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A research project at Linnaeus University focuses on optimizing theadhesives joints between wood and glass, with the aim of obtain stiffcomponents that can act as a load and stabilizing elements and still betransparent. But there is, however, still a lack of knowledge regarding theadhesive materials which need to be further investigated. This thesis focused on testing six different adhesives in relaxation and todetermine the viscosity (η) and modulus of elastic (MOE, E). Viscosity andMOE are then used in combination in a standard linear solid model (SLS)describing the viscoelasticity mathematically. Figures and tables are used topresent the results and the evaluation. The so determined parameters can beused in e.g. finite element models for the design of load bearing timber glasscomposites.

This thesis has discussed both properties and geometry of concrete slabs used in bridges. It gave understanding on behavior of concrete in both tension and compression zones and how crack propagates in specimens by presenting both theory of fracture and performing concrete tests like tension splitting, uniaxial compression and uniaxial tension tests. Furthermore, it supported experimental tests with finite elements modelling for each test, and illustrated both boundary conditions and loads. The thesis has used ARAMIS cameras to observe crack propagations in all experimental tests, and its first study at LNU that emphasized on Brazilian test, because of importance of this test to describe both crushing and cracking behavior of concrete under loading. It’s an excellent opportunity to understand how concrete and steel behave individually and in combination with each other, and to understand fracture process zone, and this has been discussed in theory chapter. The geometry change that could affect stresses distributions has also described in literature and modelled to give good idea on how to model slabs in different angles in the methodology chapter. Thus, thesis will use finite elements program (Abaqus) to model both experimental specimens and concrete slabs without reinforcement to emphasize on concrete behavior and skewness effect. This means studying both properties of concrete and geometry of concrete slabs. This thesis has expanded experimental tests and chose bridges as an application.

O presente trabalho tem por finalidade apresentar e discutir os resultados encontrados para o coeficiente de atrito de três tipos de diferentes chapas utilizadas em processos de estampagem na indústria automotiva. O método adotado para determinação do coeficiente de atrito foi o dobramento sob tensão, método este que tem por finalidade simular as condições de uma operação de embutimento. Os resultados apresentados demonstram que diferentes chapas em aço NBR 5915 EM e EMS ME 1508 EM, com ou sem proteção galvânica, apresentam diferentes condições tribológicas determinadas através do ensaio. Coeficientes de atrito que variam desde 0,103 até 0,151 foram determinados, considerando condições de lubrificação e de ferramenta constantes. A influência do coeficiente de atrito no processo é exemplificada através do cálculo da força máxima de estampagem, sendo que para as mesmas condições de propriedades mecânicas a variação do coeficiente de atrito provocou um aumento de 7,6% na força máxima. Através do cálculo determinou-se também a influência do coeficiente de atrito nas forças de atrito do processo. Para as condições apresentadas, a influência do coeficiente de atrito no prensa chapas na força máxima de estampagem é 20x menor em relação à influência do coeficiente de atrito no raio da matriz. / This research aims to show and discuss the friction coefficient of three different kinds of sheet metal used in sheet metal forming processes of automotive industry. The methodology for the determination of the coefficient of friction was the bending under tension, that purpose to simulate the deep drawing conditions. The results show different kinds of sheets metals, as NBR 5915 EM and EMS ME 1508 EM, with or not galvanized protection, show different tribological conditions by the tests. Friction coefficients from 0,103 to 0,151 were founded, considering invariable lubrication and tool conditions. The influence of friction coefficient in the stamping process is exemplified by the maximum stamping strength. For these tests conditions, the coefficient of friction caused an increase of 7.6% in the maximum stamping strength. The influence of the friction coefficient on the friction strengths of the process was determined. For these conditions, the influence of the friction coefficient in the friction strength of the blank holder is 20x smaller than in the friction strength of die's radius.

