Building engineering is called upon to keep up with the pace and challenges of modern design, which aims not only to build higher and greener, but also to fulfill the demands of the growing population and simple human curiosity. The main purpose of this study was to examine the global behavior of a slender and inclined (V-shaped) 300 m high rise building with different structural systems applied. In order to properly evaluate them, four different parametric studies were conducted. These included determining the appropriate inclination angle and the geometry of a simple beam system and later comparing fourteen different structural systems, namely trusses, diagrids, Tubed Mega Frames and moment frames. Parallel to this, a further investigation was made on a shell and beam element model, in order to assess the simplifications made and to control the obtained results. This study was based on various simulations in Finite Element Analysis programs, primarily ETABS, but also SAP2000 and Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis. The modelling included the definition of geometry and applied loads and results in extracting the desirable forces and deformations. Additionally, the automatic design for structural members was used for the purpose of a comprehensive study of the chosen structural systems. The designed structures were subjected to static analysis (dead, live, wind, seismic load), dynamic analysis (response spectrum and time history function) and nonlinear P-delta effect. A buckling analysis was also performed to determine the modes and associated load factors for buckling. In the end, the structural response in terms of displacement and acceleration was compared. The inclination angle study set the defining angle at 10° from vertical, with respect to the serviceability limit deflection. Comparing alternative truss geometries in a 2D parametric study resulted in the choice of four different systems (X, N, K and W trusses). In the 3D analysis, the chosen truss systems, together with three variations of diagrid systems, and seven Tubed Mega Frames with two moment frame structures were further analyzed. In both groups, the mass and the material of the systems were kept similar and the comparison was basically based on the obtained maximum displacement and natural periods of the buildings. The shell and frame model comparison gave a difference in displacements between 0 and 12%. Finally, the comprehensive study of the Tubed Mega Frame, X truss and diagrid structures showed that these buildings were performing similarly to vertical buildings with a top story displacement within the suggested limits (less than 673 mm). Further investigation should be made concerning the acceleration under synthetic earthquake, which exceeded the suggested norms, as well as the connecting nodes between the trusses and the inclined columns. The outcome of this study implied the possibility of construction and usability of inclined, slender, tall buildings with respect to the Ultimate Limit State and the Service Limit State, as specified in the American standard, ASCE 7-10, and opened new possible issues for further research.

In Sweden as well as other countries the trend of building higher is more and more popular. The global stability of tall buildings is a very important aspect that has to be taken into account while designing. Foundation on piles, that is common in Sweden, reduces the global stability compared to foundation directly on bedrock. Using inclined piles in the foundation is inevitable for high-rise buildings, because they are essential for transferring the horizontal loads into the bedrock. The aim of this paper is to look into the influence that foundation on piles has on global stability and investigate two simple methods to asses global stability. In this thesis the influence of the stiffness of the substructure (foundation), length and inclination of the piles on the global stability were investigated. It was also looked into how does the pile center affect the rotation and thus global stability. One method that was presented was based on the equivalent stiffness. Displacement at the top of the wall is used in order to calculate the bending stiffness that is reduced due to foundation on piles and further calculate buckling load on the basis of Euler buckling. In the other method that was proposed rotation at the foundation level was taken into account so as to calculate rotational spring stiffness and later buckling load due to combined flexural and rotational buckling. The analysis was conducted on a simple two dimensional problem, namely stabilizing wall as well as a building stabilized by two towers. Three different configurations of piles were investigated for single wall as well as for the structure. The investigation showed that the position of pile center has its effect on the global stability. The closer the pile center is to the foundation on piles the better the global stability of a  structure. The length of the piles plays a role in stability as well. The longer the piles are the worse the stability is. With longer piles the overall stiffness of a structure decreases and thus the global stability. The analysis showed that the foundation of piles significantly lowers the stability of high rise building. The investigated methods showed that the one based on rotation at the base gave better results compared to the method based on the equivalent bending stiffness. But to use this first method, the position of the pile center is required to be known in order to get correct results which in a complex structure is hard to estimate. In an analysis of a building stabilized by two towers it was seen that when the inclined piles that are inclined opposite to each other in a pile group and are positioned far from rotation center of a structure it increases the global safety and rotational stiffness as well. It is recommended to use such configuration of piles that the pile center is at the foundation level in order to increase global stability. / I Sverige och andra länder är trenden att bygga högre alltmer populärt. Den globala stabiliteten hos höga byggnader är en viktig aspekt som måste beaktas vid byggnadens utformning. Den vanligaste grundläggningsmetoden i Sverige är grundläggning med pålar. Denna typ av grundläggning minskar den globala stabiliteten jämfört med grundläggning direkt på berggrunden. Att använda sneda pålar i grundläggningen är oundviklig för höghus, eftersom de är nödvändiga för att överföra horisontella laster till berggrunden. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att se hur grundläggning på pålar påverkar den globala stabiliteten och undersöka två enkla metoder för global stabilitet. I detta examensarbete undersöktes hur styvheten påverkar grundläggning med pålar med olika längder och lutningar, med hänseende på den globala stabiliteten. Pålcentrumets påverkan av rotation och den globala stabiliteten har även studerats. En metod som presenterades i examensarbetet är baserades på ekvivalent styvhet. Där utböjning på toppen av väggen togs för att beräkna böjstyvheten som reduceras på grund av grundläggning med pålar och ytterligare beräknades knäcklasten baserat på Eulers knäckning. I den andra metoden som föreslogs togs rotationen vid grundläggningsnivån med i beräkningen för att beräkna rotationsfjäderns styvhet och senare knäckningslasten på grund av kombinerad böjnings- och rotationsknäckning. Analysen genomfördes på en enkel tvådimensionell vägg och en tredimensionell byggnad som är stabiliserad av två torn. Tre olika konfigurationer av pålar undersöktes för enkel vägg och även för byggnaden Utredningen av examensarbetet visade att positionen av pålcentrum har en stor påverkan på den globala stabiliteten. Ju närmare pålcentrumet är till grundläggningsnivån desto bättre är den globala stabiliteten hos en konstruktion. Längden på pålarna har även en betydelse när det gäller stabiliteten. Ju längre pålarna är desto värre blir stabiliteten. Med längre pålar minskar den totala styvheten hos hela konstruktionen och därmed minskar även den globala stabiliteten. Utredningen visade även att metoden med rotation vid grundläggningsnivån gav mer noggrannare resultat än metoden för ekvivalent styvhet. Men för att kunna använda den förstnämnda metoden behöver man ha kännedom om vart pålcentrum ligger för konstruktionen och detta kan vara svårt att uppskatta. I en analys av en byggnad stabiliserad av två torn visades det att när pålarna är placerade långt från rotationscentrum av en konstruktion ökar den globala säkerheten och rotationsstyvheten. Det rekommenderas att använda sådan konfiguration av pålar att pålcentrum ligger på grundnivå för att öka den globala stabiliteten.

Shallow foundations are widely used in different types of soils for supporting the loads from the lightly loaded superstructures of various civil infrastructures both on level and sloping ground. Design of shallow foundations in geotechnical engineering practice is widely based on the principles of saturated soil mechanics because they are relatively simple. However, the soil near the ground surface (i.e., vadose zone) in which the shallow foundations are typically placed is in an unsaturated state. The water content variation in unsaturated soils is influenced by hydrological events such as the snow melt, rainfall infiltration, evaporation, and the plant transpiration. Due to this reason, the hydro-mechanical properties (i.e., coefficient of permeability, shear strength and volume change) of unsaturated soils are sensitive to the variation in soil suction associated with water content changes. These properties in turn have a significant impact on the bearing capacity and settlement behavior of the shallow foundations. Therefore, it is rational to investigate shallow foundations’ behavior extending the principles of unsaturated soil mechanics. During the last two decades, there has been a significant interest towards investigating shallow foundations based on unsaturated soil mechanics. Laboratory, field, and model studies highlight that matric suction variation in unsaturated soils has a significant influence on the bearing capacity and settlement behavior of shallow foundations. However, the focus of most of the presently available studies in the literature consider mostly vertical loading conditions on level soil ground. There are limited studies related to the design of shallow foundations on sloping ground and subjected to inclined and eccentric loading conditions. Also, there are only few studies that consider the effect of the steady state and transient flow conditions on the foundation bearing capacity evaluation. Therefore, one of the key objectives of this thesis is directed toward developing rational tools for investigating shallow foundations considering the steady state and transient flow conditions associated with water infiltration and evaporation in unsaturated soils. Comprehensive investigation studies are undertaken to interpret the influence of the steady state and transient flow conditions on the shallow foundations related to: (i) bearing capacity on the sloping ground in different types of soils including expansive soils, and (ii) bearing capacity under the inclined and eccentric loading conditions with homogeneous soil properties and considering spatial variation of soil properties. Succinct details related to investigated studies are summarized below: (1) An analytical method is proposed for quantifying the bearing capacity of the shallow foundations on unsaturated soil slopes considering different rainfall infiltration conditions. The proposed method is a novel tool for considering the simultaneous influence of several parameters that include the flow rates, the infiltration duration, the foundation set-back distance and the ground water table depth on the foundation bearing capacity. (2) Another analytical method is proposed for evaluating the foundation bearing capacity under inclined and eccentric loading considering both the steady state and transient flow conditions. Semi-empirical equations are proposed for describing the failure envelops in vertical and horizontal (V - H) loading space and in the vertical and moment (V - M) loading space. These equations are capable to describe the variation of failure envelops considering the influence of the groundwater table depth variation, internal friction angles, surface flux boundary conditions and different infiltration durations. (3) The influence of infiltration on the combined performance of both the foundation and the slope in cracked expansive soils is evaluated with the aid of a numerical technique. A semi-empirical model that describes the elastic modulus and the matric suction is implemented into the numerical model. Bimodal soil water characteristic curve is used as a tool for understanding the influence of surface cracks in the numerical study in a simplified manner. The influence of the rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, foundation setback distance and foundation loading on the combined performance of foundation and slope were investigated. Results combined with some suggestions for rational design procedures are presented that can be useful for geotechnical engineers in practice applications. (4) Numerical analyses are conducted for shallow foundations under vertical and combined loading subjected to different flow conditions. A numerical code procedure is exclusively developed as a part of this study to: (i) consider the variation of soil properties along with the matric suction fluctuations in the commercial software ABAQUS with the aid of a user developed subroutine USDFLD; (ii) incorporate the spatial variability of soil properties into the finite element model. Comparisons are provided between the numerical study and other methods such as the experimental investigations, the analytical methods, and the semi-empirical equations for bearing capacity failure envelopes. In addition, comparisons are also made between the failure envelopes and the failure mechanisms contour using the model considering soil spatial variability and homogeneous soil properties. The proposed methods in this thesis are simple to use for evaluating bearing capacity of shallow foundations that are subjected to steady state and transient state flow conditions considering two scenarios: (i) foundation on sloping ground (ii) foundation under inclined and eccentric loading. The results from the above studies reveal that it is the relationship between the soil permeability and the rainfall characteristics that mainly control the water infiltration rates. The soil suction and the effective degree of saturation are influenced by the water infiltration rates and have a significant impact on the foundation as well as the slope behavior. More importantly, the investigations undertaken in this thesis contribute towards addressing the research gaps related to the behavior of foundations in unsaturated soils. Various scenarios considered in this thesis include the influence of unsaturated flow have not been considered earlier in the literature. The results of the studies summarized in this thesis are expected to be useful for practicing geotechnical engineers in the optimal design of shallow foundations extending the principles of unsaturated soil mechanics for various soils. Moreover, the proposed methods can be used for interpreting the foundation behavior for their entire life span service. In addition, these methods can be employed to rationally explain the field-measured data and can also be used in the forensics analyses of failed slopes and shallow foundations.

No description available.

Yes / This paper reports the testing of fifteen reinforced concrete deep beams with openings. All beams tested had the same overall geometrical dimensions. The main variables considered were the opening size and amount of inclined reinforcement. An effective inclined reinforcement factor combining the influence of the amount of inclined reinforcement and opening size on the structural behaviour of the beams tested is proposed. It was observed that the diagonal crack width and shear strength of beams tested were significantly dependent on the effective inclined reinforcement factor that ranged from 0 to 0.318 for the test specimens. As this factor increased, the diagonal crack width and its development rate decreased, and the shear strength of beams tested improved. Beams having effective inclined reinforcement factor more than 0.15 had higher shear strength than that of the corresponding solid beams. A numerical procedure based on the upper bound analysis of the plasticity theory was proposed to estimate the shear strength and load transfer capacity of reinforcement in deep beams with openings. Predictions obtained from the proposed formulas have a consistent agreement with test results.

This research describes the development and application of a numerical modelling method for angled borehole heat exchangers in ground-source heat pump systems. Inclining the boreholes relative to the vertical axis presents an opportunity to reduce the ground level footprint of the borehole field thus allowing for the installation of geothermal systems in retrofit applications or under buildings with small footprints. The commercial code COMSOL was used to develop the computational model. A series of validation and verification studies were performed to ensure the accuracy of the modelling approach. Simulations were conducted under constant and transient heat injection, where the effect of energy load imbalance is analyzed. Additionally, the effect of discontinuous loading with natural and forced recovery cycles is investigated. When exposed to a constant heat injection rate, configurations of angled borehole heat exchangers initially perform the same as vertical borehole heat exchangers. Then, there is a relatively short period where the angled configurations have slightly decreased performance due to increased thermal interaction in the near surface. At longer times, however, there is a significant benefit in using angled borehole heat exchangers as a result of the increased ground volume in the lower portion of the field. Under transient loading conditions, the conclusions were the same as constant heat injection, although the differences were smaller when the energy loading was balanced. However, when the loading was cooling dominated, by year 10 there was a significantly better performance observed for the angled boreholes. This indicates that the configurations of angled borehole heat exchangers can withstand a higher intensity of imbalanced energy loads compared to vertical configurations. Discontinuous loading was investigated by varying the length of time heat injection would occur on a daily basis. These daily perturbations led to small performance losses in the angled boreholes due to the increased thermal interaction in the near surface. Furthermore, imposing a forced recovery on the system by circulating fluid while heat injection was off did not significantly affect the fluid temperature or ground temperature. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Esse trabalho constitui o desenvolvimento da modelagem térmica e simulação por métodos numéricos de dois componentes fundamentais do ciclo de refrigeração por absorção de calor com o par amônia/água: o absorvedor e o gerador. A função do absorvedor é produzir mistura líquida com alta fração mássica de amônia a partir de mistura líquida com baixa fração mássica de amônia e mistura vapor mediante retirada de calor. A função do gerador é produzir mistura líquido/vapor a partir de mistura líquida mediante o fornecimento de calor. É proposto o uso da tecnologia de filmes descendentes sobre placas inclinadas e o método de diferenças finitas para dividir o comprimento da placa em volumes de controle discretos e realizar os balanços de massa, espécie de amônia e energia juntamente com as equações de transferência de calor e massa para o filme descendente. O objetivo desse trabalho é obter um modelo matemático simplificado para ser utilizado em controle e otimização. Esse modelo foi utilizado para calcular as trocas de calor e massa no absorvedor e gerador para diversas condições a partir de dados operacionais, tais como: dimensões desses componentes, ângulo de inclinação da placa, temperatura de superfície e condições de entrada da fase líquida e vapor. Esses resultados foram utilizados para estabelecer relações de causa e efeito entre as variáveis e parâmetros do problema. Os resultados mostraram que o ângulo de inclinação da placa ótimo tanto para o absorvedor como para o gerador é a posição vertical, ou 90°. A posição vertical proporciona o menor comprimento de equilíbrio (0,85 m para o absorvedor e 1,27 m para o gerador com as condições testadas) e se mostrou estável, pois até 75° não foram verificadas variações no funcionamento do absorvedor e gerador. Dentre as condições testadas para uma placa de 0,5 m verificou-se que as maiores efetividades térmicas no absorvedor e gerador foram respectivamente 0,9 e 0,7 e as maiores efetividades mássicas no absorvedor e gerador foram respectivamente 0,6 e 0,5. É esperado que os dados obtidos sejam utilizados em trabalhos futuros para a construção de um protótipo laboratorial e na validação do modelo. / This work presents the development of thermal modeling and simulation by numerical methods of two fundamental components of an ammonia/water heat absorption refrigeration cycle: absorber and generator. The function of the absorber is produce high ammonia mass fraction liquid mixture from low ammonia mass fraction liquid mixture and vapor mixture by heat removal. The function of the generator is produce vapor mixture from liquid mixture by heat addition. It is used the falling film technology over Inclined plates and the finite difference method to slice the plate length in discreet control volumes and do the mass, ammonia