Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 22, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 22, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed May 23, 2007). PDF text: v, 326 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 3.85Mb UMI publication number: AAT 3237557. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Title from PDF title page; viewed on Nov. 12, 2009. "October 2009." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Science in Architecture with a specialization in Architectural Engineering." "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." Major professor: Peter Laursen, Ph.D. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-87).

O presente trabalho trata da avaliação da confiabilidade de vigas pré-tracionadas de concreto protendido em relação ao estado limite último de flexão, segundo as recomendações da norma brasileira NBR 6118:2014. O crescimento da utilização de vigas protendidas nas edificações se justifica cada vez mais com o emprego de materiais mais eficientes e pela necessidade de estruturas mais leves e esbeltas. Esta pesquisa se limita à avaliação de vigas simplesmente apoiadas com seções retangulares e T e carregamento uniformemente distribuído ao longo do vão. Para a avaliação da capacidade resistente, foi utilizado um modelo simplificado que analisa a seção mais solicitada do elemento através de equações de equilíbrio, propriedades dos materiais e compatibilidade de deformações. A validação foi realizada a partir de ensaios experimentais e o modelo foi julgado adequado para a determinação do momento resistente de vigas pré-tracionadas de concreto protendido. O índice de confiabilidade  das vigas em estudo foi determinado através do método de confiabilidade de primeira ordem (First Order Reliability Method – FORM), consolidado e bastante utilizado na obtenção da probabilidade de falha de estruturas. O valor de  é obtido a partir do cálculo da distância mínima entre a superfície de falha e a origem das variáveis aleatórias padronizadas utilizando-se os recursos de minimização de uma planilha eletrônica. A verificação da influência que alguns parâmetros que regem o dimensionamento das vigas protendidas com aderência inicial exercem sobre o índice de confiabilidade foi realizada. Foram avaliados a resistência característica à compressão do concreto, a resistência característica de ruptura à tração da armadura de protensão, a esbeltez da viga e a relação entre o carregamento permanente e a carga total atribuída à viga. Também foi estabelecido um valor para o índice de confiabilidade considerado seguro igual a 3,8. Diante dos resultados, foi observado que a variação do índice de confiabilidade ocorreu de forma mais acentuada quando estudada juntamente com a variação da relação entre o carregamento. Porém vale destacar que em certos casos o índice de confiabilidade pode reduzir com o crescimento da resistência característica de ruptura à tração do aço de protensão e a consequente redução da área de armadura ativa. / The present work deals with the evaluation of the reliability of pretensioned prestressed concrete beams regarding to the ultimate flexural limit state according to the recommendations of the Brazilian standard NBR 6118:2014. The increasing usage of prestressed beams in buildings is more and more justified by the usage of more efficient materials and the necessity of lighter weight and more slender structures. The research is limited in the evaluation of simply supported beams with rectangular and T cross sections and uniformly distributed loading. For the evaluation of the load capacity of the beams, it was used a simplified model that analyzes the maximum bending moment section of the element through equilibrium equations, material properties and compatibility of deformations. The validation was performed from experimental data and the model was judged suitable for the determination of the resistant moment of pre-tensioned prestressed concrete beams. The evaluation of the reliability index  for each beam was carried out using the First Order Reliability Method - FORM, which is already consolidated and widely used when obtaining the probability of failure of structures. The value of  is obtained from the calculation of the minimum distance between the surface of the failure and origin of standard random variables through the resource of minimization tools of a digital spreadsheet. The evaluation of the influence that some parameters, which govern the design of pretensioned prestressed beams, exercise on the reliability index was performed. The characteristic concrete compressive strength, the characteristic tensile strength of the prestressed reinforcement, the slenderness ratio of the beam and the ratio between dead load and total load were evaluated. It was also established a minimum acceptable value to the reliability index equal to 3.8. Given the results, it was observed that the variation of the reliability index occurred, in a more sharply way, when studied along with the variation of the ratio between the dead load and total load. But, in some cases, the reliability index can be reduced with the increasing of the characteristic tensile strength of the prestressed reinforcement and the consequent prestressed steel cross sectional area reduction.

L'estimation des pertes de précontrainte liées aux déformations différées des bétons est un sujet d'intérêt pour la maintenance à long terme d'ouvrages de génie civil tels que les enceintes de confinement des centrales nucléaires. L'objectif de ce travail de doctorat est d'améliorer la prise en compte des particularités morphologiques de la microstructure des bétons pour estimer le comportement à long terme des bétons précontraints. Cette étude est limitée au cadre de la mécanique des matériaux et à la théorie de l'homogénéisation : le béton y est décrit comme un matériau composite constitué de granulats élastiques enchâssés dans une matrice cimentaire viscoélastique linéaire vieillissante. Les outils novateurs mis en œuvre sont la tomographie par rayons X et la simulation numérique 3D.On distingue sur les images de tomographie les granulats, la matrice cimentaire et l'air occlus. Mais l'extraction de données morphologiques de ces images est une tâche difficile à systématiser. En revanche, la construction numérique de microstructures matrice-inclusions et la simulation numérique 3D en viscoélasticité linéaire se sont montrées assez robustes pour permettre l'étude de l'influence de paramètres morphologiques (fraction volumique, granulométrie et forme des inclusions) sur le comportement macroscopique estimé. Le schéma d'homogénéisation semi-analytique de Sanahuja dédié aux matériaux composites viscoélastiques linéaires vieillissants a été étendu aux cas d'inclusions ellipsoïdales pour étudier l'influence du rapport d'aspect des inclusions sur le comportement viscoélastique vieillissant d'un béton. Les estimations du comportement macroscopique par les simulations numériques 3D restent proches de celles obtenues par les schémas d'homogénéisation semi-analytiques. Ainsi, il reste difficile d'expliquer la dispersion des résultats expérimentaux de Granger par l'homogénéisation, dans la mesure où les bétons de Granger ont des formulations similaires. Enfin, les simulations numériques 3D permettent l'estimation des contraintes dans la matrice cimentaire lorsque l'on impose à un échantillon de béton une histoire de chargement similaire à celle rencontrée sur les ouvrages / Prestress losses due to creep of concrete is a matter of interest for long term operations of containment buildings. In the present study, the time-dependent strains of concretes are estimated starting from morphological details of the microstructure. X-ray tomography provide a new way to spot such details and 3D numerical simulations are performed to estimate the time-dependent strains. Concrete is described as a composite material made of aggregates embedded in a cementitious matrix. On X-ray tomography images, aggregates can be separated from the cementitious matrix and entrained air. But extracting morphological parameters remains a difficult task. Nevertheless, building numerical matrix-inclusion microstructures and performing 3D numerical simulations proved a reliable way to estimate the influence of morphological features such as a the volume fraction of aggregates or the sieve curve on the time-dependent strains of concretes. Moreover, the semi-analytic homogenization scheme of Sanahuja dedicated to linear aging viscoelastic composite materials has been extended to the case of ellipsoidal inclusions to study the influence of the aspect ratio of the aggregates on the time-dependent strains of concretes.3D numerical estimates of the overall time-dependent behavior of concrete are similar to the ones produced by semi-analytical homogenization schemes. Hence, explaining the differences between the experimental measurements of the time-dependent strains of concretes performed by Granger remains challenging given the similarities between their mix designs. Lastly, 3D numerical simulations are performed on a sample of concrete to estimate the local stress in the cementitious matrix, the history of loading being representative of the one experienced in a containment building

O presente trabalho trata da avaliação da confiabilidade de vigas pré-tracionadas de concreto protendido em relação ao estado limite último de flexão, segundo as recomendações da norma brasileira NBR 6118:2014. O crescimento da utilização de vigas protendidas nas edificações se justifica cada vez mais com o emprego de materiais mais eficientes e pela necessidade de estruturas mais leves e esbeltas. Esta pesquisa se limita à avaliação de vigas simplesmente apoiadas com seções retangulares e T e carregamento uniformemente distribuído ao longo do vão. Para a avaliação da capacidade resistente, foi utilizado um modelo simplificado que analisa a seção mais solicitada do elemento através de equações de equilíbrio, propriedades dos materiais e compatibilidade de deformações. A validação foi realizada a partir de ensaios experimentais e o modelo foi julgado adequado para a determinação do momento resistente de vigas pré-tracionadas de concreto protendido. O índice de confiabilidade  das vigas em estudo foi determinado através do método de confiabilidade de primeira ordem (First Order Reliability Method – FORM), consolidado e bastante utilizado na obtenção da probabilidade de falha de estruturas. O valor de  é obtido a partir do cálculo da