Codes of practice can be overly conservative, particularly for the shear resistance of reinforced concrete beams with shear reinforcement when large loads act close to supports. This thesis addresses the topic by proposing a refined design approach based o ...
This article investigates the effects of voids, joint geometry, and test conditions on the quasi-static Mode I fracture performance of thick adhesive Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) joints such as those prevailing in wind industry and shipbuilding. The specim ...
Owing to their high specific stiffness and strength, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites (CFRP) are ideal candidates for the development of lightweight high-performance structures. Within this family, thin-ply composites allow for wider design freedom and p ...
Hydraulic fractures are tensile fractures that occur in solid materials due to the natural intrusion or anthropogenic injection of a viscous fluid into a fracture channel. The deliberate creation of hydraulic fractures is part of an industrial technology h ...
The elastic limit tensile stress of UHPFRC is governed by contributions of the cementitious matrix and the fibrous skeleton. This paper finds that fiber orientation has significant influence on the matrix tensile strength of UHPFRC, while this is not consi ...
The rocks forming a volcanic edifice or dome are typically saturated or partially-saturated with water. However, most experiments aimed at better understanding the mechanical behaviour of volcanic rocks have been performed on dry samples, and therefore mos ...
Hydraulic fractures are driven by an internal fluid pressure exceeding the minimum compressive stress, propagating in a direction perpendicular to the latter. This class of tensile fractures has gained interest over the last fifty years due to the developm ...