Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Cladding panels'

The project of the Sports and Leisure Centre Brno is dealing with the issue of creating a well functioning sports and recreational complex in Brno. The main subject of this thesis is a modern multifunctional arena with a capacity of 9 800, which is a part of the complex. The multifunctional arena is located alongside the main composition axis, which stretches from West to East through the Rybníček street to the football stadium. The arena contains dressing rooms for the ice hockey home team and visiting team as well as the youth ice hockey teams. The arena can serve multiple purposes and can be used for other sport and cultural events and as a result it also contains backstage areas and large storage rooms.

A utilização de tecnologias construtivas inovadoras, como os painéis pré-fabricados arquitetônicos de concreto (PPAC), tem-se configurado prática frequente do mercado brasileiro por, potencialmente, contribuir para incrementar os níveis de industrialização dos processos de produção, bem como a qualidade do produto final a custos reduzidos. No Brasil, entretanto, não existem ainda normas ou manuais técnicos que balizem a utilização dessa tecnologia construtiva. Por isso, este trabalho sistematiza o conhecimento sobre a tecnologia de PPAC para emprego em fachadas de edifícios de múltiplos pavimentos, por meio da apresentação dos principais fatores que devem ser considerados nas fases de elaboração dos projetos de empreendimentos que utilizem os PPAC em suas fachadas. Fatores esses, que condicionam o desempenho e a eficiência do processo de produção das fachadas. Após o acompanhamento do processo de produção de dois empreendimentos que utilizaram PPAC em suas fachadas, constituindo os estudos de caso, conclui-se que a tecnologia de PPAC apresenta grande potencial para incrementar os níveis de industrialização do processo de produção do edifício, se a elaboração dos seus projetos ocorrer nas fases preliminares da concepção do empreendimento, em que suas funções e interfaces sejam consideradas.<br>The arquitectural precast concrete panel technology has frequently been used because of its probability of increasing the industrialization levels of the building process and also improve the building product quality. On the other hand, mostly in Brasil, there are no rules ou manual books which guide the utilization of this technology. In addition, this works aims to raise the knowledge about the arquitectural precast concrete panel used as cladding (APCP-PPAC in Portuguese). Therefore, this works presents some factors that must be considered in designs of building facades, using this kind of technology. After the analysis of one study case using APCP, it was concluded that APCP technology has a great potential of increasing the industrialization levels of the building process, if its designs are done as soon as possible and if its performance and interfaces are considered.

La robustezza degli edifici industriali, definita come la capacità della struttura di resistere ad azioni eccezionali come eventi sismici evitando un collasso globale, è uno dei principali argomenti di ricerca a causa della grave perdita umana ed economica che causa la mancanza di tale caratteristica. La maggior parte degli edifici industriali esistenti sono stati realizzati con normative senza specifici standard per strutture prefabbricate in cui la progettazione degli elementi costruttivi si basava sulle singole soluzioni progettuali dei produttori. Le strutture industriali prefabbricate italiane esistenti a grandi luci possono essere suddivise in due categorie principali a seconda dell'evoluzione delle tecniche di prefabbricazione. La prima categoria si sviluppa dai primi anni trenta fino alla metà degli anni sessanta con strutture industriali in c.a. gettate in opera con un uso diffuso di volte leggere prefabbricate per coprire ampie luci, mentre la seconda è prodotta a partire dagli anni cinquanta tutt’ora in uso riguardante la tipica struttura a telaio prefabbricato con tutti gli elementi realizzati in stabilimento ed assemblati sul posto. Nelle prime tipologie di edifici industriali, la robustezza è definita considerando diversi stati limite di deformabilità e resistenza di pilastri e travi combinati con la vulnerabilità specifica del sistema voltato prefabbricato, sapendo che la struttura è soggetta ad una combinazione di eventi sismici ravvicinati nel tempo che portano all'accumulo del danno. Nel secondo caso la robustezza della struttura del telaio prefabbricato è solitamente basata sulle connessioni di elementi strutturali e non (pannelli di tamponamento) e nell'attivazione dell'effetto domino passando dal collasso di tipo locale a quello globale. In questo lavoro sono analizzati diversi modelli ad elementi finiti per rappresentare al meglio il comportamento strutturale lineare e non lineare di entrambi i tipi di strutture prefabbricate considerate.<br>Robustness of industrial buildings, defined as the capacity of the structure to withstand exceptional actions like seismic events avoiding a global collapse, is one of the main topics of research due to the serious human and economic loss that the lack of such feature could cause. Most of the existing industrial buildings are made with precast elements realised with low-code without specific detailed standards for precast structures in which the technical achievement of them relies on the individual producers with their design solutions. Existing Italian precast structures for large-scale industrial buildings can be divided into two main categories depending on the evolution of prefabrication techniques. The first category was developed from the early thirties up to the mid-sixties, with RC industrial structures cast in place with a widespread use of precast vault to cover a large span, while the second one started to be produced at the beginning of the fifties and is still in use as regards the typical precast frame structure with all its main elements made in factory and assembled in place. In the first type of industrial buildings, only the roof is precast and usually made in reinforced hollow brick light-weight vault and the robustness is defined considering several limit states of chord-rotation and shear capacity of columns and main beams combined with specific vulnerabilities of the precast vault, considering that every seismic sequence is usually a combination of a mainshock and several aftershocks which lead to the damage accumulation on the structure. In the second case the robustness of precast frame structures is usually based on the connections of structural and non-structural elements (cladding panels) and on the activation of the domino effect passing from local to global collapse. In this work several finite element models to best represent the linear and nonlinear structural behaviour of both types of precast structures considered are analysed.

