and positions, edge stiffeners and specific boundary conditions were assumed in the numerical simulations. The comparison and analysis presented in this paper demonstrate typical effect factors to the load-bearing capacity of selected wall panel systems. In particular, the effect of wall opening to the structural shear behaviour of wall panels is highlighted.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Inserting fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) strips into pre-cut grooves in the surface of masonry walls is an emerging technique for the retrofit of unreinforced masonry (URM) structures. This method, known as near surface mounting (NSM), provides significant advantages over externally bonded FRP strips in that it has less of an effect on the aesthetics of a structure and can sustain higher loading before debonding. As this technique is relatively new, few studies into the behaviour of masonry walls strengthened using this technique have been conducted. A combined experimental and numerical program was conducted as part of this research project to study the in-plane shear behaviour of masonry wall panels strengthened with NSM carbon FRP (CFRP) strips. In this project the FRP strips were designed to resist sliding along mortar bed joints and diagonal cracking (through mortar joints and brick units). Both of these failure modes are common to masonry shear walls. Different reinforcement orientations were used, including: vertical; horizontal; and a combination of both. The first stage of the project involved characterising the bond between the FRP and the masonry using experimental pull tests (18 in total). From these tests the bond strength, the critical bond length and the local bond-slip relationship of the debonding interface was determined. The second stage of the project involved conducting diagonal tension/shear tests on masonry panels. A total of four URM wall panels and seven strengthened wall panels were tested. These tests were used to determine: the effectiveness of the reinforcement; the failure modes; the reinforcement mechanisms; and the behaviour of the bond between the masonry and the FRP in the case of a panel. The third stage of the project involved developing a finite element model to help understand the experimental results. The masonry was modelled using the micro-modelling approach, and the FRP was attached to the masonry model using the bond-slip relationships determined from the pull tests. Reinforcement schemes in which vertical FRP strips were used improved the strength and ductility of the masonry wall panels. When only horizontal strips were used to reinforce a wall panel, failure occurred along an un-strengthened bed joint and the increase in strength and ductility was negligible. The vertical reinforcement prevented URM sliding failure by restraining the opening (dilation) of the sliding cracks that developed through the mortar bed joints. The finite element model reproduced the key behaviours observed in the experiments for both the unreinforced and FRP strengthened wall panels. This model would potentially be useful for the development of design equations.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Inserting fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) strips into pre-cut grooves in the surface of masonry walls is an emerging technique for the retrofit of unreinforced masonry (URM) structures. This method, known as near surface mounting (NSM), provides significant advantages over externally bonded FRP strips in that it has less of an effect on the aesthetics of a structure and can sustain higher loading before debonding. As this technique is relatively new, few studies into the behaviour of masonry walls strengthened using this technique have been conducted. A combined experimental and numerical program was conducted as part of this research project to study the in-plane shear behaviour of masonry wall panels strengthened with NSM carbon FRP (CFRP) strips. In this project the FRP strips were designed to resist sliding along mortar bed joints and diagonal cracking (through mortar joints and brick units). Both of these failure modes are common to masonry shear walls. Different reinforcement orientations were used, including: vertical; horizontal; and a combination of both. The first stage of the project involved characterising the bond between the FRP and the masonry using experimental pull tests (18 in total). From these tests the bond strength, the critical bond length and the local bond-slip relationship of the debonding interface was determined. The second stage of the project involved conducting diagonal tension/shear tests on masonry panels. A total of four URM wall panels and seven strengthened wall panels were tested. These tests were used to determine: the effectiveness of the reinforcement; the failure modes; the reinforcement mechanisms; and the behaviour of the bond between the masonry and the FRP in the case of a panel. The third stage of the project involved developing a finite element model to help understand the experimental results. The masonry was modelled using the micro-modelling approach, and the FRP was attached to the masonry model using the bond-slip relationships determined from the pull tests. Reinforcement schemes in which vertical FRP strips were used improved the strength and ductility of the masonry wall panels. When only horizontal strips were used to reinforce a wall panel, failure occurred along an un-strengthened bed joint and the increase in strength and ductility was negligible. The vertical reinforcement prevented URM sliding failure by restraining the opening (dilation) of the sliding cracks that developed through the mortar bed joints. The finite element model reproduced the key behaviours observed in the experiments for both the unreinforced and FRP strengthened wall panels. This model would potentially be useful for the development of design equations.

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Ce travail décrit une étude expérimentale sur des tôles en Ni-Ti à température ambiante en cisaillement plan simple, et pour des vitesses de déformation de 10-4 à 103/s. En quasi-statique (10-4-10-2/s), la mesure optique du champ de déplacement est indispensable à cause du faible déplacement (0.3mm). Des essais à vitesse de déformation intermédiaire (10-1-101/s) ont été réalisés avec la Machine MTS modifiée, capable d'aller à 300mm/s. Une caméra rapide est nécessaire pour suivre ces tests. Enfin, des barres de Hopkinson sont utilisées pour les essais à haute vitesse (102-103/s).Les efforts se sont concentrés sur la méthodologie afin d'explorer les limites expérimentales. Au niveau mécanique, des efforts ont été apportés sur la conception des montages des mors pour combiner des exigences contradictoires. Au niveau mesure, des caméras optiques fonctionnant jusqu'à 5M images/s ont été utilisées. La texture des images, la peinture, la lumière, la taille d'élément et l'incertitude sont analysées. De plus, la caméra infrarouge est utilisée pour confirmer l'observation optique sous faibles vitesses de déformation.Finalement, des essais ont été réalisés pour 7 ordres de grandeurs de la vitesse de déformation, avec identification de la relation contrainte-déformation et observation de l'évolution de la bande de transformation. On observe : (i) Une augmentation de la contrainte avec la vitesse de déformation. (ii) Un champ de déformation non homogène, même en faible vitesse, avec une bande à 10 degrés par rapport à la direction de cisaillement. (iii) Deux bandes séparées à haute vitesse (102/s), ce qui indique que la bande de localisation dépend de la vitesse de chargement. / This work describes an experimental study on a NiTi alloy at the ambient temperature (Pseudoelastic behavior) under the double in-plane shear loading over strain rates from 10-4 to 103/s. Under quasi-static loadings (10-4-10-2/s), the optical full-field measurement is necessary because of the very small displacement (0.3mm). The intermediate loading rates (10-1-101/s) are realized with a modified MTS machine able to load at 300mm/s. Moreover, a high-speed camera is needed to follow such tests. Finally, the Split Hopkinson bars are used to perform tests at impact loading rates (102-103/s).The main effort has been made on the methodological study to explore the experimental possibility. For the mechanical level, the attention has been paid on the design of the clamping system to cope with the contradictory requirements. For the measuring level, different optical cameras with sampling rate till to 5M frames/second are used. The texture, the painting, the lightening, the element size and the uncertainty are analyzed. Furthermore, an infrared camera was used at lower loading rates to confirm the DIC measurement.The tests are continually performed over 7 decades of the strain rate. The nominal stress-strain curves and the detailed observation of the transformation band evolution are measured. The main findings are as follows: (i) Regular stress increase with the strain rate; (ii) an inhomogeneous strain field under in-plane shear condition, even at very low strain rates, with a band at 10 degrees from the shear direction under lower strain rates. (iii) Two separated bands at the strain rate of 102/s, which suggests that the localized transformation bands are rate dependent.