Liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks are often supported by very large pile groups (≥ 100 piles). As these superstructures tend to be located along coastal areas, there is often a high risk of extreme lateral loading caused by either seismic, flooding or hurricane activity. In many cases, the foundation design can be governed by the required lateral resistance. At present, the responses of large pile groups subjected to lateral loading are not well understood. Published guidance for design is premised upon experimental testing of smaller pile groups (< 25 piles), and no additional commentary is provided to advise the design for groups of a larger scale. A typical approach for design of laterally loaded pile groups uses the beam on Winkler foundations method, where nonlinear p-y curves are reduced by a p-multiplier to account for the group effects. Alternatively, an average p-multiplier known as a group reduction factor (GRF) can be used. Chapter 1 details the study of using 3D continuum finite element (FE) models to measure the group effects in large pile groups using p-multipliers and GRF. Soil conditions, pile spacing, pile number, and pile head condition were varied to observe their effects. The study also looked at the effect of the circular configuration of pile groups used in LNG tank foundations. The design standards and prevailing methods were shown to overestimate trailing row p-multipliers for large pile groups, particularly with larger pile spacing. Based on the study data and published data, a predictive equation was proposed for estimating GRF of a laterally loaded large pile group. In addition, geotechnical engineers tend to evaluate the lateral responses of pile groups regardless of the presence of superstructures. It is not known whether this approach is suited for large infrastructure such as LNG storage tanks and their respective foundations. Chapter 2 captures the results from 3D finite element (FE) models used to observe the integrated tank and piled foundation behaviour and evaluate whether the current design approach used in practice is suitable. In addition, changes to soil-foundation stiffness, including varying soil conditions and pile spacing, were made to observe their effects. The results found that the foundation responses in the integrated model varied significantly from models which only considered the foundation. It was also found that the amount of LNG in the tank, soil conditions, and pile spacing also affected the lateral pile responses, particularly the leading and trailing piles. / Graduate

Urban construction sites require strict control of their environmental impact, which, for vibratory sheet pile driving, can include damage to nearby structures due to ground vibrations. However, the lack of knowledge concerning the generation of soil vibrations makes the prediction of ground vibration levels difficult. This MSc. thesis in particular, focuses on a crucial link in the vibration transfer chain: the sheet pile – soil interface, which is also one of the least documented. The aim of this thesis is first, to carry out a full-scale field test consisting in the monitoring of sheet pile and ground vibrations during sheet pile vibratory driving. And second, to analyze a selected portion of the collected data with focus on the sheet pile – soil vibration transfer. Both aspects of the thesis work aim, more generally, to contribute to the understanding of ground vibration generation under vibratory sheet pile driving. The full-scale field study was performed in Solna in May 2013. It consisted in the vibratory driving of seven sheet piles, out of which three were fitted with accelerometers. During the driving, ground vibrations were measured by accelerometers, the closest ones placed only 0.5 m from the sheet pile line. The design and installation of the soil instrumentation was innovative in as much as accelerometers were not only set on the ground surface but also at three different depths (~ 3 m, 5 m and 6 m). The analysis presented in this thesis is primarily a comparison between sheet pile vibrations and ground vibrations measured 0.5 m from the sheet pile line. The principal aspects considered in the comparison are: the influence of penetration through different soil layers, the sheet pile – soil vibration transfer efficiency, the frequency content of sheet pile and soil vibrations, and differences between toe- and shaft-generated vibrations. The main conclusions from this study are:  Most of the vibration loss occurs in the near field: 90-99% of the sheet pile vibration magnitude was dispersed within 0.5 m from the driven sheet pile. Moreover, the sheet pile – soil vibration transfer efficiency was reduced for higher sheet pile acceleration levels and higher frequencies.  The soil characteristics strongly influence the sheet pile vibration levels. A clear distinction could be made between "smooth" and "hard" driving, the latter being associated with an impact situation at the sheet pile toe.  The focus of ground vibration studies should not only be the vertical vibrations. Indeed, the ground vibrations’ horizontal component was found to be of the same or even higher magnitude than the vertical component.

It is project of securing foundation pit and foundation for SONO building realized in Brno in Veveří street. It is required to desing economical and safety construction.A calculation was performed by program FINE GEO 5 - Student version.

Beräkning med finita elementmetoden, FEM, är en vanlig metod vid lastnedräkning för bärande konstruktioner. Vid FEM-modellering inom huskonstruktion måste konstruktören på något sätt även modellera markens egenskaper för att uppnå statisk jämvikt i modellen. Att låta byggnaden vila på oeftergivliga stöd fungerar vid grundläggning på berg, men i övriga fall måste jordens deformation vid belastning simuleras. Ett vanligt tillvägagångssätt är att konstruktören samarbetar med en geotekniker som beräknar sättningar i jorden utifrån de laster konstruktören beräknat. Det görs i ett geotekniskt FEM-program som exempelvis PLAXIS. Utifrån geoteknikerns resultat beräknar konstruktören fjäderstöd som får simulera marken. Därefter kan deformationer i byggnaden studeras.    Denna studie har prövat en alternativ metod. Hus, grundläggning och undergrund har modellerats i en gemensam modell i FEM-Design 3D Structure 17. Syftet med att undersöka detta var möjligheten till effektiviseringar av arbetsflödet. Om konstruktören kan modellera allt i samma modell skulle flera arbetsmoment kunna sparas. Risken för fel då data tolkas och flyttas mellan olika program skulle också elimineras.   Som fallstudie användes ett sexvåningshus med både pål- och plattgrundläggning. En befintlig modell med fjäderstöd beräknade i PLAXIS gjordes om till en komplett modell med byggnad, grundplattor, pålar och jord som finita element. FEM-Design kunde dock inte beräkna något resultat för modellen. Modulen Pile som modellerar pålar och modulen 3D Soil som modellerar jorden som solida element var inte kompatibla. Studien övergick då till att undersöka enskilda grundläggningselement separat. Pålar och plattor lyftes ut från den stora modellen och studerades dels med externt beräknade fjäderstöd och dels med FEM-Designs geotekniska moduler. Resultaten visade större deformationer för de modeller som var modellerade med 3D Soil. För Pile var resultaten att betrakta som likvärdiga.   En tydlig slutsats är att för husprojekt med både pål- och plattgrundläggning kan byggnad och undergrund inte modelleras tillsammans i FEM-Design. Programmets utvecklare StruSoft har planer på att utveckla funktionerna i framtiden så att de kan användas tillsammans, men det finns ingen prognos för när det kan vara klart. För byggnader med endast en grundläggningstyp kan respektive modul däremot användas. Det ska understrykas att en konstruktör som ska modellera undergrunden själv måste ha goda geotekniska kunskaper för att kunna hantera modulerna korrekt. Den optimala arbetsgången skulle enligt författarna vara att konstruktören och geoteknikern arbetade i samma modelleringsprogram i en gemensam modell. / The finite element method, FEM, is a common method for load calculation in building construction design. In addition to the structure itself, the structural engineer must also model the soil response to achieve static equilibrium in the model. Using unyielding supports works for structures founded on rock, but in other cases the soil deformation must be simulated somehow. A common approach is that the structural engineer collaborates with a geotechnician who calculates the settlements in the soil due to the loads provided by the structural engineer. This is done in a geotechnical FEM program, e.g. PLAXIS. The structural engineer then uses the PLAXIS results to calculate spring supports simulating the soil response. The settlements in the structure can then be studied.   This study has evaluated a different approach. The structure, foundation slabs, piles and subgrade has been modeled in a common model in the program FEM-Design 3D Structure 17. The study identified several possible benefits if the method proved reliable. If the structural engineer could model everything in one model, several work steps could be excluded. It would also eliminate the risk of errors that may occur when data is to be interpreted and moved between different programs.   The studied case is a six-storey residential building founded on both piles and foundation slabs. An existing model with spring supports calculated in PLAXIS was modified into a complete model with structure, foundation slabs, piles and soil as finite elements. The complete model proved unable to produce any results. The Pile module and the 3D Soil module turned out to be incompatible. Facing this fact, the study decided to evaluate separate foundation elements individually. Piles and foundation slabs were extracted from the full model and studied first with externally calculated spring supports and then with the FEM-Design geotechnical modules. The results displayed larger deformations for the 3D Soil models. For the Pile module, the results should be regarded as equivalent.   The major conclusion is that a building founded on both piles and foundation slabs is not possible to model together with subgrade in FEM-Design. The program developer StruSoft may develop the features in the future so that they can work together, but there is no forecast for when this can be done. However, the features can be used separately for structures with only one type of foundation. It should be emphasized that a structural engineer who is going to model the subgrade must have good geotechnical knowledge in order to handle the modules correctly. According to the authors, the optimal workflow would be that the structural engineer and the geotechnician worked in the same modeling program in a common model.

This paper deals with the ceramics of Alvastra pile dwelling. The main question are what the ceramics represent, what it was used for, if it was manufactured in the pile dwelling and if there is any resemblance to other places of interest. The essay uses ceramic material from shaft F and the Western shaft. The result shows four different ceramic groups, a few probably made in the pile dwelling and the purpose was food storage and offering.

Energy piles are deep foundation elements designed to utilize near-surface geothermal energy, while at the same time serve as foundations for buildings. The use of energy piles for geothermal heat exchange has been steadily increasing during the last decade, yet there are still pending questions on their thermo-mechanical behavior. The change in temperature along energy piles, resulting from their employment in heat exchange operations, causes axial displacements, thermally induced axial stresses and changes in mobilized shaft resistance which may have possible effects on their behavior. In order to investigate these effects, an extensive field test program, including conventional pile load tests and application of heating-cooling cycles was conducted on three energy piles during a period of six weeks. Temperature changes were applied to the test piles with and without maintained mechanical loads to investigate the effects of structural loads on energy piles. Moreover, the lengths of the test piles were determined to represent different end-restraining conditions at the toe. Various sensors were installed to monitor the strain and temperature changes along the test piles. Axial stress and shaft resistance profiles inferred from the field test data along with the driven conclusions are presented herein for all three test piles. It is inferred from the field test results that changes in temperature results in thermally induced compressive or tensile axial stresses along energy piles, the magnitude of which increases with higher restrictions such as structural load on top or higher toe resistance. Moreover, lower change in shaft resistance is observed with increasing restrictions along the energy piles. In addition to the design, deployment, and execution of the field test, a thermo-mechanical cyclic numerical model was developed as a part of this research. In this numerical model, load-transfer approach was coupled with the Masing's Rule in order to simulate the two-way cyclic axial displacement of energy piles during temperature changes. The numerical model was validated using the field test results for cyclic thermal load and thermo-mechanical load applications. It is concluded that the use of load-transfer approach coupled with the Masing's Rule is capable of simulating the cyclic thermo-mechanical behavior of energy piles. / Ph. D.

