Browsing by Subject "Impact"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Impact resistance of filled concrete box sections
    (2013-08) Bruhn, Christopher Michael
    The purpose of this research is to analyze the effects of drop-weight impact tests on filled concrete box sections. Research in other areas of soil filled container walls has proved favorable in blast loading environments suggesting a concrete system may also work well. In the experiment, thirty different box sections were cast and broken via drop weight test with six different fill materials. The testing yielded that compacted sand is the most favorable fill material for the sections. The research results indicate that further testing and applications should use compacted sand as a fill material.
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    The Influence of Bedrock Topography on the Origin of a Mid-Pleistocene Epoch Glacial Lake in Rock County, Southwest Minnesota
    (Minnesota Geological Survey, 2017) Southwick, David L
    A circular, closed depression 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) in diameter that was formerly occupied by a shallow lake is located in the glaciated landscape of northern Rock County, southwest Minnesota. The depression is partly framed by Sioux Quartzite and is situated above a bedrock swale on a broad, quartzite-supported upland that is thinly mantled by pre-Wisconsinan glacial deposits. The quartzite-supported upland has been a positive topographic feature since at least the Late Cretaceous Epoch; near the depression, its discontinuous cover of unconsolidated sediment consists of glacial till, outwash deposits, and loess that aggregate to a total preserved thickness between 1 and 82 feet (less than 1 to 25 meters). The depression originated from the melting out of a buried, tabular ice mass that was isolated near the stagnating margin of a mid-Pleistocene Epoch continental glacier. The ice mass was buried in outwash and then further buried by a thin till deposited when the glacier readvanced. The ice mass became isolated and was slow to melt because of its position in a bedrock swale on a topographic high that was near a dynamically fluctuating glacier margin; its relative thickness and protected location in the swale were key factors in its transient preservation. The closed depression that formed upon final melting of the ice mass has survived in the post-glacial landscape because of its location on a geomorphically persistent bedrock upland where the erosive energy of post-glacial and modern streams has been minimal. It has been speculated that this bedrock-framed, geographically unique circular depression may be a deeply eroded meteorite impact structure. No supporting evidence for this speculation has been discovered in the field or laboratory.
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    Strength and Stability of Prestressed Concrete Through-Girder Pedestrian Bridges Subjected to Vehicular Impact
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, Research Services Section, 2007-01) Baran, Eray; Schultz, Arturo; French, Catherine
    Two issues regarding the prestressed concrete through-girder pedestrian bridge system are investigated. The first issue concerns the ductility of prestressed concrete girders in these bridges because the section that is typically used may be considered to be over-reinforced according to AASHTO LRFD Bridge Specifications. Response of the section, including neutral axis location, strand stress at ultimate capacity, and moment capacity, predicted by AASHTO Standard and AASHTO LRFD Specifications are compared with the sectional response determined from nonlinear strain compatibility analyses. Modifications are proposed to the AASHTO LRFD procedure to rectify the errors in predicting sectional response. The second issue that was investigated concerns the strength and stability of prestressed concrete through-girder pedestrian bridges when subjected to impact by over-height vehicles. Three-dimensional finite element models of entire bridges and subassemblages were used to evaluate the strength, stiffness, and ductility characteristics of the bridge system and connection details. Accurate representation of the bridge details in the finite element models were assured by utilizing experimentally determined load-deformation characteristics for the connections. Results showed that significant improvements in the lateral load-deflection behavior of the bridge system could be obtained by implementing alternate connection schemes, and that concrete side-walls should be provided at girder ends.