Cells respond to their mechanical environment by changing shape and size, migrating, or even differentiating to a more specialized cell type. A better understanding of the response of cells to surrounding cues will allow for more targeted and effected designs for biomedical applications, such as disease treatment or cellular therapy. The spreading behavior of both human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and 3T3 fibroblasts is a function of substrate stiffness, and can be quantified to describe the most visible response to how a cell senses stiffness. The stiffness of the substrate material can be modulated by altering the substrate thickness, and this has been done with the commonly-used linearly elastic gel, polyacrylamide (PA). Though easy to produce and tune, PA gel does not exhibit strain-stiffening behavior, and thus is not as representative of biological tissue as fibrin or collagen gel. Fibroblasts on soft fibrin gel show spreading similar to much stiffer linear gels, indicating a difference in cell stiffness sensing on these two materials. We hypothesize cells can sense further into fibrin and collagen gels than linear materials due to the strain-stiffening material property. The goal of this work is to compare the material response of linear (PA) and strain-stiffening (fibrin, collagen gel) substrates through modulation of effective stiffness of the materials. The two-step approach is to first develop a finite element model to numerically simulate a cell contracting on substrates of different thicknesses, and then to validate the numerical model by quantifying fibroblast spreading on sloped fibrin and collagen gels. The finite element model shows that the effective stiffness of both linear and nonlinear materials sharply increases once the thickness is reduced below 10µm. Due to the strain-stiffening behavior, the nonlinear material experiences a more drastic increase in effective stiffness at these low thicknesses. Experimentally, the gradual response of cell area of HLF and 3T3 fibroblasts on fibrin and collagen gels is significantly different (p<0.05) from these cell types on PA gel. This gradual increase in area as substrate thickness decreases was not predicted by the finite element model. Therefore, cell spreading response to stiffness is not explained by just the nonlinearity of the material.

Flat plate systems are constructed with slabs directly supported on columns. Since there are no beams in the system, the behavior of connections between the slabs and columns play a crucial role. Due to the sudden and brittle nature of punching shear failures, slab-column connection design must be conducted with proper safety precautions. The first part of this study aims to evaluate the safety level of different design expressions in the codes. Fir this purpose, the ability of ACI 318-11, TS-500 and Eurocode-2 to estimate punching shear strength was examined in light of experimental results compiled from previous research. Interior and exterior connections were examined in the course of the study. In the second part of the study, beam and shell models were calibrated to simulate the load-deformation response of interior slab-column connections in light of experimental results. In the final part of this thesis, a typical floor plan of a flat plate system was analyzed to investigate the possibility of a progressivefailure mechanism after punching failure takes place at a slab-column connection. Minimum post-punching capacity required to avoid progressive punching failure in a floor was estimated. It is believed that, the results of this study can be helpful in guiding engineers in understanding the safety inherent in punching shear design expressions and to take necessary precautions against progressive collapse.

Validerat; 20140915 (global_studentproject_submitter)

O tema está relacionado com o constante crescimento da necessidade em implantarnovas torres de telecomunicações devido ao crescimento acelerado da infraestrutura de telecomunicações no Brasil. Todos os dias, novos sistemas de transmissão e recepção de ondas eletromagnéticas estão sendo implantados no território brasileiro. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor um procedimento seguro e eficaz para a análise estrutural de torres de telecomunicações em concreto armado de grande esbeltez, com base em um modelo dinâmico não linear, submetendo à carga de vento. Estas cargas são simuladas pelo método do vento sintético proposto por Franco (1993). A análise do concreto armado será realizada de acordo com a NBR-6118 (ABNT, 2007). A fim de determinar com precisão os deslocamentos da estrutura submetida ao carregamento de vento, um método iterativo computacional será utilizado obter as respostas não lineares. Realiza-se uma análise linear e, a partir dos resultados de esforços solicitantes, as tensões e a porção fissurada de cada seção transversal é obtida e parte-se para a determinação dos deslocamentos de 2ª ordem da torre. Em cada iteração, um procedimento do tipo P-Delta será utilizado para levar em conta a não linearidade geométrica da estrutura. As condições de contorno do problema estão relacionadas com a restrição do nível de tensões, deslocamentos e frequências de vibração da estrutura. Ao fim, uma análise dinâmica em torno da configuração não linear será realizada, e o deslocamento total da torre será dado pela somatória da componente estática com a componente flutuante do vento. / The theme is related to the constant growth in the need to deploy new telecommunications towers due to the accelerated growth of telecommunications infrastructure in Brazil. Every day, new systems of transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves are being implanted in the Brazilian territory. The objective of this work is to propose a safe and efficient procedure for the structural analysis of telecommunication towers with high slenderness constructed in reinforced concrete, based on a dynamic nonlinear model, submitting it to the wind load. These loads are simulated by the synthetic wind method proposed by Franco (1993). The analysis of the reinforced concrete will be held according to NBR-6118 (ABNT, 2007). In order to determine accurately the displacements of the structure subjected to wind loading, an iterative computational method will be held to obtain non-linear responses. A linear analysis is carried out and, with the results of the forces, the tensions and the fissured portion of each cross section are obtained and then 2nd order displacements of the tower. In each iteration, a P-Delta type procedure will be held to take into account the geometric non-linearity of the structure. The boundary conditions of the problem are related to the restriction of the stress level, displacements and vibration frequencies of the structure. At the end, a dynamic analysis around the nonlinear configuration will be performed, and the total displacement of the tower will be given by the sum of the static component with the floating component of the wind.

O tema está relacionado com o constante crescimento da necessidade em implantarnovas torres de telecomunicações devido ao crescimento acelerado da infraestrutura de telecomunicações no Brasil. Todos os dias, novos sistemas de transmissão e recepção de ondas eletromagnéticas estão sendo implantados no território brasileiro. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor um procedimento seguro e eficaz para a análise estrutural de torres de telecomunicações em concreto armado de grande esbeltez, com base em um modelo dinâmico não linear, submetendo à carga de vento. Estas cargas são simuladas pelo método do vento sintético proposto por Franco (1993). A análise do concreto armado será realizada de acordo com a NBR-6118 (ABNT, 2007). A fim de determinar com precisão os deslocamentos da estrutura submetida ao carregamento de vento, um método iterativo computacional será utilizado obter as respostas não lineares. Realiza-se uma análise linear e, a partir dos resultados de esforços solicitantes, as tensões e a porção fissurada de cada seção transversal é obtida e parte-se para a determinação dos deslocamentos de 2ª ordem da torre. Em cada iteração, um procedimento do tipo P-Delta será utilizado para levar em conta a não linearidade geométrica da estrutura. As condições de contorno do problema estão relacionadas com a restrição do nível de tensões, deslocamentos e frequências de vibração da estrutura. Ao fim, uma análise dinâmica em torno da configuração não linear será realizada, e o deslocamento total da torre será dado pela somatória da componente estática com a componente flutuante do vento. / The theme is related to the constant growth in the need to deploy new telecommunications towers due to the accelerated growth of telecommunications infrastructure in Brazil. Every day, new systems of transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves are being implanted in the Brazilian territory. The objective of this work is to propose a safe and efficient procedure for the structural analysis of telecommunication towers with high slenderness constructed in reinforced concrete, based on a dynamic nonlinear model, submitting it to the wind load. These loads are simulated by the synthetic wind method proposed by Franco (1993). The analysis of the reinforced concrete will be held according to NBR-6118 (ABNT, 2007). In order to determine accurately the displacements of the structure subjected to wind loading, an iterative computational method will be held to obtain non-linear responses. A linear analysis is carried out and, with the results of the forces, the tensions and the fissured portion of each cross section are obtained and then 2nd order displacements of the tower. In each iteration, a P-Delta type procedure will be held to take into account the geometric non-linearity of the structure. The boundary conditions of the problem are related to the restriction of the stress level, displacements and vibration frequencies of the structure. At the end, a dynamic analysis around the nonlinear configuration will be performed, and the total displacement of the tower will be given by the sum of the static component with the floating component of the wind.

In high rise towers, reinforced concrete elevator shafts with coupling beams are extensively used as a principal structural element to resist lateral loads. The lateral load resistance of the tower is dominantly dependent on the stiffness of the load-bearing walls, and coupling beams connecting them. In an interest to study the reduction in the stiffness of high rise tower due to cracking in the coupling beams, variability in the reinforcement content, concrete grade and the effect of joint flexibility at the beam-wall intersection, this master thesis presents the analytical and finite element approaches to determine the equivalent height of the concrete coupling beams and the overall global stability of the high-rise tower. A comprehensive parametric study on 240 combinations of reinforced concrete coupling beams and 48 models of the global tower has been carried out to backtrack the effective stiffness of the RC coupling beams from the load-deflection curve. As a result, the stiffness and the equivalent height of coupling beams are computed and plotted as a function of the concretegrade, reinforcement content and aspect ratio. Additionally, the tip deflections of the towers for both the cracked &amp; reinforced and un-reinforced &amp; un-cracked models are also plotted as functions of the concrete grade, reinforcement content and aspect ratio.The obtained results show that the stiffness ratio and the ratio of the equivalent height to the normal height increase with the increase in the longitudinal reinforcement ratio and aspectratio but decrease with an increase in the concrete grade for both analytical and finite element methods. The tip deflection of tower is not significantly affected by an increase in the reinforcement content of slender coupling beams and vice versa for both the analytical and the finite element method. Independently of the slenderness of the composing coupling beams, the stiffness increases significantly with an increase in the concrete grade. These results show a good picture on how to choose the equivalent height in the model with no reinforcement. So, the developed diagram will be a more practical method for the designer of awhole building at the early stage design. Thick coupling beams need to be reinforced to reach the gross section’s stiffness while slender sections will have a higher stiffness with reinforcement. This would help the designer to find a more rational model without reinforcement. Using Hans Petersson’s analytical method, regarding the joint flexibility at the beam wall intersection, to exploit the full capacity of a concrete coupling beam section, the stiffness should be reduced. For global models, independently of the slenderness of the composing coupling beams, the stiffness increases significantly with an increase in the concrete grade. / I höghus används hisschakt av armerad betong tillsammans med kopplingsbalkar i stor utsträckning som främsta konstruktionselement för att motstå horisontella laster. Tornets horisontella bärförmåga är beroende av analytiska studier och studier med finita element metoden styvheten hos de bärande väggarna, och kopplingsbalkarna som förbinder dem. För att studera minskningen av styvheten i höghustorn på grund av sprickbildning i kopplingsbalkar, variationen i armeringsmängden, betongkvaliteten och effekten av ledflexibilitet vid balk-vägg-knutpunkten, presenterar detta examensarbete kopplingsbalkarnas effektiva styvhet och höghusets globala stabilitet. En omfattande parametrisk studie på 240 olika kombinationer av armerade kopplingsbalkar och 32 modeller av ett höghus har genomförts för att härleda den effektiva styvheten i de armerade kopplingsbalkarna från last-deformationskurvan. Som ett resultat beräknas styvheten och den ekvivalenta höjden av kopplingsbalkarna och plottas som funktion av betongkvaliteten och armeringsmängden. Dessutom modelleras höghuset för både spruckna &amp; armerade kopplingsbalkar samt oarmerade &amp; ospruckna kopplingsbalkar för att erhålla utböjningen av höghusets topp. Resultatet plottas som funktion av betongkvaliteten och armeringsmängden. De erhållna resultaten visar att styvhetsförhållandet och förhållandet mellan ekvivalent höjd till normal höjd ökar med mer längsgående armering och tvärsnittsförhållandet men minskar med en ökning av betongkvaliteten för både den analytiska och finita elementmetoden. Utböjningen av höghusets topp påverkas inte nämnbart av en ökning av armeringsmängden i de slanka kopplingsbalkarna och vice versa för både den analytiska och finita elementmetoden. Oberoende av slankheten av kopplingsbalkarna ökar styvheten betydligt med en ökning av betongkvaliteten. Dessa resultat visar en bra bild på hur man väljer ekvivalent höjd i modellen utan armering. Därmed kommer det framtagna diagrammet vara en mer praktisk metod för att i ett tidigt skede konstruera en hel byggnad. Tjocka kopplingsbalkar måste armeras för att nå tvärsnittets styvhet medan smala tvärsnitt kommer att ha en högre styvhet med armering. Detta skulle hjälpa konstruktören att hitta en mer rationell modell utan armering. Med hjälp av Hans Peterssons analytiska metod, angående ledflexibiliteten vid balk-väggknutpunkten, bör styvheten minskas för att utnyttja den fulla kapaciteten hos en betongkopplingsbalk. För globala modeller, oberoende av de slanka kopplingsbalkarna, ökar styvheten betydligt med en ökning av betongkvaliteten.

Η παρούσα διατριβή ανήκει στο γενικότερο θεματικό πεδίο της σεισμικής αποτίμησης, σχεδιασμού ή ανασχεδιασμού κατασκευών οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος με βάση τις μετακινήσεις. Οι σύγχρονες μέθοδοι αυτού του τύπου, στηρίζονται σε έλεγχο και σύγκριση της σεισμικής απαίτησης με την ικανότητα των μελών της κατασκευής σε όρους μετακινήσεων παρά σε όρους δυνάμεων. Δημιουργείται επομένως η ανάγκη για απλό και αξιόπιστο υπολογισμό της συμπεριφοράς μελών οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος σε κάμψη και διάτμηση, σε όρους μετακινήσεων. Το αντικείμενο της παρούσης διατριβής είναι η ανάπτυξη προσομοιωμάτων για τον υπολογισμό των βασικών χαρακτηριστικών της συμπεριφοράς καμπτόμενων μελών οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος και συγκεκριμένα: της ροπής διαρροής, της παραμόρφωσης στη διαρροή, της ενεργού δυσκαμψίας, της παραμόρφωσης στην αστοχία, της διατμητικής αντοχής σε ανακυκλιζόμενη φόρτιση, της αντοχής μελών με χαμηλό λόγο διάτμησης και της συμπεριφοράς υπό διαξονική καταπόνηση. Εξετάζονται μέλη διαφόρων τύπων και διαφορετικής διατομής, μέλη με ενίσχυση μανδύα οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος ή μανδύα σύνθετων υλικών, καθώς επίσης και μέλη με μάτιση του διαμήκους οπλισμού στην περιοχή πλαστικής άρθρωσης. Για την ανάπτυξη των προσομοιωμάτων, καθώς και για τον έλεγχο άλλων παλαιότερων, αναπτύχθηκε και αξιοποιήθηκε βάση πειραματικών δεδομένων μελών οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος με περισσότερα από 2800 πειράματα από τη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία. Για τον υπολογισμό της ροπής και της καμπυλότητας στη διαρροή, αναπτύσσονται απλές σχέσεις υπολογισμού, βασιζόμενες σε ανάλυση σε επίπεδο διατομής και καθορίζονται τα κατάλληλα κριτήρια διαρροής. Αναπτύσσονται ακολούθως σχέσεις υπολογισμού της παραμόρφωσης στη διαρροή, και συγκεκριμένα της γωνίας στροφής χορδής του μέλους στη διαρροή, θy, ως άθροισμα τριών όρων: καμπτικής παραμόρφωσης, διατμητικής παραμόρφωσης και παραμόρφωσης λόγω ολίσθησης των ράβδων διαμήκους οπλισμού από την περιοχή αγκύρωσης. Προτείνονται δε δύο εναλλακτικοί τρόποι υπολογισμού της ενεργού δυσκαμψίας, ένας θεωρητικός και ένας καθαρά εμπειρικός. Στη συνέχεια εξετάζεται η παραμόρφωση στην αστοχία και προτείνονται δύο εναλλακτικοί μέθοδοι υπολογισμού της γωνίας στροφής χορδής στην αστοχία, θu. Η 1η βασίζεται στον υπολογισμό της καμπυλότητας στην αστοχία, φu, με εφαρμογή του κατάλληλου προσομοιώματος περίσφιγξης του σκυροδέματος, και στην εφαρμογή της φu σε μήκος πλαστικής άρθρωσης ίσο με Lpl, ενώ η 2η σε καθαρά εμπειρικές εξισώσεις. Εξετάζεται ακολούθως η διατμητική αντοχή σε ανακυκλιζόμενη φόρτιση και προτείνονται προσομοιώματα για αστοχία σε διαγώνιο εφελκυσμό ή αστοχία σε λοξή θλίψη, μετά την καμπτική διαρροή. Στη συνέχεια εξετάζεται η συμπεριφορά μελών οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος υπό διαξονική καταπόνηση. Εξετάζονται επίσης μέλη με χαμηλό λόγο διάτμησης και προτείνονται νέα αντιπροσωπευτικότερα κριτήρια για τον χαρακτηρισμό ενός μέλους ως “κοντό μέλος”, καθώς και νέα μεθοδολογία υπολογισμού της αντοχής των μελών αυτών, με κατάλληλο συνδυασμό του προσομοιώματος των Shohara and Kato, 1981 και των Φαρδής και συνεργάτες 1998. Ακολούθως εξετάζονται μέλη ενισχυμένα με μανδύα σύνθετων υλικών και προτείνονται προσομοιώματα υπολογισμού της γωνίας στροφής χορδής στη διαρροή και την καμπτική αστοχία, καθώς και προσομοίωμα υπολογισμού της διατμητικής αντοχής. Στη συνέχεια εξετάζεται η συμπεριφορά μελών με μάτιση του διαμήκους οπλισμού στην περιοχή πλαστικής άρθρωσης, καθώς και η εφαρμογή μανδύα σύνθετων υλικών για την ενίσχυση της περιοχής αυτής. Τέλος εξετάζεται η συμπεριφορά στη διαρροή και στην αστοχία, μελών ενισχυμένων με μανδύα οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος. Η ανάπτυξη όλων των προτεινόμενων προσομοιωμάτων της διατριβής βασίζεται στην καλύτερη δυνατή συμφωνία με τα πειραματικά αποτελέσματα της βάσης δεδομένων, χωρίς όμως να θυσιάζεται η απλότητα και η ευχρηστία αυτών. / The present Thesis belongs in the general field of seismic assessment, design and redesign of concrete structures with displacement based procedures. Modern methods of this kind are based in controlling and comparing seismic demand with structural elements capacity in terms of displacements rather than forces. This leads in the need of estimating reinforced concrete elements performance under bending and shear, in terms of displacements. The object of the Thesis is development of models for calculating the basic performance characteristics of reinforced concrete elements under bending, in particular: yield moment, deformation at yielding, effective stiffness, deformation at ultimate, shear strength under cyclic loading, maximum strength of members with low shear ratio and behavior under biaxial loading. Members with various types of section and various characteristics are included, as also members retrofitted with FRP jacket or concrete jacket and members with lap-splice of longitudinal reinforcement in plastic hinge region. In order to develop new models and check older ones, a database of more than 2800 experiments from international literature on reinforced concrete elements was created and used here. Simple equations and procedures are suggested for calculating yield moment and corresponding curvature, based on section analysis, by specifying the appropriate yield criteria. Equations for calculating deformation at yielding, in particular chord rotation at yielding, θy as the sum of deformations due to bending, due to shear and due to slippage of longitudinal reinforcement from anchorage zone, are also developed. Calculation of effective stiffness is based on two alternative models, one theoretical and one purely empirical. Deformation at ultimate is then examined where two methods for calculating chord rotation at ultimate are suggested. 1st one is based on ultimate curvature, φu, where an appropriate concrete confinement model is used, and plastic hinge length Lpl, while 2nd one is based on purely empirical equations. Shear strength under cyclic loading is also examined and new models for calculating shear strength for shear tension and shear compression failure after flexural yield are developed. Behavior of reinforced concrete elements under biaxial loading is then examined. Elements with low shear ratio are also covered and new, more representative, criteria to characterize an element as a “short element” are suggested. A procedure based on an appropriate combination of Shohara and Kato 1981 model and Fardis et al. 1998 model is then suggested for calculating maximum strength of such “short elements”. Retrofitted members with FRP jacket are then examined and models for chord rotation at yielding and ultimate, as well as for shear strength are suggested. Behavior of members with lap-splice of longitudinal reinforcement inside plastic hinge region is then examined, including also retrofitting of this region with FRP jacket. Performance at yielding and ultimate of retrofitted members with concrete jacket is also examined. Development of all the suggested models of the Thesis is based on best fit with experimental results of the database, without sacrificing simplicity and applicability of the models.