Nanocrystalline materials have generated immense scientific interest, primarily due to observations of significantly enhanced strength and hardness resulting from Hall-Petch grain size strengthening into the nano-regime. Unfortunately, however, most previous studies have been unable to present material strength measurements using established tensile tests because the most commonly accepted tensile test protocols call for specimen geometries that exceeded the capabilities of most nanocrystalline material synthesis processes. This has led to the development of non-standard mechanical test methodologies for the evaluation of miniature specimens, and/or the persistent use of hardness indentation as a proxy for tensile testing. This study explored why such alternative approaches can be misleading and revealed how reliable tensile ductility measurements and material strength information from hardness indentation may be obtained. To do so, an electrodeposition-based synthesis method to produce artifact-reduced specimens large enough for testing in accordance with ASTM E8 was developed. A large number of 161 samples were produced, tested, and the resultant data evaluated using Weibull statistical analysis. It was found that the impact of electroforming process control on both the absolute value and variability of achievable tensile elongation was strong. Tensile necking was found to obey similar processing quality and geometrical dependencies as in conventional engineering metals. However, unlike conventional engineering metals, intrinsic ductility (as measured by maximum uniform plastic strain) was unexpectedly observed to be independent of microstructure over the grain size range 10-80nm. This indicated that the underlying physical processes of grain boundary-mediated damage development are strain-oriented phenomena that can be best defined by a critical plastic strain regardless of the strength of the material as a whole. It was further shown that the HV = 3•σUTS expression is a reliable predictor of the relationship between hardness and strength for electrodeposited nanocrystalline materials, provided the material is ductile enough to sustain tensile deformation until the onset of necking instability. The widely used relationship HV = 3•σY was found to be inapplicable to this class of materials owing to the fact that they do not deform in an “ideally plastic” manner and instead exhibit plastic deformation that is characteristic of strain hardening behaviour.

Nanocrystalline materials have generated immense scientific interest, primarily due to observations of significantly enhanced strength and hardness resulting from Hall-Petch grain size strengthening into the nano-regime. Unfortunately, however, most previous studies have been unable to present material strength measurements using established tensile tests because the most commonly accepted tensile test protocols call for specimen geometries that exceeded the capabilities of most nanocrystalline material synthesis processes. This has led to the development of non-standard mechanical test methodologies for the evaluation of miniature specimens, and/or the persistent use of hardness indentation as a proxy for tensile testing. This study explored why such alternative approaches can be misleading and revealed how reliable tensile ductility measurements and material strength information from hardness indentation may be obtained. To do so, an electrodeposition-based synthesis method to produce artifact-reduced specimens large enough for testing in accordance with ASTM E8 was developed. A large number of 161 samples were produced, tested, and the resultant data evaluated using Weibull statistical analysis. It was found that the impact of electroforming process control on both the absolute value and variability of achievable tensile elongation was strong. Tensile necking was found to obey similar processing quality and geometrical dependencies as in conventional engineering metals. However, unlike conventional engineering metals, intrinsic ductility (as measured by maximum uniform plastic strain) was unexpectedly observed to be independent of microstructure over the grain size range 10-80nm. This indicated that the underlying physical processes of grain boundary-mediated damage development are strain-oriented phenomena that can be best defined by a critical plastic strain regardless of the strength of the material as a whole. It was further shown that the HV = 3•σUTS expression is a reliable predictor of the relationship between hardness and strength for electrodeposited nanocrystalline materials, provided the material is ductile enough to sustain tensile deformation until the onset of necking instability. The widely used relationship HV = 3•σY was found to be inapplicable to this class of materials owing to the fact that they do not deform in an “ideally plastic” manner and instead exhibit plastic deformation that is characteristic of strain hardening behaviour.

Resilient modulus is a property for bound and unbound pavement materials characterizing the elastic behavior of materials under dynamic repeated loading. Resilient modulus is an important design parameter for pavement structures because it represents the structural strength of pavement layers through which the thickness design is based on. In Turkey, the layer thickness design is performed using resilient modulus determined empirically from various published sources. Determining a layer modulus using empirical methods causes inaccurate design solutions, which directly affects the structural performance and the overall cost of pavement construction. In this study, the resilient moduli of bituminous mixtures are measured in the laboratory by the indirect tensile test procedure for eight asphalt concrete samples according to NCHRP and ASTM procedures. The measured moduli of samples based on the two procedures are compared with the predicted values calculated from various empirical methods using aggregate and binder properties. An evaluation of each estimation method is presented on the basis of its accuracy level. The results show that the Witczak predictive equation produces the closest estimation to the modulus of samples for both laboratory measurement methods.

