In terms of developing knowledge to enable more effective use of performance based engineering (PBE), one of the key limitations is the lack of an easy to use integrated computational tool that is also robust and comprehensive enough to enable automated modelling of more realistic fire scenarios, i.e., the structural response to localised or travelling fires. The main objective of this thesis is to establish such an integrated computational tool, which shall be based on the OpenSees software framework and facilitated by specially developed approaches to achieve higher efficiency of the integrated analysis. This includes the analysis of heat transfer from the fire to structural members, as well as the analysis of structural response to elevated temperatures during the fire. In this thesis, the research begins with the investigation of the feasibility of dimensional reduction for heat transfer analyses of structural members subjected to localised fire action (SFPE and Eurocode 1 fire models), which can be numerically represented by a linear or exponential correlation between incident heat flux and radial distance. Accurate estimates of the error induced by dimensional reduction are presented under strongly varying localised heat fluxes that represent the most non-uniform fire conditions in a building compartment. It is shown that beams and slabs can be adequately modelled with a lower dimensional heat transfer analysis for ordinary building fires. Using this approach, the complexity of heat transfer modelling and the required computing resource and user effort can both be significantly reduced, especially in cases where structural members are subjected to localised fire action. Thermo-mechanical simulations are presented to address the behaviour of structural members subjected to localised fire action, for which a ThermalAction- Wrapper is developed to approximate the temperature distribution from a mixed-order interpolation between sections (beam) or locations (slab). For concrete slabs subjected to localised fire, MITC4 based shell elements are used to account for material and geometric nonlinearities. An integrated simulation environment is developed, which is designed to be a computational tool that requires limited input but provides a comprehensive solution to the problem of simulating large structural frame and sub-frame response under realistic fire scenarios. A considerable amount of code has been written to create and operate the building model, and to process the heat fluxes from the design fires to the structure and the consequential structural response to the evolution of temperatures within it. Parametric studies have been performed to investigate the computational performance of the newly developed elements in modelling beams and slabs subjected to different cases of localised fire action. The results suggest that 3 to 6 force-based beam elements can adequately describe the localised response however more elements are required for quadratic distribution of incident heat flux and higher temperatures, which is due to the degradation of material strength that governs the accuracy especially when the members are heavily loaded. For slabs exposed to localised fires, centre fires are found to produce greater deflections than corner fires, while lateral restraints applied to the slabs may also lead to higher deflections. A small-scale three dimensional structural frame is modelled as a demonstration of the tool, tested against a number of localised fire scenarios. The global behaviour of the structure with the local effects induced by the fire action and partially damaged fire protection are investigated. Severe damage can be found in the members exposed to a single whole compartment fire, in contrast with the relatively small deflections that are observed when a fully protected column is engulfed by a localised fire. However if the passive fire protection is partially damaged, collapse may occur in the column as a result of load magnification because of the redistribution. To the author's knowledge this is the first piece of research that has been able to develop a practically feasible approach to enable efficient coupled computation of the response of structural frames to realistic fire scenarios on a freely available open source software platform. Currently this kind of analysis can only be carried out by just two or three large consulting firms because of the prohibitive commitment of analyst time and effort and to a lesser extent the need for significant computing resources. The work of this thesis will contribute enormously towards making high-end performance based engineering of structural fire resistance a much more practical proposition for small and medium size structural consultancies. Furthermore, the choice of OpenSees, which is a very well respected software framework for simulating structural response to earthquakes naturally enables this work to be extended to the simulating the multi-hazard structural resistance, such as in the event of a fire following an earthquake which may have locally damaged passive fire protection.

The present dissertation reports the results of a multi-disciplinary experimental study, which combines psycholinguistic and cognitive methodologies in order to achieve two broad objectives. The first objective is providing a comparative psycholinguistic analysis of the expression of motion events in three languages, namely Turkish, English and French, taking Talmy&lsquo / s verb-framed language vs. satellite-framed language typology (Talmy, 1985) as the framework. The second one is investigating the relationship between linguistic representation and conceptual representation by taking motion events as the testing ground. In order to pursue these two lines of inquiry, five complementary tasks are conducted on three groups of adult subjects. The results of the first two tasks, the language production task and the language comprehension task, verify the Talmyan typology experimentally by showing sharp differences between the data obtained from native speakers of typologically different languages (English vs. Turkish and French), as well as remarkable similarities between the data obtained from native speakers of typologically similar languages (Turkish and French). On the other hand, the remaining three non-verbal tasks, the categorization task and the two eye-tracking tasks, present valuable insights into the nature of conceptual event representation by revealing a uniform pattern across languages. This latter result is inconsistent with the renowned linguistic relativity hypothesis (Whorf, 1956) / however in line with the universalist view (Jackendoff, 1990, 1996), which suggests that conceptual event representation is language-free and independent of the linguistic encoding preferences of different languages.

As the leading cause of death in the United States, coronary heart disease (CHD) is a growing public health problem, despite the fact that many risk factors for the disease are preventable, especially if addressed early in life. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of loss-framed versus gain-framed versus information-only health messages on both intention to attend and actual attendance at an appointment to get screened for CHD risk factors (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia). It was hypothesized that a population of young adults would be more likely to view screening for CHD risk factors as a low-risk, health-affirming behavior as opposed to a risky, illness-detecting behavior and would thus be more strongly influenced by gain-framed messages than loss-framed messages. Additional goals included the exploration of the extensively researched individual health beliefs of perceived threat (as defined by the health belief model) and health locus of control as they relate to message frames. One hundred forty-three undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the loss-framed, gain-framed, or information-only control conditions. Framing manipulation checks revealed that participants failed to discern differences in the tone and emphasis of the experimental pamphlets. As a result, no tests of framing effects could be conducted. Sixteen (11.2%) of the 143 participants who participated in Part 1 of the experiment participated in Part 2 (i.e., attended a risk factor screening appointment). Multiple regression analysis revealed risk index, age, and powerful others health locus of control as significant predictors of screening intention. Gender was the only demographic or health related variable that was significantly related to screening outcome, such that women were more likely to get screened than men. Limitations and recommendations are discussed.

Over the last decade it has become increasingly clear that the traditional methods of fire safety design can be unnecessarily conservative and therefore expensive. In 1995 a series of fire tests were carried out at Cardington, UK on a full-scale eight storey steel-concrete composite building. These tests produced an extensive body of data about the response of such structures to fire conditions and it is intended that this data be used to develop a clearer understanding of the structural behaviour involved. This thesis presents a method of analysing the behaviour of structures such as the Cardington frame using the commercial finite element package ABAQUS, with the addition of user defined subroutines; applies the method to two of the Cardington tests and analyses the results. FEAST, a suite of computer programmes that defines the behaviour of shell finite elements using a stress-resultant approach, was programmed for use with ABAQUS. The FEAST suite consists of two main programmes. The first, SRAS, is designed to model the behaviour of orthotropic plate sections at elevated temperatures. The second, FEAI, interfaces with the finite element package ABAQUS and allows realistic models of the behaviour of whole structures in fire conditions to be obtained. Phenomena modelled by FEAST include non-linear thermal gradients, non-linear material behaviour and coupling between membrane and bending forces. FEAST was used to analyse the behaviour of the Cardington Restrained Beam Test and the Cardington Corner Test. In both cases it was possible to produce a comprehensive set of results showing the variation of forces, moments and deflections in the structure under fire conditions. In addition, a number of parametric studies were performed to determine the effect of factors such as slab temperature and coefficient of thermal expansion on the behaviour of the structure. Special attention was given to the role of tensile mebrane action. The results showed that the behaviour of the heated structure was very different to that of an unheated structure. The response of the structure was shown to be very strongly governed by restrained thermal expansion and by thermal gradients. Degradation of material properties were found to have only a secondary effect on the structural behaviour.

Este trabalho apresenta conceitos e procedimentos que devem ser considerados na análise dinâmica de fundações de máquinas. São discutidas as abordagens e os métodos de cálculo à disposição dos engenheiros, assim como os fatores que influenciam a escolha e o desenvolvimento de modelos matemáticos adequados. Três tipos diferentes de fundação (fundações em bloco rígido, fundações de martelos e fundações aporticadas) são examinados, e são utilizados exemplos para demonstrar a eficácia de técnicas simples de modelagem. / This paper presents concepts and procedures necessary to the dynamic analysis of machine foundations. Analytical approaches available to the designer, and factors which influence the choice and development of a suitable analytical model are discussed. Three different foundations (block foundations, hammer foundations and framed foundations) are examined and examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of simple modeling techniques.

While new agricultural technologies may lead to substantial yield improvements, the take-up rates in developing countries have frequently been low. There are many possible reasons why a farmer might refrain from adopting a new technology, and literature has pointed to several possible reasons in different settings. A key area for research is to understand what policies could encourage higher adoption rates. This thesis studies the research question by using a case study of fertiliser adoption in cocoa farming in Ghana. Chapter I investigates whether returns to fertiliser in cocoa farming are high and whether farmers' adoption decisions can be explained by comparative advantage. Chapter I uses data from Ghana to measure the returns to fertiliser using a correlated random model and static and dynamic panel models of homogeneous returns to fertiliser. The estimated returns in different models are positive, high and strongly significant statistically. The chapter also presents a correlated random effects model of heterogeneous technology, which allows for farmer-specific comparative advantage. The effect of the comparative advantage is found not to be statistically significant. Chapter II explores the fertiliser investment decisions and risk preferences of Ghanaian cocoa farmers in a framed field experiment. The experimental subjects decided whether to invest in fertiliser, and the fertiliser return depended on a stochastic weather realisation. An inexpensive index insurance scheme with a positive level of basis risk was found to have a minor positive effect on the fertiliser take-up, but this effect was statistically insignificant. An expensive index insurance scheme with no basis risk was found to have a substantial positive effect, and this effect was strongly significant. The experimental findings suggest that farmers are willing to pay for an index insurance if it successfully shields them from income variability. Chapter III investigates the effect of trust and of an ambiguous environment on fertiliser investments under index insurance. These two behavioural factors were studied by means of a framed field experiment conducted with Ghanaian cocoa farmers. The subjects had an option to invest in a package of fertiliser bundled with index insurance with a positive level of basis risk. The returns depended both on the subjects ́ investment choices and a stochastic weather realization. The key ingredient of the study was that for different subjects, the nature of the basis risk was framed differently. Substantially fewer subjects adopted fertiliser when possible losses of fertiliser investment were framed as resulting from the insurer ́s failure to meet its contract obligations, compared with an alternative in which the losses were framed as resulting from a mismatch between their own weather realizations and those on which the index insurance was based. A large negative effect on fertiliser investments was also found in treatments with either a small or large ambiguity regarding the exact level of basis risk. Both negative treatment effects were strongly significant. This may suggest that technologies with which farmers are relatively more experienced are more likely to be adopted under index insurance schemes. The overall experimental findings provide evidence that trust and ambiguity may be significant factors other than basis risk, limiting the effectiveness of index insurance in promoting agricultural innovation.

In the analyses of steel framed structures it is customary to assume the beam to column connections as either fully rigid which means that all moments are transferred from beam to column with negligible rotation or ideally pinned that resists negligible moment. This assumption is reasonable for some types of connections. However when considering steel connections such as bolted-bolted double web angle connections it can be seen that the behavior of these connections is in between the two extreme cases. Thus a third connection type, namely semi rigid or partially restrained connection, is introduced. However this type of connection exhibits such a nonlinear behavior that modeling this behavior necessities a substantial effort. Moreover to perform a performance based analyses the true behavior of these connections should be incorporated as part of the modeling effort. Several researches dealing with these two topics have been undertaken in literature. Despite these efforts, modeling of the moment rotation behavior of these connections still requires improvement especially under cyclic loading conditions. In addition to this, performing an analysis with existing elements incorporating semi-rigid connections as a spring attached to beam ends is not practical because of the fact that displacement based formulation increases meshing significantly which requires substantial computational power. In this study a hysteretic (quadra-linear) moment rotation model considering pinching, damage and possibility of residual moment capacity is developed. The behavior is calibrated via experimental data available in the literature. Furthermore a force based macro element considering spread inelastic behavior along the element is presented. With this element several connections located anywhere along the beam could be incorporated in the analysis with less degree of freedom with respect to displacement based elements. Moreover the macro element model can be used in conjunction with corotational formulation for the capture of nonlinear geometric effects.

This thesis chronicles my experiences with developing a panelized wall system for use by Habitat for Humanity and with testing that system in the design and construction of a house. Presented as a series of narratives, it follows the progress of the project from August 2003 to December 2005. Described is my motivation to test my theories through design and construction, the applicability of prefabrication to Habitat for Humanity’s use of unskilled volunteer labour, the incorporation of panelization into the design of a house for the Waterloo Region affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, the prefabrication of preclad wood framed wall panels for this house by students at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, the erection of these wall panels on-site, and the completion of the house to a weathertight state. The thesis concludes with discussions of the understanding I gained through my experiences, the necessity for further development and testing of the panelized wall system, and the future use of prefabrication by Habitat for Humanity.

Roofs are the single enclosure element common to artificial shelters constructed by all cultures in all climate regions. The hygrothermal performance of insulated, sloped, wood-framed roof assemblies has long been of interest to building scientists and building codes alike. Requirements for the ventilation of roof assemblies have been included in building codes for more than 50 years, however moisture problems still occur. Unvented roof assemblies have been suggested as an alternate and potentially superior solution. While unvented roofs have become relatively common in the warmer southern climates of North America, some technical issues remain unclear and the need exists for further study and demonstration of the hygrothermal performance of both ventilated and unvented roof assemblies in cold northern climates. This thesis seeks to address these issues through a review of existing literature, experience and industry practice, field investigation and measurement, analytical calculation and computer simulations.

This thesis chronicles my experiences with developing a panelized wall system for use by Habitat for Humanity and with testing that system in the design and construction of a house. Presented as a series of narratives, it follows the progress of the project from August 2003 to December 2005. Described is my motivation to test my theories through design and construction, the applicability of prefabrication to Habitat for Humanity’s use of unskilled volunteer labour, the incorporation of panelization into the design of a house for the Waterloo Region affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, the prefabrication of preclad wood framed wall panels for this house by students at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, the erection of these wall panels on-site, and the completion of the house to a weathertight state. The thesis concludes with discussions of the understanding I gained through my experiences, the necessity for further development and testing of the panelized wall system, and the future use of prefabrication by Habitat for Humanity.