I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Pablo M. Carrica for his encouragement, support and guidance during my graduate studies. Dr. Carrica has shown me an academic quality that I admire and respect. He always encourages me to explore my potential and offers guidance. Also, I am deeply indebted to Dr. Alejandro M. Castro for his guidance and assistance. Interacting with him affected positively my research work and also my personal life. I would like to thank Profs. Christoph Beckermann, Ching-Long Lin and James H.J. Buchholz for serving as my dissertation committee members. I had the pleasure to work with my colleagues Juan E. Martin, Yuwei Li, Matias N. Perret, Alireza Mofidi, and Mehdi Esmaeilpour, who deserve many thanks for their suggestions and help during my studies. I deeply thank my parents, my wife, and my son for their support. I could have never completed this work successfully without their encouragement.