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Chloride ion induced corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete bridge decks has become a major problem in the United States. Latex modified concrete (LMC), low slump dense concrete (LSDC) and hot-mix asphalt membranes (HMAM) overlays are currently some of the most used rehabilitation methods. Epoxy coated reinforcing steel (ECR) was developed and promoted as a long term corrosion protection method by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). However, recent evidence has suggested that ECR will not provide adequate long term corrosion protection. The Reynolds Metals Company has developed an aluminum bridge deck system as a proposed alternative to conventional reinforced steel bridge deck systems. The deck consists of a polymer concrete overlay and an aluminum substrate. The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the bond durability between the overlay and the aluminum substrate after conditioning specimens in various temperature and humidity conditions. The average critical strain energy release rate, Gcr, for each specimen was measured using a modified mixed mode flexure (MMF) test. In this investigation the strain energy release rate is a measure of the fracture toughness of the interface between the polymer concrete overlay and the aluminum substrate. The different environmental conditionings all had a significant effect on the bond durability. Specimens conditioned at 30 degrees C [86 degrees F], 45 degrees C [113 degrees F] and 60 degrees C [140 degrees F] at 98 % relative humidity all showed a decrease in interfacial bond strength after conditioning. A decrease in the interfacial bond strength was also observed for the specimens conditioned in freezing and thawing cycles as well as specimens conditioned in a salt water soak. Of the exposure conditions used in this investigation, the only one that showed an increase in the bond strength was drying the specimens continuously in an oven at 60 degrees C [140 degrees F]. / Master of Science

The objective of this study is to evaluate the bond durability of an epoxy-based polymer concrete wearing surface bonded to aluminum bridge decks. In the bridge design, an aluminum alloy bridge deck is used with a polymer concrete wearing surface. A modified mixed mode flexure fracture test was developed to assess the bond durability of specimens aged in the following environmental conditionings: 30°C [86°F], 98% RH; 45°C [113°F], 98% RH; 60°C [140°F], 98% RH; freezing and thawing; salt (NaCl) water soak; and 60°C [140°F], dry. The exposure times varied from none to twelve months. The critical strain energy release rate (Gc) of the bond was determined using a compliance technique. In spite of considerable scatter in the data, the results suggested that the interfacial bond toughness had been degraded by exposure conditions. The aging appeared to affect the polymer concrete overlay (silica aggregates/epoxy bond) as well. Fracture analysis and finite element modeling were completed for linear elastic behavior. Analytical and numerical solutions were in reasonably good agreement. Characterization of the bridge components and failure specimens were accomplished using analytical measurements including thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Techniques employed in the surface analysis included x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). / Master of Science

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells typically consist of stacks of membrane electrode assemblies sandwiched between bipolar plates, effectively combining the individual cells in series to achieve the desired voltage levels. Elastomeric gaskets are commonly used between each cell to insure that the reactant gases are isolated; any failure of a fuel cell gasket can cause the reactants to mix, which may lead to failure of the fuel cell. An investigation of the durability of these fuel cell seals was performed by using accelerated characterization methods. A hydrocarbon sealant was tested in five different environments to simulate fuel cell conditions. Viscoelastic properties of these seals were analyzed using momentary and relaxation compressive stress tests. Material properties such as secant modulus at 100% strain, tensile strength, and strain at failure were determined using dog-bone samples aged at several different imposed strains and aging times in environments of interest. Tearing energy was evaluated using trouser test samples tested under different rates and temperatures after various environmental aging conditions. Additionally, tearing tests were conducted on samples tested in liquid environment. A viscoelastic and mechanical property characterization of these elastomeric seals under accelerated aging conditions could help understand the behavior and predict durability in the presence of mechanical and environmental loading. Additionally, the effects of confinement have been evaluated for a bonded joint with varying thickness along the bonded direction. The Dreaming project is a glass art project in Fredrick, MD which incorporates such a varying thickness joint where thermal expansion of the adhesive has caused the glass adherend to break and debonding of the sealant. To examine this joint design, finite element analysis has been used to determine the effects of thermal expansion on such a complex geometry. Nine different test geometries have been evaluated to determine the effect of confinement coupled with thermal expansion on joint design with an elastomeric adhesive. Once evaluated, design changes were performed to try to reduce the loading while maintaining the general joint design. Results of this analysis can be used to determine the effects of confinement on a complex elastomeric joint. / Master of Science

The applications of membranes are increasing rapidly in various fields of engineering and science. The geometric, material, force and contact non-linearities complicate their analysis, which increases the demand for computationally efficient methods and interpretation of counter-intuitive behaviours. The first part of the present work studies the free and constrained inflation of circular and cylindrical membranes. The membranes are assumed to be in contact with a soft substrate, modelled as a linear spring distribution.Adhesive and frictionless contact conditions are considered during inflation,while only adhesive contact conditions are considered during deflation. For a circular membrane, peeling of the membrane during deflation is studied, and a numerical formulation of the energy release rate is proposed. The second part of the thesis discusses the instabilities observed for fluid containing cylindrical membranes. Limit points and bifurcation points are observed on primary equilibrium branches. The secondary branches emerge from bifurcation points, with their directions determined by eigenvectors corresponding to zero eigenvalues at the bifurcation point. Symmetry has major implications on stability analysis of the structures, and the relationship between eigenvalue analysis and symmetry is highlighted in this part of the thesis. In the third part, wrinkling in the pressurized membranes is investigated,and robustness of the modified membrane theory and tension field theory is examined. The effect of boundary conditions, thickness variations, and inflating media on the wrinkling is investigated. It is observed that, with a relaxed strain energy formulation, the obtained equilibrium solutions are unstable due to the occurrence of pressure induced instabilities. A detailed analysis of pressure induced instabilities in the wrinkled membranes is described in the thesis. / <p>QC 20160518</p>

L'analyse des phénomènes locaux comme les effets de bord libre et le délaminage dans les structures multicouches nécessite des théories fines qui donnent une bonne description de la réponse locale. Étant donné que les approches tridimensionnelles sont, en général, très coûteuses en temps de calcul et en mémoire, des approches bidimensionnelles de type layerwise sont souvent utilisées. Dans ce travail de doctorat, un modèle layerwise en contrainte, appelé LS1, est appliqué au problème du multi-délaminage dans les plaques stratifiées invariantes dans le sens longitudinal. L'invariance dans la direction de la longueur nous permet d'aborder le problème analytiquement. Dans un premier temps, nous proposons une méthode analytique pour l'analyse des plaques multicouches multi-délaminées soumises à la traction uniaxiale. La singularité des contraintes interlaminaires aux bords libres et l'initiation du délaminage en mode III sont étudiées. Un modèle raffiné, nommé LS1 raffiné, est proposé pour améliorer les approximations dans les zones de singularités telles que les bords libres et les pointes de fissure. Les résultats du modèle raffiné sont validés en les comparant avec ceux obtenus par éléments finis tridimensionnels. Dans un deuxième temps, l'approche analytique proposée est étendue à la flexion cylindrique des plaques multicouches. La propagation du délaminage en modes I et II est étudiée et les approximations du modèle LS1 sont validées. À la fin, nous généralisons la méthode analytique proposée afin de prendre en considération tous les chargements invariants dans le sens longitudinal. L'approche finale permet d'analyser les plaques multicouches rectangulaires soumises à des charges invariantes sur les faces supérieure et inférieure, les forces ou les déplacements imposés sur les bords latéraux ainsi que quatre types de chargement sur les extrémités longitudinales: traction uniaxiale, flexion hors plan, torsion et flexion dans le plan. La solution analytique du modèle LS1 est obtenue pour une plaque stratifiée soumise à tous les chargements mentionnés ci-dessus. L'approche est validée en comparant avec la méthode des éléments finis tridimensionnels pour plusieurs types de chargement / The analysis of local phenomena such as free-edge effects and delamination in multilayered structures requires the accurate theories which can provide a good description of the local response. Since the three-dimensional approaches are generally very expensive in computational time and memory, the layerwise two-dimensional approaches are widely used. In this Ph.D. thesis, a stress layerwise model, called LS1, is applied to the multi-delamination problem in longitudinally invariant multilayered plates. The invariance in the longitudinal direction allows us to solve the problem analytically. At first, we propose an analytical method for the analysis of multi-delaminated multilayered plates subjected to the uniaxial traction. The free-edge interlaminaire stress singularities and the mode III delamination onset are investigated. A refined model, called Refined LS1, is proposed in order to improve the approximations in singularity zones such as free edges and crack tips. The results of the refined model are validated by comparing them with those obtained by a three-dimensional finite element model. Afterwards, the proposed analytical approach is extended to the cylindrical bending of the multilayered plates. The propagation of delamination in modes I and II is studied and the approximations of the LS1 model are validated. At last, we generalize the proposed analytical method to take into account all invariant loads in the longitudinal direction. The final approach allows us to analyze the rectangular multilayered plates subjected to invariant loads on the top and bottom surfaces, imposed displacements or forces at the lateral edges, and also four types of loading at the longitudinal ends: uniaxial traction, out-of-plane bending, torsion and in-plane bending. The analytical solution of the LS1 model is obtained for a laminated plate subjected to all the loads mentioned above. The approach is validated by comparison with the three-dimensional finite element method for various types of loading

