Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University. / Bibliography: leaf 67. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

An intervention to improve adoption of dust control technology is designed, implemented and evaluated using three theoretical frameworks: the Health Belief Model (HBM), Diffusion of Innovation, and the Technology Acceptance Model. A quasi-experimental design (pretest-posttest, with control group) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. An integrated conceptual model, employing key constructs from these frameworks, was developed to predict and describe "adoption readiness". Adoption readiness combines the attitudes and perceptions about a technology with the capacity to implement the technology. The primary hypothesis was that the key construct scores of the three theoretical models would improve post-intervention, particularly, "adoption readiness". Workers in the drywall finishing industry have been found to be at risk of developing respiratory disease and disability. Studies have shown that drywall finish workers have been subject to overexposure to dust concentrations that contain respiratory heath hazardous particles including silica, talc, mica, and calcite. Prevention through Design (PtD) solutions, which are effective at reducing dust levels, do exist for these operations. Some of these PtD solutions include using vacuum sanders, wet sanding methods, pole sanding and using low dust joint compound in lieu of using personal protective equipment (PPE) as a primary form of exposure protection. Previous studies have determined barriers to adoption of current PtD solutions for dust exposure reduction. Usability, productivity, quality of finish and cost were all identified as barriers to adoption. An intervention directed at those involved in the drywall industry is needed to increase the usage of engineered dust control. This dissertation project developed, implemented, and evaluated three interventions to address the barriers to adoption through education and marketing strategies. Development of the interventions included strategies to improve industry usage of dust control technologies. The interventions targeted workers, small companies, and large companies involved in drywall finishing. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-60). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Drywall, a popular building material made of gypsum based plaster sandwiched between two thick sheets of paper is used for building interior walls, is speedier alternative to traditional plaster, decreasing time and labor for construction. Importance of drywall increased with the demand for drywall after nine hurricanes hit Florida in 2004-05 and widespread damage caused in the Gulf Coast after Katrina in 2005. This study has two parts. First part presents an analysis of metals like strontium for the identification of Chinese drywall, and a comparison of strontium concentrations of American drywall and Chinese drywall using XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) analysis with the Innov-X XRF analyzer. The second part presents an analysis of metal exposure during cutting and installation of drywall using 8stage Cascade impactor. The work space concentration of, different metals is analyzed using XRF analysis and particulate matter within various size ranges, were calculated and their effects are studied.

In most design codes, infill walls are considered as non-structural elements and thus are typically neglected in the design process. The observations made after major earthquakes (Duzce 1999, L’Aquila 2009, Christchurch 2011) have shown that even though infill walls are considered to be non-structural elements, they interact with the structural system during seismic actions. In the case of heavy infill walls (i.e. clay brick infill walls), the whole behaviour of the structure may be affected by this interaction (i.e. local or global structural failures such as soft storey mechanism). In the case of light infill walls (i.e. non-structural drywalls), this may cause significant economical losses. To consider the interaction of the structural system with the ‘non-structural ’infill walls at design stage may not be a practical approach due to the complexity of the infill wall behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of the reported research is to develop innovative technological solutions and design recommendations for low damage non-structural wall systems for seismic actions by making use of alternative approaches. Light (steel/timber framed drywalls) and heavy (unreinforced clay brick) non-structural infill wall systems were studied by following an experimental/numerical research programme. Quasi-static reverse cyclic tests were carried out by utilizing a specially designed full scale reinforced concrete frame, which can be used as a re-usable bare frame. In this frame, two RC beams and two RC columns were connected by two un-bonded post tensioning bars, emulating a jointed ductile frame system (PRESSS technology). Due to the rocking behaviour at the beam-column joint interfaces, this frame was typically a low damage structural solution, with the post-tensioning guaranteeing a linear elastic behaviour. Therefore, this frame could be repeatedly used in all of the tests carried out by changing only the infill walls within this frame. Due to the linear elastic behaviour of this structural bare frame, it was possible to extract the exact behaviour of the infill walls from the global results. In other words, the only parameter that affected the global results was given by the infill walls. For the test specimens, the existing practice of construction (as built) for both light and heavy non-structural walls was implemented. In the light of the observations taken during these tests, modified low damage construction practices were proposed and tested. In total, seven tests were carried out: 1) Bare frame , in order to confirm its linear elastic behaviour. 2) As built steel framed drywall specimen FIF1-STFD (Light) 3) As built timber framed drywall specimen FIF2-TBFD (Light) 4) As built unreinforced clay brick infill wall specimen FIF3-UCBI (Heavy) 5) Low damage steel framed drywall specimen MIF1-STFD (Light) 6) Low damage timber framed drywall specimen MIF2-TBFD (Light) 7) Low damage unreinforced clay brick infill wall specimen MIF5-UCBI (Heavy) The tests of the as built practices showed that both drywalls and unreinforced clay brick infill walls have a low serviceability inter-storey drift limit (0.2-0.3%). Based on the observations, simple modifications and details were proposed for the low damage specimens. The details proved to be working effectively in lowering the damage and increasing the serviceability drift limits. For drywalls, the proposed low damage solutions do not introduce additional cost, material or labour and they are easily applicable in real buildings. For unreinforced clay brick infill walls, a light steel sub-frame system was suggested that divides the infill panel zone into smaller individual panels, which requires additional labour and some cost. However, both systems can be engineered for seismic actions and their behaviour can be controlled by implementing the proposed details. The performance of the developed details were also confirmed by the numerical case study analyses carried out using Ruaumoko 2D on a reinforced concrete building model designed according to the NZ codes/standards. The results have confirmed that the implementation of the proposed low damage solutions is expected to significantly reduce the non-structural infill wall damage throughout a building.

A atual situação sócio econômica do país tem levado as empresas construtorasa buscarem eficiência no seu processo de produção. Nesse contexto, o uso das chapas de gesso acartonado como componente de vedação vertical interna vem se tornando cada vez mais intenso, substituindo a tradicional vedação em alvenaria. Apesar da utilização crescente desse componente, há uma carência no país sobre o conhecimento da tecnologia construtiva das divisórias de gesso acartonado, que já é largamente difundida em vários países. Dessa forma, o presente trabalho caracteriza o método construtivo da vedação vertical interna de chapas de gesso acartonado, abordando sobre o seu desempenho; analisando os materiais, componentes, equipamentos e ferramentas necessários para a sua execução; apresentando os procedimentos de montagem da divisória e propondo algumas diretrizes para a elaboração de um projeto para produção e o estabelecimento de parâmetros de controle durante o processo de execução. Espera-se dessa forma contribuir para o avanço da tecnologia de produção das vedações verticais e, em especial, das divisórias de gesso acartonado. / Due to the current social and economic situation in Brazil, building construction companies are seeking ways to improve efficiency in their production processes. For this reason, gypsum plasterboard is beginning to be widely used for internal walls as a substitute for traditional masonry. In spite of the increasing utilization of this component, which is common in other countries, little research regarding gypsum plasterboard construction technology has been carried out here. In this way, this study deals with the gypsum plasterboard construction method, analyzing its performance, materials, components, equipment and tools required for installation. It also describes the procedure for assembling these partitions. Finally, some guidelines for the production design elaboration and the parameters to help to control the execution process are proposed. This study aims to contribute to improving internal wall technologies, especially gypsum plasterboard partition construction.

