Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Stress Concentration Factors'

COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
A partir das equações de Williams e Creager foi desenvolvido um método híbrido, que acopla fotoelasticidade a um método numérico-computacional para determinação a dos fatores de intensificação de tensões (FIT) em placas planas sujeitas aos Modos I e II de abertura, com ou sem arredondamento na raiz do entalhe. Às equações propostas acopla-se um polinômio completo que representa uma tensão não-singular (sigma). Assim feito é possível a determinação dos coeficientes KI, KI e termos de sigma. Três programas de computador foram desenvolvidos para as formulações (Williams ou Creager): O primeiro: a partir da configuração das franjas isocromáticas, obtém-se KI e KII e os termos relativos à tensão não singular. O segundo: o desvio relativo a cada ordem de franja é determinado a partir dos termos acima. O terceiro: a partir dos valores determinados regenera-se as franjas isocromáticas para compara-las com as originais. As formulações foram testadas em modelos de barras com trincas e entalhes (com e sem arredondamento na raiz) e seus resultados comparados com dados disponíveis na literatura. Os fatores de influência na determinação de KI e KII, estudados foram: a quantidade de pontos e o ângulo delimitador da região de coleta de dados, bem como a influência dos termos referentes ao campo não singular e alguns aspectos do método numérico implementado. Como aplicação estudou-se o caso do corpo de prova tipo Charpy, onde, a partir das equações de Creager e dos valores de KI e KII assim determinados, pôde-se obter o valor de Kt para uma dada geometria.
A hybrid method coupling photoelasticity to a numerical-computational method which implements the William s (modes I and II) and Creager s (mode I) equations has been developed to determine the mixed-mode stress intensity factors in sharp notches and blunt cracks. The equations take into account the presence or not of a radius in the tip of the notch. To the proposed equations was added a complete polynomial, which represents the non-singular stress field. Three computational programs were developed for both formulations (William s and Creager): one to determine KI, KII and the non-singular terms, the second to evaluate the error between the actual situation and the results obtained and the third to regenerate the isochromatic fringes. The method has been tested in bars with cracks and notches (taking or not into account the existence of the radius at the depth of the notch) and the results were compared to experimental and analytical data found in the literature. Factors which have influence on the determination of KI, KII, were discussed: the number of data points and sector angle where those points are collected as well as the influence of the number of non-singular terms and some aspects of the numeric method. Two applications were studied: Charpy type test specimen under tension and bending and a beam with deep simetrycal grooves. With the values of KI and KII obtained by the Creager s equations one can determine the valeu of sigma x and sigma y in the analyzed situation, as well as the Kt value.

Several experimental methods are examined for stress concentration factor determination. Tests are performed on a chosen 2-D specimen using strain gages, brittle coating, brittle specimen failure, photoelasticity, and Moire interferometry. Results are compared to each other and to finite element analysis performed on the same geometry. Strain gaging and photoelasticity were chosen as the best methods for stress concentration factor determination.
Master of Science

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Bachelors
Engineering and Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering

Despite the developments in the last decades, field performance information for short aggregate pier improved ground is needed for future design and to develop a better understanding of the performance of the short (floating) aggregate piers. A full-scale field study was performed to investigate the floating aggregate pier behavior in a soft clayey soil. Site investigations included five boreholes and sampling, four CPT soundings, and SPT and laboratory testing. The soil profile consisted of 8m thick compressible clay overlying weathered rock. Four large plate load test stations were prepared. A rigid steel footing having plan dimensions of 3.0m by 3.5m were used for loading. Four 65cm diameter reaction piles and steel cross beams were used to load the soil in each station. First test comprised of loading the untreated soil up to 250 kPa with increments, and monitoring the surface settlements. Moreover, distribution of settlements with depth is recorded by means of deep settlement gages installed prior to loading. Other three tests were conducted on clay soil improved by rammed aggregate piers. In each station, seven stone columns were installed, having a diameter of 65cm, area ratio of 0.25, placed in a triangular pattern with a center to center spacing of 1.25m. The length of the columns were 3m, 5m in the two station resembling floating columns, and 8m in the last station to simulate end bearing columns to observe the level of the improvement in the floating columns. Field instrumentations included surface and deep settlement gages, and load cell placed on a aggregate pier to determine distribution of the applied vertical stress between the column and the natural soil , thus to find magnitude of the stress concentration factor, n , in end bearing and floating aggregate piers. It has been found that, the presence of floating aggregate piers reduce settlements, revealing that major improvement in the settlements takes place at relatively short column lengths. It has been also found that the stress concentration factor is not constant, but varies depending on the magnitude of the applied stress. The magnitude of stress concentration factor varies over a range from 2.1 to 5.6 showing a decreasing trend with increasing vertical stress.

Durch die zunehmende technologische Entwicklung des Getriebe-, Gelenkwellen-, Werkzeugmaschinen-, Kraftfahrzeug-, sowie Landmaschinenbaus steigen die zu übertragenden Leistungen und Drehmomente enorm. Dies führt zu einem wachsenden Bedarf an formschlüssigen Profilwellenverbindungen und deren erhöhter Lebensdauer und Genauigkeit. Hierbei bilden die Zahnwellenverbindungen (ZWVen) mit Evolventenflanken nach DIN 5480 /N1/ den Regelfall für eine Vielzahl der Anwendung. Abhängig von Festigkeitsüberlegungen, Herstellungsverfahren und Platzbedarf treten in der Praxis nahezu ausschließlich die folgenden zwei Grundtypen auf. Es handelt sich dabei zum Ersten um die Zahnwelle (ZW) mit freiem Auslauf.Die zweite Geometrievariante ist die Zahnwelle mit gebundenem Auslauf, die eine nach DIN 471 /N2/ genormte Sicherungsringnut (SRN) enthalten kann. Zahnwellenverbindungen dienen zur Übertragung großer, wechselnder und stoßartiger Drehmomente ohne zusätzliches Verbindungselement durch die Profilierung der Welle und Nabe. Axiale Verschiebbarkeit unter Last, Profilverschiebungsmöglichkeit, einfache Montage und Demontage sowie die Herstellung mit hochleistungsfähigen umformenden und spanenden Massenfertigungsverfahren, die die Herstellungskosten verhältnismäßig niedrig halten, sind technisch bedeutsame Eigenschaften, die zum ansteigenden Einsatz von ZWVen führen (z.B. /N1/, /Vil84/, /Koh86/ und /Wes96/). Starke Kerbwirkung und erhebliche Überdimensionierung benachbarter Gestaltungszonen sind die wesentlichen Schwachpunkte der Profilverbindungen. Eine große Anzahl (ca. 80 %) von Ausfällen im Maschinenbau ist auf Schäden an Achsen und Wellen infolge konstruktiv bedingter Kerben zurückzuführen (z.B. /N3/ und /Hai89/). Speziell im Bereich der hochbeanspruchten Profilwellen-Verbindungen kommt es auf Grund der starken Querschnittsveränderungen und der häufig angewandten Ausläufe und Formelemente, z. B. Zahn- und Keilwellen zu Kerbwirkungen, die erhebliche örtliche Spannungskonzentrationen sowohl im Zahnfußbereich und Zahnlückenauslauf als auch im Bereich der Verbindung selbst verursachen. Diese Beanspruchungskonzentrationen sind fast in der Hälfte aller Zahnwellenbrüche die häufigste Ursache für Dauerbrüche (Ermüdungs- bzw. Schwingungsbrüche) und für Schäden (bleibende Verformung, Anriss, Gewaltbruch) infolge Maximalbelastung. Hier trifft die Lastüberhöhung am Welle-Nabe-Verbindungsrand mit dem Steifigkeitssprung des Verzahnungsendes auf der Welle zusammen /Die93/. Die erwähnten Schadensfälle belegen, dass der heutige Kenntnisstand über eine beanspruchungsgerechte Auslegung von Zahnwellen noch recht lückenhaft ist. Deshalb sind neue Erkenntnisse über Form- bzw. Kerbwirkungszahlen bei Einzel- und Mehrfachkerben von scharf und weniger scharf gekerbten Zahnwellen mit Auslauf für eine treffsichere Festigkeitsberechnung erforderlich und stellen damit die Hauptschwerpunkte dieser Arbeit dar. Das vorliegende Forschungsprojekt, welches sich erstmals mit der Ermittlung der Beanspruchungen in torsions-, und biegebelasteten Zahnwellen mit freiem und gebundenem Auslauf befasst, wurde im Rahmen der Forschungsvereinigung für Antriebstechnik e.V. (FVA) unter der Nummer T 467 und dem Forschungsthema „ Ermittlung der Kerbwirkung bei Profilwellen für die praktische Getriebeberechnung von Zahnwellen“ initiiert und untersucht.

In spite of decades of related research, stream channel initiation is still not well understood. Current theories of channel initiation are grounded in research conducted by Montgomery and Dietrich, largely in the transport limited, temperate, humid climate of the Pacific Northwest, USA. This field data driven work concluded that the drainage area required for channel initiation is directly correlated to the slope of the contributing area. However, there are a host of related variables that have yet to be examined in the field. This study revisits the slope-area relationship focusing on ephemeral overland flow in headwaters of both the Pacific Northwest and an environmentally contrasting island in Greece. By seeking greater understanding of the variables, such as soil properties, vegetation type, and lithology that may influence channel initiation, the study sought to find an equation for remote determination of where ephemeral flow concentrates. However, results indicated that a universal equation does not exist. Rather, the location of ephemeral flow concentration is linked to landscape type, transport versus weathering limited slopes, and corresponding overland flow type. As a result, there is potential for regional models to be developed. Two such models were found as part of this study. One indicates that in a weathering limited environment, Hortonian overland flow is the dominant ephemeral flow type and the driving force behind where it concentrates on the landscape. The other demonstrates that in a transport limited environment, ephemeral flow concentration is due saturated overland flow, with the key to location of concentration being the point of return flow.

In the last few decades, offshore field has grown fast especially after the notable development of technologies, explorations of oil and gas in deep water and the high concern of offshore companies in renewable energy mainly Wind Energy. Fatigue damage was noticed as one of the main problems causing failure of offshore structures. The purpose of this research is to focus on the evaluation of Stress Concentration Factor and its influence on Fatigue Life for 2 tubular KT-Joints in offshore Jacket structure using different calculation methods. The work is done by using analytical calculations, mainly Efthymiou’s formulations, and numerical solutions, FEM analysis, using ABAQUS software. As for the analytical formulations, the calculations were done according to the geometrical parameters of each method using excel sheets. As for the numerical model, 2 different types of tubular KT-Joints are present where for each model 5 shell element type, 3 solid element type and 3 solid-with-weld element type models were built on ABAQUS. Meshing was assigned according to International Institute of Welding (IIW) recommendations, 5 types of mesh element, to evaluate the Hot-spot stresses. 23 different types of unitary loading conditions were assigned, 9 axial, 7 in-plane bending moment and 7 out-plane bending moment loads. The extraction of Hot-spot stresses and the evaluation of the Stress Concentration Factor were done using PYTHON scripting and MATLAB. Then, the fatigue damage evaluation for a critical KT tubular joint based on Simplified Fatigue Damage Rule and Local Approaches (Strain Damage Parameter and Stress Damage Parameter) methods were calculated according to the maximum Stress Concentration Factor conducted from DNV and FEA methods. In conclusion, this research helped us to compare different results of Stress Concentration Factor and Fatigue Life using different methods and provided us with a general overview about what to study next in the future.

Als Stand der Technik sind einfache, kreisförmige Verrundungen zur Reduktion von Kerbspannungen an Querschnittsübergängen bekannt, für die aus Tabellenwerken / Diagrammen in der Literatur die Formzahl einfach abgelesen werden kann. Die Effizienz der Spannungsreduktion solcher Lösungen ist jedoch sehr begrenzt. Ziel der Arbeit ist es daher, dem Konstrukteur bzw. Berechnungsingenieur ein Verfahren in die Hand zu geben, mit dem er für Standardquerschnittsübergänge und Standardlastfälle "Nicht-Kreiskerben" ohne teure und zeitaufwendige FEM-Analyse einfach durch Nutzung geeigneter Formzahldiagramme auslegen kann. Dabei sind sogar Formzahlen von nahezu eins möglich, d.h., in der "Kerbe" bleibt praktisch nur noch die Nennspannung übrig. Die Präsentation ist zweitgeteilt: Im ersten Teil werden die Arbeitsmethoden bzw. Softwarefunktionen und verwendeten Softwarewerkzeuge vorgestellt: Dies sind die Programme Creo Parametric als vollparametrisches CAD-Werkzeug und Creo Simulate als p-FEM-Programm der Parametric Technology Coprporation (PTC). Der zweite Teil der Präsentation beschreibt den Gültigkeitsbereich sowie die untersuchten Kerbgeometrien: Die einfache kreisförmige Verrundung als Stand der Technik, die Zwei-Radien-Kerbe, die Baud-Kurve, die Methode der Zugdreiecke nach Claus Mattheck, die elliptische Kerbe sowie die konische Rundung als generalisierte elliptische Kerbe. Es wird kurz eine Bibliothek vorgestellt, mit der solche Kerben einfach ausgelegt werden können, d.h. Ihre exakte Geometrie festgelegt sowie die zugehörige Formzahl αk bestimmt werden kann
Circular (one-radius) fillets are known as state-of-the-art for reducing notch stresses at cross section transitions. The stress concentration factor Kt of such geometries can be read out from diagrams/tables given in the literature. However, the efficiency of stress reduction of circular notches is very limited. The goal of the work therefor is to present a method for the designer/analyst how to design non-circular notches/fillets just by using suitable Kt-diagrams without time-consuming and expensive FEM analyses. Kt-numbers of nearly one are possible, that means in the "notch" just the nominal stress appears and no stress concentration takes place. The presentation has two parts: Part one describes the working methods and software functions as well as software tools: Creo Parametric as fully-parametric CAD program and Creo Simulate as embedded p-FEM-tool from Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) have been used. The second part describes the range of validity and the examined notch geometries: The one-radius fillet as state-of-the-art, the two-radii filet, the Baud-curve, the method of tensile triangles from Claus Mattheck, the standard elliptical fillet and the conical round as generalized elliptical fillet. A notch layout library is shortly presented that allows to design such fillets, that means exactly determine the notch geometry and the related stress concentration factor Kt

Pregestational and gestational diabetes (GDM) places the mother and her offspring at an increased risk for later development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Oxidative stress may mediate long-term disturbances in glucose homeostasis associated with type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. This thesis describes a cross-sectional study examining serum concentrations of free radical generated oxysterols as markers of oxidative stress in a cohort of teenage daughters from pregnancies with and without GDM. Daughters of GDM-pregnancies had a tendency of higher levels of serum oxysterols (7beta-hydroxycholesterol); however, this difference was not statistically significant after adjustment for total cholesterol. Serum oxysterols were significantly correlated with obesity measures such as waist circumference and BMI, which likely accounted for the tendency for higher measures of oxysterol concentrations in the GDM daughters. Oxysterols represent potentially important biomarkers for oxidative stress in adolescent girls as their levels track with the metabolic syndrome risk factors.
Le diabète pré-gestationnel et le diabète de gestation (DG) augmentent le risque dedéveloppement d'une future résistance à l'insuline et de diabète de type 2 autant pourla mère que pour l'enfant. Le stress oxydatif est un facteur potentiel impliqué dans ledéséquilibre du glucose sanguin associé au diabète de type 2 et au syndromemétabolique. La présente thèse est une étude sectionnelle croisée, ayant pour but demesurer des marqueurs du stress oxidatif, notamment la concentration des oxystérolsgénérés par les radicaux libres dans le sérum d'adolescentes, nées de mères ayantprésenté ou non un diabète de gestation. Nos résultats montrent des concentrationsd'oxystérols (7P-hydroxycholesterol) plus élevées dans le sérum de filles issues degestations diabétiques à comparer aux filles de mères n'ayant pas eu de DG.Cependant, la différence entre les deux groupes n'était pas statistiquementsignificative après un ajustement au cholestérol total. La concentration d'oxystérolsétait significativement corrélée aux marqueurs d'obésité, notamment la circonférencede la taille et l'index de masse corporelle, possiblement à l'origine de la tendance desoxystérols à être plus élevés dans le cas des adolescentes issues de gestationsdiabétiques.

Under certain loading conditions, surfaces topography coupled with materials degree of brittleness can significantly compromise the mechanical performance of structures. The foregoing remains valid even if roughness is intentionally introduced for engineering reasons. In either case, stress can concentrate. The case of the stress concentration in surfaces having randomly distributed pits is a problem that, although being very practical, yet it remains unsolved. The complexity of a random configuration renders difficult the problem of analytically finding relationships between surface parameters and markers indicative of mechanical failure. Another difficulty is the reproducibility of replicates of specimens possessing random rough surfaces, for destructive testing followed by statistical analysis. An experimental technique to produce highly controlled replicates of random rough surfaces (including modeling of degradation growth) was developed. This method was used to experimentally and statistically study the effects on fracture of early randomly degraded surfaces of poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) versus topographical parameters. Growth of degradation was assumed to go from an engineering surface to one whose heights are normally distributed. (Early stage of degradation is meant to be that level of roughness which is in the neighborhood of the critical flaw size for a given material). Among other findings, it was found that neither stress nor strain alone can be used to predict fracture at this early stage of degradation. However, fracture location was found to be strongly correlated to the ratio of the root-mean square roughness (RMS) to auto correlation length (ACL), above some RMS threshold. This correlation decreases as the material becomes less brittle (i.e., decrease of Young’s modulus or increase of percent of elongation). Simultaneously, a boundary value problem involving traction-free random rough surfaces was solved using a perturbation method, assuming elastic and isotropic conditions. For small RMS/ACL ratio, the solution for the RMS stress concentration factor, kt was found to be: kt = 1 + 2*SQRT(2)*(RMS/ACL), which agrees very well with the experimental work. Finally, a generalization of stress concentration factor formulas for several geometrical configurations and loading conditions into the Modified Inglis Formula was proposed. Finite element analysis was carried out and comparison was made with both experimental and analytical results. Applications of these results are broad. In surface engineering, for example, our analytical solution can be coupled with Fick’s Law to find critical conditions under which a film could become unstable to random roughness. Additionally, in design and maintenance of surfaces in service, it can be used to preliminarily assess how stress concentrates in surfaces where well defined notches cannot be used as an approximation.

Der Vortrag beschreibt, wie sich mittels Kettenlinien als Kerbgeometrie der Spannungskonzentrationsfaktor an Querschnittsübergängen auf nahezu 1 reduzieren lässt. Mittels globaler Sensitivitätsstudien in der p-FEM-Software Creo Simulate wird mithilfe eines in Creo Parametric parametrisierten CAD-Modells der Kettenlinie in Parameterdarstellung ein normiertes Kerbzahldiagramm erstellt. Dieses erlaubt die Dimensionierung einer Kerbe, d.h. die Festlegung ihrer exakten Geometrie und der damit verbundenen Kerbzahl αk ohne die weitere Verwendung eines FEM-Programmes
The presentation describes how to reduce the stress concentration factor at cross section transitions to nearly 1 by using a catenary curve as notch geometry (catenary fillet). With help of global sensitivity studies performed in the p-FEM-code Creo Simulate, a normalized stress concentration factor diagram is drawn. Therefore, a CAD-model of the catenary curve in parametric representation was developed. The diagram created allows to dimension the notch, that means to determine its exact geometry and stress concentration factor Kt, without further usage of a FEM code

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is the primary hormone of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis (HPA-axis). In addition to its endocrine function, it has been proposed that CRF acts as a neurotransmitter. The widespread distribution of CRF immunoreactivity and CRF receptors in the rat central nervous system (CNS) supports this theory. Immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated high levels of CRF immunoreactivity the rat hypothalamus, a brain region involved in the regulation and integration of a variety of endocrine and autonomic homeostatic mechanisms. CRF has been shown to be involved in a number of these activities such as blood pressure control, food and water intake, behaviour and emotional integration. Many of these activities demonstrate progressive dysfunction as ageing proceeds. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the regulation of CRF in the rat CNS, particularly over the period of maturation and ageing. Tissue extraction and peptide radioimmunoassay (RIA) techniques were developed in order to measure regional CRF concentrations as a function of age in the rat CNS. Seven brain regions were examined including the hypothalamus, pituitary, medulla oblongata, pons, cerebral cortex, cerebellum and midbrain. Three age ranges were investigated: 3 – 4 weeks, 4 – 5 months and 14 – 18 months, representing young, mature and old age groups. Data for the tissues of individual rats from each age group were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc Scheffé tests (SPSS Release 6 for Windows, 1989 – 1993). CRF were detected in measurable quantities in all brain regions examined. Different age-related patterns of change were observed in each brain region. CRF concentrations (ng/g tissue) were highest in the pituitaries of young rats and were significantly reduced over the period of maturation (P< 0.05). However, the high CRF concentration of the young rat pituitary was likely to be a factor of the smaller tissue mass. Although the absolute CRF content (ng/tissue) of this tissue appeared to decline with maturation and ageing, the reduction was not significant (P>0.05). Therefore the pituitary of the young rat was relatively enriched with CRF per gram tissue. The highest CRF concentration in mature and aged rats was measured in the hypothalamus, in accordance with previous immunohistochemical studies. Hypothalamic CRF concentrations (ng/g tissue) demonstrated no significant alterations with maturation and ageing. The absolute CRF content (ng/tissue) of the hypothalamus was significantly less in the young rat compared to mature and aged animals, however this was accompanied by a smaller tissue mass (P<0.05). The CRF concentrations (ng/g tissue) of the rat cerebral cortex and medulla oblongata demonstrated significant reduction with advancing age (P<0.05), however in both cases this appeared to be due to significant increases in mean tissue mass. The absolute CRF content of these tissues (ng/tissue) were not significantly different over the period of maturation and ageing (P>0.05). CRF concentration (ng/g tissue) and absolute content (ng/tissue) of the pons demonstrated a trend to increase with advanced age in the rat, however this was not significant in both cases (P>0.05). Of interest were the significant increases observed in the CRF concentrations of the cerebellum and midbrain (ng/g tissue with advanced ageing (P<0.05). Significant increases were also observed in the mean tissue mass and absolute CRF content (ng/tissue) of these regions in aged rats (P<0.05). These findings perhaps indicate increased CRF synthesis and or decreased CRF turnover in these tissues with advancing age. The second stage of these studies examined age-related alterations in basal and potassium-stimulated hypothalamic CRF and overflow over the period of maturation and ageing in the rat, and required the preliminary development of an in vitro tissue superfusion system. The concomitant release of the co-modulatory compound, neuropeptide Y (NPY) was also measured. NPY has been shown to positively regulate CRF release and gene expression in the hypothalamus. In addition, NPY has been demonstrated to be involved in a number of hypothalamic activities, including blood pressure control and food intake regulation. Hypothalamic superfusion data were analysed using one factor repeated measures ANOVA (SPSS Release 6 for Windows, 1989-1993) followed by least significant difference tests ( Snedecor and Cochran, 1967) to enable both time and age comparisons. Basal hypothalamic CRF overflow was unaltered with maturation and ageing in the rat. Potassium stimulation (56 mM) elicted a significant 2 – 3 fold increase in hypothalamic CRF overflow across age groups (P<0.05). Stimulated hypothalamic CRF overflow was significantly greater in the young rat compared to the mature and aged animals (P<0.05). The enhanced response to depolarizing stimulus was observed at an age when the absolute CRF content of the hypothalamus was significantly less that of other age groups. It is possible that the enhanced responsiveness of the young rat may be of survival advantage in life threatening situations. Basal hypothalamic NPY overflow was much less than that of CRF, and potassium stimulation resulted in a very different age-related profile. The hypothalamic NPY response to depolarization was significantly reduced in the young rat and declined significantly with advanced ageing (P<0.05). The contrasting profiles of stimulated CRF and NPY overflow may indicate the activity of alternative regulatory factors present in the hypothalamus, whose activity may also be affected in an age-related manner. The final stage of these studies examined the nature of NPY modulation of hypothalamic CRF overflow in the mature rat. The facilitatory effect of NPY on hypothalamic CRF overflow was confirmed. The application of NPY (0.1 µM) significantly increased CRF overflow approximately 4 fold of basal (P<0.05). In addition, the role of the NPY-Y1 receptor was investigated by the prior application of Y1 receptor antagonists, GW1229 (0.05 µM). At this concentration GW1229 significantly reduced hypothalamic CRF overflow induced by perfusion with NPY (0.1 µm), P<0.05. It was concluded the Y1 receptor does have a role in the regulation of hypothalamic CRF overflow by NPY.

Several boom segments form the crane boom. These segments are often truss structures formed out of circular hollow sections, which are welded together forming the truss joints. A adequate modelling of these truss joints is very important for operational strength and life. Due to the large boom sizes, efficient models are used in the finite element method, generally built of beam elements. These models have problems capturing the proper bending moments working in the truss joints. This is caused by a insufficient portrayal of the joint stiffness. In the literature several modelling techniques with beam elements are proposed, which capture the joint stiffness better. These different modelling methods are implemented in a parametric boom section and compared with a shell element FE model. From this comparison the most appropriate modelling method is selected, which improve the portrayal of internal loads and nominal stresses. With these improved nominal stress values, it is investigated to implement a different fatigue assessment. The structural stress can be calculated from the nominal stress in combination with stress concentration factor (SCF) equations. To implement the structural stress method as fatigue assessment, several modelling and extrapolation methods have been compared. Which lead to a method for evaluating the structural stress in a efficient matter. This method is compared with existing SCF K truss joint equations, from which a new set of SCF equations is derived. These equations are constructed from a larger dataset, hold a wider validity range and fit better with the FE models. When applying these SCF equations with the improved beam modelling method in a boom section, the structural stress is not adequately captured. This is caused by unsymmetrical stressed braces in the K truss joints. Both the modelling methods and SCF equations account for uniformly stressed braces forming the truss joints. More research needs to be conducted to this uneven behaviour. If the structural stress method needs to be implemented with efficient FE models, submodels out of shell elements combined with beam elements are recommended. For fatigue evaluation with the nominal stress method, beam models which account for the local joint flexibility give sufficient realistic results.
Flera kranarmsegment bildar kranarmen. Dessa segment är ofta fackverk utformade av cirkulära ihåliga profiler, som är sammansvetsade och bildar fackverkslederna. En ordentlig modellering av dessa fackförband är mycket viktig för dess driftsstyrka och livslängd. På grund av storleken används finita elementmetoden, vanligtvis uppbyggt av balkelement. Dessa modeller har problem med att beräkna de korrekta böjmomenten som uppstår i fackverkslederna. Detta orsakas av en otillräcklig beskrivning av ledstyvheten. I litteraturen föreslås flera modelleringstekniker med balkelement som tar hänsyn till ledens styvhet bättre. Dessa olika modelleringsmetoder implementeras i en parametrisk kranarmsektion och jämförs med en FE-modell med skalelement. Med denna jämförelse väljs den mest lämpliga modelleringsmetoden, vilket bör förbättra skildringen av interna belastningar och nominella spänningar. Med dessa förbättrade nominella spänningsvärden, undersöks det att genomföra en annan utmattningsbedömning. Den strukturella spänningen kan beräknas utifrån den nominella spänningen i kombination med spänningskoncentrationsfaktor- (SCF) ekvationerna. För att implementera strukturella spänningsmetoden som utmattningsbedömning, har flera modellerings- och extrapoleringsmetoder jämförts. Detta leder till en metod för att utvärdera den strukturella spänningen effektivt. Denna metod jämförs med befintliga SCF-ekvationer, från vilka en ny uppsättning SCF-ekvationer härleds. Dessa ekvationer är konstruerade från en större datauppsättning, har ett bredare giltighetsområde och passar bättre med FE-modellerna. När man applicerar dessa SCF-ekvationer med den förbättrade balkmodelleringsmetoden i en kranarmsektion, uppsamlas strukturella spänningar inte tillräckligt, detta orsakas av ojämna spänningar i diagonalelementen i fackverkslederna. Både modelleringsmetoderna och SCF-ekvationerna tar hänsyn till jämnt spända diagonalelement som uppstår i fackverkslederna. Mer forskning bör göras över detta ojämna beteende. Om den strukturella spänningsmetoden måste implementeras med effektiva FE-modeller, rekommenderas undermodeller av skalelement kombinerade med balkelement. För utmattningsutvärdering med den nominella spänningsmetoden, ger balkmodeller som tar hänsyn till den lokala ledflexibiliteten tillräckligt realistiska resultat.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado.
There is accumulating evidence for the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the pathophysiology of depression. However, the role of BDNF in the pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains controversial, and no study has assessed BDNF concentrations among pregnant women with PTSD. We examined early-pregnancy BDNF concentrations among women with PTSD with and without depression. A total of 2928 women attending prenatal care clinics in Lima, Peru, were recruited. Antepartum PTSD and depression were evaluated using PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version (PCL-C) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scales, respectively. BDNF concentrations were measured in a subset of the cohort (N = 944) using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Logistic regression procedures were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). Antepartum PTSD (37.4 %) and depression (27.6 %) were prevalent in this cohort of low-income pregnant Peruvian women. Approximately 19.9 % of participants had comorbid PTSD-depression. Median serum BDNF concentrations were lower among women with comorbid PTSD-depression as compared with women without either condition (median [interquartile range], 20.44 [16.97–24.30] vs. 21.35 [17.33–26.01] ng/ml; P = 0.06). Compared to the referent group (those without PTSD and depression), women with comorbid PTSD-depression were 1.52-fold more likely to have low (<25.38 ng/ml) BDNF concentrations (OR = 1.52; 95 % CI 1.00–2.31). We observed no evidence of reduced BDNF concentrations among women with isolated PTSD. BDNF concentrations in early pregnancy were only minimally and non-significantly reduced among women with antepartum PTSD. Reductions in BDNF concentrations were more pronounced among women with comorbid PTSD-depression.
Revisión por pares

Wind power, especially offshore, is considered to be one of the most promising sources of ‘clean’ energy towards meeting the EU targets for 2020 and 2050. However, its popularity has always fluctuated with the price of fossil fuels since nowadays wind electricity production cannot compete with nuclear or coal electricity production. Support structures are thought to be one of the main drivers for reducing costs in order to make the wind industry more economically efficient. Foundations and towers should be fit for purpose, extending their effective service life but avoiding costs of oversizing. An exhaustive review of the background and state of the art of the Fatigue-Life assessment approaches has been carried out, combining analysis of the gathered experimental data and the development of Finite Element models based on contemporary 3D solid models with diverse Regression Analyses, in order to identify their weakness and evaluate their accuracy. This research shows that the guides and practices currently employed in the design and during the operation of the offshore wind turbine support structures are obsolete and not useful for optimisation, which generally leads to conservationism and an unnecessary increase in costs. The basis for a comprehensive update of the Girth Weld and Tubular Joint S-N curves and the Stress Concentration Factors of Tubular Joints has been set out. Furthermore, a reliable methodology for deriving the Stress Intensity Factor at the deepest point of a semi-elliptical surface saddle crack in a tubular welded T-joint has been proposed.

Woven structures are steadily emerging as excellent reinforcing components in dual-phase composite materials subjected to multiaxial loads, thermal shock, and aggressive reactants in the environment. Metallic woven wire mesh materials display good ductility and relatively high specific strength and specific resilience. While use of this class of materials is rapidly expanding, significant gaps in mechanical behavior classification remain. This thesis works to address the mechanics of material knowledge gap that exists for characterizing the behavior of a metallic woven structure, composed of stainless steel wires on the order of 25 microns in diameter, and subjected to various loading conditions and stress risers. Uniaxial and biaxial tensile experiments, employing Digital Image Correlation (DIC) as a strain measurement tool, are conducted on woven wire mesh specimens incised in various material orientations, and with various notch geometries. Experimental results, supported by an ample analytic modeling effort, indicate that an orthotropic elastic constitutive model is reasonably capable of governing the macro-scale elasticity of the subject material. Also, the Stress Concentration Factor (SCF) associated with various notch geometries is documented experimentally and analytically, and it is shown that the degree of stress concentration is dependent on both notch and material orientation. The Finite Element Method (FEM) is employed on the macro-scale to expand the experimental test matrix, and to judge the effects of a homogenization assumption when modeling metallic woven structures. Additionally, plasticity of the stainless steel woven wire mesh is considered through experimental determination of the yield surface, and a thorough analytic modeling effort resulting in a modified form of the Hill yield criterion. Finally, meso-scale plasticity of the woven structure is considered, and the form of a multi-scale failure criterion is proposed and exercised numerically.
M.S.M.E.
Masters
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Engineering and Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering; Mechanical Systems

This diploma thesis deals with computation modeling of spur gearing using FEM. The methodology of checking calculation was suggested for gears which are not possible to check only by using standard ČSN 01 4686. The analysis of influence of vicinity of stress concentration on stress distribution in tooth root was performed. It is possibility to use the gears with thinner rim than the standard ČSN 01 4686 recommends. The main part of this work is devoted to fatigue crack propagation study in gears with thin rim. Aiding T-stress the influence of constraint and stress multiaxiality on crack propagation was taking into account. The predicted fatigue crack propagation paths were compared with certain experimental data. It is demonstrated that the considering of influence of constraint improves estimation of consequent crack propagation direction and in some cases the influence of constraint can significantly change the estimated crack propagation path.

Orientador: Itamar Ferreira
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T20:08:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CamargoJunior_JoseAntoniode_M.pdf: 5956974 bytes, checksum: 439c5177de65f09b9855f932ec564537 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007
Resumo: Atualmente, praticamente todo o processo de desenvolvimento de componentes mecânicos que giram em alta rotação e que têm grande responsabilidade estrutural, principalmente quando fabricados em materiais de natureza frágil, como é o caso do ferro fundido, passa necessariamente por ensaios de centrifugação, que são realizados visando à determinação da rotação de ruptura. Além disso, os projetos atuais utilizam componentes com configurações geométricas que envolvem furos e outros tipos de concentradores de tensão. Em função disso, torna-se importante o conhecimento da influência de certos tipos de concentradores de tensão nesses componentes mecânicos. Este trabalho tem por objetivos determinar e analisar curvas de fator de concentração de tensão experimentais, por meio de ensaios de centrifugação, e numéricas, por meio de elementos finitos, em corpos anulares de espessura constante, submetidos à rotação e fabricados em ferro fundido cinzento perlítico GG25. Foram executados ensaios de centrifugação de cinco diferentes geometrias de corpos anulares: (a) sem concentrador de tensão; (b) com três concentradores de tensão do tipo semi-circular no raio interno; (c) com três concentradores de tensão do tipo semi-circular no raio externo; (d) com três furos passantes localizados nas proximidades do raio interno; (e) com três furos passantes localizados nas proximidades do raio externo. As tensões radial e tangencial foram determinadas por meio das equações clássicas para rotação de corpos anulares, sendo que a tensão equivalente foi determinada por meio do critério de von Mises, sendo esta comparada com o limite de resistência à tração do material determinada por meio de ensaios de tração. Foi também realizada uma análise simplificada por elementos finitos visando à determinação da tensão equivalente, também pelo critério de von Mises, para as cinco geometrias estudadas. Observou-se que cada geometria de descontinuidade geométrica apresenta um fator de concentração de tensão diferente a qual reduz a rotação de ruptura, quando comparada com o corpo anular sem concentrador de tensão. O corpo anular com concentrador de tensão do tipo semi-circular no raio interno possui os maiores níveis de fator de concentração de tensão médio, sendo este da ordem de 48% maior do que o sem concentrador. Por outro lado, o que apresentou menor nível de concentração de tensão foi o corpo anular com furos localizados nas proximidades do raio externo, sendo este da ordem de 5% maior do que o sem concentrador. Essas curvas poderão orientar o desenvolvimento de projetos de componentes mecânicos com relação aos efeitos dos concentradores de tensão analisados neste trabalho
Abstract: Currently, practically all the process of development of mechanical components working in high rotation and that they have great structural responsibility, mainly when manufactured in materials of brittle nature, as it is the case of the cast iron, passes necessarily for burst tests conducted in order to determine the burst speed. Moreover, the current projects use components with geometric configurations that involve holes and other types of stress raisers. As a function of this, the knowledge of the influence of certain types of stress raisers in these mechanical components becomes important. The objectives of this work is to determine and to analyze two types of curves of stress concentration factors, experimental, by means of the burst tests, and numerical, by means of finite element method, in annular specimens of constant thickness, submitted to rotation, and manufactured in perlitic gray iron GG25. Burst tests of five different shapes of annular specimens had been executed: (a) without stress raiser; (b) with three stress raisers of half-circular shape located in the internal radius; (c) with three stress raisers of halfcircular shape located in the external radius; (d) with three stress raisers of passing holes located near the internal radius; (e) with three stress raisers of passing holes located near the external radius. The radial and tangential stresses had been determined by means of the classic equations for rotation of annular bodies, the equivalent stress was determined by means of the von Mises criterion, and this was compared with the tensile strength of the material determined from tensile tests. Also a simplified analysis of finite element method was conducted in order to determine the equivalent stress, also by using von Mises criterion, for the five studied geometry. It was observed that each shape of geometry discontinuity presents a different stress concentration factor which reduces the rupture rotation, when compared with the annular specimen without stress raiser. The annular specimen with stress raiser of the half-circular type in the internal radius posses the biggest level of average stress concentration factor, about 48% greater of that without stress raiser. On the other hand, the annular specimen with three holes near the external radius presented minor level of stress concentration, about 5% greater of that without stress raiser. These curves will be able to guide the development of projects of mechanical components with regard to the effect of the analyzed stress concentrators in this work
Mestrado
Materiais e Processos de Fabricação
Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado.
PURPOSE: To assess the long-term effect of a 2% aqueous chlorhexidine (CHX) solution on bond strength to artificially eroded dentin compared to sound dentin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Flat mid-coronal dentin surfaces of extracted third molars (n = 28) were subjected only to grinding with a 600-grit SiC paper for 1 min (sound dentin S, n = 14) or additionally to erosive pH cycling with a cola-based soft-drink (eroded dentin E, n = 14). After acid etching, rinsing, and air drying, S and E were rehydrated with 1.5 μl of 2% CHX (S2%, n = 7; E2%, n = 7) or of distilled water (control SC, n = 7; EC, n = 7). Composite buildups were incrementally constructed with Filtek Z350 following Adper Single Bond 2 application. Specimens were sectioned into beams, which were subjected to microtensile testing immediately or after 6 or 12 months of aging. Fractured surfaces were observed under a digital microscope (50X magnification). Microtensile bond strength (μTBS) (MPa) was analyzed by three-way ANOVA and Tukey's tests (α = 0.05) and failure mode by the Kruskal-Wallis test (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Compared to sound dentin, eroded dentin was consistently related to lower μTBS. Immediately and after 12-month aging, the effect of CHX was insignificant, but it was significant after 6-month aging, when it conserved the bond strength to both eroded and sound dentin. The percentage of adhesive and mixed failures were equivalent, and significantly more frequent than cohesive failures, whether in dentin or in composite. CONCLUSION: The 2% CHX effect on bond strength conservation to both eroded and sound dentin was not found to be persistent.
Revisión por pares

Neste trabalho está apresentada uma alternativa para o cálculo do fator de concentração de tensões (FCT) em juntas tubulares soldadas do tipo Y. Redes Neurais Artificiais (RNA) foram utilizadas para representar a distribuição de tensões ao longo da junta tubular para os casos de carregamento força axial no plano e momento fletor no plano. As RNA podem aprender a partir de um conjunto de dados sem a necessidade de uma expressão matemática entre as variáveis dependentes e independentes; representa uma vantagem sobre o procedimento normalmente utilizado, ou seja, as equações paramétricas. O modelo proposto representa um avanço no projeto de juntas tubulares, uma vez que evita a necessidade de se conhecer uma expressão matemática para representar a distribuição de tensões na junta e fornece um método mais preciso para avaliar a distribuição de tensões ao longo da junta soldada. O conjunto de dados utilizado foi formado a partir de simulações numéricas das juntas soldadas através do MEF, nas quais foi considerada a geometria do cordão de solda.
An alternative approach to calculate stress concentration factors (SCF) in Y-type welded tubular joints is presented. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were used to represent the stress distribution along the tubular joints in both in-plane axial force and in-plane bending moment load cases. ANN can learn from a database without establishing a mathematical expression between dependent and independent variables, which is an advantage over the usual parametric equations approach. The proposed model represents an improvement in the tubular joints design, since it avoids the previous knowing of a mathematical expression to represent the stress distribution in the joint and provides an accurate method to evaluate the stress distribution along the welded fillet joint. The database herein used was completed with FE simulations of tubular joints which consider the geometry of the weld fillet.

Thesis (M. S.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009.
Committee Chair: Brand, Oliver; Committee Member: Adibi, Ali; Committee Member: Allen, Mark G.; Committee Member: Bottomley, Lawrence A.; Committee Member: Degertekin, F. Levent.

The master thesis is focused on estimation of crack propagation origin from sharp V-notch. Stress distribution around the tip of the V-notch is described on the base of generalized linear elastic fracture mechanics. The change of the stress singularity exponent caused by geometry of the V-notch and the vertex singularity is taken into account. The first part of the work is devoted to the estimation of the stress singularity exponent of the V-notch either from stress distribution around the tip of the V-notch or by using analytical solution. Formerly derived stability criteria are applied in the second part of the work. The origin of the crack propagation is estimated for several experimental specimens. The aim of this thesis is to compare the available experimentally observed data with results obtained using those criteria based on the application of generalized linear elastic fracture mechanics developer at the Institute of Physics of Materials Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The finite element code Ansys and mathematical software Matlab were used for the necessary calculations.

The aim of the thesis is the investigation of fracture-mechanics parameters on specimens made of quasi-brittle materials. The principles of two-parameter fracture mechanics are used. Couple of numerical simulations were done and their outputs are used for two main analysed specimen geometries. For simulations the finite element method software ANSYS is used. In the first part, the thesis focuses on bended specimens. The influence of different geometric parameters on fracture mechanics behaviour of cracked specimen is investigated. For model calibration the outputs of other authors are used. In the second part the specimens for modified compact-tension test (CT test) are analysed. Similar to the first part, the influence of geometric parameters of the specimen (in this case, the specimen size) on fracture mechanics parameters were investigated. The modified CT test was derived from CT test which is commonly used for metal materials testing as the suitable geometry for cement-based composite materials testing. The outputs of both parts are calibration polynomials, which are expressions obtained for different specimen geometries, giving the value of fracture mechanics parameter as the function of specimen geometry. As the example, calibration curves are used to obtain fracture toughness of tested material using the outputs from recent experiment.

The presence of notches or cracks causes stresses to amplify in nearby regions. This phenomenon is studied by estimating the Stress Concentration Factor (SCF) for notches, and the Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) for cracks. In the present work, a semi-analytical method under the framework of linear elasticity is developed to give an estimate of these factors, particularly for cracks and notches in finite domains. The solution technique consists of analytically deriving a characteristic equation based on the general solution and homogeneous boundary conditions, and then using the series form of the reduced solution involving the (possibly complex-valued) roots of this characteristic equation to satisfy the remaining non-homogeneous boundary conditions. This last step has to be carried out numerically using, say, a weighted residual method. In contrast to infinite domain problems where a fully analytical solution is often possible, the presence of more boundaries, and a variety in configurations, makes the solution of finite do-main problems much more challenging compared to infinite domain ones, and these challenges are addressed in this work. The method is demonstrated on several classical and new problems including the problems of a semi-circular edge notch in a semi-infinite and finite plate, an elliptical hole in a plate, an edge-crack in a finite plate etc.

碩士
國立清華大學
動力機械工程學系
103
The 2D stress concentration factors in laminated composite plates with multiple holes and notches under unidirectional tensile stress have been studied using finite element method. The aim of author is analyze the effect of different stacking gradation and distance between the holes upon stress concentration factor. Analysis has been done for symmetric composite laminates, and the finite element formulation is carried out in the analysis section of the『ANSYS』package. The variations of stress concentration factors in regard to different stacking gradation and distance between the holes are presented in graphical form and discussed. When the holes located on X axis, the stress concentration factor will be reduced; located on Y axis, the stress concentration factor will increase.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfiment of the requirements for the degree of Master or Science in Engineering. Johannesburg, 1993.
The stress concentration factors around rectangular holes in carbon-fibre reinforced epoxy plates, subject uniaxial loads, were investigated experimentally and theoretically. To obtain theoretical solutions, two approaches were adopted; the finite element method and the theory of elasticity using the method of complex variable functions. Reflective photoelasticity was used as the experimental method. The determination of the stress concentration factor around a rectangular hole in a glass-fibrereinforced plate was attempted using transmissive photoelasticity, but no meaningful results were obtained. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version}
MT2017

For fatigue design of welded hollow structural sections connections, the “hot spot stress method” in CIDECT Design Guide 8 is widely used. This method forms the basis of various national and international design standards. This thesis sought to address some contemporary design issues where the existing approaches cannot be directly applied. Modified design approaches were proposed for various practical design details. For galvanizing of welded tubular steel trusses, sufficiently large holes to allow for quick filling, venting and drainage must be specified. These holes, quite often specified at the hot spot stress locations, will inevitably affect connection fatigue behaviour. In Chapter 1, six rectangular hollow section (RHS) connections were tested under branch axial loading. The stress concentration factors (SCFs) obtained from the experimental investigation were compared with those calculated using the formulae in CIDECT Design Guide 8. It was shown that the predictions based on the current formulae were unsafe. Hence, finite element (FE) models were developed and validated by comparison with the experimental data. A subsequent parametric study was conducted, including 192 FE models with different hole locations and non-dimensional parameters [branch-to-chord width (β), branch-to-chord thickness (τ), and chord slenderness (2γ) ratios]. SCF formulae for RHS connections with vent/drain holes at different locations were established based on the experimental and FE data. In Chapter 2, by modifying the 192 parametric models in Chapter 1, FE analysis was performed to examine the existing SCF formulae in CIDECT Design Guide 8 for RHS T-connections under branch in-plane bending. The parametric study showed that the existing SCF formulae can lead to unsafe predictions. Critical hot spot stress locations were thus identified. The effects of both branch in-plane bending and chord loading were studied. New design formulae that take the vent and drain holes into account were proposed. The design rules in CIDECT Design Guide 8 assumes sufficient chord continuity on both sides of connection. Therefore, the existing formulae cannot be directly applied to RHS-to-RHS connections situated near a truss/girder end. Chapter 3 sought to develop new approach for calculation of SCFs in such connections. 256 FE models of RHS-to-RHS X-connections, with varied chord end distance-to-width (e/b0) and non-dimensional parameters were modelled and analyzed. The analysis was performed under quasi-static axial compression force(s) applied to the branch(es) and validated by comparison of strain concentration factors (SNCFs) to SNCFs obtained from full-sized connection tests. For all 256 connections, SCFs were determined at five critical hot spots on the side of the connection near the open chord end. The SCFs were found to vary as a function of e/b0, 2γ and β. Existing formulae in CIDECT Design Guide 8 to predict SCFs in directly welded RHS-to-RHS axially loaded X-connections were shown to be conservative when applied to a connection near an open chord end. SCF reduction factors (ψ), and a parametric formula to estimate ψ based on e/b0, 2γ and β, were derived. For RHS-to-RHS connections situated near a truss/girder end, reinforcement using a chord-end cap plate is common; however, for fatigue design, formulae in current design guidelines [for calculation of SCFs] cater to: (i) unreinforced connections, with (ii) sufficient chord continuity beyond the connection on both sides. Chapter 4 sought to develop definitive design guidelines for such connections. The parametric models in Chapter 3 were modified to simulate such connections. Existing SCF formulae in CIDECT Design Guide 8 were shown to be inaccurate if applied to cap plate-reinforced end connections. SCF correction factors (ψ), and parametric formulae to estimate ψ based on e/b0, β, τ and 2γ, were derived. The same methodology was used in Chapter 5 to study the SCFs in square bird-beak (SBB) and diamond bird-beak (DBB) tubular steel X-connections situated at the end of a truss or girder. A comprehensive parametric study, including 256 SBB and 256 DBB connection models, covering wide ranges of chord end distance-to-width (e/b0) and non-dimensional parameters, was performed. Two sets of correction factor (ψ) formulae for consideration of the chord end distance effect were derived, for SBB and DBB X-connections, respectively.
Graduate

Nutztiere sind aufgrund ihrer Haltungsbedingungen diversen Stressoren ausgesetzt, welche ihre physische und psychische Gesundheit beeinträchtigen können. Im Rahmen von Animal Welfare Monitoring besteht daher ein großes Interesse an der Entwicklung und dem Einsatz minimal-invasiver Methoden und tierbezogener Belastungsindikatoren. Haarcortisol-konzentrationen (HCCs) könnten hierfür ein vielversprechender, retrospektiver Stressindikator sein, da sie die durchschnittlichen systemischen Cortisolkonzentrationen der letzten Wochen bis Monate in nur einer Probe widerspiegeln. Bevor HCCs jedoch als zuverlässiger Indikator eingesetzt werden können, müssen potenzielle Einflussfaktoren darauf ermittelt werden. Das generelle Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Untersuchung von Einflussfaktoren auf Haarcortisol und seine Eignung für die Beurteilung von Langzeitstress bei Rindern und Schweinen. Daher zielten die vorliegenden Studien darauf ab, (1) Wissenslücken in der Forschung zu identifizieren, (2) die Wirkung potenzieller Einfluss- und Störfaktoren zu evaluieren und (3) zu untersuchen, ob und wann erhöhte systemische Cortisollevel durch HCCs nachweisbar sind. Alle Haarproben wurde von Holstein-Rindern, Landrasse- und Sattelschweinen bzw. Kreuzungstieren entnommen. Aufgrund der Literaturrecherche (Studie 1) wurden potenzielle Einflussfaktoren identifiziert und in den nachfolgenden Studien untersucht. Für die Evaluierung nicht-stressbedingter Faktoren (Studie 2), wurden insgesamt 614 Tiere verwendet. Hierfür wurden Haarproben in verschiedenen Altersstufen (Neugeborene bis Erwachsene), von beiden Geschlechtern und während der Sommer- und Wintersaison entnommen. Außerdem wurden schwarze und weiße Haarproben, unterschiedliche Körperregionen (Nacken/Schulter, Rücken, Schwanzspitze) und verschiedene Haarsegmente untersucht. Der Einfluss von Kontaminationen auf HCCs wurde in einer in-vitro-Studie (Studie 4) mit Haarproben von 12 Kühen und 12 Sauen evaluiert. Diese Proben wurden für vier Wochen täglich mit Urin, Speichel, Kot oder Wasser behandelt oder blieben unbehandelt. Um die Wirkung von Langzeitstress auf HCCs zu untersuchen (Studie 3), wurde bei 34 Rindern und 38 Jungsauen über vier Wochen jeden zweiten Tag ACTH- oder Kochsalzlösung appliziert. Vor, sowie zu drei Zeitpunkten nach Ende der Behandlung, wurden native und neu gewachsene Haare sowie zusätzlich Haarsegmente entnommen. Alle Haarproben wurden zweimal mit Isopropanol gewaschen, mit einer Kugelmühle gemahlen und Cortisol nach Extraktion mit Methanol mittels ELISA nachgewiesen. Die statistische Auswertung erfolgte mittels SAS/STAT-Software unter Anwendung von ANOVA und paarweisen Vergleichen durch Tukey-Kramer Tests. Die Ergebnisse der Studie 2 zeigen signifikant höhere HCCs bei neugeborenen Kälbern im Vergleich zu Jungrindern, Färsen und Kühen (p < 0,001). Ebenso wiesen 2 Wochen alte Ferkel höhere HCCs auf als Schweine im Alter von 10 oder 27 Wochen oder Sauen (p < 0,001). Das Geschlecht hatte keinen Einfluss auf die HCCs beider Tierarten. Jedoch waren bei beiden Spezies die HCCs in Schwanzhaaren, im Vergleich zu den Schulter-, Nacken- und Rückenhaaren signifikant erhöht (p < 0,001), ebenso in schwarzen Haaren im Vergleich zu weißen Haaren (p < 0,05) und in distalen im Vergleich zu proximalen Haarsegmenten (p < 0,001). Außerdem wiesen Rinder im Winter höhere HCCs als im Sommer auf (p < 0,001). Die Ergebnisse der Studie 4 zeigen, dass die Kontamination mit Urin bei beiden Spezies eine konzentrationsabhängige Zunahme der HCCs bewirkt. Auch die Kontamination mit Speichel und Kot erhöhte die HCCs, jedoch nur bei Rindern (alle p < 0,05). Die Behandlung mit Wasser führte zu einer Auswaschung von Cortisol aus Haaren vom Schwein, jedoch nicht vom Rind. Die Ergebnisse der ACTH-Studie (Studie 3) zeigen signifikant erhöhte HCCs bei ACTH-Tieren zum Ende der Behandlung in nativen Haaren (p < 0,001), nachgewachsenen Haaren (p < 0,01) und in Haarsegmenten (p < 0,05). Die höchsten HCCs wurden innerhalb von vier Wochen nach Behandlungsende gefunden. Bei Schweinen wurde ein Anstieg der HCCs sowohl in ACTH- als auch in Kontrolltieren beobachtet ohne dass Unterschiede zwischen den Behandlungen auftraten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Cortisolkonzentrationen im Haar bei Schweinen und Rindern durch Alter, Körperregion, Haarfarbe, Haarsegment und Jahreszeit beeinflusst werden. Es gibt erste Belege, dass die Kontamination von Schweine- und Rinderhaaren mit cortisolhaltigen Körperflüssigkeiten, wie Urin und Speichel, die Aufnahme von externem Cortisol in den Haarschaft verursacht. Bei der Verwendung von HCC als Stressindikator sollten daher diese Einflussfaktoren standardisiert und Kontaminationseffekte vermieden werden, z.B. durch die Verwendung von Aufwuchsproben oder nur proximaler Haarsegmente. Darüber hinaus konnte gezeigt werden, dass Langzeitstress durch wiederholte Aktivierung der HPA-Achse zu erhöhten Cortisolkonzentrationen im Haar führt. Bei Rindern zeigt sich dies in den HCCs verschiedener Haarprobentypen. Insgesamt erweist sich die Analyse von Cortisol im Haar als eine geeignete Methode zum Nachweis von Langzeitstress bei Rindern und Schweinen und könnte daher eine wichtige Komponente bei der Beurteilung von Animal Welfare sein.:1 General introduction 2 Review of the literature 2.1 The relevance of stress assessment in animal welfare 2.2 Stress response in mammals 2.2.1 Structure and function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis 2.2.2 Characteristics and effects of cortisol 2.2.3 Conventional biological matrices for cortisol analysis 2.3 Hair as a matrix for cortisol analysis 2.3.1 Hair structure and hair types 2.3.2 Hair growth cycle 2.3.3 Incorporation of cortisol into the hair 2.3.3.1 Passive diffusion 2.3.3.2 Multi-compartment model 2.3.4 Elimination of cortisol from the hair 2.3.5 Specific characteristics and applications of hair cortisol 3 Research focuses and aims 4 Results 4.1 Study 1: Hair cortisol for the assessment of stress (review) 4.2 Study 2: Effects of animal-based, seasonal and hair-specific factors on hair cortisol concentrations 4.3 Study 3: Effects of long-term stress on hair cortisol concentrations 4.4 Study 4: Effects of contamination and elimination on hair cortisol concentrations 5 General discussion 5.1 Influencing factors on hair cortisol concentrations in cattle and pigs 5.1.1 Impact of animal-based, seasonal and hair-specific factors 5.1.2 Impact of contamination and elimination by washout 5.1.3 Implications 5.2 Hair cortisol concentration as an indicator of long-term stress in cattle and pigs 5.2.1 Model for the increased release of systemic cortisol 5.2.2 Models for the time course of cortisol incorporation into the hair shaft 5.2.3 Impact of hair sample type and sampling time 5.2.4 Implications Table of contents 5.3 Future perspectives 5.4 Conclusions 6 Summary 7 Zusammenfassung 8 References 9 Danksagung
Farm animals can be exposed to various stressors due to their husbandry conditions, which can impair their health and welfare. Thus, there is interest in the use of minimally invasive methods and animal-based stress indicators as part of welfare assessment. Cortisol in hair is a promising retrospective stress indicator, as a sample reflects systemic cortisol levels of the past weeks or months. Previous studies have shown that long-term stress with elevated cortisol release can be related to increased cortisol incorporation into the hair shaft. However, potential influencing factors that may affect hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) must be determined before HCC can be applied as a reliable indicator of stress. The general objectives of this thesis are to investigate influencing factors on HCC, and to examine the potential of hair cortisol concentration as an indicator of long-term stress in cattle and pigs. Thus, the present studies aimed to (1) identify knowledge gaps in hair cortisol research, (2) evaluate the impact of animal-based, seasonal and hair-specific factors as well as contamination and elimination on HCC, and (3) investigate whether and when long-term increased systemic cortisol levels are reflected in elevated HCCs. Hairs were sampled from Holstein Friesian cattle, Landrace or Saddleback pigs and crossbreeds. The findings of the literature review (Study 1) identified potential animal-based, seasonal, hair-specific and stress-related factors on HCCs, which our experimental studies considered. To examine the impact of influencing factors (Study 2), a total of 614 animals were used. Hair samples were taken at different ages (newborn to adult), from different sexes and during both summer and winter. Variations by hair-specific factors were determined by studying black and white hair samples, varying body regions (neck/shoulder, back and tail tip) and different hair segments. In general, female animals were used. The effect of contamination on HCCs was examined in an in vitro study (Study 4) using hair samples from 12 cows and 12 sows. Samples were treated daily with urine, saliva, faeces or water for four weeks or remained untreated. To investigate long-term stress (Study 3), 34 cattle and 38 gilts were injected intramuscularly either with ACTH solution or saline every second day for four weeks. Natural and regrown hair samples were taken before and three times after the end of treatment, and hair segments were collected. All the hair samples were shaved with electric clippers, washed twice with isopropanol and ground with a ball mill. Cortisol was detected by ELISA after extraction with methanol. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA and pairwise comparisons of the least square means by Tukey-Kramer tests with the MIXED procedure in SAS/STAT software. The results of Study 2 showed significantly higher HCCs in newborn calves than in young cattle, heifers and cows (p < 0.001). Likewise, 2-week-old piglets had higher HCCs than pigs aged 10 or 27 weeks and sows (p < 0.001). Sex had no effect on HCCs in pigs or cattle. In both species, HCCs were also significantly higher in samples obtained from the tail tip than from the shoulder, neck and back regions (p < 0.001), in black hair than in white hair (p < 0.05) and in distal hair than in proximal hair segments (p < 0.001). Season had an impact on HCC only in cattle, which exhibited higher levels in winter than in summer (p < 0.001). The results of Study 4 showed that contamination with urine caused a considerable concentration-dependent increase in HCCs in both species. Contamination with saliva and faeces also raised HCCs, but only in cattle (all p < 0.05). Treatment with water washed cortisol out from porcine hair but not from bovine hair. In cattle, repeated ACTH application (Study 3) revealed significantly higher HCCs after the end of treatment in natural hair (up to eight weeks, p < 0.001), regrown hair (up to four weeks, p < 0.01) and segmental hair (eight weeks, p < 0.05) than in the control animals. The highest HCCs were found four weeks after the end of treatment. In pigs, elevated HCCs were observed in both ACTH and control animals in all hair sample types after the application period, with no differences between treatments. These results show that hair cortisol concentrations in pigs and cattle are affected by age, body region, hair colour, hair segment and season. There is first evidence that contamination of porcine and bovine hair with cortisol-containing body fluids, such as urine and saliva, may cause the incorporation of external cortisol into the hair shaft. Thus, when using HCC as a potential stress indicator, these influencing factors should be standardised and contamination effects should be avoided, such as by using the shave-reshave procedure, clean sampling regions and only the most proximal hair segments. The results also demonstrated that long-term stress by repeated activation of the HPA axis increases hair cortisol concentrations. In cattle, HCCs in different hair sample types reliably reflected the preceding period with increased systemic cortisol levels. In conclusion, the analysis of HCC appears to be a suitable method to evaluate long-term stress in cattle and pigs and can therefore be an important component in the assessment of animal welfare.:1 General introduction 2 Review of the literature 2.1 The relevance of stress assessment in animal welfare 2.2 Stress response in mammals 2.2.1 Structure and function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis 2.2.2 Characteristics and effects of cortisol 2.2.3 Conventional biological matrices for cortisol analysis 2.3 Hair as a matrix for cortisol analysis 2.3.1 Hair structure and hair types 2.3.2 Hair growth cycle 2.3.3 Incorporation of cortisol into the hair 2.3.3.1 Passive diffusion 2.3.3.2 Multi-compartment model 2.3.4 Elimination of cortisol from the hair 2.3.5 Specific characteristics and applications of hair cortisol 3 Research focuses and aims 4 Results 4.1 Study 1: Hair cortisol for the assessment of stress (review) 4.2 Study 2: Effects of animal-based, seasonal and hair-specific factors on hair cortisol concentrations 4.3 Study 3: Effects of long-term stress on hair cortisol concentrations 4.4 Study 4: Effects of contamination and elimination on hair cortisol concentrations 5 General discussion 5.1 Influencing factors on hair cortisol concentrations in cattle and pigs 5.1.1 Impact of animal-based, seasonal and hair-specific factors 5.1.2 Impact of contamination and elimination by washout 5.1.3 Implications 5.2 Hair cortisol concentration as an indicator of long-term stress in cattle and pigs 5.2.1 Model for the increased release of systemic cortisol 5.2.2 Models for the time course of cortisol incorporation into the hair shaft 5.2.3 Impact of hair sample type and sampling time 5.2.4 Implications Table of contents 5.3 Future perspectives 5.4 Conclusions 6 Summary 7 Zusammenfassung 8 References 9 Danksagung

