Engineering Commons^™

Experimental And Numerical Study Of Precast Concrete Pipe With Single Elliptical Steel Cage Reinforcement, Abdullah Samir Ramadan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) with single elliptical (SE) reinforcement offers cost savings and is permitted by Canadian and American standards. Yet, its use has not yet gained momentum primarily due to limited knowledge of its structural performance. This study explores the structural behaviour of full-scale 1050 mm and 1200 mm diameter RCP reinforced with SE cold drawn steel wire cage under the Three-Edge Bearing Test. Results indicate that RCP with SE reinforcement designed per current standards did not meet the specified 0.3-mm crack and ultimate load capacity. Hence, pertinent provisions in CSA A257.2 and ASTM C76 for RCP need to …

Design And Probabilistic Analysis Of Mid- And High-Rise Wood Buildings Subjected To Earthquake Excitations, Shucheng Yang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mass timber products, such as the glulam or cross laminated timber (CLT), are less frequently used construction materials at present for mid-rise and high-rise buildings. The feasibility and possible advantages of applying timber materials for constructing mid- and high-rise buildings are under investigation. One of the issues that needs to be addressed for the use of heavy timber materials is the safety of such constructions under seismic excitations. To address this issue, the nonlinear inelastic seismic responses and capacity curves of a wood buildings must be assessed. For this, the 10-, 15- and 20-storey buildings are designed using heavy timber …

Force Sensing Surgical Grasper With Folding Capacitive Sensor, Dave Bp Tripp

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) has brought many benefits to the operating room, however, MIS procedures result in an absence of force feedback, and surgeons cannot as accurately feel the tissue they are working on, or the forces that they are applying. One of the barriers to introducing MIS instruments with force feedback systems is the high cost of manufacturing and assembly. Instruments must also be sterilized before every use, a process that can destroy embedded sensing systems. An instrument that can be disposed of after a single use and produced in bulk at a low cost is desirable. Printed circuit micro-electro-mechanical …

Steel Compression Members With Partial-Length Reinforcement, Morgan Herrell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Steel wide-flange columns in existing truss bridges may be built-up with flange cover plate reinforcement to increase compressive capacity. This thesis investigates the use of partial-length steel cover plates about column mid-height to improve the weak-axis buckling resistance.

The present research first reviews literature concerning the Euler buckling of members with partial-length reinforcement. Inelastic buckling is simulated by 3-D finite element analysis accounting for cover plate length, cover plate area, bolt hole perforations, yield stresses, residual and locked-in dead load stresses, and initial out-of-straightness. The model is validated by a load test of a full-scale column with bolted reinforcement plates. …

Force Sensing In Arthroscopic Instruments Using Fiber Bragg Gratings, Daniel S. Yurkewich

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Minimally-invasive surgery has revolutionized many medical procedures; however, it also impedes the ability to feel the interaction between the surgical tool and the anatomical part being operated on. In order to address this problem, it is necessary to obtain accurate measurements of the interaction forces exerted on the surgical tools during surgery. These forces can then be manifested to the surgeon via a haptic device or presented visually (visual-force feedback). This thesis describes the use of a fiber optic device to measure and display to the surgeon interaction forces acting on an arthroscopic tool. The sensorization of the tool involves …

Numerical And Experimental Studies Of Transmission Lines Subjected To Tornadoes, Ahmed Hamada

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The majority of worldwide weather-related transmission line failures have been attributed to High Intensity Wind (HIW) events in the form of tornadoes and downbursts. The research conducted in the current thesis presents a significant development in the understanding of the structural behaviour of transmission line systems under tornado loading. A comprehensive in-house numerical model that combines the data of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of tornado wind fields with three dimensional nonlinear structural analysis modelling is developed. A three dimensional four-nodded cable element is first formulated to simulate the nonlinear large deformation behaviour of the conductors. The support provided to …

Simplified Tools For Performance-Based Design Of Reinforced Concrete Frames Exposed To Fire, Salah El-Din F. El-Fitiany

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Fire safety of Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings is an important design aspect that ensures structural integrity during fire events. As new codes are moving towards performance based design, practitioners are in need of rational design tools to assess the strength and serviceability of individual RC elements and the structure as a whole during fire. This thesis provides such tools for RC frames.

A previously developed sectional analysis method is extended to cover RC beams subjected to fire from three sides. An extensive parametric study is conducted to evaluate the equivalent stress-block parameters at elevated temperatures.

A novel method to track …