abstract: Recent trends in the electric power industry have led to more attention to optimal operation of power transformers. In a deregulated environment, optimal operation means minimizing the maintenance and extending the life of this critical and costly equipment for the purpose of maximizing profits. Optimal utilization of a transformer can be achieved through the use of dynamic loading. A benefit of dynamic loading is that it allows better utilization of the transformer capacity, thus increasing the flexibility and reliability of the power system. This document presents the progress on a software application which can estimate the maximum time-varying loading capability of transformers. This information can be used to load devices closer to their limits without exceeding the manufacturer specified operating limits. The maximally efficient dynamic loading of transformers requires a model that can accurately predict both top-oil temperatures (TOTs) and hottest-spot temperatures (HSTs). In the previous work, two kinds of thermal TOT and HST models have been studied and used in the application: the IEEE TOT/HST models and the ASU TOT/HST models. And, several metrics have been applied to evaluate the model acceptability and determine the most appropriate models for using in the dynamic loading calculations. In this work, an investigation to improve the existing transformer thermal models performance is presented. Some factors that may affect the model performance such as improper fan status and the error caused by the poor performance of IEEE models are discussed. Additional methods to determine the reliability of transformer thermal models using metrics such as time constant and the model parameters are also provided. A new production grade application for real-time dynamic loading operating purpose is introduced. This application is developed by using an existing planning application, TTeMP, as a start point, which is designed for the dispatchers and load specialists. To overcome the limitations of TTeMP, the new application can perform dynamic loading under emergency conditions, such as loss-of transformer loading. It also has the capability to determine the emergency rating of the transformers for a real-time estimation. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2013

Advanced development environments are essential for efficient realization of complex industrial products. Powerful equation-based object-oriented (EOO) languages such as Modelica are successfully used for modeling and virtual prototyping complex physical systems and components. The Modelica language enables engineers to build large, sophisticated and complex models. Modelica environments should scale up and be able to handle these large models. This thesis addresses the scalability of Modelica tools by employing incremental compilation and dynamic loading. The design, implementation and evaluation of this approach is presented. OpenModelica is an open-source Modelica environment developed at PELAB in which we have implemented our strategy for incremental compilation and dynamic loading of functions. We have tested the performance of these strategies in a number of different scenarios in order to see how much of an impact they have on the compilation and execution time. Our solution contains an overhead of one or two hash calls during runtime as it uses dynamic hashes instead of static arrays.

This thesis presents the design and construction of a micro-scale, air powered, impact testing device for use in Virginia Tech's Biological and Bio-inspired Materials Laboratory. A brief overview of current projectile impact testers is presented along with motivation for the fabrication of a new testing system capable of firing a projectile with a maximum diameter of 0.5 mm at velocities ranging from 20 to 50 m/s. Initial design calculations and analysis were performed to optimize barrel length, projectile size, and air pressure for desired velocity ranges. Computer aided design was then utilized to create a digital model of the entire system before production began on the device. Within the scope of this project was the development of a large-scale projectile impact tester as a proof of concept of the system's design that would later be utilized by other researchers as well as the micro-scale tester which carried over the lessons learned and design improvements from the larger device. The culmination of the project was the testing of biological samples (sea urchin spine cross sections) to prove the viability of the device and highlight its research niche. Future use cases and design improvements of the small-scale impact tester were also investigated as part of this thesis work. / Master of Science / This thesis encompasses the design and fabrication of both a large-scale projectile impact tester as a proof of concept design as well as a micro-scale version that carries over many of the design elements of the large version but is designed to fire projectiles for small scale biological material tests. Also included as part of this thesis is a breakdown of the various impact testers currently available within research to show why this project was necessary. The project culminated in simple impact studies of sea urchin spines to showcase the capabilities of the impact tester in its current form as well as to outline some of the expanded properties that could be determined with simple experimental setup changes. From this impact, study it was determined that sea urchin spines are a leading candidate in the formulation of bio-inspired impact resistant ceramic foams as they have excellent energy absorption properties during dynamic loading. The calcite foam structure of the sea urchin spines proved to have better impact absorption capabilities in comparison to many current engineering materials used for impact resistance. The final part of this thesis is a brief overview of the planned future use cases of the device.

<p>This thesis studies the effect of-floor slabs on the static and dynamic behaviour of the shear wall structure. A single component has been analysed using the 'Matrix Transfer' technique along with Vlaspv's thin walled elastic beam theory. Experimental verification was done on a small scale plexiglas eight storey model in the form of a channel section for both static and dynamic loading. The thesis also deals with the ·analysis of the nonplanar shear walls coupled through floor beams subjected to static loading. The continuum approach along with Vlasov's theory h&s been used in the analysis. Experimental verification was done on a small scale plexiglas model in the form of two equal angles connected by eight floor beams at equal spacing.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

The objective of this research is to simulate the response of an isolated substructure such that the response of the substructure in isolation would be the same as the substructure within the structure. Generally, the behaviour of an isolated subsystem (substructure) subjected to dynamic loading is different than the behaviour of the same substructure within a system (structure). This is primarily caused by the boundary conditions that are imposed on the substructure from the surrounding subsystem in the entire structure. A new systematic approach (methodology) is developed for performing impact analysis on the isolated substructure. The developed technique is fundamentally based on enforcing the mode shapes around the boundary of the substructure in the full structure to be similar to the mode shapes of the isolated substructure. This is achieved by providing a consistent adjustment to the loading conditions (impact velocity and mass) to account for the loss of restraint at the interface with the full structure. Another important aspect of this research is experimental validation of proposed method. This method allows the experimental testing of an isolated substructure since the testing is performed by impacting the isolated substructure with an appropriate mass and velocity. In the finite element analysis, the structure is analyzed, and then the isolated substructure simulation is performed using the developed technique. The results obtained from the numerical simulations, for both the substructure in situ and the substructure in isolation, are compared and found to be in good agreement. For instance, the effective plastic strains, kinetic and internal energies for the substructure within the structure and the substructure in isolation range from 7% to 12% discrepancies between two analyses. The numerical simulations of a full structure are verified by performing a series of experimental impact tests on the full structure. Finally, the experimental applicability of the technique is studied and its results are validated with FE simulation of substructure in isolation. This problem of experimentally testing an isolated substructure had previously not been addressed. The comparisons of FE simulation and experimental testing are made based on the deformed geometries, out-of-plane deflections and accelerometer readings. For example, the out-of-plane deformations from the FE analysis and the experimental test were determined to be within 7% to 9%. The experimental validation and numerical simulations indicates the technique is reliable, repeatable and can predict dynamic response of the substructures when tested in isolation. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Prediction of the clip reactions of a standing seam roof in a metal building under dynamic loading is of great interest because currently static uplift tests are the standard for determining the design load capacity. The use of a static test to replicate a dynamic loading leads to a great amount of debate because clearly a standing seam roof visually behaves very different under the two different types of loads. This leads to the question of whether a static test accurately replicates the magnitude of loads that the roof clips would feel under a dynamic wind load. This study uses a magnetic suspension uplift loading for the simulation of wind tunnel data in comparison with the ASTM E-1592 ?Standard Test Method for Structural Performance of Sheet Metal Roof and Siding Systems by Uniform Static Air Pressure Difference? test to determine clip reactions. An approximate finite element model is also utilized to verify the validity of the experimentally acquired clip reactions to form another comparison.

No description available.

The purpose of a geotextile separator beneath a granular base, or subbase in a flexible pavement system is to prevent the road aggregate and the underlying subgrade from intermixing. It has been hypothesized that in the absence of a geotextile, intermixing between base course aggregate and soft subgrade occurs. Nine heavily instrumented flexible pavement test sections were built in Bedford County Virginia to investigate the benefits of geosynthetic stabilization in flexible pavements. Three groups of different base course thicknesses (100, 150 and 200mm) test sections were constructed with either geotextile or geogrid stabilization or no stabilization. Woven geotextile was used in sections 2, 5 and 8. Geogrids were used in sections 3, 6 and 9, and sections 1, 4 and 7 were controls. Six Falling weight deflectometer (FWD) tests were performed on all the nine sections over 30 months. The nine sections were subjected to at least 5 load drops with wide loading range each time. The measured deflections were analyzed using the MODULUS back-calculation program to determine layer moduli. The measured deflections were used together with elastic, viscoelastic and the MODULUS program to determine the extent of intermixing at base-subgrade interface. The study concluded that a transition layer would develop when a separator is absent, especially in the weak sections (designed to fail in three years). Other measurements such as in-situ stresses, rut depth, and subsurface profiling (using ground penetrating radar) support the conclusion of the development of a transition layer. / Master of Science

Neste trabalho, é apresentado um modelo aperfeiçoado para gerar carregamentos dinâmicos pseudo-aleatórios para modelos estruturais sob excitação sísmica e de vento. Este é baseado no modelo de vento sintético proposto por Franco, diferindo pelo fato que usa a transformada de wavelet harmônica ao invés da série de Fourier, pois tem como objetivo descrever um comportamento não estacionário com a ajuda de uma função temporal. Para testar a qualidade do sinal desenvolvido neste trabalho, este foi comparado com sinais verdadeiro, das acelerações de sismos ocorrido na cidade de Hachinohe, no Japão e em El-centro, na Califórnia, e com um sinal gerado pelo modelo do sismo sintético de Corbani, este também baseado no modelo de vento sintético, com o uso de séries de Fourier. Em todas as análises feitas, foi mostrando que embora a geração de carregamentos com transformadas de wavelet harmônica seja mais complexa, esta possui um bom potencial para gerar carregamentos mais próximos da realidade do que métodos usuais baseados em carregamentos estacionários. / In this work is intruduced a improve model to create random loads to use in structural models under sismic and wind disturbance. The model is based on synthetic wind model intends by Franco, differing by the fact that applies harmonic wavelet transform instead of Fourier series, because it has the goal to describe a non stationary behavior with temporal function support. To test the quality from the signal developed in this work, it has been analyzed against true seismic acceleration signal that occurs from Hachinohe city in Japan and El-centro city in California, and with the synthetic seismic model developed by Corbani, that one descending on synthetic wind model, with Fourier series application. In all analysis, although loading creation with harmonic wavelet transform have been more sophisticated, that one has a great potencial to creat loading closer to the fact than usual methods based in stationary loading.

Despite the phenomena of fracture and fatigue having been the focus of academic research for more than 150 years, it remains in effect an empirical science lacking a complete and comprehensive set of predictive solutions. In this regard, the focus of the research in this thesis is on the development of new cohesive-zone models for fracture and fatigue that are afforded an ability to capture strain-rate effects. For the case of monotonic fracture in ductile material, different combinations of material response are examined with rate effects appearing either in the bulk material or localised to the cohesive-zone or in both. The development of a new rate-dependent CZM required first an analysis of two existing methods for incorporating rate dependency, i.e.either via a temporal critical stress or a temporal critical separation. The analysis revealed unrealistic crack behaviour at high loading rates. The new rate-dependent cohesive model introduced in the thesis couples the temporal responses of critical stress and critical separation and is shown to provide a stable and realistic solution to dynamic fracture. For the case of fatigue, a new frequency-dependent cohesive-zone model (FDCZM) has been developed for the simulation of both high and low-cycle fatigue-crack growth in elasto-plastic material. The developed model provides an alternative approach that delivers the accuracy of the loading-unloading hysteresis damage model along with the computational efficiency of the equally well-established envelope load-damage model by incorporating a fast-track feature. With the fast-track procedure, a particular damage state for one loading cycle is 'frozen in' over a predefined number of cycles. Stress and strain states are subsequently updated followed by an update on the damage state in the representative loading cycle which again is 'frozen in' and applied over the same number of cycles. The process is repeated up to failure. The technique is shown to be highly efficient in terms of time and cost and is particularly effective when a large number of frozen cycles can be applied without significant loss of accuracy. To demonstrate the practical worth of the approach, the effect that the frequency has on fatigue crack growth in austenitic stainless-steel 304 is analysed. It is found that the crack growth rate (da/dN) decreases with increasing frequency up to a frequency of 5 Hz after which it levels off. The behaviour, which can be linked to martensitic phase transformation, is shown to be accurately captured by the new FDCZM.