The study presented in this thesis is an attempt towards a better understanding of the coupled lateral-torsional response of buildings subject to seismic ground motion. Some of the problems identified in the past studies are thoroughly investigated and some new areas of study are explored. Some of these problems encountered in the literature include (a) the existence of several definitions of uncoupled torsional to lateral frequency ratio (b) an arbitrary selection of structural parameters in a parametric analysis resulting in a physically inadmissible structure and (c) the effect of nonlinearity. Because of the simplified models with either eccentricity in one direction or the ground motion applied in only one direction, the effects of a bi-directional loading have not been investigated in detail. These effects may include the relative differences in the amplitude or phase components of the individual accelerograms and their orientation with respect to the building. The phase properties of accelerograms are of particular interest and these have not received much attention in the past. Using analytical methods such as Chasle's[16] and Gerschgorin's[39] theorems, the equation of motion of a bi-eccentric system is derived and all of the existing problems regarding the definition of structural parameters and their bounds are studied in depth. To facilitate nonlinear parametric study, a paraboloid non-linear elastic stiffness model is proposed. Fourier spectral methods are used to study the frequency domain characteristics of the accelerogram pair. The difference in phase and amplitude of the component frequencies in each direction are studied for their effects on the response. For phase difference, cross-correlation function is used as a comparative statistical indicator. USA earthquake records obtained from US National Geophysical Data Centre are grouped into four soil types and the analysis is performed for each group in order to explore the soil-dependency of the aforementioned effects on the response. Computer programs are written in FORTRAN for both parametric and numerical model analyses. The latter can handle any number and orientation of columns with the assumed nonlinear stiffness properties. Newmark's and Runge-Kutta methods of numerical integration with adaptive step size control have been used to calculate parametric and the hysteretic responses of the system. The response to harmonic ground acceleration is used as a preliminary investigation into the response to actual accelerogram frequency components. The study has developed relationships for different definitions of the uncoupled torsional to lateral frequency ratio. Detailed derivation of the Equation of Motion has clarified the confusion that produced different definitions in the past studies. Graphical descriptions of the admissibility bounds on system parameters are produced. The variation in the response quantities is studied for a range of amplitude and phase contents of the applied ground acceleration. The difference in phase and amplitude in x and y ground accelerations have been found to affect the response quite significantly. More generally, the relationship of these differences to the torsional mode amplification has been observed. The effects of structural frequency and eccentricity parameters are also studied. Graphs showing the relationship between, the angle of incidence of the accelerogram with respect to the principal axis of the building, and the phase difference in the accelerogram pair, have been produced. The proposed analysis involving the bi-directional ground acceleration on a bi-eccentric system is an improvement on the current methods employed in design practice. Further work is, however, required before simplified design recommendations can be made and some proposals for future research are given at the end of this thesis.

Many minimum distance estimators have the potential to provide parameter estimates which are both robust and efficient and yet, despite these highly desirable theoretical properties, they are rarely used in practice. This is because the performance of these estimators is rarely guaranteed per se but obtained by placing a suitable value on some tuning parameter. Hence there is a risk involved in implementing these methods because if the value chosen for the tuning parameter is inappropriate for the data to which the method is applied, the resulting estimators may not have the desired theoretical properties and could even perform less well than one of the simpler, more widely used alternatives. There are currently no data-based methods available for deciding what value one should place on these tuning parameters hence the primary aim of this research is to develop an objective way of selecting values for the tuning parameters in minimum distance estimators so that the full potential of these estimators might be realised. This new method was initially developed to optimise the performance of the density power divergence estimator, which was proposed by Basu, Harris, Hjort and Jones [3]. The results were very promising so the method was then applied to two other minimum distance estimators and the results compared.

