Bibliography: leaves 240-257. / xvii, 274 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / The main objective of this research is to develop a fundamentally new fatigue design and assessment procedure which can be used to predict the variation in crack size, strength and inspection periods as well as endurances. Basic fracture mechanics and fatigue procedures are used to illustrate this new technique. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Depts. of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, 1997?

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Anette M. Karlsson, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

We present an a-posteriori method for computing rigorous upper and lower bounds of the J-integral in two dimensional linear elasticity. The J-integral, which is typically expressed as a contour integral, is recast as a surface integral which yields a quadratic continuous functional of the displacement. By expanding the quadratic output about an approximate finite element solution, the output is expressed as a known computable quantity plus linear and quadratic functionals of the solution error. The quadratic component is bounded by the energy norm of the error scaled by a continuity constant, which is determined explicitly. The linear component is expressed as an inner product of the errors in the displacement and in a computed adjoint solution, and bounded using standard a-posteriori error estimation techniques. The method is illustrated with two fracture problems in plane strain elasticity. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Fracture mechanics is applied to study the behavior of concrete containing expanded polystyrene (EPS) aggregate replacement. The EPS replaces a portion of the normal weight fine aggregate. Previous research has shown EPS aggregate replacement changes the failure mode in compression from a typical instantaneous failure, as in normal weight concrete (NWC), to a more gradual dissipation of load carrying capacity. This behavior is investigated through the use of fracture mechanics. The fracture energy, critical stress intensity factor and characteristic length of EPS concrete, NWC and fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) are experimentally determined. The two types of tests used to study these properties are the three point bending test recommended by the RILEM technical committee and a wedge splitting test developed recently. The conclusions derived from this research demonstrate that EPS aggregate replacement increases the size of the fracture process zone in front of the crack tip. This increase in size changes the failure mode of concrete allowing it to maintain load after reaching peak load and absorb more energy during the fracture process.

QC 20100714

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2000. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-206).

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Mechanical Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Naval Engineers Degree and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 47). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1989.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University o9f Hong Kong, 1989.