Para proporcionar menores prazos e custos, o projeto de ampliação da sede da Petrobras, na cidade de Salvador, estado da Bahia, contemplou estacas barretes de grandes dimensões para grandes capacidades de carga. Porém, para atingir as cargas escolhidas, foi necessário embutir as estacas no topo rochoso. Portanto, foram projetadas estacas barretes embutidas em rocha, escavadas com hidrofresa. Esta pesquisa apresenta o estudo de duas provas de carga estáticas executadas em uma mesma estaca barrete teste embutida em rocha, a fim de proporcionar um melhor entendimento de seu comportamento, assim como os principais fatores que influenciam resistência e deformabilidade. Em março de 2012, foram realizadas duas provas de carga estáticas na mesma estaca barrete teste embutida em rocha. Os ensaios foram executados a partir das metodologias normativas NBR 12131 (2006) e NBR 6122 (2010), com carregamentos lento e rápido, respectivamente e subsequentemente. No primeiro ensaio (lento), aplicou-se a carga máxima de 12 MN, enquanto que no segundo (rápido), aplicou-se a carga máxima de 14 MN. Os dados obtidos nos ensaios, de acordo com a bibliografia utilizada, são pioneiros no Brasil, por se tratar da primeira estaca barrete embutida em rocha com utilização de hidrofresa, submetida à prova de carga de desempenho. A estaca foi instrumentada em profundidade, o que propiciou a avaliação da distribuição de carga nas camadas atravessadas. Foram realizadas comparações entre resultados obtidos da instrumentação e do topo, por meio do repique elástico. Além da avaliação e interpretação dos dados obtidos nos ensaios de provas de carga estáticas, esta pesquisa apresenta previsões de comportamento, com diferentes conceitos, para estacas embutidas em rocha, sem reação de ponta, com intuito de comparar seus resultados com os obtidos nos ensaios. Em conjunto com as previsões, foram apresentados métodos para estimativa de adesão lateral na interface da estaca com o maciço rochoso. / To use high loads on foundations of the Petobras Headquarters, the designers chose the barrette pile with great dimensions and a few units compared with others types, to shorten the deadline and optimize costs. However, to reach these assumptions, it was necessary make the piles deeper than the soil strata, and, therefore, made a rock socket design. This research presents two static load tests study and analysis in the same barrette test pile, to forecast behavior and find resistance and strain influences. In March, 2012, two static load tests were made in the same barrette test pile located in Salvador Bahia, in Petrobras headquarters. The first essay was made according to a slow maintained test with 12 MN maximum compressive loads. The second essay was made immediately after, according to a quick load test and 14 MN maximum compressive loads. The data obtained from both tests, far as is known, were the first results on rock socket barrette pile in Brazil, using hydromill for the excavations in rock. The pile had depth instrumentation with expansible strain gages and an expanded polystyrene block below the cage, to make the tip useless. Beyond the data assessment and interpretation from static load tests, this research presents forecasting methods to only shear resistance rock socket piles, with the aim of comparison. Lastly but not least, side resistance empirical methods between pile and rock interface were presented.

The Continuous Helical Displacement (CHD) pile is an auger displacement pile developed by Roger Bullivant Ltd in the UK. The CHD pile is installed in-situ through the use of a drilling auger, in a similar fashion to European screw piles and as such, it has performance characteristics of both displacement and non-displacement piles Based on field experience, it is known that the load capacity performance of the CHD pile significantly exceeds the current design predictions, particularly when installed in sand. Model CHD piles were created in pluviated test beds at a range of different densities and compared to model displacement and non-displacement piles. The load tests show that the CHD piles have a similar ultimate capacity to displacement piles. Instrumentation of the model piles allowed load distribution throughout the pile length to be determined. The tests allowed design parameters to be established, with it being shown that the CHD has lower bearing capacity factors and higher earth pressure coefficients than current suggestions .The disturbance to the in-situ soil conditions caused by the installation of the CHD piles was measured using a model CPT probe. The CHD pile was found to cause significant changes in soil relative density laterally around the pile shaft while displacement piles show changes predominantly below the pile base. The CHD pile is found to cause a densification of the in situ soil for all relative densities with the greatest increase occurring in loose sand. The ultimate capacity of the CHD pile is determined from load tests carried out on field CHD piles with the aid of capacity prediction methods for piles which have not been loaded to their ultimate capacity. The results from model testing have been applied to field pile tests to allow the development of design parameters including appropriate pile diameter, bearing capacity factor Nq and the earth pressure coefficient k which are suitable for CHD piles.

