The purpose of the thesis is to suggest a span enlargement of steel Modular footbridge ML36 for pedestrian and cycling transport. The aim is to preserve as many elements of the original construction as possible. In the thesis, three variants are discussed with the detailed focus on one of them. The chosen variant is made up by elongated original footbridge ML36, which is supported by prestressed structure. From the static point of view, it is a simply supported truss. The span of the footbridge is 39-45. The main material of the structural elements is steel S355, S460 and S520.

Implementing pre-stressing cables is a viable option aiming at controlling deformation and cracking of concrete flat slabs in serviceability limit state. The pre-stressing cables also contribute to punching shear capacity of the slab when they are located in vicinity of the column. The positive influence of pre-stressing cables on punching capacity of the concrete slabs is mainly due to the vertical component of inclined cables, compressive in-plane stresses and counter acting bending moments near the support region. The method presented in Eurocode 2 to determine the punching capacity of the pre-stressed concrete flat slabs considers the in-plane compressive stresses but totally neglects the effect of counter acting moments. The effect of vertical forces introduced by inclined cables is only considered when they are within the distance 2d from the face of the column. This area is called basic control area in the Eurocode 2. In this master thesis nonlinear finite element analysis is carried out to study the effect of pre-stressing cables on punching shear capacity of concrete slabs respecting the distance of cables from the face of the column. To attain this objective, the concrete damage plasticity model is implemented to model the concrete. The results indicate that until the distance of 6d from the face of the column the contribution of pre-stressing cables in punching shear capacity of slabs is significant. Furthermore, comparing the numerical results with the punching shear capacity of slabs predicted by Eurocode 2 reveals that Eurocode tremendously underestimates the punching shear capacity when the cables are located outside the basic control area.

Irradiation of a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) causes a shift of the ductile to brittle transition region towards higher temperature regions. In the event of a pressurized thermal shock (PTS), where the temperature drops drastically, the ductile to brittle transition region might be entered for irradiated ferritic steel. Hence, there is a risk of brittle cleavage fracture. Cleavage fracture is a transgranular unstable fracture initiated by cracked second phase particles and rapidly propagated over grain boundaries. The warm pre-stressing (WPS) effect can be helpful as it increases the apparent fracture toughness of ferritic steel pre-loaded in the ductile temperature region, which is the case for a PTS. This effect has been proven effective for virgin material, but the impact of residual stress fields on the WPS effect have not been investigated thoroughly. Utilizing a finite element model of notched three-point bending specimens and a non-local probabilistic model for fracture prediction the effect of residual stresses on the WPS effect was investigated in this thesis. Regarding the crack tip state, expressed as J, the probability of fracture was alike for both material with and without residual stresses, however a significant loss of load bearing capacity was found comparing them two. The magnitude of this loss depends on pre-load level as well as specimen size. This loss however, was also found when not considering the WPS effect. / Bestrålning av ferritiska reaktortankar orakar en förskjutning av den duktil-spröda omslagstemperaturen till högre temperaturer. Vid en trycksatt termisk shock (TTS) sjunker temperaturen drastiskt i reaktorn och omslagstemperaturen kan nås. Därför uppstår en risk för klyvbrott. Klyvbrott är en transgranulär ostabil spricktillväxt initierad av sprickor i sekundärfaspartiklar som propagerar över korngränserna om spänningstillståndet är gynnsamt. Varm förbelastning, eller warm pre-stressing (WPS) kan vara fördelaktig eftersom den höjer den effektiva brottsegheten hos ferritiskt stål som förbelstats i den duktila temperaturregionen, som är fallet för TTS. Den här effekten har visats effektiv för material utan restspänningar, men för fallet med restspäninningar saknas utförliga undersökningar av WPS-effekten. Med hjälp av en finita element model av tre-punkt böjprovstavar och en icke-lokal sannolikhetsmodell för prediktion av brott så undersöktes vilken effekt restspänningar har på WPS-effekten. Brottsannolikheten visade sig vara lika för både material med och utan restspännigar om man syftar på sprickspetstillståndet, uttryckt som J. Däremot syns en tydlig förlust i lastbärande förmåga mellan de två fallen. Storleksordningen på förlustern beror både på förbelastningsnivå och provstavsstorlek. Den förlusten kunde dock finnas även för fall utan någon WPS effekt.

The cold test is one of the oldest and most acceptable vigour tests as it is used to simulate stress conditions commonly occurring in the field. In recent years, some of South Africa’s top maize hybrids, with high cold test scores, have shown emergence problems under cold, wet planting conditions. It resulted in major complaints from commercial maize producers with sizable claims involved. Therefore, the need arose to find a more sensitive vigour test that takes into account cold, wet conditions. In practice, South African maize producers would not plant if it is too cold and wet. However, cold, wet conditions are commonly experienced during planting time in the main maize production regions of South Africa, especially during October and even November. Furthermore, in most of the commercial maize production areas, such as the western Free State, chances of thunder and hailstorms are high during the planting period. These weather conditions are major causes for sudden drops in temperature and flooding which can expose maize seed and emerging maize seedlings to stress conditions The effects of cold, wet conditions on germination and emergence of nine maize hybrids were investigated in laboratory, glasshouse and field experiments. Growth chamber and glasshouse experiments were conducted under 10°C, 20°C and 30°C and 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours flooding. Field experiments were conducted under different climatic conditions, resulting in cool and wet, cold and wet and favourable conditions during planting. The objectives were to investigate the correlations between different laboratory vigour tests and field emergence of maize hybrids under cold, wet conditions in order to identify the most suitable laboratory vigour test for predicting field emergence under cold, wet conditions. Eight different vigour tests were conducted and each was compared with field emergence under cold, wet conditions. The eight tests conducted, were the cold test, soak test, complex stressing vigour test, electrical conductivity test, accelerated ageing test, tetrazolium test, fast green test and emergence rate test. The soak test was the most sensitive vigour test when considering cold, wet conditions, as it measures seed germination, based on the warm test, after a 48 hour soak in water at 27°C. Correlations found between the soak test and field emergence (53%) under cold, wet conditions was unexpected, since the soak test does not account for low temperatures. The complex stressing vigour test was conducted to study the effect of fluctuating soaking temperatures on germination of maize seed. Seeds of nine maize hybrids were soaked for 48 hours at a moderate temperature (25°C), followed by another 48 hours soak at a low temperature (5°C), and then planted in sand and grown for 4 days at 25°C, before evaluation. Highly significant correlations were found between the complex stressing vigour test and simulated field emergence under both controlled conditions in a glasshouse (89.9%) and cold, wet conditions in the field (90.0%). The complex stressing vigour test was the best test to predict field performance under a wide range of climatic conditions, especially cold, wet conditions. Implementation of the complex stressing test as a routine vigour test, will be to the advantage of maize seed companies, especially in being proactive in predicting emergence of maize hybrids under cold, wet conditions. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted