No description available.

The results of a pilot series of tests, designed to investigate the influence of the presence of a composite floor slab on the performance of steel beam-to-column connections, are reported. Direct comparisons against equivalent bare steel tests show improvements in moment capacity (up to 15 times), with reinforcement anchorage being the main controlling factor. Thus joints to internal columns where the deck runs parallel to the beams and relatively small numbers of bars supplement the basic mesh reinforcement may be expected to give the best performance.

The mechanisms that control the lateral response of stiff column-supported shallow foundations, resulting from the application of horizontal load on shallow foundations supported by stiff columns, are uncertain. Stiff columns constructed in soft clayey soil have been used to support retaining walls and in such cases, the lateral thrust applied behind these geotechnical structures is a source of horizontal loading. For seismic events, stiff columns constructed in soft clayey soil have been used to support shallow foundations subjected to horizontal load coming from the upper structure of buildings. Due to its practical applications, it has become important to understand the consequences of subjecting a shallow foundation supported by stiff columns to horizontal load by identifying the factors that control the lateral response of such systems. A series of centrifuge tests were carried out to examine the lateral response of stiff column-supported shallow foundations. The experimental trends suggested that the thickness of the coarse-granular mattress placed above the soil-column composite, called the Load Transfer Platform (LTP), controlled the lateral capacity and the overall lateral response of these systems. A numerical study using the finite element method confirmed the experimental trends. A parametric analysis was conducted with the purpose of investigating the influence of different geometry-based and material-based variables in the lateral response of these systems. The results of the parametric analysis further confirmed the importance of the thickness of the LTP in controlling the lateral response. The parametric results also emphasized the contribution of other variables to this lateral response, and these variables included the undrained shear strength of the soft clayey soil around the stiff columns, the stiff column diameter, and the spacing of the stiff columns after they are constructed in the soft clayey soil. / Doctor of Philosophy / Ground improvement is the process of improving the properties of weak soils. In practice, there are several ways to accomplish the ground improvement of weak soils. One way is to use stiff columns. Stiff columns are solid cylinders that are constructed in the weak soil in order to produce a stiff and strong soil-column composite capable of better supporting the square-shaped foundations of structures. Under horizontal load, there is uncertainty on the factors that control the lateral behavior of the stiff columns when used for the support of the square-shaped foundations of structures. An experimental and numerical approach was used to determine these factors and to understand their influence in the lateral behavior of such systems. The findings showed that the controlling factors of this lateral behavior included the thickness of a sand layer placed above the stiff columns, the diameter of the stiff columns, the spacing of the stiff columns after they are constructed in the weak soil, and the strength of the soil around the stiff columns. These findings will aid in improving the design of stiff columns used for the support of square-shaped foundations of structures subjected to horizontal load.

Protection of buried pipes is a serious issue that concerns countries around the world. Therefore, there is a need for new soil improvement techniques such as geosynthetic materials installation to protect these pipes from damage. This study used large-scale laboratory tests to study the behaviour of buried pipes. A total of 22 large-scale tests were performed to study the behaviour of buried flexible HDPE pipes with and without void presence under the protection of the geogrid reinforcing layers subjected to incrementally increasing cyclic loading. The presence of voids located at the spring-line of the flexible buried pipes, led to a considerable increase in the soil surface settlement, pressure recorded at the pipe crown, spring-line and invert, pipe deformation and strain recorded in the pipe wall. Increasing the pipe burial depth contributed to significant reductions in the soil surface settlement, pressure recorded at the pipe crown and invert, pipe deformation and strain recorded in the pipe wall. However, the void presence limited the contribution of increasing the pipe burial depth. The inclusion of a geogrid reinforcing layer contributed to a considerable reduction in the soil surface settlement, pressure recorded at the pipe crown, spring-line and invert, pipe deformation and strain recorded in the pipe wall. The use of a combination of geogrid reinforcing layers and increasing the pipe burial depth contributed in diminishing the ground void presence effect, where better pressure distribution inside the system was achieved. Consequently, more protection was provided to the buried pipe.

