<p>Increased national and international travel over the lastdecades has caused an increase in the global number ofpassengers using different means of transportation. Greateffort is being directed to improving the noisy environment inthe residential community. This is to face the growing strictnoise requirements which are implemented by international noiseregulatory authorities, governments, and local airports. Thereis also a strong competition between different manufacturers tomake their products quieter. The propulsion system in anaircraft is the major source of noise during relevant flightconditions. The engine noise in a vehicle dominates the totalradiated noise at low speeds especially inside cities. Manyrecent studies on noise reduction involve the use of perforatedplates in the air and gas flow ducting connected to the engine.This thesis deals with the modelling of perforates as anabsorbent.</p><p>There are many difficulties in using liners in theseapplications. The most important is that there is no largesurface area to which the linings may be applied. Equally, theenvironment in which linings have to survive is hostile.Therefore, liners have to be carefully tailored in order toachieve the most efficient attenuation. The full-scalesimulation testing, which is usually necessary to define thenoise attenuation produced by a liner installation, is bothtime-consuming and expensive. Therefore, a need for accuratemodels is a must. This thesis fills some gaps in the impedancemodelling of perforated liners. It also concentrates on thosecomplicated situations of sound propagation in ducts that weresolved earlier using Finite Element Methods. Alternateanalytical solutions to these problems are developed here,which gives more physical insight into the results.</p><p>The key design parameter of perforates is the acousticimpedance. The impedance is what determines their efficiency toabsorb sound waves. A semi empirical impedance model wasdeveloped to be capable of accurately predicting the linerimpedance as a function of its physical properties and thesurrounding conditions. It was compared to all previous modelsin the literature. Nothing in the literature has been reportedon the effect of temperature on the perforate impedance,therefore a complete study was performed. A new inverseanalytical impedance measurement technique was proposed. It isbased on educing the impedance value based on the measurementof the attenuation across a lined duct section. Twoapplications were further considered: The effect of hard stripsin lined ducts on there attenuation properties; and themodelling of perforations in a complicated automotive mufflersystem.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Perforates–Liners–Acousticimpedance–Hot stream liners–Hard splices–Mufflers–Lined ducts–Collocation–Flowduct.</p>

Using innovative materials or devices in techniques for strengthening or repair of RC concrete members may provide interesting alternatives for structural engineers. Laboratory tests were conducted on full scale reinforced concrete columns and a masonry wall that suffered severe damage. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer - CFRP sheets and anchors were used to improve shear capacity or ductility elements. CFRP jacket were installed on column hinge regions while diagonal ties (tension braces) were used on the masonry wall. Mechanical splices were used in columns where concrete crushed and bars buckled by replacing the buckled bars and providing continuity to the longitudinal reinforcement. It was found that performance of the retrofitted members was comparable to that using conventional techniques and the performance was generally better than certain “fast” retrofit procedures reported in the literature. The choice of technique depends on the degree of damage, the cost of replacement, and performance required. Having the results of cyclic load tests of rehabilitated concrete members, envelope or backbone curves were obtained following the ASCE41-07 and proposed ASCE41-13 procedures. The backbone curves were used to develop behavioral models that can be used in the analysis and design of those types of concrete members and retrofit procedures. The inclusion of the behavioral models into current Performance Based Seismic Design procedures for strengthening of existing or repaired damaged buildings is proposed. / text

Design of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) masonry in the United States is currently based on Appendix A of the 2008 Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) Code. Those provisions include the design of lap splices, and equations for the nominal capacity in interface shear transfer between grout and AAC. The provisions for lap splices are an extension of the provisions for concrete or clay masonry, modified to neglect the contribution of AAC to splice capacity. This thesis describes a testing program aimed at verifying the current provisions using tests of lap splices in grouted AAC masonry. Based on the results of those tests, the provisions are shown to be appropriate. The provisions on interface shear transfer between grout and AAC require that the transferred shear be checked against a nominal capacity based on limited test results. This thesis describes a testing program aimed at verifying and refining this nominal capacity using pullout tests of grout cores in AAC masonry units. Based on the results of those tests, the currently used nominal capacity is shown to be conservative, and a recommendation is made to increase it. / text

A previously completed study in the field of concrete block construction by Ahmed and Feldman (2012) indicated that, on average, the reinforcing bars in non-contact lap splices, where the lapped bars are located in adjacent cells, only develop 71% of the tensile resistance of spliced bars which are in contact. An experimental program was therefore initiated to design and evaluate remedial measures which can potentially increase the tensile resistance of non-contact lap splices to that of contact lap splice of the same lap length. Implementation of the proposed measures in various field situations was also analyzed. Six unique remedial splice details, along with standard contact and unaltered non-contact lap splices were evaluated and compared. The mitigative details included providing additional confinement, installing knock-out webs, placing splice reinforcement between the lapped bars, and combinations of these aforementioned details. Three replicates of each splice detail were constructed for a total of 24 wall splice specimens. Each wall splice specimen was reinforced with No. 15 Grade 400 deformed steel reinforcing bars with 200 mm lap splice lengths at located the midspan. The specimens were tested in a horizontal position under a monotonic, four-point loading geometry. Load and deflection data were collected throughout testing and were subsequently used in an iterative moment-curvature analysis to calculate the maximum tensile resistance of the spliced reinforcement. This was then used to compare the structural performance of each remedial splice detail to the standard contact and non-contact lap splices. The wall splice specimens which contained non-contact lap splices with knock-out webs, s-shaped, and transverse reinforcement in the splice region achieved similar tensile capacities as the wall splice specimens with standard contact lap splices. Industry professionals have indicated that the installation of the remedial measures evaluated in this study would not affect the constructability of masonry assemblages in field situations. The splice detail with knock-out webs confined within the lap splice length was determined to be the most viable procedure as it can be installed to increase the resistance of non-contact lap splices in almost all construction situations. This remedial procedure was able to improve the tensile resistance of the lapped reinforcement by 63% compared to the wall splice specimens with standard non-contact lap splices.

One of the major purposes of this project was to demonstrate optical components which will be used in fibre optic distribution systems. These include the fibre itself, couplers, connectors, splices, sources and detectors. All components used are state-of-the-art, the star coupler and fusion splice technique being developed by the author during the completion of the project. The star coupler has proved to have one of the lowest insertion losses of any such component to date. Although the telephone system demonstrated has only 3 stations, very similar or identical components would be used in an expanded network. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

Cantilevered reinforced concrete columns with a lap splice of the longitudinal reinforcement near the base can induce high moment demands on the splice region when lateral loads are present on the structure. Code design specifications typically require a conservative splice length to account for these high moment demands and their consequences of bond failure. The required splice length is calculated as a function of required development length, which is a function of the bond between the reinforcement and the surrounding concrete, and a factor depending on the section detailing. However, the effects of concrete deterioration due to alkali silica reaction (ASR) and/or delayed ettringite formation (DEF) may weaken the bond of the splice region enough to overcome the conservative splice length, potentially resulting in brittle failure of the column during lateral loading. This thesis presents the following results obtained from an experimental and analytical program. * Fabrication of large-scale specimens of typical column splice regions with concrete that is susceptible to ASR/DEF deterioration * Measurement of the large-scale specimen deterioration due to ASR/DEF accelerated deterioration * Analytical model of the column splice region based on flexure theory as a function of the development length of the reinforcement and a factor to account for deterioration of the bond due to ASR/DEF * Experimental behavior of two large-scale specimens that are not influenced by premature concrete deterioration due to ASR/DEF (control specimens). This experimental data is also used to calibrate the analytical model. The conclusions of the research are that the analytical model correlates well with the experimental behavior of the large-scale control specimens not influenced by ASR/DEF. The lap splice region behaved as expected and an over-strength in the splice region is evident. To account for ASR/DEF damage, the analytical model proposes a reduction factor to decrease the bond strength of the splice region to predict ultimate performance of the region with different levels of premature concrete deterioration.

The effectiveness of a new structural material, namely textilereinforced mortar (TRM), was investigated experimentally in this study as a means of confining old-type reinforced concrete columns with limited capacity due to bar buckling or due to bond failure at lap splice regions. Comparisons with equal stiffness and strength fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) jackets allow for the evaluation of the effectiveness of TRM versus FRP. Tests were carried out on full scale non-seismically detailed RC columns subjected to cyclic uniaxial flexure under constant axial load. Thirteen cantilever-type specimens with either continuous longitudinal reinforcement (smooth or deformed) or lap splicing of longitudinal bars at the floor level were constructed and tested. Experimental results indicated that TRM jacketing is quite effective as a means of increasing the cyclic deformation capacity of old-type RC columns with poor detailing, by delaying bar buckling and by preventing splitting bond failures in columns with lap spliced bars. Compared with their FRP counterparts, TRM jackets used in this study were found to be equally effective in terms of increasing both the strength and deformation capacity of the retrofitted columns. From the response of specimens tested in this study, it can be concluded that TRM jacketing is an extremely promising solution for the confinement of reinforced concrete columns, including poorly detailed ones with or without lap splices in seismic regions.

This study investigates the influence of the gravity load resisting system on the collapse performance of Special Steel Moment Frames (SMFs). The influence was quantified using the FEMA P-695 methodology. The buildings used for this study were a 2-, 4- and 8-story SMFs taken from the ATC76-1 project where their collapse performance was already evaluated without the gravity system. The main work of this dissertation has been divided in two parts. The first part studies the influence of the gravity system when it is incorporated explicitly as part of the lateral resisting system. Aspects of the gravity frame that were investigated include the contribution of stiffness and strength of beam to column connections, and the location of splices in the gravity columns. Moreover, this research investigates the potential for the development of inelastic deformations in the gravity columns, and the effect of such deformations on structural response. The results show that gravity connections and gravity column's continuity profoundly affect the computed response and collapse probability. The inelastic behavior in gravity columns has a less important effect but should be included in the analysis. The second part of the investigation looks more in depth at the role of the gravity columns on the collapse performance of SMFs. Using the 2-, 4- and 8-story SMFs, the gravity columns are incorporated using the approach where all the gravity columns are lumped into one elastic, pinned at the base and continuous element. The approach is first validated by checking different aspects such as: strength of gravity connections to induce yielding into gravity columns, difference between the explicit and lumping column approach, and required gravity column's splices to provide continuity. The stiffness of the element representing the gravity columns was varied in order to find the influence of the gravity columns. At the end of the study it was found that they have a significant influence on the collapse performance of SMFs, especially on taller structures like the 8-story model. Moreover it was concluded that an adequate stiffness of the gravity columns could be found by performing nonlinear static pushover analysis. / Ph. D.

Ένα από τα κύρια προβλήματα που συναντώνται σε κτίρια ή γέφυρες που έχουν κατασκευασθεί πριν από το 1980, είναι η μειωμένη καμπτική αντοχή και πλαστιμότητα, το οποίο αρκετά συχνά οφείλεται στην έλλειψη περίσφιξης και στη παρουσία κοντών αναμονών που είχαν οι κατασκευές αυτές. Ο κύριος σκοπός της παρούσας διατριβής είναι να παρουσιάσει και να αξιολογήσει πέντε από τα διαθέσιμα στη βιβλιογραφία αναλυτικά μοντέλα προσδιορισμού του απαιτούμενου πάχους του εξωτερικά εφαρμοζόμενου μανδύα για την αποφυγή της αστοχίας των ματιζομένων οπλισμών των υποστυλωμάτων συμπεριλαμβανομένου και του αντίστοιχου μοντέλου το οποίο δίνεται στο Σχέδιο 1 και Σχέδιο 2 του ΚΑΝΕΠΕ. Τα αναλυτικά μοντέλα αξιολογούνται μέσω πειραματικών αποτελεσμάτων από τη βιβλιογραφία. Η αξιολόγηση γίνεται σε δύο επίπεδα. Στο πρώτο επίπεδο αξιολογείται η αξιοπιστία πρόβλεψης του απαιτούμενου πάχους του υλικού ενίσχυσης –χρησιμοποιώντας τις μέσες τιμές των υλικών- ενώ στο δεύτερο επίπεδο εξετάζεται η αντίστοιχη καταλληλότητα κάθε προσομοιώματος για το σχεδιασμό –χρησιμοποιώντας τις αντίστοιχες τιμές σχεδιασμού των υλικών-. Τροποποιημένες εξισώσεις βασιζόμενες στο προσομοίωμα του ΚΑΝΕΠΕ παρουσιάζονται. Η χρήση των τροποποιημένων εξισώσεων ελέγχεται μέσω διαθέσιμων πειραματικών αποτελεσμάτων και προκύπτει ικανοποιητική σύγκλιση με αυτά. / Reinforced concrete frames or bridges constructed in the early 80s or before, were usually designed and detailed to resist lower lateral forces than those required today. Building columns were commonly designed for compression only and as a result they do not have the adequate lateral strength to resist the imposed earthquake loads. One of the main deficiencies in these older structures is the limited flexural strength and ductility often due to short and lightly confined lap splices. The main aim of this thesis is to present and evaluate five of the proposed analytical models in order to rehabilitate reinforced concrete columns with short lap splices by external confinement, including and the confinement model given by the draft version of the Greek Retrofitting Code (GRECO). The above analytical models are validated against experimental results. The validation is performed in two levels. In the first level, the reliability of the prediction for the required jacket thickness given by the models, is examined, by using the average values of the materials. In the second level, the propriety for the design of each model is examined by using the design values of the materials. A modified equation based on the model given by GRECO is presented as well. By using the proposed modified equation a satisfactory agreement with the experimental results was accomplished.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:03:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao ariovaldo ecivil 2009.pdf: 972968 bytes, checksum: 9d1288c7a6be7d0bce6e1136f5b34c12 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-23 / The cold-formed steel sheets have been sufficiently used when it is thought of manufacturing a metallic structure with reduced weight. Its use until some time ago in construction was limited to the secondary structures, but, with considerable growth in research involving this type of material together with development of technical standards, made its use a good solution for certain types of light structures. The present work presents considerations on cold-formed steel sheets, the patened steel, processes of welding and the result of experimental tests with beams with composed section of two profiles U constituted with cold-formed steel sheets, manufactured with two types of patened steel produced in Brazil. In some of these beams, welded sections with coated electrode had been used and were made the comparison with the reference beam, where it was possible to study the influence of the process of welding in the ultimate resistance and the ductility of the beam. / Os perfis metálicos formados a frio tem sido bastante usados quando se pensa em fabricar uma estrutura metálica com peso próprio reduzido. O seu uso até a algum tempo atrás na construção civil estava limitado apenas a estruturas secundárias, mas, com o crescimento considerável de pesquisas envolvendo este tipo de material associadas ao desenvolvimento de normas técnicas, fez com que o seu uso apresentasse uma boa solução para determinados tipos de estruturas leves. O presente trabalho apresenta considerações sobre perfis formados a frio, aços patináveis, processos de soldagem e o resultado de ensaios experimentais de vigas bi-apoiadas constituídas de perfis formados a frio compostas pela junção de dois perfis U enrijecidos, fabricadas com dois tipos de aço patináveis produzidos no Brasil, comparando-se os resultados. Em algumas destas vigas foram feitas emendas soldadas com eletrodo revestido e foi feita a comparação com vigas de referência, sem emenda soldada, possibilitando o estudo da influência do processo de soldagem na resistência à flexão e na ductilidade das vigas.