Composite structures provide opportunities for weight reduction, material tailoring and integrating control surfaces with embedded transducers, which are not possible in conventional metallic structures. As a result there is a substantial increase in the use of composite materials in aerospace and other major industries, which has necessitated the need for structural health monitoring(SHM) of aerospace structures. In the context of SHM of aircraft structures, there are many areas, which are still not explored and need deep investigation. Among these, one of the major areas is the development of efficient damage models for complex composite structures, like stiffened structures, box-type structures, which are the building blocks of an aircraft wing structure. Quantification of the defect due to porosity and especially the methods for identifying the porous regions in a composite structure is another such area, which demands extensive research. In aircraft structures, it is not advisable for the structures, to have high porosity content, since it can initiate common defects in composites such as, delamination, matrix cracks etc.. In fact, there is need for a high frequency analysis to detect defects in such complex structures and also to detect damages, where the change in the stiffness due to the damage is very small. Lamb wave propagation based method is one of the efficient high frequency wave based method for damage detection and are extensively used for detecting small damages, which is essentially needed in aircraft industry. However, in order, to develop an efficient Lamb wave based SHM system, we also need an efficient computational wave propagation model. Developing an efficient computational wave propagation model for complex structures is still a challenging area. One of the major difficulty is its computational expense, when the analysis is performed using conventional FEM. However, for 1D And 2D composite structures, frequency domain spectral finite element method (SFEM), which are very effective in sensing small stiffness changes due to a defect in a structure, is one of the efficient tool for developing computationally efficient and accurate wave based damage models. In this work, we extend the efficiency of SFEM in developing damage models, for detecting damages in built-up composite structures and porous composite structure. Finally, in reality, the nature of variability of the material properties in a composite structure, created a variety of structural problems, in which the uncertainties in different parameters play a major part. Uncertainties can be due to the lack of good knowledge of material properties or due to the change in the load and support condition with the change in environmental variables such as temperature, humidity and pressure. The modeling technique is also one of the major sources of uncertainty, in the analysis of composites. In fact, when the variations are large, we can find in the literatures available that the probabilistic models are advantageous than the deterministic ones. Further, without performing a proper uncertain wave propagation analysis, to characterize the effect of uncertainty in different parameters, it is difficult to maintain the reliability of the results predicted by SFEM based damage models. Hence, in this work, we also study the effect of uncertainty in different structural parameters on the performance of the damage models, based on the models developed in the present work. First, two SFEM based models, one based on the method of assembling 2D spectral elements and the other based on the concept of coupling 2D and 1D spectral elements, are developed to perform high frequency wave propagation analysis of some of the commonly used built-up composite structures. The SFEM model developed using the plate-beam coupling approach is then used to model wave propagation in a multiple stiffened structure and also to model the stiffened structures with different cross sections such as T-section, I-section and hat section. Next, the wave propagation in a porous laminated composite beam is modeled using SFEM, based on the modified rule of mixture approach. Here, the material properties of the composite is obtained from the modified rule of mixture model, which are then used in SFEM to develop a new model for solving wave propagation problems in porous laminated composite beam. The influence of the porosity content on the parameters such as wave number, group speed and also the effect of variation in theses parameters on the time responses are studied first. Next, the effect of the length of the porous region (in the propagation direction) and the frequency of loading, on the time responses, is studied. The change in the time responses with the change in the porosity of the structure is used as a parameter to find the porosity content in a composite beam. The SFEM models developed in this study is then used in the context of wave based damage detection, in the next study. First ,the actual measured response from a structure and the numerically obtained response from a SFEM model for porous laminated composite beam are used for the estimation of porosity, by solving a nonlinear optimization problem. The damage force indicator (DFI) technique is used to locate the porous region in a beam and also to find its length, using the measured wave propagation responses. DFI is derived from the dynamic stiffness matrix of the healthy structure along with the nodal displacements of the damaged structure. Next, a wave propagation based method is developed for modeling damage in stiffened composite structures, using SFEM, to locate and quantify the damage due to a crack and skin-stiffener debonding. The method of wave scattering and DFI technique are used to quantify the damage in the stiffened structure. In the uncertain wave propagation analysis, a study on the uncertainty in material parameters on the wave propagation responses in a healthy metallic beam structure is performed first. Both modulus of elasticity and density are considered uncertain and the analysis is performed using Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) under the environment of SFEM. The randomness in the material properties are characterized by three different distributions namely normal, Weibul and extreme value distribution and their effect on wave propagation, in beam is investigated. Even a study is performed on the usage of different beam theories and their uncertain responses due to dynamic impulse load. A study is also conducted to analyze the wave propagation response In a composite structure in an uncertain environment using Neumann expansion blended with Monte-Carlo simulation (NE-MCS) under the environment of SFEM. Neumann expansion method accelerates the MCS, which is required for composites as there are many number of uncertain variables. The effect of the parameters like, fiber orientation, lay-up sequence, number of layers and the layer thickness on the uncertain responses due to dynamic impulse load, is thoroughly analyzed. Finally, a probabilistic sensitivity analysis is performed to estimate the sensitivity of uncertain material and fabrication parameters, on the SFEM based damage models for a porous laminated composite beam. MCS is coupled with SFEM, for the uncertain wave propagation analysis and the Kullback-Leibler relative entropy is used as the measure of sensitivity. The sensitivity of different input variables on the wave number, group speed and the values of DFI, are mainly considered in this study. The thesis, written in nine chapters, presents a unified document on wave propagation in healthy and defective composite structure subjected to both deterministic and highly uncertain environment.

Die vollständige Ausnutzung des Leichtbaupotentials bei der Dimensionierung von mehrschichtigen endlosfaserverstärkten Strukturbauteilen erfordert die Bereitstellung von geeigneten Optimierungswerkzeugen, da bei der Auslegung eine große Anzahl von Entwurfsvariablen zu berücksichtigen sind. In dieser Arbeit werden Optimierungsalgorithmen und -strategien zur Lösung wissenschaftlicher Fragestellungen für industrielle Anwendungen bei der Konstruktion von entsprechenden Faserkunststoffverbunden entwickelt und bewertet. Um das breite Anwendungsspektrum aufzuzeigen, werden drei unterschiedliche repräsentative Problemstellungen bearbeitet. Dabei wird für Mehrschichtverbunde die Festigkeitsoptimierung hinsichtlich eines bruchtypbezogenen Versagenskriteriums vorgenommen, ein Dämpfungsmodell zur Materialcharakterisierung entworfen sowie eine bivalente Optimierungsstrategie zur Auslegung von gewickelten Hochdruckbehältern erstellt. Die Grundlage der entwickelten Methoden bilden dabei jeweils stochastische naturanaloge Optimierungsheuristiken, da die betrachteten Aufgabenstellungen nicht konvex sind und derartige Verfahren flexibel eingesetzt werden können. / The full utilization of the light weight potential in the dimensioning of multilayer fiber reinforced composites requires suitable optimization tools, since a large number of design variables has to be taken into account. In this work, optimization algorithms and strategies for the solution of scientific questions for industrial applications are developed and evaluated in the design of corresponding fiber-plastic composites. In order to show the wide range of applications, three different representative topics have been chosen. It will carry out a strength optimization for multilayer composites with regard to a type-related failure criterion, devolop a damping model for material characterization and established a bivalent optimization strategy for the design of wound high-pressure vessels. The developed methods are based on stochastic natural-analog optimization heuristics, since the considered tasks are not convex and such methods can be used in a very flexible manner.

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo numérico e experimental do comportamento estrutural das ligações viga mista-pilar com cantoneiras de assento e alma. No estudo teórico foi desenvolvido, com base nos EUROCODES 3 e 4, um procedimento para avaliação do comportamento das ligações mistas com cantoneiras de alma e assento e com chapa de topo. O trabalho de investigação experimental, abrangendo modelos submetidos a carregamentos monotônico e cíclico, foi realizado no Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Portugal, em que o objetivo principal foi avaliar a influência da força axial de compressão no pilar para o comportamento do painel da alma do pilar, e conseqüentemente no comportamento global da ligação mista localizada em nó de extremidade. Nos ensaios experimentais foram analisadas as rotações e deformações no painel da alma do pilar sem e com enrijecedor na alma do pilar. Adicionalmente, a eficiência da ancoragem das barras de armadura longitudinal foi verificada. Paralelamente à investigação experimental, um estudo numérico de ligações mistas foi realizado por meio do modelo em elementos finitos, o qual mostrou-se representativo, tornando-se uma ferramenta para análises paramétricas. / This work presents a numerical and experimental study of the structural behavior of beam-to-column composite joints with bottom and web angle connections. In the theoretical study, basing in EUROCODES 3 and 4, an analytic procedure for evaluation the static behavior of beam-to-column composite joints with bottom and web angle connections was developed. The experimental test program, enclosing monotonic tests and a cyclic test, was carried out at the Instituto Superior Técnico of Lisbon (IST), where the main objective was to evaluate the effect of column axial load on column web panel and consequently in the global behavior of single-sided composite joint. In the tests, the panel zone rotations and deformations were analyzed for stiffened and unstiffened column web. In addition, the efficiency of the main rebar was verified. Finally, a thorough of finite element model, a numerical study of composite joints was developed. This model was found to be representative and reliable as a tool to futures parametric analyses.

Este trabalho trata do estudo de um novo perfil metálico a ser empregado como fôrma em lajes mistas (laje com fôrma de aço incorporada). A fôrma é obtida pelo dobramento a frio de chapa zincada e serve para suportar o concreto fresco e sobrecargas durante a fase de construção e para atuar como armadura positiva da laje após a cura do concreto. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas etapas: (i) a análise teórica do perfil de aço isolado de modo a identificar modos de instabilidade e respectivos esforços críticos, referentes à fase de construção, isto é, concreto não colaborante, e (ii) a análise teórica e experimental da laje mista, através do ensaio de protótipos, tendo como propósito determinar a formulação para o dimensionamento baseada no método semiempírico denominado \"método m-k\". Tal método permite determinar equações lineares, sendo \"m\" e \"k\" os coeficientes angular e linear da reta. A análise teórica do perfil de aço foi realizada com o auxílio do programa CUFSM. Na análise experimental foram utilizados 14 protótipos agrupados conforme a espessura da fôrma de aço (0,08 mm 6 protótipos e 1,25 mm 8 protótipos) e variando a altura da laje em 110 mm e 170 mm. Outros dois protótipos também foram ensaiados, ambos com armadura adicional e fôrma de espessura 0,08 mm, onde um continha mossas em sua fôrma e outro não. A determinação das constantes m - k resultou na equação de dimensionamento que fundamenta-se no cisalhamento longitudinal, que é o estado-limite último dominante no projeto de lajes mistas. / This work studies a new steel profile to use as deck in composite slabs (slab with embedded steel deck profile). The deck is obtained by cold-formed and serves to support the fresh concrete and overloads during the construction stage and to act as positive reinforcement of the slab after the wet concrete. Research comprises two steps: (i) theoretical analysis of isolated steel deck profile to identify buckling modes and their critical stress, associated to the construction stage, i.e., not cooperating concrete, and (ii) theoretical and experimental analysis of the composite slab, through of test prototypes, with the purpose to determine the formulation to design based in semiempirical method called \'\"m-k method\". The method allows determining linear equations, where \"m\" and \"k\" are angular and linear coefficients of the function. The theoretical analysis of the steel profile was performed with the aid of CUFSM program. In the experimental prototypes analysis used 14 grouped according to the thickness of the sheeting (0.08 mm - 1.25 mm prototypes and 6 - 8 prototypes) and varying slab height at 110 mm and 170 mm. Two other prototypes were also tested, both with additional armor and thick mold 0.08 mm, where one had dents in your pan and the other not. The determination of the constants m - k resulted in the scaling equation is based on longitudinal shear, which is the state limit last dominant in the design of composite slabs.

Este trabalho trata do estudo de um novo perfil metálico a ser empregado como fôrma em lajes mistas (laje com fôrma de aço incorporada). A fôrma é obtida pelo dobramento a frio de chapa zincada e serve para suportar o concreto fresco e sobrecargas durante a fase de construção e para atuar como armadura positiva da laje após a cura do concreto. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas etapas: (i) a análise teórica do perfil de aço isolado de modo a identificar modos de instabilidade e respectivos esforços críticos, referentes à fase de construção, isto é, concreto não colaborante, e (ii) a análise teórica e experimental da laje mista, através do ensaio de protótipos, tendo como propósito determinar a formulação para o dimensionamento baseada no método semiempírico denominado \"método m-k\". Tal método permite determinar equações lineares, sendo \"m\" e \"k\" os coeficientes angular e linear da reta. A análise teórica do perfil de aço foi realizada com o auxílio do programa CUFSM. Na análise experimental foram utilizados 14 protótipos agrupados conforme a espessura da fôrma de aço (0,08 mm 6 protótipos e 1,25 mm 8 protótipos) e variando a altura da laje em 110 mm e 170 mm. Outros dois protótipos também foram ensaiados, ambos com armadura adicional e fôrma de espessura 0,08 mm, onde um continha mossas em sua fôrma e outro não. A determinação das constantes m - k resultou na equação de dimensionamento que fundamenta-se no cisalhamento longitudinal, que é o estado-limite último dominante no projeto de lajes mistas. / This work studies a new steel profile to use as deck in composite slabs (slab with embedded steel deck profile). The deck is obtained by cold-formed and serves to support the fresh concrete and overloads during the construction stage and to act as positive reinforcement of the slab after the wet concrete. Research comprises two steps: (i) theoretical analysis of isolated steel deck profile to identify buckling modes and their critical stress, associated to the construction stage, i.e., not cooperating concrete, and (ii) theoretical and experimental analysis of the composite slab, through of test prototypes, with the purpose to determine the formulation to design based in semiempirical method called \'\"m-k method\". The method allows determining linear equations, where \"m\" and \"k\" are angular and linear coefficients of the function. The theoretical analysis of the steel profile was performed with the aid of CUFSM program. In the experimental prototypes analysis used 14 grouped according to the thickness of the sheeting (0.08 mm - 1.25 mm prototypes and 6 - 8 prototypes) and varying slab height at 110 mm and 170 mm. Two other prototypes were also tested, both with additional armor and thick mold 0.08 mm, where one had dents in your pan and the other not. The determination of the constants m - k resulted in the scaling equation is based on longitudinal shear, which is the state limit last dominant in the design of composite slabs.

Les structures composites intégrant des transducteurs piézoélectriques au cœur de la matière sont utilisées pour leur capacité à modifier leurs propriétés mécaniques en fonction de l’environnement, à contrôler leur intégrité structurale et à interagir avec l’homme ou avec d’autres structures.Ce travail se concentre sur les phases de conception préliminaire des structures composites intelligentes. Ces phases ne représentent que 5% du coût total d’un projet, mais conditionnent 80% du coût final du produit. Les principaux problèmes rencontrés lors de ces phases de conception préliminaire portent sur la détermination des propriétés matériau des transducteurs piézoélectriques et des matériaux composites utilisés, de l'influence de l'emplacement des transducteurs dans la structure ainsi que de l’influence du processus de fabrication, de la température et des endommagements sur le comportement final des structures composites intelligentes.Dans le processus de fabrication développé à l’Université de Technologies Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM), l’élément-clé est un produit semi-fini appelé “soft layer”. Cette couche permet d’intégrer le réseau de transducteurs piézoélectriques au cœur de la structure composite. Le processus de fabrication de la “soft layer” ainsi que celui des structures intelligentes sont abordés dans cette thèse.Afin de trouver des solutions aux problèmes décrits ci-dessus, deux méthodes de caractérisation de composites intelligents ou adaptatifs sont présentées et utilisées : la méthode dite Resonalyser et la méthode du temps de vol. Après des études expérimentales et une comparaison des résultats obtenus, la méthode du temps de vol a été choisie comme méthode principale en raison de son faible coût de mise en œuvre et du fait qu’il s’agit d’une méthode de caractérisation in-situ. De plus, une nouvelle méthode appelée méthode CMB, basée sur la méthode du temps de vol a été développée afin de pouvoir facilement et rapidement extraire les constantes élastiques, en particulier le coefficient de Poisson.Des analyses expérimentales de sensibilité appliquées aux composites adaptatifs ont été effectuées.Premièrement, l’étude de l’influence de l’emplacement des transducteurs démontre qu’il est nécessaire de tenir compte de la position de la “soft layer” dans la modélisation du comportement de produit final. La position de cette couche dans l’épaisseur du produit a une influence notable sur les fréquences propres ainsi que les amplitudes modales de la structure. Cependant, l’ajout de la “soft layer” n’accroît pas le taux d’amortissement de la structure finale; et sa position dans l’épaisseur n’a aucune influence sur ce taux d’amortissement. La propagation des ondes de Lamb à l’intérieur du composite n’est pas impactée par le “soft layer”.Deuxièmement, l’étude de l’impact du processus de la fabrication nous renseigne sur l’influence notable des divers paramètres de réglage du processus de fabrication sur le comportement final de la structure composite intelligente.Troisièmement, l’étude de l’influence de la température sur des structures constituées de différents matériaux composites montre que le module de Young du produit final décroît quand la température augmente. Mais la diminution du module de Young en fonction de la température est différente selon les et les types de matériaux et les directions des fibres, en particulier pour les structures composites unidirectionnelles. De plus, cette étude montre également la sensibilité de la méthode du temps de vol vis-à-vis de la température. Ce dernier point est par ailleurs consolidé par la comparaison avec des résultats obtenus par une méthode de caractérisation ex-situ standard : l'analyse dynamique de la mécanique (DMA).Enfin, l'étude de l'impact des dommages mécaniques fournit une assez bonne référence pour les recherches futures. De cette façon, il est clair qu’une méthode de temps de vol peut être utilisée dans la surveillance de la santé structurale. / The composite structures embedding piezoelectric implants are developed due to their abilities of modifying mechanical properties according to the environment, of keeping their integrity, of interacting with human beings or with other structures.This study is focused on the preliminary design stages of smart composite structures, which represent only 5% of the total costs of a project, whereas 80% of the life cycle cost are set during the preliminary study phases. The top few problems during the preliminary design of smart composite structures are addressed in this work such as the determination of the material properties of the piezoelectric transducers and composite material used, the influence of transducers location, manufacturing process, temperature and damage on the behavior of the smart composite structures.Due to the manufacturing process developed at the Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM), the most important element is a semi-finished product called “soft layer”. This special layer is used to embed the transducers system into the composite structures. The manufacturing process of “soft layer” as well as the smart composite structures are compiled in this report.In order to solve the problems described above, two characterization methods of composite material (Resonalyser method and Time-of-Flight method (T-o-F method)), are introduced and discussed. After experimental studies and comparing the results of these two methods, the T-o-F method is chosen as the main method for the following studies due to the fact that it is a low-cost and in-situ characterization method. Furthermore, a new method based on the T-o-F method is developed to easily and quickly extract the elastic constants, in particular the Poisson’s ratio.Experimental sensitivity analyses applied to the smart composite structures are performed with respect to the problems describes above. First of all, the study of the influence of transducers location demonstrates that the "soft layer” cannot be neglected to model the behavior of the final product. In particular, the through-the-thickness position has an influence on the eigenfrequencies and the modal amplitudes. However, the "soft layer” does not increase the overall damping ratio of the final structures and the through-the-thickness position of the "soft layer” has no influence on the damping ratios. The Lamb wave propagation inside the composite material is not impacted by the "soft layer”. Secondly, the study of the impact of manufacturing process demonstrates that the impact of variability of parameters due to the manufacturing process is very important on the final response of the structure. Thirdly, the study of the influence of temperature on different kinds of smart composite structures proves that when temperature increases, the Young’s modulus of the smart composites decreases. But the attenuation of Young’s modulus according to temperature is different along different fiber directions, especially for the unidirectional composite structures. Furthermore, in this study, the sensitivity of Time-of-Flight method with respect to temperature is well proved by comparing the results with a traditional method like Dynamic-Mechanical Analysis (DMA). Last but not least, the study of the impact of the mechanical damage gives a quite good reference for the future investigations. Along this way, it is possible to use a Time-of-Flight method in Structural Health Monitoring. In addition, some smart composite structures manufactured by the research team are given and their potential applications are discussed.

In recent years, use of composites is increasing in most fields of engineering such as aerospace, automotive, civil construction, marine, prosthetics, etc., because of its light weight, very high specific strength and stiffness, corrosion resistance, high thermal resistance etc. It can be seen that the specific strength of fibers are many orders more compared to metals. Thus, laminated fiber reinforced plastics have emerged to be attractive materials for many engineering applications. Though the uses of composites are enormous, there is always an element of fuzziness in the design of composites. Composite structures are required to be designed to resist high stresses. For this, one requires a reliable failure criterion. The anisotropic behaviour of composites makes it very difficult to formulate failure criteria and experimentally verify it, which require one to perform necessary bi-axial tests and plot the failure envelopes. Failure criteria are usually based on certain assumption, which are some times questionable. This is because, the failure process in composites is quite complex. The failure in a composite is normally based on initiating failure mechanisms such as fiber breaks, fiber compressive failure, matrix cracks, matrix crushing, delamination, disbonds or a combination of these. The initiating failure mechanism is the one, which is/are responsible for initiating failure in a laminated composites. Initiating failure mechanisms are generally dependant on the type of loading, geometry, material properties, condition of manufacture, boundary conditions, weather conditions etc. Since, composite materials exhibit directional properties, their applications and failure conditions should be properly examined and in addition to this, robust computational tools have to be exploited for the design of structural components for efficient utilisation of these materials. Design of structural components requires reliable failure criteria for the safe design of the components. Several failure criteria are available for the design of composite laminates. None of the available anisotropic strength criteria represents observed results sufficiently accurate to be employed confidently by itself in design. Most of the failure criteria are validated based on the available uniaxial test data, whereas, in practical situations, laminates are subjected to at least biaxial states of stresses. Since, the generation of biaxial test data are very difficult and time consuming to obtain, it is indeed a necessity to develop computational tools for modelling the biaxial behavior of the composite laminates. Understanding of the initiating failure mechanisms and the development of reliable failure criteria is an essential prerequisite for effective utilization of composite materials. Most of the failure criteria, considers the uniaxial test data with constant shear stress to develop failure envelopes, but in reality, structures are subjected to biaxial normal stresses as well as shear stresses. Hence, one can develop different failure envelopes depending upon the percentage of the shear stress content. As mentioned earlier, safe design of the composite structural components require reliable failure criterion. Currently two broad approaches, namely, (1) Damage Tolerance Based Design and (2)Failure Criteria Based Design are in use for the design of laminated structures in aerospace industry. Both approaches have some limitations. The damage tolerance based design suffers from a lack of proper definition of damage and the inability of analytical tools to handle realistic damage. The failure criteria based design, although relatively, more attractive in view of the simplicity, it forces the designer to use unverified design points in stress space, resulting in unpredictable failure conditions. Generally, failure envelopes are constructed using 4 or 5 experimental constants. In this type of approach, small experimental errors in these constants lead to large shift in the failure boundaries raising doubts about the reliability of the boundary in some segments. Further, they contain segments which have no experimental support and so can lead to either conservative or nonconservative designs. Conservative design leads to extra weight, a situation not acceptable in aerospace industry. Whereas, a nonconservative design, is obviously prohibitive, as it implies failure. Hence, both the damage tolerance based design and failure criteria based design have limitations. A new method, which combines the advantages of both the approaches is desirable. This issue is also thoroughly debated in many international conference on composites. Several pioneers in the composite industry indicated the need for further research work in the development of reliable failure criteria. Hence, this is motivated to carry out research work for the development of new failure criterion for the design of composite structures. Several experts meetings held world wide towards the assessment of existing failure theories and computer codes for the design of composite structures. One such meeting is the experts meeting held at United Kingdom in 1991.This meeting held at St. Albans(UK) on ’Failure of Polymeric Composites and Structures: Mechanisms and Criteria for the Prediction of Performance’, in 1991 by UK Science & Engineering Council and UK Institute of Mechanical Engineers. After thorough deliberations it was concluded that 1. There is no universal definition of failure of composites. 2. There is little or lack of faith in the failure criteria that are in current use and 3. There is a need to carry out World Wide Failure Exercise(WWFE) Based on the experts suggestions, Hinton and Soden initiated the WWFE in consultation with Prof.Bryan Harris (Editor, Journal of Composite Science and Tech-nology)to have a program to get comparative assessment of existing failure criteria and codes with following aims 1. Establish the current level of maturity of theories for predicting the failure response of fiber reinforced plastic(FRP)laminates. 2. Closing the knowledge gap between theoreticians and design practitioners in this field. 3. Stimulating the composites’ community into providing design engineers with more robust and accurate failure prediction methods, and the confidence to use them. The organisers invited pioneers in the composite industry for the program of WWFE. Among the pioneer in the composite industry Professor Hashin declined to participate in the program and had written a letter to the organisers saying that, My only work in this subject relates to failure criteria of unidirectional fiber composites, not to laminates. I do not believe that even the most complete information about failure of single plies is sufficient to predict the failure of a laminate, consisting of such plies. A laminate is a structure which undergoes a complex damage process (mostly of cracking) until it finally fails. The analysis of such a process is a prerequisite for failure analysis. ”While significant advances have been made in this direction we have not yet arrived at the practical goal of failure prediction”. Another important conference held in France in 1999, Composites for the next Millennium (Proceedingof Symposium in honor of S.W.Tsaion his 70th Birth Day Torus, France, July 2-3, 1999, pp.19.) also concludedon similar line to the meeting held at UK in 1991. Paul A Lagace and S. Mark Spearing, have pointed out that, by referring to the article on ’Predicting Failure in Composite Laminates: the background to the exercise’, by M.J.Hinton & P.D.Soden, Composites Science and Technology, Vol.58, No.7(1998), pp.1005. ”After Over thirty years of work ’The’ composite failure criterion is still an elusive entity”. Numerous researchers have produced dozens of approaches. Hundreds of papers, manuscripts and reports were written and presentations made to address the latest thoughts, add data to accumulated knowledge bases and continue the scholarly debate. Thus, the out come of these experts meeting, is that, there is a need to develop new failure theories and due to complexities associated with experimentation, especially getting bi-axial data, computational methods are the only viable alternative. Currently, biaxial data on composites is very limited as the biaxial testing of laminates is very difficult and standardization of biaxial data is yet to be done. All these experts comments and suggestions motivated us to carry out research work towards the development of new failure criterion called ’Failure Mechanism Based Failure Criterion’ based on initiating failure mechanisms. The objectives of the thesis are 1. Identification of the failure mechanism based failure criteria for the specific initiating failure mechanism and to assign the specific failure criteria for specific initiating failure mechanism, 2. Use of the ’failure mechanism based design’ method for composite pressurant tanks and to evaluate it, by comparing it with some of the standard ’failure criteria’ based designs from the point of view of overall weight of the pressurant tank, 3. Development of new failure criterion called ’Failure Mechanism Based Failure Criterion’ without shear stress content and the corresponding failure envelope, 4. Development of different failure envelopes with the effect of shear stress depending upon the percentage of shear stress content and 5. Design of composite laminates with the Failure Mechanism Based Failure Criterion using optimization techniques such as Genetic Algorithms(GA) and Vector Evaluated Particle Swarm Optimization(VEPSO) and the comparison of design with other failure criteria such as Tsai-Wu and Maximum Stress failure criteria. The following paragraphs describe about the achievement of these objectives. In chapter 2, a rectangular panel subjected to boundary displacements is used as an example to illustrate the concept of failure mechanism based design. Composite Laminates are generally designed using a failure criteria, based on a set of standard experimental strength values. Failure of composite laminates involves different failure mechanisms depending upon the stress state and so different failure mechanisms become dominant at different points on the failure envelope. Use of a single failure criteria, as is normally done in designing laminates, is unlikely to be satisfactory for all combination of