Formation planning and control for multi-agent robotic systems enables tasks to be completed more efficiently and robustly compared to using a single agent. Applications are found in fields such as agriculture, mining, autonomousvehicle platooning, surveillance, space exploration, etc. In this paper, a complete framework for formation path planning for holonomic ground robots in an obstacle-rich environment is proposed. The method utilizes the Fast Marching Square (FM2) path planning algorithm, and a formation keeping approach which falls within the Leader-Follower category. Contrary to most related works, the role of leader is dynamically assigned to avoid unnecessary rotation of the formation. Furthermore, the roles of the followers are also dynamically assigned to fit the current geometry of the formation. A flexible spring-damper system prevents inter-robot collisions and helps maintain the formation shape. An obstacle avoidance step at the end of the pipeline keeps the spring forces from driving robots into obstacles. The framework is tested on a formation consisting of three Unitree Go1 quadruped robots, both in the Gazebo simulation environment and in lab experiments. The results are successful and indicate that the method is feasible, although further work is needed to adjust the role assignment for larger formations, combine the framework with Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and provide a more robust handling of dynamic obstacles.

Ce travail présente et valide une théorie nonlocale nouvelle et généralisée, de la propagation acoustique dans les milieux poreux à structure rigide, saturés par un fluide viscothermique. Cette théorie linéaire permet de dépasser les limites de la théorie classique basée sur la théorie de l'homogénéisation. Elle prend en compte non seulement les phénomènes de dispersion temporelle, mais aussi ceux de dispersion spatiale. Dans le cadre de la nouvelle approche, une nouvelle procédure d'homogénéisation est proposée, qui permet de trouver les propriétés acoustiques à l'échelle macroscopique, en résolvant deux problèmes d'action-réponse indépendants, posés à l'échelle microscopique de Navier-Stokes-Fourier. Contrairement à la méthode classique d'homogénéisation, aucune contrainte de séparation d'échelle n'est introduite. En l'absence de structure solide, la procédure redonne l'équation de dispersion de Kirchhoff-Langevin, qui décrit la propagation des ondes longitudinales dans les fluides viscothermiques. La nouvelle théorie et procédure d'homogénéisation nonlocale sont validées dans trois cas, portant sur des microgéométries significativement différentes. Dans le cas simple d'un tube circulaire rempli par un fluide viscothermique, on montre que les nombres d'ondes et les impédances prédits par la théorie nonlocale, coïncident avec ceux de la solution exacte de Kirchhoff, connue depuis longtemps. Au contraire, les résultats issus de la théorie locale (celle de Zwikker et Kosten, découlant de la théorie classique d'homogénéisation) ne donnent que le mode le plus attenué, et encore, seulement avec le petit désaccord existant entre la solution simplifiée de Zwikker et Kosten et celle exacte de Kirchhoff. Dans le cas où le milieu poreux est constitué d'un réseau carré de cylindres rigides parallèles, plongés dans le fluide, la propagation étant regardée dans une direction transverse, la vitesse de phase du mode le plus atténué peut être calculée en fonction de la fréquence en suivant les approches locale et nonlocale, résolues au moyen de simulations numériques par la méthode des Eléments Finis. Elle peut être calculée d'autre part par une méthode complètement différente et quasi-exacte, de diffusion multiple prenant en compte les effets viscothermiques. Ce dernier résultat quasi-exact montre un accord remarquable avec celui obtenu par la théorie nonlocale, sans restriction de longueur d'onde. Avec celui de la théorie locale, l'accord ne se produit que tant que la longueur d'onde reste assez grande.

No description available.

