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En vanlig orsak till brott i svetsade kolstålskonstruktioner kan härledas till små sprickbildningar som uppstår i svetsgodset eller det område av grundmaterialet som har påverkats strukturellt av energin från svetsprocessen, även kallad HAZ. Dessa sprickor uppstår ofta timmar eller dagar efter avslutad svetsning och beror på en kombination av väte, en hård och spröd mikrostruktur och närvaro av spänningar. För att undvika dessa sprickor kan man förvärma materialet innan svetsning. Den förhöjda arbetstemperaturen ger en långsammare svalning vilken minskar risken för martensitbildning och låter väte diffundera ut från svetsförbandets kritiska delar. Det finns olika beräkningsmodeller för att räkna ut den förvärmningstemperatur som krävs för att motverka dessa sprickor. De flesta av dem är grafiska men försök har gjorts att översätta dessa till matematiska algoritmer. Beräkningsmodellerna kan ge väldigt varierande temperaturer och olika modeller kan anses vara bäst tillämpade till olika stål. I denna rapport har det undersökts vilken beräkningsmodell som är bäst lämpad för konstruktionsstålet S355J2. Modellerna som har använts är den matematiska CET, de grafiska CEIIW och CEN samt matematiska tolkningar av de två sistnämnda. Utvärderingen har gjorts genom att svetsa upp prover på plåtar med en godstjocklek på 30 mm med en stegvis ökande förhöjd arbetstemperatur. Dessa prover har sedan genomgått både oförstörande och förstörande provning för att undersöka hur sprickbenägna de är. En analys av svetsförbandets mikrostruktur har också genomförts för att identifiera de mest kritiska zonerna. Det visade sig att de matematiska tolkningarna av de grafiska metoderna skiljde sig såpass mycket från sina grafiska motsvarigheter att de inte kan rekommenderas för användning. Det visade sig även att det inte fanns en beräkningsmodell av ursprungsmodellerna som var bäst lämpad för S355J2 utan valet berodde helt och hållet på vilken sträckenergi som användes då modellerna tar olika mycket hänsyn till denna. För en sträckenergi på över 1,6 kJ/mm rekommenderas CET-metoden som beräknade en temperatur som gav goda materialparametrar. För sträckenergier under 0,9 kJ/mm beräknar ingen metod en tillräckligt hög temperatur, men CEIIW är den som beräknar den högsta förhöjda arbetstemperaturen och rekommenderas därför för användning. Man bör dock ha i åtanke att den inte var tillräckligt hög och bör därför ses som en lågt räknad rekommendation. Mellan 0,9 kJ/mm och 1,6 kJ/mm har inga prover svetsats men rekommendationen är att använda sig av CET-metoden då den är enkel och beräknar högst temperatur. Vad det gäller svetsförbandets kritiska zoner så visade det sig att korntillväxtzonen var området där vätesprickor har störst förutsättningar för att uppstå. / One of the most common causes of failure in welded carbon steel constructions can be traced to small cracks that occur in the weld metal or in the area of the base metal that has been affected structurally by the energy from the welding process, also known as HAZ. These cracks can occur hours or days after the welding is completed and do so due to a combination of hydrogen that has penetrated the metal during the weld process, a hard and brittle microstructure and tensile stresses acting on the weld. A method to avoid these cracks is to preheat the material before welding. The increased temperature results in a slower cooling which reduces the risk of a martensitic microstructure and allow hydrogen to diffuse out of the most critical zones of the welded joint. There are many different methods for calculating the preheat temperature needed to counter these cracks. Most of them are solved graphically but attempts have been made to translate them into mathematical algorithms to facilitate calculations. The outcome of the methods may vary and different methods can be considered to be best applied to various steel. The purpose of this study is to investigate which method is best suited to determine the preheat temperature to eliminate the risk of hydrogen cracking for the structural steel S355J2. The methods used in this study was the mathematical CET, the graphic CEIIW and CEN and mathematical interpretations of the latter two. The evaluation was made by welding samples of plates with a thickness of 30 mm and with an incrementally increased preheat temperature. These samples were then subjected to both non-destructive and destructive testing to examine how prone they were to crack. An analysis of the weld microstructure was also conducted to identify the most critical zones. It turned out that the mathematical interpretations of the graphic methods differed so much from their graphical equivalent that they can not be recommended for use. It was also found that none of the original methods can be said to be best suited for S355J2 but the choice depended entirely on the heat input. For a heat input over 1.6 kJ/mm it is recommended to use the CET-method which estimated a temperature that gave good material parameters. For a heat input below 0.9 kJ/mm no method calculates a sufficiently high temperature, but the CEIIW-method is calculating the highest temperature and is therefore recommended for use. However, one should keep in mind that it was not sufficient and should therefore be seen as a conservative recommendation. No samples were welded between 0.9 kJ/mm and 1.6 kJ/mm but the recommendation is to use the CET- method because it is simple and calculates the maximum temperature. It was also found that the coarse grain zone was the area where hydrogen cracking is most likely to occur.

