I would first like to thank God for all his blessing and provision. It is for Him that we exist. To my family, you have raised me to be the person I am today. Your continual support and ever pushing me to be my best is one of the reasons I have completed this thesis. To my fiancé, who decided to move half way across the country with me and has always been there with me throughout this process. I look forward to spending a lifetime with you and continuing to help each other strive to be better.

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... o my supervising professors, Dr. Wassim Ghannoum and Dr. James Jirsa. I have learned a great deal from both of you and much appreciate all of you guidance. I would like to acknowledge the members of my project team, Nawaf Alotaibi, Changhyuk Kim, and especially William Shekarchi for teaching and training me in the ways of Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory (FSEL). All of you help along the way has been a blessing. The countless other students who are too many to name and have both helped me numerous times as well as made FSEL an enjoyable place to work. In particular Alex Katz and Jessica Salazar for their friendship The assistance and technical support from both lab technicians and administrative staff including