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This dissertation will explore the city wall theme in Vergil’s Aeneid, particularly in the battle scenes, using Homer’s Iliad as a lodestone to help identify significance. Aeneas’s mission is to found the moenia of a city, but he never does so within the epic—yet practically all warfare occurs in the context of fighting over walls. Looking at what walls are being fought over and by whom, an organizing principle emerges: the Trojan walled camp is analogous to the Greek walled camp from the Iliad, and, with some ambiguity, Laurentum is analogous to Troy. The role of the walls in the events is best examined by looking at what the characters themselves actually do regarding the walls. It becomes clear that from the start of the war Turnus is a Hector figure and Aeneas an Achilles figure, despite their own desires. History is to an extent replaying, but Vergil points to key differences to show how the war in Italy is different, even with the Trojan roles reversed. Chapter 1 begins with examining the wall theme throughout the early portions of the Aeneid, focusing attention on the importance of walls in the proem, the Prophecy of Jupiter, and the simile between Roma and Cybele spoken by Anchises in the Underworld. The theme that emerges is that Rome becomes an idealized concept that is represented by walls, pointing to a new ideology which can apply to all. Chapter 2 looks at the battle books through the behavior of the soldiers as a whole, comparing them to Homer’s Greeks, who are shamed into fighting to defend walls and into fighting metaphorically as walls themselves. Chapter 3 investigates how shame prevents both Turnus and Hector from fighting in ways that defend their walls and benefit their people. This comparison highlights how Turnus actually changes his sense of shame and ends up saving his walls and people. Chapter 4 shows that Aeneas is not merely an Achilles figure in the war, but that is he is closely compared to Achilles specifically in his threat to walls. The major difference is that Aeneas is also a founder figure, and thus Vergil creates a paradox by having Aeneas both threatening Laurentum but eager to preserve it. The Conclusion will place the findings in historical context, showing that Vergil’s theme and conception of Roman national identity fit with other poetry, architecture, plastic arts, and even cult worship of the Augustan period.

When diaphragm action is considered in the design of post-frame buildings, the endwalls may require supplemental reinforcement to replace lost strength and stiffness, due to placement of large doors and openings in the endwalls. The diaphragm design standard, ASAE EP484, does not provide guidelines concerning such endwall reinforcement. Flat steel strapping 1s proposed for use as supplemental reinforcement to replace this lost strength and stiffness. An analysis procedure was developed, with the intention of serving as input to endwall diaphragm design. Using PPSA 3.00 and calibrated endwall data, a computer structural analog was developed that “mimics” the deflection of an actual solid endwall. Sections of the structural analog were removed to represent a centered door opening. Fictitious members representing steel-strap bracing were added to the remaining endwall diaphragm to restore the endwall deflection to that of the same endwall with no door openings. Large corner post uplift values were observed for tall endwalls. For purposes of endwall analysis, it is necessary to distribute corner post uplift forces to the other posts along the adjacent endwall and sidewall. Along with the tabulated results in this research, this analysis procedure provides building designers a tool that will enable them to analyze virtually any endwall-door combination. All that is required is PPSA 3.00 software (or equivalent), a personal computer, and endwall stiffness data. / Master of Science

The majority of residential construction and a significant portion of light commercial and industrial construction has been, and will continue to be light-framed timber construction. In recent years, innovations have surfaced to improve upon light-framed construction. Structurally insulated panels (SIPS) are gaining popularity due to their superior energy efficiency and ease of construction. Light-framed timber construction has proven to be trustworthy in high-wind and seismic regions due to its lightweight construction and numerous redundancies. Shear walls, along with floor and roof diaphragms, resist lateral loads in a timber structure. In the past, research has focused on the static racking performance of light-framed shear walls. More recently, research has been focused on the cyclic and dynamic performance of shear walls. To the author's knowledge, no other research is reported in the literature on the cyclic performance of SIPS shear walls. It is important to understand and quantify the monotonic and cyclic response of shear walls. In this study, twenty-three full-scale shear walls were tested under monotonic loading and sequential phased displacement cyclic loading. Four different wall configurations were examined. Monotonic and cyclic performance of the shear walls and monotonic and cyclic testing procedures are compared. Response of SIPS shear walls is also compared to the response of light-framed shear walls based on capacity, stiffness, ductility, energy dissipation, damping characteristics, and overall behavior. Results of this study will provide useful information regarding the performance of SIPS shear walls and similar systems subjected to static, cyclic, and dynamic lateral loads. / Master of Science

This study concerns a neutronic and transient thermal study of the first wall and blanket region of a typical controlled thermonuclear reactor (CTR). Previous studies assumed a neutron wall loading of 1 ~ 5 MW/m², and usually an infinite slab for a blanket region in calculating the transient thermal behavior following a major plasma disruption (MPD). Besides, neutrons with a kinetic energy of 14 MeV were usually assumed by ignoring the energy distribution of fusion neutrons. Furthermore, the cross-sections of the interaction between the incident neutron and the first wall were neglected by assuming that all these 14 MeV neutrons were absorbed by the first wall. This study made use of a more accurate model involving a canister design and considered both the incident neutron and secondary gamma heating in calculating the volumetric heat source rate. With these modifications, the average value of the volumetric heat source rate was calculated to be 0.05 MW/m³ ~ 0.5 MW /m³. The disruption times used in this analysis were assumed to be 24 ms and 10 ms. For each case, a constant velocity model and a Gaussian velocity model were assumed for the surface heat flux impinging on the first wall after an MPD with emphasis on the constant velocity model. Neutronic studies including a Diffusion Test Model (DTM), a 23-group cross-section library, and a 37-group neutron and 21-group gamma library from ORNL used in conjunction with the ANISN Code, provided different volumetric heat source rates which were used to do a thermal analysis for the blanket at the steady state. With these volumetric heat source rates obtained, a heat conduction code HEATING5 was run for the steady state temperature distribution. Results show that the average temperature for the first wall and the blanket are ~160°C and ~200°C, respectively. This steady state temperature distribution remained almost the same no matter whether DTM, 23G or 37N-21G cross-section sets were used, since the difference in the volumetric heat source rates generated were so small they did not change the temperature distribution significantly. With the steady state temperature distribution as an initial condition, HEATING5 was run again for the transient thermal study which included the surface heat flux due to the disruption, together with a volumetric heat source rate resulting from the eddy currents induced in the wall following an MPD. Results show that there is a possibility of melting portions of the first wall if the disruption time of 10 ms is used, while no melting is possible for the 24 ms case; however, a maximum transient temperature of ~1000°C on the first wall does occur. With respect to the temperatures in the blanket region, they remained the same as they were before an MPD. The transient took place so rapidly that the effects were mostly on the first wall. For the case of 24 ms, the average number of abortions allowed for failure of the first wall was 200 thermal cycles. / Ph. D.

We are all influenced by memories when we pursue acts of creation. However, these reminiscences are often fleeting and elusive; they rarely are formalized, nor are they explicit in the final artifact. This work is based on a concrete representation of a childhood memory: the map of a city. The thesis explores ways to design and construct a place where others could, in turn, create their own memory. This place is located in Alexandria, VA, on South Fairfax Drive. It is an integrated mixed use program (Retails on the lower and ground levels, and residences on the 2 upper levels). This experimentation invites further questions. How strictly should the concrete representation of the memory guide the design? What are the qualities of the spaces resulting of such rules? How to engage in the tension between the explicit memory's realm and the contemporary world? How to express their respective materiality? |From| Memory of Walls |to| Walls of Memory / Master of Architecture

Through observation and critical response, Seven Loci: The Completion of Villa Maderni is for the author not only a work reflective of his still emergent design judgments, but also one birthed as he lived and worked in the physical fabric of the place. The primary goal of this work is to propose an inhabitable enclosure for the perimeter of an already sacred villa and garden in the Ticino region of Switzerland. The secondary goal of the thesis is to explore and propose an architecture which does not make a forgery of the villa, but one whose language is of its own time and materials, all the while responding to the invisible traditions of the town, street and site. / Master of Architecture

The origins of this project lie in a desire to understand the relationship that exists between light and architecture. Natural light has always played a role in the evolution of architecture, helping us make countless decisions about the things we build. From their siting to their plan, to the nature of their openings, our buildings have to a great extent been shaped by the sun and the moon. The project became a search for new ways for architecture to express the conscious relationship that needs to exist among light, material, structure, and space. / Master of Architecture

The objectives of this dissertation are: (1) to examine the relationship between the accuracy and reliability of methods of estimating settlements of footings on sand and gravel, (2) to develop a procedure for estimating horizontal movements and rotations of footings without the need of determining soil modulus values, and (3) to develop a simple procedure for calculating movements of retaining walls due to the weight of backfill. The accuracy and reliability of twelve methods of estimating settlements of footings on sand and gravels were examined by comparing calculated settlements with the measured values. Eleven of the methods are based on Standard Penetration Test Results, while Schmertmann’s method is based on Cone Penetration Test Results. The study showed that methods which are more accurate tend to underestimate settlements about half of the time; while those which are more reliable (in the sense that they infrequently underestimate settlements) tend to be less accurate. The study also indicated that these methods of estimating settlements of footings on sands and gravels involve approximately the same relationship between accuracy and reliability, regardless of the approach that they use to calculate settlement. The results demonstrate that there is a tradeoff between accuracy and reliability. Any of the methods can be adjusted to achieve approximately the same combination of accuracy and reliability as other method. A simple procedure is presented to relate horizontal movements and rotations of footings to settlements. The procedure does not require the determination of soil modulus, and its accuracy and reliability can be assessed qualitatively by association with the method used to calculate the settlement. A simple procedure based on elastic theory was also developed to estimate movements of abutments and retaining walls due to the weight of backfill placed behind them. To avoid the inherent difficulty in determining the soil modulus, a procedure for relating these movements to the settlement of the wall was also developed. The new procedure was applied to a case history, and the calculated movements agree quite well with those calculated using the finite element method, and with field observations. / Ph. D.

The main topic of the thesis is the role of timber in the seismic resilience of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. The research addressed both existing timber components that can be encountered in URM buildings and timber-based retrofit solutions. The work presented herein can be split into two main phases. In the first part of the research, the in-plane behavior of traditional wooden floors was analyzed by means of numerical static and dynamic simulations. Modelling strategies with different refinement levels were proposed and implemented to assess diaphragm in-plane strength and flexibility. Modelling was undertaken considering as-built diaphragms first and was then extended to diaphragms retrofitted by means of timber-based techniques. The influence of diaphragm construction details on their in-plane response was evaluated and timber-based retrofitting solutions were observed to be effective in mitigating in-plane diaphragm flexibility and in increasing in-plane diaphragm strength. The second part of the PhD work was dedicated to investigate new retrofit solutions for URM buildings based on the use of engineered timber panels mechanically connected to the masonry. The first step saw the experimental testing of different types of timber-to-masonry connections considering both screw-type fasteners and adhesive anchors. In the second stage, full-scale masonry walls were tested in the as-built, retrofitted and repaired configurations, highlighting the benefits of the proposed technique on the in-plane response of the masonry walls.