Steel structures have been in use in high-rise structures since its more economical as compared to the use of concrete. The steel frames constructed fall under ordinary moment-resisting structures or special moment-resisting structures. Since the occurrence of Northridge earthquake in 1994 and Kobe earthquake in 1995, a lot of research has been done on causes of structural failure as well as remedies to the faults previously present in the building before the occurrence of the earthquake.

Behavior of wide flanged beams is of much importance to civil engineers as this one of the main materials used in steel structures. Openings are made in the web of beams to pass services pipes from one side of the building to another, when these openings are made in the beams, the shear and moment capacity at this section will be reduced. This will increase stresses at this section of the beam and will subsequently affect the stress distribution in the beam with web opening. Longitudinal stiffeners are placed at the top and bottom edges of the web opening to increase both moment and shear capacity at the section with web opening. Four samples were used in this study; a solid wide flange beam, a wide flange beam with web opening and two beams with reinforced web openings. The von Mises stress and the first principal stresses were obtained from the nonlinear static analysis. The results from a nonlinear finite element analysis of the four simply supported beams are discussed. The AISC steel design guide series 2 provide equations for the design of reinforced web opening. The reinforced web opening beam using the AISC guidelines is evaluated by comparing it to the finite element analysis.

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When fastener holes are made in structural beams, the Canadian Steel Design Code CAN/CSA-S16.01 -Clause 14.1 (CSA, 2003) states that no deduction in flexural strength is needed for holes up to 15% of the gross flange area. This clause was established many years ago, however, over the years the mechanical characteristics of structural steel have changed. This research study focused on the effects of flange holes on the flexural behavior of steel I-beams made of ASTM A992 steel. This study was conducted primarily based on an experimental investigation involving 25 beam specimens. Holes of various diameters, ranging from 0% to 48% of the gross flange area were laid by drilling holes (a) in the midspan of the tension flange and (b) in the midspan of both the tension and compression flanges. Additionally, beams having holes with fasteners (snug tight) were performed. Based on the test results, this study recommended a design approach, which is analogous to an axial tension member provision as per the current CAN/CSA-S16.01 (CSA, 2003) standard. Accordingly, the effects of holes on the flexural strength can be ignored if the gross-section plastic moment is greater than a modified net-section fracture moment hence, beam members shall be designed to carry the gross-section plastic moment. Otherwise, the beam members shall be designed to carry the modified net-section fracture moment. The comparison of the recommended procedure with the 15% exemption rule as per current steel standard S16.01 (CSA, 2003) demonstrated that the current code provision is unnecessarily conservative for steel grades such as A992 steel. On the other hand, the current provision may be more conservative for high strength steels such as HSLA 80 steel, ASTM A913 Grade 60 and HPS-485W having a minimum yield-to-ultimate strength ration value of more than 0.85. The analytical portion of the research study involved the application of nonlinear finite element method to verify and comprehend the experimental results. The analytical study was conducted using ADINA FE program. The test beams were modeled using 4-node shell element that includes both geometric and material nonlinearities. The material model utilized in the FE analysis was developed based on the experimental-numerical simulation of standard tensile coupons. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Seismic design criteria have been heavily improved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after the Northridge CA earthquake in 1994. Most of the damage observed was caused by brittle failure of moment frame connections. This failure was induced by the formation of the plastic hinge at undesirable locations in the beam and the column near the connection. Using welded flange plate (WFP) connections will force the formation of the plastic hinge away from the face of the column while preventing the brittle failure of the moment connection. FEMA-350 design criteria recommendations for WFP connections suggest that the plastic hinge will form away from the face of the column directly under the cover plate. The purpose of this research is to prove that the plastic hinge will form away from the face of the column, at a distance of approximately half the depth of the beam away from the cover plate. The further away the plastic hinge is from the face of the column the higher the connection demands. Therefore, underestimating the location of the plastic hinge could lead to under designed connections. The modeling and analysis of WFP connections was performed using finite element analysis software. A total of eight models with half beam half column configuration were considered in this study. Each selected section of beam and column was first designed, modeled and analyzed using WFP connections design recommendations from FEMA-350, with calculations modifications to account for the proposed plastic hinge location. Results were computed and comparisons were made in terms of plastic hinge location from the cover plates. Strength obtained for each model using finite element analysis software was also compared with hand calculations. This research also proves that increasing the thickness of the cover plates will generate an increase in the connection capacity and strength.

