Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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2013 - 20142

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    MULTIPLE ENERGY DISSIPATION STRATEGIES OF BASE ISOLATED STRUCTURES UNDER BLAST AND EARTHQUAKE
    (2014) Zhang, Ruiyang; Phillips, Brian M.; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Terrorist attacks have become a growing threat worldwide in recent years. Explosive devices, the weapon of choice for a majority of terrorist attacks, significantly threaten civilian and military personnel. Accordingly it is very important to protect critical buildings against blast loads with the main goal of preventing loss of life of the occupants. The research detailed within this dissertation will investigate innovative smart structures, including the mitigation of damage and loss of life under blast loading through base isolated structures combined with supplemental passive control devices without compromising the innate seismic protection that base isolation provides. The focus of this dissertation is the development and simulation of multiple control strategies for multi-story structures subjected to surface blasts and seismic excitations. The goal is to study and improve the response of base isolated structures under blast loadings and simultaneously keep the same level or better performance under earthquakes through alternative energy dissipation systems.
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    Small-Scale Testing to Study Mitigation of Acceleration on Simulated Vehicles
    (2013) Bonsmann, Jarrod; Fourney, William L; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This dissertation investigates various means for mitigating acceleration experienced by passengers on vehicles subjected to blast loading. In order to complete this study, small-scale testing of simulated vehicles was used. The explosives designated for this research are exclusively buried in saturated sand, which will act as the loading media for the simulated vehicles. In addition to explosive testing, various tests were performed dynamically using a high-pressure gas gun. Initially, tests were performed to better understand the effects of vehicle mass and stand-off distance on vehicle acceleration due to blast loads; after which, studies were conducted to mitigate the acceleration. Test plates used in this study vary in both size and geometry. When necessary, simple plate geometries are employed to investigate various mitigation parameters. Ultimately, much of the testing was conducted on simplified scaled versions of vehicles likely to be subjected to attack. This paper focuses mainly on mitigation through crushing of thin-walled cylinders, but also investigates the advantages of applying polymeric coatings to dynamically loaded structures. Piezoelectric accelerometers are used in conjunction with high speed videography to collect test data. In addition to acceleration, impulse and kinetic energy of each test plate is examined. This research, though funded by the US Army, will be of use to all branches of the armed forces utilizing Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles. The ultimate goal of this research is to help create a vehicle that will increase the probability that the passengers will survive a blast event with minimal long-term damage to the brain.