The 2010, moment magnitude 8.8 earthquake that occurred near Maule, Chile caused major damages to several piers in the Port of Coronel located approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the South of the earthquake epicenter. One of the piers, the North Pier, experienced significant lateral spreading that was caused from liquefaction of the soils at the approach zone of the pier. Damages from lateral spreading and liquefaction effects consisted of sheet pile welding ruptures of the cross-support beams, stiffener buckling, pile displacements, pile rotations, and pier deck displacement. Researchers analyzed the North Pier after the earthquake and documented in detail the damage caused by lateral spread displacements. This study introduces a simplified performance-based procedure called the "Simplified Modeling Procedure" that is used for the analysis of piles supporting a pier that are exposed to lateral spread displacements. The procedure uses the software LPILE, a common program for analyzing a single pile under lateral loading conditions, to evaluate a more complex multi-pile pier design. Instead of analyzing each of the piles in a given pier individually, the procedure utilizes what is known as a "Super Pile" approach to combine several piles into a single representative pile during the analysis. To ensure displacement compatibility between each "Super Pile" in the analysis, the "Super Piles" are assumed to be fully connected at the top of each "Super Pile" to the pier deck. The Simplified Modeling Procedure is developed and tested using the case study history of the North Pier from the Port of Coronel during the 2010 Maule earthquake. The Simplified Modeling Procedure incorporates p-y springs with a lateral push-over analysis. This approach allows the analysis to be performed in a matter of seconds and allows the user to more easily draw the needed correlations between the rows of piles. This procedure helps identify that different rows of piles either contribute to the movement of the pier or contribute to the bracing of the pier. The procedure ultimately predicts the anticipated pier deck deflection by determining when all the pile rows and their respective shear forces are in equilibrium. The Simplified Modeling Procedure predicted that the North Pier experienced deflections between approximately 0.31 meters (1.01 feet) and 0.38 meters (1.26 feet). The predicted deflections and rotations determined using the procedure were determined to be a relatively close representation of the observations made during the post-earthquake reconnaissance observations.

The Pile Mound survey includes magnetometry paired with targeted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys of the mound and testing of associated features over the ca. 6.5 ha site. The GPR survey discovered six rock features (five large rock features within the mound and one marking the outside of the mound). Knowledge of mounds in the Upper Cumberland Plateau (UCP) is lacking—the closest other studied sites are at the Corbin Site, Croley-Evans, Bell Site, and Beasley Mounds, approximately 75 – 100 km away. However, the most similar mound construction is found at Corbin and Cherokee sites, some 175 – 275 km away. In addition, the associated ceramic assemblage appears to reflect more similarity to the East Tennessee Valley rather than the Middle Cumberland region. These data provide a unique opportunity to better understand the Mississippian occupation in the UCP of Tennessee.

The soil-structure interaction models associated with laterally loaded deep foundations have typically been based on load tests involving relatively small diameter foundations. The lateral soil resistance for larger diameter foundations has been assumed to increase linearly with diameter; however, few, if any load tests have been performed to confirm this relationship. To better understand the lateral resistance of large diameter deep foundations in sand, a series of full scale, cyclic, lateral load tests were performed on two 1.2 m diameter drilled shafts and a 0.324 m diameter steel pipe pile in sand. Although the tests involve two different foundation types, the upper 2.4 m of the profile, which provides the majority of the lateral resistance, consists of sand compacted around both foundation types. Therefore, these test results make it possible to evaluate the effect of foundation diameter on lateral soil resistance. The drilled shafts were first loaded in one direction by reacting against a fifteen-pile group. Subsequently a load test was performed in the opposite direction by reacting against a 9-pile group. The soil profile below the 2.4 m-thick layer of compacted sand consisted of interbedded layers of sand and fine-grained soil. For the drilled shaft load tests, pile head deflection and applied load were measured by string potentiometers and load cells, respectively. Tilt was also measured as a function of depth with an inclinometer which was then used to calculate deflection and bending moment as a function of depth. For the pipe pile, deflection and applied load were also measured; however, bending moment was computed based on strain gauges readings along the length of the pile. The lateral response of the drilled shafts and pipe pile were modeled using the computer programs LPILE (Reese et al., 2000), SWM6.0 (Ashour et al., 2002), and FB-MultiPier Version 4.06 (Hoit et al., 2000). Comparisons were made between the measured and computed load-deflection curves as well as bending moment versus depth curves. Soil parameters in the computer programs were iteratively adjusted until a good match between measured and computed response of the 0.324 m pipe pile was obtained. This refined soil profile was then used to model the drilled shaft response. User-defined p-multipliers were selected to match the measured results with the calculated results. On average very good agreement was obtained between measured and computed response without resorting to p-multipliers greater than 1.0. These results suggest that a linear increase in lateral resistance with foundation diameter is appropriate. LPILE typically produced the best agreement with measured response although the other programs usually gave reasonable results as well. Cyclic loading generally reduced the lateral resistance of the drilled shafts and pile foundation by about 20%.

Deep foundations like auger-cast piles and drilled shafts frequently extend through liquefiable sand layers and bear on non-liquefiable layers at depth. When liquefaction occurs, the skin friction on the shaft decreases to zero, and then increases again as the pore water pressure dissipates and the layer begins to settle, or compact. As the effective stress increases and the liquefiable layer settles, along with the overlaying layers, negative skin from the soil acts on the shaft. To investigate the loss of skin friction and the development of negative skin friction, soil-induced load was measured in three instrumented, full-scale auger-cast piles after blast-induced liquefaction at a site near Christchurch, New Zealand. The test piles were installed to depths of 8.5 m, 12 m, and 14 m to investigate the influence of pile depth on response to liquefaction. The 8.5 m pile terminated within the liquefied layer while the 12 m and 14 m piles penetrated the liquefied sand and were supported on denser sands. Following the first blast, where no load was applied to the piles, liquefaction developed throughout a 9-m thick layer. As the liquefied sand reconsolidated, the sand settled about 30 mm (0.3% volumetric strain) while pile settlements were limited to a range of 14 to 21 mm (0.54 to 0.84 in). Because the ground settled relative to the piles, negative skin friction developed with a magnitude equal to about 50% of the positive skin friction measured in a static pile load test. Following the second blast, where significant load was applied to the piles, liquefaction developed throughout a 6-m thick layer. During reconsolidation, the liquefied sand settled a maximum of 80 mm (1.1% volumetric strain) while pile settlements ranged from 71 to 104 mm (2.8 to 4.1 in). The reduced side friction in the liquefied sand led to full mobilization of side friction and end-bearing resistance for all test piles below the liquefied layer and significant pile settlement. Because the piles generally settled relative to the surrounding ground, positive skin friction developed as the liquefied sand reconsolidated. Once again, skin friction during reconsolidation of the liquefied sand was equal to about 50% of the positive skin friction obtained from a static load test before liquefaction.