Durch die zunehmende technologische Entwicklung des Getriebe-, Gelenkwellen-, Werkzeugmaschinen-, Kraftfahrzeug-, sowie Landmaschinenbaus steigen die zu übertragenden Leistungen und Drehmomente enorm. Dies führt zu einem wachsenden Bedarf an formschlüssigen Profilwellenverbindungen und deren erhöhter Lebensdauer und Genauigkeit. Hierbei bilden die Zahnwellenverbindungen (ZWVen) mit Evolventenflanken nach DIN 5480 /N1/ den Regelfall für eine Vielzahl der Anwendung. Abhängig von Festigkeitsüberlegungen, Herstellungsverfahren und Platzbedarf treten in der Praxis nahezu ausschließlich die folgenden zwei Grundtypen auf. Es handelt sich dabei zum Ersten um die Zahnwelle (ZW) mit freiem Auslauf.Die zweite Geometrievariante ist die Zahnwelle mit gebundenem Auslauf, die eine nach DIN 471 /N2/ genormte Sicherungsringnut (SRN) enthalten kann. Zahnwellenverbindungen dienen zur Übertragung großer, wechselnder und stoßartiger Drehmomente ohne zusätzliches Verbindungselement durch die Profilierung der Welle und Nabe. Axiale Verschiebbarkeit unter Last, Profilverschiebungsmöglichkeit, einfache Montage und Demontage sowie die Herstellung mit hochleistungsfähigen umformenden und spanenden Massenfertigungsverfahren, die die Herstellungskosten verhältnismäßig niedrig halten, sind technisch bedeutsame Eigenschaften, die zum ansteigenden Einsatz von ZWVen führen (z.B. /N1/, /Vil84/, /Koh86/ und /Wes96/). Starke Kerbwirkung und erhebliche Überdimensionierung benachbarter Gestaltungszonen sind die wesentlichen Schwachpunkte der Profilverbindungen. Eine große Anzahl (ca. 80 %) von Ausfällen im Maschinenbau ist auf Schäden an Achsen und Wellen infolge konstruktiv bedingter Kerben zurückzuführen (z.B. /N3/ und /Hai89/). Speziell im Bereich der hochbeanspruchten Profilwellen-Verbindungen kommt es auf Grund der starken Querschnittsveränderungen und der häufig angewandten Ausläufe und Formelemente, z. B. Zahn- und Keilwellen zu Kerbwirkungen, die erhebliche örtliche Spannungskonzentrationen sowohl im Zahnfußbereich und Zahnlückenauslauf als auch im Bereich der Verbindung selbst verursachen. Diese Beanspruchungskonzentrationen sind fast in der Hälfte aller Zahnwellenbrüche die häufigste Ursache für Dauerbrüche (Ermüdungs- bzw. Schwingungsbrüche) und für Schäden (bleibende Verformung, Anriss, Gewaltbruch) infolge Maximalbelastung. Hier trifft die Lastüberhöhung am Welle-Nabe-Verbindungsrand mit dem Steifigkeitssprung des Verzahnungsendes auf der Welle zusammen /Die93/. Die erwähnten Schadensfälle belegen, dass der heutige Kenntnisstand über eine beanspruchungsgerechte Auslegung von Zahnwellen noch recht lückenhaft ist. Deshalb sind neue Erkenntnisse über Form- bzw. Kerbwirkungszahlen bei Einzel- und Mehrfachkerben von scharf und weniger scharf gekerbten Zahnwellen mit Auslauf für eine treffsichere Festigkeitsberechnung erforderlich und stellen damit die Hauptschwerpunkte dieser Arbeit dar. Das vorliegende Forschungsprojekt, welches sich erstmals mit der Ermittlung der Beanspruchungen in torsions-, und biegebelasteten Zahnwellen mit freiem und gebundenem Auslauf befasst, wurde im Rahmen der Forschungsvereinigung für Antriebstechnik e.V. (FVA) unter der Nummer T 467 und dem Forschungsthema „ Ermittlung der Kerbwirkung bei Profilwellen für die praktische Getriebeberechnung von Zahnwellen“ initiiert und untersucht.

碩士
大同大學
機械工程學系(所)
96
The osteoporosis is a common symptom which comes after human middle-age . The article that using two different way to research on ossein outflow, and it makes the influences of mechanics behavior. Using statics viewpoint analyzes human body thighbone behavior of the movement in climbing stairs, and it analyzes the situation of motional stress by Pro/ Mechanica. Under the situation of thighbone is without external force or special impact, we will find that the movement of climbing stairs is not easily to make the fracture of thighbone caused by the ossein outflow. By using the notch theory, We studied the relationship between the stress concentration factor and the osteoporpsis. The researches discovered that the BMD are in an inverse ratio to the stress concentration factor and the depth of notch, but it is proportioned to radius of notch .The decrease of BMD directly affect the ultimate stress of bones when BMD starts to decrease. We suggest that the patients should pay more attentions to prevent them from outflow of ossein.

碩士
中華大學
機械工程學系
106
In design aspect of any engineering structure, machinery and equipment, the stress concentration is one of the major considerations for the successful design as it can cause fracture to various mechanical components and the machine, structure may eventually get failed to function for the purpose it is supposed to be designed. The stress concentration factor can be evaluated by using computational techniques, elasticity theory and experimental stress analysis such as photoelasticity. In this paper, the work was carried out to analyze the stress concentration factor for flat bar with semi-circular notch by ANSYS software. The purpose is to provide the guidance of finite element model with respect to the sensitive stress concentration problems. The finite element model strategies were verified by flat bar with semi-circular two notches subjected to a tension loading from Peterson [3]. The dimensions of the flat bar are b/a = 2 and c/a = 3. The range of w/r was 4 to 40 where r (a = 2r) is the circular notch radius, w is the width and b, c are the center distance and the outmost distance of the two notches. The only unknown is the length. From numerical simulation, it was concluded that the smaller element size and element shape of the circular region was important to derive the accurate simulation results. The mapped and free mesh in the circular region and the different models were not the dominate factor. The finite element model included full model with one side fixed boundary, half model with one side symmetric boundary and full model with center fixed boundary. The best length ranged w/L = 0.2 to 2. The variation of the radius was no effect due to the overall dimension changes with radius. Furthermore, the flat bar was considered when w/r = 18 and c/a was varied from 1 to 11. The more notches (from 3, 4, 5 and infinite) were verified which leaded to the w/L ratio inconsistent as before. The equivalent length index, defined as Le = (L-(c/2))/(c/2), was critical to create the length of flat bar in the finite element model. The finite element analysis couldn’t simulate flat bar with 5 notches. The stress concentration factors simulation were carried to w/r = 25 and w/r = 11 with respect to c/a. According to stress flow concept, the increasing of w/r made the increasing of width. The stress concentration factor was decreasing. Increasing range from w/r = 18 to w/r=11 was larger than that of from w/r = 25 to w/r=18. The stress concentration factor of the semicircular notch of the flat plate can be predicted by the finite element simulation. However, in the finite element model, the length selection and the element size distribution are very important.

The fatigue of materials and structures is a phenomenon in which surface condition plays an important role; specially in initiating the micro-cracks. Moreover, the structural components are also subjected to aggressive environments and hence are susceptible to corrosion phenomenon. Therefore, it is necessary to protect them against the corrosion phenomenon. For aluminium alloys used in aeronautical applications, anodization is widely used surface treatment to increase the corrosion resistance. Despite the benefits obtained in terms of enhanced corrosion resistance, the anodizing process has a damaging effect on the fatigue performance of the base material. One of the reasons for this decrease in fatigue life is associated to the degradation of surface condition during the anodizing process. In this work, we have studied the influence of machining and anodization on fatigue behaviour of aluminium alloys 2214 and 7050. We showed experimentally that for 2214 alloy the process of anodization-sealing reduced the fatigue life considerably while for 7050 alloy the process of pickling is the major cause in decreasing the fatigue life. We have also developed life prediction model for anodized alloys. The model is based on determination of concentration of stress ‘Kt’ generated by the surface condition. The developed model integrates the aspects of multi-site initiation, coalescence and regime of short crack propagation.

碩士
靜宜大學
食品營養研究所
98
Hyperglycemia which major characterizes diabetes, may be related to inflammation and oxidative stress. Inflammation and oxidative stress were of the major risk factor for diabetic complications. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of high glucose or inflammation on the cell injury and oxidative stress of liver cell. Human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) was cultured with (5, 10, 15, 25, 35 mM) glucose and/or 0, 0.1, 1, 10, 20 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the experiment. Cell viability, nitrite content, MDA content, for 24, 72, 120 hr after treatment and NF-κB protein expression were measured. Additional L-ascorbic acid or α-tocopherol (0, 1, 10, 50, 100 μM) was added to measure cell viability and nitrite content. Results were HepG2 cell viability of groups treated with 25, 35 mM glucose and/or 20 ng/ml TNF-α exhibited significant lower than control group (5 mM glucose) in the same culture time. HepG2 cell viability of groups treated with 0.1, 1, 20 ng/ml TNF-α exhibited significant lower than 0 ng/ml TNF-α treated group for 24 hr. HepG2 cell viability of groups treated with 25 mM glucose and 20 ng/ml TNF-α exhibited significant higher than 25 mM glucose treated group for 120 hr. HepG2 cell NF-κB protein expression of groups treated with 35 mM glucose and/or 20ng/ml TNF-α exhibited significant higher than control group (5 mM glucose) for 24 hr, but nitrite content and MDA were not significantly different with each other, except that HepG2 cell nitrite content of groups treated with 10 ng/ml TNF-α exhibited significant lower than control group (0 ng/ml TNF-α) for 120 hr. HepG2 cell viability of groups treated with 100 μM L-ascorbic acid exhibited significant lower than control group (5 mM glucose) for 120 hr; HepG2 cell viability of groups treated with 1, 10 μM α-tocopherol exhibited significant lower than control group (5 mM glucose) for 24 hr; HepG2 cell nitrite product of groups treated with 50, 100 μM α-tocopherol exhibited significant higher than control group (5 mM glucose) for 72 hr. Generally, high glucose concentration induced cell injury, with mechanism was correlated to NF-κB protein expression.

A primary focus of wildlife research is to understand how habitat conditions and human activities impact the health of wild animals. External factors, both natural and anthropogenic that impact the ability of an animal to acquire food and build energy reserves have important implications for reproductive success, avoidance of predators, and the ability to withstand disease, and periods of food scarcity. In the analyses presented here, I quantify the impacts of habitat quality and anthropogenic disturbance on indicators of health for individuals in a threatened grizzly bear population in Alberta, Canada. The first analysis relates spatial patterns of hair cortisol concentrations, a promising indicator of long-term stress in mammals, measured from 304 grizzly bears to a variety of continuous environmental variables representative of habitat quality (e.g., crown closure, landcover, and vegetation productivity), topographic conditions (e.g., elevation and terrain ruggedness), and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., roads, forest harvest blocks, and oil and gas well-sites). Hair cortisol concentration point data were integrated with continuous variables by creating a stress surface for male and female bears using kernel density estimation validated through bootstrapping. The relationships between hair cortisol concentrations for males and females and environmental variables were quantified using random forests, and landscape scale stress levels for both genders was predicted based on observed relationships. Low female stress levels were found to correspond with regions with high levels of anthropogenic disturbance and activity. High female stress levels were associated primarily with high-elevation parks and protected areas. Conversely, low male stress levels were found to correspond with parks and protected areas and spatially limited moderate to high stress levels were found in regions with greater anthropogenic disturbance. Of particular concern for conservation is the observed relationship between low female stress and sink habitats which have high mortality rates and high energetic costs. Extending the first analysis, the second portion of this research examined the impacts of scale-specific habitat selection and relationships between biology, habitat quality, and anthropogenic disturbance on body condition in 85 grizzly bears represented using a body condition index. Habitat quality and anthropogenic variables were represented at multiple scales using isopleths of a utilization distribution calculated using kernel density estimation for each bear. Several hypotheses regarding the influence of biology, habitat quality, and anthropogenic disturbance on body condition quantified using linear mixed-effects models were evaluated at each habitat selection scale using the small sample Aikake Information Criterion. Biological factors were influential at all scales as males had higher body condition than females, and body condition increased with age for both genders. At the scale of most concentrated habitat selection, the biology and habitat quality hypothesis had the greatest support and had a positive effect on body condition. A component of biology, the influence of long-term stress, which had a negative impact on body condition, was most pronounced within the biology and habitat quality hypothesis at this scale. As the scale of habitat selection was represented more broadly, support for the biology and anthropogenic disturbance hypothesis increased. Anthropogenic variables of particular importance were distance decay to roads, density of secondary linear features, and density of forest harvest areas which had a negative relationship with body condition. Management efforts aimed to promote landscape conditions beneficial to grizzly bear health should focus on promoting habitat quality in core habitat and limiting anthropogenic disturbance within larger grizzly bear home ranges.
Graduate
0768
0463
0478
mathieub@uvic.ca

Οι περιοχές συγκέντρωσης τάσης ή/και παραμόρφωσης στα σύνθετα υλικά, όπως και στα συμβατικά -μεταλλικά- υλικά, αποτελούν σημαντικά στοιχεία στο σχεδιασμό τμημάτων δομών και ολόκληρων κατασκευών. Ειδικότερα η μέθοδος σχεδιασμού με ανοχή στη βλάβη, η οποία έχει επικρατήσει, καθιστά την κατανόηση και μελέτη της συμπεριφοράς των περιοχών αυτών εκ των ων ουκ άνευ. Στο παρόν, γίνεται μια προσπάθεια για την καλύτερη κατανόηση της συμπεριφοράς των σύνθετων υλικών, όταν εμπεριέχουν περιοχές συγκέντρωσης τάσης.
Stress concentration or strain magnification locations on composite materials, similar to conventional-metallic materials, are a very important case in designing structural elements or structures in general. Damage tolerance design, particularly, which has become a dominant design method, makes the study and understanding of the behaviour of these locations necessary. In the present, an effort is presented for the better understanding of the composite materials behaviour in the presence of stress concentration locations.