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Yes / This paper investigated the bond strength of eight nanoinclusions reinforced concrete with old concrete through a splitting tensile test. The reinforcing mechanisms of bond due to nanoinclusion was also explored by means of scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer. A prediction model for the bond strength between nanoinclusion reinforced concrete with old concrete substrate was developed and calibrated against the experimental results obtained. The experimental results indicated that bond strength between nanoinclusions reinforced concrete and old concrete can reach 2.85 MPa, which is 0.8 MPa/39.0% higher than that between new concrete without nanoinclusions and old concrete. The reinforcing mechanisms can be attributed to the enrichment of nanoinclusions in the new-to-old concrete interface, compacting the interfacial microstructures and connecting hydration products in micropores of old concrete with that in bulk new concrete. In addition, the prediction model proposed on the basis of reinforcing mechanisms can accurately describe the relationship of the nanoinclusion content and the bond strength of nanoinclusions reinforced concrete with old concrete.

Environmental fluctuations in operating fuel cells impose significant biaxial stresses in the constrained proton exchange membranes (PEM). The PEM's ability to withstand cyclic environment-induced stresses plays an important role in membrane integrity and consequently, fuel cell durability. In this thesis, pressure loaded blister tests are used to study the mechanical durability of Gore-Select® series 57 over a range of times, temperatures, and loading histories. Ramped pressure tests are used with a linear viscoelastic analog to Hencky's classical solution for a pressurized circular membrane to estimate biaxial burst strength values. Biaxial strength master curves are constructed using traditional time-temperature superposition principle techniques and the associated temperature shift factors show good agreement when compared with shifts obtained from other modes of testing on the material. Investigating a more rigorous blister stress analysis becomes nontrivial due to the substantial deflections and thinning of the membrane. To further improve the analysis, the digital image correlation (DIC) technique is used to measure full-field displacements under ramped and constant pressure loading. The measured displacements are then used to validate the constitutive model and methods of the finite element analysis (FEA). With confidence in the FEA, stress histories of constant pressure tests are used to develop linear damage accumulation and residual strength based lifetime prediction models. Robust models, validated by successfully predicting fatigue failures, suggest the ability to predict failures under any given stress history whether mechanically or environmentally induced - a critical step in the effort to predict fuel cell failures caused by membrane mechanical failure. / Master of Science

High-performance computing (HPC) variability management is an important topic in computer science. Research topics include experimental designs for efficient data collection, surrogate models for predicting the performance variability, and system configuration optimization. Due to the complex architecture of HPC systems, a comprehensive study of HPC variability needs large-scale datasets, and experimental design techniques are useful for improved data collection. Surrogate models are essential to understand the variability as a function of system parameters, which can be obtained by mathematical and statistical models. After predicting the variability, optimization tools are needed for future system designs. This dissertation focuses on HPC input/output (I/O) variability through three main chapters. After the general introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 focuses on the prediction models for the scalar description of I/O variability. A comprehensive comparison study is conducted, and major surrogate models for computer experiments are investigated. In addition, a tool is developed for system configuration optimization based on the chosen surrogate model. Chapter 3 conducts a detailed study for the multimodal phenomena in I/O throughput distribution and proposes an uncertainty estimation method for the optimal number of runs for future experiments. Mixture models are used to identify the number of modes for throughput distributions at different configurations. This chapter also addresses the uncertainty in parameter estimation and derives a formula for sample size calculation. The developed method is then applied to HPC variability data. Chapter 4 focuses on the prediction of functional outcomes with both qualitative and quantitative factors. Instead of a scalar description of I/O variability, the distribution of I/O throughput provides a comprehensive description of I/O variability. We develop a modified Gaussian process for functional prediction and apply the developed method to the large-scale HPC I/O variability data. Chapter 5 contains some general conclusions and areas for future work. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation focuses on three projects that are all related to statistical methods in performance variability management in high-performance computing (HPC). HPC systems are computer systems that create high performance by aggregating a large number of computing units. The performance of HPC is measured by the throughput of a benchmark called the IOZone Filesystem Benchmark. The performance variability is the variation among throughputs when the system configuration is fixed. Variability management involves studying the relationship between performance variability and the system configuration. In Chapter 2, we use several existing prediction models to predict the standard deviation of throughputs given different system configurations and compare the accuracy of predictions. We also conduct HPC system optimization using the chosen prediction model as the objective function. In Chapter 3, we use the mixture model to determine the number of modes in the distribution of throughput under different system configurations. In addition, we develop a model to determine the number of additional runs for future benchmark experiments. In Chapter 4, we develop a statistical model that can predict the throughout distributions given the system configurations. We also compare the prediction of summary statistics of the throughput distributions with existing prediction models.

A bridge approach is usually built to provide a smooth and safe transition for vehicles from the roadway pavement to the bridge structure. However, differential settlement between the roadway pavement resting on embankment fill and the bridge abutment built on more rigid foundation often creates a bump in the roadway. Previous work examined this issue at a microscopic level and presented new methods for eliminating or minimizing the effects at specific locations. This research studies the problem at a macroscopic level by determining methods to predict settlement severity to assist designers in developing remediation plans during project development to minimize the lifecycle costs of bridge bump repairs. The study is based on historic data from a wide range of Kentucky roads and bridges relating to bridge approach inspection and maintenance history. A macro method considering a combination of maintenance times, maintenance measures, and observed settlement was used to classify the differential settlement scale as minimal, moderate, and severe, corresponding to the approach performance status good, fair, and poor. A series of project characteristics influencing differential settlement were identified and used as parameters to develop a model to accurately predict settlement severity during preliminary design. Eighty-seven bridges with different settlement severities were collected as the first sample by conducting a survey of local bridge engineers in 12 transportation districts. Sample two was created by randomly selecting 600 bridges in the inspection history of bridges in Kentucky. Ordinal and/or multinomial logistic regression analyses were implemented to identify the relationships between the levels of differential settlement and the input variables. Two predictive models were developed. Prediction of bridge approach settlement can play an important role in selecting proper design, construction, and maintenance techniques and measures. The users can select one or two models to predict the approach settlement level for a new bridge or an existing bridge with different purposes. The significance of this study lies in its identification of parameters that had the most influence on the settlement severity at bridge ends, and how those parameters interacted in developing of a prediction model. The important parameters include geographic regions, approach age, average daily traffic (ADT), the use of approach slabs, and the foundation soil depth. The regression results indicate that the use of approach slabs can improve the performance of approaches on mitigating the problem caused by differential settlement. In addition, current practices regarding differential settlement prediction and mitigation were summarized by surveying the bridge engineers in 5 transportation districts.

As vias pavimentadas se deterioram com o passar do tempo, por ação das cargas do tráfego e das intempéries. Por isso necessitam de intervenções (atividades de Manutenção e Reabilitação - M&R). No Brasil é mais comum que sejam realizadas apenas operações tapa-buracos e recapeamentos. São soluções sem eficiência técnica ou econômica. Uma alternativa mais racional e já em uso em países desenvolvidos é um Sistema de Gerência de Pavimentos Urbanos - SGPU. Os objetivos desta tese são apresentar uma propostas para avaliação da condição de vias urbanas com base na identificação dos defeitos da superfície do revestimento, um modelo de previsão de desempenho de vias urbanas com base em séries históricas obtidas no Município de São Carlos e uma análise econômica com a simulação de diferentes cenários para diferentes opções de M&R. Ainda como objetivos desta tese estão a apresentação das vantagens de utilizar um Sistema de Informações Geográficas - SIG, em uso no SGPU do Distrito Federal. Com base nos resultados encontrados, pode-se inferir que a avaliação de campo pode ser mais eficiente se forem considerados menos defeitos e os critérios de severidade e extensão forem fixados, com menos critérios subjetivos do avaliador. Considerando-se as estratégias de M&R adotadas pela Prefeitura Municipal de São Carlos e, ainda, de acordo com as avaliações de campo, pôde-se verificar que os pavimentos necessitam de Reforço Estrutural após 6 anos da sua construção. Os custos de manutenção, ao longo do tempo, são influenciados pela escolha da M&R a ser aplicada na preservação das vias e, também, pela época em que são realizadas, sendo as manutenções preventivas menos onerosas. Nos Estados Unidos, por exemplo, particularmente na cidade de San Antonio, Texas, são realizadas manutenções preventivas e, nas corretivas, há rigoroso controle de qualidade, o que não se verifica nas cidades brasileiras. Um SGPU possui critérios de análise de dados que, aliados ao Sistema de Informações Geográficas - SIG, garantem clareza na apresentação dos resultados, tanto em mapas temáticos quanto em gráficos e planilhas. Os relatórios no padrão SGPU possibilitam solicitar recursos federais e internacionais para manutenção viária, como o Programa Asfalto Novo do DF, que obteve, no ano de 2013, R$565 milhões para a pavimentação urbana. Em simulação de diferentes cenários de M&R, pôde-se concluir que a opção por tapa-buracos e recapeamentos é mais de duas vezes mais onerosa e mantém o pavimento em condição inferior ao que é possível com base nas técnicas de SGPU. Portanto, um SGPU proporciona benefícios socioeconômicos para toda a sociedade, com vantagens no médio e longo prazo e, ainda, mantém as vias em melhor condição. / The paved roads deteriorate over time, due to traffic loads and bad weather. Therefore, they need interventions (Maintenance and Rehabilitation activities - M & R). In Brazil, it is more common to carry out only hole-hole operations and resurfacing. They are solutions without technical or economic efficiency. A more rational alternative already in use in developed countries is an Urban Pavement Management System - UPMS. In this thesis proposals are presented for the evaluation of urban road conditions based on defects of the surface of the coating, a performance prediction model and an economic analysis with the simulation of different scenarios for different M & R options. Data were analyzed from the Municipality of São Carlos, in the State of São Paulo and the Distrito Federal - DF. Based on the results, it can be inferred that the field evaluation can be more efficient if less defects are considered and the criteria of severity and extension are fixed, with less subjectivity on the part of the evaluator. Considering the M & R strategies adopted by the municipal government of São Carlos and also, according to the field evaluations, it was possible to verify that the pavements have a useful life of 6 years. The maintenance costs, over time, are strongly influenced by the choice of M & R to be applied in the preservation of roads and also by the time in which they are carried out. In the United States, for example, preventive maintenance is carried out and, in the correctives, there is strict quality control, which is not the case in Brazilian cities. An UPMS has data analysis criteria that, together with the Geographic Information System - GIS, guarantee clarity in the presentation of results, both in thematic maps and in charts and spreadsheets. The reports in the UPMS standard make it possible to request federal and international resources for road maintenance, such as the DF Asphalt New Program, which obtained R$ 565 million for urban paving. In the simulation of different M & R scenarios, it was concluded that the option to cover holes and resurfacing is more than twice as expensive and keeps the pavement in a lower condition than is possible based on SGPU techniques. Therefore, an SGPU confers socio-economic benefits for the whole society, with advantages in the medium and long term, and also keeps the roads in better condition.

[pt] A região amazônica é uma extensa área de grande importância política e estratégica para o futuro do Brasil. Por suas características, tais como, a distâncias entre cidades e vilarejos, a impenetrabilidade da floresta, a dificuldade de construção de rodovias, etc. é imediato constatar a importância primordial de ser atendida por sistemas de telecomunicações sem fio, particularmente de redes via satélite, eficientes e confiáveis. Qualquer operação militar ou civil na região, como o próprio sistema SIPAM (Sistema de Proteção da Amazônia) ou qualquer sistema de comando e controle necessita, para o seu êxito, do planejamento correto dos sistemas de comunicações via satélite fundamentais para a defesa e a manutenção da soberania e da integridade territorial da região, diretamente relacionado ao conceito de segurança nacional. O problema é que, devido à necessidade de descongestionar o uso do espectro, tais sistemas passaram a utilizar freqüências acima de 10 GHz de forma mais intensa. Esta situação tornou primordial a avaliação dos efeitos da precipitação sobre a propagação dos sinais radioelétricos. O planejamento dos atuais sistemas de comunicações por satélite que operam nas bandas Ka e Ku está, nos dias de hoje, fortemente dependente da atenuação produzida pela chuva, que delimita, na maioria dos casos, até mesmo a sua disponibilidade. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho procura contribuir através de um estudo radiometeorológico da região Amazônica. O levantamento e a análise de informações sobre a chuva permite a obtenção de parâmetros a serem utilizados no aprimoramento e no desenvolvimento de modelos que visam à otimização dos projetos de novos sistemas de comunicações e/ou a expansão de sistemas existentes. Tendo em vista que, no processo de avaliação do efeito da chuva sobre o sinal, a distribuição estatística da taxa de precipitação de um determinado local é um parâmetro meteorológico essencial, foram realizadas medidas em nove localidades da Amazônia, por uma rede de pluviógrafos do tipo caçamba basculante, instalada na região com este objetivo específico. As distribuições estatísticas cumulativas da taxa de precipitação, anual e para o pior mês, foram levantadas e processadas, assim como confrontadas com os modelos de predição atuais de forma a avaliá-los quanto à aplicabilidade na região. O modelo atualmente adotado pela Recomendação do UIT-R1 P.837-4, foi cuidadosamente investigado, sendo proposta a atualização de alguns de seus parâmetros, objetivando aprimorar o desempenho na região. O comportamento dinâmico da precipitação e o conseqüente efeito sobre a propagação dos sinais foram discutidos e comentados os aspectos onde este conhecimento é fundamental para a implementação de técnicas de melhoria para aumentar a confiabilidade dos sistemas. Foi também realizado, com base em dados provenientes dos radares meteorológicos do SIPAM (Sistema de Proteção da Amazônia), um estudo da estrutura espacial da precipitação, de grande utilidade no aprimoramento de modelos físicos de predição da atenuação por chuva. Neste particular, foi possível tratar nesta tese questões como a relação Z-R (refletividade-precipitação) para os radares e a determinação das dimensões horizontais e vertical da célula de chuva. Por fim, foi desenvolvido um modelo matemático para representar o comportamento estatístico de duas células de chuva, separadas por uma dada distância, com a finalidade de fornecer subsídios para a interpretação física do funcionamento da técnica de diversidade de sítio em um sistema de comunicações por satélite. / [en] The Brazilian Amazon is a very large equatorial region, covered by a dense jungle and located in the North of Brazil. Its political and strategic importance is nationally recognized. Consequently, wireless communications play a fundamental role under the point of view of its development, support to its inhabitants and state security. In this context, the main motivation for the work described in this dissertation was the possibility of contributing to the progress of the Amazon region. Nowadays, the use of frequencies above 10 GHz is growing fast, not only as a solution to overcome the problem of spectrum congestion, but also to increase the capacity of telecommunications systems. Unfortunately, these frequencies are strongly affected by precipitation. Once the equatorial climate is characterized by heavy rain, a radiometeorological study in the Amazon region seems to be essential for acquiring the information needed to improve the project criteria and the performance analysis of communication systems in this area. The first step in the investigation reported here was a study about the climate of the Amazon region. Köppen classification was adopted because its structure depends on temperature, precipitation and vegetation, factors that can be related to the statistical distribution of rain in a given area. According to this classification, the climate in the Amazon region is a tropical rainy (A), where 3 subtypes can be identified: Rainy equatorial (Af); Monsoon tropical (Am); Wet-and-dry tropical (Aw). The rainfall characteristics analysis was carried out with data from a pluviograph network covering the region of interest and consisting of 9 (nine) rain gauges. Tipping bucket rain gauges were used, in which, each tip corresponds to 0.1mm rainfall, the integration time being one minute and measuring a maximum precipitation rate of 240 mm/h. Complementary radar data from the SIPAM (Amazon system protection) network were also taken into account in this research. Radars operate in the frequency of 2.8 GHz (S-band), with 4.3m parabolic antennas and a maximum coverage of 400km. Based on precipitation measurements carried out for a period of one year (June 2004 to May 2005), a detailed study of rainfall rate distribution was developed. Both annual and monthly cumulative distributions were derived. Three mathematical models available in the literature for predicting the cumulative distribution of rainfall rate were compared and tested against the experimental data available. The Salonen-Baptista (S-B) was taken as reference in this dissertation. The reason for choosing this model was its global coverage and its dependence on meteorological parameters available in the region under study, allowing to be continuously extended over a large area. Additionally, this model is the basis of ITU-R Recommendation P.837-4. On the other hand, as radar measurements are of paramount importance in the analysis of the spatial structure of rain, based on the classical relation Z(mm6/m3) = a[R(mm/h)]b the conversion between radar reflectivity (Z) and rainfall rate (R) were carefully investigated. The experimental data from rain gauge and radar networks have allowed the examination of different questions: a) Dynamic behaviour of the rainfall rate; b) Horizontal and vertical distribution of rain; c) Correlation of rainfall rate measured in two points separated by a given distance. In each case, the use of the final results to the analysis of problems related to telecommunication systems was pointed out. Due to its relevance in the Amazon region, the application to satellite communications was emphasized.