Full scale lateral load testing was performed on four 12.75x0.375 pipe piles spaced at 3.9, 2.9, 2.8, and 1.7 pile diameters behind an MSE wall which was constructed for this research to determine appropriate reduction factors for lateral pile resistance based on pile spacing behind the back face of the wall. The load induced on eight soil reinforcements located at various transverse distances from the pile and at different depths was monitored to determine the relationship between lateral load on the pile and load induced in the reinforcement. Each pile was loaded towards the wall in 0.25 in. increments to a total deflection of 3.0 in. Additionally, wall panel displacement was also monitored to determine if it remained in acceptable bounds. The results of the research indicate that pile resistance tends to decrease as spacing decreases. P-multipliers for the 3.9, 2.9, 2.8, 1.7D tests were found to be 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, and 0.5, respectively using back-analysis with the computer model LPILE. However, these multipliers are higher than expected based on previous testing and research. Piles spaced further than 3.8D can be assumed to have no interaction with the wall. The resistance of piles spaced closer to the wall than 3.8D can be modeled in LPILE using a p-multiplier less than 1.0. The reinforced backfill can be modeled in LPILE using the API Sand (1982) method with a friction angle of 31º and a modulus of approximately 60 pci when a surcharge of 600 psf is applied. If no surcharge is applied, a friction angle of 39º and modulus of 260 pci is more appropriate. Maximum wall panel displacement was highest for the 2.8D test and was 0.35 in. at 3.0 in. of pile head displacement. For all the other tests, the maximum wall displacement at 3.0 in. of pile head displacement was similar and was approximately 0.15 inches. Induced load in the soil reinforcement increases with depth to the 2nd or 3rd layer of reinforcement after which it decreases. Induced load in the reinforcement increases as pile spacing decreases. Induced load in the reinforcement decreases rapidly with increased transverse distance from the pile. Induced load in the reinforcement can be estimated using a regression equation which considers the influence of pile load, pile spacing behind the wall, reinforcement depth or vertical stress, and transverse spacing of the reinforcement.

In urban areas, vibrations generated by pile driving often affect the neighboring properties vulnerable to ground shaking. These vibrations may cause damage to surrounding structures either by shaking the ground or by causing settlement of the soil beneath foundations in the proximity of pile driving. It is important to distinguish between the conditions under which the vibrations will cause damage and those under which vibrations are tolerable. The numerical studies on the analysis of pile driving have mostly focused on assessing the driving efficiency and the bearing capacity of dynamically loaded piles. A limited number of studies included the study of ground vibrations due to pile driving and its effects on adjacent structures. However, the factors affecting the ground vibrations in soils such as the nonlinear constitutive behavior of soil, soil-pile interaction and penetration depth of the pile have not been clearly identified. The objective of this research is to implement a numerical method to simulate dynamic loading of a single pile, and study the factors influencing the stress wave propagation in the soil surrounding the pile. The thesis is comprised of two main analyses: (1) the static analysis of a pile in which the phenomenon of static consolidation is studied, and (2) the dynamic analysis of a pile in which pile driving and ground vibrations are studied. In the static analysis, the load capacity of a single pile is investigated. The results from the finite element method are compared with widely recognized theoretical methods. The theoretical methods that are used to estimate the end bearing capacities are: (1) General Formula, (2) Vesic's Method, (3) Janbu's Method, (4) Meyerhof's Method, and (5) Coyle & Castello's Method. The estimation of skin friction resistance (shaft capacity) of single piles is performed using the (1) Alpha method, (2) Beta method, and (3) Lambda method. Two numerical applications are performed to predict the load capacity of single piles in normally consolidated clays. It is observed that the model with no slippage at the interface predicts almost twice as much load capacity as the model with interface. In regards with the end bearing capacities, Coyle & Castello's method is found to be most conservative followed by the finite element method, the Janbu's method, the Meyerhof's method, and finally the Vesic's method. In respect to skin friction resistance, the finite element is found to be the most conservative method, followed by the Beta, the Lambda, and the Alpha method. In the dynamic analysis, the amplitudes of ground vibrations are investigated based on the variation of: (1) the soil type, (2) the pile embedment length and (3) the released hammer energy. In the first analysis, five types of soils - loose and dense sands and, soft, medium stiff, and stiff clays - are modeled. The highest vibration amplitude is calculated for the loose sand with a peak particle velocity (PPV) of 10.0 mm/s followed by the dense sand with a PPV of around 4.0 mm/s. Among the clay types, the vibrations are higher for the stiffer clay in the near field, which is 9 m (half a pile length) or less away from the pile. In the second analysis, three different embedment lengths - full, half, and quarter pile length - are modeled. It is found that the quarter embedded piles produce greater vibration amplitudes as compared to the half and fully embedded piles. Larger amplitudes of vibrations are encountered on the ground surface for shorter pile embedment lengths. In the third analysis, three different impact forces consisting of 2,000 kN (F), 6,000 kN (3F) and 10,000 kN (5F) are applied on the pile head. It is concluded that increase in hammer energy causes increase in the peak particle velocities.

