High defect rates are associated with novel nanodevice-based systems owing to unconventional and self-assembly based manufacturing processes. Furthermore, in emerging nanosystems, fault mechanisms and distributions may be very different from CMOS due to unique physical layer aspects, and emerging circuit and logic styles. Thus, theoretical fault models for nanosystems are necessary to extract detailed characteristics of fault generation and propagation. Using the intuition garnered from the theoretical analysis, modular and structural redundancy schemes can be specifically tailored to the intricacies of the fabric in order to achieve higher reliability of output signals. In this thesis, we develop a detailed analytical fault model for the Nanoscale Application Specific Integrated Circuits (NASIC) fabric that can determine probabilities of output faults taking into account the defect scenarios, the logic and circuit style of the fabric as well as structural redundancy schemes that may be incorporated in the circuits. Evaluation of fault rates using the analytical model for single NASIC tiles show an inequality of the probability of output faulty ‘1’s and ‘0’s. To mitigate the effects of the unequal fault rates, biased voting schemes are introduced and are shown to achieve up to 27% improvement in the reliability of output signals compared to conventional majority voting schemes. NASIC circuits have to be cascaded in order to build larger systems. Furthermore, modular redundancy alone will be insufficient to tolerate high defect rates since multiple input modules may be faulty. Hence incorporation of structural redundancy is crucial. Thus in this thesis, we study the propagation of faults through a cascade of NASIC circuits employing the conventional structural redundancy scheme which is referred to here as the Regular Structural Redundancy. In our analysis we find that although circuits with Regular Structural Redundancy achieve greater signal reliability compared to non-redundant circuits, the signal reliability rapidly drops along the cascade due to an escalation of faulty ‘0’s. This effect is attributed to the poor tolerance of input faulty ‘0’s exhibited by circuits with the Regular Structural Redundancy. Having identified this, we design a new scheme called the Staggered Structural Redundancy prioritizing the tolerance of input faulty ‘0’s. A cascade of circuits employing the Staggered Structural Redundancy is shown to maintain signal reliability greater than 0.98 for over 100 levels of cascade at 5% defect rate whereas the signal reliability for a cascade of circuits with the Regular Structural Redundancy dropped to 0.5 after 7 levels of cascade.

Este estudo fundamenta-se na análise numérica, via elementos finitos, de pontes em vigas mistas; considera-se a interação de todos os elementos que compõem a estrutura na transferência dos esforços até os apoios. Inicialmente apresenta-se um estado da arte sobre o projeto, execução e análise de pontes em vigas mistas, identificando as simplificações e deficiências existentes no cálculo destas estruturas. O estudo do comportamento estrutural de tabuleiros mistos foi abordado do ponto de vista tridimensional, sendo para isto modelados e analisados tabuleiros com 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 e 26 m. de vão mediante a utilização do programa ANSYS, versão 5.4. Foi estudada a influência que a presença de contraventamentos, espessura da laje, vão e posição da carga móvel na seção transversal exercem na distribuição de cargas nas vigas, sendo para isto considerado comportamento elástico-linear. Realizou-se também uma abordagem ao estudo da redundância estrutural de tabuleiros mistos considerando as não linearidades física e geométricas do conjunto. Foi verificado que tabuleiros sobre duas e quatro vigas mantêm o equilíbrio estático após que uma das vigas sofre fratura, sem experimentar grandes deslocamentos (inferiores ou ligeiramente superiores ao limite L/500). / This work is based in the numerical analysis, by finite elements, of bridge decks with composite beams; in this study the interaction of all the elements that compose the structure is considered in the transference of the efforts to the supports. lnitially, a state of the art on the design, construction and analysis of composite bridge decks is presented, identifying the simplifications adopted, lack of information at the present on the subject and aspects that need further studies on this bridges. The study of the structural behavior of composite bridge decks was approached from a three-dimensional point of view, modeling and analyzing composite decks with 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26 m of span by using the software ANSYS, version 5.4. The influence that the bracing system, thickness of the slab, span and live load position on the deck, over the load distribution in the composite beams, considering linear-elastic behavior, was studied. An approach to the study of the structural redundancy of composite bridge decks was also made, considering the physical and geometric nonlinearities of the structure. lt was verified that decks consisting of two and four composite beams maintain the static equilibrium after the fracture of one of the beams, without large displacements (inferior or lightly superior to the limit L/500).

Este estudo fundamenta-se na análise numérica, via elementos finitos, de pontes em vigas mistas; considera-se a interação de todos os elementos que compõem a estrutura na transferência dos esforços até os apoios. Inicialmente apresenta-se um estado da arte sobre o projeto, execução e análise de pontes em vigas mistas, identificando as simplificações e deficiências existentes no cálculo destas estruturas. O estudo do comportamento estrutural de tabuleiros mistos foi abordado do ponto de vista tridimensional, sendo para isto modelados e analisados tabuleiros com 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 e 26 m. de vão mediante a utilização do programa ANSYS, versão 5.4. Foi estudada a influência que a presença de contraventamentos, espessura da laje, vão e posição da carga móvel na seção transversal exercem na distribuição de cargas nas vigas, sendo para isto considerado comportamento elástico-linear. Realizou-se também uma abordagem ao estudo da redundância estrutural de tabuleiros mistos considerando as não linearidades física e geométricas do conjunto. Foi verificado que tabuleiros sobre duas e quatro vigas mantêm o equilíbrio estático após que uma das vigas sofre fratura, sem experimentar grandes deslocamentos (inferiores ou ligeiramente superiores ao limite L/500). / This work is based in the numerical analysis, by finite elements, of bridge decks with composite beams; in this study the interaction of all the elements that compose the structure is considered in the transference of the efforts to the supports. lnitially, a state of the art on the design, construction and analysis of composite bridge decks is presented, identifying the simplifications adopted, lack of information at the present on the subject and aspects that need further studies on this bridges. The study of the structural behavior of composite bridge decks was approached from a three-dimensional point of view, modeling and analyzing composite decks with 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26 m of span by using the software ANSYS, version 5.4. The influence that the bracing system, thickness of the slab, span and live load position on the deck, over the load distribution in the composite beams, considering linear-elastic behavior, was studied. An approach to the study of the structural redundancy of composite bridge decks was also made, considering the physical and geometric nonlinearities of the structure. lt was verified that decks consisting of two and four composite beams maintain the static equilibrium after the fracture of one of the beams, without large displacements (inferior or lightly superior to the limit L/500).