This thesis introduces a new adjustment factor for the probability-based load and resistance factor (LRFD) design for wood structures. By investigating the empirical data of reaction forces for a wooden house built by the Forest Product Laboratory in 2001, it is found that the reaction values exhibit great variability. To explore the causes of this variability, a 3-D finite element model is built and analyzed using commercial software MSC/Nastran. It is found that differences in member geometry are a major cause of reaction variability. In examining the potential effect the reaction variability might have on the structural safety, reliability is assessed for two different types of wood products under several different situations. Finally, a new adjustment factor Ks, which accounts for the variability in load path, is obtained and validated based on structural reliability theory.

<p> This thesis describes the analytical study of the stability of the structural system under circulatory loading and/or parametric excitation. The model is a double pendulum, composed of two rigid weightless bars of equal length and two concentrated masses at the ends of each bar, on an oscillating base. The vertical oscillation of the base produces parametric excitation to the system. A circulatory force is applied at the free end. At the joints the restoring moments are produced by spring and damping. The damping coefficients are taken as positive, and the gravitational effects are included. </p> <p> The combined effect of the circulatory loading and parametric excitation on stability of the system is investigated. The problem is so formulated that the stability of the system is represented by coupled Mathieu equations. The effect of damping on the boundary of stability is also determined. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

El Perú se encuentra en una zona altamente sísmica, ubicado dentro del cinturón de fuego del pacífico, que contempla aproximadamente el 85% de la actividad sísmica mundial. En nuestro país no existe un historial de eventos sísmicos por lo que, nuestra investigación consiste en la restructuración de una edificación hospitalaria categoría II, de 3 niveles con aislación sísmica en la base, sobre un suelo intermedio; en el distrito y provincia de Huari, Ancash. Se evaluará la viabilidad de construir edificaciones hospitalarias con el método tradicional con el fin de que la entidad pueda elegir la opción que mejor le convenga para su ejecución. Dado que, en nuestro país no existe mayor información cuantitativa y comparativa del comportamiento de hospitales con aislación o sin aislación sísmica para establecer u obligar el uso de aisladores en infraestructuras hospitalarias. Adicionalmente, existen antecedentes de hospitales que fueron diseñados y construidos con el actual código sísmico nacional y que luego de un evento sísmico siguieron operativos. El análisis comparativo, demuestra la capacidad del sistema tradicional que diseñado adecuadamente tendrá la capacidad de cumplir con las exigencias de eventos sísmicos severos, manteniéndose así operativo luego de un sismo; por lo tanto, el sistema aislado sería una solución costosa para un problema sencillo. Sin embargo, el actual código sísmico peruano exige el uso de aisladores sísmicos para toda edificación hospitalaria, especialmente en zonas sísmicas 4 y 3. / Peru is located in a highly seismic zone, located within the Pacific ring of fire, which accounts for approximately 85% of the world's seismic activity. In our country there is no history of seismic events, therefore, our investigation consists of the restructuring of a category II hospital building, with 3 levels with seismic isolation at the base, on an intermediate floor; in the district and province of Huari, Ancash. The feasibility of building hospital buildings with the traditional method will be evaluated so that the entity can choose the option that best suits it for its execution. Given that in our country there is no more quantitative and comparative information on the behavior of hospitals with or without seismic isolation to establish or force the use of isolators in hospital infrastructures. Additionally, there is a history of hospitals that were designed and built with the current national seismic code and that continued operating after a seismic event. The comparative analysis demonstrates the capacity of the traditional system, which, properly designed, will have the capacity to meet the demands of severe seismic events, thus remaining operational after an earthquake; therefore, the isolated system would be an expensive solution to a simple problem. However, the current Peruvian seismic code requires the use of seismic isolators for all hospital buildings, especially in seismic zones 4 and 3. / Tesis

The subject of the thesis is a price comparison of a variant technical solution of a specific building. The thesis consists of two parts. The theoretical part describes the basic terms used in the processing of calculation and budget, price theory, types of prices and software used for budget. The practical part consists of the proposal of variable technical solutions and their comparison based on the chosen criteria. The conclusion is the evaluation of various variable technical solutions and the selection of the most suitable technical solution regarding the purpose of the building.

The content of this thesis is to find out how the changes of fire technical characteristics could affect the fire safety solution of building for the accommodation. The method to work out fire safety solution is used on the stated object. This method is described in the beginning of the text. There are designed the further objects, based on the basic object, on which they are made to fire technical changes that lead to different results. For the type of change is primarily considered to substitute non-flammable structural system for flammable structural system and one floor extension. These changes are the result of increases levels of fire safety and extension of the fire danger zone. The conclusion of this work is a preview of the differences in fire safety solution of the building for accommodation and the office building.

Le terme de robustesse structurale donne lieu à diverses définitions et domaines d'application. Dans le domaine de l'ingénierie structurale, le cadre réglementaire des Eurocodes définit la robustesse structurale comme « l'aptitude d'une structure à résister à des événements tels que les incendies, les explosions, les chocs ou les conséquences d'une erreur humaine, sans présenter de dégâts disproportionnés par rapport à la cause d'origine ». Cette définition fait clairement ressortir les notions de dommage initial (défaillance locale) et de dommage disproportionné (défaillance globale). Cette thèse propose une approche de la quantification de la robustesse structurale en contexte probabiliste pour mesurer l'impact d'une défaillance localisée sur la défaillance globale de la structure. L'objectif majeur de la thèse est de quantifier l'écart entre une défaillance locale et une défaillance globale, en introduisant différents indices de robustesse selon que la structure soit intègre ou initialement endommagée. Pour cela, dans le but de caractériser et quantifier les liens existant entre la performance des différents éléments d'une structure et la performance globale de la structure, il est nécessaire d'introduire une étude en système qui intègre de manière concomitante des notions de défaillance locale (modes de défaillance) et des notions de défaillance globale. Une recherche « par l'intérieur » des chemins de défaillance dominants est présentée. Le terme « par l'intérieur » est utilisé car c'est le cheminement interne de la défaillance dans la structure qui est recherché. Des méthodes de parcours d'arbre d'évènements sont introduites telles que la méthode des « branches et bornes », du β-unzipping, ou encore du β-unzipping avec bornage. Ces méthodes permettent d'identifier les chemins de défaillance dominants avec des temps de calcul raisonnables. En particulier, il est possible de déterminer le chemin de défaillance associé à la plus grande probabilité de défaillance, appelé encore chemin de référence. Une approche « par l'extérieur » est également proposée, qui consiste à identifier la défaillance globale sans parcourir un arbre d'évènement (et donc sans s'intéresser à l'ordre avec lequel la défaillance survient). Le terme « par l'extérieur » correspond donc à regarder la défaillance de manière globale sans chercher à déterminer la chronologie de la défaillance. Dans les deux cas, l'enjeu est au final de développer une démarche globale permettant d'apprécier et de quantifier la robustesse des structures neuves ou existantes au travers de méthodes et d'indices pouvant s'appliquer à une large variété de problèmes / Structural robustness is associated with several definitions depending on context. In the field of structural engineering, the Eurocodes define structural robustness as “the ability of a structure to withstand events like fire, explosions, impact or the consequences of human error, without being damaged to an extent disproportionate to the original cause”. Such a definition clearly involves concepts of local and global failures. This PhD work proposes a methodology to quantify structural robustness in a probabilistic way and to assess the impact of local failures on global failures. The main objective of this PhD is to quantify the gap between local and global failures by introducing several robustness indices proposed for undamaged and damaged structures. To qualify and quantify the relationships between the performance of the different structural components and the overall structural performance, it is necessary to introduce a system-level analysis which simultaneously considers concepts of local failure modes and global failure events. An inner approach is introduced to determine significant failure sequences and to characterize stochastically dominant failure paths identified by using branch-and-bound, β-unzipping, and mixed β-unzipping with bounding methods. These methods enable to determine significant failure paths with reasonable computational times. In particular, the path with the largest probability of occurrence is considered as the reference failure path. An outer approach is also proposed which identifies global failure without using an event-tree search (and, consequently, without analyzing the order in the failure sequence). This concept characterizes an overall and simultaneous failure of different components without determining the chronology in the failure event. In both cases, the goal is to provide a general and widely applicable framework for qualifying and quantifying the robustness level of new and existing structures through the introduction of methodologies and indices

