This diploma thesis aims to design a structure of pedestrian bridge over the Svratka river. To make a preliminary study of possible bridging, three different outlines were drafted. The cable-stayed variant was selected for further analysis. Two towers, inclined in both their longitudinal and transverse direction, support a cast-in-place post-tensioned concrete deck through stay cables anchored in the tower and the deck. After determining the desired initial state, a finite element analysis was carried out using the Ansys software. The capacity of all main load-bearing elements was checked so it meets the ULS and SLS design criteria in accordance with EN 1992 codes.

The subject of this diploma thesis is the design and the assessment of post-tensioned bridge structure over deep wally, which transfer road D26,5/100 on D1 in Slovakia between Hubová – Ivachnová. Three variants were designed and compared. The most suitable variant of two identical bridges with box cross-section and constant height was further assess in detail.

The subject of this thesis is the design and assessment of the bridge across the expressway and the deep valley in section Hričovské Podhradie - Lietavská Lúčka of highway D1 in Slovakia. The box girder structure with eleven spans was chosen of three variants. For each course there is a separate structure. The design of the bridge is carried out according to limit states including consideration of the impact of construction. The assessment of the construction is carried out using the beam model. The appendix contains structural analysis, drawings and visualization of the bridge.

The diploma thesis is focused on structural design and assessment of lookout tower, which is made of reinforced concrete and steel bracing elements. Structural design was performer in accordance with valid eurocodes and standards. The work is accompanied by construction drawings, drawings of shapes, reinforcement and steel elements, and documents from manufacturers.

The content of the diploma thesis is design urban bridge in Považská Bystrica. From three possible options was selected one, which represents cable stayed bridge-extradosed with four spans. This selected option was elaborated in detail in this diploma thesis. Design procedures and assessments were performed to comply with ultimate limit state and serviceability limit state according to valid europeans standarts. The calculation model was performed in program Midas Civil in logitudinal axis and in SCIA Engineer in transversal axis. Structural assessment were done manually. The part of the diploma thesis are detailed drawings and visualizations.

This Ph.D. thesis represents a summative report detailing research processes and outcomes from investigating the ultimate and serviceability limit state short- and long-term behaviour and design of timber-concrete composite floors. The project enables the realization of a semi-prefabricated LVL-concrete composite floor system of up to 15 m long using 3 types of connection. Design span tables which satisfy the ultimate and serviceability limit state short- and long-term verifications for this system form the novel contribution of this thesis. In quantifying the behaviour of timber-concrete composite floors, 5 different experimental phases have been carried. 9 major achievements in meeting 9 sub-objectives have been concluded: 1) Three best types of connection system for timber-concrete composite floors have been identified; 2) The characteristic strength and secant slip moduli for these connections have been determined; 3) The short-term behaviour of the selected connections defined by their pre- and post-peak responses under collapse load has been established; 4) An analytical model for the strength evaluation of the selected connections based on the different possible modes of failure has been derived; 5) Easy and fast erected semi-prefabricated timber-concrete composite floor has been proposed; 6) The short-term ultimate and serviceability limit state behaviour of timber-concrete composite floor beams under collapse load has been investigated; 7) The long-term behaviour of chosen connections defined by their creep coefficient has been determined; 8) The long-term behaviour of timber-concrete composite floor beams under sustained load at serviceability limit state condition has been investigated; and 9) Design example and span tables for semi-prefabricated timber-concrete composite floors that satisfy both the ultimate and serviceability limit state in the short- and long-term using the gamma-method have been developed.

A novel concept of multiple deterministic analyses is proposed to design safer and more damage-tolerant structures, particularly when excited by dynamic including seismic loading in time domain. Since the presence of numerous sources of uncertainty cannot be avoided or overlooked, the underlying risk is estimated to compare design alternatives. To generate the implicit performance functions explicitly, the basic response surface method is significantly improved. Then, several surrogate models are proposed. The advanced factorial design and Kriging method are used as the major building blocks. Using these basic schemes, seven alternatives are proposed. Accuracies of these schemes are verified using basic Monte Carlo simulations. After verifying all seven alternatives, the capabilities of the three most desirable schemes are compared using a case study. They correctly identified and correlated damaged states of structural elements in terms of probability of failure using only few hundreds of deterministic analyses. The modified Kriging method appears to be the best technique considering both efficiency and accuracy. Estimating the probability of failure, the post-Northridge seismic design criteria are found to be appropriate. After verifying the proposed method, a Site-Specific seismic safety assessment method for nonlinear structural systems is proposed to generate a suite of ground excitation time histories. The information of risk is used to design a structure more damage-tolerant. The proposed procedure is verified and showcased by estimating risks associated with three buildings designed by professional experts in the Los Angeles area satisfying the post-Northridge design criteria for the overall lateral deflection and inter-story drift. The accuracy of the estimated risk is again verified using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. In all cases, the probabilities of collapse are found to be less than 10% when excited by the risk-targeted maximum considered earthquake ground motion satisfying the intent of the code. The spread in the reliability indexes for each building for both limit states cannot be overlooked, indicating the significance of the frequency contents. The inter story drift is found to be more critical than the overall lateral displacement. The reliability indexes for both limit states are similar only for few cases. The author believes that the proposed methodology is an alternative to the classical random vibration and simulation approaches. The proposed site-specific seismic safety assessment procedure can be used by practicing engineers for routine applications. The proposed reliability methodology is not problem-specific. It is capable of handling systems with different levels of complexity and scalability, and it is robust enough for multi-disciplinary routine applications. In order to show the multi-disciplinary application of the proposed methodology, the probability of failure of lead-free solders in Ball Grid Array 225 surface-mount packaging for a given loading cycle is estimated. The accuracy of the proposed methodology is verified with the help of Monte Carlo simulation. After the verification, probability of failure versus loading cycles profile is calculated. Such a comprehensive study of its lifetime behavior and the corresponding reliability analyses can be useful for sensitive applications.

Traditionally, flexible pavement design relies on past experience and semi-empirical methods developed through a combination of element testing and modelling. Element testing in this area especially, has centred on the performance of clean sands. This is in conflict with actual practice where a wide range of fines and soil gradations could be present in a real-world project. This research investigates the characteristics of natural sands and examines the influence of these marginal materials in pavement design using element testing and controlled modelling of an actual flexible pavement system. The element tests concentrated on separate, natural soils sourced from Kazakhstan which had similar mineralogy, but varying amounts of fines. One of the key parameters examined was equivalent void ratio and its efficiency to account for the behaviour change in granular materials which comes from increased fines content. Starting with monotonic triaxial results combined with strength-dilatancy methods it was shown that prediction of shear strength in a silty-sand could be improved by 13%. Incorporating this finding into repeat load triaxial tests, the transitions between elastic, plastic, and ratcheting failure behaviours (i.e. shakedown boundaries), commonly used to help predict the lifespan of a flexible pavement, were examined. It was seen that cycling a silty-sand, the stress path and yield surface could change depending on the fines content. The Cambridge Airfield Pavement Tester (APT) was designed and constructed to measure permanent subgrade deformation resulting from various surface loads. The number of input variables required to design flexible pavements is one of the most frequently stated problems in the field; variation of aircraft types, environmental conditions, and materials makes mechanistic design of the soil foundation problematic. Accordingly physical pavement modelling continues to be the only experimental method that allows input parameters and material characteristics to be examined simultaneously. Digital image correlation (DIC) was incorporated into the system; the first time this technology has been used in flexible pavement research. A Null Pressure System was also installed to measure soil stress distributions. It was observed that the critical failure mechanisms for thin and thick surficial layers are different, resulting in changes in the rates of surface rutting. Finally, by combining element and APT results, knowledge of the causal relationships between subsurface deformation and failure mechanisms in flexible pavement were advanced. In-situ soils, which are frequently incorporated into subgrade designs, were found to have a substantial role in the serviceability of the pavement. Correlations between element tests and APT results highlighted the complicated loading and boundary conditions present in a pavement.

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The partial safety factor method is the main safety concept applied across structural design standards. This method is also presented in EN-1990 as the basis of structural design in Europe. In the review of this code for the new generation of Eurocodes, analysis of the partial safety factor method seems necessary. The origin of the partial safety factor method is related to probabilistic methods and reliability analysis. Therefore, the latter is selected as tools for the evaluation of the partial safety factor method in the EN-1990 framework. Consequently this research begins with an explanation of the background of partial safety factor methods and reliability analysis. Different aspects of this safety concept are investigated through this study. The analysis strategy is based on the study of partial safety factor method according to the different part of EN-1990. The research is divided into two main parts, according to the basic components of limit state functions: load and resistance. Aspects related to loading are investigated first. The available load combinations and the recommended partial factors are investigated based on their reliability levels. The load combinations are compared with each other according to the sustainability of their design. An increased factor for the application of snow load is proposed to overcome safety problems related to snow load on structures. Consequently, a proposal for simplifying these load combinations is offered and verified according to reliability analysis. In the final step, regarding the load’s partial factors, a method of calibration is proposed, based on Monte Carlo reliability analysis. Afterwards, the aspects related to the resistance are analyzed. Resistances depend mostly on experimental data. Therefore, the relationship between the partial safety factor of resistance and test numbers is investigated. A probabilistic analysis based on Annex D of EN-1990 is then applied to calculate the model uncertainty partial factor and the resistance partial factor for a database from masonry shear walls. A comparison is made to show the influence of different way of partial safety factor utilization in a limit state function.:1 Introduction 2 Partial safety factor method and EN-1990 3 Reliability analysis 4 Load combinations and partial safety factors 5 Resistance partial safety factor 6 Summary and outlook