Thesis (M.Sc.(Engineering)--University of the Witwatersrand, 1990.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts(International Relations), 2017 / In the past decade, the United States’ oil and gas industry experienced an extraordinary boom, due to shale gas. Shale gas accounted for only 1.6% of total US natural gas production in 2000, 4.1% by 2005, and an astonishing 23.1% by 2010. This remarkable growth has spurred interest in exploring for shale gas resources elsewhere. The purpose of the study is how the rise of fracking in the USA has impacted its foreign policy towards climate change. An exploratory qualitative method, known as process-tracing was used, with the aim of providing evidence-based literature in order to explore the change in the USA’s domestic energy and climate policies; as well to see the change in its stance on climate change on the international platform. Some of the key concluding findings relate to the Obama Administration’s championing of the Clean Energy Act. / XL2018

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o potencial do ensaio de ascensão capilar e de uma técnica de otimização de parâmetros para estimar os parâmetros hidráulicos dos solos. O ensaio de ascensão capilar é de execução simples e rápida e reflete um fenômeno condicionado pelas propriedades hidráulicas do solo. Na representação matemática da ascensão capilar, utilizou-se o modelo de Terzaghi (1943) que considerou tratar-se de uma condição de fluxo governada pela condutividade hidráulica saturada (ks), e o modelo de Lu & Likos (2004b), que utilizaram a equação de Gardner (1958) para representar a função condutividade hidráulica, considerando que o fluxo se dá em meio não saturado. O processo de otimização utilizou a rotina SOLVER componente do programa EXCEL, e foi testado utilizando-se os dados experimentais de Lane & Washburn (1946) e de Zhang & Fredlund (2009). Em seguida, resultados de ascensão capilar de oito amostras de solos típicos do Estado do São Paulo, Brasil, foram modelados com os parâmetros derivados da técnica. Observou-se que tanto o modelo de Terzaghi (1943) quanto o de Lu & Likos (2004b) conseguiram reproduzir os resultados experimentais de ascensão capilar, com melhores resultados associados ao modelo de Lu & Likos (2004b) para a maior parte dos solos analisados. A previsão da condutividade hidráulica saturada, de forma geral, diferiu menos de uma ordem de grandeza dos valores medidos experimentalmente, embora maiores discrepâncias tenham sido notadas para determinados tipos de solos. O parâmetro de Gardner da função condutividade hidráulica resultou em valores da mesma ordem de grandeza dos valores reportados na literatura para solos similares. Os resultados sobre a aplicação do ensaio de ascensão capilar e da técnica de otimização mostraram-se promissores para a determinação de parâmetros hidráulicos dos solos analisados, com a vantagem de ter-se um procedimento simples e rápido para a finalidade descrita. / This study evaluates the potential of capillary rise test and a parameter optimization technique to estimate soil hydraulic parameters. The capillary rise is a simple and expedite test that is conditioned by soil hydraulic properties. In the mathematical representation of the capillary rise we used the model of Terzaghi (1943), who considered that saturated hydraulic conductivity commands the phenomeno and the model of Lu & Likos (2004b) who used the Gardner equation (1958) to represent the hydraulic conductivity function, considering that the flow takes place in a non-saturated condition. The optimization process used the SOLVER routine, component of the EXCEL program, that was firstly tested using experimental data of Lane & Washburn (1946) and Zhang & Fredlund (2009). Then, results of capillary rise of eight samples of typical soils of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, were modeled with the parameters derived from the technique. It was observed that both the Terzaghi (1943) and Lu & Likos (2004b) models were able to reproduce the experimental results of capillarity, although the best results were yielded by the model Lu & Likos (2004b) for most soils. The prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivity, in general, differed less than one order of magnitude of experimentally measured values, although larger discrepancies have been noted for certain types of soils. The resulting Gardner parameter of the hydraulic conductivity function were of the same order of magnitude of the values reported in the literature for similar soils. The results on the application of capillary rise test and optimization technique proved promising for the determination of soil hydraulic parameters analyzed, with the advantage of having a simple and rapid procedure for the purpose described.

Escavadeiras hidráulicas são máquinas versáteis, amplamente utilizadas na construção civil e mineração. Máquinas melhores, mais produtivas, eficientes e que oferecem segurança ao operador são uma demanda constante da indústria. Devido a estes fatores, o controle para a automação de uma escavadeira hidráulica tem sido investigado. Este estudo tem o seu foco voltado para o controle do manipulador do equipamento, que é considerado como um dos elementos fundamentais para o desenvolvimento de uma escavadeira automática. Para desenvolver um sistema de controle viável, primeiramente, foi realizado a modelagem matemática dos subsistemas mecânico e hidráulico do manipulador; posteriormente esses modelos foram acoplados para representar a interação dos subsistemas. Todos os modelos desenvolvidos foram comparados com modelos de referência, obtidos a partir de softwares comerciais dedicados a modelagem de sistema dinâmicos. Tendo sido verificado a capacidade de representação física dos modelos, a fase de projeto do controlador para o manipulador foi iniciada. Para que o controlador seja eficiente, este deve ter duas propriedades essenciais: robustez para lidar com as incertezas e distúrbios severos, e adaptabilidade para lidar com um ambiente de operação altamente dinâmico. A fim de projetar um controlador que considera a dinâmica de cada subsistema do manipulador, a técnica de controle em cascata foi adotada. Esta consiste em dividir o sistema global em subsistemas, de tal forma que seja possível projetar um controlador para cada subsistema. Devido à complexidade do modelo matemático, técnicas avançadas de controle linear e não linear foram combinadas no projeto dos controladores dos subsistemas. O controlador sintetizado foi testado através de simulação numérica, em ambiente MATLAB/Simulink®, na execução de um ciclo completo de trabalho pelo manipulador. Os resultados obtidos foram considerados satisfatórios, mesmo na presença de incertezas, distúrbios severos e de ruídos. Posteriormente, na comparação desses resultados com os de outros controladores, ficou claro que o melhor desempenho foi obtido com o controlador proposto. Isto indica a possível aplicabilidade de tal controlador para a automação deste tipo de equipamento. / Hydraulic excavators are versatile machines, widely used in civil construction and in mining. Better, more productive, and efficient machines that offer operator safety are a constant industry demand. Due to these factors, the control for the automation of a hydraulic excavator has been investigated. This study focuses on the control of the equipment\'s manipulator, which is considered as one of the fundamental elements for the development of an automatic excavator. To develop a viable control system, first, the mathematical modeling of the mechanical and hydraulic subsystems of the manip-ulator was carried out; later these models were coupled to represent the interaction between the subsystems. All the developed models were compared with reference models, obtained from a commercial software dedicated to dynamic system modeling. Having verified the physical representation capacity of the analytical models, the de-sign phase of the controller was started. For the controller to be efficient, it must have two essential properties: robustness to deal with severe uncertainties and disturb-ances, and adaptability to handle a highly dynamic operating environment. To design a controller that considers the dynamics of each subsystem of the manipulator, the cascade control technique was adopted. This consists of dividing the global system into subsystems, in such a way that it is possible to design a controller for each sub-system. Due to the complexity of the mathematical model, advanced linear and non-linear control techniques were combined in subsystem controllers design. The synthe-sized controller was tested by numerical simulation, in MATLAB/Simulink® environ-ment, in the execution of a complete work operation by the manipulator. The results obtained were considered satisfactory, even in the presence of uncertainties, severe disturbances and noise. Subsequently, in the comparison of these results with those of others controllers, it was clear that the best performance was obtained with the pro-posed controller. This indicates the possible applicability of such a controller to the automation of this type of equipment.

Os projetos de redes hidráulicas dimensionam a capacidade de vazão e pressão para atender a uma demanda e prever a resistência necessária para garantir a estabilidade da instalação. Os esforços solicitantes não deverão ultrapassar as resistências estruturais, mantendo-se um coeficiente de segurança que garanta a estabilidade, mesmo nos casos de falhas operacionais. Deve-se proceder à simulação hidráulica tanto para o regime permanente quanto para o regime transitório. Na fase operacional haverão situações transitórias ocasionadas por manobras intencionais ou falhas não previstas que provocarão mudanças do regime permanente para o regime transitório, cuja variação de carga é diretamente proporcional à velocidade de propagação da onda ou celeridade e, dependendo da intensidade do transitório hidráulico, haverá a necessidade de instalar dispositivos de proteção de redes. A concepção dos dispositivos de proteção baseia-se na dissipação do fenômeno transitório por meios de descargas, amortecimento em câmaras de ar comprimido e por reservatórios intermediários que absorvem e suprem os picos de pressão e vazão no início da perturbação, de tal forma que a onda de pressão seja controlada. A celeridade, por sua vez, é função das características do meio fluido, do material da tubulação e da geometria. Ao provocar uma mudança na compressibilidade do meio fluido, tem-se redução no coeficiente de compressibilidade volumétrico da mistura fluida que vai ocasionar uma redução na velocidade de propagação da onda ou celeridade, amortecendo o impacto da variação de carga para níveis que possam ser absorvidos pela instalação. Esta dissertação aborda um dispositivo de redução da velocidade de propagação ou celeridade que pode ser usado como proteção de redes hidráulicas ou atenuador de celeridade, que junto com outros dispositivos e associados em série, distribuídos ao longo da tubulação, podem absorver os excessos de pressão e vazão gerados pelos transitórios e manter os esforços solicitantes inferiores à resistência oferecida pela instalação. / The projects of hydraulic networks define the capacity of outflow and pressure to meet a demand and to achieve the necessary resistance to guarantee the installation stability. The applied loading must not exceed structural resistance, there remaining a safety coefficient which guarantees the stability even in case of operational failure. The hydraulic simulation must be performed both for permanent and transitory regime. In the operational phase, there will be transitory situations caused by intentional maneuvers or unpredicted failures which will cause changes from permanent to transitory regime, with changes in load directly proportional to the propagation speed of the wave or celerity and, depending on the intensity of the hydraulic transient, it will be necessary to provide devices for the network protection. The conception of protection devices is based on the transient phenomena dissipation by means of discharges, shock absorption in air compressed chambers and though intermediate reservoirs, which absorb and supply the outflow and pressure peaks in the beginning of the disturbance. This dissertation approaches a device so that the pressure wave is controlled. The celerity, in its turn, is a function of the fluid characteristics, the network material and geometry. Provoking a change in the mean fluid compressibility there is a reduction in the volumetric compressibility coefficient and also in the specific mass of the mixture, which will cause a reduction in the speed of propagation of the wave or celerity, cushioning the impact of the pressure head variation to a level that can be absorbed by the installation. Therefore, the reduction in the speed of propagation or celerity canbe used is as a protection device for hydraulic nets, or celerity attenuation, which together with other devices, associated in series and distributed along the duct may absorb the excess of pressure and outflow generated by the transitory and keep the applied loading inferior to the resistance supplied by the installation.

This thesis focuses on setting the range and efficiency of a water ram pump through experimental measurements in a laboratory. The measurements were carried out on three different constructions of water ram pump, each of the designed and assembled by the author of this thesis himself, to find out whether the weight on the pulsating valve has an influence on the water ram pump efficiency. Further on this thesis aims at the comparison of up to now methods of water transport arrangement used at a summer camp and the usage of the water ram pump and its advantages. The principal of water ram pump originates in hydraulic impact that is being precisely described in a great detail as well. On of the chapters even includes the placement manual for the water ram pump and its overall assembly and connexion. Because the presence of floating debris is inevitable, this thesis also deals with the possibility to solve the incoming water impurities by adding an inflow gating to prevent such problem. This inflow gating has only been designed in a Flow 3D programme to introduce the idea and functions.

Au Niger, la maîtrise des ressources en eau demeure toujours un défi majeur après plus de 50 ans de politique hydraulique. Les investissements réalisés durant la Décennie Internationale de l’Eau Potable et de l’Assainissement (1981-1990) et les Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement (2000-2015) n’ont pas pu couvrir les besoins énormes en eau. Le déficit en infrastructures se pose au niveau de toutes les composantes du secteur de l’hydraulique. Les besoins en eau de plus en plus croissants et l’insuffisance des investissements publics pour y faire face expliquent ce sous-équipement en infrastructures hydrauliques. Au niveau de la commune urbaine de Téra, au-delà de la forte croissance démographique et de l’insuffisance des investissements dans le secteur de l’eau, il faut ajouter les contraintes climatiques et hydrogéologiques dans l’analyse de la situation hydraulique. Dans la ville de Téra, la précarité hydrique est due à un déficit considérable de production d’eau et à un réseau de distribution d’eau inadapté au site de la ville. Ainsi, de décembre à août, les trois quarts de la ville, principalement les quartiers Carré, Résidence, Douane, TP et Guenobon restent sans être desservis en eau. En milieu rural, l’insuffisance des points d’eau, leur localisation par rapport aux villages et le temps de rétention assez court (3 à 4 mois) des plans d’eau entraînent une situation d’extrême précarité hydrique qui bouleverse la vie socio-économique. En ville comme en campagne, en dépit des différences territoriales et des modalités d’accès à l’eau, les populations vivent le même niveau de précarité hydrique et y apportent les mêmes types de solutions. Elles recourent ainsi aux points d’eau traditionnels et développent une solidarité hydraulique à travers la mutualisation des points d’eau entre quartiers, entre villages et entre ville-villages. Mais, avec cette situation hydraulique particulièrement précaire réduisant systématiquement la pratique des activités économiques et la satisfaction des besoins humains fondamentaux, les défis de développement local deviennent de plus en plus lourds pour la commune urbaine de Téra. / In Niger, water resource management remains a major challenge after more than 50 years of water policy. Thus, the investments carried out during the International Decade of Driking Water and Sanitation (1981-1990) and the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) could not meet the enormous needs of water. The infrastructure deficit is being faced by all components of the hydraulic sector. The growing demand for water and insufficient public investment to meet it explain this under-equipment in water infrastructure. At the level of the urban district of Tera, in addition to the strong demographic growth and insufficient investments in the water sector, climatic and hydrogeological constraints must be added to the analysis of the hydraulic situation. In the city of Tera, the hydrous precariousness is due to a considerable lack of water production and an inadequate water distribution network at the city site. Thus, from december to august, three-quarters of the city, mainly the Carré, Résidence, Douane, TP and Guenobon neighbourhoods remain underserved. In rural areas, the insufficiency of water supply points, their location in relation to villages to the villages and the rather short time of retention (3 à 4 months) of lakes defines a situation of extreme hydrous precariousness which affects the socio-economic life. In town as in the countryside, despite the territorial differences and water access methods, the populations face the same level of hydrous precariousness and adopt the same types of solutions. Thus, they resort to the traditional water supply points and develop a hydraulic solidarity through the mutualisation of water supply points between districts, villages, villages and city. However, with this particularly precarious hydraulic situation systematically reducing the practice of economic activities and the satisfaction of the fundamental human needs, the challenges of local development become increasingly heavy for the urban district of Tera.

The interactions between rivers, surrounding hydrogeological features, and hydraulic structures such as bridges are not well-established or understood at the network scale, especially under transient conditions. The cascading hydraulic effects of local perturbations up- and downstream of the site of perturbation may have significant, unexpected, and far-reaching consequences, and therefore often cause concern among stakeholders. The up- and downstream hydraulic impacts of a single structural modification may extend much farther than anticipated, especially in extreme events. This work presents a framework and methodology to perform an analysis of interdependent bridge-stream interactions along a river corridor. Such analysis may help prioritize limited resources available for bridge and river rehabilitations, allow better-informed cost/benefit analysis, facilitate holistic design of bridges, and address stakeholder concerns raised in response to planned bridge and infrastructure alterations. The stretch of the Otter Creek from Rutland to Middlebury, VT, is used as a test bed for this analysis. A two-dimensional hydraulic model is used to examine the effects individual structures have on the bridge-stream network, particularly during extreme flood events. Results show that, depending on their characteristics, bridges and roadways may either attenuate or amplify peak flood flows up- and downstream, or have little to no impact at all. Likewise, bridges may or may not be sensitive to any changes in discharge that result from perturbation of existing structures elsewhere within the network. Alterations to structures that induce substantial backwaters may result in the most dramatic impacts to the network, which can be either positive or negative. Structures that do not experience relief (e.g., roadway overtopping) may be most sensitive to network perturbations.

<p>The thesis is based in a constructed light vehicle that must be improved by adding a hydraulic energy recovery system. This vehicle named as TrecoLiTH, participated in the Formula Electric and Hybrid competition (Formula EHI) 2009 in Italy -Rome- and won several awards.</p><p>This system consists in two hydraulic motors hub mounted which are used to store fluid at high pressure in an accumulator when braking. Through a valve the pressure will flow from the high pressure accumulator to the low pressure one, and consequently the vehicle will get extra acceleration.</p><p>This thesis consists in finishing the assembly and testing it, as the main idea was already thought and some of the necessary parts were acquired before. Firstly, a quick overview of the bike is done and the current state of it at the end of the thesis is discussed. After that, the mechanism used to actuate the system is developed and explained, with which some CAD software was used to design and make some FEA. Straight afterwards the work focused on the tests and its development. A quick discussion about what tests should be done, the preparations and also the way that some measurements were done is commented. In order to do these measurements a data acquisition device and some software to deal with it was used.</p><p>Thereupon, calculations to know if the system auto-compensates the weight added, causing more rolling resistance, and the oil frictions are done. In this part the performance and reliability of the system is discussed, as well as the feelings of the driver. Finally, improvements and possible modifications are listed with the aim of upgrade the vehicle, the system and the way of work.</p>

Waterhammer is an undesirable event, caused by sudden flow changes in a confined pipe system. When it occurs, its consequences can be very costly and even sometimes deadly. In general, it may be encountered in the penstocks of hydropower plants, water transmission lines, water networks, etc. Therefore, the operation guidelines of the hydropower plants should be defined correctly. In this thesis, waterhammer problems in pumped storage hydropower plants are investigated. Time dependent flow conditions in the penstocks are studied by the help of computer software, HAMMER. The software solves nonlinear differential equations by using method of characteristics. Firstly, hydraulic transients for various operational cases are investigated using some scenarios. Then a surge tank, protective device for waterhammer, is added to the system and for the same operational cases, hydraulic transients are studied again. Finally, the results obtained from the operation of the system with and without surge tank are compared. Wind-hydro hybrid systems are also included in the study.