This paper describes the finite element method using ABAQUS to model the axial compressive behaviour of inclined, tapered and straight-tapered-straight (STS) concrete filled steel tubular stub (CFST) columns with square hollow sections. The accuracy of the numerical model was verified by comparing the numerical predictions with experimental study of the 200×200×3.75 RHS filled with C60 concrete with inclined angle of 0-9° and tapered angle of 0-4°. The results show that the compressive behaviours, load vs. strain relationship and failure mode predicted by the numerical simulations were agreeable with experimental results. After the validation, a parametric study was performed with 3 typical steel hollow sections (200×200×3.75 RHS, 300×300×6.3 RHS and 400×400×8.0 RHS) and extended the inclined angle and tapered angle to 0-15° and 0-12° respectively. The parametric study highlights some of the behaviour observed in test and extends the application range. In addition, reduction factor for calculating the axial capacity of this form of CFST columns are proposed.

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A new version of EN 1992-1-1, Eurocode 2 for Design of Concrete Structures, is under development and one of the most discussed topics is shear capacity for prestressed concrete beams without shear reinforcement, partly because shear failure occurs suddenly and can have catastrophic consequences. For the new version of Eurocode, there are a total of three proposed equations to replace the two equations that currently exist in EN 1992-1-1 for shear capacity of prestressed concrete beams without shear reinforcement. One of the proposed equations is intended to replace the equation intended for beam regions where bending cracks do not occur. The other two equations are proposed for beam regions where bending cracks occur. One of the proposed equations for beam regions with bending cracks, is based on critical shear crack theory and takes the normal force in consideration, while the other equation for beam regions with bending cracks is like the one found today in Eurocode, an empirical equation, where the contribution of normal force is empirical. In this thesis, all equations have been set against each other and compared with the help of nonlinear finite element analyzes and experiments which Dr. De Wilder has done in his doctoral thesis. The impact of the prestressing force on the shear force capacity of beams has also been investigated. The results show that the equations for beam regions that do not have bending cracks give identical shear force capacities. While the equation which is based on critical shear crack theory takes the shear span into consideration and captures the effect of the shear span correctly, which the other proposed equation and the one found in Eurocode today do not and are on the unsafe side for increasing shear spans. Furthermore, it turned out that the equation which is based on critical shear crack theory was rather conservative, while the equation that exists today in Eurocode gives approximately the same shear capacity as the other proposed equation. Furthermore, it was found that if the amount of longitudinal reinforcement is reduced, at the same time as the prestressing force is unchanged, an insignificant reduction in the shear capacity on prestressed concrete beams is obtained. / En ny version av EN 1992-1-1, Eurokod 2 Dimensionering av betongkonstruktioner, är under utveckling och ett av de mest diskuterade ämnena är tvärkraftskapacitet för förspända betongbalkar utan skjuvarmering, bland annat eftersom huvudspänningsskjuvbrott uppstår plötsligt och kan få katastrofala konsekvenser. Till den nya versionen av Eurokoden finns det totalt tre föreslagna ekvationer för att ersätta de två ekvationer som för närvarande finns i EN 1992-1-1 för tvärkraftskapacitet för förspända betongbalkar utan skjuvarmering. En av de föreslagna ekvationerna är tänkt att ersätta ekvationen avsedd för balkregioner där böjsprickor ej uppstår. De andra två ekvationerna är föreslagna för balkregioner där böjsprickor uppstår. En av de föreslagna ekvationerna för balkregioner med böjsprickor är baserad på kritisk skjuvsprickteorin och tar hänsyn till normalkraftens bidrag till tvärkraftskapaciteten, medan den andra föreslagna ekvationen för balkregioner med böjsprickor är likt den som idag finns i Eurokoden, en empirisk ekvation, där normala kraftens bidrag är baserad på ett empiriskt tillägg. I detta examensarbete har alla ekvationer ställts mot varandra och jämförts med hjälp utav icke-linjär finit-elementanalyser samt experiment som Dr. De Wilder gjort i sin doktorsavhandling. Vidare har också förspänningskraftens påverkan på balkars tvärkraftskapacitet undersökts. Resultaten visar att ekvationerna för balkregioner som ej har böjsprickor ger identiska tvärkraftskapaciteter. Medan ekvationen som är baserad på kritisk skjuvsprickteorin tar hänsyn till skjuvspännvidd och fångar effekten av skjuvspännvidden korrekt, vilket den andra föreslagna ekvationen och den som finns i Eurokoden idag inte gör och är på den osäkra sidan för ökad skjuvspännvidd. Dessutom visade det sig att ekvationen som är baserad på kritisk skjuvsprickteori är tämligen konservativ, medan ekvationen som finns idag i Eurokoden ger ungefär samma tvärkraftskapacitet som den andra föreslagna ekvationen. Vidare visade det sig att ifall man minskar mängden längsgående armering, samtidigt som förspänningskraften är oförändrad, så fås en obetydlig minskning utav tvärkraftskapaciteten på förspända betongbalkar.

Le bâtiment est l'un des secteurs les plus consommateurs d'énergie et producteurs de CO2 au monde. Au Maroc, ce secteur représente actuellement 33% de la consommation totale d’énergie à l'échelle nationale. Le nouveau règlement thermique au Maroc vise à introduire des pratiques éco énergétiques dans ce secteur pour réduire ces consommations. En effet, dans la région méditerranéenne, l’architecture du bâtiment a un impact primordial sur sa performance énergétique et thermique. Par ailleurs, l’intégration des techniques passives et l’utilisation des matériaux locaux pourraient réduire considérablement la consommation d’énergie dans le secteur du bâtiment. C’est dans ce contexte que se situe cette thèse de doctorat dont l’objectif est d’évaluer la capacité de rafraîchissement de quelques techniques passives pour la protection solaire des toitures et de montrer l’importance de l’utilisation des matériaux naturels locaux dans le climat chaud et semi-aride de Marrakech. En effet, trois techniques passives de rafraîchissement de l'air dans les bâtiments sont testées dans des conditions climatiques réelles dans la ville de Marrakech. Les techniques passives, à savoir la peinture blanche, l'ombrage et l'isolation thermique, sont appliquées sur les toits de trois cellules test métalliques placées à l’extérieur. Les performances thermiques de ces techniques sont évaluées simultanément via un monitoring de 29 jours d’été de quatre cellules test identiques, dont une cellule test de référence à toit nu (sans traitement). Ces cellules test ne représentent pas des bâtiments réels là où nous pouvons mener une étude approfondie. Pour cela, nous avons construit un bâtiment réel qui représente une salle de classe dans le milieu rural du Sud marocain, et ceci en utilisant des matériaux naturels et en intégrant des techniques passives dans la toiture. Les performances thermiques et énergétiques des mêmes techniques sont évaluées par le biais des simulations thermiques dynamiques sur l’outil TRNSYS ainsi qu’une étude expérimentale. / The building is one of the most energy-consuming and CO2-producing sectors in the world. Nowadays, this sector accounts for 33% of total energy consumption in Morocco. The new thermal regulation in Morocco aims to introduce eco-energy practices in this sector to reduce this consumption. Indeed, in the Mediterranean region, building architecture has a major impact on its energy and thermal performance. In addition, the integration of passive techniques and the use of local materials could significantly reduce energy consumption in the building sector. In this context where this thesis is located and whose objective is to evaluate the cooling capacity of some passive techniques for the solar protection of roofs and to show the importance of the use of local natural materials in the hot and semi-arid climate of Marrakech. Indeed, three passive cooling techniques are tested in real conditions in the Marrakech region. Passive techniques, namely white paint, shading and thermal insulation, are applied to the roofs of three outside test cells. The thermal performances of these techniques are evaluated simultaneously via a 29-day summer monitoring of four identical test cells, including a bare roof reference test cell (without treatment). Small scale test cells do not represent real buildings where an in-depth study can be conducted. To remedy this, we built a single-zone building that represents a classroom in rural region in southern Morocco, using natural materials and incorporating passive techniques into the roof. The thermal and energetic performances of the same techniques are evaluated by means of dynamic thermal simulations on TRNSYS as well as an experimental study.

The main focus of this research is the transformation induced fatigue behavior of shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators undergoing thermally induced martensitic phase transformation. The recent development of aerospace applications employing shape memory alloys (SMAs) has expanded the need for fatigue life characterization and modeling. Lightweight, compact and with a great work output, SMAs are ideal materials for actuated structural components. However, fatigue life becomes a key factor in applications such as commercial airplanes. Therefore, it is necessary to not only perform fatigue testing but also to investigate the causes of fatigue failure. As a new class of materials, SMAs have unique characteristics and require novel test methodologies to conduct repeatable and reliable fatigue testing. For this research, two materials are being investigated: TiNiCu and Ni-rich NiTi. The experiments performed on the first selected alloy, i.e. TiNiCu SMA, explore three major parameters: the applied stress level, the amount of actuation, and the corrosive nature of the environment. Experimental results show that SMAs undergoing transformation induced fatigue exhibit a low-cycle fatigue behavior and the measurement of the accumulated plastic strain at failure is associated to a Manson-Coffin type failure criterion. Investigations conducted on the post-mortem microstructure showed evidence of a multiphysical coupling between corrosion and cyclic phase transformation, from which a novel cyclic damage mechanism is proposed and explained using the micromechanical shear lag model accounting for actuation and accumulated plastic strains. Thereafter, based upon the identified failure mechanism and considering damage accumulation through crack formation, a stress renormalization procedure is proposed in combination with the Miner’s rule to predict the reduction of number of cycles to failure due to cyclic phase transformation and corrosion. A direct method is first presented and the predictions show good agreement with experimental results. However, both corrosion and corrosion-free fatigue data are required. Therefore, a new approach is proposed: the inverse Miner’s rule, which requires corrosion fatigue data only to predict corrosion-free life. The new and attractive properties of the selected second alloy, i.e. Ni-rich NiTi SMA, have revived the motivation of the aerospace industry to design SMA actuators. One particular property is cyclic stability generated by precipitation hardening mechanism using precipitates. However, are also precipitates due to high Nickel content (60 wt.% or 55 at.%). Parameters such as processing, heat treatments, size effects, surface quality and environment are investigated. Thermomechanical response and fatigue life are discussed and the greatest impact is found to come from specimen surface quality. Finally, a detailed fractography presents the different microstructural aspects of the fatigue damage and concludes to a precipitation driven fatigue failure mechanism cause by precipitates.

The I-35W Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, MN had a catastrophic failure in the main span of the deck truss in 2007. This collapse has brought significant attention on the gusset plate connections in steel truss bridges throughout the U.S. Steel truss bridge gusset plate design has not received much focus in the past 40 years, and there is a lack of consensus within the design profession on the procedures to evaluate, design, and rate these critical elements. In the short term, based on the best available information on the gusset plate design, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued preliminary guidance. Although some experimental research has been conducted on the ultimate strength of gusset plates, much of this work has been directed toward the performance of tension members and their connections. There has been limited experimental work on the compression capacity and stability of gusset plates, but most of this work is relevant primarily to bracing connections common in building structures. This research focuses on comprehensive experimental and analytical studies on steel truss bridge gusset plate behavior. The studies include comparisons of advanced analytical models with the responses from large-scale experimental tests using discrete and innovative full-field measurements. The calibrated finite element analysis models are then utilized to study a variety of gusset plate configurations. Improved mechanistic idealizations that better capture the observed behavior in the experiments and analytical studies are proposed as the result of this work. The design checks recommended in this thesis present a comprehensive methodology for determining the ultimate gusset plate resistance. This research provides a large database of original results that will be useful for future similar studies. In addition, this research provides modeling procedures that permit the study of steel truss bridge connections and their adjacent framing members using truss bridge sub-assemblies. Based on the comprehensive analytical studies, simple and accurate design calculation procedures to assess the nominal ultimate strength of steel truss gusset plate connections are recommended for steel truss bridge gusset plate connections.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:08:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AntonioRGpdf.pdf: 5141308 bytes, checksum: d76799635535d71b79841802f1a64db0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-30 / Petr?leo Brasileiro SA - PETROBRAS / Exploration of heavy oil reservoirs is increasing every year in worldwide, because the discovery of light oil reservoirs is becoming increasingly rare. This fact has stimulated the research with the purpose of becoming viable, technically and economically, the exploration of such oil reserves. In Brazil, in special in the Northeast region, there is a large amount of heavy oil reservoir, where the recovery by the so called secondary methods Water injection or gas injection is inefficient or even impracticable in some reservoirs with high viscosity oils (heavy oils). In this scenario, steam injection appears as an interesting alternative for recover of these kinds of oil reservoirs. Its main mechanism consists of oil viscosity reduction through steam injection, increasing reservoir temperature. This work presents a parametric simulation study of some operational and reservoir variables that had influence on oil recovery in thin reservoirs typically found in Brazilian Northeast Basins, that use the steam injection as improved oil recovery method. To carry out simulations, it was used the commercial software STARS (Steam, Thermal, and Advanced Processes Reservoir Simulator) from CMG (Computer Modeling Group) version 2007.11. Reservoirs variables studied were horizontal permeability, vertical and horizontal permeability ratio, water zone and pay zone thickness ratio, pay zone thickness and thermal conductivity of the rock. Whereas, operational parameters studied were distance between wells and steam injection rate. Results showed that reservoir variables that had more influence on oil recovery were horizontal permeability and water zone and pay zone thickness ratio. In relation to operational variables, results showed that short distances between wells and low steam injection rates improved oil recovery / A cada ano tem ocorrido cada vez mais a explora??o de reservas de ?leo pesado em diversas regi?es do mundo. Isto tem sido feito porque ? cada vez mais rara a exist?ncia de jazidas petrol?feras de ?leos leves. Este fato tem impulsionado in?meras pesquisas em dire??o a tornar vi?vel, do ponto de vista operacional e econ?mico, a explora??o de tais reservas de ?leo. No Brasil, em especial na regi?o Nordeste, existe uma grande quantidade de reservat?rios de ?leos pesados, onde a recupera??o pelos m?todos ditos secund?rios inje??o de ?gua e gases mostram-se ineficientes ou at? invi?veis em alguns reservat?rios que apresentam ?leos de elevada viscosidade. Neste cen?rio, a inje??o de vapor surge como uma alternativa bastante interessante na recupera??o do ?leo desses tipos de reservat?rios. Seu principal mecanismo consiste na redu??o da viscosidade do ?leo por meio da inje??o de um fluido aquecido, no caso, vapor de ?gua, aumentando a temperatura do reservat?rio. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo param?trico das vari?veis de reservat?rio e operacionais que influenciam no fator de recupera??o de ?leo ao longo da vida produtiva do reservat?rio em reservat?rios delgados tipicamente encontrados em Bacias do Nordeste brasileiro, que utilizam a inje??o de vapor como m?todo avan?ado de recupera??o. O estudo foi conduzido atrav?s de simula??o num?rica, utilizando o programa STARS (Steam, Thermal, and Advanced Processes Reservoir Simulator) do grupo CMG (Computer Modelling Group) vers?o 2007.11. As vari?veis de reservat?rio compreenderam a permeabilidade horizontal, a raz?o entre a permeabilidade vertical e horizontal, a raz?o entre a zona de ?gua e a de ?leo, a espessura da zona produtora de ?leo e a condutividade t?rmica da rocha. Enquanto que os par?metros operacionais estudados foram a dist?ncia entre po?os e a vaz?o de inje??o de vapor. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que as vari?veis de reservat?rios que mais influenciaram no fator de recupera??o foram a permeabilidade horizontal e a raz?o entre a zona de ?gua e de ?leo. Com rela??o ?s vari?veis operacionais, menores dist?ncias entre po?os e vaz?es de inje??o melhoram o fator de recupera??o durante a vida produtiva do reservat?rio

This research is directed toward the investigation of a low temperature direct propane fuel cell (DPFC). Modeling included a parametric study of a direct propane fuel cell using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), specifically FreeFem++ software. Polarization curves predicted by the CFD model were used to understand fuel cell performance. The predictions obtained from the computational fluid dynamics mathematical model for the fuel cell were compared with experimental results. The computational work identified some critical parameters (exchange current density, pressure, temperature) for improving the overall performance of the fuel cell. The model predictions clearly highlighted the role of catalysts in significantly enhancing the overall performance of a DPFC. Experiments were performed using commercial Nafion-Pt based membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) to obtain a basis for comparison. It is the first report in the literature that a Pt-Ru (Platinum-Ruthenium) MEA was used in the investigation of a DPFC. Also, it was the first study that fed liquid water continuously to a DPFC by using interdigitated flow field (IDFF) at the anode to humidify the dry propane feed gas. During the experiments oscillations were observed at very low current densities i.e. in nA/cm2, which is a rare case and not reported in the literature to date. This observation has raised serious concerns about the existence of absolute open-circuit cell potential difference for a DPFC. The cycling behaviour observed with DPFC indicated the presence of a continuous degradation-regeneration process of the catalyst surface near open-circuit potential. The experimental work further evaluated the performance of fuel cell by measurement of polarization curves.

Cette thèse mêle observations, simulations et développement d'outils numériques haute performance dans le domaine de l’acoustique sous-marine, et notamment pour l’étude des ondes T. Après une revue de la littérature sur les ondes T, nous avons analysé des données réelles enregistrées en Italie. Afin de modéliser le phénomène nous avons développé un solveur éléments spectraux axisymétriques dans le domaine temporel, que nous présentons et validons. Nous présentons également une étude paramétrique de l'influence de la pente du plancher océanique dans un scénario typique de génération/conversion d'une onde T. L'énergie et la durée de ces ondes s’avère être particulièrement sensible à l'environnement. En particulier nous avons vu que les pentes et les caractéristiques du fond marin jouaient un rôle capital. Nos études confirment qu’aux distances régionales le profil de vitesse dans l'océan s'avère n'être qu'un paramètre de deuxième ordre. Pour en évaluer l’impact nous avons développé une procédure pour le calcul de cartes de perte de transmission et de dispersion à partir de simulations numériques en forme d'onde complète dans le domaine temporel. Dans un second temps nous montrons qu'un bateau commercial de taille moyenne peut créer par diffraction des ondes T d'une d'amplitude conséquente et de faible dispersion. Ce mode de génération d'onde T, encore non documenté, doit être particulièrement fréquent dans les zones où le trafic maritime est important et pourrait expliquer certaines ondes T abyssales encore incomprises. Pour finir, nous présentons des outils numériques pour calculer le champ acoustique créé par une source en mouvement / This thesis combines observations, simulations and development of high performance numerical tools in the field of underwater acoustics, and in particular for the study of T-waves. After a literature review on T-waves, we analysed real data recorded in Italy. In order to model the phenomenon we have developed an axisymmetric spectral element solver in the time domain, which we present and validate. We also present a parametric study of the influence of seafloor slope in a typical scenario of generation / conversion of a T-wave. The energy and duration of these waves is particularly sensitive to the environment. In particular, we have seen that the slopes and characteristics of the seabed are of crucial importance. Our studies confirm that at regional distances the ocean speed profile is only a second order parameter. To evaluate its impact we have developed a procedure for the calculation of transmission and dispersion loss maps from full waveform numerical simulations in the time domain. In a second step we show that a medium-sized commercial boat can create T-waves of a significant amplitude and of low dispersion by diffraction. This T-wave generation mode, still undocumented, must be particularly frequent in areas where maritime traffic is dense and could explain some abyssal T-waves still misunderstood. Finally, we present numerical tools for calculating the acoustic field created by a moving source

This diploma thesis investigates the design of concrete structures reinforced with non-metallic FRP reinforcement with a focus on solving the bearing capacity in extrusion. The work is divided into a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part begins with an introduction to FRP reinforcement and a description of shear stress. The following is an introduction to current approaches dealing with this issue. In the practical part, in connection with these regulations, parametric studies are developed to compare the influence of individual input parameters and selected regulations. The last part is dedicated to the design and nonlinear analysis performed in the ATENA software.