published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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The current investigation concerns the behaviour of lightweight blockork infill panels bounded by reinforced concrete frames. A detailed and comprehensive review of the literature on different frame-inf ill combinations is presented. Details are given of tests on sixteen third-scale infilled frames and four open frames. These were tested under two types of loading: horizontal racking loading only and combined vertical loads on columns and racking loading. The complete load-deflection response is considered in detail including. initial elastic behaviour, influence of cracking and the formation of collapse mechanisms after the attainment of peak load. The variables investigated include the overall effects of the infill, the infill thickness, the vertical loads, the amount of reinforcement, the change in stiffness and strength of beams and of columns and the effect of reinforcement detailing. Those found to have a major influence are the vertical loads, the infill thickness, the reinforcement detailing particularly in the opening corners of the frame, and the workmanship. The principal parameters obtained from the tests are the initial racking stiffness, the infill cracking strength, the ultimate load and the plastic collapse load. Their values are compared to the available empirical and theoretical methods. None of these methods is found to safely predict the initial racking stiffness and the ultimate carrying capacity of this type of structure. A plastic analysis is presented to predict the two plastic collapse mechanisms identified in the tests. The penalty factor to allow for idealization of plasticity of the infill is found as part of the solution. A second penalty factor is introduced to allow for the limited ductility of the frame. The proposed method is found to yield satisfactory and safe predictions for the plastic resistance of these infilled frames. In conclusion some design recommendations are proposed for the initial racking stiffness and the cracking infill strength.

No description available.

Thesis (M.E.F.E.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). "Fire engineering research report September 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-116). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Project report (M. Eng.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 56). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 425-430). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1983. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 304-306).

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes special report study entitled: Basis for tall buildings in the new millenium : a history of skyscrapers evolution and transformation. Also available in print.

This thesis studies the effects of model aspect ratio on the static forces and galloping vibrations of bluff shapes when exposed to a turbulent boundary layer similar to the atmosphere. Previous investigations have analyzed the galloping oscillations of finite prismatic bodies exposed to a turbulent shear flow on the basis of the quasi-steady theory and the assumption of an average lateral force. Herein consideration is given to the variation of lateral forces with height and the galloping oscillations of two finite square towers are predicted. The turbulent boundary layer was grown over a long fetch of roughness and at the location of the static and dynamic tests was 28" deep and had properties similar to a suburban or forested full scale exposure. The geometric scale of the models found from an analysis of velocity spectra was about 1/500. For the height to width ratios examined, aspect ratio had little effect on the average static forces for small angles of attack. The local static forces, measured from the pressure distribution, had a wide variation over the height of the model. For the finite sections examined the response predicted from the local forces gave higher amplitudes for the same reduced velocity as compared, to the response found from the average forces. The results of the dynamic tests agreed with the galloping response predicted from the local sectional forces indicating that the three-dimensional effects are important in the consideration of the galloping phenomenon. The measurements of velocity spectra in the wake of the rigid 28" model indicate that the Strouhal shedding frequency varies along the span of the model. Similar velocity spectra behind the galloping 28" model did not exhibit a discernible peak at the stationary value of the Strouhal number. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate