Search

This thesis describes the structural performance of reinforced one storey flexural and shear-critical frames made of high performance concretes (HPCs) such as: self-consolidating concrete (SCC), engineered cementitious composite (ECC) and ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) subjected to monotonic lateral loading. The performance of SCC/ECC/UHPC frames are described based on load-deformation/moment-rotation responses, stiffness, strain developments, crack characterization, failure modes, ductility and energy absorbing capacity. The experimentally obtained moment and shear capacities of the frames are compared with those obtained from Codes and other existing design specifications. Overall, ECC frames showed better performance in terms of higher energy absorbing capacity and ductility compared to SCC/UHPC frames. ECC/UHPC frames showed higher load carrying capacity compared to SCC frames. ECC and UHPC shear-critical frames without shear reinforcement were able to prevent shear failure due to fiber bridging and crack control characteristics contributing to the enhanced shear resistance of the matrix.

To monitor the quality of a process in statistical process control (SPC), considering a functional relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables (which is denoted as profile monitoring) is becoming an increasingly common approach. Most of the studies in the SPC literature considered parametric approaches in which the functional relationship has the same form in the in-control (IC) and out-of-control (OC) situations. Non-parametric profiles, which have a different functional relationship in the OC conditions are very common. This paper designs a novel control chart to monitor not only the regression parameters but also the variation of the profiles in Phase II applications using an adaptive approach. Adaptive control charts adjust the final statistic with regard to information of the previous samples. The proposed method considers the relative distance of the chart statistic to the control limits as a tendency index and provides some outcomes about the process condition. The results of Monte Carlo simulations show the superiority of the proposed monitoring scheme in comparison with the common non-parametric control charts. 2022, The Author(s). The publication of this article was funded by Qatar National Library. Scopus

This paper presents the results of experimental and analytical investigations on the structural performance of high performance reinforced concrete (HPC) columns subjected to monotonic axial loading. Reinforced columns made of self-consolidating concrete (SCC), engineered cementitious composite (ECC) and ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) were tested to failure under axial loading. The test variables included concrete strength and length/slenderness of columns (classified as short and long columns). The UHPC and ECC columns demonstrated excellent ductility and higher energy absorbing capacity compared to their SCC counterparts. UHPC columns also illustrated higher ultimate load capacity compared to both ECC and SCC columns. The efficiency of UHPC and ECC columns was also judged based on strength and ductility ratio compared to their SCC counterparts. Existing models and other Code based equations were used to predict the axial load capacity as a part of analytical investigation. The predictions suggested the need for the modification of existing models/Code based equations for UHPC and ECC columns.

【Abstract】 Objective: Talar fractures present a great challenge to surgeons due to poor treatment outcome and high incidence of sequelae. The purpose of this study was to report the surgical treatment outcome of displaced talar fractures treated by internal fixation. Methods: A total of 30 patients with a mean age of 38 years presenting with talar body or neck fractures were studied retrospectively to assess postoperative outcome based on American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Ankle- Hindfoot scale. Results: Postoperatively, malunion was found in 18 cases, infection in 5 cases and avascular necrosis in 12 cases. There were 12 cases with subtalar arthritis and 18 cases with both subtalar and malleolar arthritis. The average score of questionnaire was 64±12. Functional score was 53±15 and pain score was 65±13. Range of motion failure was de- tected as 15±4. Conclusion: Talar injuries can compromise motion of the foot and ankle and result in poor prognosis on long- term evaluation. Late complications subsequent to surgi- cally treated talar body fractures are inevitable, and patients are supposed to be counseled about the adverse outcome. Key words: Postoperative complications; Fractures, ununited; Ankle injuries; Fracture healing

Over the recent years, considerable attention has been drawn to intelligent driving technologies and particularly to automated vehicles (AVs). The deployment of AVs would provide the opportunity to have more control over the dynamics of the vehicle, including its lateral movement, which can affect the pavement’s long-term rutting performance. The controlled lateral movement of the AVs may also imply a reduced lane width. This paper evaluates the impacts of dedicating a reduced lane width to AVs on pavement rutting performance, considering two lateral movement modes for AVs; zero wander and uniform-wander. A finite element model was developed using ABAQUS software. The rutting simulation results of this study showed that the abrupt changes in the loading schemes of the zero- and uniform-wander modes cause considerable accumulated rutting in the edges of the loading areas. This is significantly greater than the total rutting induced by the human-driven vehicles (HDVs) following the normal-wander mode, which causes a compensated rutting behaviour by a gradual increase in loading time. Furthermore, the comparison between rutting depths in different lane widths reveals that when dedicating the narrower lane for AVs with a uniform-wander distribution, the pavement’s total rutting depth would remarkably increase compared to the wider lanes. This study was supported by the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Hasselt University with the BOF number of “BOF19OWB26”.