| This thesis discusses the design considerations used to produce a new generation of structurally efficient, reinforced cementitious composite panels capable of resisting the dangerous stresses produced by reverse bending. The work includes theoretical arguments, concrete mixture design, concrete testing, reinforcement selection, composite section analysis, and plate testing.; The panels rely on a lightweight concrete mix, designed to be structurally compatible with a multilayered reinforcement scheme. The geometry is chosen so that the panels are “adaptive” and display the same performance under reverse bending. Sections are reinforced with materials such as steel, graphite, plastic, and Kevlar.; The design of these adaptive structures is based on both material compliance and strength, making the associated strategy very different from that taken by conventional reinforced concrete designers. Other unique contributions include the use of photoelasticity to develop and verify the theory, development of a standard testing technique to evaluate flexural stiffness, characterization of the embedded stiffness of compressive layers of reinforcement, and a technique for measuring deflection to avoid the brittle failure associated with some of the materials. |