Entre os diversos elementos estruturais, um que apresenta certas carências de conhecimento é o bloco de fundação. Os poucos estudos referentes a este elemento se limitam ao caso de blocos com força centrada e blocos sem elementos de ligação. Assim este trabalho tem como objetivo esclarecer algumas dúvidas a respeito do comportamento de blocos de fundação sobre quatro estacas, com cálice parcialmente embutido e solicitado por momentos nas duas direções. Estudou-se por meio de análise numérica não linear o comportamento de dois blocos que fazem parte de edifícios industriais e comerciais tomados como modelos. Para verificar a representatividade do modelo numérico adotado, foi simulado um bloco sobre quatro estacas submetido à força centrada e dois modelos de colarinho, um com ligação rugosa e outro com ligação lisa; os resultados da análise numérica foram comparados com resultados experimentais obtidos por outros pesquisadores. As variações realizadas nos dois modelos foram relacionadas às armaduras adotadas e ao tipo de ligação entre pilar e colarinho. A análise dos resultados teve como norteadoras a verificação da força última, as tensões no concreto e nas barras de aço, a fissuração e as reações nas estacas. Os resultados indicaram que para o caso de ligação rugosa, ocorreu a formação de bielas que se formam a partir do topo do colarinho. Entretanto o modelo espacial e o método das bielas não descrevem com precisão o seu comportamento, pois há uma tendência das bielas se formarem com grandes ângulos de inclinações e, assim, as forças são transmitidas diretamente para as estacas. Já para o caso de ligação lisa, observou-se que a transferência das ações atuantes no pilar para o bloco ocorre por meio da força de atrito das paredes do pilar com o colarinho e principalmente pelo contato da base do pilar com o bloco. / There is a lack of knowledge about pile caps. Studies concerning these elements are limited to the case of pile-caps subjected to centered forces without connection elements. In this context this research aims to clarify some doubts about the behavior of pile caps under centered forces and bending moment. The behavior of four pile-caps with partially embedded socket subjected to moment in two directions was studied. A nonlinear numerical study was conducted to analyze two pile-caps models designed as part of industrial and commercial buildings. To verify the representativeness of the numerical model adopted, comparative analyze were performed using numerical and experimental data found in previous researches. The reinforcement and connection type were the variable parameters in the analysis of the two pile-caps. The results have shown that in the case of rough connection there occurs the formation of struts from the top of the socket wall. In the case of smooth connection, the transfer of forces from the column to pile-cap occurs through friction forces in the socket/column connection.

Entre os diversos elementos estruturais, um que apresenta certas carências de conhecimento é o bloco de fundação. Os poucos estudos referentes a este elemento se limitam ao caso de blocos com força centrada e blocos sem elementos de ligação. Assim este trabalho tem como objetivo esclarecer algumas dúvidas a respeito do comportamento de blocos de fundação sobre quatro estacas, com cálice parcialmente embutido e solicitado por momentos nas duas direções. Estudou-se por meio de análise numérica não linear o comportamento de dois blocos que fazem parte de edifícios industriais e comerciais tomados como modelos. Para verificar a representatividade do modelo numérico adotado, foi simulado um bloco sobre quatro estacas submetido à força centrada e dois modelos de colarinho, um com ligação rugosa e outro com ligação lisa; os resultados da análise numérica foram comparados com resultados experimentais obtidos por outros pesquisadores. As variações realizadas nos dois modelos foram relacionadas às armaduras adotadas e ao tipo de ligação entre pilar e colarinho. A análise dos resultados teve como norteadoras a verificação da força última, as tensões no concreto e nas barras de aço, a fissuração e as reações nas estacas. Os resultados indicaram que para o caso de ligação rugosa, ocorreu a formação de bielas que se formam a partir do topo do colarinho. Entretanto o modelo espacial e o método das bielas não descrevem com precisão o seu comportamento, pois há uma tendência das bielas se formarem com grandes ângulos de inclinações e, assim, as forças são transmitidas diretamente para as estacas. Já para o caso de ligação lisa, observou-se que a transferência das ações atuantes no pilar para o bloco ocorre por meio da força de atrito das paredes do pilar com o colarinho e principalmente pelo contato da base do pilar com o bloco. / There is a lack of knowledge about pile caps. Studies concerning these elements are limited to the case of pile-caps subjected to centered forces without connection elements. In this context this research aims to clarify some doubts about the behavior of pile caps under centered forces and bending moment. The behavior of four pile-caps with partially embedded socket subjected to moment in two directions was studied. A nonlinear numerical study was conducted to analyze two pile-caps models designed as part of industrial and commercial buildings. To verify the representativeness of the numerical model adopted, comparative analyze were performed using numerical and experimental data found in previous researches. The reinforcement and connection type were the variable parameters in the analysis of the two pile-caps. The results have shown that in the case of rough connection there occurs the formation of struts from the top of the socket wall. In the case of smooth connection, the transfer of forces from the column to pile-cap occurs through friction forces in the socket/column connection.

La récupération d'énergie ambiante est une solution efficace et respectueuse de l'écosystème pour alimenter de manière autonome des nœuds de capteurs. La pile microbienne benthique (BMFC) est un système récupérant l'énergie de la biomasse sédimentaire à l'aide du métabolisme électro-actif des bactéries présentes naturellement dans le milieu. Bien que prometteuse comme source d'énergie long terme pour des capteurs marins, ses niveaux de puissance (autour de 100 µW) et de tension (0,6 V en circuit ouvert) nous engage à mener une réflexion sur la conception de son interface électronique de récupération. La première partie de cette thèse détaille la conception de BMFCs de taille centimétrique faites en laboratoire en maintenant des conditions proches du milieu naturel. Une seconde partie s’intéresse à caractériser et modéliser le comportement électrique des BMFCs dans le domaine statique puis dynamique, en vue de concevoir le circuit de récupération de manière appropriée. A l’aide du modèle électrique statique, une interface de récupération est définie et optimisée de manière à extraire le maximum de puissance et maximiser le rendement de conversion. Le choix se porte sur le convertisseur flyback en mode de conduction discontinue. A l’aide d’un modèle prédisant les pertes du flyback validé expérimentalement, une étude portée sur la fréquence de découpage, le rapport cyclique et le choix des inductances couplées a permis d’atteindre un rendement de 82% et 64% pour une BMFC délivrant respectivement 90 µW et 30 µW. Une dernière partie s’intéresse à optimiser l’interface de récupération en prenant en compte les différentes variabilités de la BMFC. Notamment, l’intérêt du suivi du MPP est discuté et l’influence du comportement commuté du flyback sur les pertes dynamiques supplémentaires au sein de la BMFC est analysée grâce au modèle électrique dynamique de la BMFC déduit au second chapitre. / Harvesting energy in the surrounding environment is an advantageous alternative to conventional batteries for powering autonomously remote sensors in addition to processing in an eco-friendly way. Many researches currently focus on harvesting energy from solar, thermal and vibrational sources scavenged in environments near the sensor. Less analyzed in the literature, the benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC) is an emerging harvesting technology that exploits the waste materials in the seafloors. The catalysis properties of bacteria into a couple of redox reactions convert chemical energy from the sediment into electrical energy. Although promising as a long-term energy source for marine sensors, its power levels (around 100 μW) and voltage (0.6 V in open circuit) commit us to reflect on the design of its electronic harvesting interface. The first chapter of this thesis details the design of lab-made cm2-BMFC while maintaining conditions close to the natural environment. A second chapter focuses on characterizing and modeling the electrical behavior of BMFCs in the static and dynamic domains. Thanks to the static electric model, a harvesting electrical interface is defined and optimized to extract the maximum power and maximize the conversion efficiency. The flyback converter in discontinuous conduction mode is chosen. By using a model predicting the losses of the experimentally validated flyback, we studied the choice of the switching frequency, the duty cycle and the coupled inductances. We reached an efficiency of 82% and 64% for a BMFC delivering respectively 90 μW and 30 μW. A final chapter focuses on optimizing the harvesting interface by taking into account the different variabilities of the BMFC. In particular, the interest of the MPP monitoring is discussed and the influence of the flyback switched behavior on the additional dynamic losses within the BMFC is analyzed thanks to the dynamic electrical model of the BMFC deduced in the second chapter.

Diploma thesis deals with the desing of reinforced two way concrete foundation slab in three variants. In the first variant is slab of constant thickness. In the second variant is haunched slab. In the third variant is slab with piles. The thesis includes a structural design as well as drawings. All calculations were performed in accordance with applicable standards. For the design was used program SCIA Engineer 19.1.