Dauguma hidrotechnikos statinių naudojami daugiau negu 30 metų. Praktiškai kiekviename statinyje yra gelžbetoninių konstrukcijų. Gelžbetonis yra patvari medžiaga, tačiau ilgainiui dėl įvairių priežasčių (natūralus medžiagų senėjimas, įvairios apkrovos ir veiksniai: mechaniniai, fiziniai, cheminiai, specifiniai), konstrukcijose, pagamintose iš šios medžiagos, atsiranda pokyčių bloginančių statinio naudojimo savybes, trumpinančių gyvavimo trukmę. Betono ir gelžbetonio irimo procesai labai sudėtingi, nes kartu veikia daug įvairių veiksnių, keičiančių fizines ir mechanines savybes. Todėl konstrukcijų patvarumas priklauso nuo šių irimo procesų intensyvumo. Konstrukcijų patvarumo esminiai reikalavimai pateikiami statybos reglamente STR 1.12.05:2010. Tyrimo tikslas – ištirti, įvertinti ir palyginti Marijampolės, Šakių, Vilkaviškio, Kėdainių rajonų slenkstinių pralaidų būklę su ankstesnių tyrimų rezultatais. Mokslinių ekspedicijų metu 2011 – 2012 m. vizualiai buvo ištirtos dešimties slenkstinių pralaidų būklė, jų amžius yra 50 – 60 metų, seniausia 76 metai. Tiriant slenkstinių pralaidų pažaidų būklės kitimą buvo naudoti šie konstrukcijų diagnostikos metodai: kameraliniai darbai; vizualinis metodas; neardantis metodas betono stipriui nustatyti (instrumentinis); slenkstinių pralaidų techninė būklė įvertinta balais pagal STR.1.12.03:2006 pateiktą metodiką; statistiškai apdoroti duomenys „MS EXCEL“ kompiuterine programa. Palyginus 2011 – 2012 m. tyrimų su ankstesnių (1999 – 2009 m... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Most hydraulic structures are used by more than 30 years. Practically every building is of reinforced concrete structures. Reinforced concrete is a durable material, but eventually for various reasons (natural aging of materials, loading and various factors: the mechanical, physical, chemical, specific) changes occur in the structures made of these materials worsening usage properties of the structure, shortening the life span. Concrete and reinforced concrete degradation processes are very complicated because a variety of factors that change the physical and mechanical properties operate at the same time. Therefore, the durability of structures depends on the intensity of decomposition processes. Essential requirements of structural stability are presented in the construction regulation STR 1.12.05:2010. The aim of the research was to investigate, evaluate and compare condition of overflow spillways situated in Marijampolė, Šakiai, Vilkaviškis and Kėdainiai districts with previous results. During scientific expeditions in 2011 – 2012 the condition of ten overflow spillways were examined visually, their age is 50 – 60 years old, the oldest is 76 years old. Studying condition changes of the damages in overflow spillways the following structure diagnostic methods were used: Indoor works; Visual method; Non-destructive method for the determination of the strength of concrete (instrumental); The technical condition of overflow spillways was evaluated by scoring... [to full text]

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a relatively new class of active materials that can store a temporary shape and return to the original configuration upon application of a stimulus such as temperature. This shape changing ability has led to increased interest in their use for biomedical and aerospace applications. A major challenge, however, in the advancement of these applications is the ability to accurately predict the material behavior for complex geometries and boundary conditions. This work addresses this challenge by developing an experimentally calibrated and validated constitutive model that is implemented as a user material subroutine in Abaqus ? a commercially available finite element software package. The model is formulated in terms of finite deformations and assumes the SMP behaves as a thermoelastic material, for which the response is modeled using a compressible neo-Hookean constitutive equation. An internal state variable, the glassy volume fraction, is introduced to account for the phase transformation and associated stored deformation upon cooling from the rubbery phase to the glassy phase and subsequently recovered upon heating. The numerical implementation is performed such that a system of equations is solved using a Newton-Raphson method to find the updated stress in the material. The conductive heat transfer is incorporated through solving Fourier's law simultaneously with the constitutive equations. To calibrate and validate the model parameters, thermomechanical experiments are performed on an amorphous, thermosetting polyurethane shape memory polymer. Strains of 10-25% are applied and both free recovery (zero load) and constrained displacement recovery boundary conditions are considered for each value of applied strain. Using the uniaxial experimental data, the model is then calibrated and compared to the 1-D experimental results. The validated finite element analysis tool is then used to model biomedical devices, including cardiovascular tubes and thrombectomy devices, fabricated from shape memory polymers. The effects of heat transfer and complex thermal boundary conditions are evaluated using coupled thermal-displacement analysis, for which the thermal material properties were experimentally calibrated.

No description available.

The analysis of pile behavior is a complex problem due to the diversity of the phenomena governing the soil behavior and particularly that of the neighboring soil. The objective of this work was to develop a valid modeling tool to evaluate piles' behavior under axial loads by developing a pertinent mechanical model supported in a robust finite element program which would successfully reproduce the soil behaviour under extreme monotonic and cyclic shear strain. This is done to allow for the numerical modelling of the installation procedure of pile foundations and continued loading of high amplitude cyclic paths. In order to model the installation phase of a monotonic, jacked or dynamic pile foundation some issues must be addressed. Finite deformations take place whilst the pile is put in place requiring an adjustment in the mechanical formulation of the model at the interface level to take into account that the small deformations (rotations and strain) hypothesis is no longer valid. Moreover, the constitutive model must take into account the physical behaviour of the soil when subjected to high order of magnitude displacements. This includes the phenomenon of grain breakage, also referred to as particle crushing, which greatly influences the volumetric behaviour of soil as thus reflecting of shear stress mobilization. The elastoplastic ECP model has therefore been enhanced by introducing an internal variable taking into account the breakage mechanism. The thermodynamic admissibility criteria are verified for the original and revised constitutive models. Both monotonic and pseudo-dynamic installation procedures were numerically simulated and the results thoroughly analysed. Finally, the cyclic shear resistance degradation at the pile shaft is a commonly occurring phenomenon during continued cyclic loading of pile foundation (friction fatigue). The constitutive modelling of this phenomenon, however, is not a straightforward matter. The stress path followed by the thin layer at the soil-pile interface level is known to be directly related to the volumetric behaviour due to the boundary conditions of the problem. A comprehensive analysis of all the components of the behaviour of soil during this stage was object of study in this work.

A detailed study has been made of thermally activated glide between 373 K and 20 K for UHV annealed single crystals of two Nb based substitutional alloy systems containing 1-16 at.%Mo or 4 - 60 at.%Ta, in conjunction with a study of the deformation of UHV annealed single crystals of Nb between 4.2 K and 77 K. Whilst the addition of Ta had only a small effect on the properties of Nb as measured by activation volume and enthalpy and the temperature dependence of the flow stress, it produced a large increase in the low temperature yield stress and displaced the appearance of anomalous slip to lower temperatures, e.g. 77 K for the 10 at.%Ta alloy. Addition of Mo produced more rapid changes Whilst the 1 at.%Mo alloy behaved like the Nb-Ta alloys, the appearance of anomalous slip was depressed to 113 K. Further additions appeared to suppress anomalous slip completely and radically alter the behaviour of the alloys. The thermodynamic analysis suggested that the more concentrated Nb-Mo alloys show a change in the rate limiting step at low temperatures, cf. a peak in the activation volume - effective stress curve. No solution softening was observed in the alloys. Complex transients were found for all the alloys at and below 77 K after changes in strain rate. The yield and thermal stresses for Nb deforming by anomalous slip were independent of temperature between 77 K and 50 K, only regaining a temperature sensitivity below 50 K. The importance of this for models of anomalous slip was discussed. Complex overshoots were observed after changes in the strain rate. Those observed at and below 20 K have been explained by reference to the change in specimen temperature produced by heat generation during dislocation glide.

This thesis presents a method for the prediction of final peak-to-valley (PTV) surface profile variation for face turning of rings of non-uniform cross section. An analytical method relates initial part form, part deflection during workholding and machining, and part elastic recovery to final PTV surface profile variation. Finite element method is used to supplement the analytical model, and experiments are conducted to validate both the analytical and finite element approaches. Analytical and finite element results correspond well with experimental observations, with average relative errors of 11.6 and 7.2 percent, respectively.

The objective of the current research was to contribute to the area of mechanics of composite polymeric materials. This objective was reached by establishing a quantitative assessment of the fatigue strength and evolution of mechanical property changes during fatigue loading of nanocomposite fibers and films. Both experimental testing and mathematical modeling were used to gain a fundamental understanding of the fatigue behavior and material changes that occurred during fatigue loading. In addition, the objective of the study was to gain a qualitative and fundamental understanding of the failure mechanisms that occurred between the nanoagent and matrix in nanocomposite fibers. This objective was accomplished by examining scanning electron microscopy (SEM) fractographs. The results of this research can be used to better understand the behavior of nanocomposite materials in applications where degradation due to fatigue and instability of the composite under loading conditions may be a concern. These applications are typically encountered in automotive, aerospace, and civil engineering applications where fatigue and/or fracture are primary factors that contribute to failure.

In this thesis ultrasonic Lamb wave measurements are performed to detect material nonlinearity in aluminum sheets. When a Lamb wave propagates, higher harmonic wave fields are generated and under certain conditions the second harmonic is cumulative. When these conditions hold the Lamb waves are serviceable for material nonlinearity measurements. For generation, a wedge transducer combination is used. The detection of the Lamb wave are performed with either a laser interferometer or a second wedge transducer combination and the results are benchmarked. A short time Fourier transformation (STFT) is applied to the detected signal to extract the amplitudes of the first and second harmonics. A relative ratio of the first and second harmonics is deduced from nonlinear wave theory to assign the nonlinearity of the material. To verify the capability of the measurement setup and to show that cumulative second harmonics are generated, measurements for different propagation distances are performed. Further measurements on plasticly deformed specimens are carried out to examine the change of the material nonlinearity as a function of plasticity.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Germanovich, Leonid; Committee Co-Chair: Skrinjar, Oskar; Committee Member: Mayne, Paul; Committee Member: Puzrin, Alexander; Committee Member: Rix, Glenn.