The thesis presents a proposal of production of a molded part from the aluminum alloy of group 2024 (dural). Based on the theoretical study and the requirements of the company was designed a cutting tool with a rounded edge for cutting the unfolded shape of the part on the eccentric press LEN 40 C. A new forming tool from textite material for fluid press Quintus QFC was designed. The parts of the cutting tool were designed primarily from normalized (purchased) parts. Manufactured punch and shearing die are made of commonly available tool steels and processed on the attached drawings. The result of the thesis is a recommendation to invest in a specialized workplace for the production of a unfolded shape and reduction of laboriousness adjusting after forming.

The design of plastic parts for presure valve filter (Reverse rinsing filter combination with pressure reducing valve. Fine filter and rotary connector flange for installation in horizontal or vertical pipe work). Optimization of fixture of existing device Additional function record of cleaning filter (date rocord) Optimization of easy makeability Design of concept of filter base on study from external company Description of function of device Proposal of design changes of selected components Creation of 3D model and drawings of selected components Stress – strain analysis in Pro/Mechanica Simulation of molding process with using Plastic adviser tool Basic calculation of hydraulic mechanism

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T20:25:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gilberto Paulo Wappler.pdf: 3228907 bytes, checksum: b89445d7a190e66455c34f9382fb8d2f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work has the objective of implementing a structural optimization procedure in order to adjust the natural frequency of electric motors. This is accomplished by modifying some flange dimensions, which is the part connecting the motor to the system being driven. The implemented optimization algorithm is the PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization), which proved to be appropriate for the type of problem considered (non convex and with few design variables). The optimization formulation aims to get a motor/flange whose first natural frequency is equal to a specified value while observing the criterion of Rankine for brittle materials. Both the modal analysis and evaluation of the principal stresses are performed by a commercial finite element code. Due to the large computational cost associated to the combined use of PSO with an external finite element program, it is studied an approximation by least squares of the natural frequency and of the principal stresses. This procedure is effective and extremely efficient. Examples of flange designs obtained using the proposed formulation are presented and discussed, showing the validity of the procedure adopted. / Este trabalho tem como objetivo implementar um procedimento de otimização estrutural aplicado ao ajuste da frequência natural de motores elétricos. Isto é realizado pela modificação de algumas dimensões do flange, elemento de ligação entre o motor e o sistema que está sendo acionado. O algoritmo de otimização implementado é o PSO (Otimização por enxame de partículas), que se mostrou adequado ao tipo de problema considerado (não convexo e com poucas variáveis de projeto). A formulação de otimização tem como objetivo obter um conjunto motor/flange cuja primeira frequência natural seja igual a um valor estipulado, respeitando o critério de Rankine para materiais frágeis. A análise modal e de tensões é realizada por um programa comercial de elementos finitos. Devido ao grande custo computacional associado ao uso conjunto do PSO com um programa externo de elementos finitos, é estudada uma aproximação por mínimos quadrados da frequência natural e das tensões principais. Este procedimento se mostrou eficaz e extremamente eficiente. Exemplos de projetos de flange obtidos com o uso da formulação proposta são apresentados e discutidos, mostrando a validade do procedimento adotado.

