Security And Reliability Of Damaged Structures And Defective Materials

Structures that are essential for economy and security such as energy production, transportation and supply, water supply, buildings, are susceptible to failure, because of defects already present in the material, or created at fabrication, or appearing during service. Methods of assesment of the nocivity of these defects are needed, to predict the remaining service life and the eventual emergency of stopping service and repairing, if possible. To reach this objectives, this book presents the last methods derived from the classical linear, non-linear fracture mechanics concepts, including fatigue and notch fracture mechanics. Several examples of structures rehabilitations and repairing are given. This book gathers the presentation made during the Advanced Research Workshop held in Portoroz (Slovenia) in October 2008, under the auspices of NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme. It is edited by Professor Guy Pluvinage from the University Paul Verlaine – Metz (France) and Professor Aleksandar Sedmak from the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Both have a long and rich experience in analysis of theoretical and practical cases in safety and reliability of structures. Other contributors are all known as experts in the areas of fatigue, facture and reliability of structures.

This book is a compilation of selected papers from the 2014 New Trends in Fatigue and Fracture (NT2F14) Conference, which was held in Belgrade, Serbia. This prestigious conference brought together delegates from around the globe to discuss how to characterize, predict and analyze the fatigue and fracture of engineering materials, components, and structures using theoretical, experimental, numerical and practical approaches. It highlights some important new trends in fracture mechanics presented at the conference, such as: • two-parameter fracture mechanics, arising from the coupling of fracture toughness and stress constraints • high-performance steel for gas and oil transportation and production (pressure vessels and boilers) • safety and reliability of welded joints This book includes 12 contributions from well-known international scientists and a special tribute dedicated to the scientific contributions of Stojan Sedmark, who passed away in 2014.

Condition assessment and characterization of materials and structures by means of nondestructive testing (NDT) methods is a priority need around the world to meet the challenges associated with the durability, maintenance, rehabilitation, retrofitting, renewal and health monitoring of new and existing infrastructures including historic monuments. Numerous NDT methods that make use of certain components of the electromagnetic and acoustic spectrum are currently in use to this effect with various levels of success and there is an intensive worldwide research effort aimed at improving the existing methods and developing new ones. The knowledge and information compiled in this book captures the current state of the art in NDT methods and their application to civil and other engineering materials and structures. Critical reviews and advanced interdisciplinary discussions by world-renowned researchers point to the capabilities and limitations of the currently used NDT methods and shed light on current and future research directions to overcome the challenges in their development and practical use. In this respect, the contents of this book will equally benefit practicing engineers and researchers who take part in characterization, assessment and health monitoring of materials and structures.

This volume contains the papers presented at IALCCE2018, the Sixth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE2018), held in Ghent, Belgium, October 28-31, 2018. It consists of a book of extended abstracts and a USB device with full papers including the Fazlur R. Khan lecture, 8 keynote lectures, and 390 technical papers from all over the world. Contributions relate to design, inspection, assessment, maintenance or optimization in the framework of life-cycle analysis of civil engineering structures and infrastructure systems. Life-cycle aspects that are developed and discussed range from structural safety and durability to sustainability, serviceability, robustness and resilience. Applications relate to buildings, bridges and viaducts, highways and runways, tunnels and underground structures, off-shore and marine structures, dams and hydraulic structures, prefabricated design, infrastructure systems, etc. During the IALCCE2018 conference a particular focus is put on the cross-fertilization between different sub-areas of expertise and the development of an overall vision for life-cycle analysis in civil engineering. The aim of the editors is to provide a valuable source of cutting edge information for anyone interested in life-cycle analysis and assessment in civil engineering, including researchers, practising engineers, consultants, contractors, decision makers and representatives from local authorities.

The use of composite materials in the design process allows one to tailer a component’s mechanical properties, thus reducing its overall weight. On the one hand, the possible combinations of matrices, reinforcements, and technologies provides more options to the designer. On the other hand, it increases the fields that need to be investigated in order to obtain all the information requested for a safe design. This Applied Sciences Special Issue, “Composite Materials in Design Processes”, collects recent advances in the design methods for components made of composites and composite material properties at a laminate level or using a multi-scale approach.

The idea of preparing a technical document for the repairs and interventions upon concrete structures goes back to the former fib COM 5: Structural Service Life Aspects, being the goal of the then TG 5.9. After a long period of reduced activity, and taking into account the reorganization of fib commissions that meanwhile took place, on June 2017 a different approach was proposed to push forward the task of TG 8.1 (formerly TG 5.9). The (new) goal of TG 8.1 was to deliver a ‘how-to-do’ guide, gathering together protection, repair, and strengthening techniques for concrete structures. Chapters are intended to provide both guidelines and case-studies, serving as support to the application of fib MC 2020 pre-normative specifications. Each chapter was written by an editorial team comprising desirably at least a researcher, a designer and a contractor. Templates have been prepared in order to harmonize the contents and the presentation of the different methods. Following the writing process, chapters were reviewed by experts and, after amendments by the authors, they underwent a second review process by COM 8 and TG 3.4 members, as well as by different practitioners. For each protection, repair and strengthening method addressed in this guide, readers have a description of when to adopt it, which materials and systems are required, which techniques are available, and what kind of equipment is needed. It then presents a summary of stakeholders’ roles and qualifications, design guidelines referring to most relevant codes and references, the intervention procedure, quality control measures and monitoring and maintenance activities. Due to the extent of the guide, it was decided to publish it as bulletin 102, addressing protection and repair methods, and bulletin 103, addressing strengthening methods. We would like to thank the authors, reviewers and members of COM 8 and TG 3.4 for their work in developing this fib Bulletin, which we hope will be useful for professionals working in the field of existing concrete structures, especially those concerned with life-cycle management and conservation activities. As noted above, this Bulletin is also intended to act as a background and supporting document to the next edition of the fib Model Code for Concrete Structures, which is currently under development under the auspices of TG10.1 with the working title of ‘fib Model Code 2020’.