stresses. As an alternate use of a simple failure criteria to identify the dominant failure mechanism and the design of the laminate using appropriate failure mechanism based criteria is suggested in this thesis. A complete 3-D stress analysis has been carried out using a general purpose NISA Finite Element Software. Comparison of results using standard failure criteria such as Maximum Stress, Maximum Strain, Tsai-Wu, Yamada-Sun, Maximum Fiber Strain, Grumman, O’brien, & Lagace, indicate substantial differences in predicting the first ply failure. Results for Failure Load Factors, based on the failure mechanism based approach are included. Identification of the failure mechanism at highly stressed regions and the design of the component, to withstand an artificial defect, representative this failure mechanism, provides a realistic approach to achieve necessary strength without adding unnecessary weight to the structure. It is indicated that the failure mechanism based design approach offers a reliable way of assessing critically stressed regions to eliminate the uncertainties associated with the failure criteria. In chapter 3, the failure mechanism based design approach has been applied to a composite pressurant tanks of upper stages of launch vehicles and propulsion systems of space crafts. The problem is studied using the failure mechanism based design approach, by introducing an artificial matrix crack representative of the initiating failure mechanism in the highly stressed regions and the strain energy release rate (SERR) are calculated. The total SERR value is obtained as 3330.23 J/m2, which is very high compared to the Gc(135 J/m2) value, which means the crack will grow further. The failure load fraction at which the crack has a tendency to grow is estimated to be 0.04054.Results indicates that there are significant differences in the failure load fraction for different failure criteria.Comparison with Failure Mechanism Based Criterion (FMBC) clearly indicates matrix cracks occur at loads much below the design load yet fibers are able to carrythe design load. In chapter 4, a Failure Mechanism Based Failure Criterion(FMBFC)has been proposed for the development of failure envelope for unidirectional composite plies. A representative volume element of the laminate under local loading is micromechanically modelled to predict the experimentally determined strengths and this model is then used to predict points on the failure envelope in the neighborhood of the experimental points. The NISA finite element software has been used to determine the stresses in the representative volume element. From these micro-stresses, the strength of the lamina is predicted. A correction factor is used to match the prediction of the present model with the experimentally determined strength so that, the model can be expected to provide accurate prediction of the strength in the neighborhood of the experimental points. A procedure for the construction of the failure envelope in the stress space has been outlined and the results are compared with the some of the standard and widely used failure criteria in the composite industry. Comparison of results with the Tsai-Wu failure criterion shows that there are significant differences, particularly in the third quadrant, when the ply is under bi-axial compressive loading. Comparison with maximum stress criterion indicates better correlation. The present failure mechanism based failure criterion approach opens a new possibility of constructing reliable failure envelopes for bi-axial loading applications, using the standard uniaxialtest data. In chapter 5, the new failure criterion for laminated composites developed based on initiating failure mechanism as mentioned in chapter 4 for without shear stress condition is extended to obtain the failure envelopes with the shear stress condition. The approach is based on Micromechanical analysis of composites, wherein a representative volume consists of a fiber surrounded by matrix in appropriate volume fraction and modeled using 3-D finite elements to predict the strengths.In this chapter, different failure envelopes are developed by varying shear stress say from 0% of shear strength to 100% of shear strength in steps of 25% of shear strength. Results obtained from this approach are compared with Tsai-Wu and Maximum stress failure criteria. The results show that the predicted strengths match more closely with maximum stress criterion. Hence, it can be concluded that influence of shear stress on the failure of the lamina is of little consequence as far as the prediction of strengths in laminates. In chapter 6, the failure mechanism based failure criterion, developed by the authors is used for the design optimization of the laminates and the percentage savings in total weight of the laminate is presented. The design optimization of composite laminates are performed using Genetic Algorithms. The genetic algorithm is one of the robust tools available for the optimum design of composite laminates. The genetic algorithms employ techniques originated from biology and dependon the application of Darwin’s principle of survival of the fittest. When a population of biological creatures is permitted to evolve over generations, individual characteristics that are beneficial for survival have a tendency to be passed on to future generations, since individuals carrying them get more chances to breed. In biological populations, these characteristics are stored in chromosomal strings. The mechanics of natural genetics is derived from operations that result in arranged yet randomized exchange of genetic information between the chromosomal strings of the reproducing parents and consists of reproduction, cross over, mutation, and inversion of the chromosomal strings. Here, optimization of the weight of the composite laminates for given loading and material properties is considered. The genetic algorithms have the capability of selecting choice of orientation, thickness of single ply, number of plies and stacking sequence of the layers. In this chapter, minimum weight design of composite laminates is presented using the Failure Mechanism Based(FMB), Maximum Stress and Tsai-Wu failure criteria. The objective is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the newly proposed FMB Failure Criterion(FMBFC) in composite design. The FMBFC considers different failure mechanisms such as fiber breaks, matrix cracks, fiber compressive failure, and matrix crushing which are relevant for different loadin gconditions. FMB and Maximum Stress failure criteria predicts byupto 43 percent savings in weight of the laminates compared to Tsai-Wu failure criterion in some quadrants of the failure envelope. The Tsai-Wu failure criterion over predicts the weight of the laminate by up to 86 percent in the third quadrant of the failure envelope compared to FMB and Maximum Stress failure criteria, when the laminate is subjected to biaxial compressive loading. It is found that the FMB and Maximum Stress failure criteria give comparable weight estimates. The FMBFC can be considered for use in the strength design of composite structures. In chapter 7, Particle swarm optimization is used for design optimization of composite laminates. Particle swarm optimization(PSO)is a novel meta-heuristic inspired by the flocking behaviour of birds. The application of PSO to composite design optimization problems has not yet been extensively explored. Composite laminate optimization typically consists in determining the number of layers, stacking sequence and thickness of ply that gives the desired properties. This chapter details the use of Vector Evaluated Particle Swarm Optimization(VEPSO) algorithm, a multi-objective variant of PSO for composite laminate design optimization. VEPSO is a modern coevolutionary algorithm which employs multiple swarms to handle the multiple objectives and the information migration between these swarms ensures that a global optimum solution is reached. The current problem has been formulated as a classical multi-objective optimization problem, with objectives of minimizing weight of the component for a required strength and minimizing the totalcost incurred, such that the component does not fail. In this chapter, an optimum configuration for a multi-layered unidirectional carbon/epoxy laminate is determined using VEPSO. The results are presented for various loading configurations of the composite structures. The VEPSO predicts the same minimum weight optimization and percentage savings in weight of the laminate when compared to GA for all loading conditions.There is small difference in results predicted by VEPSO and GA for some loading and stacking sequence configurations, which is mainly due to random selection of swarm particles and generation of populations re-spectively.The difference can be prevented by running the same programme repeatedly. The Thesis is concluded by highlighting the future scope of several potential applications based on the developments reported in the thesis.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:28:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 3487297 bytes, checksum: 440345c34c1ab5834f45b26ae9b87375 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work presents the development of a parametric study on Crestbond shear connector through numerical modeling, evaluating its behavior with respect to strength and to the relative displacement between the concrete slab and the shear connector. The study covers the conception and improvement of numerical models for the parametric study, the development of an extensive research on the connector s parameters affecting its behavior, and an equation to predict the connector s ultimate strength, proposed at the end. The numerical models were created within the Finite Element software Abaqus, using nonlinear analysis and the concrete damaged plasticity model. The parametric study consisted on the analysis of 88 numerical simulations of push-out tests, as described on EN 1994-1-1:2004. The connection behavior was studied through these numerical tests. The obtained results allowed to define how each studied parameter influences the connector s behavior. It was also possible to define the desirable characteristics for the connector to be used in practice. In addition to these results, it was proposed a semi-empirical equation to evaluate the connector s ultimate strength which showed excellent correlation with most of the models, both experimental and numerical. / Este trabalho consiste no desenvolvimento de um estudo paramétrico do conector de cisalhamento tipo Crestbond por meio de modelagem numérica, avaliando o comportamento do conector quanto à capacidade resistente e ao deslizamento relativo entre conector e laje. O trabalho envolve o aperfeiçoamento e concepção de modelos numéricos para o estudo do conector, uma ampla investigação dos parâmetros que afetam o comportamento do conector, além da proposição de uma equação para a predição da sua capacidade resistente. Os modelos numéricos utilizados foram elaborados por meio do software de elementos finitos Abaqus, utilizando análise não-linear e o modelo de dano com plasticidade. O estudo paramétrico consistiu na análise de 88 simulações numéricas de ensaios tipo push-out, conforme a EN 1994-1-1:2004. Os resultados obtidos permitiram determinar como cada parâmetro estudado influencia o comportamento do conector e quais as características desejáveis para a aplicação do mesmo. Ao final do trabalho, propôs-se uma expressão semiempírica para a estimativa da carga máxima do conector que apresentou excelente correlação com grande parte dos modelos, tanto experimentais quanto numéricos.

[pt] Um dos métodos adotados para a caracterização das ligações mistas semirrígidas é o método das componentes descrito no Eurocode 3 e no Eurocode 4. O modelo de componentes desenvolvido nesse método considera para a contribuição mista à incorporação da componente da barra de armadura, aspectos relativos ao concreto e a resistência do conector. Porém, o modelo é baseado em suposições ainda não totalmente estudadas quanto à resposta estrutural da parcela mista da ligação, principalmente em regiões de momento negativo. Todo esse aspecto tem limitado o uso do método para o projeto de estruturas mistas. Esse fato motivou a concepção e o desenvolvimento de um programa experimental para investigar as ligações em estruturas mistas, por meio de testes de pull out, considerados os modos de falha devido a ruptura da barra, da ancoragem da barra e da solda dos conectores. Adicionalmente, foi realizada uma investigação da influência da solda dos conectores devido a falha desse elemento no decorrer de alguns ensaios. Os resultados dos ensaios desenvolvidos permitiram que conclusões gerais pudessem ser determinadas e possibilitaram um maior conhecimento sobre a solda e seus impactos ao sistema. A correta utilização de soluções de ligações mistas pode aumentar a competitividade do sistema estrutural, propiciando construções mais econômicas e eficientes. / [en] One of the methods adopted for the characterization of the composite semirigid joints is the method of the components described in Eurocode 3 and Eurocode 4. The model developed in the method considered for the composite contribution the incorporation of reinforcement bar components, aspects related to the concrete and the connector strength. However, the model is based on not fully validated assumptions as to structural response of the composite portion of the joint, mainly negative moment areas. All this aspect has limited the use of the method for the design of composite structures. This fact encouraged to the conception and development of an experimental program to investigate joints in composite structures, by means of pull out tests, considering the failure modes due to rupture of the reinforcement bar, of the anchorage of the bar, and of the weld connectors. Additionally was made a research of the weld connectors influence due to failure of this element in the course of a few pull out tests. The results of the tests developed have allowed general conclusions could be determined and made possible a better understanding of the weld and its impacts to the system. The correct use of composite joints solutions can increase the competitiveness of the structural system, providing more economical and efficient buildings

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Atualmente, as novas tendências arquitetônicas e as exigências de mercado, vêm conduzindo a engenharia estrutural na busca por soluções cada vez mais arrojadas, as quais exigem grande experiência e conhecimento dos projetistas estruturais aliados a utilização de novos materiais e tecnologias. Esta filosofia de concepção estrutural está inserida em uma das mais importantes tendências de projeto dos últimos anos, ou seja: a busca por sistemas estruturais de rápida execução, dotados de peças de menor peso próprio e que possam vencer grandes vãos com um mínimo de elementos verticais, permitindo assim uma maior flexibilidade na adequação de ambientes. Por outro lado, esta filosofia de projeto tem conduzido a elementos estruturais cada vez mais esbeltos e com freqüências naturais cada vez mais baixas e, por conseguinte, mais próximas das faixas de freqüência das excitações dinâmicas associadas às atividades humanas, tais como: andar, correr, pular, etc. Devido as razões expostas no parágrafo anterior, os sistemas estruturais de engenharia tornaram-se bastante vulneráveis aos efeitos de vibrações induzidas por pequenos impactos como é o caso do caminhar de pessoas sobre pisos, resultando em desconforto para as pessoas. Deve-se destacar, ainda, que tais considerações de projeto têm atendido aos estados limites últimos. Todavia, os estados limites de utilização desses sistemas estruturais precisam ser analisados, sem sombra de dúvida, de maneira mais criteriosa. Deste modo, no sentido de contribuir para fornecer subsídios aos engenheiros estruturais, no que tange a análise dinâmica de estruturas submetidas a excitações induzidas pelos seres humanos, são desenvolvidos diversos modelos de carregamento representativos do caminhar das pessoas. A variação espacial e temporal da carga dinâmica é considerada ao longo da análise e, bem como, o efeito transiente do impacto do calcanhar humano nos pisos é levado em conta. Assim sendo, são considerados nesta dissertação diversos modelos estruturais associados a pisos mistos (aço-concreto). Técnicas usuais de discretização, com base no emprego do Método dos Elementos Finitos (MEF), via utilização do programa computacional Ansys, são consideradas neste estudo. Uma análise extensa acerca da resposta dinâmica dos pisos é feita, mediante o emprego dos modelos de carregamento desenvolvidos, principalmente, em termos dos valores das acelerações. Na seqüência, os resultados encontrados são comparados com aqueles fornecidos pela literatura técnica disponível sobre o assunto sob o ponto de vista associado ao conforto humano. Investiga-se, também, a influencia da variação de parâmetros estruturais sobre a resposta dinâmica dos modelos, tais como: comprimento vão, taxa de amortecimento, espessura das lajes e, ainda, rigidez das ligações viga coluna. Os resultados obtidos ao longo do estudo indicam, claramente, que os projetistas estruturais devem ser alertados para distorções importantes que ocorrem quando as normas de projeto são utilizadas sem o devido cuidado. Um outro importante diz respeito ao fato de que em diversos pisos analisados observa-se que os critérios de conforto humano não são satisfeitos, demonstrando a importância da consideração dos efeitos dinâmicos provenientes dos seres humanos na análise desse tipo de problema. / Nowadays, the new architectural tendency and the market requirements, are leading structural engineering in the search for bolder solutions, which demands great experience and knowledge of the structural designers associated to the use of new materials and technologies. This philosophy of structural conception is inserted in one of the most important trends of project of the last years that means: the search for structural systems of fast execution, endowed with parts of lower weight and that can be successfully large with a minimum of vertical elements, thus allowing a higher flexibility in the ambients adequacy. On the other hand, this project philosophy has lead to structural elements more and more slender and with natural frequencies much and much lower and, therefore, closer to the frequency of the dynamic excitation associated to the human beings activities, such as: walking, running, jumping, etc. Due to the reasons described in the previous paragraph, the structural engineering systems became sufficiently vulnerable to the effects of vibrations induced by small impacts as it is the case of walking of people on floors, resulting in discomfort to the people. It must be highlighted, also, that such project considerations have fulfilled the required limit states. However, the limit states of use for these structural systems need to be analysed, with no doubt, in a more sensible way. In this way, willing to contribute to supply subsidies to the structural engineers, in the dynamic analysis of structures subject to excitation induced by human beings, several loads models are developed to represent the act of walking. The space and time variation of the dynamic load is considered through the analysis and the transient effect of the impact of the human heel on the floor is taken into consideration, as well. In this way, It is considered in this dissertation, several structural models associated to composite floors (steel-concrete). In this study, it was considered the usual techniques of discretization, based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) using the computer program Ansys. An extensive analysis concerning the dynamic response of the floors is made, by means of the application of the developed load models, mainly, in terms of the values of the accelerations. The results obtained are compared to those supplied by the techinical literature available about the subject with the point of view associated to the human comfort. It is also investigated, the influence of the structural parameter variation on the dynamic response of the models, such as: span length, damping ratio, thickness of the slab and, also, rigidity of the beam columns. The results obtained along the study clearly indicate that the structural designers must be alerted to important distortions that may occur when the project rules are used without the necessary caution. Another important remark is regarded to the fact that in several analysed floors it is observed that the criteria of human comfort are not satisfied which demonstrate the importance of the consideration of the dynamic effect caused by human beings in the analysis of this type of problem.