Most of the reinforced concrete systems are monolithic. During construction, concrete from the bottom of the deepest beam to the top of slab, is placed at once. Therefore the slab serves as the top flange of the beams. Such a beam is referred to as T-beam. In a floor system made of T-beams, the compressive stress is a maximum over the web, dropping between the webs. The distribution of compressive stress on the flange depends on the relative dimensions of the cross section, span length, support and loading conditions. For simplification, the varying distribution of compressive stress can be replaced by an equivalent uniform distribution. This gives us an effective flange width, which is smaller than the real flange width. In various codes there are recommendations for effective flange width formulas. But these formulas are expressed only in terms of span length or flange and web thicknesses and ignore the other important variables. In this thesis, three-dimensional finite element analysis has been carried out on continuous T-beams under different loading conditions to assess the effective flange width based on displacement criterion. The formulation is based on a combination of the elementary bending theory and the finite element method, accommodating partial interaction in between. The beam spacing, beam span length, total depth of the beam, the web and the flange thicknesses are considered as independent variables. Depending on the type of loading, the numerical value of the moment of inertia of the transformed beam crosssection and hence the effective flange width are calculated. The input data and the finite element displacement results are then used in a nonlinear regression analysis and two explicit design formulas for effective flange width have been derived. Comparisons are made between the proposed formulas and the ACI, Eurocode, TS-500 and BS-8110 code recommendations.

Until recently, the hot-rolled steel members have been recognized as the most popular and widely used steel group, but in recent times, the use of cold-formed high strength steel members has rapidly increased. However, the structural behavior of light gauge high strength cold-formed steel members characterized by various buckling modes is not yet fully understood. The current cold-formed steel sections such as C- and Z-sections are commonly used because of their simple forming procedures and easy connections, but they suffer from certain buckling modes. It is therefore important that these buckling modes are either delayed or eliminated to increase the ultimate capacity of these members. This research is therefore aimed at developing a new cold-formed steel beam with two torsionally rigid rectangular hollow flanges and a slender web formed using intermittent screw fastening to enhance the flexural capacity while maintaining a minimum fabrication cost. This thesis describes a detailed investigation into the structural behavior of this new Rectangular Hollow Flange Beam (RHFB), subjected to flexural action The first phase of this research included experimental investigations using thirty full scale lateral buckling tests and twenty two section moment capacity tests using specially designed test rigs to simulate the required loading and support conditions. A detailed description of the experimental methods, RHFB failure modes including local, lateral distortional and lateral torsional buckling modes, and moment capacity results is presented. A comparison of experimental results with the predictions from the current design rules and other design methods is also given. The second phase of this research involved a methodical and comprehensive investigation aimed at widening the scope of finite element analysis to investigate the buckling and ultimate failure behaviours of RHFBs subjected to flexural actions. Accurate finite element models simulating the physical conditions of both lateral buckling and section moment capacity tests were developed. Comparison of experimental and finite element analysis results showed that the buckling and ultimate failure behaviour of RHFBs can be simulated well using appropriate finite element models. Finite element models simulating ideal simply supported boundary conditions and a uniform moment loading were also developed in order to use in a detailed parametric study. The parametric study results were used to review the current design rules and to develop new design formulae for RHFBs subjected to local, lateral distortional and lateral torsional buckling effects. Finite element analysis results indicate that the discontinuity due to screw fastening has a noticeable influence only for members in the intermediate slenderness region. Investigations into different combinations of thicknesses in the flange and web indicate that increasing the flange thickness is more effective than web thickness in enhancing the flexural capacity of RHFBs. The current steel design standards, AS 4100 (1998) and AS/NZS 4600 (1996) are found sufficient to predict the section moment capacity of RHFBs. However, the results indicate that the AS/NZS 4600 is more accurate for slender sections whereas AS 4100 is more accurate for compact sections. The finite element analysis results further indicate that the current design rules given in AS/NZS 4600 is adequate in predicting the member moment capacity of RHFBs subject to lateral torsional buckling effects. However, they were inadequate in predicting the capacities of RHFBs subject to lateral distortional buckling effects. This thesis has therefore developed a new design formula to predict the lateral distortional buckling strength of RHFBs. Overall, this thesis has demonstrated that the innovative RHFB sections can perform well as economically and structurally efficient flexural members. Structural engineers and designers should make use of the new design rules and the validated existing design rules to design the most optimum RHFB sections depending on the type of applications. Intermittent screw fastening method has also been shown to be structurally adequate that also minimises the fabrication cost. Product manufacturers and builders should be able to make use of this in their applications.