Este trabalho apresenta o estudo do comportamento das estruturas tridimensionais de edifícios altos, sujeitos às ações verticais e laterais, considerando-se a rigidez transversal à flexão das lajes. A análise é feita pelo processo dos deslocamentos para todos elementos, onde emprega-se o Método dos Elementos Finitos na discretização das lajes e vigas em cada pavimento. O sistema estrutural não considera a presença dos núcleos estruturais, pilares ou pilares-parede submetidos à flexo-torção. As lajes também funcionam como diafragmas infinitamente rígidos em seu plano, sendo responsável pela compatibilidade dos deslocamentos correspondentes e pela transmissão das forças do vento aos pilares. Elaborou-se um programa de computador que automatiza o processo utilizado, e alguns exemplos são apresentados para comprovar sua validade. / This work presents a study about the behavior of three dimensional structures of tall buildings, subjected to vertical and lateral loads, considering the transverse bending stiffness of slabs. The analysis is done by stiffness method for all elements, and Finite Element Method is used in the discretization of slabs and beams of each floor. The structural system does not consider cores, columns or shearwalls that are subjected to warping effects. The slabs also act as diaphragms with an infinite stiffness in their plane, responsible displacements, for compatibility of the horizontal and so transmit the wind forces to the columns. A computer program is developed to get automatic the process utilized in the analysis, and some examples are presented to check its validity.

Este trabalho apresenta o estudo do comportamento das estruturas tridimensionais de edifícios altos, sujeitos às ações verticais e laterais, considerando-se a rigidez transversal à flexão das lajes. A análise é feita pelo processo dos deslocamentos para todos elementos, onde emprega-se o Método dos Elementos Finitos na discretização das lajes e vigas em cada pavimento. O sistema estrutural não considera a presença dos núcleos estruturais, pilares ou pilares-parede submetidos à flexo-torção. As lajes também funcionam como diafragmas infinitamente rígidos em seu plano, sendo responsável pela compatibilidade dos deslocamentos correspondentes e pela transmissão das forças do vento aos pilares. Elaborou-se um programa de computador que automatiza o processo utilizado, e alguns exemplos são apresentados para comprovar sua validade. / This work presents a study about the behavior of three dimensional structures of tall buildings, subjected to vertical and lateral loads, considering the transverse bending stiffness of slabs. The analysis is done by stiffness method for all elements, and Finite Element Method is used in the discretization of slabs and beams of each floor. The structural system does not consider cores, columns or shearwalls that are subjected to warping effects. The slabs also act as diaphragms with an infinite stiffness in their plane, responsible displacements, for compatibility of the horizontal and so transmit the wind forces to the columns. A computer program is developed to get automatic the process utilized in the analysis, and some examples are presented to check its validity.

No description available.

This study presents the nonlinear design of a state space controller to control hydraulic actuators under displacement control, specifically for real-time pseudo-dynamic testing applications. The proposed control design process uses the nonlinear state space model of the dynamics of the system to be controlled; and utilizes state feedback linearization through a transformation of the state variables. Comparisons of numerical simulation results for linear state-space and nonlinear state-space controllers are given. Also robustness of the control design with respect to identified parameters is investigated. It is shown that a controller with improved performance can be designed using nonlinear state space control design techniques, provided that a representative model of the system is available. / Structural Engineering