La reconstruction 3D monoculaire déformable est le problème général d'estimation de forme 3D d'un objet déformable à partir d'images 2D. Plusieurs scénarios ont émergé : le Shape-from-Template (SfT) et le Non-Rigid Structure-from-Motion (NRSfM) sont deux approches qui ont été grandement étudiées pour leur applicabilité. La première utilise une seule image qui montre un objet se déformant et un patron (une forme 3D texturée de l'objet dans une pose de référence). La seconde n'utilise pas de patron, mais utilise plusieurs images et estime la forme 3D dans chaque image. Les deux approches s'appuient sur le mouvement de points de correspondances entre les images et sur des a priori de déformations, restreignant ainsi leur utilisation à des surfaces texturées qui se déforment de manière lisse. Cette thèse fait avancer l'état de l'art du SfT et du NRSfM dans deux directions. La première est l'étude du SfT dans le cas de patrons 1D (c’est-à-dire des courbes comme des cordes et des câbles). La seconde direction est le développement d'algorithmes de SfT et de NRSfM qui exploitent plusieurs indices visuels et qui résolvent des cas réels et complexes non-résolus précédemment. Nous considérons des déformations isométriques et reconstruisons la partie extérieure de l'objet. Les contributions techniques et scientifiques de cette thèse sont divisées en quatre parties.La première partie de cette thèse étudie le SfT curvilinéaire, qui est le cas du patron curvilinéaire plongé dans un espace 2D ou 3D. Nous proposons une analyse théorique approfondie et des solutions pratiques pour le SfT curvilinéaire. Malgré son apparente simplicité, le SfT curvilinéaire s'est avéré être un problème complexe : il ne peut pas être résolu à l'aide de solutions locales non-holonomes d'une équation différentielle ordinaire et ne possède pas de solution unique, mais un nombre fini de solutions ambiguës. Une contribution technique majeure est un algorithme basé sur notre théorie, qui génère toutes les solutions ambiguës. La deuxième partie de cette thèse traite d'une limitation des méthodes de SfT : la reconstruction de plis. Cette limitation vient de la parcimonie de la contrainte de mouvement et de la régularisation. Nous proposons deux contributions qui s'appuient sur un cadre de minimisation d'énergie non-convexe. Tout d'abord, nous complétons la contrainte de mouvement avec une contrainte robuste de bord. Ensuite, nous modélisons implicitement les plis à l'aide d'une représentation dense de la surface basée maillage et d'une contrainte robuste de lissage qui désactive automatiquement le lissage de la courbure sans connaître a priori la position des plis.La troisième partie de cette thèse est dédiée à une autre limitation du SfT : la reconstruction de surfaces peu texturées. Cette limitation vient de la difficulté d'obtenir des correspondances (parcimonieuses ou denses) sur des surfaces peu texturées. Comme l'ombrage révèle les détails sur des surfaces peu texturées, nous proposons de combiner l'ombrage avec le SfT. Nous présentons deux contributions. La première est une initialisation en cascade qui estime séquentiellement la déformation de la surface, l'illumination de la scène, la réponse de la caméra et enfin les albédos de la surface à partir d'images monoculaires où la surface se déforme. La seconde est l'intégration de l'ombrage à notre précédent cadre de minimisation d'énergie afin de raffiner simultanément les paramètres photométriques et de déformation.La dernière partie de cette thèse relâche la connaissance du patron et aborde deux limitations du NRSfM : la reconstruction de surfaces peu texturées avec des plis. Une contribution majeure est l'extension du second cadre d'optimisation pour la reconstruction conjointe de la forme 3D de la surface sur toutes les images d'entrée et des albédos de la surface sans en connaître un patron. / Monocular deformable 3D reconstruction is the general problem of recovering the 3D shape of a deformable object from monocular 2D images. Several scenarios have emerged: the Shape-from-Template (SfT) and the Non-Rigid Structure-from-Motion (NRSfM) are two approaches intensively studied for their practicability. The former uses a single image depicting the deforming object and a template (a textured 3D shape of this object in a reference pose). The latter does not use a template, but uses several images and recovers the 3D shape in each image. Both approaches rely on the motion of correspondences between the images and deformation priors, which restrict their use to well-textured surfaces which deform smoothly. This thesis advances the state-of-the-art in SfT and NRSfM in two main directions. The first direction is to study SfT for the case of 1D templates (i.e. curved, thin structures such as ropes and cables). The second direction is to develop algorithms in SfT and NRSfM that exploit multiple visual cues and can solve complex, real-world cases which were previously unsolved. We focus on isometric deformations and reconstruct the outer part of the object. The technical and scientific contributions of this thesis are divided into four parts. The first part of this thesis studies the case of a curvilinear template embedded in 2D or 3D space, referred to Curve SfT. We propose a thorough theoretical analysis and practical solutions for Curve SfT. Despite its apparent simplicity, Curve SfT appears to be a complex problem: it cannot be solved locally using exact non-holonomic partial differential equation and is only solvable up to a finite number of ambiguous solutions. A major technical contribution is a computational solution based on our theory, which generates all the ambiguous solutions.The second part of this thesis deals with a limitation of SfT methods: reconstructing creases. This is due to the sparsity of the motion constraint and regularization. We propose two contributions which rely on a non-convex energy minimization framework. First, we complement the motion constraint with a robust boundary contour constraint. Second, we implicitly model creases with a dense mesh-based surface representation and an associated robust smoothing constraint, which deactivates curvature smoothing automatically where needed, without knowing a priori the crease location. The third part of this thesis is dedicated to another limitation of SfT: reconstructing poorly-textured surfaces. This is due to correspondences which cannot be obtained so easily on poorly-textured surfaces (either sparse or dense). As shading reveals details on poorly-textured surfaces, we propose to combine shading and SfT. We have two contributions. The first is a cascaded initialization which estimates sequentially the surface's deformation, the scene illumination, the camera response and then the surface albedos from deformed monocular images. The second is to integrate shading to our previous energy minimization framework for simultaneously refining deformation and photometric parameters.The last part of this thesis relaxes the knowledge of the template and addresses two limitations of NRSfM: reconstructing poorly-textured surfaces with creases. Our major contribution is an extension of the second framework to recover jointly the 3D shapes of all input images and the surface albedos without any template.

