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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Civil Engineering / Mustaque A. Hossain / Remaining service life (RSL) has been defined as the anticipated number of years that a pavement will be functionally and structurally acceptable with only routine maintenance. The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) has a comprehensive pavement management system, network optimization system (NOS), which uses the RSL concept. In support of NOS, annual condition surveys are conducted on the state highway system. Currently KDOT uses an empirical equation to compute RSL of flexible pavements based on surface condition and deflection from the last sensor of a falling-weight deflectometer (FWD). Due to limited resources and large size, annual network-level structural data collection at the same rate as the project level is impractical. A rolling-wheel deflectometer (RWD), which measures surface deflections at highway speed, is an alternate and fast method of pavement-deflection testing for network-level data collection. Thus, a model that can calculate RSL in terms of FWD first sensor/center deflection (the only deflection measured by RWD) is desired for NOS. In this study, RWD deflection data was collected under an 18-kip axle load at highway speed on non-Interstate highways in northeast Kansas in July 2006. FWD deflection data, collected with a Dynatest 8000 FWD on the KDOT network from 1998 to 2006, were reduced to mile-long data to match the condition survey data collected annually for NOS. Normalized and temperature-corrected FWD and RWD center deflections and corresponding effective structural numbers (SNeff) were compared. A nonlinear regression procedure in Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) and Solver in Microsoft Excel were used to develop the models in this study. Results showed that FWD and RWD center deflections and corresponding SNeff are statistically similar. Temperature-correction factors have significant influence on these variables. FWD data analysis on the study sections showed that average structural condition of pavements of the KDOT non-Interstate network did not change significantly over the last four years. Thus, network-level deflection data can be collected at four-year intervals when there is no major structural improvement. Results also showed that sigmoimal relationship exists between RSL and center deflection. Sigmoidal RSL models have very good fits and can be used to predict RSL based on center deflection from FWD or RWD. Sigmoidal equivalent fatigue crack-models have also shown good fits, but with some scatter that can be attributed to the nature and quality of the data used to develop these models. Predicted and observed equivalent transverse-crack values do not match very well, though the difference in magnitude is insignificant for all practical purposes.

The problem of vibration induced structural faults has been a real one in engineering over the years. If left unchecked it has led to the unexpected failures of so many structures. Needless to say, this has caused both economic and human life losses. Therefore for over forty years, structural damage identification has been one of the important research areas for engineers. There has been a thrust to develop global structural damage identification techniques to complement and/or supplement the long-practised local experimental techniques. In that respect, studies have shown that vibration-based techniques prove to be more potent. Most of the existing vibration-based techniques monitor changes in modal properties like natural frequencies, damping factors and mode shapes of the structural system to infer the presence of structural damage. Literature also reports other techniques which monitor changes in other vibration quantities like the frequency response functions, transmissibility functions and time-domain responses. However, none of these techniques provide a complete identification of structural damage. This study presents a damage detection technique based on operational response monitoring, which can identify all the four levels of structural damage and be implemented as a continuous structural health monitoring technique. The technique is based on monitoring changes in internal data variability measured by a test statistic <font face="symbol">c</font>2Ovalue. Structural normality is assumed when the <font face="symbol">c</font>2Om value calculated from a fresh set of measured data is within the limits prescribed by a threshold <font face="symbol">c</font>2OTH value . On the other hand, abnormality is assumed when this threshold value has been exceeded. The quantity of damage is determined by matching the <font face="symbol">c</font>2Om value with the <font face="symbol">c</font>2Op values predicted using a benchmark finite element model. The use of <font face="symbol">c</font>2O values is noted to provide better sensitivity to structural damage than the natural frequency shift technique. The analysis carried out on a numerical study showed that the sensitivity of the proposed technique ranged from three to thousand times as much as the sensitivity of the natural frequencies. The results from a laboratory structure showed that accurate estimates of damage quantity and remaining service life could be achieved for crack lengths of less than 0.55 the structural thickness. This was due to the fact that linear elastic fracture mechanics theory was applicable up to this value. Therefore, the study achieved its main objective of identifying all four levels of structural damage using operational response changes. / Dissertation (MSc (Mechanics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

Ce travail de recherche propose le développement et la validation d’une méthode de prédiction in-situ et temps réel de la durée de vie utile restante des engrenages de boîtes de vitesses automobiles de série. Cette méthode est destinée à être implantée dans des unités de commande électronique standards. En s’attachant tout particulièrement à proposer une solution simple, fiable, rentable et facilement transposable pour tout type de configuration, le système se base sur la combinaison d’une méthode d’acquisition des couples agissants sur la boîte de vitesses et d’une estimation continue des niveaux d’endommagement des engrenages. Un état de l’art et les fondamentaux théoriques d’une estimation de l’endommagement par une approche de contrainte nominale et une accumulation linéaire des endommagements partiels sont abordés dans un premier temps. La structure globale de l’algorithme de calcul de l’endommagement est ensuite étudiée et l’approche méthodologique adoptée pour sa mise au point expliquée. Cette dernière repose en grande partie sur un modèle complet de véhicule valide par des essais sur route et des mesures, où une attention toute particulière est portée à la représentation des changements de rapport et de la dynamique de la boîte de vitesses. Deux types de boite de vitesses sont alors considérées, une boite manuelle standard et une boite à double embrayage, et une spécification technique pour la configuration de l’algorithme ainsi qu’une analyse des besoins pour la méthode d’acquisition des couples sont formulées. En se basant sur ces études, un observateur d’état capable de reconstruire le couple agissant sur les disques d’embrayage ainsi que le couple en sortie de boite est développé et valide. Finalement, une synthèse de la méthode complète et de l’algorithme final est adressée, et les avantages économiques et écologiques liés à l’introduction de cette méthode pour des mesures de conception légère des boîtes de vitesses automobiles sont abordés et évalués. / This research work proposes the development and the validation of an online and real-time method to predict the remaining service life of the gearwheels of automotive transmissions, with the aim of implementing it on standard control units of series-production vehicles. By focusing on the proposition of a simple, reliable and easy-to-implement solution, the system relies on the combination of an acquisition method of the torques acting in the transmission and a continuous estimation of the damage levels of the gearwheels. Firstly, a state of the art and the theoretical basics are presented concerning a damage estimation based on a nominal stress concept and a linear damage accumulation. The global structure of the damage estimation algorithm is then analyzed and the methodological approach adopted for its development is explained. This is based in principal on a drivetrain model, validated with tests and measurements, where a particular attention is paid to the representation of the gear shifts and the transmission dynamics. Two types of transmissions are considered, namely a standard manual transmission and a dual clutch transmission mounted in series-production cars. Respectively a requirement analysis for the configuration of the algorithm as well as a requirement specification for the torque acquisition method are performed. On this basis, a state observer is developed and validated, which is able to reconstruct the clutch torque and the transmission output torque. Finally, a synthesis of the complete method and the final version of the algorithm are addressed, and the economic and ecological advantages of the introduction of the method in the context of lightweight design measures are discussed and evaluated. / Kurzfassung Diese Dissertation beschreibt die Entwicklung einer Online- und Echtzeit-Methode zur Vorhersage der restlichen Lebensdauer von den Zahnradern eines Kraftfahrzeuggetriebes. Diese Methode ist fur eine Implementierung auf Standard-Steuergeraten vorgesehen. Durch die Fokussierung auf eine einfache, zuverlassige und leicht zu implementierende Losung beruht die Methode auf der Kombination aus einer Drehmomenterfassungsmethode und einer kontinuierlichen Vorhersage des Schadigungsniveaus der Zahnrader. Zuerst werden der Stand der Technik und die theoretischen Grundlagen von Schadigungsberechnungen basierend auf dem Nennspannungskonzept und einer linearen Schadensakkumulation dargestellt. Danach wird die globale Struktur des Schadigungsberechnungsalgorithmus gezeigt und die fur die Entwicklung ausgewahlte methodische Vorgehensweise erlautert. Diese bezieht sich grundsatzlich auf ein durch Testfahrten und Messungen verifiziertes Antriebsstrangmodell, welches besonders die Schaltungen und die Dynamik des Getriebes berucksichtigt. Ein Serien-Handschaltgetriebe und ein Serien-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe werden betrachtet. Fur diese zwei Getriebetypen werden eine Anforderungsanalyse zur Konfiguration des Algorithmus sowie eine Anforderungsspezifikation fur die Drehmomenterfassungsmethode durchgefuhrt. Auf Basis dieser Untersuchungen wird dann ein Zustandsbeobachter zur Rekonstruktion des Kupplungs- und Getriebeausgangsdrehmoments entwickelt und validiert. Infolgedessen werden eine Synthese der kompletten Methode und die Endversion des Algorithmus vorgestellt. Abschliesend werden die Wirtschaftlichkeit sowie die okologischen Vorteile in Bezug auf die Einfuhrung der Lebensdauermonitoringmethode im Rahmen von Leichtbaumasnahmen diskutiert und bewertet.