A atual situação sócio econômica do país tem levado as empresas construtorasa buscarem eficiência no seu processo de produção. Nesse contexto, o uso das chapas de gesso acartonado como componente de vedação vertical interna vem se tornando cada vez mais intenso, substituindo a tradicional vedação em alvenaria. Apesar da utilização crescente desse componente, há uma carência no país sobre o conhecimento da tecnologia construtiva das divisórias de gesso acartonado, que já é largamente difundida em vários países. Dessa forma, o presente trabalho caracteriza o método construtivo da vedação vertical interna de chapas de gesso acartonado, abordando sobre o seu desempenho; analisando os materiais, componentes, equipamentos e ferramentas necessários para a sua execução; apresentando os procedimentos de montagem da divisória e propondo algumas diretrizes para a elaboração de um projeto para produção e o estabelecimento de parâmetros de controle durante o processo de execução. Espera-se dessa forma contribuir para o avanço da tecnologia de produção das vedações verticais e, em especial, das divisórias de gesso acartonado. / Due to the current social and economic situation in Brazil, building construction companies are seeking ways to improve efficiency in their production processes. For this reason, gypsum plasterboard is beginning to be widely used for internal walls as a substitute for traditional masonry. In spite of the increasing utilization of this component, which is common in other countries, little research regarding gypsum plasterboard construction technology has been carried out here. In this way, this study deals with the gypsum plasterboard construction method, analyzing its performance, materials, components, equipment and tools required for installation. It also describes the procedure for assembling these partitions. Finally, some guidelines for the production design elaboration and the parameters to help to control the execution process are proposed. This study aims to contribute to improving internal wall technologies, especially gypsum plasterboard partition construction.

Drywall board-based structures, a competent and cost-effective method of providing flexible partitioning assemblies in commercial and residential houses, are now widely used as walls or ceilings. However, the gypsum-based drywall that has been used in construction is not water-resistant and can create problems such as mold growth and structural defects. The aim of this study is 1) to develop a new sandwich panel with better physical and mechanical properties using locally sourced materials 2) to investigate the long-term hygrothermal performance of the new sandwich panel through using a numerical simulation. The sandwich panel is composed of two different thicknesses of kraft-paper honeycomb core bonded to two cementitious panels with silicone-based adhesive. The experimental results show that the sandwich panel with a thicker core has lower thermal conductivity and higher flexural strength compared to the gypsum-based drywall. The heat and moisture performance of two wall structures were performed using the WUFI Pro simulation program. The results of the modeling analysis present that wall assembly with gypsum-based drywall has higher water content than multilayer sandwich panel. In addition, the multilayer sandwich panel shows a 4.6% lower annual heat flow compared to the reference wall.

Drywall finishing operations have been associated with worker exposure to dust that contains known particulate respiratory health hazards, such as silica, talc, and mica. Despite the existence of engineering, work-practice, and personal-protective-equipment (PPE) control technologies for the mitigation of this hazard, worker exposures persist in the drywall finishing industry. This research employed a macroergonomic framework to evaluate this problem and identify barriers to dust control technology adoption in the key subsystems: personnel, technological, and organizational. In the first study, the organizational subsystem was evaluated through a telephone interview of 264 drywall finishing firm owners. This study found the most commonly used dust control technology was respiratory protection. Cost, usability, environmental factors, and productivity were barriers identified in preventing adoption of other technologies. In the second study, of the technological subsystem, 16 participants performed simulated drywall finishing tasks with each of four methods, in a laboratory setting. Dust particles were monitored and compared among the technologies used. Participants performed usability evaluations of the four tools. The ventilated sander produced less respirable-size class dust than did the other three tools. The block sander produced more dust than the other three tools. Usability evaluations revealed that the block sander was easiest to learn, easiest to use, and perceived to be the best overall, while the wet method and pole sander were considered to have poor usability in terms of ease of use and productivity. Usability problems associated with perceived comfort and ease of use were identified for the ventilated sander, but it was tied for "overall best" with the block sander. The third study, of drywall finishing worker perceptions, employed the Health Belief Model to assess barriers to technology adoption, risk, susceptibility, and benefits. Results showed that workers have a high perception of the risk associated with drywall dust, but a lower perception of individual susceptibility to disease as a result of occupational exposure. Barriers to the use of dust control technologies were identified as being associated with organizational and usability factors. Most participants indicated having access only to respiratory protection, among the available dust control methods. / Ph. D.