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<p>This thesis is an introduction to virtual knots and the forbidden moves, and the closely related classes of welded and unwelded knots. Extensions of the Jones polynomial and the knot group to the various knot types are considered. We also examine the operation of connected sum for virtual and welded knots, and we review the proof that every virtual knot can be untied using the forbidden moves.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

no / Precast concrete floors are widely used in building construction, but there is little detailed design guidance on their application in steel-framed buildings. Traditionally the steel beams have been designed to support the precast slabs on their top flange. However, there are an increasing number of composite frames and slim floor constructions where the precast slabs are designed to interact structurally with the steel frame. Composite action can be developed by welded shear connectors attached to the steel beams and by transverse reinforcement; however, this form of construction is currently outside the provisions of the current codes of practice. This paper discusses some of the particular issues that affect this form of construction, and presents design guidance using the Eurocode methodology.

To better understand the behavior of composite beams in buildings, push-out tests were conducted to study the behavior of welded shear studs. Forty-eight solid slab push-out tests were conducted to study how stud tensile strength and concrete properties affect the strength of shear connections. It is shown that raising the tensile strength of a shear connector actually has an adverse effect on the connector's performance and strength. It is also shown that the upper limit for shear strength used in the current AISC specification (Load 1993) is unconservative and a lower upper limit is proposed. Eighty-seven pushout tests utilizing steel deck were also conducted. It is shown how the placement, height, and arrangement of shear studs, as well as the height and gage of steel deck affects the strength of shear connections when stiffened steel deck is used. It is shown that the current AISC specification is unconservative and does not account for the many failure mechanisms associated with connections using steel deck. It is shown how tension within the stud shank, friction at the slab/beam interface, and steel deck strength affect the strength of shear connections. / Master of Science

The purpose of this research is to evaluate and compare the structural performance of composite floor slabs reinforced with 6 x 6 W1.4/W1.4 welded wire fabric (WWF) and STRUX 90/40 synthetic macro fibers. Slabs were subjected to flexural strength tests and concentrated load tests while monitoring load, steel deck strains, and deflections. Test results obtained from this test program were also compared to results from a similar test program conducted in 2001. Tests were also performed to obtain the average residual-strength of the fiber-reinforced concrete using the ASTM C 1399 (2003) standard test. All slabs were loaded until a complete failure was observed. The observed failure loads were compared to failure loads calculated by design guides published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Steel Deck Institute (SDI). The flexural strength tests showed that composite slabs reinforced with synthetic macro fibers and WWF exhibited strength and behavior that was almost identical. The observed values of strength were also within the range that was predicted by ASCE prediction models. At a typical office design load of 70 psf, all slabs exhibited midspan deflections that were much smaller than those necessary for serviceability requirements. The concentrated load tests also showed that the observed strength of all composite slabs tested was above those values predicted by ASCE and SDI models. However, an effective comparison between the WWF-reinforced and synthetic macro fiber-reinforced slab was difficult due to a poor shear bond in the latter slab prior to testing. The results of the ASTM C 1399 test verified the ability of concrete reinforced with synthetic macro fibers to meet average residual-strength values recommended by the SDI. / Master of Science

A large structural weldment has been designed to serve as the new star tracker bridge for the Dark Energy Experiment upgrade to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. The modeling approach, analysis techniques and design details will be of interest to designers of large structures where stiffness is the primary design driver. The design includes detailed structural analysis using finite element models to maximize natural frequency response and limit deflections and light obscuration. Considerable fabrication challenges are overcome to allow integration of precision hardware required for positioning the corrector optics to a precision of less than 5 microns along the 4-meter travel range. This thesis provides detailed descriptions of the bridge geometry, analysis results and challenging fabrication issues. / text