[pt] As ligações viga-pilar desempenham uma função fundamental para a determinação do comportamento real de estruturas de aço e mistas. Portanto torna-se necessária uma avaliação muito criteriosa das reais características geométricas e mecânicas destas ligações, substituindo as tradicionais considerações idealizadas, rígida e flexível, pela modelagem semi-rígida em aço ou mista. Com a intenção de dar continuidade do estudo sobre ligações semirígidas em aço e desenvolver um estudo sobre as ligações semi-rígidas mistas, inicialmente foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica destes assuntos apresentando os parâmetros a serem desenvolvidos nesta pesquisa. Foi implementado computacionalmente um sistema de análise e dimensionamento capaz de avaliar o comportamento estrutural destas ligações a partir da informação das propriedades geométricas de ligações viga-pilar executadas com placa de extremidade em aço e mistas, produzindo uma base de dados para um projeto estrutural mais seguro. Um projeto experimental foi desenvolvido para avaliar o caminho de transmissão de esforços, através de modelos experimentais de laboratório, na forma de ensaios pull-out modificados, adaptando-se este ensaio para regiões de momento negativo, onde a laje de concreto se encontra fissurada, obtendo um ensaio capaz de produzir resultados que contribuam com o desenvolvimento da pesquisa de ligações semi-rígidas em aço e mistas. / [en] The beam-column connections play a key role in determining the actual behavior of steel and composite structures. Therefore it is necessary a very careful assessment of the real geometrical and mechanical characteristics of these joints, replacing the traditional idealized considerations, rigid and flexible for modeling semi-rigid steel or composite. With the intention of continuing the study of semirigid connections in steel and develop a study on the semi-rigid composite connections, was initially performed a revision of startled presenting the parameters to be developed in this research. We have implemented a computational system analysis and design capable of evaluating the structural behavior of these joints from the information of the geometric properties of beamcolumn connection with end plate executed in steel and composited, producing a database for a structural design safer. An experimental project was designed to evaluate the path transmittance of efforts, through experimental models of laboratory tests in the form of modified pull-out, adapting this test for regions of negative moment, where the concrete slab is cracked, obtaining a test that can produce results that contribute for the development of research of semi-rigid connections in steel and composite.

On suppose que S=Sg,n est un surface connexe orientable de type topologique fini, de genre g≥3 et n≥0 épointements. Dans les chapitres 1 et 2 on décrit l'ensemble principal d'une surface et prouve que en utilisant expansions rigides itérés, on peut créer suites croissantes d'ensembles finis qui sa réunion est le complexe des courbes de la surface C(S). Dans le 3ème chapitre on introduit l'ensemble rigide X(S) de Aramayona et Leininger et l'utilise pour montrer que la suite des chapitres précédents est eventuellement une suite d'ensembles rigides. On utilise cela pour prouver que si Si=Sgi,ni pour i=1,2 sont surfaces telles que k(S1)≥k(S2) et g1≥3, toute application qui préserve les arêtes de C(S1) dans C(S2) est induite par un homéomorphisme. Ceci est utilisé pour montrer un résultat similaire pour les homomorphismes de sous-groupes de Mod*(S1) dans Mod*(S2). Dans le 4ème chapitre on utilise les résultats précédents pour prouver que l'unique façon d'obtenir une application qui préserve les arêtes et qui est alternante du graphe de Hatcher-Thurston de S1, HT(S1), dans soi de S2, HT(S2) est en utilisant un homéomorphisme de S1 et puis piquer la surface n fois pour obtenir S2. Ceci implique que toute application qui préserve les arêtes et qui est alternante de HT(S) dans soi même et aussi tous les automorphismes de HT(S), sont induits par homéomorphismes. Dans le 5ème chapitre on montre que toute application super-injective du graphe des courbes qui ne sépare pas et courbes extérieures de S1, NO(S1), dans soi de S2, NO(S2), est induite par un homéomorphisme. Finalement, dans les conclusions on discute la signifiance des résultats et les façons possibles d'étendre leur. / Suppose S = Sg,n is an orientable connected surface of finite topological type, with genus g ≥ 3 and n ≥ 0 punctures. In the first two chapters we describe the principal set of a surface, and prove that through iterated rigid expansions we can create an increasing sequence of finite sets whose union in the curve complex of the surface C(S). In the third chapter we introduced Aramayona and Leininger's finite rigid set X(S) and use it to prove that the increasing sequence of the previous two chapters becomes an increasing sequence of finite rigid sets after, at most, the fifth iterated rigid expansion. We use this to prove that given S1 = Sg1,n1 and S2 = Sg2,n2 surfaces such that k(S1) ≥ k(S2) and g1 ≥ 3, any edge-preserving map from C(S1) to C(S2) is induced by a homeomorphism from S1 to S2. This is later used to prove a similar statement using homomorphisms from certain subgroups of Mod*(S1) to Mod*(S2). In the fourth chapter we use the previous results to prove that the only way to obtain an edge-preserving and alternating map from the Hatcher-Thurston graph of S1 = Sg,0, HT(S1), to the Hatcher-Thurston graph of S2 = Sg,n, HT(S2), is using a homeomorphism of S1 and then make n punctures to the surface to obtain S2. As a consequence, any edge-preserving and alternating self-map of HT(S) as well as any automorphism is induced by a homeomorphism. In the fifth chapter we prove that any superinjective map from the nonseparating and outer curve graph of S1, NO(S1), to that of S2, NO(S2), is induced by a homeomorphism assuming the same conditions as in the previous chapters. Finally, in the conclusions we discuss the meaning of these results and possible ways to expand them.