Structural Engineering Commons^™

Dynamic Behavior And Fatigue Life Of Highway Bridges Due To Doubling Heavy Vehicles, Arash Tarighi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An increase in the demand for the freight shipping in the United States has been predicted for the near future and Longer Combination Vehicles (LCVs), which can carry more loads in each trip, seem like a good solution for the problem. Currently, utilizing LCVs is not permitted in most states of the US and little research has been conducted on the effects of these heavy vehicles on the roads and bridges. In this research, efforts are made to study these effects by comparing the dynamic and fatigue effects of LCVs with more common trucks.

Ten Steel and prestressed concrete bridges …

Development Of Innovative Load Transfer Mechanism To Reduce Hurricane-Induced Failures In New And Existing Residential Construction, Sheikh Saad Ahmed

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Implicit in current design practice of minimum uplift capacity, is the assumption that the connection's capacity is proportional to the number of fasteners per connection joint. This assumption may overestimate the capacity of joints by a factor of two or more and maybe the cause of connection failures in extreme wind events. The current research serves to modify the current practice by proposing a realistic relationship between the number of fasteners and the capacity of the joint. The research is also aimed at further development of non-intrusive continuous load path (CLP) connection system using Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) and …

Investigation Of The Behavior Of Open Cell Aluminum Foam, Patrick J. Veale

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The study investigates the behavior open cell aluminum foam in scenarios applicable to potential use in structural applications. Behavior was examined through mechanical testing, computer modeling and analytic expressions. Existing assumptions about the foam characteristics that define the elastic properties were expanded to include contributions of axial and shear deformations in addition to bending and were rewritten in terms of the axial and bending stiffness ratios of ligaments. Compressive and tensile tests were performed to gain a measure of the elastic properties of the foam as well as the behavior and failure mechanisms in both loading conditions. The materials used …

Investigation Of Cause Of Cracked Stringer On The Blanchette Bridge, Ward Marianos Jr., Genda Chen, Nestore Galati, Fabio Matta

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Blanchette Bridge carries Interstate 70 across the Missouri River, connecting St. Louis and St. Charles counties in eastern Missouri. The westbound bridge was constructed in 1958. In 1979, the original reinforced concrete roadway deck on the bridge was replaced with a steel grid deck system, welded to supporting girders and stringers. In 1999 and 2005, cracks were discovered in stringers on the bridge approach spans. The stringers were repaired with bolted splices.

The investigation of the cracking included preliminary analyses, review of historical documents, detailed finite element analyses, and field testing of the bridge. The cracking was determined to …