Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

New Coatings For Bridges (Over-Coat Systems), Sudhir Palle, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Bobby W. Meade Oct 2012

New Coatings For Bridges (Over-Coat Systems), Sudhir Palle, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Bobby W. Meade

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

KYTC sought to identify new coatings technologies consistent with overcoating that offer enhancements in terms of ease of application and performance. KYTC contacted paint manufacturers to obtain sample coating systems for characterization by the KYTC Division of Materials and accelerated performance testing by Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC). A total of 14 coating systems from five manufacturers underwent performance testing according to ASTM D5894.


Incorporation Of Life Cycle Models In Determining Optimal Wind Energy Infrastructural Provision, Brendan Cleary, Aidan Duffy, Alan O'Connor Sep 2012

Incorporation Of Life Cycle Models In Determining Optimal Wind Energy Infrastructural Provision, Brendan Cleary, Aidan Duffy, Alan O'Connor

Conference papers

The deployment of wind energy has grown rapidly over the last two decades with an average annual growth rate of more than 26% since 1990. During this period the development and innovation of wind turbines has resulted in continual growth in wind turbine size with output ranges of 10-15MW likely to be deployed by 2020. This increased output has a knock-on effect on the growth of rotor diameters and tower heights. Wind turbine towers are required to become taller, stronger and stiffer in order to carry the increased weight and associated structural loading. Consequently, the dimensions of the tower cross-sections …


The Effects Of Bolt Pretension, In-Plane Eccentricity, And Friction On The Ductility Of Block Shear Connections, Kevin M. Zmetra Aug 2012

The Effects Of Bolt Pretension, In-Plane Eccentricity, And Friction On The Ductility Of Block Shear Connections, Kevin M. Zmetra

Master's Theses

Block shear is a complex failure mechanism in bolted and welded steel components such as gusset plates, webs of coped beams, angles and tees. It presumes a combination of tension rupture and shear yield. Multiple variables affect the block shear capacity and ductility of a connection. This study investigates the effects of bolt pretension, connection eccentricity and friction force transfer through a series of destructive experiments followed by refined finite element simulation. Clamping forces create a complex triaxial stress field compounded by the stress concentration at the bolt holes. In-plane load eccentricity with respect to the centerline of the connection …


Efficient Prestressed Concrete-Steel Composite Girder For Medium-Span Bridges, Yaohua Deng Jul 2012

Efficient Prestressed Concrete-Steel Composite Girder For Medium-Span Bridges, Yaohua Deng

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, a new Prestressed Concrete-Steel Composite (PCSC) girder system is introduced. The PCSC girder is composed of a lightweight W-shape steel section with shear studs on its top and bottom flanges to achieve composite action with the pretensioned concrete bottom flange and the cast-in-place concrete deck. The PCSC girder is lightweight, economical, durable and easy to fabricate. To prove its feasibility and potential, this study is to investigate design and fabrication issues associated with the PCSC girder. A service design procedure is proposed using Age-adjusted Elasticity Modulus Method (AEMM) to evaluate the time-dependent stresses and strains in the …


Buckling And Crippling Of Square Steel Thin-Walled Tubes Fabricated With Symmetrically-Overlapping U-Channels And Foam, David Camenish Gelder Jul 2012

Buckling And Crippling Of Square Steel Thin-Walled Tubes Fabricated With Symmetrically-Overlapping U-Channels And Foam, David Camenish Gelder

Theses and Dissertations

Testing and analysis has been performed on square steel thin-walled tubes fabricated using symmetrically-overlapping U-channels and foam. This research analyzes flange-to-flange attachment, effect of foam in the columns, effect of adhesive stiffness, and influence of steel thickness, as related to the local buckling loads, global buckling loads, and crippling loads. Four 14-foot (4.27 m) foam-filled, thin-walled, galvanized steel columns were manufactured by Novatek, Inc. and tested in axial compression with pinned boundary conditions. For three of the four configurations, the two-piece 4-in. (10.2-cm) square shell surrounded prefabricated polystyrene foam inserts; the fourth column had no foam insert. The column outer …


Material Characterization And Computational Simulation Of Steel Foam For Use In Structural Applications, Brooks H. Smith Jan 2012

Material Characterization And Computational Simulation Of Steel Foam For Use In Structural Applications, Brooks H. Smith

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Cellular metals made from aluminum, titanium, or other metals are becoming increasingly popular for use in structural components of automobiles, aircraft, and orthopaedic implants. Civil engineering applications remain largely absent, primarily due to poor understanding of the material and its structural properties. However, the material features a high stiffness to weight ratio, excellent energy dissipation, and low thermal conductivity, suggesting that it could become a highly valuable new material in structural engineering. Previous attempts to characterize the mechanical properties of steel foam have focused almost exclusively upon uniaxial compression tests, both in experimental research and in computational simulations. Further, computational …