A aplicação de um piso de madeira maciça sobre um contrapiso de concreto dá origem a um sistema que une dois materiais com diferentes características higroscópicas, e no qual a movimentação da umidade é ainda um fenômeno pouco conhecido. Visando um melhor entendimento desse fenômeno, a presente pesquisa buscou avaliar diferentes equipamentos para medir o teor de umidade do concreto, desenvolver uma metodologia para quantificar a água evaporável presente no substrato mineral e, a partir desses resultados, sugerir o teor de umidade do substrato mais adequado à aplicação de um revestimento de madeira. Corpos de prova de concreto, preparados com traço 3:1:1 e relação água cimento em torno de 0,5, foram submetidos a secagem ao ar, sendo que a variação do teor de umidade do concreto ao longo do tempo foi acompanhada pela perda de massa e com a utilização de medidores elétricos de umidade do tipo resistência e de contato.. Com o auxílio da análise de regressão foi possível estabelecer equações de correção para as leituras de umidade dos aparelhos. Para a quantificação da água evaporável no concreto, foi desenvolvido um corpo de prova utilizando-se cilindros de MDF com 6,0 cm de comprimento e 4,8 cm de diâmetro, inseridos em tubo de PVC e com uma das extremidades vedada com filme plástico e silicone. O cilindro de MDF mostrou-se um indicador eficiente da presença de água evaporável no concreto, uma vez que as taxas de adsorção pelo MDF puderam ser diretamente correlacionadas às taxas de evaporação pelo concreto. O efeito do adesivo no sistema concreto-madeira foi avaliado através da variação do gradiente de umidade em madeira de Jatobá (Hymenaea sp). Tacos de Jatobá, com dimensões de 100 mm x 80 mm x 18 mm e nos quais foram colocados sensores a 4 mm e a 17 mm de profundidade, foram colados em corpos de prova de concreto utilizando-se adesivo a base de PVA com 60% de sólidos. Os resultados mostraram que a água contida no adesivo não foi totalmente adsorvida pelo taco e o gradiente de umidade no sentido da espessura apresentou relação com o teor de umidade à profundidade de 17 mm, confirmando a hipótese de que existe um fluxo de umidade na interface concreto-madeira. / The application of solid wood flooring over a concrete subfloor originates a system joining two materials with different hygroscopic characteristics, and in which the moisture movement still is a little known phenomena. Looking for the better understanding of moisture relationship in this system, the present research evaluated different equipments to measure concrete moisture content, to develop a methodology to quantify the vaporizable water present in the mineral substrate and, according to these results, to suggest the substrate moisture content more adequate to application of a wooden covering. Sample test of concrete, prepared with trace 3:1:1 and relation water/cement around 0.5, were submitted to air drying and the variation of the concrete moisture content during the process was registered by the mass loss and with the use of electric moisture meters of resistance and contact types. Through regression analysis it was possible to establish equations to correct moisture meters readings. To quantify the vaporizable water present in concrete, a sample test was developed using cylinders of MDF with 6.0 cm of length and 4.8 cm of diameter, inserted in a PVC tube and with one of the extremities closed with plastic film and silicone. The MDF cylinder was an efficient indicator to quantify vaporizable water in the concrete, considering that the moisture adsorption rate of MDF samples could be directly correlated to the concrete evaporation rate. The effect of adhesive in concrete-wood system was evaluated through the variation of moisture content gradient in Jatobá lumber (Hymenaea sp). Flooring samples of Jatobá, with dimensions of 100 mm x 80 mm x 18 mm and moisture sensors inserted at depths of 4 mm and 17 mm, were glued to concrete sample test using a PVA based adhesive with 60% of solids. Results showed that the water contained in the adhesive was not totally adsorbed by the flooring sample and the moisture gradient across sample thickness is correlated to moisture content at depth of 17 mm, what confirm the moisture flow between concrete and wood.

A major design issue in the implementation of a Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) system for extensively crops such as alfalfa (i.e. crops that cover the entire surface as opposed to row crops), is the determination of the appropriate depth of placement of the drip line tubing. It is important to allow necessary farming operations with heavy equipment at harvesting times while still providing adequate water to meet the crop water requirements. It is also a need to ensure appropriate spacing between the dripline laterals to assure reasonable lateral irrigation uniformity for plant germination. In this study, the program HYDRUS-2D was used to determine the wetting pattern above and laterally from a subsurface drip emitter of an SDI system, for three soils typically found in Southern California and Arizona, a Sandy Clay Loam (SCL), a Clay Loam (CL) and a Loam (L). The design and management conditions from an experimental alfalfa field with an SDI system located at Holtville CA were used and analyzed. The first irrigation design was with a drip line depth of placement of 30 cm and the second design with an installation depth of 50 cm. The two different irrigation management schemes utilized by the farmers and producers in that area were: one with a running time of six hours and a frequency of every three days and the second one with an irrigation running time of twenty-four hours with a frequency of seven days or irrigation every week. After having carried out the analysis and studies of the irrigation designs and management schemes mentioned above, a new model with its corresponding management was proposed to meet the alfalfa water requirements under that particular field and weather conditions while we ensure a sufficiently dry soil surface at harvesting time for each soil case. This irrigation management includes twelve hours or irrigation every three days, for each of the three soils analyzed. It was found that the vertical rise of water above the emitters on the day of the cut, for our recommended SDI management was 26 cm, 29 cm, and 27 cm, with a moisture content at the soil surface of 14.9%, 24%, and 13% for the SCL, CL, and L soils respectively. Then, through the utilization of classical soil mechanics theory, an analysis to calculate the increase in stress on soils at any depth due to a load on the surface from a conventional tractor used during harvest operations was made for the proposed SDI system. The results from the increase in stress were then used together with soil strength properties such as shear strength as a function of soil moisture content to determine the minimum allowable depth of placement of the drip line tubing to ensure that soil failure does not occur. The load increase from a 3,300-kg four-wheel tractor was found to be 0.59 kg/cm2 under a rear tire at 10 cm below the surface and 0.07 kg/cm2 at 70 cm below the surface. To ensure that shearing failure does not occur, a stress analysis using Mohr’s circle indicated that the soil moisture content at 10 cm below the surface should be no greater than 26.8%, 32.7%, and 27% in the SCL, CL, and L soils respectively. The mimimum moisture content of 26.8% occur at 10 cm above the drip line for a SCL soil, which means that the minimum depth placement to avoid failure would be 40 cm below the surface. A similar analysis for the CL and L yielded minimum installation depths of 35 cm and 40 cm respectively. This type of analysis is useful in determining the depth of placement of SDI drip line tubing to ensure adequate trafficability of soil irrigated with subsurface drip irrigation systems. An additional outcome of the modeling study was the determination of the lateral extent of the wetted zone which can be used to determine the appropriate lateral spacing between drip line tubing. Thus, to ensure adequate spatial coverage by a subsurface drip system, the maximum horizontal spacing should be of 80 cm for SCL and L soils and 90 cm in CL soils.

Fukt i byggnader är vanligt och kan leda till skador. Fukten kan ge upphov till mögel och röta, vilket inte är bra för människors hälsa. Fukten kan också påverka olika egenskaper hos byggnadsmaterialen såsom hållfasthet, värmeisoleringsförmåga och ge dimensionsförändringar. Eftersom höga fukthalter kan ha en stor påverkan på materialen är det viktigt att upptäcka och fastställa problemet i ett tidigt skede. Syfte och mål med den här rapporten är att se om det finns ett samband mellan radarsignaler och fukthalt och avgöra om radarteknik är en användbar metod för att mäta fukthalt i ett byggnadselement. I det här arbetet har litteraturstudier, mätningar och analyser gjorts. Materialet som använts är lättbetong som byggts upp till fyra väggar i två olika tjocklekar, två stora och två små väggar. De stora testväggarna användes för radarmätningar och de små som provväggar till den gravimetriska metoden. Väggarna byggdes upp i ett tält där relativa luftfuktigheten (RF) och temperatur kunde styras. I början av experimentet var RF i tältet inställt på 98-99 % och temperaturen på 22 °C som därefter reglerats för att torka ut väggarna. Mätningar har utförts med radar och den gravimetriska metoden parallellt, där den sistnämnda gjorts genom att väga provväggarnas lättbetongblock vid samma tillfällen som radarmätningarna. Provväggarnas lättbetongblock torkades därefter i torkningsugn i 105 °C för att fastställa dess torrdensitet. Insamlade data från radarmätningarna har bearbetats av Radarbolagets personal. Resultaten för de olika metoderna har därefter analyserats och jämförts för att se om det finns ett samband. Resultaten från studien visar att det finns ett samband mellan fukthalt och signalerna från radarmätningarna. Fukthalten kan bestämmas på en lättbetongvägg med en felmarginal på ± 4 kgH20/m3 material, vilket motsvarar cirka 4 %. Det går att få ett bra resultat med radarmätning, metoden är däremot komplicerad men det kan finnas värde för fortsatta studier på flerskiktade konstruktioner för att avgöra om tekniken kan vara användbar för befintliga byggnadskonstruktioner. / Moisture in buildings is common and can lead to damage. The moisture can cause moldand rot, which is not good for human health. The moisture can also affect different properties of the building materials such as strength, thermal insulation and dimensional changes. Because high moisture levels can have a major impact on the materials, it is important to detect and fix the problem at an early stage. The purpose and aim of this report is to see if there is a correlation between radar and moisture content and determine whether radar technology is a useful method of measuring moisture contentin a building element. In this work, literature studies, measurements and analyzes have been made. The material used is lightweight concrete that is built up to four walls in two different thicknesses, two large and two small walls. The large test-walls were used for radar measurements and the small ones as sample-walls for the gravimetric method. The walls were built in a tent where relative humidity (RF) and temperature could be controlled. At the beginning of the experiment, the RF in the tent was set to 98-99 % and the temperature of 22 °C, which was then regulated to dry out the walls. Measurements have been made with radar and the gravimetric method in parallel, where the latter was made by weighing the sample-walls light concrete blocks at the same time as the radar measurements. The blocks of the sample walls were then dried in an oven at 105 °C to determine drydensity. The collected data from the radar measurements have been processed by the Radarbolaget’s personnel. The results for the different methods have then been analyzed and compared to see if there is a relationship. The results from the study show that there is a connection between moisture content and the signals from the radar measurements. The moisture content can be determined on a light concrete wall with a margin of error of ± 4 kgH20/m3material, which corresponds to about 4 %. It is possible to get a good result with radar measurement. However, the method is complicated, but there may be value for further studies on multilayered structures to determine whether the technology can be useful for existing building constructions.

A madeira quando seca é um excelente isolante elétrico, porém quando a umidade da madeira aumenta, essa característica diminui fazendo com que esta passe a conduzir a corrente elétrica. A determinação do teor de umidade permite um controle do custo de produção e qualidade da madeira, além de facilitar a utilização de tratamentos preservativos e pintura. O método de determinação do teor de umidade com o uso de estufa é o método mais exato, e por esta razão é utilizado como padrão para calibrar outras técnicas. Por outro lado, a verificação do teor de umidade por meio da estufa é muito demorado e danifica parte do componente a ser analisado. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor uma metodologia para calibrar medidores elétricos de umidade, utilizando espécies de dicotiledôneas nativas e coníferas de florestamento. Na experimentação realizada foi possível constatar que apesar da menor precisão na determinação de teores de umidade, o método que utiliza medidores de umidade do tipo resistência, permite com algumas correções, a obtenção de valores confiáveis para o controle de umidade de peças de madeira serrada. Para isso foram desenvolvidas expressões obtidas por meio de análise de regressão linear que possibilitam fazer as correções necessárias nas leituras realizadas com o medidor elétrico do tipo resistência. / Wood when dry is an excellent electric insulating material. However when the moisture content of wood increases, that feature decreases, which makes it conduct electric current. Determining the moisture content allows the control of the production cost and the quality of the timber, and also facilitates the use of preservative treatments and painting. The method for the determination of the moisture content using the kiln is the most exact method, and therefore it is used as standard to calibrate other techniques. On the other hand, the verification of the moisture content by means of the kiln takes toe much time and damages part of the component to be analyzed. The aim of this work is to propose a methodology to gauge electric moisture meters using species of tropical and forestation hardwood and softwood. The experiments made it possible to verify that, even having less accuracy in determining the moisture content, the method based on moisture electric meters allows, with some adjustments, a reliable data acquisition for the control of moisture content of sawed lumber. For this matter, equations were developed by means of linear regression analysis allowing the necessary corrections of the readings carried out with the electric measurer of the resistance type.

Numerical estimates of the ability of a green roof to reduce energy consumption in buildings are plagued by a lack of accuracy in thermal properties that are input to the model. An experimental study into the thermal conductivity at different temperatures and moisture contents was performed using four different commercially available substrates for green roofs. In the unfrozen state, as moisture content increased, thermal conductivity increased linearly. In the phase transition zone between +5 ºC and -10ºC, as temperature decreased, thermal conductivity increased sharply during the transition from water to ice. When the substrate was frozen, thermal conductivity varied exponentially with substrate moisture content prior to freezing. Power functions were found between thermal conductivity and temperature (when shifted up by +10.001ºC). Two equally sized, green roof test cells were constructed and tested to compare various roof configurations including a bare roof, varying media thickness for a green roof, and vegetation. The results show that compared with the bare roof, there is a 75% reduction in the interior temperature amplitude for the green roof with 150mm thick substrate. When a sedum mat was added, there’s a 20% reduction in the amplitude of the inner temperature as compared with the cell without sedum mat. / Graduate

A laboratory test program was conducted to determine the moisture-suction relationships of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs). Moisture-suction relationships were determined by combining suction data from pressure plate tests, contact filter paper tests, and relative humidity tests, then fitting water retention curves (WRCs) to the data. WRCs were determined for wetting processes and drying processes in terms of gravimetric moisture content and volumetric moisture content. The effects of GCL type, hydration solution, wet-dry cycles, and temperature on the moisture-suction relationships were analyzed. The three GCLs of the test program consisted of configurations of woven and nonwoven geotextiles reinforced with needlepunched fibers. A geofilm was adhesively bonded to the nonwoven side of one of the GCL products. The hydration solution tests involved hydrating GCLs with deionized water, tap water, 0.1 M CaCl2, or soil water from a landfill cover test plot for a 30-day conditioning period prior to testing. Cyclic wet-dry tests were conducted on the GCL specimens subjected to 20 wet-dry cycles from 50% to 0% gravimetric moisture content prior to testing. Temperature tests were conducted at 2°C, 20°C, and 40°C. GCL type affected moisture-suction relationships. The GCLs with an adhesively-bonded geofilm exhibited lower air-entry suction and higher residual suction than GCLs without a geofilm. The degree of needlepunched fiber pullout during hydration contributed to hysteresis between wetting WRCs and drying WRCs. Hysteresis was high for suction values below air-entry suction and was low for suction values greater than air-entry suction. Cation exchange reduced the water retention capacity for all three GCL types. The saturated gravimetric moisture contents were reduced from approximately 140% to 70% for wetting WRCs and 210% to 90% for drying WRCs for GCLs hydrated in deionized water compared to CaCl2 solution. Hysteresis of the nonwoven product decreased from 71%, to 62%, to 28% with respect to deionized water, tap water, and CaCl2 solution. Hysteresis of the woven product exposed to soil water was 24% and 0%, in terms of saturated gravimetric moisture content and saturated volumetric moisture content, respectively. The swell index, Atterberg Limits, mole fraction of bound sodium, and scanning electron microscopy images that were determined of bentonite from the conditioned GCLs indicated that changes in water retention capacity corresponded with cation exchange. Wet-dry cycles and temperature affected the moisture-suction behavior for GCLs. Wet-dry cycles reduced hysteresis and increased the swelling capacity of GCL specimens. Microscopy images indicated that wet-dry cycles caused weak orientation of the clay particles. Increasing temperature resulted in a small decrease in water retention capacity. Results of the test program provided a means for predicting unsaturated behavior for GCLs.

Certains procédés de production d’énergie nécessitent l’utilisation de poudres de biomasse, par exemple la gazéification en réacteur à flux entraîné (RFE). Cependant, les poudres de biomasse ont une mauvaise coulabilité. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier leurs propriétés d’écoulement dans le contexte de la gazéification en RFE, à l’échelle du laboratoire et à l’échelle pilote. A l’échelle du laboratoire, des mesures en tambour rotatif, des tests de cisaillement et des mesures de densité ont été effectués. D’une part, une corrélation est mise en évidence entre la cohésion (issue des tests de cisaillement), la densité et l’angle d’avalanche (tiré des mesures en tambour). Ainsi, un paramètre difficile à obtenir comme la cohésion peut l’être à partir de mesures simples. D’autre part, l’influence de l’humidité sur la coulabilité des poudres de biomasse a été évaluée. L’humidité n’a pas d’effet significatif sous 15 % (en masse, base humide), car l’eau est adsorbée dans la structure de la biomasse ; les particules gonflent et ne sont pas liées par des ponts liquides. Un procédé de granulation humide est proposé. Un liant issu de déchets de biomasse est ajouté à la poudre pour former des granulés d’environ 1 mm. Leur forme sphérique diminue l’entrelacement des particules et leur faible polydispersité diminue le nombre de points de contact. Une amélioration de l’écoulement est observée à l’échelle labo. Une étude énergétique montre que la consommation énergétique du procédé peut descendre jusqu’à 12% du pouvoir calorifique inférieur, ce qui suggère une potentielle rentabilité économique du procédé. Enfin, la caractérisation à l’échelle supérieure est effectuée dans un pilote reproduisant l’injection en RFE. Les résultats montrent le rôle essentiel de la sphéricité et d’une faible polydispersité des particules. L’effet positif de la torréfaction et de la granulation sur la coulabilité est mis en évidence. / Some power generation processes require the biomass to be finely ground, such as biomass gasification in entrained flow reactors. However, fine biomass powders are cohesive and present flow issues. This thesis aims to study the biomass powder flowability in the context of the entrained flow gasification process. Biomass powders are characterized both at laboratory scale and pilot scale. Characterization at lab scale consisted of rotating drum measurements, shear tests and density measurements. First, a correlation is found between the cohesion (derived from shear tests), the powder density and the avalanche angle (derived from the rotating drum measurements). Thus, parameters difficult to get such as the cohesion can be obtained with easy to perform measurements. Then, the influence of moisture content on wood powder flowability has been assessed. No significant effect of the water content is found below 15 wt% (wet basis). Below 15%, as water is adsorbed in the biomass structure, the particles swell without being linked by liquid bridges. A wet granulation method is proposed. Biomass waste binders are added to the powder to form granules around 1 mm. The spherical shape lowers the interlocking phenomenon. The low size dispersity of the grains decreases the number of contact points between particles. An improvement of the flowability at lab scale is observed. An energetic study of the granulation process is proposed, showing the energy consumption can be as low as 12% of the biomass Lowest Heating Value. Thus, the process is potentially economically profitable. Finally, characterization at pilot scale is performed with a device mimicking the injection in an entrained flow reactor. The results show the essential roles in the injection step of both the spherical shape and the narrow size distribution of the particles. The positive effect of torrefaction and granulation on the flowability is highlighted.

This thesis presents a grey-box model of the temperature and moisture content for each layer of the multi-ply paperboard inside the drying section of a paper mill. The distribution of the moisture inside the board is an important variable for the board quality, but is unfortunately not measured on-line. The main goal of this work is a model that predicts the moisture evolution during the drying, to be used by operators and process engineers as an estimation of the unmeasurable variables inside the drying section. Drying of carton board is a complex and nonlinear process. The physical phenomena are not entirely understood and the drying depends on a number of unknown parameters and unmodelled or unmeasurable features. The grey-box modelling approach, which consists in using the available measurements to estimate the unknown disturbances, is therefore a suitable approach for modelling the drying section. A major problem encountered with the modelling of the drying section is the lack of measurements to validate the model. Consequently, the correctness and uniqueness of the estimated variables and parameters are not guaranteed. We therefore carry out observability and identifiability analyses and the results suggest that the selected model structure is observable and identifiable under the assumption that specific measurements are available. Based on this analysis, static measurements in the drying section are carried out to identify the parameters of the model. The parameters are identified using one data set and the results are validated with other data sets. We finally simulate the model dynamics to investigate if predicting the final board properties on-line is feasible. Since only the final board temperature and moisture content are measured on-line, the variables and parameters are neither observable nor identifiable. We therefore regard the predictions as an approximation of the estimated variables. The semiphysical model is complemented with a nonlinear Kalman filter to estimate the unmeasured inputs and the unmodelled disturbances. Data simulations show a good prediction of the final board temperature and moisture content at the end of the drying section. The model could therefore possibly be used by operators and process engineers as an indicator of the board temperature and moisture inside the drying section. / QC 20101112

The diploma thesis deals with building survey of the New synagogue in Velké Meziříčí. It is focused on diagnostics of timber structures using non-destructive and semi-destructive testing methods, such as visual inspection, moisture content measurement, penetration depth of a steel pin measurement and endoscopy. The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the condition of the timber structures according to the results of the building survey.

No description available.