Long linear earthwork assets constructed in high-plasticity overconsolidated clay are known to be deteriorating due to long-term effects of wetting and drying stress cycles as a result of seasonal weather patterns. These stress cycles can lead to shallow first-time failures due to the mobilisation of post-peak strength and progressive failure. Design requirements of new earthworks and management of existing assets requires improved understanding of this critical mechanism; seasonal ratcheting. Incremental model development and validation to allow investigation of multiple inter-related strength deterioration mechanisms of cut slope behaviour in high-plasticity overconsolidated clay slopes has been presented. Initially, the mechanism of seasonal ratcheting has been considered independently and a numerical modelling approach considering unsaturated behaviour has been validated against physical modelling data. Using the validated model, the effects of slope geometry, design parameter selection and design life have been considered. Following this, an approach to allow undrained unloading of soil, stress relief, excess pore water pressure dissipation, seasonal ratcheting and progressive failure with wetting and drying boundary conditions has been considered. Hydrogeological property deterioration and the potential implications of climate change have been explored using the model. In both cases the serviceable life of cut slopes is shown to reduce significantly in the numerical analyses. Finally, a model capable of capturing hydrogeological behaviour of a real cut slope in London Clay has been developed and validated against long-term field monitored data. Using the validated model, a climate change impact assessment for the case study slope has been performed. The numerical analyses performed have indicated that seasonal ratcheting can explain shallow first-time failures in high-plasticity overconsolidated clay slopes and that the rate of deterioration of such assets will accelerate if current climate change projections are representative of future weather.

Content: The aim of this desk study is to compare consumption of thermal energy in temperate vs. (sub)tropical climate for two representative processes: float heating (bating and dyeing) and chamber drying, with the view of contributing towards overall assessment of thermal energy consumption for tanneries operating under rather different conditions. The energy consumption is calculated for 1 t of wet salted hides and assuming that 1000 kg of wet salted weight corresponds to 1100 kg of pelt weight containing 838 kg of water and 262 kg of collagen subsequently segregated into grain leather and usable splits. Float rates (200% on pelt/shaved weight), average inlet water temperatures (15 oC vs. 25 oC), process float temperatures for bating (35 oC) and dyeing (60 o C) have been defined. Similarly, for computation of thermal energy for chamber drying, identical initial (45 %) and target leather humidity (20 %) are set and average respective fresh air temperature (15 oC vs. 30 oC) and fresh air relative humidity (50% vs. 70%) estimated and operating conditions such as exhaust air temperature and relative humidity defined. Based on such parameters and assumptions, specific ratios for thermal energy consumption for float heating (bating & dyeing) and for chamber drying have been calculated and comparisons made; the results might not quite coincide with common perceptions. The energy needs computed are net amounts, i.e. regardless of the source and without taking into account any losses and disregarding energy consumption for ambient heating and/or cooling. Thus, the total energy needs are much higher. The ratios computed for grain leather are valid for split leather as well. However, if the solar energy is used to support water heating, the conditions in the tropic zone are substantially more favourable, due to higher insolation and higher efficiency factor (i.e. difference of the final vs. inlet water temperature). Take-Away: Based on such parameters and assumptions, specific ratios for thermal energy consumption for float heating (bating & dyeing) and for chamber drying have been calculated and comparisons made; the results might not quite coincide with common perceptions. However, if the solar energy is used to support water heating, the conditions in the tropic zone are substantially more favourable, due to higher insolation and higher efficiency factor (i.e. difference of the final vs. inlet water temperature).

En utmaning under produktionen är uttorkning av byggfukt i byggnadens betongbjälklag. Om uttorkningen försenas kan golvbeläggningar inte appliceras i rätt tid, men att arbetet forceras är inte ett alternativ, då risken finns att fuktskador uppkommer under driftsskedet. Avgörande för att uttorkningen skall fortskrida enligt plan är att torkklimatet i byggnaden är gynnsamt för uttorkningsprocessen. För att kontrollera torkklimatet genomför företaget ett omfattande arbete genom att mäta klimatet, där dataloggar på olika platser i byggnaden registrerar luftens temperatur och relativa fuktighet. Tillsammans med trendmätningar i betong är tanken att insamlad data skall ge en bild av hur uttorkningen fortskrider. Svårigheten med torkklimat är att ämnesområdet i många avseenden är abstrakt och teoretiskt, just därför att parametrarna som beskriver torkklimatet ständigt varierar. För att insamlad data skall addera värde för produktionen måste datamängderna analyseras och visualiseras på ett tydligt sätt, som medför att produktionsledningen kan agera utifrån informationen utan att nödvändigtvis besitta spetskompetens inom ämnesområdet. Examensarbetet syftar till att bistå företaget med ökade kunskaper om torkklimat under byggproduktion, kopplat till uttorkning av byggfukt. Under arbetet har förutsättningarna för en effektiv uttorkning studerats, med avseende på torkklimatets variation. Under arbetet har också en undersökning gjorts för att ta reda på när företaget i ett generellt fall bör komplettera torkklimatet med ökad ventilation och/eller avfuktning för att hålla ett jämnt torkklimat i byggnaden året om. Som bakgrund till ämnesområdet redovisas en beskrivning av de styrande faktorerna för torkklimatet, teoretiskt och projektspecifikt. Resultatet av studien visar att förutsättningarna för en effektiv uttorkning har funnits på de platser i byggnaden som studerats, i det avseendet att en majoritet av klimattrenderna följer uppsatta kriterier i projektets fuktsäkerhetsplan.  Studien visar också att en komplettering med ökad ventilation och/eller avfuktning bör starta under perioden mars till april och under oktober till november kan uttorkningsstrategin återgå till att enbart värma inomhusluften. / A challenge during construction is drying of construction moisture in the building's concrete slab. If the drying is delayed, the flooring can’t be applied at the right time, but forcing the process is not an option, because of the risk of moisture damage during the operating phase. Crucial to the planed drying is that the climate in the building is favorable for the drying process. In order to control the drying climate the company is conducting an extensive work by measuring, where data logs at different locations in the building records air temperature and relative humidity. Along with the trend measurements of moisture levels in the concrete slab, the idea is that the data series should provide a picture of how the drying progresses. The difficulty with drying climates is that the subject in many respects is abstract and theoretical, because the parameters that describe the drying climate are continuously changing. If the collected data should add value to the construction site, the amount of data needs to be analyzed and visualized in a clear way, which means that the company's construction management services can act based on the information without necessarily possessing expertise in the subject area. This bachelor degree project aims to assist the company with knowledge of drying climate during construction condition, linked to the drying of construction moisture. During the work, the conditions for effective drying of construction moisture have been studied with respect to variations in drying climate.  Another study also conducted, was to find out when the company in a general case may complement drying climate with increased ventilation and/or dehumidification to keep the drying climate at a steady level in the building year round. As background to the subject, a description of the factors controlling the drying climate is presented in the report, theoretical and specifically for the project. The results of the study show that the conditions for effective drying of construction moisture have been the case of the building sites that has been sampled, in the sense that a majority of climate trends follow the established criteria in the project's moisture safety plan. The study also shows that increased ventilation and/or dehumidification may be applied as a supplement in the period from March/April until October/November at which time the dehydration strategy can revert back to warming indoor air only.

För att minska energiförbrukningen och höja kapaciteten vid virkestorkning kan adaptiv styrning användas. Adaptiv styrning är en typ av processåterkoppling som visar på hur torkningen fortskrider och kan användas för att styra torkprocessen optimalt. Adaptiv styrning har funnits till kammartorkar länge. Tvärcirkulerande kanaltorkar (TC) liknar kammartorkar och man vill nu införa adaptiv styrning på dem. Syftet med studien var att analysera förutsättningarna för att tillämpa adaptiv styrning i TC-torken. En fältstudie genomfördes där funktionen adaptiv fuktkvotsberäkning som används som styrvariabel vid adaptiv styrning kontrollerades. Klimatmätningar under torkning genomfördes för att kontrollera om temperaturgivarna ger en bra bild av klimatet vid torksatsen.  Resultatet visar att funktionen adaptiv fuktkvotsberäkning stämmer överens för start- och slutfuktkvot i TC-torken. Funktionen fungerade något sämre på satser som innehöll virke med blandade dimensioner. Klimatmätningarna visar att temperaturgivarna återskapar klimatet vid virkessatsen på ett korrekt vis. Simuleringar visar att virket idag övertorkas och att en viss förkortning av torktiden hade varit möjlig. Det finns goda förutsättningar för att tillämpa adaptiv styrning i TC-torken