Les matériaux composites à matrice polymères renforcés aux fibres de carbone (PRFC) sont de plus en plus utilisés dans les avions, en raison de leur faible densité et de leurs propriétés mécaniques comparables aux alliages généralement utilisés. Ils sont cependant sensibles aux impacts répétés des particules solides et liquides intervenant au cours du cycle de vol d’un avion, et nécessitent d’être protégés. Cette thèse est inscrite dans ce contexte de protection des PRFC, plus particulièrement ceux à matrice époxy, par le biais de dépôts anti-usure réalisés par projection plasma sous air. De tels recherche ont été menées auparavant avec pour résultats des dépôts céramique et métallique peu adhérents, sur des composites fortement endommagés par le procédé. Les travaux de cette thèse ont donc été organisés autour de deux objectifs :- Objectif fondamental : comprendre les interactions entre les particules fondues et le composite. Grâce à une étude multiéchelles d’impacts de gouttes sur le composite, la résine époxy et sa dégradation thermique ont été identifiés comme responsable de la mauvaise adhérence des dépôts projetés par plasma sur les PRFC.- Objectif expérimental. Déterminer la faisabilité de réaliser un revêtement anti-usure par projection plasma sur PRFC. Deux traitements de surface avant dépôt ont été choisis puis testés, en conditions d’impacts de particules isolées et de formation de dépôts. Des dépôts d’alumine ont pu être obtenus, sans dégradation thermique ou mécanique du composite. / Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) are increasingly used in aircraft structures, due to their good strength to weight ratio. However, they are more sensitive to the impacts of solid and liquid particles, occurring during the aircraft flight cycle, and thus need to be protected. This work focuses on the protection of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy by air plasma spraying (APS). Numerous studies have been conducted on applying such coatings, but the obtained metallic and ceramic coatings show poor adhesion strength, and the underlying composite material is damaged by the APS process. This PhD is organized around two objectives:- Fundamental objective: understand the interactions between molten particles and the composite. A multi-scale study of droplets impacts on the composite led to identify the epoxy resin as responsible for the poor adhesion strength of air plasma sprayed coatings on CFRPs.- Experimental objective: determine the feasibility of producing an anti-wear coating by plasma spraying on CFRP. Two surface treatments prior to APS were chosen and tested in single particles impacts and coating formation. Alumina coatings have been obtained, without thermal or mechanical degradation of the underlying composite.

At an average age of 42 years, 10% of the nation’s over 607,000 bridges are posted for load restrictions, with an additional 15% considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. While there are major concerns with decks in 75% of structurally deficient bridges, often weight and geometry of the deck further limit the load rating and functionality of the bridge. Traditional deck systems and construction methods usually lead to prolonged periods of traffic delays, limiting options for transportation agencies to replace or widen a bridge, especially in urban areas. The purpose of this study was to develop a new generation of ultra-lightweight super shallow solid deck systems to replace open grid steel decks on movable bridges and as well serve as a viable alternative in bridge deck replacements across the country. The study has led to a lightweight low-profile asymmetric waffle deck made with advanced materials. The asymmetry comes from the arrangement of primary and secondary ribs, respectively perpendicular and parallel to the direction of traffic. The waffle deck is made with ultrahigh performance concrete (UHPC) reinforced with either high-strength steel (HSS) or carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement. With this combination, the deck weight was limited to below 21 psf and its overall depth to only 4 inch, while still meeting the strength and ductility demands for 4 ft. typical stringer spacing. It was further envisioned that the ultra-high strength of UHPC is best matched with the high strength of HSS or CFRP reinforcement for an efficient system and the ductile behavior of UHPC can help mask the linear elastic response of CFRP reinforcement and result in an overall ductile system. The issues of consideration from the design and constructability perspectives have included strength and stiffness, bond and development length for the reinforcement, punching shear and panel action. A series of experiments were conducted to help address these issues. Additionally full-size panels were made for testing under heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) at the accelerated pavement testing (APT) facility in Gainesville. Detailed finite element analyses were also carried out to help guide the design of this new generation of bridge decks. The research has confirmed the superior performance of the new deck system and its feasibility.

<div>As the use of fiber-reinforced polymer composites grows in aerospace structures, there is an emerging need to implement damage tolerant approaches. The use of <i>in-situ</i> synchrotron X-ray tomography enables direct observations of progressive damage relative to the microstructural features, which is studied in a T650/5320 laminate composite with varying layup orientations (using 45^o and -45^o plies) in a compact tension specimen geometry. Specifically, the interactions of micromechanical damage mechanisms at the notch tip were analyzed through 3D image processing as the crack grew. First, monotonic tests were conducted where X-ray tomography was acquired incrementally between the unloaded state and maximum load. The analysis of the monotonic tension specimens showed intralaminar cracking was dominant during crack initiation, delamination became prevalent during the later stages of crack progression, and fiber breakage was, in general, largely related to intralaminar cracking. After the monotonic tension analysis, modifications were made to the specimen geometry and the loading assembly, and fatigue tests were conducted, also using <i>in-situ</i> synchrotron X-ray tomography. Specifically, tomography images were acquired after select intervals of cyclic loading to examine the crack growth behavior up to 5802 cycles. The analysis of the fatigue tests showed that intralaminar cracking was also dominant, while localized delamination allowed ply cross-over. A finite element analysis was conducted by comparing the crack profile at varying intervals of loading, and the change in stored energy per cycle, dU/dN, was calculated. The combined experimental and simulation analysis showed that when the per ply values of dU/dN were examined, the intralaminar cracking rate collapsed to one curve regardless of the ply orientation, where direct observations of fiber bridging were characterized and associated with a reduction in crack growth rate for the influenced ply. Overall, this work provides a physical understanding of the micromechanics facilitating intralaminar crack growth in composites, providing engineers the necessary assessments for slow crack growth approaches in structural composite materials.<br></div>

SEISMIC STRENGTHENING OF A MID-RISE REINFORCED CONCRETE FRAME USING CFRPs: AN APPLICATION FROM REAL LIFE Tan, Mustafa T&uuml / mer M.S., Department Of Civil Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. G&uuml / ney &Ouml / zcebe Co-Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. BariS Binici May 2009, 162 pages FRP retrofitting allows the utilization of brick infill walls as lateral load resisting elements. This practical retrofit scheme is a strong alternative to strengthen low to mid-rise deficient reinforced concrete (RC) structures in Turkey. The advantages of the FRP applications, to name a few, are the speed of construction and elimination of the need for building evacuation during construction. In this retrofit scheme, infill walls are adopted to the existing frame system by using FRP tension ties anchored the boundary frame using FRP dowels. Results of experiments have previously shown that FRP strengthened infill walls can enhance lateral load carrying capacity and reduce damage by limiting interstory drift deformations. In previous, analytical studies, a detailed mathematical model and a simplified version of the model for compression struts and tension ties was proposed and verified by comparing model estimations with test results. In this study, an existing 9-storey deficient RC building located in Antakya was chosen to design and apply a hybrid strengthening scheme with FRPs and reduced number of shear walls. Linear elastic analysis procedure was utilized (force based assessment technique) along with the rules of Mode Superposition Method for the reftrofit design. FRP retrofit scheme was employed using the simplified model and design was conducted such that life safety performance criterion is satisfied employing elastic spectrum with 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years according to the Turkish Earthquake Code 2007. Further analytical studies are performed by using Modal Pushover and Nonlinear Time-History Analyses. At the end of these nonlinear analyses, performance check is performed according to Turkish Earthquake Code 2007, using the strains resulting from the sum of yield and plastic rotations at demand in the critical sections. CFRP retrofitting works started at October 2008 and finished at December 2008 for the building mentioned in this study. Eccentric reinforced concrete shearwall installation is still being undertaken. All construction business is carried out without evacuation of the building occupants. This project is one of the first examples of its kind in Turkey. Keywords: CFRP, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers, Masonry Infill Walls, Reinforced Concrete Infill Walls, Mid-Rise Deficient Structures, Turkish Earthquake Code 2007, Modal Pushover Analysis, Nonlinear Time History Analysis, Linear Elastic Building Assessment