O Brasil, no mercado mundial, ocupa lugar de destaque na extração e comercialização das rochas ornamentais e de revestimento, demonstrado pela produção mensal de chapas que é da ordem de 4 milhões de metros quadrados. Dentre suas as diversas formas de aplicações na construção civil, observa-se um incremento do uso em revestimentos de fachadas de edifícios, principalmente nos grandes centros urbanos. A forma de fixação das placas nas fachadas dos edifícios é feita com o auxílio de inserts metálicos, técnica desenvolvida na Alemanha e nos Estados Unidos. O presente trabalho trata da especificação e normatização das rochas ornamentais e, no caso específico dos revestimentos de fachadas, são apresentados diversos aspectos da seleção das placas de rocha e dos inserts metálicos e também o cálculo estrutural de um sistema de revestimento<br>Brazil procedures more than 4 million 'M POT.2'/month of dimension stones panels. Façades applications increases in last years. The stone façades cladding is accomplished with the use of metallic anchor, that was developed in German and U.S.A. The present work presents the requirements for selection of the stones and the anchor system, a methodology for the calculation of the stone and the anchor and main aspects of standardization regarding dimension stone

Nel corso degli ultimi anni sono state condotte analisi e ricerche scientifiche riguardanti l’effetto che i fenomeni sismici hanno in termini di danni economici sulle opere colpite. Da questi studi è emersa l’importanza rivestita dall’aliquota di costo relativa al ripristino de i danni associati agli elementi non-strutturali (o secondari) e/o al contenuto dell’edificio. Questo vale specialmente nel settore industriale in cui, nella quasi totalità dei casi, il valore monetario degli impianti e delle installazioni interne è di gran lunga maggiore rispetto al valore della nuda struttura. Si pensi ad esempio ai danni subiti dalle numerose aziende diffuse nel territorio Emiliano a seguito dei recenti eventi sismici avvenuti nel Maggio del 2012. In questo scenario si inserisce lo scopo principale della presente ricerca, ossia quello di sviluppare una metodologia semplice e affidabile in grado di consentire una stima precisa delle perdite economiche legate ai danni subiti dai terremoti, con particolare riferimento agli edifici prefabbricati industriali. All’interno di questo progetto sono analizzati differenti modelli basati su un approccio probabilistico interdisciplinare che accorpa in sé: l’analisi della pericolosità del sito su cui sorge l’edificio, l’analisi della risposta strutturale, l’analisi del danno subito e la valutazione del costo associato per ogni componente vulnerabile. Partendo dai modelli di calcolo più raffinati, quali il PEER PBEE, si è giunti infine alla messa a punto di due procedure più semplificate e rapide, l’una basata su un approccio agli spostamenti per l’analisi strutturale e l’altra sull’impiego di una formulazione in forma chiusa in alternativa alla procedura raffinata. L’impiego di tali procedure, richiede dapprima l’identificazione delle più comuni vulnerabilità caratterizzanti e riscontrabili negli edifici prefabbricati industriali e successivamente la conoscenza delle curve di fragilità e di costo per tutti gli elementi che possono dare origine ad eventuali perdite economiche. Ad oggi però, la risposta sismica degli elementi non strutturali in edifici prefabbricati e l’interazione degli stessi con la risposta globale della struttura non è completamente definita ed in alcuni casi non è mai stata indagata, per tale motivo è attualmente oggetto di numerosi studi di ricerca. Molto spesso quindi le curve di fragilità e di costo non sono disponibili. Da qui nasce l’interesse d’indagare la risposta sismica nel fuori piano dei pannelli prefabbricati di tamponamento esterno, nonché l’entità delle forze nelle connessioni metalliche pannello-struttura. Oltre a questo è indagata pure l’influenza del carroponte e l’interazione dello stesso con la risposta sismica globale della struttura in edifici prefabbricati industriali in calcestruzzo armato.<br>During the last few years, several analyses and scientific studies were conducted on existing buildings in terms of economic damages and losses on the affected buildings. These studies showed the importance of the rate of recovery costs associated to the damages of the non-structural elements (or secondary elements) and/or the contents of the building. Especially in the industrial field, in almost all cases the monetary value of the facilities and the internal installations is far greater than the value of the bare structure. Just think about the damages suffered by many companies spread in the Emilian territory following the recent earthquakes that occurred in May, 2012. The main purpose of the current research is framed in this scenario. To achieve this goal, a simple and reliable method capable of allowing an accurate estimation of the economic losses linked to the damage caused by earthquakes on precast reinforced concrete industrial buildings is developed. Within this project, different models of computation are critically studied and analysed. All of these methods are based fundamentally on a probabilistic and interdisciplinary approach, which incorporates: the hazard analysis of the site, the structural analysis, the damage analysis and the loss analysis suffered by each vulnerable component. Starting from the most refined PEER PBEE methodology, this research has led to the development of two more simplified and speedy procedures, one based on a displacement method for performing the structural analysis and the second method uses a closed formula as an alternative to the refined PEER PBEE methodology. The use of such procedures requires the identification of the most common vulnerabilities detectable in precast reinforced concrete buildings, as well as the knowledge of the fragility and the cost curves for all the vulnerable elements which can give rise to possible damages and then the monetary losses. Actually, the seismic response of the non-structural elements in precast reinforced concrete buildings and the interaction of the same with the global response of the structure is not completely defined and in some cases, it has never been investigated. Therefore, very often the fragility and the cost curves of the elements are not available: this is one of the reason why it is the subject of the most recent research studies. From this, the interest to inquire about the seismic response of the out-of-plane performance of the horizontal cladding panels was born. In addition, the influence of the overhead crane in the seismic response of precast buildings is also analysed.

Diploma thesis solves the creating of layout study and creation of documentation for the realization new fire station. In the object is contemplated with placement of regional fire brigade unit, category JPO I and volunteer firefighter unit of city together, category JPO III/1. Fire station category will be considered as P1. The object consists of two structurally and functionally different parts. The first part is made of ceramic masonry with external thermal insulation composite system. Here are located administrative and operational premises. This section has two floors. Second part is solved as single-storey skeletal system made of reinforced concrete, roofed by prestressed concrete trusses. This part contains technical facilities and a garage. The cladding of the skeletal part of building is designed by using sandwich facade panels. Object has dissected ground plan, maximum dimensions are 54,80x22,20 m. Building has no basement and is roofed by flat roofs only. Object is located in peripheral locality of the city Jaroměř. Surrounding terrain is flat. Solved area contains a few related objects.

The topic of the master thesis is new medico-social facility hospice St. Michaela. The purpose of the object is the maximizing of improvement in the quality of life of dying, severely ill and incurable patients, with the use of palliative care. The construction follows the Complex of Regional Hospital Náchod. Together with as a retirement home Náchod completes a support network of health and social care. The building is designed as a four-building storey and is partially embedded into the sloping terrain. Floors are divided into individual facilities and together constitute a functional unit. In the basement is the technical room, warehouses, garages and kitchen facilities. On the ground floor are then socio-public rooms and facilities. On the second floor is located hedmaster of hospice and accommodation area. The third floor is devoted to the accommodation area. The proposed structure made of brick longitudinal system, supplemented by concrete basement walls. The horizontal structure is made of filigree ceiling panels. Stairs are designed as a precast concrete and steel. Individual roof structures is made from unwalkable, walkable and vegetation compositions. The cladding consists of ventilated facade of glass and wooden panels. Foundations are designed from the lineal foundation.

Subject of master's thesis is project of health centre in Brno. The building is constructed as a frame of reinforced concrete with four above-ground floors. The building is based on square individual footing and uncased piles. Building envelopes consists of supporting part and thermally isulated part. Supporting part is made of earated concrete block Ytong. Thermally isulated part is made of thermal insulation polystyrene and Kingspan panel facade cladding. Building is roofed with vegetative promenade flat roof with 3-meters-high trees. Part of master's thesis is also a static desing of reinforced concrete components, fire-safety solving and thermal-technical evaluation og building.

This diploma thesis deals with the design and elaboration process of a project documentation of medical center in city Hlinsko. New building is situated in the northern part of the city in the area determined for constructions of public infrastructure. It´s a four-floor object with partial basement and slant mansard and flat vegetative roof.Object is based on foundation strips and footings made from reinforced concrete.The bearing and internal walls are designed from KALKSANDSTEIN lime sand blocks.The beams and collums are used in the placed designed with open disposition.The ceiling in 1.PP is designed as reinforced concrete for securing fire safety.The rest od ceiling constructions is designed from prestressed concrete panels SPIROLL,with exception in 4.NP,where the ceiling constructions are made from solid roof system YTONG KOMFORT,which is layed on frame system made of steel and reinforced concrete.The peripheral walls of 1.PP are made from lost formwork, which is insulated with extruded polystyrene.The walls in floors above ground are insulated with combination of external thermal insulation system (ETICS) and ventilated facade with CEMBRIT SOLID and PATINA facade cladding panels. The building is functionally divided into several part.Cafe, pharmacy, ambulance and medical center, each with it´s own entrance.Pharmacy is equipped with shop, medicine mixer and storage.Ambulance is equipped with garage slots, background for employees, room of crisis preparedness and operating center.Medical centrum is equipped with emergency, RTG, operating theater, rehabilitations and other types of examination rooms.Each examination room is equipped with waiting room.For more comfort the center has a background for employees.The whole object is designed with forced air exchange. Designed object is barrier-free.In front of the building is situated parking slots for cars, motorbikes and ambulances.Total number of slots is 74 places, which 5 is designed for disabled people.

The diploma thesis deals with design and elaboration of the project documentation of the sports center. The proposed sport center facility is located in the western part of Zruč nad Sázavou, in a location designed for buildings and areas of sport and relaxation use. The object of the sports center is designed as two-storey, non-blocked, roofed flat roof. The main feature of the sports center is the multipurpose sports hall with a single-shell curved flat roof. The supporting element is a curved glued lamellar truss. The proposed contruction of the sports center has 2 functional parts. This is a multipurpose sports hall with backgrounds (dressing rooms, washrooms), two squash courts, a gym and two exercise halls as well as facilities. The sports hal lis complemented by tribune for 380 spectators. The second part is a sports bar with a capacity of 40 people. The perimeter structures of the sports center are designed by a ceramic and insulated mineral wool contact systém with a ventilated aluminum facade. The supporting ceiling structure consists of prefabricated Spiroll panels. Designed 2 VZT engine rooms in 2nd floor, on efor 1st floor and second for 2nd floor including sports hall. Hot water heating by gas boilers. Part of the proposed construction is paved areas of parking lots

I rapporten har vi skrivit om naturstenens roll och förutsättningar som fasadmaterial inom byggproduktion. Målet med undersökningen var att belysa nya tekniker som finns på marknaden. Metoder som har använts för att undersöka infästningstekniker är genom intervjuer och studiebesök.   Den stora frågan var att ta reda på hur dem nya teknikerna kan påverka vår arbetsmiljö, miljö samt estetik. En annan fråga var hur den nya tekniken kan uppfylla de nya kraven?   Natursten är ett naturligt material som är inhomogen och därför förekommer det färgskiftningar och variationer i stenskivorna. En beställare ska därför vara väldigt specifik när stenen utses.   Det finns en stor risk med att förankra stenskivor utan mekanisk förankring. Utan förankringen kan stenen lossna från fasaden. Idag bygger vi vanligen med tekniken ventilerad luftspalt, mellanrum mellan stenskivor och stomme. På det sättet kan alla stenskivor röra sig utan spänningar samtidigt som luftspalten ventilerar och dränerar ut fukten bakom stenskivorna. Genom att välja lämpliga stendimensioner och ankare i standardutförande kan kostnaderna minskas. Denna rapport tar upp ny teknik. FZP, Fischer Zykon Panel, är ett undercut ankare. Detta är en valmöjlighet om en beställare vill erhålla skivor som är 20 mm i tjocklek.   Björn Shouenborg har designat ett program som gör det möjligt att dimensionera sten på fasader. Programmmet visar om dimensioneringen är ok med hänsyn till säkerhetskraven.   Med tanke på de stora miljökraven som ställs är det både lönande att undersöka möjligheter och ny teknik. Stommen byggs med mer isolering vilket kräver en längre expanderbult eller ankare mellan stenen och stommen.   I denna rapport framkommer det att en arkitekt och stenentreprenör är positiva till ACT-systemet.  Den här rapporten har belyst att den nya tekniken har en positiv påverkan på arbetsmiljön, miljön, estetik och tid.<br>The report talks about the capacity and conditions as a façade material within building construction. The goal with the research was to shed light on the new technique available today.  The methods used to examine the mechanical anchoring techniques were through interview and fieldstudies. The main question was to find out how those new technologies can affect our health and safety, environment and aesthetics. Another question is how the new technology can meet the new requirements?   Natural stone is a natural material that is inhomogeneous and therefore there are color variations and variations in stone tiles. A client should therefore be very specific when the stone is appointed. There is a great risk to anchor stone tiles without mechanical anchoring, without it the stone can detach from the façade. The technology most commonly used in anchoring stone is using a ventilated air gap, a space between the stone tiles and facade. In this way, all stone tiles move without tension and furthermore the air gap ventilates and drains the moisture behind the stone tiles. It is possible to cut costs by choosing the appropriate stone dimensions and tiles in the standard execution. New technology opens up new possibilities. An alternative is FZP, Fischer Zykon Panel which is an undercut anchor. This could be used as an option if a client wishes to have 20 mm thick tiles. Bjorn Shouenborg, researcher, has designed a program that makes it possible to dimension stone facades.The software that shows if the design is ok with regard to safety requirements.   Given the large environmental requirements imposed today, it is conceivable both be worthwhile to explore the possibilities and new technologies. The façade is built with more insulation which requires a longer expansion of anchors.   In this report, it appears that an architect and stone contractor is positive for the ACT system. This report has highlighted that the new technology has a positive impact on the work environment, the environment, aesthetics and time.

This thesis deals with the design and elaboration process of a project documentation of a sports centre. The designed sports centre building is situated in the southern part of the town of Polička, in the area determined for sports and free time activities complexes and areas. It is a two-floor, non-cellar, flat-roof building. It is based on plain concrete strip foundations and reinforced concrete foundation footing. The bearing, peripheral and partition walls are designed from POROTHERM hollow clay blocks. Reinforced concrete columns are designated in open disposition areas. The ceiling construction is made from SPIROLL pre-stressed concrete floor slabs and point-supported reinforced concrete slabs. The peripheral walls of the first aboveground floor are insulated with external thermal insulation system with a protective gabion facade. The peripheral wall thermal insulation in a bowling restaurant and gym halls extension is designed from a ventilated facade with CEMBRIT METRO facade cladding panels. The building is functionally divided into two main parts with a shared entrance. The sports centre with gyms and other sports facilities form the first part. Three squash courts, a mini-football piste, a special room for spinning and alpinning, a room for group exercising and cloakrooms with sanitary facilities are designed within one part of the sports centre. A restaurant with a bowling area and a kitchen with storerooms and other facilities for employees form the second part. The designed complex is barrier-free. There is aimed to be a car park for fifty cars, four motorbikes and a bus in front of the building. Three parking places are for disabled people.

The master´s thesis elaborates the project documentation for the construction of the District Police of the Czech Republic in Brno. The new building is situated in the north of city part Bohunice. It´s a three- floor object with partial basement and flat roof. The bearing perimeter masonry, internal bearing masonry and internal non- load bearing masonry are made with technology from ceramic hollow blocks. Ceiling construction is designed from prestressed ceiling panels. The perimeter walls of the of the underground floor are made from blocks of lost formwork, which is insulated with extruded polystyrene. The walls on the above- ground floors are insulated by a combination of contact thermal insulation system and ventilated facades with fiber- cement facade cladding boards.

The diploma thesis elaborates the project documentation for the construction of a new apartment of central fire station type C1 with the administrative part of the Territorial Department. The fire station is technologically linked to the second building SO.02 the technical and technological background of the fire station. The building is situated on the eastern edge of Svitavy. The building is non-cellular, it has three floors and a flat green roof. Three floors fulfilling matter with mainly administrative function is connected with two floors blocks fire station with an indoor gym. Above the floor containing garages for emergency vehicles facilities for the emergency unit are placed with a curtain that creates fading of the emergency door. The matter of the gym is optically separated from the station and highlighted with a volume narrow neck and height elevation. In the station there are training places and places for general physical preparation. The buildings are located in a sloping terrain. The ground fire station has a heliport. The establishment supporting columns of the building are for made of prefabricated calyx, and are concreted into monolithic foundation pads. Infill wall vertical bearing and non-bearing structures are designed from clay blocks type THERM. The bearing system is reinforced concrete prefabricated frame. Horizontally bearing structures are designed from prestressed hollow core slabs. The building envelope is made of a curtain wall in dark grey and red combined with a light contact thermal insulation system used on the indoor gym. The envelopes are in the administrative part and the part of the station divided by a glazed area. In the workshops and technology room the envelope is divided by lamellae. Usually there are 13 firemen during one shift, in three shifts there work 39 firemen all together. There are supposed to be 17 employees in the administrative department.

The design of “non-structural” elements, including the cladding panels for precast RC buildings, plays a key role in the building seismic response. The large damages that occurred in precast RC buildings, during the recent earthquakes in southern Europe were mainly caused by the collapse of the cladding panels. Therefore, is required to revise, to revise the technological and design philosophy the panel-to-structure connection devices in RC precast structures. Starting from these considerations, the main topic of this thesis is the investigation of such connection devices. Deeply understanding the working principle of these systems makes it possible to open a way to solve the problem. The influence of the panels to the global response of precast structure is studied for different types of panel-to-structure connections (two types of hammer-head straps) and panels-to-foundation connections (fixed and rocking panels). Numerical models for the in-plane response of connection devices are developed using both existing experimental data from shaking table test performed by University of Ljubljana and result of new tests carried out at the Structures and Materials Testing Laboratory of University of Florence A new connection device, which better uncouples the in-plane seismic response, is developed and studied analytically and experimentally. The study highlights that traditional devices fail due to their limited in-plane displacement capacity while the new device has much better behaviour. The study showed that in-plane direction was critical for connection compared to the out-of-plane one. It also showed that fixed-base panels provide a better seismic performance of connection devices.

This thesis explores two hybrid systems employing a core material reinforced by an external skin, namely, cladding walls composed of polyurethane foam core sandwiched between fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) skins, and beams composed of concrete-filled FRP or steel tubes. The walls were studied in two phases. In phase I, the polyurethane foam core was injected between two carbon-FRP (CFRP) skins. Ten panels were tested to investigate their structural performance and failure modes. Test parameters included quality control in terms of reproducibility of test results, moment-shear ratio, and the orientation of an architectural masonry-like coating. The study showed that design is governed by stiffness and not strength and that the CFRP was underutilized. Also, quality control was shown to be poor for this method of fabrication. As such, in phase II, ten panels were fabricated by laminating glass-FRP (GFRP) skins to prefabricated polyurethane foam blocks. Similar flexural testing was carried out to investigate two different densities of foam, and moment-shear ratio. The study showed evidence of high quality control and that the density of the foam core significantly affected flexural capacity and stiffness. Rectangular concrete-filled tubes (CFTs), with either steel or pultruded GFRP tubes were fabricated and tested as beams in three-point bending, at different shear span-to-depth (a/d) ratios of 1 to 5 to examine crack patterns, strength and failure modes. It was shown that the critical (a/d) ratio, at which moment capacity drops, is between 4 and 5 for CFTs with GFRP tubes and between 1 and 2 for CFTs with steel tubes. It was also shown that ductility is drastically reduced at (a/d) ratios below 3 for steel tubes. Crack pattern and size were highly dependent on the magnitude of slip between the concrete and tube. A major full depth flexural crack developed in all CFTs with GFRP tubes. However, when internal steel rebar was added, major diagonal cracks were formed in addition to fine flexural cracks. In CFTs with steel tubes, fine flexural cracks developed, except at a/d = 1, where fine diagonal cracks were predominant. A strut-and-tie model was developed and provided reasonable agreement with test results.<br>Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-23 12:25:09.685