In this thesis an experimental method to calculate cohesive characteristics for an adhesive layer in a End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimen is presented and evaluated. The method is based on the path independent J-integral where the energy release rate (ERR) for the adhesive is derived as a function of the applied forces and the rotational displacements at the loading point and at the supports of the specimen. The major advantage with the method in comparison with existing theory known by the job initiator is that it is still applicable with ENF specimens that are subjected to yielding of the adherends. The structure of this thesis is disposed so that the theory behind the J-integral method is shortly described and then an evaluation of the method is performed by aid of finite element simulations using beam and cohesive elements. The finite element simulations indicates that the ERR can be determined with good accuracy for an ENF specimen where a small scale yielding of the adherends has occurred. However when a fully cross sectional yielding of the adherends is reached the ERR starts diverging from the exact value and generates a too high ERR according to input data in the simulations, i.e. the exact values. The importance in length of the adhesive process zone is also shown to be irrelevant to the ERR measured according to the J-integral method. Simulation performed with continuum elements indicates that a more reality based FE- simulation implies a higher value of the applied load in order to create crack propagation. This is an effect of that the specimen is allowed to roll on the supports which makes the effective length between the supports shorter than the initial value when the specimen is deformed. This results in a stiffer specimen and thus a higher applied force is needed to create crack propagation in the adhesive layer. An experimental set up of an ENF specimen is created and the sample data from the experiments are evaluated with the J-integral method. For measuring the rotational displacements of the specimen which are needed for the J-integral equation an image system is developed by the author and validated by use of linear elastic beam theory. The system calculates the three rotational displacements of the specimen by aid of images taken by a high resolution SLR camera and the system for measuring the rotations may also be used in other applications than for a specific ENF geometry. The validation of the image system shows that the rotations calculated by the image system diverge from beam theory with less than 2.2 % which is a quite good accuracy in comparison with the accuracies for the rest of the used surveying equipment. The results from the experiment indicates that the used, about 0.36 mm thick SikaPower 498, adhesive has an maximum shear strength of 37.3 MPa and a critical shear deformation of 482 µm. The fracture energy is for this thickness of the adhesive is determined as 12.9 kJ/m2. This report ends with a conclusion- and a suggested future work- chapter.

This paper deals with two-dimensional Finite Element Analysis of the End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimen. The specimen is known to be unstable if the crack length is shorter than some critical crack length acr. A geometric linear two-dimensional Finite Element (FE) analysis of the ENF specimen is performed to evaluate acr for isotropic and orthotropic elastic materials, respectively. Moreover, the Mode II Energy Release Rate (ERR) JII and the compliance of the specimen are calculated. The influence of anisotropy is studied. Comparisons are made with the results from beam theory. This work is an extension of previous work.