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Theses/Dissertations

Civil and Environmental Engineering

2013

Lateral resistance

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Large-Scale Testing Of Passive Force Behavior For Skewed Abutments With High Width-Height Ratios, Katie Noel Palmer Jul 2013

Large-Scale Testing Of Passive Force Behavior For Skewed Abutments With High Width-Height Ratios, Katie Noel Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of seismic forces and thermal expansion on bridge performance necessitate an accurate understanding of the relationship between passive force and backwall deflection. In past case studies, skewed bridges exhibited significantly more damage than non-skewed bridges. These findings prompted studies involving numerical modeling, lab-scale tests, and large-scale tests that each showed a dramatic reduction in passive force with increased skew. Using these results, a correlation was developed between peak passive force and backwall skew angle. The majority of these tests had length to height ratios of 2.0; however, for several abutments in the field, the length to height ratio …


Developing Seismic Performance Factors For Prefabricated Bamboo Walls In Comparison To Conventional Timber Shear Walls, David Steenson, Davin Chan Jun 2013

Developing Seismic Performance Factors For Prefabricated Bamboo Walls In Comparison To Conventional Timber Shear Walls, David Steenson, Davin Chan

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

In order to address the issue of rising demand in resources from providing a growing population with housing, a team of professors and undergraduate students worked to study bamboo's possible utility as a structural element. This team proposed the use of bamboo as a substitute for timber in conventional light frame construction, specifically in the form of bamboo shear walls, which resist lateral loads such as those applied by earthquakes and winds. In order to demonstrate the adequacy of these proposed bamboo walls as a substitute to the control softwood walls, the team used the document FEMA P-795 to develop …


Passive Force On Skewed Abutments With Mechanically Stabilized Earth (Mse) Wingwalls Based On Large-Scale Tests, Bryan William Franke Mar 2013

Passive Force On Skewed Abutments With Mechanically Stabilized Earth (Mse) Wingwalls Based On Large-Scale Tests, Bryan William Franke

Theses and Dissertations

Passive force-deflection behavior for densely compacted backfills must be considered in bridge design to ensure adequate resistance to both seismic and thermally induced forces. Current codes and practices do not distinguish between skewed and non-skewed bridge abutment geometries; however, in recent years, numerical models and small-scale, plane-strain laboratory tests have suggested a significant reduction in passive force for skewed bridge abutments. Also, various case studies have suggested higher soil stresses might be experienced on the acute side of the skew angle. For these reasons, three large-scale tests were performed with abutment skew angles of 0, 15 and 30 degrees using …


Evaluation Of Passive Force On Skewed Bridge Abutments With Large-Scale Tests, Aaron Kirt Marsh Mar 2013

Evaluation Of Passive Force On Skewed Bridge Abutments With Large-Scale Tests, Aaron Kirt Marsh

Theses and Dissertations

Accounting for seismic forces and thermal expansion in bridge design requires an accurate passive force versus backwall deflection relationship. Current design codes make no allowances for skew effects on the development of the passive force. However, small-scale experimental results and available numerical models indicate that there is a significant reduction in peak passive force as skew angle increases for plane-strain cases. To further explore this issue large-scale field tests were conducted at skew angles of 0°, 15°, and 30° with unconfined backfill geometry. The abutment backwall was 11 feet (3.35-m) wide by 5.5 feet (1.68-m) high, and backfill material consisted …