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Among the structural materials under consideration for future lead-cooled fastreactors, special attention is paid to ferritic Fe-10Cr-4Al due to its superior corrosionand erosion protective properties, as well as its insensitivity to liquid metalembrittlement in liquid lead. This thesis gives an inside look into the radiation damageproperties of the alloy and the possible embrittlement scenarios. The samples wereirradiated with 5.5 MeV protons and then tested with a slow strain rate testing rig at375oC and 450oC. The results showed that for Fe-10Cr-4Al irradiated to a peak doseof 0.14 dpa, the total elongation to failure was reduced by 3-5%, compared to theunirradiated samples. Moreover, the mechanical properties (yield strength, ultimatetensile strength, and fracture elongation) of the irradiated samples depend stronglyon temperature. The scanning electron microscopy images show no signs of liquidmetal embrittlement. However, the brittle structures at the edges of the samples couldindicate the existence of hydrogen embrittlement. / Bland de strukturmaterial som övervägs för framtida blykylda snabba reaktorer (LFR)ägnas särskild uppmärksamhet åt ferritiska Fe-10Cr-4Al-legeringar på grund av derasöverlägsna korrosionsbeständighet och deras avsaknad av försprödning i den flytandeblymiljön. Denna avhandling ger en inblick i legeringens strålskador och möjligaförsprödningsscenarier. Proverna bestrålades med 5.5 MeV protoner och testadessedan med SSRT-testriggen vid 375oC och 450oC. Resultaten visade att för proverav Fe-10Cr-4Al bestrålat till en dos av 0.14 dpa, minskade den totala förlängningentill brott med 3-5%, jämfört med de obestrålade proverna. Dessutom uppvisar demekaniska egenskaperna (YS, UTS och brottförlängning) hos de bestrålade provernaen större temperaturinverkan. Bilder tagna med svepelektronmikroskopi (SEM)visade inga tecken på flytande metallförsprödning (LME). De spröda strukturerna vidkanterna av proverna, där protonerna implanterades, kan dock indikera förekomstenav väteförsprödning.

This thesis deals with the use of the electronic measuring systems for monitoring structures. The first part of this work is focused on mapping the available measuring systems for monitoring deformations and strains, from the point of their measurement accuracy, the real advantages and disadvantages, including examples of monitoring of constructions. In the second part were selected measuring systems for monitoring strains and deflection interest structure. Subsequently, the measuring system with online recording into the tested roof structure was installed and the loading test was performed. Obtained data were compared with other two independent measurements. In the last part of the thesis, the measured values of each independent measurements were compared together, and with the values calculated from the mathematical model. The achieved results show that the installed monitoring system is capable to reliably measure deformation of the structure in real time and thus to warn the building administrator against the potential danger in advance.

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Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a non-destructive evaluation tool that assesses the functionality of structural systems that are used in the civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering practices. A much desirable objective of a SHM system is to provide a continuous monitoring service at a minimal cost with ability to identify problems even in inaccessible structural components. In this dissertation, several such approaches that utilize the measured dynamic response of structural systems are presented to detect, locate, and quantify the damages that are likely to occur in structures. In this study, the structural damage is identified as a reduction in the stiffness characteristics of the structural elements. The primary focus of this study is on the utilization of measured dynamic strains for damage identification in the framed structures which are composed of interconnected beam elements. Although linear accelerations, being more convenient to measure, are commonly used in most SHM practices, herein the strains being more sensitive to elemental damage are considered. Two different approaches are investigated and proposed to identify the structural element stiffness properties. Both approaches are mode-based, requiring first the identification of system modes from the measured strain responses followed by the identification of the element stiffness coefficients. The first approach utilizes the Eigen equation of the finite element model of the structure, while the second approach utilizes the changes caused by the damage in the structural curvature flexibilities. To reduce size of the system which is primarily determined by the number of sensors deployed for the dynamic data collection, measurement sensitivity-based sensor selection criterion is observed to be effective and thus used. The mean square values of the measurements with respect to the stiffness coefficients of the structural elements are used as the effective measures of the measurement sensitivities at different sensor locations. Numerical simulations are used to evaluate the proposed identification approaches as well as to validate the sensitivity-based optimal sensor deployment approach. / Ph. D. / All modern societies depend heavily on civil infrastructure systems such as transportation systems, power generation and transmission systems, and data communication systems for their day-to-day activities and survival. It has become extremely important that these systems are constantly watched and maintained to ensure their functionality. All these infrastructure systems utilize structural systems of different forms such as buildings, bridges, airplanes, data communication towers, etc. that carry the service and environmental loads that are imposed on them. These structural systems deteriorate over time because of natural material degradation. They can also get damaged due to excessive load demands and unknown construction deficiencies. It is necessary that condition of these structural systems is known at all times to maintain their functionality and to avoid sudden breakdowns and associated ensuing problems. This condition assessment of structural systems, now commonly known as structural health monitoring, is commonly done by visual onsite inspections manually performed at pre-decided time intervals such as on monthly and yearly basis. The length of this inspection time interval usually depends on the relative importance of the structure towards the functionality of the larger infrastructure system. This manual inspection can be highly time and resource consuming, and often ineffective in catching structural defects that are inaccessible and those that occur in between the scheduled inspection times and dates. However, the development of new sensors, new instrumentation techniques, and large data transfer and processing methods now make it possible to do this structural health monitoring on a continuous basis. The primary objective of this study is to utilize the measured dynamic or time varying strains on structural components such as beams, columns and other structural members to detect the location and level of a damage in one or more structural elements before they become serious. This detection can be done on a continuous basis by analyzing the available strain response data. This approach is expected to be especially helpful in alerting the owner of a structure by identifying the iv occurrence of a damage, if any, immediately after an unanticipated occurrence of a natural event such as a strong earthquake or a damaging wind storm.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) function is a known predictor of adverse events in heart failure and following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). While right atrial (RA) involvement is well characterized in pulmonary arterial hypertension, its relative contributions to adverse events following AMI especially in patients with heart failure and congestion need further evaluation. Methods: In this cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)-substudy of AIDA STEMI and TATORT NSTEMI, 1235 AMI patients underwent CMR after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in 15 centers across Germany (n = 795 with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and 440 with non-ST-elevation MI). Right atrial (RA) performance was evaluated using CMR myocardial feature tracking (CMR-FT) for the assessment of RA reservoir (total strain εs), conduit (passive strain εe), booster pump function (active strain εa), and associated strain rates (SR) in a blinded core-laboratory. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) 12 months post AMI. Results: RA reservoir (εs p = 0.061, SRs p = 0.049) and conduit functions (εe p = 0.006, SRe p = 0.030) were impaired in patients with MACE as opposed to RA booster pump (εa p = 0.579, SRa p = 0.118) and RA volume index (p = 0.866). RA conduit function was associated with the clinical onset of heart failure and MACE independently of RV systolic function and atrial fibrillation (AF) (multivariable analysis hazard ratio 0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.92 to 0.99, p = 0.009), while RV systolic function and AF were not independent prognosticators. Furthermore, RA conduit strain identified low- and high-risk groups within patients with reduced RV systolic function (p = 0.019 on log rank testing). Conclusions: RA impairment is a distinct feature and independent risk factor in patients following AMI and can be easily assessed using CMR-FT-derived quantification of RA strain.

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