Les recherches scientifiques sur la pile à combustible échangeuse de protons (PEMFC) ont, jusqu’il y a peu, concerné presque exclusivement les aspects fondamentaux liés à l’électrochimie, particulièrement la conception, le dimensionnement, les performances et le diagnostic. Récemment, les objectifs de durée de vie ont ouvert un nouvel axe de recherche sur le comportement mécanique de la PEMFC devant conduire à son optimisation statique et dynamique. Parallèlement les installations vibroclimatiques de la plateforme d’essais « Systèmes Pile à Combustible » de Belfort ont été développées. La thèse de Vicky ROUSS soutenue en 2008 montre l’intérêt et le potentiel de la modélisation type « boîte noire » pour simuler le comportement mécanique de la PEMFC, et de la technique des signatures mécaniques expérimentales pour mettre en évidence la présence des phénomènes physiques à l’intérieur de la PEMFC. Dans ce contexte les travaux de la présente thèse ont concerné le pilotage des essais de durabilité par simulation boîte noire temps réel et l’exploitation de cette dernière en vue de la découverte des phénomènes physiques à l’intérieur de la PEMFC. La modélisation par réseaux de neurones des systèmes simples de type oscillateur harmonique a représenté le premier pas pour la définition d’un modèle neuronal de pilotage des essais de durabilité en temps réel. Le cas du système mécanique excité par la base qui correspond à une pile à combustible fixée sur la plateforme vibratoire, a été considéré. L’architecture neuronale optimale a été définie en plusieurs étapes en utilisant différents algorithmes. Elle utilise en entrée le signal de commande du système et la réponse mesurée sur la pile à combustible au moment t et en sortie on obtient la réponse prédite du comportement de la pile à combustible au moment t+1. Cette architecture a été mise au point et validée par des essais sur la plateforme. D’autres essais ont permis de mettre en évidence différents comportements de la pile à combustible en fonction de l’amplitude de sollicitation, de la pression et de la température de la pile à combustible. Les signatures mécaniques obtenues réalisées à partir des essais de durabilité complètent la bibliothèque de signatures déjà existante et mettent en évidence de nouveaux comportements de la pile à combustible. / Scientific research on cell proton exchange fuel cells (PEMFC) have, until recently, almost exclusively concerned fundamental aspects of electrochemistry, particularly the design, sizing, the electrochemical performance and diagnostics. Recently, the objectives of life cycle have opened a new direction of research on the mechanical behavior of the PEMFC leading to its static and dynamic optimization. At the same time new environmental facilities of the test platform "Fuel Cell Systems" at Belfort are developed. Vicky ROUSS thesis sustained in 2008 shows the importance and the potential of the black box modeling to simulate the mechanical behavior of the PEMFC and experimental mechanical signatures to highlight the presence of physical phenomena inside PEMFC. In this context the work of this thesis concerned the monitoring of durability tests by simulation and real-time black-box operation to explore the physical phenomena inside the PEMFC. Modeling neural networks simple systems such as harmonic oscillator represented the first step towards the definition of a neural control model of real time environmental tests. Then, it was considered the case of the harmonic oscillator excited by the base, which corresponds to the fuel cell mounted on the vibration platform. The optimal neural architecture has been defined in several stages using different algorithms. This architecture uses as input the control signal of the system and the measured signal on the fuel cell at the time t and as output the predicted response behavior of the fuel cell at time t+1. This architecture has been developed and validated by tests on the platform. Other tests have allowed demonstrating the different behavior of the fuel cell in accordance with the amplitude of solicitation, the pressure and temperature of the fuel cell. Mechanical signatures made from tests complete the existing library of signatures and demonstrate new behaviors of the fuel cell.

Ces dernières années, la pile à combustible à membrane échangeuse de proton (PEMFC) a fait l’objet d’un intérêt particulier pour des applications liées au transport. De par le fait qu’elle fonctionne à une température de fonctionnement relativement basse (50-100°C) combiné à une membrane polymère solide empêchant tout risque de fuite. Dans ce travail, des expérimentations ont été effectuées pour démontrer que la distribution de température à une influence significative sur les performances de la PEMFC. Par ailleurs, ce travail comporte une analyse ayant pour but de d’indiquer une amélioration de la résistivité ionique de la membrane, de la vitesse de réaction et de la diffusion des gaz en fonction de la température. Des expérimentations sur une cellule puis sur un stack complet ont permis d’évaluer l’impact de la température à l’aide d’un modèle 3D développé simulant les performances de la pile en relation avec la distribution de température. Dans cette thèse, deux piles à combustible ont permis de valider le comportement et d’en déduire une relation entre la tension de sortie et la distribution de température dans différentes conditions de fonctionnement. Une étude expérimentale prenant en compte la tension et la température a été effectuée sur une cellule en mesurant la température et le voltage en douze points à l’aide de thermocouples et de sonde de tension. Le modèle 3D proposé permet ainsi d’améliorer la durée de vie d’une pile ainsi que sa fiabilité, il permet aussi d’effectuer un diagnostic et de détecter en ligne un défaut. Ceci est effectué en calculant la densité de courant localement à différentes conditions de fonctionnement en utilisant la méthode de Newton Raphson. De par le développement de ce modèle sensible à un défaut, un algorithme de détection de défaut ainsi que la stratégie de diagnostic ont été développé en utilisant des réseaux de neurones artificiels (RNN). Ces derniers ont été utilisés pour la classification supervisée de défaut permettant ainsi le diagnostic. / In recent years, according to the upcoming challenge of pollution, fuel saving, to use on FCEV is increasing. It can be that fuel cell power train divided in the PEMFC, Batteries, DC/DC converters, DC/AC inverters and electrical motors. The Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel cells (PEMFC) have consistently been considered for transportation application. Characteristic features of PEMFC include lower temperature (50 to 100 °C) and solid polymer electrolyte membrane. In this work, experiments have shown that the temperature distributions can significant influence on the performance of the PEMFC. Also analytical studies have indicated improvement of ionic resistivity of the electrolyte membrane, kinetics of electrochemical reaction and gas diffusion electrodes have directly related to temperature. This work evaluated the effectiveness of temperature on a single and stack fuel cell. In addition, a 3D model is developed by effective of temperature on performance on the fuel cell. In this thesis, two PEM fuel cells have been considered to find out the relationship and analyze the behaviors of the cell voltage and temperature distributions under various operating conditions. An experimental study for voltage and temperature has been executed, using one cell, 12 thermocouples and 12 voltage sensors have been installed at different points of the cell. In this work a new model was proposed to improve the lifetime and reliability of the power train and to detect online faults. Besides, current distributions in different points of the cell based on varying operating conditions are calculated by the Newton Raphson method. On the basis of the developed fault sensitive models above, an ANN based fault detection; diagnosis strategy and the related algorithm have been developed. The identified patterns ANN have been used in the supervision and the diagnosis of the PEMFC drivetrain. The ANN advantages of the ability to include a lot of data made possible to classify the faults in terms of their type.