specie and energy balances along with the heat and mass transfer equations to the falling film. The aim of this work was obtain a simplified mathematical model to be used in control and optimization. This model was used to calculate the exchanges of heat and mass of both absorber and generator in many conditions from operational data such as: components dimensions, plate angle, surface temperature and inlet condition of liquid and vapor phase. These results were used to establish relations of cause and effect between the problem variables and parameters. The results showed that the optimum plate angle for both absorber and generator is the vertical position, or 90°. The vertical position provides the smallest equilibrium length (0,85 m to the absorber and 1,27 to the generator in tested conditions) and it proves itself to be stable, because until 75° no variations in the function of absorber and generator were detected. Among the tested condition for a 0,5 m plate length the highest thermal effectiveness for absorber and generator were respectively 0,9 and 0,7 and the highest mass effectiveness for absorber and generator were respectively 0,6 and 0,5. The obtained data is expected to be used in future works for the construction of a laboratorial prototype and in the model validation.

It is an important task that design engineers in practice predict the local scour around bridge piers as accurately as possible because excessive local scour around bridge piers unbalance and demolish the bridges. Many equations have been proposed previously by various researchers, based on their experimental findings, but no general method has been developed so far due to the complexity of the topic. In the present study two new bridge pier groups were employed to investigate the inclination effect of the most upstream and downstream piers on the local scours around all piers. Total of 72 experiments have been conducted with 3 inclination angles, one of which representing the vertical case, each experiment lasting 6 hours, under uniform flow and clear-water conditions for a range of water depths and flow velocities on the uniform bed material. It is clearly observed and measured that the amount of local scour reduces substantially by the effect of inclination in the group piers, especially the reduction in the scour around the most upstream pier is found notable. Based on the experimental data, regression analyses are made and an empirical scour depth equation is developed for each individual pier in the pier groups studied. Comparisons with the similar studies performed by other researchers have been made and the results discussed.

The main objective of this study is to evaluate mixed mode stress intensity factors for inclined embedded cracks in functionally graded materials. Fracture analysis of inclined cracks requires the calculation of both Mode I and Mode II stress intensity factors ( I K , II K ). In this study, k J -integral is used to calculate I K and II K . Equivalent domain integral approach is utilized to evaluate the k J - integral around the crack tip. The present study aims at developing a finite element model to study inclined crack problems in graded media under thermomechanical loading. A two dimensional finite element model is developed for inclined cracks located in a functionally graded medium. Structural and thermal problems are solved using two dimensional finite elements namely 8- noded triangles. Material properties are sampled directly at the integration points of the elements, as required by the numerical integral evaluation. The main results of the study are the stress intensity factors at the crack tip for functionally graded materials subjected to thermomechanical loading.

Directional and horizontal drilling operations are increasingly conducted in all over the world, especially parallel to the growth of the technological developments in the industry. Common application fields for directional and horizontal drilling are in offshore and onshore when there is no way of drilling vertical wells. During directional and horizontal well drilling, many additional challenges occur when compared with vertical well drilling, such as limited weight on bit, harder hole cleaning, trajectory control, etc. This makes even harder to select the proper drilling parameters for increasing the rate of penetration. This study aims to propose a rate of penetration model considering many drilling parameters and conditions. The proposed model is a modified Bourgoyne &amp / Young&rsquo / s model which considers formation compaction, formation pressure, equivalent circulating density, and effective weight on bit, rotation of the bit, bit wear, hole cleaning, inclination, fluid loss properties and bit hydraulics. Also, a bit wear model is developed for roller cones and PDCs. The model performance is tested using field data obtained from several directional and horizontal offshore wells drilled at Persian Gulf. It is observed that the model can estimate rate of penetration with an error of &plusmn / 25 % when compared with the field data.