Recently in the United States, there has been increasing interest in developing engineered approaches to structural fire safety of buildings as an alternative to conventional code-based prescriptive approaches. With an engineered approach, the response of a structure to fire is computed and appropriate design measures are taken to assure acceptable response. In the case of steel buildings, one of the key elements of this engineered approach is the ability to predict the elevated-temperature properties of structural steel. Although several past research studies have examined elevated-temperature properties of structural steel, there are still major gaps in the experimental database and in the available constitutive models, particularly for ASTM A992 structural steel, a commonly used grade. Accordingly, the overall objective of this dissertation is to significantly enlarge the experimental database of the elevated-temperature properties for ASTM A992 structural steel and developing improved constitutive models for application in structural-fire engineering analysis. Specific issues examined in this dissertation include the following: tensile properties at elevated temperatures; room-temperature mechanical properties after heating and cooling; and creep and relaxation properties at elevated temperatures. For the elevated-temperature studies of tension, creep and relaxation, constitutive models were developed to describe the measured experimental data. These models were compared to existing theoretical and empirical models from the literature. / text

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Civil Engineering / Dunja Peric / A low ratio between the compressive strength of concrete and its cost makes concrete one of the most widely used construction materials in civil engineering. Despite of a very good response to compressive stress, concrete exhibits a low tensile strength and limited tensile strain capacity. Adding short discrete fibers to a cementitious matrix can significantly improve its performance under tensile stress, thus ultimately exhibiting a ductile behavior. Nevertheless, in spite of their beneficial properties fiber reinforced cementitious composites remain underutilized in engineering practice. One of the main reasons for this is a lack of an adequate characterization of the tensile behavior as well as a lack of analysis methods that would allow engineers to incorporate fiber reinforced structural concrete elements into their design. Therefore, this dissertation has four key objectives: 1) to computationally model a stress-strain response of high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites in uniaxial tension and uniaxial compression prior to macro-crack localization, 2) to develop and perform a diagnostic strain localization analysis for high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites, the results of which can characterize effects of fibers on failure precursors, 3) to devise and perform an experimental program for characterization of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites, and 4) to characterize a full-fledged behavior including stress-strain and stress-crack opening displacement responses of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites in uniaxial tension. To quantify effects of fibers on onset of strain localization in fiber reinforced cementitious composites a combined computational/analytical models have been developed. To this end, linear-elastic multi-directional fibers were embedded into a cementitious matrix. The resulting composite was described by different types of two-invariant non-associated Drucker-Prager plasticity models. In order to investigate effects of a shape of a yield surface and hardening type linear and nonlinear yield surfaces, and linear and nonlinear hardening rules were considered. Diagnostic strain localization analyses were conducted for several plane stress uniaxial tension and uniaxial compression tests on non-reinforced cementitious composites as well as on high performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites. It was found that presence of fibers delayed the inception of strain localization in all tests on fiber-reinforced composites. Furthermore, presence of fibers exerted a more significant effect on the strain localization direction and mode in uniaxial compression than in uniaxial tension. The main objective of experimental program was to facilitate characterization of the post-cracking tensile behavior of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites. To this end, five different mixes of fiber-reinforced cementitious composites were cast, whereby volumetric fiber content, fiber shape and water to binder ratio were the experimental variables. Two testing methods were adopted, a direct uniaxial tension test and four-point prism bending test. Two different post-cracking behaviors were observed in direct tension tests, softening and strain hardening accompanied with multiple cracking. On the other hand, the response from prism bending tests was less scattered. Several different inverse analyses were carried out to predict stress-strain and stress-crack opening displacement responses in uniaxial tension based on the prism bending tests. The analyses resulted in worthy correlations with the experimental data, thus suggesting that the prism bending test is a viable alternative to a much more challenging to perform direct tension test for ultra-high performance fiber reinforced composites.

Infolge des Herstellungsprozesses textiler Bewehrungen ergeben sich unterschiedliche Materialeigenschaften in den beiden Hauptrichtungen (Schuss und Kette). Diese Unterschiede entstehen durch verschiedene Einflussfaktoren, z. B. aus dem Verbundverhalten oder der Querschnittsform der Rovings. Um das Tragverhalten des anisotropen Verbundwerkstoffes Textilbeton experimentell untersuchen zu können, müssen mögliche Einflüsse aus dem Versuchsaubau möglichst gering gehalten werden, bzw. – falls unvermeidbar – in ihrer Wirkung qualitativ und quantitativ bestimmt und bei der Auswertung der Versuchsergebnisse berücksichtigt werden. Auf der Grundlage der durchgeführten umfangreichen experimentellen Untersuchungen wird eine qualitative Bewertung des Versuchsstandes sowie der verwendeten berührungslosen Messtechnik, der Nahbereichsphotogrammetrie, vorgenommen.