The consequences of mine seismicity can be mitigated by installing support systems capable of absorbing the energy generated by seismic events. Recent work has focused on the testing of individual support or reinforcement units under laboratory impact loads; this, however, does not render itself to easy extrapolation to field conditions. Hence, this thesis focuses on improving the understanding of the performance of support systems in real-world applications through passive monitoring of past rockburst events. 14 years of rockburst history were collected from Coleman Mine and Copper Cliff Mine, two of Vale’s underground (nickel) operations in Sudbury Ontario. Statistical analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square projection (PLS) were utilized to find relation between collected parameters and performance capacity. This thesis discusses the adequacy of various support systems and investigates the validity of perceived support performance as compared to the actual performance based on analyses of field data.

Osteocytes make up the largest cell population in bone and are believed to be the main mechanosensory bone cells. During mechanical disuse and overuse, osteocyte viability is compromised and is found to be co-localized with increased osteoclastic bone resorption. Osteoclasts are recruited to remodel sites of apoptosis or bone microdamage; however, it is unclear whether the apoptotic or neighbouring healthy osteocytes are responsible for targeted bone remodeling. I hypothesized that apoptotic osteocytes are: (a) directly responsible for initiating bone remodeling by recruiting osteoclast precursors and directing osteoclast differentiation, and (b) indirectly responsible by signaling to nearby healthy osteocytes that, in turn, regulate osteoclastogenesis. In this in vitro study, apoptotic osteocytes were found to increase osteoclast precursor migration and osteoclast formation. Inhibition of the osteoclastogenic protein, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL), in conditioned medium abolished the osteoclastogenic effect of apoptotic osteocytes. Healthy osteocytes surrounded by apoptotic regions were modeled by applying apoptotic osteocyte conditioned medium to healthy osteocytes. These cells also promoted osteoclastogenesis, and had increased expression of macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Inhibition of these factors abrogated the pro-osteoclastic effect of healthy osteocytes conditioned by apoptotic osteocytes. These findings support the hypothesis that apoptotic osteocytes directly and indirectly, by signaling to nearby healthy osteocytes, initiate osteoclastogenesis. One limitation of our and other conventional in vitro models is the lack of real-time cell communication and physiologically-relevant mechanical environment. Using a microfluidics approach, a miniature fluid shear delivery system was created for in vitro osteocyte cultures. The purpose of this microsystem was to increase control of the cell microenvironment for subsequent integration into scalable screening platforms or co-culture systems for studying osteocyte mechanobiology under physiological loading conditions. Fluid shear stress was periodically applied without external pumping using a deflecting elastomer membrane, where up to 2 Pa of oscillating shear stress was possible by manipulating membrane dimensions. Osteocyte culture, viability and calcium response were demonstrated in the microdevice. Further studies should attempt to characterize calcium signaling in osteocytes which, using a conventional macro-scale system, was found to dependent on cell-cell communication.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

La motivació de la tesis deriva en el interès de la indústria aeronàutica a explotar, per mitjà d'un disseny adaptat, la utilització del gir d'esquerda per protegir els reforços situats davant una esquerda que s'està propagant en la xapa d'una estructura integral. L'objectiu principal és l'avaluació i predicció del gir d'esquerda en situacions de càrrega pròximes a Mode I, proporcionant una eina de modelització i un criteri confident. L'entorn industrial sota el qual s'ha realitzat aquest treball requereix una predicció ràpida del comportament estructural proporcionant informació útil als constructors. Per aquest motiu la predicció del gir d'esquerda s'ha investigat utilitzant la teoria linear elàstica de la mecànica de la fractura (LEFM) i l'anàlisi amb elements finits (FEA).Durant aquest treball s'ha demostrat la importància i necessitat de caracteritzar el camp de tensions a la punta de l'esquerda amb el factor d'intensitat de tensió (SIF) conjuntament amb un segon paràmetre. La tensió uniforme, no singular, normal a la línea de l'esquerda i dependent en la geometria i càrrega de la proveta, es a dir la tensió T, ha estat seleccionada com a segon paràmetre per dur a terme les prediccions del gir d'esquerda.El criteri més desenvolupat per predir el gir d'esquerda en situacions pròximes a Mode I és el proposat per Buczek, Herakovich, Boone et al., anomenat WEFO en la tesis. Aquest combina el criteri de tensió principal màxima amb la tensió T i considera efectes d'anisotropia. LEFM s'ha utilitzat també en la predicció del gir d'esquerda sota càrregues quasi estàtiques controlant en tot moment la plastificació del lligament.En la investigació d'eines de modelització/simulació s'ha tingut en compte les capacitats d'aquestes en el camp de la mecànica de la fractura, de disseny, d'implementació, així com la complexitat d'ús. Tot i que hi ha un gran ventall de Softwares que compleixen els requeriments assenyalats, només aquells que es trobaven a l'abast de l'autor s'han analitzat. StressCheck ha estat escollit com a resultat de la investigació. L'avaluació de la propagació de l'esquerda en provetes compactes en tensió (CT) i en provetes amb dos elements reforçants (2SP) sota els règims de Paris i Forman ha estat satisfactòria.Un pas important ha estat la implementació de la capacitat d'extracció de la tensió T. La demostració de la fiabilitat en el seu càlcul s'ha demostrat mitjançant resultats en la literatura i càlculs analítics en provetes de doble biga en volada (DCB). Un aspecte a tenir en compte és la importància en realitzar anàlisis no linears geomètrics pel càlcul del SIF i la tensió T.Prediccions en la trajectòria de l'esquerda s'han realitzat en base amb els resultats obtinguts en l'estudi de modelització. La millor trajectòria s'ha predit per mitjà del criteri WEFO. No obstant, les diferents trajectòries obtingudes per una esquerda propagant-se en la direcció T-L o L-T no són comparables amb els resultats experimentals.Aquestes deficiències estan relacionades en la definició del punt d'inestabilitat de l'esquerda. Algunes referències posen de manifest que hi ha experiències on l'esquerda es comporta de forma estable tot i mostrar T > 0. Per un altre banda, els criteris WEF i WEFO defineixen la inestabilitat dependent d'una distancia específica del material, rc. Però la seva definició no és única i no existeix cap acord sobre el seu càlcul.L'autor proposa un criteri derivat dels criteris existents i basant-se en els assajos, simulacions i resultats obtinguts. Aquest deriva del treball de Pettit i la tensió T normalitzada, TR, proposada per Pook. La fiabilitat d'aquest criteri es demostra amb la proveta DCB. Les prediccions de la trajectòria de l'esquerda en la proveta cruciforme no són tant satisfactòries. Tot i així, s'ha d'accentuar que el criteri desenvolupat proporciona la predicció més acurada. / The motivation of this thesis started from the interest of aeronautical industry to exploit the utilization of crack turning to protect stiffeners in front of an approaching skin-crack in integral structures by a tailored design. The main objective was to assess and predict crack turning under nearly Mode I situations on structures that reproduce aeronautical conditions by providing a modelling tool and a reliable criterion. The industrial environmental in which this work has been carried out requires a fast prediction of the structural behaviour to provide useful inputs to aircraft designers. It is for this reason that the crack turning prediction was investigated by means of LEFM and FEA. During this work it has been shown the importance and necessity of a second parameter for the characterisation of the stress field at the crack tip besides the SIF. Among the different proposed second parameters, the uniform non-singular stress, normal to the crack line and dependent on the type of loading and specimen geometry, i.e. the T-stress, was selected for crack turning predictions due to both calculation simplicity and its independence of the crack tip distance. The most developed criterion for crack turning predictions near Mode I loading is the criterion proposed by Buczek, Herakovich and Boone et al., called the WEFO-criterion. This is the Maximal Principal Stress criterion implemented with the T-stress and taking into account anisotropic effects. A challenge of this thesis was to overcome the lack of prediction on crack turning provided by this last criterion.Although the validity of LEFM is restricted, it was applied for the prediction of crack turning for quasi-static loading while paying attention to possible plastification. A screening of existent commercial and non commercial tools was carried out in respect to their fracture mechanics capabilities, their design abilities, implementation as well as their complexity. Although, there are many software possibilities, only those within the reach of the author were evaluated. This resulted in the selection of the commercial tool StressCheck®. The assessment of crack propagation on compact tension and two stringer specimens governed by the Paris and Forman regimes was satisfactory compared with experimental results using the material data from simple standard specimens.An important step was the implementation of the T-stress extraction facility in the tool and the evidence of its reliability. The latter was proved by literature and analytical calculations on DCB specimens. An important finding was the importance to perform geometric non-linear analyses for computing SIF and T-stress to find values comparable with literature data and analytical calculations. Taking into account the results obtained on the modelling study, crack path predictions were performed. The best prediction by means of existing criteria was reached by the WEFO-criterion. Different crack paths were predicted for a crack propagating in T-L or L-T directions. However, these predictions were not satisfactorily reliable: the point in the crack path where crack turning should take place was not predicted adequately. Additionally, the crack paths were similar for T L and L-T directions. These deficiencies are related with the definition of the crack path instability. Some literature results have shown that in some experiences the crack behaved in a stable manner even if T > 0. Moreover, WEF and WEFO criteria define crack instability to be related with a material specific distance, rc, but, there is no agreement about its definition. Based on tests, simulation results and observations noted during this work, a compilation criterion was proposed. This is based on the work of Pettit and the normalised T-stress, TR, proposed by Pook. Its reliability was successfully proved on the DCB. The crack path predictions on the CFS were not as satisfactory. But even at its worst the developed criterion was the most accurate.

Reinforced concrete slab-column structures are widely used because of their practicality. However, this type of structures can be subject to punching-shear failure in the slab-column connections. Without shear reinforcement, the slab-column connection can undergo brittle punching failure, especially when the structure is subject to lateral loading in seismic zones. The shear bolts are a new type of transverse reinforcement developed for retrofit of existing structures against punching. This research focuses on how the shear bolts can improve the punching-shear capacity and ductility of the existing slab-column connections under vertical service and lateral seismic loads. A set of nine full-scale reinforced concrete slab-column connection specimens were tested under vertical service and cyclic loads. The vertical (gravity) load for each specimen was kept at a constant value throughout the testing. The cyclic lateral drift with increasing intensity was applied to the columns. The specimens were different in number of bolts, concrete strength, number of openings, and level of gravity punching load. Strains in flexural rebars in the slabs, crack widths, lateral loads, and displacements were obtained. The peak lateral load (moment) and its corresponding drift ratio, connection stiffness, crack width, and ductility were compared among different specimens. The testing results show that shear bolts can increase lateral peak load resisting capacity, lateral drift capacity at peak load, and ductility of the slab-column connections. Shear bolts also change the failure mode of the slab-column connections and increase the energy dissipation capacity. The thesis includes also research on the development of guidelines for shear bolt design for concrete slab retrofitting, including the punching shear design method of concrete slab (with shear bolts), dimensions of bolts, spacing, and influence of bolt layout patterns. Suggestions are given for construction of retrofitting method using shear bolts. Recommendations are also presented for future research.

Intervertebral disc herniations have been indicated as a possible injury development pathway due to occupational vibration exposures in seated postures through epidemiological investigations. Little experimental evidence exists to corroborate the strong epidemiological link between intervertebral disc herniations and vibration exposures using basic scientific approaches. The purpose of the current investigation was to provide some basic experimental evidence of the epidemiological link between intervertebral herniation and exposure to vibration. Partial intervertebral disc herniations were created in in-vitro porcine functional spinal units using a herniation protocol of repetitive flexion/extension motions under modest compressive forces. After herniation initiation, functional spinal units were exposed to 8 different vibration and postural constraint loading protocols consisting of two postural conditions (full flexion and neutral) and 4 vibration loading conditions (whole-body vibration, shock loading, static compressive loads, and whole-body vibration in addition to shock loading) to assess the effects of vibration and posture on functional spinal unit damage progression. There were three main outcome variables used to quantify damage progression; average stiffness changes, herniation distance progression (distance of tracking changes), and specimen height changes, while cumulative loading factors were considered. Additionally the concordance between two types of contrast enhanced medical imaging (Computed Tomography and discograms) was qualified to a dissection ‘gold standard’, and an attempt was made to classify disc damage progression via three categorical variables. Concordance to a dissection ‘gold standard’ was higher for the Computed Tomography medical imaging type that for the Discograms. The categorical criteria used to qualify disc damage progression were insufficiently sensitive to detect damage progressions illustrated through dissection and medical imaging techniques. The partial herniation loading protocol was quantified to be more damaging overall to the functional spinal units compared to the vibration and postural constraint loading protocols. However, the vibration and postural constraint loading protocols provided sufficient mechanical insult to the functional spinal units to progress damage to the intervertebral discs. Vibration loading exposures were found to alter specimen height changes and distance of tracking changes, however posture had no significant effects on these variables. Neither posture nor vibration loading had any meaningful significant effects on average stiffness changes.

Despite years of research, the role that hypovolemia plays in orthostatic intolerance after head down bed rest (BR) and spaceflight remains unclear. Additionally, the efficacy of oral saline countermeasures, employed in an attempt to restore plasma volume (PV) after BR is questionable. Several previous studies have suggested that a new homeostatic set point is achieved in space or during BR, making attempts to restore PV temporary at best. We tested the hypotheses that one day of BR would induce a transient increase in PV followed by hypovolemia and new hormonal balance; that a salt tablet and water fluid loading (FL) countermeasure would be ineffective in restoring PV; and also that the FL would not attenuate the exaggerated hormonal responses to orthostatic stress that are expected after 28hr of BR. Plasma volume, serum sodium and osmolarity, and plasma ANP, AVP, renin, angiotensin II, aldosterone, and catecholamines were measured in nine male subjects undergoing 5 different protocols (28hr Bed Rest without Fluid Loading = 28NFL, 28hr Bed Rest with Fluid Loading = 28FL, 4hr Seated Control = 4NFLS, 4hr Seated Control with Fluid Loading = 4FLS, and 4hr Bed Rest = 4BR) in a randomized repeated measures design. The FL countermeasure was 15 ml/kg of body weight of water with 1g of NaCl per 125ml of water. Orthostatic testing by lower body negative pressure (LBNP) was performed before and after all protocols. In agreement with our first hypothesis, we observed transient reductions in renin, angiotensin II, and aldosterone, which after 25.5hr were restored to baseline, slightly augmented, and suppressed, respectively. Also after 25.5hr, PV was reduced in the 28hr BR protocols and was not restored in 28FL; however, the FL protocol increased PV during 4FLS. We additionally observed augmented renin and aldosterone responses, as well as generally elevated angiotensin II after 28NFL, but not after 28FL or any of the 4hr protocols. Furthermore, no changes in plasma norepinephrine responses to LBNP were documented from Pre-Post test in any protocol. Our results indicate that: 1) PV is reduced after short term BR and is not restored by an oral FL; 2) renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) responses to orthostatic stress are augmented after 28hr of BR and the amplified response can be abrogated by FL; and 3) plasma norepinephrine responses during orthostatic stress are not affected by BR or FL, suggesting that RAAS activity may be modulated by FL independently of sympathetic activity and PV during orthostasis after bed rest.

Temperature dependent magnetization measurements were conducted on Fe-based heterostructures. A linear increase of the magnetic critical temperature with increasing Fe thickness was found for Fe/V superlattices with strong interlayer exchange coupling. For weakly coupled Fe/V superlattices anomalous values of the critical exponent β were attributed to differences in the effective interlayer exchange coupling in the surface region and in the interior of the superlattice stack. Hydrogen loading of a sample containing a thin Fe film, up to a maximum pressure of 4 mbar gave an increase of the magnetic critical temperature of ≈21 K. A sample with a double layer of Fe, exchange coupled over V, showed oscillations in the critical temperature when loaded to increasing pressure of hydrogen. The oscillations in the critical temperature indicate the presence of quasi-2D phases. Superlattices of Fe and V were investigated by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. It was found that the orbital magnetic moment shows the same trend as the magnetic anisotropy energy with thickness of the Fe layers. A model which takes into account a varying strain and interface density successfully described the changes in the orbital magnetic moment. The magnetization was measured as a function of temperature for a series of magnetically δ-doped Pd samples. A thin film of Fe induced a magnetic moment in surrounding Pd layers, leading to a magnetic thickness one order of magnitude larger than the thickness of the Fe film. A crossover in the magnetic spatial dimensionality was found as the thickness of the Fe film increased from ≈0.4 monolayers to ≈1 monolayer. First principle calculations of the magnetization profile together with a spin wave quantum well model were used to explain the dimensionality crossover by an increase in the available thermal energy for population of perpendicular spin wave modes.