Le projet de la thèse a consisté au développement et à l’évaluation des performances d’une mousse syntactique phénolique pour la réalisation d’un système sandwich multicouche (cœur/peau en matériau composite). Il permet d’assurer la protection thermique, mécanique et au feu en particulier contre l’impact d’un feu torche. Un feu torche peut survenir sur un site pétrochimique suite à l’inflammation d’une fuite de fluides inflammables sous pression pouvant être très dévastateur par son effet abrasif et le flux convectif et radiatif intense. Le travail s’est essentiellement axé sur l’étude de l’efficacité de la mousse syntactique phénolique à partir d’une analyse de la relation microstructure-propriété. Les exigences de mise en œuvre ont imposé une maîtrise de la formulation par une bonne compréhension de la réactivité de la résine, notamment par rapport aux différentes transformations physiques (gélification, vitrification) qui ont lieu pendant le processus de réticulation. Il s’agit alors d’optimiser le dosage des différents composés actifs et additifs vis-à-vis des contraintes de mise en œuvre afin de parvenir à des propriétés optimales du matériau final. L’efficacité de ce dernier dans les conditions normales d’utilisation a été déterminée par une phase d’expérimentation complète sur ses propriétés mécaniques, thermiques et thermomécaniques. Des tests au feu ont permis d’étudier son comportement au feu afin de vérifier ses propriétés protectrices sous l’impact d’une flamme issue d’un feu torche. Enfin, un essai instrumenté capable de reproduire en condition réelle une fuite de gaz de propane à haute pression a été mis au point pour évaluer la performance au feu torche d’un prototype industriel complet. En parallèle, un modèle numérique simplifié a été proposé afin de simuler l’impact d’un tel feu. / This work consisted in the development and the evaluation of a phenolic syntactic foam performance for the production of a multilayer sandwich system (core/skin in composite material). It ensures thermal, mechanical and fire protection, in particular against the impact of a jet fire. A jet fire can occur on a petrochemical site resulting from the combustion of a fuel continuously released under pressure. It can be very devastating for its abrasive effect and intense convective and radiative flux. The work focuses mainly on the study of the effectiveness of the phenolic syntactic foam through the analysis of the relationship microstructure-propriety. The manufacturing process requirements imposed to control the elaboration via a good understanding of the reactivity of the resin, especially in relation to various physical transformations (gelation, vitrification) that take place during the curing mechanisms. That involves optimizing the proportions of the various active compounds and additives depending on the working conditions in order to achieve optimal properties of the final material. The effectiveness of this final material under normal conditions of use was determined by a complete testing phase on its mechanical, thermal and thermomechanical properties. Fire tests were also conducted to investigate the material burning behavior to ensure its protective properties under a jet flame impact. Finally, a large-scale instrumented test, reproducing in real conditions a propane gas leak at high pressure, was developed to evaluate the resistance to a jet fire of a complete industrial prototype. In parallel, a simplified numerical model was also proposed to simulate the impact of such a fire.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-06-15T14:11:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 BÁRBARA JORDANI_.pdf: 2132585 bytes, checksum: 322ec6d990fc948ff3060abffa46014a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-15T14:11:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 BÁRBARA JORDANI_.pdf: 2132585 bytes, checksum: 322ec6d990fc948ff3060abffa46014a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-31 / FAPERGS - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPQ - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Nos últimos anos o setor da construção civil está buscando alternativas para substituir as matérias primas utilizadas no processo de produção do concreto, visando preservar o meio ambiente reduzindo extrações da natureza. Diante disso, surge a reciclagem de materiais, que vem ganhando cada vez mais espaço dentro da atividade da construção civil. Uma das alternativas é a utilização de agregados reciclados de concreto (ARC), que podem ser empregados como substituição ao agregado natural. Outra possibilidade é o uso de pozolanas provenientes de resíduos, e dentre as diferentes opções a cinza de casca de arroz se destaca. A cinza de casca de arroz ainda não é largamente utilizada no ocidente, porém vem sendo explorada, sendo um resíduo do setor agropecuário. Após o processo de queima da casca do arroz, surge a cinza que possui grande concentração de sílica. O uso destas pozolanas contribui para diminuir o consumo de cimento. Além disto, o emprego de agregados reciclados pré-saturados pode atuar como um agente de cura interna de concretos, o que, em caso de concretos com pozolanas, pode ser um aspecto positivo para obter-se uma boa hidratação da pasta aglomerante. Este trabalho propõe investigar o efeito do emprego de agregados graúdos reciclados de resíduo de concreto (AGRC) como agente de cura interna em concretos produzidos com pozolana, frente a aspectos vinculados à durabilidade e ao comportamento mecânico. Avaliou-se a substituição do agregado graúdo natural (AN) por (AGRC) em teor determinado pelo Método de Dosagem para Cura Interna, seco e úmido, associado com a substituição de cimento por cinza de casca de arroz em teor de 20%, em dois ambientes de cura (U.R 60% e 100%). Para o estudo foi utilizado três relações a/agl (0,31; 0,42; e 0,53). Os resultados apontaram um efeito positivo do emprego da CCA em concretos fabricados com AGRC. A substituição de cimento por CCA em média pode aumentar a resistência à compressão. Os concretos fabricados com relação a/agl 0,31, para todos os concretos ensaiados, retornaram resistências na faixa de 35-45 MPa. Também foi possível notar retrações significativas até os 28 dias. Já para cura interna cabe ressaltar que o AGRC empregado saturado não apresenta comportamento de agente de cura interna, principalmente no ambiente crítico de ambiente com umidade relativa na ordem de 60%, considerada baixa. / During the last years, the construction sector has been looking for alternatives to replace the raw materials used for concrete production, in order to reduce environmenal impact. The waste recycling as raw material for civil construction can be one of solutions to this problem. One example of this kind of solution is to use the recycled concrete aggregate, which can be used as alternative for the natural aggregate. Another possibility is to use some waste as pozzolanic material, as the rice husk ash. After the burning of the rice hull, it becomes the ash, which has a large concentration of silica. The use of these pozzolans can contribute to reduce the consumption of cement. Furthermore, the usage of pre-saturated recycled aggregate can act as an internal concrete curing agent, which in the case of concretes with pozzolans can be a good way to obtain a better hydration of the binder paste. This study proposes to investigate the effect of the usage of concrete recycled coarse aggregate (RCCA) as an internal curing agent in concrete produced with pozzolan, in order to evaluate the durability and mechanical behaviour. It was evaluated the replacement of natural coarse aggregate (AN) by RCCA. The content of RCCA is related to the binder consumption and it was employed dry and wet. The cement replacement by rice husk ash was done at 20% and it was used three water to binder (w/t) relationships (0.31, 0.42, and 0.53). The curing process was developed in two cure environments (U.R 60% and 100%).The results indicated that the CCA produces positive effect on concrete made with AGRC. The concrete made with respect to w/b 0.31 for all tested concretes returned resistances in the range of 35-45 MPa. The effect of RCCA as internal curing agent is significant when the concrete is cured in a humid environment only for compressive strength. In dry environment, it does not work as internal curing agent. It was also noted significant retractions up to 28 days. As for domestic demand it is noteworthy that the saturated employee AGRC has no internal curing agent behaviour, especially in the critical environment with relative humidity of around 60%, considered low.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de développer des matériaux polymérisés par rayonnement ultra-violet possédant une bonne balance des propriétés thermomécaniques entre résistance à la température, rigidité (strength) et résistance à l’impact. Une direction vers cet objectif est l’utilisation de résines (meth)acrylate modifiées avec des thiols polyfonctionnels. Cependant, les thiol-ene en général sont sujets à un problème de polymérisation prématurée incontrôlée même à l’abri de la lumière. Ce problème doit être traité puisque celui-ci conditionne le succès des thiol-ene dans le domaine des photopolymères. La première partie de cette thèse concerne l’élaboration de résine (meth)acrylate modifiée par l’incorporation d’un polythiol, le pentaerythritol tetrakismercaptopropionate (PETMP), à différents ratio. Les propriétés thermomécaniques et photochimiques de ces résines sont à l’étude. La seconde partie traite du problème de polymérisation prématurée incontrôlée des thiol-ene. Une étude de stabilité thermique aboutissant à des résultats très encourageant est proposée. Finalement, la dernière partie porte sur la caractérisation des réseaux photo-réticulés par pyrolyse-GC/MS. La compréhension de la constitution des réseaux tridimensionnels devraient apportés des avancées dans l’élaboration de nouveaux matériaux. Une nouvelle méthode de caractérisation utilisant la pyrolyse-GC/MS directe à multi-étapes est développée. Enfin, des résultats sur l’application de la méthode sur des matériaux à base de (meth)acrylate difonctionnel photopolymérisés ainsi qu’une tentative de caractérisation de matériaux à base de polythiol/(meth)acrylates photopolymérisés sont reportés puis discutés. / This thesis fall within an approach aiming to develop UV-processed materials having a good thermo-mechanical properties balance between strength, temperature resistance and impact resistance. A direction toward this objective is the use of photocurable (meth)acrylate resins modified with polyfunctional thiols. Indeed, thiol-ene chemistry is known to have poor sensitivity toward oxygen inhibition, to improve the dimensional stability and toughness properties of photocured materials. However, thiol-ene resins are subjected to premature uncontrolled dark polymerization, an issue that has to be solved for their success in the photopolymers area. The first part of this work is focused on the thermo-mechanical and the photopolymerization properties investigation of a pentaerythritol tetrakismercaptopropionate (PETMP) modified (meth)acrylate based resin by looking at different ratio of polythiol/(meth)acrylate. The second part is dedicated to the understanding of the thermal instability of such systems and to the solving of this issue. Finally, a special interest is brought to the characterization of photopolymeric networks by pyrolysis-GC/MS. The lake of deep understanding and view about how the cured networks are really constituted due to the difficulty to analyze insoluble cured polymers, prevents improvements in the formulation of high performance materials. Further information on cured networks constitution could bring useful information for the elaboration of new materials. A new characterization method based on direct multi-step pyrolysis-GC/MS is developed and an attempt on the characterization of polythiol (meth)acrylate material by Py-GC/MS is reported and discussed.

Thin polymer films and their properties have been investigated. The characteristics of crystalline polymers according to film thickness have been improved using polycaprolactone (PCL). The melting enthalpy of PCL has increased when the film thickness decreased and the peak melting temperature showed no significant changes with film thickness. Film thickness variation influenced surface roughness and crystal size. Optical microscope images showed the rougher surface of thicker films. The spinning time has shown no influence on film thickness and no significant changes to surface roughness. Thin films of block copolymers were used in the surface modification study; films studied included poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS) and poly(styrene-b-isoprene-b-styrene) (SIS) and their surface modifications have been controlled using different methods of treatment. Films of SIS heated at different temperatures have shown different surface texture and roughness. Films treated at low temperature (45 °C) had smooth surfaces when compared with films heated at high temperature (120 °C and 160 °C). Phase separation of SIS heated at (120 °C and 160 °C) caused bulges of different sizes to cover the surface. The height and width of the bulges showed variation with film thickness and heating. Substrate interaction with SBS and SIS block copolymer films showed different surface texture when using the same type of substrate and different texture were obtained when SBS solutions were spun onto different substrates. It has been demonstrated that using different solvents in copolymer preparation caused different texture. Thermal and surface property variations with film thickness have been improved using amorphous polymers. Surface roughness of poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA and disperse red 1-poly(methyl methacrylate) DR1-PMMA, PMMA has improved using thickness variation. Glass transition temperature measurement has increased when film thickness was increased. The glass transition temperature (Tg) and surface roughness of UV15 UV - curable coating polymer has been modified using UV curing and heating methods. Tg variation was observed when curing time and curing intensity were changed causing the optical properties of the polymer to be more variable. A plasma etcher caused wrinkles to occur on the surface of unheated UV15. Tg of UV15 increased when curing time increased. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of cured UV15 film have shown peak variations of the ester and carbon double bond regions over the range of 1850-1700 cm-1. Urethane-Urea (UU) Polymer thin films were used to investigate optical properties and develop an optical waveguide. Absorption and transmission properties of light using non-linear optical (NLO) polymer was investigated and used in optical waveguide fabrication. Refractive indices were measured to examine UU films at two different wavelengths. A UU film of 1 µm thickness caused a maximum absorption at max = 471 nm also obtained at 810 nm wavelength. Many methods of fabrication were used; photolithography, plasma etching in a barrel reactor and thin film deposition using sputtering and evaporation. Etched depths from 1 μm to 100 μm were obtained. An optical waveguide has been prepared using plasma etching of a cured UV15 as a cladding layer on a silicon substrate.

This dissertation examines changes in the Swedish health care system during the period 1962-2000. During this period, three legislative changes affected the development of the health care system. Firstly, the Health care act of 1962 that increased the county councils responsibility for the health care. Secondly, the Health care act of 1983, which resulted in a new definition of concept health at the same time as it changed the hospitals responsibility for care and illness. Thirdly, from 1992 to 1995, three reforms changed the hospitals position in the health care system. Together with the general technological development of the health care sector, these three legislative changes have led to new way of producing care as well as it has created new jobs, new work specialities and it has also effect the gender division in work. Women have always dominated the work in the health care sector. The way of care production have however also created new jobs mainly consisting of technological work assignments that have better status than traditional care work with the patients. The new technological jobs are furthermore primarily occupied by men, which leads to a organizational development than reemphasizes the hierarchical structure of the health care sector, where women work in the lower position and men in the upper positions. This development is also evident when nurses begin to work with technology. This express a new gender system in which men dominate in curing and nursing work-assignments at care wards with high technological level, but not in the caring assignments. And at care wards with low technological level the situation is the opposite, women dominate in all three assignments e.g. curing, nursing and caring care work.

Large Area Maskless Photopolymerization (LAMP) is a direct digital manufacturing technology being developed at Georgia Tech to produce ceramic molds for investment casting of turbine airfoils. In LAMP, UV light incident on a spatial light modulator is projected in the form of a structured black and white bitmap image onto a platform supporting slurry comprising a ceramic particle loaded photocurable resin. Curing of the resin is completed rapidly with exposures lasting 20~160ms. Three-dimensional parts are built layer-by-layer by sequentially applying and selectively curing resin layers of 25-100 micron thickness. In LAMP, diacrylate-based ceramic particle-loaded resins with photoinitiators sensitive in the range of spectral characteristics of the UV source form the basis for an ultra-fast photopolymerization reaction. At the start of the reaction, the monomer molecules are separated by van der Waals distance (~10⁴Å). As the reaction proceeds, these monomer molecules form a closely packed network thereby reducing their separation to covalent bond lengths (~ 1 Å). This results in bulk contraction in the cured resin, which accumulates as the part is fabricated layer-by-layer. The degree of shrinkage is a direct measure of the number of covalent bonds formed. Thus, shrinkage in LAMP is characterized by estimating the number of covalent bonds formed during the photopolymerization reaction. Polymerization shrinkage and accompanying stresses developed during photopolymerization of ceramic particle-loaded resins in LAMP can cause deviations from the desired geometry. The extent of deviations depends on the photoinitiator concentration, the filler loading, the degree of monomer conversion, and the operating parameters such as energy dose. An understanding of shrinkage and stresses built up in a part can assist in developing source geometry compensation algorithms and exposure strategies to alleviate these effects. In this thesis, an attempt has been made to understand the curing kinetics of the reaction and its relation to the polymerization shrinkage. Realtime Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (RTFTIR) is used to determine the conversion of monomers into polymer networks by analyzing the changes in the chemical bonds of the participating species of molecules. The conversion data can further be used to estimate the curing kinetics of the reaction and the relative volumetric shrinkage strain due to polymerization.

UV- und lichthärtenden Acrylatklebstoffen steht ein breites Anwendungsspektrum im Konstruktiven Glasbau offen. Ihr farbloses und klares Erscheinungsbild fördert eine Konstruktion, die transparent und leicht wirken soll. Kurze Aushärtezeiten, die sich im Sekunden- oder einstelligen Minutenbereich bewegen, ermöglichen eine schnelle Herstellung und reduzieren die Lagerzeiten. Die geklebten Konstruktionen können direkt weiterverarbeitet werden. Durch diese Vorteile heben sie sich von den Silikonklebstoffen ab, die für ausge-wählte Anwendungen im Fassadenbau (Structural-Sealant-Glazing-Systems - SSGS) bauaufsichtlich zugelassen sind. Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Aufstellung von Empfehlungen zur Planung und Berechnung struktureller Klebungen mit strahlungshärtenden Acrylaten. Dafür werden Klebstoffe an dem reinen Material sowie in Verbindungen mit Glas und Metall untersucht. Für ein umfangreiches Bild über das Verhalten des Materials bieten sich Substanzprüfkörper an, die mit überschaubarem Aufwand eine Auswertung verschiedener Einflüsse - beispielsweise Temperatur und Prüfgeschwindigkeit - erlauben. An in-situ-Prüfkörpern kann der Klebstoff in der Verbindung betrachtet werden. Durch Wechselwirkungen zwischen Klebstoff und Fügeteil bildet sich eine sogenannte Grenzschicht aus, die gradierte Eigenschaften besitzt und die Materialkennwerte - besonders bei dünnen Klebfugen - beeinflusst. Weiterhin erlauben diese Prüfkörper eine Aussage über das Tragverhalten der Klebverbindung. Um das Potenzial der Acrylatklebungen in der Glasarchitektur aufzuzeigen und in der Anwendung zu prüfen, werden Bauteile mit punktförmig geklebten Halterungen untersucht. Absturzsicherungen werden statischen und dynamischen Belastungen unterworfen. An Überkopfverglasungen werden Trag- und Resttragfähigkeitsuntersuchungen durchgeführt. Bauteile im Freien geben Aufschluss über das Alterungsverhalten unter natürlichen klimatischen Bedingungen. / UV and light curing acrylates present a whole host of possibilities for the implementation of glass construction. Their clear and colourless appearance produces a transparent and lightweight construction. Short curing times consisting of no more than mere minutes allow for quick production with minimal downtime within the overall process. Processing can be resumed immediately once bonding has occurred. The advantages of acrylates can be compared to the characteristics and properties of adhesive silicones which have been widely approved by building authorities for specific façade applications (Structural-Sealant-Glazing-Systems - SSGS). The subject matter of this study is the development of auxiliary tools to plan and design adhesively bonded joints of UV and light curing acrylates. These adhesives are, therefore, analysed both generally as bulk material and in applications as a joint between glass and metal. The use of dog bone shaped specimens is recommended to analyze the material behaviour under a variety of influence factors such as temperature and testing rate. The bonded joints of test specimens provide an opportunity to examine the interaction between the adhesive and the materials to which they are adhered. An interface with graded properties is formed based upon the interactions between adhesive joints and each particular substrate. Further on, bonded specimens enable the development of a statement concerning the load-bearing capacity of joints. Constructions having spot bonded joints are tested to demonstrate the potential use of acrylic joints in architectural glass treatments. Safety barriers are tested under both static and dynamic loads. Sloped roof systems are tested to substantiate load-bearing capacity and to verify any residual carrying capacity. Components are exposed to natural weathering in order to examine the affects of ageing on the adhesive.

<p>In industrial use of paint systems a swift processing is crucial. Another very important issue is to improve the quality of the final coating. This report investigates the film formation process of powder coatings, specially the spreading of individual powder particles. The obtained results can be used to understand and control the film formation process. In this way the desired levelling can be achieved and thus the desired gloss or other surface characteristics that may be required. This means that the method could be used when evaluating different polymer and additive combinations that could be used to change film formation behaviour or curing time for powder coating systems to suit various substrates. It makes it possible to avoid and minimize different surface defects as orange peel or cratering in the powder coated film.</p><p>We used a reflection optical microscope to better understand the film formation process and especially the spreading of a powder melt on surfaces with various surface energies. The obtained data were: the particle diameter, the area, area ratio and the contact angle of the powder particle as a function of time and temperature. This information can be used to derive the surface tension of any powder melt.</p><p>In this report we evaluate the dependencies of temperature, heat rate and surface energy for powder coatings on different substrates. The method provides information that can be used to optimize the film formation of a specific powder coating/substrate combination. This method can be used to evaluate the powder spreading and levelling on different substrates from a surface tension point of view.</p><p>We found, as expected, that the powder flows out on a hydrophilic surface and is inhibited by a hydrophobic. The increase of the area ratio on a hydrophilic surface was about five times as the initial area coverage and on a hydrophobic surface only two times the initial area coverage. The contact angle between the melted powder particle on the different surface types could be calculated. The melt surface tension could be calculated since three substrates surfaces with various surface energies were used. The melt surface tension was found to be about 18.5 mN/m.</p> / <p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Vid industriell användning av ett färgsystem är det viktigt med en snabb och smidig målningsprocess. En viktig del är att förbättra kvaliteten på den färdiga ytan. Denna rapport undersöker filmbildningsprocessen för pulverfärg, närmare bestämt spridningen av individuella pulverpartiklar. Resultaten från utvärderingen av denna metod kan användas för att bättre förstå och få kontroll över filmbildningsprocessen. Med denna undersökningsmetod kan den önskade utslätningen uppnås och därmed den önskade glansen eller annan yteffekt som kan vara önskvärd.</p><p>Metoden kan användas för att utvärdera olika polymer- och additivkombinationer som kan användas för att ändra filmbildningens uppförande eller bestämma härdningstiden för en pulverfärg att passa ett visst substrat. Metoden gör det möjligt att förhindra och minska olika ytdefekter såsom apelsinskals- eller kratereffekter i pulverfärgens yta.</p><p>Ett optiskt reflectionsmikroskop användes för att bättre kunna förstå filmbildningsprocessen och särskilt spridningen av smält pulver på substrat med olika ytenergier. De mätdata vi fick var partikeldiameter, area, areaförändring och kontaktvinkeln för pulverpartiklar som funktion av tid och temperatur. Ur denna information kunde pulversmältans ytenergier härledas.</p><p>I denna rapport utvärderas pulvrets beroende av temperatur, uppvärmning och ytenergi på olika substrat. Denna metod ger information som kan användas för att optimera filmbildningen av en specifik kombination av pulverfärg och substrat. Denna metod kan också användas för att utvärdera pulverspridning och utjämning av färgfilmen på olika substrat med avseende på ytenergierna.</p><p>Som förväntat flyter pulvret ut på hydrofila ytor och utflytningen ändras på en hydrofob yta. På en hydrofil yta sprider sig partikeln till fem gånger den ursprungliga arean över substratet och motsvarande två gånger för en hydrofob yta. Kontaktvinkeln mellan en smält pulverpartikel på olika sorters substrat från utförda mätningar beräknas utifrån utförda mätningar. Kontaktvinklar mellan pulver och olika substrat kan användas för att beräkna smältans ytspänning. Smältans ytspänning kan beräknas då experiment gjorts på tre sorters ytor med olika kända ytenergier. Smältans ytspänning var 18,5 mN/m.</p><p>Slutsatsen är att det går att observera och utvärdera resultaten av utsmältningsförloppet för pulverfärg med denna metod.</p>

Increasing differences in United States energy consumption and production has influenced the passing of legislation for biomass fuel production. To determine feasibility of energy crops for alternative fuels, research is needed to investigate dry matter yield over an extended harvest season; physical characteristics need to be described for potential harvesting problems; chemical characteristics described to identify selective harvest potential, optimal harvest timing, losses during harvest and storage; various harvest techniques investigated to identify potential cost savings; and impact of various storage techniques on quantity and quality of deliverable biomass. This study investigated the use of two sorghum varieties as a potential bioenergy feedstock where 20 ha were planted for three years. Standing crop samples were collected from August through January to document changes in dry matter yield, moisture, height, fiber content, proximate and ultimate analysis. The sorghum was cut and conditioned – as a two-cutting ratoon or single-cutting – using various mower-conditioners and windrow samples taken daily to determine best method of field drying, quantify dry matter loss and soil entrainment. Two storage methods were utilized – baling with wrapping in a tubeline, and chopping and compressing in bag using a modified cotton module builder – to determine best method of storage for reduced dry matter loss. The optimal time of harvest for maximum dry matter occurred with the November once-cut where 30 Mg ha^-1 was documented, but comparable yields were observed with the two-cutting scenario. Fiber content increased with maturity, peaked, and declined, while ash content and moisture decreased with maturity. The achievement of 55% moisture in January shows field curing to be necessary for transportation at any significant distance, but soil entrainment – as measured by ash concentration – was not found to be a significant problem after conditioning, multiple windrow inversions, and harvesting. The geometric mean length of particle was determined to be 1.4 to 3.7 times lower than nominal chop length, indicating potential cost savings in comminution. Dry matter loss estimates during storage proved difficult due to mobility of moisture throughout the packages, where losses were documented up to 40%. Module packages tended to have lower dry matter and constituent losses than bales.

Expansive soils are a worldwide problem that poses several challenges for civil engineers. Such soils swell when given an access to water and shrink when they dry out. The most common and economical method for stabilizing these soils is using admixtures that prevent volume changes. In this study the effect of using rock powder and aggregate waste with lime in reducing the swelling potential is examined. The expansive soil used in this study is prepared in the laboratory by mixturing kaolinite and bentonite. Lime was added to the soil at 0 to 9 percent by weight. Aggregate waste and rock powder were added to the soil at 0 to 25 percent by weight. Grain size distribution, Atterberg limits and swell percent and rate of swell of the mixtures were determined. Specimens were cured for 7 and 28 days. This method of treatment caused a reduction in the swelling potential and the reduction was increased with increasing percent stabilizers.