O uso de aços de alta resistência mecânica vem crescendo significativamente, principalmente em situações onde é necessário um material com grande limite elástico para a conformação a frio e boa soldabilidade. Nessas aplicações, a elevada resistência reduz o peso e/ou aumenta a carga que pode ser suportada pelas estruturas produzidas. A introdução dos aços fabricados por processamento termomecânico controlado (TMCP) demandou maiores propriedades mecânicas e metalúrgicas das juntas soldadas sobre eles produzidas. Em função desses fatores, a energia de soldagem é estritamente limitada, e para evitar uma eventual redução da resistência mecânica da zona afetada pelo calor (ZAC), é necessário testar os procedimentos de soldagem próximos daqueles que serão usados na estrutura real. O objetivo deste estudo é obter dados detalhados referentes à eficiência mecânica de juntas soldadas por MAG e com diferentes energias, sobre perfis tubulares quadrados em aço TMCP, formando um conjunto soldado coluna/viga. Seis energias de soldagem e dois metais de adição foram utilizados (AWS ER80S-G e AWS ER120S-G), o primeiro somente com as soldas posicionadas em todo o contorno do perfil, e o segundo com soldas em todo o contorno, transversais e longitudinais em relação à direção de aplicação da carga. Vinte e quatro estruturas foram soldadas, instrumentadas e submetidas à flexão. Comparando as juntas soldadas com mesma energia, observou-se maior resistência à flexão nas soldas longitudinais e em todo contorno, e valores inferiores para soldas transversais. Além disso, pôde ser constatado que 1,2 kJ/mm de energia de soldagem deu os melhores resultados para as juntas soldadas com ambos os consumíveis, uma vez que até esse valor a área da seção resistente das juntas soldadas aumentou significativamente. O uso de energias mais elevadas não foi eficaz para aumentar a resistência à flexão das juntas soldadas ora investigadas, pois o efeito da energia de soldagem sobre a redução da dureza e, consequentemente, resistência mecânica da ZAC, aparentemente se sobrepõe ao aumento da área da seção resistente da junta soldada. / The use of high strength steels is growing significantly, especially in situations where it is necessary a material with high strength for cold forming and good weldability. In these applications, the high strength decreases the weight and/or increases the load that can be supported by the structures produced. The introduction of steels made by thermomechanical controlled processing (TMCP) demanded higher mechanical and metallurgical properties of the welded joints produced on them. Given these factors, the heat input is strictly limited, and to avoid any reduction in the mechanical strength of the heat affected zone (HAZ), it is required to test welding procedures close to those that will be used in the actual structure. The aim of this study is to obtain detailed data on the mechanical efficiency of welded joints with GMAW and different heat inputs, on square tubular profiles in TMCP steel, disposed as a column/beam weldment. Six different heat inputs and two filler metals were used (AWS ER80S-G and AWS ER120S-G), the first one with the welds located around the profile contour, and the second one with welds all around the profile, transverse and longitudinal to the axis of the weld bead. Twenty-four welded structures were instrumented and subjected to bending. Comparing the welded joints with the same heat input, it can be noticed that higher bending strength is obtained from all-around contour and longitudinal welds, and lower values for the transverse welds. Moreover, it could be seen of 1.2 kJ/mm heat input gave optimum results to the welded joints with both consumables, since up to this value the area of the resistant section of welded joints increased significantly. The use of higher heat inputs was not effective to increase the bending strength of the welded joints herein investigated, since the effect of heat input on the reduction of the hardness and, consequently, mechanical strength of the HAZ, apparently overrides the increase in the area of the resistant section of the welded joint.

Esta tese investiga o efeito do fechamento de trinca sobre as previsões da vida à fadiga em materiais homogêneos e juntas soldadas. É apresentada uma metodologia para a simulação numérica do fenômeno de fechamento de trinca induzido por plasticidade utilizando o método dos elementos finitos. Ensaios laboratoriais de propagação de trinca por fadiga do aço ASTM A516 Gr. 70 à temperatura ambiente foram realizados usando corpos de prova típicos da mecânica da fratura nas condições soldada e homogênea. Estes resultados foram usados para validar a metodologia numérica do cálculo da carga de abertura de trinca. Comparações entre a vida de propagação experimental e as estimativas obtidas por meio da integração da lei de propagação, incluindo o efeito do fechamento de trinca, foram feitas usando vários critérios para o cálculo da carga de abertura. As análises numéricas permitem estimar a carga de abertura de trinca analisando a evolução do campo de tensões, deformações e deslocamentos na região próxima à trinca, que está influenciada pelo contato das faces da trinca. Menores níveis de proteção da trinca devido ao fechamento foram obtidos para o corpo com heterogeneidade mecânica quando comparado ao corpo homogêneo na modelagem numérica. Durante o ensaio de propagação o corpo homogêneo apresentou taxas de propagação de trinca relativamente menores quando comparadas ao espécime soldado. A não inclusão do efeito do fechamento de trinca resulta em previsões da vida à fadiga conservadoras em aproximadamente 20% para todos os casos estudados neste trabalho. Análises tridimensionais do fenômeno de fechamento de trinca revelam que o crescimento da trinca por fadiga no estagio II parece estar controlado pelo retardo que acontece na superfície do corpo de prova. Incluído o efeito do fechamento de trinca nas previsões, as estimativas da vida à fadiga foram bastante próximas das obtidas experimentalmente, com diferenças conservadoras entre 1% e 15% dependendo do método de cálculo da carga de abertura. Os resultados apresentados mostram que vidas à fadiga mais acuradas e, ainda, conservadoras são feitas incluindo o efeito do fechamento de trinca na metodologia de cálculo da vida remanescente de componentes estruturais. / This thesis investigates the effect of crack closure on fatigue life predictions in homogeneous material and welded joints. It presents a methodology for numerical simulation of the phenomenon of plasticity-induced crack closure by using the finite element method. Experimental tests of fatigue crack propagation on ASTM A516 Gr 70 steel at room temperature were performed using typical specimens of fracture mechanics in two conditions: welded and homogeneous; these results were used to validate the numerical methodology for calculating the crack opening load. Comparisons between experimental propagation life and estimations obtained by numerical integration of propagation law, including the effect of crack closure, have been made using various criteria to calculate the opening load .The numerical analyses allow to predict the opening load by analyzing the evolution of stresses, deformations and displacements fields in the region near the crack which is growing and is influenced by the contact of the crack flanks. Lower levels of protection due to crack closure were obtained for the specimen with mechanical heterogeneity when compared to the homogeneous specimen in the numerical analyses. During the test of fatigue crack propagation the homogeneous specimen had smaller crack growth rates when compared to the welded specimen. Fatigue life predictions without including the effect of crack closure result in conservative estimations around 20% for all studied cases. Three-dimensional analysis of the phenomenon of crack closure shows that the fatigue crack growth in stage II appears to be controlled by the delay that occurs on the specimen surface. Including the effect of crack closure in life predictions, the estimates of fatigue life were quite close to those obtained experimentally, with conservative differences between 1% and 15% depending on the method of opening load calculation. The results show that the fatigue life predictions can be made more accurate and yet remain conservative when the effect of crack closure is included on the methodology for calculating the remaining life of structural components.

Este trabalho abordou o estudo de ligação viga de aço e pilar misto preenchido com concreto a partir da aplicação de modelos numérico para representar o comportamento de duas tipologias de ligação: uma ligação parafusada com aderência entre os parafusos passantes e o núcleo de concreto e uma ligação soldada, validadas com base em resultados experimentais existentes. Os resultados obtidos nessa etapa foram considerados satisfatórios, dentro da proposta de modelagem, apesar das simplificações adotadas. Após a validação do modelo numérico foi desenvolvido um estudo paramétrico dos modelos de ligação para entender a influência de alguns parâmetros no comportamento global da estrutura, que foram: resistência à compressão do concreto e espessura do perfil tubular e perfil da viga, com posterior discussão da relação momento-rotação das duas tipologias de ligação estudadas. A mudança do perfil da viga foi o parâmetro que mais influenciou no comportamento global da ligação parafusada; enquanto que, para a ligação soldada, as variações de todos os parâmetros influenciaram no comportamento da ligação, com destaque para a variação do perfil da viga. / This research studied connections typology between steel beams to column filled with concrete from the application of numerical models that reproduce the behavior of two connections: bolted beam-column connection and welded beam-column connection, which were calibrated using existing experimental results. At this stage, the results were considered satisfactory, within the proposed model, despite the adopted simplifications. After the calibration, a parametric study was developed with the aim of verifying the influence of some parameters on the overall behavior of the structure, such as the concrete compression strength, the thickness of the tube wall and the beam properties, with discussions of bending moment-rotation of the studied connections. The beam properties were the parameters that most influenced on the overall behavior of the bolted beam-column connection, while, for the welded connection, all parameters influenced on the overall behavior of the connection, specially the beam properties.