Due to strict placement time and strength constraints during the construction of concrete pavement repair slabs, accelerators must be incorporated into the mixture design. Since the most common accelerator, calcium chloride, promotes corrosion of concrete reinforcement, a calcium nitrate-based accelerator was studied as an alternative. To replicate mixtures used in the field, commercial accelerators commonly used in concrete pavement repair slabs were used in the current study. Crack risk of different mixtures was assessed using modeling and cracking frame testing. HIPERPAV modeling was conducted using several measured mixture properties; namely, concrete mechanical properties, strength-based and heat of hydration-based activation energies, hydration parameters using calorimetric studies, and adiabatic temperature rise profiles. Autogenous shrinkage was also measured to assess the effect of moisture consumption on concrete volume contraction. The findings of the current study indicate that the cracking risk associated with calcium nitrate-based accelerator matches the performance of a calcium-chloride based accelerator when placement is conducted during nighttime hours.

Studies show that the microstructure of the fine aggregate matrix has a significant influence on the mechanical properties and evolution of damage in an asphalt mixture. However, very little work has been done to quantitatively characterize the microstructure of the asphalt binder within the fine aggregate matrix of asphalt mixtures. The first objective of this study was to quantitatively characterize the three dimensional microstructure of the asphalt binder within the fine aggregate matrix (FAM) of an asphalt mixture and compare the influence of binder content, coarse aggregate gradation, and fine aggregate gradation on this microstructure. Studies indicate that gradation of the fine aggregate has the most influence of the degree of anisotropy whereas gradation of the coarse aggregate has the most influence on the direction anisotropy of the asphalt mastic within the fine aggregate matrix. Addition of asphalt binder or adjustments to the fine aggregate gradation also resulted in a more uniform distribution of the asphalt mastic within the fine aggregate matrix. The second objective of this study was to compare the internal microstructure of the mortar within a full-scale asphalt mixture to the internal microstructure of the FAM specimen and also conduct a limited evaluation of the influence of mixture properties and methods of compaction on the engineering properties of the FAM specimens. Fatigue cracking is a significant form of pavement distress in flexible pavements. The properties of the sand-asphalt mortars or FAM can be used to characterize the evolution of fatigue crack growth and self-healing in full-scale asphalt mixtures. The results from this study, although limited in number, indicate that in most cases the SGC (Superpave Gyratory Compactor) compacted FAM specimen had a microstructure that most closely resembled the microstructure of the mortar within a full-scale asphalt mixture. Another finding from this study was that, at a given level of damage, the healing characteristic of the three different types of FAM mixes evaluated was not significantly different. This indicates that the healing rate is mostly dictated by the type of binder and not significantly influenced by the gradation or binder content, as long as the volumetric distribution of the mastic was the same. / text

Thermal stimulation of geothermal wells is a production enhancement technique that is an attractive option to operators of geothermal fields as a way to enhance and revitalize well performance capabilities through injection of cold water into the geothermal reservoir. This thesis presents a review of thermal stimulation procedures that have been carried out at various geothermal fields worldwide, and then sets out to demonstrate through laboratory experiments the effects of thermal stimulation on typical reservoir rocks. Thermal damage to crustal rocks is important in many fields of practical engineering applications. Thermal fractures have been discussed in many studies, however their formation under fully water saturated conditions as a result of rapid quenching is not fully understood. In this study, a new methodology is designed to replicate thermal stimulation in such an environment, using an apparatus that allows rocks to be heated to 350°C at up to 22 MPa confining pressure and rapidly quenched with cold water to ambient temperature while maintaining system pressure. The results indicate that through thermal cycling in the apparatus, porosity was increased, density decreased, acoustic velocities attenuated and mechanical properties significantly altered. Maximum damage occurred during the first thermal cycle, a product of the thermo-mechanical Kaiser effect such that rocks should not experience additional damage unless a previous maximum stress is surpassed. The thesis details a comprehensive evaluation of the Rotokawa Andesite sourced from the Rotokawa Geothermal field located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. The importance of microstructural fabrics on the physical properties of this reservoir lithology is demonstrated. The mineralogical and petrological fabrics of the rocks are coupled with detailed studies of the microstructural fracture networks, including measurements of porosity, density and permeability. Acoustic wave velocities and dynamic elastic moduli were determined. Uniaxial compressive strength testing coupled with acoustic emission have helped to determine the behavior of the rock under deformation and provided data to characterize the static elastic moduli of the rocks. These data are then utilized to build empirical, micromechanical and geometric relationships. To better constrain important engineering concerns such as wellbore stability, reservoir forecasting and stimulation procedures, thermal property measurements were carried out on samples recovered from the Rotokawa Andesite. In particular, measurements of linear thermal expansion, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry were measured utilizing varied experimental heating rates of 2, 5 and 20 K/min. The property analyses were carried out to determine if heating rates influenced the measurement of thermal properties, specifically thermal expansion coefficients and strain rate in the samples. Results indicate that thermal expansion is not heating rate dependent within the range investigated though the strain rate is significantly dependent on heating rate, with higher strain rates observed in conjunction with higher heating rates. By using a one dimensional stress model, a failure criterion can be established for the Rotokawa Andesite when subject to thermal stressing. The importance of this study is to further understand the critical heating and cooling rates at which thermal stress causes cracking within the Rotokawa reservoir. This can enhance permeability but can also affect wellbore stability, so constraining these conditions can be beneficial to resource utilization. To test effects of thermal stimulation in the laboratory, Rotokawa Andesite core was heated to 325ºC at pressure of 20 MPa and quenched rapidly to 20ºC while maintaining a pressure of 20 MPa. Permeability increased by an order of magnitude over original pre-treatment values. Ultrasonic velocities also reflected a significant change after stimulation testing. Scanning electron microscopy showed significant microstructural change to samples and supplemented physical property investigations. The results imply that thermal stimulation can be successfully repeated in the laboratory and is coupled with both thermal and chemical components. The results of these investigations are of profound importance for effective utilization and maintenance of the Rotokawa Geothermal field and the results also have implications for geothermal fields worldwide.

Al-Zn-Mg-Cu (7xxx series) aluminium alloys are widely used for aircraft structures. It is difficult to obtain a combination of optimal strength and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance for these alloys. It appears that SCC resistance of these alloys is related to grain boundary precipitate morphology. One technique to control the grain boundary precipitate morphology is to introduce a controlled cooling procedure referred to as High Temperature Pre-precipitation (HTPP) treatment following the solution heat treatment. There is need for a detailed study of the effect of HTPP on the properties of commercial Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys using different intermediate temperatures. In this thesis research, the results of ten HTPP processes applied to 7075 and 7050 commercial 7xxx series alloys are presented in terms of hardness, electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, TEM analysis of grain boundary precipitate morphology and EDS analysis of solute concentration profile at the grain boundary. Results indicate that subsequent to HTPP processing, the 7050 alloy can be precipitation aged to a higher hardness compared to 7075; this result is associated with the modification of 7050 alloy by zirconium versus chromium in 7075 alloy. HTPP heat treatment achieves better SCC resistance compared to standard T6 temper. However, it does not appear that HTPP can achieve a combination of hardness, electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance superior to standard T6 and T7X tempers. / October 2014

In bridge deck concrete, early-age cracking can lead to substantial serviceability and structural integrity issues over the lifespan of the bridge. An understanding of the temperature, stress, and strength development of concrete can aid determining the early-age cracking susceptibility. This project, funded by the Texas Department of Transportation, evaluated these properties for various bridge deck materials and mixture proportions. The research presented in this thesis involved a laboratory testing program that used a combination of semi-adiabatic calorimetry, rigid cracking frame, free shrinkage frame, and match cured cylinder testing program that allowed the research team to simulate the performance of common bridge deck mixture designs under hot and cold weather conditions. In this program, the semi-adiabatic calorimetry was used, with previously generated models, to generate the temperature profile of the mixture. The rigid cracking frame and free shrinkage frame were used to evaluate the restrained stress development and the unrestrained volume changes, respectively, under the simulated temperatures. The match-cure cylinder testing program allowed the research team to generate a strength development profile for the concrete mixtures under the various simulated temperature profiles. Results from the laboratory program revealed that in hot weather simulations, ground granulated blast furnace slag mixtures developed the lowest stress / strength ratios, and in cold weather simulations, Class F fly ash mixtures developed the lowest stress / strength ratios. In general, use of SCMs and limestone coarse aggregate results in mixtures that generate less heat and lower stress / strength ratios. Isothermal testing showed that shrinkage reducing admixtures were effective in reducing early-age strains from chemical shrinkage. In addition to the laboratory testing program, a field testing program was completed to measure the temperature development of four bridge decks during the winter and summer months. The recorded concrete temperatures and the effects of the environmental conditions at the time of the pour will aid in the calibration and validation of the temperature prediction component of ConcreteWorks for bridge deck construction. In addition, experience gained through these field pours resulted in an optimized instrumentation procedure that will aid in the successful collection of data in future projects. / text

Different fracture modes have been observed in thin film structures. One common approach used in fracture analysis is based on the principle of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), which assumes pre-existing cracks and treats the materials as linear elastic except for the damage zone around the crack tip. Alternatively, a nonlinear cohesive zone model (CZM) can be used to simulate both nucleation and growth of cracks. In this dissertation, the approaches of LEFM and CZM are employed to study fracture and delamination of elastic thin films on compliant substrates under various loading conditions. First, compression-induced buckling of elastic thin films on elastic compliant substrates is studied by analytical and numerical methods. The critical condition for onset of buckling instability without and with a pre-existing delamination crack is predicted. By comparing the critical strains, a map for the initial buckling modes is constructed with respect to the film/substrate stiffness ratio and the interfacial defect size. For an elastic film on a highly compliant substrate, nonlinear post-buckling analysis is conducted to simulate concomitant wrinkling and buckle-delamination, with a long-range interaction between the two buckling modes through the compliant substrate. By using a layer of cohesive elements for the interface, progressive co-evolution of wrinkling and delamination is simulated. In particular, the effects of interfacial properties (strength and toughness) on the initiation and propagation of wrinkle-induced interfacial delamination are examined. Next, using a set of finite element models, the effects of interfacial delamination and substrate penetration on channel cracking of brittle thin films are analyzed. It is found that, depending on the elastic mismatch and the toughness of interface and substrate, a channel crack may grow with interfacial delamination and/or substrate cracking. By comparing the effective energy release rates, the competition between the two fracture modes is discussed. Cohesive zone modeling is then employed to simulate nucleation and growth of delamination and penetration from the root of a channel crack. By comparing the results from the approaches of LEFM and CZM, the characteristic fracture resistance from small-scale bridging to large-scale bridging is identified. Finally, to determine the nonlinear traction-separation relation for cohesive zone modeling of a bimaterial interface, a hybrid approach is developed by combining experimental measurements and finite element simulations. In particular, both analytical and numerical models for wedge-loaded double cantilever beam specimens are developed. A two-step fitting procedure is proposed to determine the interface toughness and strength based on the measurements of the steady-state crack length and the local crack opening displacements. / text

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy