This master’s thesis was conducted at Linköping University in collaboration with ToyotaMaterial Handling in Mjölby to explore potential applications of recycled plastic in forklifttrucks. The primary objective was to identify the most suitable recycled plastic to be usedon the top cover of the BT Levio LWI160, which served as the focal point of this project.This was done in order to address the research questions: "What types of mechanical- andindustrial design requirements are affected when using recycled plastic (of various composi-tions), and to which new requirements and changes will result from this?" and "What are themajor mechanical- and industrial design challenges, advantages & disadvantages of switchingto recycled plastic material, considering economic and sustainability factors." The study concludes that the requirements of the top cover will largely remain unchanged.The use of PP 20GF necessitates further testing for structural integrity and quality con-sistency in recycled material. This material’s harder, less ductile nature may require newimpact testing and recycling processes. Industrial design benefits include simplified colourchoices due to the material’s transparent base hue, although the dark brown colour of re-cycled plastics limits options. Ensuring consistency across batches, minimising costs, andaddressing surface defects and purity issues are critical challenges. Despite uncertainties,switching to recycled plastic can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 24% and attract environ-mentally conscious customers

FRP stands for Fiber Reinforced Polymer. FRP materials have yet to be introduced inbridge construction in Sweden. Composite materials can through combined componentsand manufacturing processes be tailored to fit advanced bridge designs. FRP materials arestrong, durable and of low weight. FRP materials give the superstructure reduced weightand are therefore a suitable alternative for industrial prefabrication. This report shows thatFRP materials are possible to use in bridge construction. With the introduction of a specificEurocode we are confident that FRP materials will become a competitive alternative inbridge construction in Sweden in the future. / Broar är förenade med stora kostnader, dels för att bygga och dels för att underhålla ochreparera. FRP står för Fiber Reinforced Polymer är ett erkänt material för många andraanvändningsområden, exempelvis flyg och bilindustri. I Europa finns en mängd FRP-broar,men materialet har ännu inte introducerats i någon bro i Sverige.FRP är ett kompositmaterial som genom olika kombinationer av komponenter ochtillverkningsprocesser kan skräddarsys för den aktuella uppgiften i en konstruktion. FRPmaterialär starka, beständiga och har en låg vikt. Fördelar med FRP inom brokonstruktionär att det ger överbyggnaden en minskad egenvikt och därmed är ett lämpligt alternativ attprefabricera industriellt, då bland annat transport- och lyftbarhet gynnas samt att en högbeständighet ger minskat underhåll.Då ingen litteratur hanterar FRP i Brokonstruktion har de intervjuades åsikter varit mycketviktiga för arbetet. Litteraturstudien har legat till grund för en ökad förståelse för egenskaperutmärkande för olika typer av FRP. Intervjuer har utförts med personer som i dagslägetkommit i kontakt med materialet inom brokonstruktion. Detta har gjorts för att nå ett relevantresultat med möjlighet att kunna identifiera materialets för- respektive nackdelar samtanledningen till det låga användandet i Sverige.Rapporten visar att materialet har positiva egenskaper och är möjligt att använda vidkonstruktion av broar. Det saknas i dagsläget en specifik Eurokod som på ett enhetligt sättredovisar hur materialet ska hanteras. Med införandet av en specifik Eurokod och om en nykompetens arbetas fram inom branschen är vi övertygade om att FRP-material kommer attbli ett konkurrenskraftigt alternativ vid brokonstruktion.

Reinforced cement concrete (RCC) structures have become an important aspect in most of the buildings in our society around the world. Most of the multistoried reinforced concrete buildings house important institutions such as hospitals, schools, government establishments, defense establishments, business centers, sports stadiums, super markets and nuclear power plants. The cost of construction of such multistoried RCC structures is very high, and these structures need to be maintained and restored based on their functionality and importance using repair and retrofit strategies when these structures undergo damage. The steps involved in restoring RCC structures that have damages using repair / retrofit measures consists of identifying the source or cause of damage, assessment of the degree or extent of damage that has taken place using nondestructive techniques. Based on the assessment of degree of damage suitable repair / retrofit strategy using the appropriate repair material is applied to achieve the required load carrying capacity or strength. The present work involves assessing the efficacy of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) based system applied on pre-damaged structural members to restore the member’s strength and stiffness through experimental investigations and finite element predictions. To validate the macrolevel properties of predamaged concrete micromechanical analysis, microscale studies and analytical investigations have been conducted. Plain and reinforced concrete test specimens: cylinders, square prisms and rectangular prisms having 25MPa and 35MPa cylinder compressive strengths pre-damaged due to mechanical (monotonic and cyclic loading) and thermal loading (exposure to different temperature and time durations) with applications of CFRP repair subjected to compression is investigated to study the behavior and enhancement in the compressive strength and stiffness after application of repair. Non destructive testing of thermally damaged concrete (exposed to different temperature and exposure time) is conducted using ultrasonic pulse velocity and tomography methods to understand the degradation in the strength and stiffness of thermally damaged concrete. The results of the non destructive testing helps in assessing the amount of repair that can be applied. To validate the macro scale behavior of thermally damaged concrete micro scale studies was performed adopting micro indentation, petrography, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron miscroscopy (SEM) and Electron probe micro analysis (EPMA). During the event of a fire in RC structures which have been retrofitted. The high temperature caused due to fire tends to make the concrete to deteriorate and the repair material to delaminate. Loss of strength/ stiffness in concrete and delamination of the repair material in a retrofitted structural component in a structure causes instability which results in partial collapse or complete collapse of the structure. Thermal insulation of concrete and the repair material (CFRP) using geo-polymer mortar and simwool thermal fibre blanket exposed to high temperature and different exposure time are experimentally investigated. This is to evaluate the effectiveness of the thermal insulation in protecting epoxy based structural repair material(CFRP) from thermal damage and to minimize the delamination of the repair material when exposed to high temperatures. Slender columns when loaded eccentrically fail at a load much lesser than their actual load carrying capacity. In RC buildings where additional floors need to be added, in those situations slender columns which are already eccentrically loaded tend to get damaged or fail due to additional load which act on them. Therefore to restore such columns experimental and finite element investigations on reinforced concrete slender columns having 25MPa cylinder compressive strength subjected to eccentric monotonic compressive loading with applications of CFRP repair is studied to understand the behavior and the enhancement in load carrying capacity after application of repair. Experimental investigations are conducted to study fracture and fatigue properties of thermally damaged concrete geometrically similar notched plain and reinforced concrete beams having 25MPa cylinder compressive strength exposed to different combinations of temperature and durations with application of repair (CFRP). Nonlinear fracture parameters of thermally damaged concrete is computed which help in understanding the fracture behavior of thermally damaged concrete and application of repair. Effectiveness of CFRP repair and failure behaviour of these beams are studied when these thermally damaged notch concrete beams are subjected to monotonic and cyclic (fatigue) loading. Reinforced concrete slender beams when subjected to unexpected loads such as earthquakes get damaged. The increase in load carrying capacity and fatigue life of reinforced concrete slender beams having 25MPa cylinder compressive strength in flexure subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading with applications of CFRP repair is investigated using experimental and finite element investigations. Finite element analysis of concrete specimens pre-damaged due to mechanical (monotonic and cyclic loading) / thermal loading (exposure to different temperature and time durations) with applications of CFRP repair and assessment of amount of repair required is investigated. Analytical (empirical) models are developed to assess the mechanical properties of concrete (elastic moduli, compressive strength and split tensile strength) exposed to different temperatures and time durations. Nonlinear fracture parameters of geometrically similar plain concrete notch beams exposed to different temperature and time durations are determined. Fracture parameters (stress intensity factor) of thermally damaged plain and reinforced concrete notched beams with application of CFRP have been determined. Effect of size and shape of thermally damaged plain concrete compression members with application of CFRP wrap have been studied. Crack mouth opening displacements (CMOD), strains and crack lengths of thermally damaged plain concrete (PC) notched beams using digital image correlation has also been determined.

Les enquêtes récentes sur les séismes ont fait ressortir l'importance des murs en béton armé en tant que partie intégrante des structures. L’évolution des règlements prend en compte ces considérations, par contre le bâti existant doit subir des renforcements dans l’objectif de leur mise en conformité. Dans cette thèse une étude expérimentale faite sur douze murs (six élancés et six courts) renforcés par un collage externe en composite a été conduite. Les murs ont été conçus en étant sous-renforcés à la flexion et cisaillement. Quatre de ces six échantillons ont été renforcés par des bandes de PRFC collées. Deux spécimens, un témoin et un renforcé, ont été soumis à un test de chargement statique et quatre échantillons, l'un témoin et trois rénovés, ont été soumis à des essais de charge cyclique. La discussion et l’analyse des tests incluent la description de la fissuration, l’analyse de la rigidité, de la capacité de charge ultime, de la ductilité. / Recent earthquake surveys have revealed the significance of RC walls as an integral part of structures. It reduces the structure damage to some extent. However, like other structural member they too are vulnerable. Researchers on basis of their post eartthquake survey and laboratary experiments have concluded that the RC wall buildings sustained damage, mainly due to design and construction work flaws. In this thesis experimental result of shear walls is discussed. They were designed under-reinforced to fail in shear in ase of short wall and in flexure for slender walls. Three out of these six specimens, in each case, were strengthened externally with CFRP strips bonded to wall panel and mesh anchors installed at wall foundation joint. Two specimens, one RC and one CFRP retrofitted (short and slender wall each), were subjected to static load test and three specimens, one RC and two to three CFRP retrofitted, were subjected to quasi static cyclic load tests. The test result analysis discussion includes failure mode, stiffness, ultimate load capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation.