La problématique récente de la conception de métamatériaux a renouvelé l'intérêt dans les théories de l'homogénéisation en régime dynamique. En particulier, la théorie de l'homogénéisation élastodynamique initiée par J.R. Willis a reçu une attention particulière suite à des travaux sur l'invisibilité élastique. La présente thèse reformule la théorie de Willis dans le cas des milieux périodiques, examine ses implications et évalue sa pertinence physique au sens de quelques ``conditions d'homogénéisabilité'' qui sont suggérées. En se basant sur les résultats de cette première partie, des développements asymptotiques approximatifs de la théorie de Willis sont explorés en relation avec les théories à gradient. Une condition nécessaire de convergence montre alors que toutes les branches optiques de la courbe de dispersion sont omises quand des développements asymptotiques de Taylor de basse fréquence et de longue longueur d'onde sont déployés. Enfin, une nouvelle théorie de l'homogénéisation est proposée. On montre qu'elle généralise la théorie de Willis et qu'elle l'améliore en moyenne fréquence de sorte qu'on retrouve certaines branches optiques omises auparavant. On montre également que le milieu homogène effectif défini par la nouvelle théorie est un milieu généralisé dont les champs satisfont une version élastodynamique généralisée du lemme de Hill-Mandel / The recent issue of metamaterials design has renewed the interest in homogenization theories under dynamic loadings. In particular, the elastodynamic homogenization theory initiated by J.R. Willis has gained special attention while studying elastic cloaking. The present thesis reformulates Willis theory for periodic media, investigates its outcome and assesses its physical suitability in the sense of a few suggested ``homogenizability conditions''. Based on the results of this first part, approximate asymptotic expansions of Willis theory are explored in connection with strain-gradient media. A necessary convergence condition then shows that all optical dispersion branches are lost when long-wavelength low-frequency Taylor asymptotic expansions are carried out. Finally, a new homogenization theory is proposed to generalize Willis theory and improve it at finite frequencies in such a way that selected optical branches, formerly lost, are recovered. It is also proven that the outcome of the new theory is an effective homogeneous generalized continuum satisfying a generalized elastodynamic version of Hill-Mandel lemma

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-11-18T11:33:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Keila Costa De Oliveira.pdf: 2626779 bytes, checksum: f513955f2c5a8bcebd6f9dc0f0d113e5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-18T11:33:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Keila Costa De Oliveira.pdf: 2626779 bytes, checksum: f513955f2c5a8bcebd6f9dc0f0d113e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-23 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / En esta tesis se describe y analiza la formación continuada de los profesionales de las redes públicas de salud y educación para la prevención de ETS / SIDA, desarrollada por el Grupo de Dirección de Salud y Educación en la ciudad de Guarulhos (SP, Brasil). El análisis se centra en una visión intersectorial y en las acciones encaminadas a la prevención, como mediaciones de salud en cuanto derecho y en el papel de la escuela como espacio de superación de prejuicios y de construcción de ciudadanía. La investigación se caracteriza como documental y descriptiva, con enfoque cuantitativo y cualitativo, dirigido principalmente para los documentos organizados e interpretados de acuerdo con los objetivos de la investigación. Formar profesionales y fomentar el protagonismo de los jóvenes en el contexto de la prevención de ETS / SIDA son las respuestas programáticas que el Grupo de Dirección de Salud y Educación se ha venido desarrollando durante los últimos diez años / Esta dissertação descreve e analisa a Educação Continuada de profissionais das redes públicas de saúde e de ensino para a prevenção das DST/aids, desenvolvida pelo Grupo Gestor Saúde e Educação, no município de Guarulhos. A análise centra-se na intersetorialidade e nas ações voltadas à prevenção, como mediações da saúde como direito e do papel da escola como espaço de superação de preconceitos e de construção da cidadania. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como documental e descritiva, com abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa, focada primordialmente em documentos organizados e interpretados de acordo com os objetivos da investigação. Formar profissionais e incentivar o protagonismo juvenil no contexto da prevenção das DST/aids são respostas programáticas que o Grupo Gestor Saúde e Educação vem desenvolvendo, ao longo dos últimos dez anos

INTRODUÇÃO: A encefalite de Rasmussen (ER) é uma doença rara e esporádica, apresentando-se como uma síndrome com disfunção cerebral multifocal e convulsões focais refratárias ao tratamento medicamentoso, por vezes se manifestando com epilepsia parcial contínua. O início das crises focais predomina na infância e afeta crianças previamente hígidas, com curso progressivo. Na maioria das vezes envolve apenas um hemisfério cerebral, que se torna atrófico. O diagnóstico é feito através da análise do eletroencefalograma, características clínicas, achados de ressonância magnética (RM) e/ou achados histopatológicos. A RM encefálica é particularmente útil no estudo destes doentes, fornecendo dados que podem contribuir para o diagnóstico, ajudar na seleção do local para biópsia, assim como no acompanhamento da evolução progressiva da doença. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Foram coletados os dados demográficos, avaliações neuropsicológicas, dados cirúrgicos e achados de imagem de todos os pacientes diagnosticados com ER no HCFMRP, de 1997-2016. RESULTADOS: Foram incluídos 35 pacientes com média de idade de 5,8 anos. Setenta por cento destes apresentaram-se com epilepsia parcial contínua e 29 tiveram também a confirmação histopatológica. Não houve nenhum caso de acometimento bilateral confirmado nesta amostra. Os achados de imagem mais comuns foram alteração de sinal, atrofia focal ou hemisférica e dilatação ventricular, em graus variados. Trinta e três pacientes foram submetidos ao tratamento cirúrgico. CONCLUSÕES: A definição da conduta e tratamento dos pacientes com ER deve ser discutida por equipe multidisciplinar, levando em consideração os achados clínicos, EEG e de exames de imagem, com objetivo de controlar as crises a fim de minimizar os déficits cognitivos, motores e de linguagem destes pacientes. / INTRODUCTION: Rasmussen encephalitis (RE) is a rare and sporadic disease, presenting as a multifocal brain dysfunction and focal seizures, refractory to drug treatment, sometimes manifesting with continuous partial epilepsy. The onset of seizures predominates in childhood, and affects previously healthy children with progressive course. Most often involves one cerebral hemisphere, which becomes atrophic. Diagnosis is made through EEG analysis, clinical, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and/or histopathological findings. Brain MRI is particularly useful, and provides data that can contribute to the diagnosis, help in site selection for biopsy, as well as in monitoring the progressive course of the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected demographic data, neuropsychological evaluations, surgical and imaging findings of all patients diagnosed with RE in HCFMRP, from 1997-2016. RESULTS: It included 35 patients with a mean age of 5.8 years. Seventy percent of these presented with continuous partial epilepsy and 29 also had histopathologic confirmation. There were no cases of confirmed bilateral involvement in this sample. The most common imaging findings were signal change , focal or hemispheric atrophy and ventricular dilatation , in varying degrees. Thirtythree patients underwent surgical treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The definition of management and treatment of patients with ER should be discussed by a multidisciplinary team, taking into account the clinical, EEG and imaging findings, in order to control seizures and minimize cognitive, motor and language deficits of these patients.

A presente tese buscou investigar de que maneira o desenvolvimento de uma proposta de trabalho colaborativo, num contexto de formação continuada, entre professoras da educação infantil e profissionais do museu pode possibilitar a transformação da prática e o empoderamento destes, para o trabalho que envolve a visita da criança pequena ao museu de arte. Os principais pressupostos teóricos adotados envolveram os estudos sobre educação museal de Acaso, Camnitzer, Mörsch, Huerta, Alderoqui; sobre educação Infantil e educação infantil no museu os trabalhos de Sarmento; Leite, Fallon e Chavepeyer e Abad, e sobre formação continuada, formação cultural e trabalho colaborativo, Marcelo García, Nóvoa, Alarcão, Kramer, Leite e Ostetto Arslan e Iavelberg, Nogueira, Carvalho, Martins, Day, Imbernón, Rodrigo, Eça, Rodríguez, Arriaga e Coca. O caminho metodológico inserido no campo da educação e das artes visuais seguiu uma linha de investigação qualitativa, com viés metodológico da pesquisa intervenção fundamentado em Nóvoa, Castro e Besset, Uziel e Moreira. O trabalho de campo uniu professoras da educação infantil da Cidade de Curitiba (PR) e profissionais do Museu de Municipal de Arte de Curitiba (MuMA) na formação denominada “Para Habitar o Museu com o Público Infantil”, a qual gerou a exposição “Com Olhos de Criança: o acervo do MuMA”. Os dados gerados constituíram o corpus de análise formado por narrativas escritas e de imagem, observação participante e notas de campo desenvolvidas durante o processo formativo. As conclusões indicam que a formação cultural inserida no processo de formação continuada, como formação colaborativa, é uma possibilidade de contribuir no desenvolvimento profissional de professores da infância e de profissionais do museu, necessário para que as crianças pequenas possam habitar o museu de arte. / Esta tesis tuvo como objetivo investigar cómo el desarrollo de una propuesta en colaboración en el contexto de la educación contínua, incluidos los profesoras de la educación infantil y los profesionales de los museos puede permitir la transformación de la práctica y el empoderamiento de éstos, para el trabajo que implica la visita de los niños pequeños al museo de arte. Los principales supuestos teóricos adoptados envuelve el estudio de la educación en los museos de Acaso, Camnitzer, Mörsch, Huerta, Alderoqui; en la educación infantil y la educación infantil en el museo el trabajo de Sarmento; Leite, Fallon y Chavepeyer, Abad y en la formación continua, formación cultural y el trabajo colaborativo, Marcelo García, Nóvoa, Alarcão, Kramer, Leite y Ostetto, Arslan y Iavelberg, Nogueira, Carvalho, Martins, Day, Imbernón, Rodrigo, Eça, Rodríguez, Arriaga, Coca. El camino metodológico introducido en el campo de la educación y las artes visuales siguió una línea de investigación cualitativa basada en la investigación intervención y los supuestos metodológicos de Nóvoa, Castro y Besset, Uziel y Moreira. El trabajo de campo se unió a los maestros de educación infantil de la ciudad de Curitiba (PR) y profesionales del Museo Municipal de Arte de Curitiba (Muma) en la formación denominada "Para habitar el Museo con el publico infantil", que genero la exposición "Con los ojos de niño: la colección del MuMA". Los datos generados fueron el corpus de análisis formado por la narrativa escrita y de la imagen, la observación participante y las notas de campo desarrolladas durante el proceso de formación. Los resultados indican que la formación cultural en el proceso de educación continua como formación colaborativo, es una posibilidad de contribuir al desarrollo profesional de los maestros de la educación infantil y profesionales de los museos, necesarios para que los niños pequeños puedan habitar el museo de arte.

Cette thèse est consacrée à la modélisation des structures fibreuses avec des milieuxcontinus généralisés. Dans l’Introduction, l'état de l'art concernant les milieuxcontinus généralisée et applications aux structures fibreuses sont décrits et lesproblèmes ouverts pertinents sont mis en évidence. Dans le Chapitre 1 et 2, uneprocédure d'homogénéisation rigoureuse basée sur des arguments de Gammaconvergenceest appliquée à une structure en treillis et à un model de poutrediscrétisé. Dans le Chapitre 3, un traitement variationnel est utilisé pour formuler unapproche favorable du point de vue numérique. Dans le Chapitre 4 sont discutées lesrésultats expérimentaux concernant le comportement de la structure dans différentstypes de déformation. Cela à motivé les études effectuées dans le Chapitre 5, ou lesMéthodes directes de calcul des variations sont appliquées à poutres d’Euler engrandes déformations. / This thesis focuses on the mathematical modeling of fibrous structures having somepeculiar properties (high strength-to-weight ratio and very good toughness infracture), whose mechanical behavior escapes from standard Cauchy elasticity. Inparticular, it addresses cases in which the presence of a microstructure, consisting ofregularly spaced pivoted beams, entails effects that are well described by generalizedcontinuum models, i.e. models in which the deformation energy density depends notonly on the gradient of the placement but also on the second (and possibly higher)gradients of it. In the Introduction, the state of the art concerning generalizedcontinua and their applications for the description of fibrous structures is describedand some relevant open problems are highlighted. In Chapter 1 and 2 a rigoroushomogenization procedure based on Gamma-convergence arguments is performedfor a lattice (truss-like) structure and for a discrete 1D system (Hencky-type beammodel). In Chapter 3, a variational treatment is employed to formulate acomputationally convenient approach. In Chapter 4 some experimental resultsconcerning the behavior of the structure in various kinds of deformation arediscussed. This motivated the investigation performed in Chapter 5, in which DirectMethods of Calculus of Variations are applied to Euler beams in large deformationsunder distributed load.

In relazione all'insegnamento, pare opportuno concentrare l'attenzione su di una peculiare forma di conoscenza prodotta nella e per la pratica professionale, il sapere d'azione, oggetto di studio soprattutto nel contesto francofono. L'ipotesi generale di ricerca che fonda il presente studio risulta incentrata sull'analisi, in prospettiva pedagogica, di tre dimensioni-chiave (la ricerca, la pratica riflessiva e la diffusione delle innovazioni e del cambiamento in ambito scolastico) che concorrono alla costruzione di tale sapere, considerato componente essenziale nello sviluppo professionale degli insegnanti. la riflessione su questi temi orienta la messa a punto di un sistema di analisi e descrizione delle iniziative di formazione continua attuate in sinergia fra il mondo della scuola e quello della ricerca scientifica.

Des de l'inici de la meva activitat laboral a final dels anys setanta he viscut experiències de implantació de Equips de Millora en diverses empreses del nostre entorn industrial, algunes de les quals formaven part de grups multinacionals. Aquestes experiències seguient els mètodes de diversos experts internacionals. Malgrat els esforços esmerçats en el llançament, en molts casos aquests no es veien recompensats pels resultats obtinguts, i l'activitat dels Equips s'anava progressivament abandonant. Tanmateix els experts, tant els tècnics com els psicòlegs industrials, han continuat sempre afirmant la bondat d'aquestes pràctiques, que s'ofereixen en el mercat sota denominacions com «Mètode Juran», «Mètode Deming» o «Six Sigma».¿Perquè una activitat en teoria tant beneficiosa és tan difícil de portar a la pràctica? ¿Quins són els factors que afavoreixen l'èxit i la continuïtat dels Equips?L'estudi de les principals metodologies disponibles en el mercat, dels mecanismes del procés d'aprenentatge, de les informacions aportades per un grup de 15 empreses, i de la experiència pròpia en una empresa pilot ens ha permès proposar i provar un model que dona resposta a les preguntes exposades.Fins on hem vist totes les metodologies proposades pels experts tenen un tronc comú, que correspon al que també coneixem com mètode científic, de manera que es poden considerar com variacions d'aquest. Si l'èxit dels Equips no depèn del mètode, doncs tan sols n'hi ha un, haurà de dependre de aspectes complementaris al mètode. Com que es tracta de emprar el mètode científic en una empresa, els aspectes de contorn seran aquells lligats a les condicions de treball en les empreses, i específicament al factor humà i a les complexitats tècniques i de relació del dia a dia. Hem après que en aquest context les persones ens comportem com si genèticament (memèticament) tinguéssim un mecanisme de rebuig a tota mena de canvis en el nostre entorn laboral, anàleg al mecanisme genètic de rebuig del nostre sistema immunològic. També hem après que les complexitats psicològiques i tècniques augmenten les probabilitats de cometre errors, la qual cosa juga a favor del mecanisme de rebuig esmentat.Per tant si volem augmentar les probabilitats d'èxit i de continuïtat haurem de prestar atenció a neutralitzar aquest sistema immunològic mental i a involucrar especialistes en navegar per les complexitats, tant tècniques com psicològiques.Basant-me en aquests fets he desenvolupat un model per a la implantació de programes de millora a les organitzacions que contempla tant els aspectes tècnics, com organitzatius i humans, que és la principal contribució de la tesi i que ha estat posat en pràctica amb èxit a la empresa pilot.La «autopoièsi», que és com hem anomenat aquest fenomen de resistència innata als canvis, l'hem combatut amb la única eina que hem trobat eficaç : les tècniques de comunicació. La complexitat l'hem afrontat amb persones expertes en pensament sistèmic, i en mètode científic i les seves eines estadístiques. A aquests experts els hem anomenat Facilitadors. Amb aquests elements en un any hem aconseguit completar 28 projectes de millora, que han tingut uns beneficis bruts superiors a 2.5 Milions d' , amb un cost total de 0.75 Milions d' . Això significa una relació Benefici/Cost de 3.3, o bé una rendibilitat financera equivalent mitja del 73% o del 184% en el casos més desfavorables de càlcul dels beneficis, i depenent del tipus de Equip utilitzat.Considero els resultats prou engrescadors, tot reconeixent les limitacions de una prova restringida a una sola empresa. Per a mi és clar que aquest tipus de activitat és molt rendible en termes relatius, i lamentablement també ha quedat clar que l'autopoièsi es extremadament potent: a l'empresa hi ha persones que han continuat sempre negant la evidència dels resultats aconseguits, malgrat estar aquests validats pel departament financer. Tot i les dificultats l'activitat continua, i ja portem 3 anys. / From the beginning of my professional life at the end of the seventies I've witnessed Quality Improvement Teams implementation experiences in several companies of my industrial environment, most of them belonging to multinational groups. Those experiences were implemented following models proposed by international experts. In most cases the efforts spent in launching those activities very rarely were compensated by good results, and thus Teams activity was progressively abandoned. But both technical experts and psychologists still continued claiming the adequation of such methods, that are available in the market under names such as «Juran Method», «Deming Method» or «Six Sigma».¿Why such in theory good practices are so difficult to implement in real life? ¿Which are the factors that will facilitate us to achieve implementation success and continuity of Improvement Teams activity?The analysis of the most popular «methodologies» available in the market, of learning processes mechanisms, of informations supplied by a group of 15 companies, and of our own pilot experience in a company has allowed us to propose and test an implementation model that enables us to respond the exposed questions.As far as we've seen all the methodologies proposed by the experts have a common structure, that corresponds to what we also know as «scientific method», and so all the methods can be taken as variations of it. So, there's only one method. If Teams success does not depend on the method (there's only one, so no choice), it must depend on complementary aspects. Since we're trying to use scientific method in a company, the complementary aspects will surely be those reflecting the working environment in a company, and specifically the human factor and the technical and relational complexities of the day to day life. We've learnt that in this context people behave as we all had a genetic (memetic) mechanism of rejection of all kind of changes in our working environment, in analogy to our inmunologic rejection genetic mechanism. We've also learnt that psychological and technical complexities increase our risk of making mistakes, which is something in favour of the rejection mentioned mechanism, and thus preventing success.So if we want to increase the success and continuity probabilities we will have to devote special attention to neutralise the effects of this mental inmunologis mechanism and involve specialists in «navigate complexities», both technical and psychological.Based on those facts I've developed an Organisational Improvement Program implementation model, taking into account technical, organisational and human behavioural aspects, being this model the main contribution of this work. The model has been successfully implemented in a pilot company.We've fought «autopoiesis» (this is how we've called the change rejection mechanism) with the only effective tool we've found : communication techniques. We've faced complexity with the help of experts in systems thinking, and scientific method and its statistical tools. We've called those experts Facilitators. With those elements in one year we've managed to close 28 team improvement projects, with total gross savings higher Than 2.5 Million , with a total cost of 0.75 Million . That means a ratio Benefit/Cost of 3.3, or a financial equivalent mean profitability of 73% or 184% using the less favourable savings calculation way, and depending of the Team type used.I consider that those results are exciting enough, while recognising the limitations linked to a pilot test in one company alone. It is clear for me that this kind of approach is very profitable in relative terms, and is for me disappointingly clear that autopoiesis is extremely powerful : there are still in the pilot company many people that continue to negate the evidence of the results achieved by the Teams, in spite of having been validated by finance department. Though Teams are still working after 3 years.

A detail modelling of railway electrical system with energy storages devices is developed in this thesis in order to analyze most of the implemented railway electrical system. The modelling has been realized from a point of view the design of them as from a point of view of purely energetic efficiency. In this way, after analyzing of the electric railway systems, it has been developed simple element models that have been grouped in four categories: contact line and return circuit, fix elements, mobile elements and energy recovery and storages devices. The complete systems are built from the simple element models linked. The system of equations of the complete system is no linear, and it is solved means of numeric methods. Then, it is shown the structure of Rsim software that has been developed completely as a part of this work, to conclude with two examples of the application of Rsim. The first example belongs an alternative current railway electrification and the second example is a direct current railway electrification. Keywords: DC railway system, AC railway system, railway modeling, energetic efficiency, reverse substations, energy storage devices, unbalance, rail potential, stray currents. A detail modelling of railway electrical system with energy storages devices is developed in this thesis in order to analyze most of the implemented railway electrical system. The modelling has been realized from a point of view the design of them as from a point of view of purely energetic efficiency. In this way, after analyzing of the electric railway systems, it has been developed simple element models that have been grouped in four categories: contact line and return circuit, fix elements, mobile elements and energy recovery and storages devices. The complete systems are built from the simple element models linked. The system of equations of the complete system is no linear, and it is solved means of numeric methods. Then, it is shown the structure of Rsim software that has been developed completely as a part of this work, to conclude with two examples of the application of Rsim. The first example belongs an alternative current railway electrification and the second example is a direct current railway electrification. Keywords: DC railway system, AC railway system, railway modeling, energetic efficiency, reverse substations, energy storage devices, unbalance, rail potential, stray currents.

This thesis presents the analysis of complex slope deformations through the application of numerical modelling techniques. Complex slope deformations, in this thesis, include cases where the use of more conventional analytical tools such as limit equilibrium techniques or the use of empirical criteria are not readily applicable. Such a scenario often results from adverse geological and environmental conditions or from human activity. Examples of complex slope deformations are the influence of underground mining on a slope, or situations where rigid jointed rocks overly relatively weak layers. The use of numerical modelling techniques, both continuum and discontinuum, in the analysis of slope stability problems has increased rapidly in the last decade and proved valuable in the analysis of complex geomechanical problems. Two numerical modeling programs FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) and UDEC (Universal Distinct Element Code) were used in this thesis. Three main groups of problems were investigated: (1) The analysis of deformation associated with rigid jointed rocks overlying relatively weak layers including a case study involving deformation taking place in the foundation of the Spis Castle in Slovakia. It was demonstrated that the type of deformation in such cases depends on the strength, deformability and thickness of the weak layer as well as the jointing pattern of the overlying rocks. It was shown, that the deformations at Spis castle are governed primarily by the presence of a weak, plastic "creep zone" under the base of the travertine blocks on which the castle is founded. (2) The analysis of toppling deformation in a weak rock slope comprising several lithostratigraphic units at the Luscar Mine, Alberta. It was found that the instability mechanism in the initial phase was flexural toppling, confined to a distinct quasi-linear failure surface which provided the shear plane for subsequent sliding movement. A prediction of slope stability for a planned mine extension in the same pit was made, thereby determining "safe excavation limits". (3) The analysis of interaction between underground mining and slope instability. The analyses of various slope deformation mechanisms that can be induced by underground mining are presented. The analysis of the Frank Slide in southwestern Alberta illustrated the critical role of underground mining at the base of the Turtle Mountain on triggering the final slope failure. The analyses present within this thesis demonstrate the application of numerical modelling techniques in the characterization of complex slope deformations. New interpretations of existing failure mechanisms were presented in the case of the Frank Slide, and improved understanding of the failure mechanism and slope deformation were gained in the Luscar Mine and Spis Castle case studies. Furthermore, hypothetical modelling studies relevant to underground mining and block-type deformations allow an increased understanding of complex slope deformations.

Structures like transmission towers, tele-communication masts, dry-docks, tall chimneys, tunnels and burried pipelines under water etc are subjected to considerable uplift forces. The net effect of external loading on the foundations of these structures results in forces that try to pull the foundations out of the ground. Anchors are usually provided to resist such uplift forces. Earlier theoretical research of anchor behavior has focused on elastic response and ultimate pullout capacity. Many investigators have proposed techniques for determining the collapse load of anchors. Essentially the approaches involve the use of limit equilibrium concepts, with some assumptions regarding the shape of the failure surface and/or the influence of the soil above the anchor. The possible effect of dilatency and initial stress state are not considered in these methods. A number of investigators have used the results of small size model anchors to understand the behavior and extrapolated the results for predicting the behavior of large sized anchors. This has lead to unsatisfactory results. It has been clearly shown by Dickin (1989) that the failure displacements and load displacement curve patterns are very different for small and large sized anchors, i.e. they are not just proportional to the size of the anchor. Critical pullout load and the load displacement behavior are required for the complete analysis of anchor foundations. Though, many theories have been proposed to predict the uplift capacity within the limits of accuracy required at engineering level, at present no simple rational method is available for computing deformations. In the present investigation attempts have been made to analyze the load deformation behavior of large size strip anchors in sands, clays and layered soils using two-dimensional explicit finite difference program FLAG (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua), well suited for geomaterials, by assuming soil to be a Mohr-Coulomb material in the case of sands and modified Cam-clay material in the case of clays. It is now well understood that the shearing resistance of a granular soil mass is derived from two factors frictional resistance and the dilatency of the soil. So the peak friction angle can be divided in to two components critical friction angle Фcv and dilation angle Ψ. Critical friction angle is the true friction angle as a result of frictional resistance at interparticle level when the soil is shearing at constant volume. If Фcv for a given soil remains constant, the value of Ψ has to increase with the increase in initial density of soil packing. The dilatency of a soil mass gradually decreases with continued shearing from its initial high value to zero after very large shear strains, when the soil finally reaches a constant, steady volume at critical states. Correspondingly the observed friction angle Ф reduces from its peak value to Фcv at a very large strain. In earlier days, clays used to be characterized by the strength parameters c and Ф. often, under undrained conditions, Ф would be even considered zero. But in the recent developments, it is understood that all the strength of clays is frictional. There is nothing like cohesion. The part of shear strength, which appears to be independent of normal stress, is shown to be the effect of over-consolidation and the resulting dilation. Thus although Cam-clay model uses zero cohesion for all clays, it reflects this component of strength through over-consolidation and in a more realistic way. Hence, it is appropriate to consider the pre-consolidation pressure as parameter in the analysis. More specifically, the various aspects covered in this investigation are as follows. Chapter 1 provides the general introduction. In chapter 2, the existing literature for the analysis of anchors for both experimental and analytical investigations on the pullout capacity of anchors in homogeneous and layered soils and the load deformation behavior of anchors under pullout are briefly reviewed. Chapter 3 deals with the features and the implementation of the two-dimensional explicit finite difference program, Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC) and the constitutive modeling of soils. It discusses the background and implementation of Strain softening / hardening model. This model is based on the Mohr- Coulomb model with non-associated shear and associated tension flow rules. In this model the cohesion, friction, dilation and tensile strength may harden or soften after the onset of the plastic yield. Further the critical state concepts and implementation of the modified Cam-clay model have been discussed. Cam-clay model originally developed for clays reflects the hydrostatic pressure or density dependent hardening material response. Chapter 4 focuses on the analysis of load deformation behavior of large size anchors in granular soils. Two-dimensional explicit finite difference program (FLAC) is used for the simulations and the soil is modeled as a Mohr-Coulomb strain softening/hardening material In this chapter a series of simulations have been carried out on large size anchor plates, with parametric variation. By analyzing these results, a generalized load deformation relationship for different sizes of anchors and different types of soil have been proposed. The results are presented in the form of influence/design charts which can be used in hand calculations to obtain an estimate of anchor capacity and deformation for a wide range of soil types and size of anchors. Chapter 5 deals with the analysis of the drained and undrained behavior of large size horizontal strip anchors in clays using modified Cam-clay model. Earlier investigators have studied the undrained behavior of anchor plates in clays, but no studies are reported in literature for the drained behavior of anchors in clays. Further it is not clear whether, drained or undrained condition will be critical for an anchor. In this chapter the drained and undrained behavior of large size anchor plates in both normally consolidated and over-consolidated states have been made. It has been found that the undrained pullout capacity of an anchor in a soil of normally consolidated state will always be more than the drained capacity. This is contrast to the usual understanding that undrained behavior is more critical than the drained behavior. In Chapter 6 an attempt has been made to analyze the behavior of large size anchors in two layered sands and in conditions where backfill material has a higher or lower strength than the native soil, for different shape of excavations. Soil is assumed to be a Mohr-coulomb strain softening/hardening material. In Chapter 7 the entire investigation covered in earlier chapters has been synthesized and some specific conclusions have been highlighted.