<p>A battery assembly experiences both mechanical and thermal loadings during its operation. It is critical to perform the thermomechanical analysis to propose a novel design for the highest efficiency.In this study,two main goals include mechanical characterization and deformation responses for a battery cell and assembly, as well as air-cooled concepts design and analysis.Initially, the cell dimensions were measured by cell-sectioning method, and then the mechanical properties were empirically measured by both 3-point flexural, and nanoindentation experiments. Moreover, three pairs of experiments and simulations were conducted to study mechanical behaviors on both a single cell and a battery assembly. They include (1) point-force loading for single, open cell; (2) internal pressurization for single, sealed cell; and (3) internal pressurization for battery assembly.Additionally, both parametric and experimental studies were executed to design, analyze,and validate air-cooled concepts based on the idea of microchannel heatsink. The proposed concepts have the features, which are integrated into the battery cell for generating the cooling channels. A series of thermomechanical simulations and a forced convection testbed were built for computationally and empirically analyzing the performances of the concepts. The results from the mechanical characterization showed a significant difference between the actual and nominal values of both cell dimensions and mechanical properties. Therefore, the effect of the manufacturing process to such values must be considered before inputting for analyzing the deformation responses. From the thermomechanical analyses, it was found that the mechanical loading might negatively influence the thermal performance if there were not enough mechanical supports from the air-cooling structure. The impact was minimal in the tapered-channel battery assembly. This configuration also significantly reduced the temperature difference on the cell compared with other concepts and the reference design.<br></p>

An integrated experimental and numerical research program investigating the elastic and inelastic performance as well as the kinematic behaviour of shearwalls with openings is presented in this study. The influence of the geometrical dimensions of the wall configurations and the mechanical properties and configurations of hold-downs on both elastic and inelastic behaviours including the possible kinematic modes of the shearwalls are investigated. The research also proposes the concept of equivalent-frame-model applicable for shearwalls where openings are cut-out from CLT panels. Are also presented, five racking tests performed on full scale CLT walls in order to validate the numerical models as well as the equivalent frame model. From review of the available literature emerges that for CLT shearwalls with openings, studies are not at the same level of abundance in research compared to walls without openings, due to the simple reason that SSW is generally a widespread technique. Thus, the kinematic behaviour and the coupling effect are inexistent and presented here. The investigations of the wall’s behaviour in the elastic and inelastic ranges demonstrate the important effect of the lintel and wall segment slenderness as well as the hold-down stiffness effect on the mechanical behaviour and the global kinematic behaviour as well. It is found that the kinematic modes can change when the walls are stressed beyond their elasticity limit. The failure mode and the global ductility are highly dependent on the hold-down configurations particularly for walls with door openings. The degree of coupling decrease with increased hold-down stiffness and the wall segment width. With regards to the equivalent frame model, a reasonable fit is found between the proposed EFM and a detailed 2D area element model when the global elastic stiffness and tensile load in the hold-down were compared. The model is successfully validated through five full-scale tests on CLT shearwalls with door or window opening as well as two published studies on walls with door openings. The EFM is capable of predicting the behaviour in the wall with reasonable accuracy, especially for walls whose behaviour was dominated by the hold-down behaviour.

The aim of this thesis is to assess the suitability of cold-formed rectangular hollow sections (RHS) for plastic design. The project involved an extensive range of tests on cold-formed Grade C350 and Grade C450 (DuraGal) RHS beams, joints and frames. A large number of finite element analyses was also carried out on models of RHS beams. The conclusion is that cold- formed RHS can be used in plastic design, but stricter element slenderness (b/t) limits and consideration of the connections, are required. Further research, particularly into the effect of axial compression on element slenderness limits, is required before changes to current design rules can be finalised. Bending tests were performed on cold-formed RHS to examine the web and flange slenderness required to maintain the plastic moment for a large enough rotation suitable for plastic design. The major conclusions of the beam tests were: (i) Some sections which are classified as Compact or Class 1 by current steel design specifications do not maintain plastic rotations considered sufficient for plastic design. (ii) The current design philosophy, in which flange and web slenderness limits are independent, is inappropriate. An interaction formula is required, and simple formulations are proposed for RHS. Connection tests were performed on various types of knee joints in RHS, suitable for the column - rafter connection in a portal frame. The connection types investigated were welded stiffened and unstiffened rigid knee connections, bolted plate knee joints, and welded and bolted internal sleeve knee joints, for use in RHS portal frames. The ability of the connections to act as plastic hinges in a portal frame was investigated. The most important finding of the joint tests was the unexpected fracture of the cold-formed welded connections under opening moment before significant plastic rotations occurred. The use of an internal sleeve moved the plastic hinge in the connection away from the connection centre- line thus eliminating the need for the weld between the RHS, or the RHS and the stiffening plate, to carry the majority of the load. The internal sleeve connections were capable of sustaining the plastic moment for large rotations considered suitable for plastic design. Tests on pinned-base portal frames were also performed. There were three separate tests, with two different ratios of vertical to horizontal point loads, simulating gravity and horizontal wind loads. Two grades of steel were used for comparison. The aims of the tests were to examine if a plastic collapse mechanism could form in a cold-formed RHS frame, and to investigate if plastic design was suitable for such frames. In each frame, two regions of highly concentrated curvature were observed before the onset of local buckling, which indicated the formation of plastic hinges and a plastic collapse mechanism. An advanced plastic zone structural analysis which accounted for second order effects, material non-linearity and member imperfections slightly overestimated the strength of the frames. The analysis slightly underestimated the deflections, and hence the magnitude of the second order effects. A second order plastic zone analysis, which did not account for the effects of structural imperfections, provided the best estimates of the strengths of the frames, but also underestimated the deflections. While cold-formed RHS did not satisfy the material ductility requirements specified for plastic design in some current steel design standards, plastic hinges and plastic collapse mechanisms formed. This suggests that the restriction on plastic design for cold-formed RHS based on insufficient material ductility is unnecessary, provided that the connections are suitable for plastic hinge formation, if required. A large number of finite element analyses were performed to simulate the bending tests summarised above, and to examine various parameters not studied in the experimental investigation. To simulate the experimental rotation capacity of the RHS beams, a sinusoidally varying longitudinal local imperfection was prescribed. The finite element analysis determined similar trends as observed experimentally, namely that the rotation capacity depended on both the web slenderness and flange slenderness, and that for a given section aspect ratio, the relationship between web slenderness and rotation capacity was non-linear. The main finding of the finite element study was that the size of the imperfections had an unexpectedly large influence on the rotation capacity. Larger imperfections were required in the more slender sections to simulate the experimental results. There should be further investigation into the effect of varying material properties on rotation capacity.

The aim of this thesis is to assess the suitability of cold-formed rectangular hollow sections (RHS) for plastic design. The project involved an extensive range of tests on cold-formed Grade C350 and Grade C450 (DuraGal) RHS beams, joints and frames. A large number of finite element analyses was also carried out on models of RHS beams. The conclusion is that cold- formed RHS can be used in plastic design, but stricter element slenderness (b/t) limits and consideration of the connections, are required. Further research, particularly into the effect of axial compression on element slenderness limits, is required before changes to current design rules can be finalised. Bending tests were performed on cold-formed RHS to examine the web and flange slenderness required to maintain the plastic moment for a large enough rotation suitable for plastic design. The major conclusions of the beam tests were: (i) Some sections which are classified as Compact or Class 1 by current steel design specifications do not maintain plastic rotations considered sufficient for plastic design. (ii) The current design philosophy, in which flange and web slenderness limits are independent, is inappropriate. An interaction formula is required, and simple formulations are proposed for RHS. Connection tests were performed on various types of knee joints in RHS, suitable for the column - rafter connection in a portal frame. The connection types investigated were welded stiffened and unstiffened rigid knee connections, bolted plate knee joints, and welded and bolted internal sleeve knee joints, for use in RHS portal frames. The ability of the connections to act as plastic hinges in a portal frame was investigated. The most important finding of the joint tests was the unexpected fracture of the cold-formed welded connections under opening moment before significant plastic rotations occurred. The use of an internal sleeve moved the plastic hinge in the connection away from the connection centre- line thus eliminating the need for the weld between the RHS, or the RHS and the stiffening plate, to carry the majority of the load. The internal sleeve connections were capable of sustaining the plastic moment for large rotations considered suitable for plastic design. Tests on pinned-base portal frames were also performed. There were three separate tests, with two different ratios of vertical to horizontal point loads, simulating gravity and horizontal wind loads. Two grades of steel were used for comparison. The aims of the tests were to examine if a plastic collapse mechanism could form in a cold-formed RHS frame, and to investigate if plastic design was suitable for such frames. In each frame, two regions of highly concentrated curvature were observed before the onset of local buckling, which indicated the formation of plastic hinges and a plastic collapse mechanism. An advanced plastic zone structural analysis which accounted for second order effects, material non-linearity and member imperfections slightly overestimated the strength of the frames. The analysis slightly underestimated the deflections, and hence the magnitude of the second order effects. A second order plastic zone analysis, which did not account for the effects of structural imperfections, provided the best estimates of the strengths of the frames, but also underestimated the deflections. While cold-formed RHS did not satisfy the material ductility requirements specified for plastic design in some current steel design standards, plastic hinges and plastic collapse mechanisms formed. This suggests that the restriction on plastic design for cold-formed RHS based on insufficient material ductility is unnecessary, provided that the connections are suitable for plastic hinge formation, if required. A large number of finite element analyses were performed to simulate the bending tests summarised above, and to examine various parameters not studied in the experimental investigation. To simulate the experimental rotation capacity of the RHS beams, a sinusoidally varying longitudinal local imperfection was prescribed. The finite element analysis determined similar trends as observed experimentally, namely that the rotation capacity depended on both the web slenderness and flange slenderness, and that for a given section aspect ratio, the relationship between web slenderness and rotation capacity was non-linear. The main finding of the finite element study was that the size of the imperfections had an unexpectedly large influence on the rotation capacity. Larger imperfections were required in the more slender sections to simulate the experimental results. There should be further investigation into the effect of varying material properties on rotation capacity.

The advance of the materials science has motivated the advent of composite materials with different characteristics that assure high performance thermo-mechanical, such as the advanced fiber reinforced composites and those that present a gradual variation in its microstructure. Nowadays, many computational models and analytical methods are being employed for evaluation of the behavior of such materials. An alternative technique, applied to the steady-state thermo-mechanical analysis, which considers the coupling between microstructure and macrostructure behaviors, is that originally denominated of Higher-Order Theory. In this work is used the same theoretical base of the Higher-Order Theory, with a simplification in the discretization and assembly of the system of equations. In this way, this theory presents some similarities in relation to the finite-volume technique used in fluid dynamics problems, reason for which is enough reasonable to adopt the denomination finitevolume theory for this method. Besides, as a contribution of this study, it is presented a parametric formulation that allows a larger flexibility in the mesh generation and a reduction of the problem in relation to the number of variables, particularly appropriate for analysis of structures with curved contour. The formulation was also extended for the accomplishment of transient thermo-mechanical analysis. In the present study, a three-dimensional formulation of the method is also used for the determination of the effective properties of fiber reinforced composites and particulate materials, where comparisons were accomplished with micromechanics simplified models and with those based on the mean field theory (selfconsistent, Mori-Tanaka and differential scheme). Besides, there is a series of numerical applications in bi-dimensional thermo-elastic and elastic problems, where are accomplished verifications using analytical solutions and comparisons with the finite element method. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O avanço da ciência de materiais tem proporcionado o advento de materiais compósitos com características peculiares que asseguram elevado desempenho termo-mecânico, tais como os compósitos avançados reforçados por fibras e aqueles dotados de microestrutura com variação gradual. Atualmente, muitos modelos computacionais, assim como métodos analíticos, vêm sendo empregados para avaliação do comportamento de tais materiais. Uma técnica alternativa, voltada à análise termo-mecânica em regime estacionário, na qual o comportamento do material é analisado considerando-se o acoplamento entre microestrutura e macroestrutura, é aquela originalmente denominada de Higher-Order Theory. Neste trabalho, utiliza-se a mesma base teórica da Higher-Order Theory, com uma simplificação em termos de discretização e montagem do sistema de equações. Neste sentido, esta teoria apresenta algumas semelhanças em relação à técnica de volumes finitos usada em problemas de dinâmica dos fluidos, razão pela qual é bastante razoável adotar a denominação teoria de volumes finitos para o método. Além disso, como uma contribuição deste estudo, apresenta-se uma formulação paramétrica que permite uma maior flexibilidade na geração da malha e uma diminuição do problema em relação ao número de incógnitas, particularmente apropriada para análise de estruturas com contorno curvo. A formulação também foi ampliada para possibilitar a execução de análises termo-mecânicas transientes. No presente estudo, também é utilizada uma formulação tridimensional do método para a determinação das propriedades efetivas de materiais compósitos reforçados por fibras e particulados, onde foram realizadas comparações com modelos simplificados da micromecânica e com aqueles baseados na teoria de campos médios (Auto-consistente, Mori-Tanaka e Esquema Diferencial). Além disso, há uma série de aplicações numéricas em problemas termo-elásticos e elásticos bidimensionais, onde são realizadas verificações a partir de soluções analíticas e comparações com o método dos elementos finitos.