distância mínima entre a superfície de falha e a origem das variáveis aleatórias padronizadas utilizando-se os recursos de minimização de uma planilha eletrônica. A verificação da influência que alguns parâmetros que regem o dimensionamento das vigas protendidas com aderência inicial exercem sobre o índice de confiabilidade foi realizada. Foram avaliados a resistência característica à compressão do concreto, a resistência característica de ruptura à tração da armadura de protensão, a esbeltez da viga e a relação entre o carregamento permanente e a carga total atribuída à viga. Também foi estabelecido um valor para o índice de confiabilidade considerado seguro igual a 3,8. Diante dos resultados, foi observado que a variação do índice de confiabilidade ocorreu de forma mais acentuada quando estudada juntamente com a variação da relação entre o carregamento. Porém vale destacar que em certos casos o índice de confiabilidade pode reduzir com o crescimento da resistência característica de ruptura à tração do aço de protensão e a consequente redução da área de armadura ativa. / The present work deals with the evaluation of the reliability of pretensioned prestressed concrete beams regarding to the ultimate flexural limit state according to the recommendations of the Brazilian standard NBR 6118:2014. The increasing usage of prestressed beams in buildings is more and more justified by the usage of more efficient materials and the necessity of lighter weight and more slender structures. The research is limited in the evaluation of simply supported beams with rectangular and T cross sections and uniformly distributed loading. For the evaluation of the load capacity of the beams, it was used a simplified model that analyzes the maximum bending moment section of the element through equilibrium equations, material properties and compatibility of deformations. The validation was performed from experimental data and the model was judged suitable for the determination of the resistant moment of pre-tensioned prestressed concrete beams. The evaluation of the reliability index  for each beam was carried out using the First Order Reliability Method - FORM, which is already consolidated and widely used when obtaining the probability of failure of structures. The value of  is obtained from the calculation of the minimum distance between the surface of the failure and origin of standard random variables through the resource of minimization tools of a digital spreadsheet. The evaluation of the influence that some parameters, which govern the design of pretensioned prestressed beams, exercise on the reliability index was performed. The characteristic concrete compressive strength, the characteristic tensile strength of the prestressed reinforcement, the slenderness ratio of the beam and the ratio between dead load and total load were evaluated. It was also established a minimum acceptable value to the reliability index equal to 3.8. Given the results, it was observed that the variation of the reliability index occurred, in a more sharply way, when studied along with the variation of the ratio between the dead load and total load. But, in some cases, the reliability index can be reduced with the increasing of the characteristic tensile strength of the prestressed reinforcement and the consequent prestressed steel cross sectional area reduction.

O presente trabalho trata da avaliação da confiabilidade de vigas pré-tracionadas de concreto protendido em relação ao estado limite último de flexão, segundo as recomendações da norma brasileira NBR 6118:2014. O crescimento da utilização de vigas protendidas nas edificações se justifica cada vez mais com o emprego de materiais mais eficientes e pela necessidade de estruturas mais leves e esbeltas. Esta pesquisa se limita à avaliação de vigas simplesmente apoiadas com seções retangulares e T e carregamento uniformemente distribuído ao longo do vão. Para a avaliação da capacidade resistente, foi utilizado um modelo simplificado que analisa a seção mais solicitada do elemento através de equações de equilíbrio, propriedades dos materiais e compatibilidade de deformações. A validação foi realizada a partir de ensaios experimentais e o modelo foi julgado adequado para a determinação do momento resistente de vigas pré-tracionadas de concreto protendido. O índice de confiabilidade  das vigas em estudo foi determinado através do método de confiabilidade de primeira ordem (First Order Reliability Method – FORM), consolidado e bastante utilizado na obtenção da probabilidade de falha de estruturas. O valor de  é obtido a partir do cálculo da distância mínima entre a superfície de falha e a origem das variáveis aleatórias padronizadas utilizando-se os recursos de minimização de uma planilha eletrônica. A verificação da influência que alguns parâmetros que regem o dimensionamento das vigas protendidas com aderência inicial exercem sobre o índice de confiabilidade foi realizada. Foram avaliados a resistência característica à compressão do concreto, a resistência característica de ruptura à tração da armadura de protensão, a esbeltez da viga e a relação entre o carregamento permanente e a carga total atribuída à viga. Também foi estabelecido um valor para o índice de confiabilidade considerado seguro igual a 3,8. Diante dos resultados, foi observado que a variação do índice de confiabilidade ocorreu de forma mais acentuada quando estudada juntamente com a variação da relação entre o carregamento. Porém vale destacar que em certos casos o índice de confiabilidade pode reduzir com o crescimento da resistência característica de ruptura à tração do aço de protensão e a consequente redução da área de armadura ativa. / The present work deals with the evaluation of the reliability of pretensioned prestressed concrete beams regarding to the ultimate flexural limit state according to the recommendations of the Brazilian standard NBR 6118:2014. The increasing usage of prestressed beams in buildings is more and more justified by the usage of more efficient materials and the necessity of lighter weight and more slender structures. The research is limited in the evaluation of simply supported beams with rectangular and T cross sections and uniformly distributed loading. For the evaluation of the load capacity of the beams, it was used a simplified model that analyzes the maximum bending moment section of the element through equilibrium equations, material properties and compatibility of deformations. The validation was performed from experimental data and the model was judged suitable for the determination of the resistant moment of pre-tensioned prestressed concrete beams. The evaluation of the reliability index  for each beam was carried out using the First Order Reliability Method - FORM, which is already consolidated and widely used when obtaining the probability of failure of structures. The value of  is obtained from the calculation of the minimum distance between the surface of the failure and origin of standard random variables through the resource of minimization tools of a digital spreadsheet. The evaluation of the influence that some parameters, which govern the design of pretensioned prestressed beams, exercise on the reliability index was performed. The characteristic concrete compressive strength, the characteristic tensile strength of the prestressed reinforcement, the slenderness ratio of the beam and the ratio between dead load and total load were evaluated. It was also established a minimum acceptable value to the reliability index equal to 3.8. Given the results, it was observed that the variation of the reliability index occurred, in a more sharply way, when studied along with the variation of the ratio between the dead load and total load. But, in some cases, the reliability index can be reduced with the increasing of the characteristic tensile strength of the prestressed reinforcement and the consequent prestressed steel cross sectional area reduction.

Submitted as the dissertation component in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters Diploma in Technology (Electrical engineering - heavy current), Electrical Engineering, ML Sultan Technikon, 1998. / The use of pre-stressed concrete poles for the Inwabi Plateau rural distribution line has presented unforseen problems for the Durban Electricity Service Unit, such as poor line performance and structural damage to the poles. The effects are thought to be due to lightning. This dissertation deals with an investigation into the cause of the damage as well as recommendations regarding the repair and prevention of future damage. To achieve this, an evaluation of the line Basic Insulation Level (B.I.L.) together with a review of the existing literature on the effects of lightning to overhead lines was used in order to establish what the specific damage mechanisms are. Field and laboratory tests were also undertaken as part of the investigation. Based on the results obtained, the overhead line was modified in terms of it's B.I.L. A preliminary evaluation of the modifications was done, with recommendations regarding further work to be done in the future. / M

Thirty full scale prestressed concrete struts all having a slenderness ratio of L/D = 40 were tested with three different eccentricities. Stress-strain curves of the corresponding test cylinders were established and the Young's Moduli evaluated. The specimens were fabricated with different percentages of prestressing steel ranging from 0.23 to 1.20%. The initial prestressing forces were set to obtain a final prestress of 140,000 psi in all specimens. The dimensions of the struts, and the quality and manufacturing process of the concrete, were kept constant. Special adjustable supporting devices simulated ideal hinged conditions. The struts were tested to their ultimate capacity and their critical buckling loads were evaluated. The tests proved that, provided the column is made of high quality concrete, the critical load values can be obtained by using Euler's fundamental formula, and these values are independent of the amount of prestressing. For eccentrically loaded struts maximum stresses from a modified secant formula, incorporating effect of prestressing, were compared with those calculated on basis of observed deflections. According to the test results the secant modulus corresponding to the average compressive stress should be used in Euler's formula. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate