La presente tesis contempla el diseño de una gama de concretos de baja contracción, empleando cementos con adición de puzolanas, fibras de polipropileno y fibras metálicas para mitigar la fisuración, mejorando la durabilidad de las edificaciones. Para proponer los diseños se investigó cuáles de las contracciones son la que tienen mayor incidencia en la fisuración del concreto, siendo la contracción plástica y la contracción por secado las más importantes. Asimismo, se estudiaron qué variables son las que provocan la contracción y posterior fisuramiento, afirmando que son producidos por factores ambientales, los componentes del concreto y malas prácticas constructivas. En la primera etapa, se realizó la caracterización de los agregados (fino y grueso), realizándose ensayos como granulometría, absorción, peso específico, contenido de humedad y %pasante de la malla #200. En la segunda etapa se realizaron los ensayos en concreto fresco, siendo el de mayor importancia el ensayo de simulación de contracción plástica, para el cual empleamos la ASTM C1579. Para realizar este ensayo se fabricaron los paneles que simulan restricciones y se construyó una cámara en la que se controla la velocidad del aire, temperatura y humedad relativa. En la tercera etapa se realizaron los ensayos en concreto endurecido, siendo el más importante el ensayo de contracción por secado, para lo cual empleamos la ASTM C490. Para ello, se realizaron probetas rectangulares para la medición de la variación del cambio de longitud durante 31 días. Finalmente, se realizará el análisis costo – beneficio para demostrar la viabilidad de la propuesta. / This thesis contemplates the design of a range of low-shrinkage concretes, using cements with the addition of pozzolans, polypropylene fibers and metallic fibers to mitigate cracking, improving the durability of buildings. In order to propose the designs, it was investigated which of the contractions have the greatest incidence in the cracking of the concrete, being the plastic contraction and the drying contraction the most important. Likewise, the variables that cause contraction and subsequent cracking were studied, stating that they are produced by environmental factors, concrete components and poor construction practices. In the first stage, the characterization of the aggregates (fine and coarse) was carried out, performing tests such as granulometry, absorption, specific weight, moisture content and% passing through of the # 200 mesh. In the second stage, tests were carried out on fresh concrete, the most important being the plastic shrinkage simulation test, for which we used ASTM C1579. To carry out this test, the panels that simulate restrictions were manufactured and a chamber was built in which the air speed, temperature and relative humidity were controlled. In the third stage, tests were carried out on hardened concrete, the most important being the drying shrinkage test, for which we used ASTM C490. For this, rectangular test tubes were made to measure the variation of the change in length during 31 days. Finally, a cost-benefit analysis will be carried out to demonstrate the viability of the proposal. / Tesis

Main purpose of the diploma thesis is to design a multi-span double-girder bridge which spans the valley of a river. The bridge spans main road of 1st class. Main superstructure of a bridge is made of prestressed concrete which is built span by span. Structure was designed according to limit states in construction stages as well as during the service. Everything was designed according to the latest European normatives. It contains static calculation and drawing documentation.

The dissertation thesis deals with the problem of relevant volume of natural shrinkage and accidental losses of retail stock quota calculation. In frame of the dissertation thesis, factors affecting an extent of accidental shortage of inventories in retail business are investigated here. Then, possible approaches to a calculation of relevant volume of such a quota are recognized as well. By its scope, the dissertation thesis reacts on a problem that exists within the income taxes law since 1995, but any conceptual solution of this problem is still missing. This current problem that is felt especially in retail business is right the problem of relevant volume of a quota of natural shrinkage and accidental loses calculation. The dissertation thesis is based on wide research that has been done in both, in retail businesses and on the side of tax administration too. On the basis of this research’s outcomes, the main factors affecting an extent of accidental losses of retail stock have been determined. Then these factors and evaluation of their influence became construction elements of two mathematic models for the calculation of relevant volume of a quota of natural shrinkage and accidental losses of inventories in retail business. These models are the model that is based on the statistic method of multiple regression and the model based on the fuzzy logic, respectively on the fuzzy mathematics. For the conclusion of the dissertation thesis, both models are discussed from the point of their relevance as well as from the view of their practical application. Theoretical and practical contributions of the dissertation thesis are also concluded here along with an outline of possible future research in this area.

Advanced computational methods for the analysis of building structures are used more often in engineering practice. Their use is enforced not only by the demands for aesthetics, functionality and high economy of the construction, but often directly by code provisions and requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to provide for an engineer the robust, but transparent tool, which can be used for an efficient design of structure all over it's design working life. This work deals with the creation of a computational system for time dependent analysis of concrete and composite structures. It is assumed a solid or composite concrete section with possible application of pre-tensioned and/or post-tensioned tendons. Each phase of step-by-step build composite cross-section has a general geometry. The used algorithms give us the possibility of a detailed analysis of the structure in individual construction stages, provide the designer better view on the behavior of structures with respect to concrete aging, shrinkage and creep, relaxation of prestressed tendons and provide an information on the redistribution of internal forces in the structure and in different phases of the cross-section. Stress state of the structure calculated in this way come in useful further in the design and checking of ultimate and serviceability limit states. Results of time dependent analysis are verified by manual calculations and by comparing with the results obtained by simplified methods.

Materialdaten sind die Grundlage für belastbare und zuverlässige Simulationsvorhersagen nicht nur Formfüllanalysen sondern auch für Verzugsvorhersagen. SIGMASOFT® Virtual Thermoplastics ist eine zuverlässige Methode, um prozessabhängige Materialdaten für die Spritzgusssimulation verfügbar zu machen. / Material data is the basis for robust and reliable simulation predictions not only for mould filling analyses but also for warpage predictions. SIGMASOFT® Virtual Thermoplastics is a reliable method to make process-dependent material data available for injection moulding simulation.

Since a large part of the hydropower structures in Sweden was built in the 1950s and 1960s, many of them are slowly but surely exhibiting deterioration. The hydropower companies are facing big challenges and are consequently investing in effective repairing methods since a hydropower structure failure could pose serious consequences and dangers to people, the environment, and the community. Many structures within hydropower are made of concrete and the demands on the new supplementing concrete are high. Concrete with the potential to meet these high demands is the pre-placed aggregate concrete, which has shown promising results regarding its mechanical properties in previous studies. For this reason, this type of concrete is of interest to investigate. The focus has not been on optimizing the pre-placed aggregate concrete for full-scale productions. Instead, the main objectives of this master thesis were to study and analyze the mechanical properties of this type of concrete, such as shrinkage, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, freeze-thaw resistance and moreover investigate parameters of importance in the mix design to obtain a homogenous and easy flowing grout that successfully could fill the voids between the coarse aggregates. The investigations were carried out by laboratory experiments in the research and laboratory facilities of Vattenfall in Älvkarleby. The mix design of the grout was developed using the methods and requirements stated in the American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM standards, and The Swedish Institute for Standards, SiS. A total of 15 grout-mixes were made. However, only the last five were used to cast specimens as the air content was insufficient in the first ten. The results indicated that it is necessary to replace the air-entraining admixture with microspheres in order for the pre-placed aggregate concrete to meet the requirements in exposure class XF3 and XC4. The scaling of the pre-placed aggregate concrete was less than 0.1 kg/m2 at 56 cycles, and thus, the freeze-thaw resistance was classed as very good. Moreover, the use of slag considerably reduced the bleeding of the grout and also improved the casting results. However, on the other hand, it increased the shrinkage of the pre-placed aggregate concrete. An efficiency factor of 0.6 proved to be too low since the compressive strength of the specimen with slag was approximately 50 % higher than the ones without. Furthermore, the shrinkage of the pre-placed aggregate concrete was after 63 days found to be lower than that of the conventional concrete. Also, the compressive strength of the pre-placed aggregate concrete without slag proved to be approximately 15 % lower than that of conventional concrete. Additionally, vibration during casting was found to increase the compressive strength of the pre-placed aggregate concrete and also improved the casting results. Low bleeding, combined with a high discharge time of approximately 45 seconds for 1.7 liters of grout, generated the best casting results. The results from the investigations have shown that this type of concrete has great potential. However, actions and further investigations should be made to see whether changing the fine aggregate size to a smaller one improves the ability of the grout to penetrate the voids between the coarse aggregates. Moreover, pump injection of the grout should be tested instead of pouring it over the coarse aggregates to see whether it improves the casting results and the mechanical properties. / Då en stor del av vattenkraftsdammarna i Sverige byggdes på 1950 och 1960-talet börjar många av dessa sakta men säkert brytas ner. Vattenkraftföretagen står inför stora utmaningar och investerar följaktligen i effektiva reparationsmetoder då dammbrott skulle kunna få allvarliga konsekvenser för människor, den omgivande miljön och för samhället. Flertalet konstruktioner inom vattenkraften är gjorda av betong och kraven på den nya kompletterande betongen är höga. En betong med potentialen att möta och uppfylla dessa höga krav är injekteringsbetongen som i tidigare studier uppvisat lovande resultat beträffande dess mekaniska egenskaper. Med anledning av detta är injekteringsbetongen av intresse att undersöka. Fokus har inte varit på att optimera injekteringsbetongen i syfte att genomföra fullskaliga försök. Istället har huvudsyftet med detta examensarbete varit att studera och analysera injekteringsbetongens mekaniska egenskaper såsom krympning, tryckhållfasthet, spräckhållfasthet, frostbeständighet samt undersöka viktiga parametrar i skapandet av ett homogent och lättflytande cementbruk som med god framgång kunde fylla ut hålrummen mellan grova ballasten. Undersökningarna utfördes genom laboratorieförsök på Vattenfalls betonglaboratorium i Älvkarleby. Vidare har skapandet och utvecklandet av bruket utförts i enlighet med metoder och krav angivna i American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM standards, samt i Svenska institutet för Standarder, SiS. Totalt gjordes 15 bruksblandningar, dock användes enbart de sista fem till gjutning av provkroppar då lufthalten visade sig vara för låg i dem första tio. Resultaten indikerade på att det är nödvändigt att ersätta luftporbildare med mikrosfärer för att erhålla en lufthalt som uppfyller kraven för betong i exponeringsklass XF3 samt XC4. Injekteringbetongens avflagning efter 56 dygn var mindre än 0.1 kg/m2 och frostbeständigheten kunde därmed klassas som mycket god. Användningen av slagg minskade cementbrukets vattenseparation avsevärt och bidrog även till förbättrade gjutresultat. Dock bidrog det å andra sidan till en ökad krympning hos injekteringsbetongen. En effektivitetsfaktor på 0.6 visade sig vara för låg då injekteringsbetongen med slagg hade en cirka 50 % högre tryckhållfasthet än dem utan. Dessutom visade sig injekteringsbetongens krympning vara mindre än den konventionella betongens efter 63 dagar. Tryckhållfastheten hos injekteringsbetongen utan slagg uppvisade även en cirka 15 % lägre tryckhållfasthet än den konventionella betongens. Vibrering under gjutning visade sig höja tryckhållfastheten hos injekteringsbetongen samt förbättra gjutresultaten. En låg vattenseparation i kombination med en flödestid på cirka 45 sekunder för 1.7 liter bruk visade sig ge bästa gjutresultaten. Resultaten från laboratorieförsöken har visat på att injekteringsbetongen besitter stor potential. Dock bör ytterligare undersökningar genomföras för att bedöma huruvida en mindre ballastfraktion för sanden påverkar brukets förmåga att penetrera den grova ballasten. Vidare bör bruket pumpas in istället för att hällas över den grova ballasten, detta för att se huruvida gjutresultaten samt de mekaniska egenskaperna hos injekteringsbetongen skulle förbättras.

Informationen gällande dilatationsfogar är i dagsläget otydlig ochkonstruktörer ifrågasätter användandet av dem. Avsaknaden aven tydlig standard medför att användandet blir inkonsekvent.Behovet av att standardisera eller utförligt beskriva de viktigafaktorerna som spelar in är efterfrågat. Den främstaproblematiken ligger i avståndet mellan dilatationsfogar och när,eller om de är nödvändiga.Detta examensarbete har utförts i samarbete med avdelningenProperty & Buildings på WSP Uppsala i syfte om att spridakunskap om användandet av dilatationsfog inom konstruktion.Målet med arbetet är att effektivisera byggbranschensanvändande av dilatationsfogar. Studien framför ett antal nugällande rekommendationer från olika källor i litteraturstudiensamt tre intervjuer med erfarna konstruktörer. Denna informationsammanställs sedan i resultatet och slutsatsen, där en egen teoriframförts i förhoppning om att klargöra otydligheter inom ämnetsamt inspirera till vidare studier.Studien visar att sprickbildning är den främsta anledningen tillbehovet av en dilatationsfog och att många olika faktorer påverkaruppkomsten av sprickor. De faktorer som påverkar mest ärbyggnadens underlag och geometrin på betongkonstruktionen dådessa kan leda till rörelser i betongen och tvång. Utöver dessatekniska faktorer inverkar projektets ekonomi på användandet avdilatationsfogen. Detta leder till att varje enskilt fall börundersökas för att använda fogen effektivt, men studien visar påatt ett avstånd på 30 meter kan anses säkert. / Today's information regarding expansion joints is lacking and construction engineersare questioning the use of them. The absence of a distinct standard results ininconsistent usage.A standardization or a thorough description of the important factors taking place in thesubject is requested. The main issue regards the distance between expansion joints andwhen or if they are necessary.The purpose of this study is to spread knowledge regarding the use of expansion jointswithin construction and the work has been done in cooperation with the Property &Buildings department at WSP Uppsala. The end goal is to increase efficiency of the usageof expansion joints within construction. This study features several presentrecommendations from different written sources as well as three interviews withknowledgeable construction engineers. The information gathered is concluded andpresented in the results and conclusion parts of the report. To clarify the ambiguitiesregarding the subject and to inspire further research a theory has been presented aswell.The study shows that cracking is the main reason for usage of expansion joints and theorigin of cracks depends on many different elements. Mainly it is the buildingsgroundwork and the geometry of the different concrete construction units that lead tovarious movement and constrain damage. Alongside these elements the project's budgetdirectly affects usage of expansion joints. These factors all indicate that every uniquecase should be studied to assess the necessity and effective usage of expansion joints,however the study has shown that 30 meters between joints can be considered safe.

No description available.

In Sweden, it is Eurocode 2 which forms the basis for performing a design of concrete structures, in which methods can be found treating the subject of restrained concrete members and cracking in the serviceability limit state. In the code, both detailed hand calculations procedures as well as simplified methods are described. Several proposal of how to treat base restrained structures can be found in other codes and reports. Some state that the procedure given in Eurocode 2 is on the unsafe side as the method relies on stabilized cracking, while some say that the method is over conservative as the restraining actions will prevent the cracks from opening. As these methods are analysed closer and further tested, it is obtained that they all yield different results under the same assumptions. Most of them are within a similar span, and the deviation arises as the various methods takes different aspect into consideration. One method yields a result which is considerably higher than all other, denoted the Chalmers method. As this method is taught at the technical institute of Gothenburg (Chalmers), the large deviation have caused some confusion among Swedish engineers. As the methods are compared to numerical analyses, it is found that the detailed calculation procedure stated in Eurocode 2 yields fairly good prediction of crack widths for lower levels of strain, while for high levels of strain it is over conservative. The Chalmers method seems to underestimate the number of cracks which occur, and thus give rise to the deviating results. It is further found that in relation to more detailed hand calculations, the simplified procedure stated in Eurocode 2 may not always be on the safe side. The procedure is only valid within a certain range which may be exceeded depending on the magnitude of the load and choice of various design parameters. The effect creep have on base restrained structures subjected to long term loads such as shrinkage is further discussed and analysed numerically. Various hand calculation methods suggest that creep have a positive influence on base restrained structures in the sense that the crack width become smaller. The numerical results indicates that this is indeed the case, however, uncertainties of these analyses are considered to be large in relation to the short term analyses. / I Sverige är det Eurokod 2 som används som basis för dimensionering av betongkonstruktioner, i vilken metoder som beskriver sprickkontroll i bruksgränsstadiet för betong utsatt för tvångskrafter återfinns. Både detaljerade handberäkningsmetoder och förenklade metoder beskrivs. I olika koder och rapporter återfinns ett flertal förslag till hur detta problem ska hanteras. Vissa påstår att metoderna som anges i Eurokod 2 är på osäkra sidan då dessa förlitar sig på stabiliserad sprickbildning, medan andra menar att Eurokod 2 är för konservativ då inspänningen kommer förhindra att sprickorna öppnar sig. Då metoderna analyseras noggrannare och testas framgår det att alla genererar olika resultat under samma antaganden. De flesta ligger inom samma spann och skillnaderna uppkommer då de olika metoderna beaktar olika aspekter. En metod genererar dock ett resultat som är högre än alla andra, som i denna rapport benämns som Chalmersmetoden. Då denna metod lärs ut på Göteborgs tekniska universitet (Chalmers) så har de utstickande resultatet skapat en viss förvirring bland konstruktörer i Sverige. Då metoderna jämförs med numeriska analyser framgår det att Eurokod 2 förutspår en rimlig sprickvidd för låga töjningsgrader, medan den verkar vara överkonservativ för höga töjningsgrader. Chalmersmetoden verkar underestimera antalet sprickor som uppkommer i konstruktionen, vilket resulterar i de utstickande resultaten. Fortsättningsvis fastslås det att i relation till en mer detaljerad handberäkning så är den förenklade metoden i Eurokod 2 inte alltid på säkra sidan. Metoden är endast giltig inom ett visst spann, vilket kan överskridas beroende på den egentliga töjningens storlek och valet av dimensioneringsparametrar. Krypningens effekt på fastinspända betongkonstruktioner då de utsätts för långtidslaster så som krympning har också diskuterats och analyserats numeriskt. Olika handberäkningsmetoder antyder att krypningen har en positiv effekt på så sätt att sprickvidden minskar. Även de numeriska resultaten indikeratar att så är fallet, dock anses osäkerheten i dessa analyser vara stor i förhållande till analyser av korttidslaster.

Although Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Real-Time Location System (RTLS) technologies for inventory tracking have been growing in popularity, the healthcare industry has been reluctant to adopt these technologies. One of the primary reasons for this lack of enthusiasm has been the risk associated with electromagnetic interference between RFID/RTLS systems and medical equipment functionality. The other reason has been the substantial cost and complexity of implementing RFID/RTLS in healthcare organizations. In this study, we show that there are several ways to safely install RFID/RTLS systems to improve the inventory management processes of hospitals and clinics. We then analyze the inventory shrinkage (loss and theft) data of the Veterans Health Administration VISN 10 (the Veterans Integrated Service Network of Ohio) using a mathematical model to estimate the annual shrinkage. Finally, we develop an economic cost/benefit analysis database system in Microsoft Access that can be used to calculate the breakeven point of RFID/RTLS implementations, as well as calculate the expected reduction in inventory- related operating costs. This system can be adapted for cost/benefit analyses in similar inventory-intensive environments.