No description available.

Alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) is one of the most harmful distress mechanisms affecting the durability and serviceability of concrete infrastructure worldwide. Currently, there is a need to forecast future behaviour of AAR-affected concrete, and thus analytical and numerical models have been developed over the years. Larive developed a model in 1998 that is able to describe the behaviour of concrete samples in the laboratory. This model has been widely accepted and used by AAR community, even to predict the behaviour of concrete structures in the field. Larive’s model is based upon three main parameters and although they are normally set according to the concrete type under analysis, these parameters do not have a clear physicochemical meaning to describe AAR-induced expansion and development. Furthermore, it is widely known that AAR is influenced by several measurable variables such as the type and reactivity degree of the aggregates, temperature, moisture, and alkali content; those are currently not accounted for in Larive’s equation. This work aims to incorporate the previously mentioned parameters to Larive’s equation so that AAR kinetics and final expansion might be precisely described in the lab and/or field. Results indicate that the proposed modified Larive’s equation can predict AAR kinetics and final expansion in the laboratory although some modifications seem still necessary to assess field structures.

This study deals with the reactions of Sporobolus cryptandrus to various concentrations of Utah's most common alkali salts. Its purpose is to determine the effects of various concentrations of sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, and sodium sulphate on the growth and fruiting of Sporobolus cryptandrus, and to determine to what extent, if any, various levels of calcium exert a protective influence against the toxicity of these three salts. In addition to the experimental work a field of study was conducted for the purpose of determining the concentrations of total salts found in soils supporting a good growth of Sporobolus cryptandrus.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis details the synthesis and characterisation of s-block metal (lithium, sodium and magnesium) phosphonium ylide, R(_3)PCHR', and iminophosphorane complexes, R(_3)PNR', together with some related phosphine oxide, R(_3)PO, and sulfide, R(_3)PS, species, where R= Ph or Me(_2)N and R' = H, Me or Ph. The first three chapters of the thesis provide an introduction to the topic, with details of the experimental methods employed and results obtained. Chapter 4 presents a systematic study of Lewis base complexed s-block metal aryloxides, (ArOM L)(_2) where Ar = C(_6)H(_3)Ph(_2) or MeC(_6)H(_2)((^1)Bu)(_2), L = R(_3)PCHR', R(_3)PNR', R(_3)PO or R(_3)PS, and M = Li, Na, and (ArO)(_2)Mg(L)(_2) where Ar = MeC(_6)H(_2)(^1)Bu)(_2) and L = R(_3)PCHR’ or R(_3)PNR'. This includes a discussion of the single crystal XRD structures of the eight neutral ligands used, L, and ten new complexes containing either lithium or sodium. Chapter 5 describes the application of some related s-block metal ylide complexes, e.g. Ph(_3)PCHMe-LiN(CH(_2)Ph(_2))(_2) and Ph(_3)PCHMe-NaN(SiMe(_3))(_2), to the Wittig reaction, together with some solution-state and solid-state discussions (two single crystal XRD structures) of s-block metal amide-phosphonium ylide complexes, R(_3)PCHR'.MNR'(_2) where R = Ph or Me(_2)N, R’ = H or Me, and R" = SiMe(_3) or CH(_2)Ph Chapter 6 details a range of N-s-block metallated iminophosphorane complexes (e.g. Ph(_3)PNLi-LiBr.2thf and R(_3)PNMgX-L where R = Ph or Me(_2)N and L = Lewis base) their application to transmetallation reactions with copper(I) compounds, solution-state and solid-state NMR studies and six new single- crystal XRD structures. Chapter 7 describes some very recent work involving alkyldiphenylphosphonium ylides, MePh(_2)PCHPh, and imines, MePh(_2)PNPh, including a single crystal XRD structural study of the latter and three of its lithium derivatives, e.g. [CH(_2)LiPh(_2)PNPh](_4). Chapter 8 is concerned with a number of unexpected results, including the synthesis, solid-state structure and proposed mechanism of a novel A^-phosphino- iminophosphorane, Ph(_2)(C(_3)H(_4)Ph)PNP(C(_3)H(_5))Ph, and two aminophosphonium salts, [R(_3)PNH(_2)](^+)[OC(_6)H(_3)Ph(_2)]" where R = Ph or Me(_2)N.

Although concrete is widely considered a very durable material, if conditions are such, it can be vulnerable to deterioration and early distress development. Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) is a major durability problem in concrete structures. It is a chemical reaction between the reactive silica existent in some types of rocks and alkali hydroxides in the concrete pore water. The product of this reaction is a gel that is hygroscopic in nature. When the gel absorbs moisture, it swells leading to tensile stresses in concrete. When those stresses exceed the tensile strength of concrete, cracks occur. The main objective of this study was to address a method of testing concrete materials as a combination to assist engineers to effectively mitigate ASR in concrete. The research approach involved capturing the combined effects of concrete materials (water cement ratio, porosity, supplementary cementitious materials, etc.) through a method of testing to allow the formulation of mixture combinations resistant to ASR leading to an increase in the life span of concrete structures. To achieve this objective, a comprehensive study on different types of aggregates of different reactivity was conducted to formulate a robust approach that takes into account the factors affecting ASR; such as, temperature, moisture, calcium concentration and alkalinity. A kinetic model was proposed to determine aggregate ASR characteristics which were calculated using the System Identification Method. Analysis of the results validates that ASR is a thermally activated process and therefore, the reactivity of an aggregate can be characterized in terms of its activation energy (Ea) using the Arrhenius equation. Statistical analysis was conducted to determine that the test protocol is highly repeatable and reliable. To relate the effect of material combinations to field performance, concrete samples with different w/cm?s and fly ash contents using selective aggregates were tested at different alkalinities. To combine aggregate and concrete characteristics, two models were proposed and combined. The first model predicts the Ea of the aggregate at levels of alkalinity similar to field conditions. The second model, generated using the Juarez- Badillo transform, connects the ultimate expansion of the concrete and aggregate, the water cement ratio, and the fly ash content to the Ea of the rock. The proposed models were validated through laboratory tests. To develop concrete mixtures highly resistant to ASR, a sequence of steps to determine threshold total alkali in concrete were presented with examples. It is expected that the knowledge gained through this work will assist government agencies, contractors, and material engineers, to select the optimum mixture combinations that fits best their needs or type of applications, and predict their effects on the concrete performance in the field.