Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2006. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-177).

Thesis (DTech (Mechnical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / Among the issues that are taken into consideration for many years by Engineers and Technologists is the integrity of the servicing elements in structures and mechanisms. It is a documented phenomenon that after a certain period of time, in service, engineering components tend to change their original state, and begin to develop faults and defects. This includes the original shape distortion due to effects such as bending, twisting, and cracks. The above-sited effects may be caused by the sudden or accumulative effect of overloading, thermal shocks, corrosion etc, which eventually lead to malfunction of these engineering components. The occurrence of the cracks may be as a result of stress variation in excess of different or similar materials; thermal shocks, vibration, etc. A system of structural health monitoring using optical fiber sensors to track down a crack occurrence and its propagation is considered to be a promising method in warning of catastrophic events. Taking advantage of optical fibers' properties and behavior, such as easy interaction with other materials, small size, low weight, corrosion resistance, geometrical flexibility and an inherent immunity to electromagnetic interference, there is potential in adopting the Fiber Optic Sensors (FOS) for structural health monitoring systems. Structural integrity does not confine itself to crack detection only. For example there are many instances where unwanted or excessive displacement may occur. Optical fibers play an important role in proximity sensing as evidenced in the literature [49] to [54] and available commercial systems. However it is felt that FOS displacement sensors may suffer in measurement accuracy due to in situ conditions.

In traditional aircraft wing structural design, the emphasis has been on pursuing the minimum weight or improved performance. The manufacturing complexity or cost assessments are rarely considered because it is usually assumed that the minimum weight design is also the minimum cost design. However, experience from industry has shown that this is not necessarily the case. It has been realised that in the cases where no manufacturing constraints are imposed, the extra machining cost can erode the advantages of the reduced weight. As manufacturing cost includes material cost and machining cost, whilst reducing weight can reduce the material cost, if the manufacturing complexity increases greatly as a result the overall cost may not go down. Indeed, if the manufacturing complexity is not checked, the machining cost could increase by more than the amount by which the material cost reduces. To enable the structural manufacturing complexity to be controlled, manufacturing constraints are established in this thesis and integrated into the optimisation of the aircraft wing structural design. As far as the manufacturing complexity is concerned, attention has been paid to both 3-axis and 5-axis machining. The final designs of optimisations with manufacturing constraints prove the efficiency of these constraints in guiding the design in the manufacturing-feasible direction.

No description available.

<p>When we compare the results of the analyses from ISDS and FAP, we fmd that the results compare very well, with almost negligible percentage difference.</p> <p> The results from the reinforced concrete design method and the design using ISDS also compare very well. But, ISDS does not specify a few details such as:</p> <p>1. How much positive moment steel in a beam or a slab must be extended into the supports and up to what distance? 2. Anchorage requirements (in the form of hooks) for negative moment reinforcement in a beam, slab or a shear wall. It simply mentions if anchorage is required or not. 3. What amount of minimum shear reinforcement is required for various structural elements such as beams, columns, and slabs etc? 4. Size and spacing of ties in a column. S. Cover for main and secondary (ties) reinforcing bars in various structural elements. 6. Class of splice when required.</p> / Master of Science

Cement-treated materials have been used successfully in road pavements since the thirties. In the past the research developments were mainly directed towards, and the emphasis during design was mainly placed on material properties, with very little attention being paid to thickness design. High-speed electronic computers and the appropriate programs became available during the sixties, and since then more effort has been devoted to the requirements for a successful structural layout and the behaviour of a pavement structure. This thesis, which is complementary to these studies, discusses the structural design of pavements having cementtreated layers. Some of the design requirements have been known for some time, three more have been added and finally a design procedure is proposed and verified. Chapter 1 portrays the development of structural pavement design theory. It indicates how design procedures gradually became more extensive but also more complex. A pavement design procedure which is based on layered elastic theory fits into this development pattern and it has the potential to comply with future requirements of structural design procedures. The requirements for a structurally well-designed cement-treated layer are summarized in Chapter 2. Some of these were obtained from a literature survey and they include the requirements that a cement-treated layer must be thick; it must be built on a proper foundation while bearing in mind the principles of a balanced design; and it must be designed to withstand the heavy vehicles expected to travel on it. In the thesis attention is paid to some of the other requirements, for example non-trafficassociated and traffic-associated cracking, fatigue behaviour, thermal stresses and the variability in the properties of field- and laboratoryprepared materials. Some other requirements which are mentioned but which will need further investigation, are the material characterization, design criteria and the general variability of construction materials. Cracking in cement-treated materials is discussed in a somewhat original approach in Chapter 3 and it is pointed out that a clear distinction is necessary between initial, that 1s non-traffic-associated, and traffic-associated cracking. The occurrence of initial cracking must be accepted as a fact and very little can be done to avoid it or prevent it from occurring! Traffic-associated cracking in cement-treated layers can be prevented by an appropriate structural analysis and design. This involves doing the analysis for an uncracked pavement and thereafter making some increase in the maximum stress to accommodate the stress increase caused by the initial, non-traffic-associated, crack. Prismatic solid finite elements are used to calculate the extent of the increase in the tensile stress next to the initial crack (Chapter 4). The various ways of modelling the pavement, and the accuracy of each of these methods, are discussed and the use of the L-model is suggested and justified. The vertical surface deflection and the increase in horizontal tensile and vertical compressive stresses next to the crack in eight different typical structural layouts are calculated and the percentages are reported. The percentage increase in tensile stress seems to be dependent on the width of the crack and the thickness of the cement-treated material, but it does not appear to exceed 40 per cent. It is therefore suggested that the stress calculated in an uncracked pavement should be increased accordingly and this increased value should be used as the design tensile stress. Thermal stresses in cement-treated layers have always been believed to be very important. A finite difference computer program is used to prove this for uncracked cement-treated layers in Chapter 5. It is also shown that once the layer has cracked, and all properly constructed cement-treated layers do crack, movement can take place at the crack which will prevent the development of excessive thermal stresses. The use of a thermal insulating layer is very beneficial and it seems that the thickness of the layer affects the insulating ability much more than the type of material used. It is therefore recommended that for major roads a 150 mm crusherrun layer should be used as a thermal insulator on top of the cement-treated layer. Chapter 6 discusses the difference in properties of materials prepared in the field and in the laboratory. It is important that the same quality of material should be prepared in both cases or alternatively, that the designer should know the extent of this difference to enable him to take account of it. Samples recovered from the field indicate little variation in quality during a day's work and the section may be accepted as homogeneous with regard to the evaluated properties. The differences between work performed on different days are extremely significant, even if the sections were constructed with the same materials, by the same construction team and according to the same specifications. Thus sections constructed on different days may not be regarded as being of the same quality and as having the same properties. The variation in properties within a layer is significant and the upper half of the layer seems to have higher values than the lower half. The difference between field- and laboratory-prepared samples is significant, and the field samples generally tend to have lower values than the laboratory-prepared samples; not enough information is available to really indicate how much lower, but 30 per cent is recommended The Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS) was used to correlate the predicted and actual behaviour of pavements with cement-treated layers, and ten HVS tests were performed (Chapter 7). The excellent correlations between the predicted and actual elastic moduli and predicted and actual amount of traffic-associated cracking are described for seven of these tests. The chapter also shows the progress that was made over 5 years in interpreting the results from these tests. A pavement design procedure which is based on layered elastic theory, and the design requirements developed in this thesis, are outlined in Chapter 8. The definition of failure which is adopted and the design flow diagram with all its subdivisions, are explained. The design procedure incorporates the full spectrum of traffic wheel loading, fundamental material properties and failure criteria. Layered elastic theory is applied to calculate the stresses and strains at the various critical positions and these are compared with allowable values. Some variations in the outline, for example making allowance for mixed traffic and the use of standard designs, are discussed and explained. Finally the proposed procedure is verified by a description of the excellent agreement between the predicted and actual response and behaviour of several pavements. Five worked examples are also included. The thesis also contains four appendices. The first of these describes a theoretical study of pumping in pavements using the prismatic solids finite element computer program. The second outlines the use of the prismatic solids finite element computer program. In the remaining two the thermal properties required in Chapter 5 are calculated. AFRIKAANS : Sementgestabiliseerde materiale word reeds sedert die dertigerjare met sukses in paaie gebruik. In die verlede het die klem tydens navorsing, ontwikkeling en ontwerp op materiaaleienskappe geval en baie min aandag is gegee aan die ontwikkeling van 'n metode om die verciste dikte van die lae te bepaal. Sedert die hoëspoed- elektroniese rekenaars en die nodige rekenaarprogranune in die sestigerjare beskikbaar geword het, is meer aandag aan die vereistes van 'n geslaagde strukturele uitleg en die gedrag van die plaveisel gegee. Hierdie proefskrif, wat aanvullend is tot die vorige studies, bespreek die strukturele ontwerp van plaveisels met sementgestabiliseerde lae. Enkele van die ontwerpvereistes is reeds 'n geruime tyd bekend, drie word bygevoeg en bespreek en ten slotte word 'n ontwerpmetode voorgestel en geverifieer. Die ontwikkeling van plaveiselontwerpteorie word in Hoofstuk 1 bespreek. Daar word aangetoon hoe die ontwerpmetodes geleidelik meer omvattend geword het -maar ook steeds moeiliker om te gebruik. 'n Ontwerpteorie wat gebaseer is op die teorie van gelaagde elastiese sisterne en baie goed in die ontwikkelingspatroon inpas, het die potensiaal om te voldoen aan die toekomstige vereistes van strukturele ontwerpmetodes vir plaveisels. Die vereistes van 'n struktureel goedontwerpte sementgestabiliseerde laag word in Hoofstuk 2 bespreek. Sekere van hierdie vereistes is met behulp van 'n literatuurstudie bekom en sluit in dat 'n sementgestabiliseerde laag dik moet wees en 'n stewige fondament moet he. Die beginsels van 'n gebalanseerde ontwerp moet in gedagte gehou word en die laag rnoet so ontwerp word dat dit die swaar voertuie wat op die pad verwag word, kan dra. In die proefskrif word enkele ander vereistes bespreek naamlik die moontlike voorkoming van aanvanklike barste, ook bekend as krimpingsbarste, en barste wat deur verkeerspannings veroorsaak word, die vermoeidheidslewe, die hantering van termiese spannings en die verskil tussen die eienskappe van materiale wat in die veld en materiale wat in die laboratorium voorberei is. Enkele van die ander vereistes wat genoern word, maar waarvoor verdere studie nog nodig is, is die karakterisering van die materiaal, die ontwerpkriterium en die algemene veranderlikheid van konstruksiemateriale. Barste in sementgestabiliseerde materiale word op 'n ietwat oorspronklike manier in Hoofstuk 3 bespreek en daar word aangedui dat die verskil tussen aanvanklike barste en barste wat deur verkeerspannings veroorsaak word, baie goed verstaan moet word. Die verskyning van aanvanklike barste moet aanvaar word as 'n feit en baie min kan gedoen word om te voorkom dat die barste op die oppervlak van die pad verskyn! Barste wat deur verkeerspannings veroorsaak word kan vermy word deur 'n toepaslike analise en ontwerp te doen. Dit behels die ontleding van 'n ongebarste plaveisel en die verhoging van die berekende maksimum spanning waardeur dan voorsiening gemaak word vir die toename in spanning wat veroorsaak word deur die aanvanklike bars. 'n Eindige elemente-analise is gebruik om die toename in trekspanning langs die aanvanklike bars te bereken (Hoofstuk 4). Die verskillende maniere waarop die plaveisel gemodelleer kan word met eindige elemente en die akkuraatheid van elkeen van die metodes word bespreek. Daarna word die gebruik van die L-model aanbeveel. Die oppervlakdefleksie en die toename in horisontale trekspanning en vertikale drukspanning langs die bars in agt verskillende maar tipiese strukturele uitlegte word bereken en die persentasietoename in die maksimum horisontale trekspanning vir elke geval word gegee. Die persentasietoename in trekspanning is waarskynlik afhanklik van die wydte van die bars en die dikte van die sementgestabiliseerde lae maar skynbaar oorskry dit nie 40-persent nie. Daarom word daar voorgestel dat die berekende spanning in 'n ongebarste plaveisel dienooreenkomstig vergroot moet word en dat hierdie verhoogde waarde dan gebruik moet word as ontwerptrekspanning. Daar is nog altyd geglo dat termiese spannings in sementgestabiliseerde lae baie belangrik is. In Hoofstuk 5 word 'n eindige verskille-rekenaarprogram gebruik om dit te bevestig ten opsigte van ongebarste sementgestabiliseerde lae. Daar word ook aangetoon dat sodra die laag gebars het, en alle goedgeboude sementgestabiliseerde lae bars, word die opbou van oormatige hoë termiese spannings voorkom, want daar kan beweging by die bars plaasvind. Dit is baie voordelig om 'n termiese isoleerlaag bo-op 'n sementgestabiliseerde laag te plaas en dit blyk dat die dikte van die laag die isoleervermoë meer beinvloed as die tipe materiaal wat in die laag gebruik word. Daarom word aanbeveel dat 'n klipslaglaag van 150 mm bo-op die sementgestabiliseerde laag van 'n hoofpad gebruik moet word. In Hoofstuk 6 word die verskil tussen die eienskappe van materiale wat in die veld voorberei is en materiale wat in die laboratorium voorberei is, bespreek. Dit is belangrik dat die kwaliteit van die materiaal in albei gevalle dieselfde moet wees of andersins moet die ontwerper bewus wees van die grootte van die verskil sodat hy daarvoor voorsiening kan maak in die ontwerpstadium. Toetse het aangetoon dat die gedeelte van 'n laag wat op een dag gebou is, as homogeen ten opsigte van die gemete eienskappe aanvaar mag word. Die verskille in sementgestabiliseerde gedeeltes wat op verskillende dae gebou word, is uiters betekenisvol - selfs al word dieselfde materiale, dieselfde konstruksiespan en dieselfde spesifikasie in elke geval gebruik. Daarom mag daar nie aanvaar word dat gedeeltes wat op verskillende dae gebou is dieselfde kwaliteit en eienskappe sal hê nie. Selfs die variasie in eienskappe binne-in die laag is betekenisvol en dit blyk dat die boonste gedeelte van 'n laag hoër waardes het as die onderste gedeelte. Die verskil tussen veld- en laboratoriumvoorbereide monsters is betekenisvol en oor die algemeen neig die veldmonsters om laer waardes te hê as die laboratoriumvoorbereide monsters. Daar is nie duidelikheid oor hoeveel laer nie, maar 30-persent word tans aanbeveel. Die swaarvoertuignabootser (SVN) is gebruik om die verwagte en werklike gedrag van plaveisels met sementgestabiliseerde lae te korreleer en hiervoor is tien SVN-toetse uitgevoer (Hoofstuk 7). Die uitstekende ooreenstemming, in terme van elastisiteitsmoduli en hoeveelheid verkeersbarste, word vir sewe van die toetse beskryf. Die hoofstuk toon ook die vordering aan wat gedurende die afgelope vyf jaar gemaak is met die interpretasie van die toetsresultate. 'n Plaveiselontwerpmetode wat gebaseer is op die teorie van gelaagde elastiese sisteme en die ontwerpvereistes wat in die proefskrif ontwikkel is, word in Hoofstuk 8 beskryf. Die aanvaarde definisie van swigting en die vloeidiagram vir die antwerp asook al sy onderafdelings, word verduidelik. Die ontwerpmetode sluit die hele spektrum van wielbelastings, fundamentele materiaaleienskappe en swigtingskriteria in. Die teorie van gelaagde elastiese sisteme word gebruik om die spanning en vervormings op die verskillende kritiese posisies te bereken en daarna word hierdie waardes met die toelaatbare waardes vergelyk. Enkele variasies van die voorgestelde metode, soos byvoorbeeld om voorsiening te maak vir gemengde verkeer en die gebruik van standaardontwerpe, word bespreek en verduidelik. Ten slotte word die voorgestelde metode geverifieer met 'n beskrywing van die uitstekende ooreenstemming tussen die voorspelde en die werklike gedrag van etlike plaveisels. Vyf uitgewerkte voorbeelde word ook ingesluit. Die proefskrif bevat 4 aanhangsels. Die eerste een beskryf 'n teoretiese studie van pompaksie in plaveisels en hiervoor is 'n spesiale eindige elemente-rekenaarprogram gebruik. Die tweede aanhangsel beskryf die gebruik van die eindige elemente-rekenaarprogram wat in Hoofstuk 4 en aanhangsel A gebruik is. In die oorblywende twee aanhangsels word die termiese eienskappe bereken waarna in Hoofstuk 5 verwys word. / Thesis (DSc)--University of Pretoria, 1978. / Civil Engineering / unrestricted

Integrated architectures for power electronic circuits have been a subject of recent interest. Integration offers several benefits such as reliability, control on parasitic elements related to discrete components, and ease of manufacture. The main objective of this particular research has been to contribute towards effective modelling of integrated passive circuits operating in power electronic circuits. Integrating passive components in one distributed space can be difficult to understand, and hence to design. Field electromagnetics is often unwieldy for a power electronics circuit designer, so a SPICE-like circuit simulator is often an effective design environment. This dissertation closely examines both lumped and distributed SPICE-compatible models. Four SPICE-compatible models have been investigated by comparing them with an analytical distributed solution. This analytical solution is used to thoroughly derive the causes of all resonance points, as well as impedances at low/high frequencies; which are the important factors that characterize the integrated passive. This analytical solution is only implemented in a narrow range of boundary conditions; hence the SPICE-compatible methods must be developed, since SPICE then handles the algorithmic work of handling the more complicated boundary conditions found in power electronics.

This thesis presents the development and results of an iterative method for obtaining a minimum weight structural design, called an optimum design. The optimum design iteration is based on a sequence of fully stressed designs, each intermediate design possessing a distinct set of allowable stresses that force the desirable design changes to occur. The test for the optimum state is based on the Kuhn-Tucker conditions, where negative Lagrange multipliers in the set identify element parameters that can be changed to produce a lighter weight structure. Five case studies are presented to demonstrate the algorithm. / M.S.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Sutton F. Stephens / Seismic hazards are a primary concern in some of the most populous regions in the United States. Performance-based seismic design has brought about new technology advances and introduced an innovative approach towards constructing seismic resistant buildings. Base isolation and structural damping systems are becoming increasingly utilized methods of advanced seismic resistance. This relatively new design approach presents various issues that must be addressed throughout the design and construction processes. A brief background on the origin, dynamics, and hazards of earthquakes and a discussion on designs of traditional, fixedbased structures is presented in this report. A description for selected types of new advanced seismic restraint systems, with an emphasis on base isolation, is also provided. Examples of current applications of buildings equipped with base isolation are presented. This report concludes with a review of the fundamental design methodology for structural base isolation along with additional requirements not addressed by the current building codes.

Structural reliability technology provides analytical tools for management of uncertainty in all relevant design factors in structural and mechanical systems. Generally, the goal of analysis is to compute probabilities of failure in structural components or system having single or multiple failure mode. Alternately, modern optimization methods provide efficient numerical algorithms for locating optima, particularly in large-scale systems having prescribed deterministic constraints. Optimization procedure can accommodate random variables either directly in its objective function or as one of the primary constraints. The combination of elementary optimization and probabilistic design techniques is the subject of this study. Presented herein is a general strategy for optimization when the design factors are random variables and some or all of the constraints are probability statements. A literature review has indicated that optimization technology in a reliability context has not been fully explored for the general case of nonlinear performance functions and nonnormal variates associated multiple failure modes. This research focuses upon development of the theory to address this general problem. Because analysis algorithms are complicated, a computer code, program RELOPT, is constructed to automate the analysis. The objective function to be minimized is arbitrary, but would generally be the total expected lifetime costs including all initial costs as well as all costs associated with failure. Uncertainty is assumed to be possible in all design factors (including the factors to be determined), and they are modeled as random variables. In general, all of the constraints can be probability statements. The generalized reduce gradient (GRG) method was used for optimization calculations. Options for point probability calculations are first order reliability analysis using the Rackwitz-Fiessler (R-F) or advanced reliability analysis using Wu/FPI. For system reliability analysis either the first order Cornell's bounds or the second order Ditlevsen's bounds can be specified. Several examples are presented to illustrate the full range of capabilities of RELOPT. The program is validated by checking with independent and exact solutions. An example is provided which demonstrates that the cost of running RELOPT can be substantial as the size of the problem increases.