The resistance of a slip-critical steel-to-steel connection including preloading and/or injection

Both preloaded and injected bolted connections are commonly used in steel bridges in The Netherlands. Where preloaded bolted connections are already used for a longer time, the injection of bolt holes is a method used from the 1970s onwards. Injection of bolts became a good alternative for the replacement of riveted connections. This injection...

Calculation Methods for Steel Joints: Comparative Study of European Design Regulations and Partial Finite Element Analyses

Traditionally, steel joints are calculated by the calculation rules described in the Eurocode 3: NEN-EN 1993-1-8. Effective lengths are important parameters to determine the different resistances of the components in the steel joint. Finite Element Analyses (FEA)...

Development of a method for the determination of preload in High Strength Friction Grip Connections of existing structures

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of determining the preload in bolts in High Strength Friction Grip Conections and performing in situ measurements. The magnitude of the preload is important for the behavior of High Strength Friction Grip Connections, as it defines the fatigue life of the connection and limits the...

New Materials for Injected Bolted Connections: A Feasibility Study for Demountable Connections

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the short- and long-term behaviour of injected bolted connections (IBCs) with oversize holes for various injection materials. A central theme in this thesis the demountability of IBCs, as a result of which several release agents are tested for their suitability in and effects on IBCs. <br/>Injection...

Local Hydroelectric Energy Storage: A feasibility study about a small scale energy storage system combining hydropower, gravity power, spring power and air pressure

Renewable energy sources, like wind- and solar power, are expected to generate a greater part of the electricity production in the Netherlands each upcoming year. Besides all the advantages, the energy supply of these renewable energy sources fluctuates heavily as they mainly depend on the amount of wind and sun. Therefore, the electricity...

Loss of preload in pretensioned bolts

Minor thesis --- Preload loss in pretensioned bolts is an inevitable phenomenon. This thesis focuses on the different causes for bolt relaxation and their relation to joint design. Investigating bolt relaxation is relevant because there is a direct relation between the bolt preload and the resistance of the connection. In order to assess the...

The influence of a residual stress distribution on the fatigue crack growth rate of bead-on-plate welded steel specimens

Fulfilling our energy demands with renewable resources is one of the world’s greatest current challenges. Building offshore wind farms and using wind energy is one option to achieve this goal. The cost efficiency of offshore wind farms is still limited however, due to high construction and maintenance costs. Several research and development...

Printing a stainless steel bridge: An exploration of structural properties of stainless steel additive manufactures for civil engineering purposes

The potential of additive manufacturing is great: highly complex and efficient structures can be manufactured with hardly any waste material. While high-tech industries such as aviation and medicine have already embraced additive manufacturing, civil engineering is lagging behind. Research on the structural properties of additive manufactures in...

The structural feasibility of timber wind turbines in the Netherlands

Inspired by the world's first timber tower for a multi-megawatt turbine, an investigation has been carried whether or not this design would be suited for Dutch wind conditions as well. Demands from design codes have been summarized and the frequency behaviour of these timber towers has been studied. Apart from the original softwood Cross...

Multi-storey timber-frame building- modelling the racking stiffness of timber-frame shear-walls

Today, timber structures are receiving attention more and more. Because of the increasing interest in sustainable construction as well as for other reasons, building industry in Europe is (re)-discovering multi-storey timber structures for construction of mid-rise buildings. In this master’s thesis, an analytical calculation method and modelling...

Timber Stadium Engineering: A feasibility study

In recent years, various types of plate-like timber materials have been introduced to the building industry, offering a wide range of new possibilities. Due to a lack of knowledge on these possibilities, in the Netherlands, the material is not used as often as could be expected. To explore the boundaries of timber engineering, in this thesis, it...

Medium rise timber buildings in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, timber is rarely used as primary material in medium rise buildings. The production of these timber buildings is very small compared to the total medium rise production. Because of this, timber as a construction method is an uncommon choice for designers and contractors to make. This results in a slow growing experience with...

Tensairity: The effect of internal stiffeness on the buckling behaviour of an inflatable column

Tensairity is a new lightweight structural concept which can be classified as a pneumatic structure. By adding a compression element and cables to an inflated tube a structural system is obtained in which the strut and cables carry the applied load and the air tube transfers forces between both and stabilises the compression element against...

Analysis of stressed membrane structures: Implementation of non-linear material behaviour in structural analysis

A growing use of tensioned membrane structures requires insight and understanding of the mechanical behaviour of the structure and the membrane material. In current practise the complex material behaviour is simplified due to the uncertainties that exist around the material behaviour. Testing and modelling the membrane material may provide a...

Larch round wood and its applications

In this project, a quality investigation is done on the influence of different parameters on the growth of homegrown Japanese larch. These parameters are expressed in a Site index, which is determined for some specimen that are analysed for density and strength characteristics (Chapter 2). An attempt is made to find a relation between this Site...

Heat transport in the pellet firing process

The objective of this project, undertaken from November '98 until June '99 at Hoogovens Research & Development, was to improve the description of the heat transport in a packed bed as found in the pellet firing process and in particular determine the influence of certain process variables, namely temperature, gas flow rate and bed voidage....