Folding empowers the user to change the form and function of a sheet of paper through a sequence of manipulations. Unfolding the once folded artefact produces a diagram that describes its own making that can be replicated at different scales using a new material. Architecturally, folding can be employed a morphogenetic solution to design a system that can be fabricated from a sheet material, that like paper, can be folded into a inhabitable structure. The ease and cost efficiency of fabrication based on folding can be used to design a system that executed using low cost materials can be used as a shelter that accommodates programmatic and aesthetic evolution. Thus, the system lends itself to being a transitional shelter for communities that have been displaced due to a natural disaster or other form of crisis. Technological advances in design and structural analysis can give the designer the power to define the complex process folding parametrically allowing the input a real-time feedback based design based on an a folding inspired algorithm.

This thesis is mainly concerned with the estimation of parameters in autoregressive models with censored data. For convenience, attention is restricted to the first-order stationary autoregressive (AR(1)) model in which the response random variables are subject to right-censoring. In their present form, currently available methods of estimation in regression analysis with censored autocorrelated data, which includes the MLE, are applicable only if the errors of the AR component of the model are Gaussian. Use of these methods in AR processes with non-Gaussian errors requires, essentially, rederivations of the estimators. Hence, in this thesis, we propose new estimators which arerobust in the sense that they can be applied with minor or no modifications to AR models with non-Gaussian. We propose three estimators, two of which the form of the distribution of the errors needs to be specified. The third estimator is a distribution-free estimator. As the reference to this estimator suggests, it is free from distributional assumptions in the sense that the error distribution is calculated from the observed data. Hence, it can be used in a wide variety of applications.In the first part of the thesis, we present a summary of the various currently available estimators for the linear regression model with censored independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) data. In our review of these estimators, we note that the linear regression model with censored i.i.d. data has been studied quite extensively. Yet, use of autoregressive models with censored data has received very little attention. Hence, the remainder of the thesis focuses on the estimation of parameters for censored autocorrelated data. First, as part of the study, we review currently available estimators in regression with censored autocorrelated data. Then we present descriptions of the new estimators for censored ++ / autocorrelated data. With the view that extensions to the AR(p), model, p > 1, and to left-censored data can be easily achieved, all the estimators, both currently available and new, are discussed in the context of the AR(1) model. Next, we establish some asymptotic results for the estimators in which specification of the form of the error distribution is necessary. This is followed by a simulation study based on Monte Carlo experiments in which we evaluate and compare the performances of the new and currently available estimators among themselves and with the least-squares estimator for the uncensored case. The performances of the asymptotic variance estimators of the parameter estimators are also evaluated.In summary, we establish that for each of the two new estimators for which the distribution of the errors is assumed known, under suitable conditions on the moments of the error distribution function, if the estimator is consistent, then it is also asymptotically normally distributed. For one of these estimators, if the errors are Gaussian and alternate observations are censored, then the estimator is consistent. Hence, for this special case, the estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal. The simulation results suggest that this estimator is comparable with the distribution-free estimator and a currently available pseudolikelihood (PL) estimator. All three estimators perform worse than the least squares estimator for the uncensored case. The MLE and another currently available PL estimator perform comparably not only with the least squares estimator for the uncensored case but also with estimators from the abovementioned group of three estimators, which includes the distribution-free estimator. The other new estimator for which the form of the error distribution is assumed known compares favourably with the least- squares estimator for the uncensored case ++ / and better than the rest of the estimators when the true value of the autoregression parameter is 0.2. When the true value of the parameter is 0.5, this estimator performs comparably with the rest of the estimators and worse when the true value of the parameter is O.S. The simulation results of the asymptotic variance estimators suggest that for each estimator and for a fixed value of the true autoregression parameter, if the error distribution is fixed and the censoring rate is constant, the asymptotic formulas lead to values which are asymptotically insensitive to the censoring pattern. Also, the estimated asymptotic variances decrease as the sample size increases and their behaviour, with respect to changes in the true value of autoregression parameter, is consistent with the behaviour of the asymptotic variance of the least-squares estimator for the uncensored case.Some suggestions for possible extensions conclude the thesis.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on November 29, 2007 Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005. Directed by David Trivett. / Trivett, David, Committee Chair ; Berthelot, Yves, Committee Member ; Rogers, Peter, Committee Member. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, October 2007.

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Ginsberg, Jerry, Committee Member ; Trivett, David, Committee Chair ; Rogers, Peter, Committee Co-Chair.

This thesis describes the development and applications of single-frequency, continuously tunable, continuous-wave (cw), optical parametric oscillators (OPOs). Two doubly-resonant OPOs (DROs) are presented, one providing tunable light around 1?m, the other specifically designed as a spectroscopic source for methane near 1649nm. Once stabilised, the frequency-selective nature of the DRO ensures operation on a single mode-pair without the need for additional intracavity frequency-selective components. Both DROs are smoothly tunable by smoothly tuning the pump laser. The 1mum DRO is based on a bulk KTP crystal cut for near-degenerate, type-II, critical phase-matching (theta= 90°, ϕ = 37°). Angle tuning the crystal provides coarse tuning of the output frequencies over a range of ~50nm. Small perturbations to the OPO cavity is sufficient to cause a systematic mode-hop and provides a method of tuning across the phase-matching bandwidth (~0.5THz). This DRO is demonstrated as a spectroscopic source by recording the absorption spectrum of cesium molecules near 1050nm. The DRO as a potentially compact source of tunable light is demonstrated by using a frequency-doubled microchip laser as the pump source. The output consists of a single pair of signal and idler modes even when using a multilongitudinal-mode pump laser. Smooth tuning of the output frequencies is achieved by temperature tuning the pump laser. The 1.65mum DRO is based on periodically poled KTiOPO4 (PPKTP). The suitability of PPKTP for cw OPOs was first assessed by a difference frequency generation experiment from which the effective d33 coefficient was estimated to be ~5mum/V. The idler wavelength is coarsely tuned at a rate of 0.73nm/°C by varying the crystal temperature. A combination of computer modelling and experimental observation is used to study the dynamic behaviour of a DRO. The numerical model calculates the time required for the OPO to build-up from the parametric fluorescence and is in excellent agreement with experimental observations.

In this thesis the use of high spatial- and spectral-quality diode-laser pump sources for solid-state lasers and continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators (cw OPOs) is investigated. While diode lasers are potentially attractive, compact, low-cost pump sources for solid-state lasers and cw OPOs, the difficulty in obtaining moderate output powers, while retaining high spatial beam quality and spectral purity, often limits the potential of such lasers in these applications. Techniques for obtaining high-power, high spatial- and spectral-quality output from diode lasers are reviewed and the design, development and characterisation of an injection-locked broad-area diode-laser system is described. This system produced output powers of &ap;400mW in a near-diffraction-limited beam (M2&ap;w1.3) and with a spectral width of < 30MHz. The injection-locked system was used as the pump source for a quasi-three-level 946-nm Nd:YAG laser. End-pumped solid-state lasers of this type can offer potentially efficient, low-threshold operation if a near-diffraction limited pump source is used allowing optimal overlap with the laser mode. A model, including pump beam quality effects, is developed for such lasers and used to highlight the advantages of a near- diffraction-limited pump source, especially in the case of the 946-nm Nd:YAG transition which suffers from low gain and significant reabsorption losses. A 946-nm Nd: YAG laser pumped by the injection-locked system is described, yielding cw output powers up to 120mW with a 46% slope efficiency, performance comparable to Ti:sapphire- or dye-laser pumping, and 27ns Q-switched pulses having peak powers of 180W. 50W, 20ns pulses at 473nm were obtained by second-harmonic generation in KNbOs. The performance and relative merits of various cw OPO configurations, in the context of diode-laser pumping, are discussed and the development of a doubly- resonant OPO (DRO) based on periodically-poled lithium niobate is described. When pumped by the injection-locked system, this device showed a threshold of 25mW and .tuning of the outputs over 1.15- 1.25 mum at the signal and 2.3-2.65 mum at the idler was obtained by variation of crystal temperature, PPLN grating period and pump wavelength. When pumping with a 100mW single-mode diode laser, a 15mW OPO threshold was observed while retaining a similar tuning range. This represented the first demonstration of a cw DRO directly pumped by a single-mode diode laser. The achievement of such spectral coverage while pumping with this source points to the potential of such systems as compact, tunable sources in the near-to mid-infrared.