A study of 12 expansive soils in four major physiographic provinces in Virginia was initiated to examine and quantify the relationship between shrink-swell potential, shrink-swell indices, and soil properties. The mineralogy classes, soil series, and (physiographic provinces, parent materials) examined include smectitic -- Jackland and Waxpool (Triassic, diabase), Iredell (Piedmont, hornblende); vermiculitic -- Kelly (Triassic, thermal shale); kaolinitic -- Cecil (Piedmont, granite gneiss), Davidson (Triassic, diabase); and mixed -- Carbo and Frederick (Valley and Ridge, limestone), Craven and Peawick (Coastal Plain, fluvial and marine sediments), and Mayodan and Creedmoor (Triassic, sandstones). Three sites in each of the 12 map units were described and major horizons sampled for physical, chemical, and mineralogical laboratory analysis. An expansive soil rating system, termed the Expansive Soil Index (ESI), was developed using the soil properties best correlated with shrink-swell potential. The sum of swelling 2:1 minerals, swell index, liquid limit, and CEC gave expansive soil potential ratings (ESI) for each soil series. The higher the ESI, the greater the shrink-swell potential. Smectite distributions within the soil profiles were investigated. Smectite concentration in the clay fraction increases with depth in soils formed from diabase and thermally altered shale. Smectite weathers to kaolinite and hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite with increasing proximity to the soil surface thus accounting for the observed decrease in smectite toward the soil surface. The highest amount of smectite from the granite gneiss, limestone, sandstones and shales, and Coastal Plain sediments were in the Bt2 horizon where maximum expression of the argillic horizon occurs. Smectite contents decrease away (upwards and downwards) from the maximum in the Bt2 horizon. A satellite study focused on locating and quantifying the variability within five map units in the Culpeper (Triassic) Basin in northern Virginia. Variability of the shrink-swell indices and related properties are high in all map units. Dissimilar inclusions could adversely affect foundations if a home is sited on both moderate and high shrink-swell soils. Although there is extreme variability in the map units, the variability occurs within the delineations of each map unit. Each delineation within an individual map unit contains similar levels of variability. / Ph. D.

Lateral swelling pressure induced in expansive soils upon wetting can adversely impact the performance and integrity of earthen structures and foundations. The yearly cost associated with damage to structures from expansive clays in the United States is estimated to exceed the loss associated with natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. The main objective of this dissertation is to provide new insight into the evolution of lateral swelling pressure in variably saturated expensive soils under infiltration via physical testing. In the first part of this study, a new laboratory-scale testing apparatus was built to measure lateral and vertical swelling pressures under anisotropic conditions. The testing apparatus was used to investigate the effect of compaction level on lateral swelling pressure in an expansive clay collected from central Arkansas. Results show that the higher the compaction, the higher the lateral swelling pressure. In contrast, compaction was found to have an insignificant effect on the vertical swelling pressure at a compaction level of less than 90%. In the second part, the laboratory-scale testing apparatus was employed to test the effects of four additives (lime, lime kiln dust, cement, and cement kiln dust). The results showed that the addition of a high calcium additive could significantly reduce the swelling pressures of expansive clay. The third part of the dissertation involved full-scale testing of lateral pressures in an expansive clay upon infiltration. A heavily instrumented 3-m high masonry wall backfilled with an expansive clay was built and subjected to infiltration. The degree of saturation, pore-water pressure, temperature, suction, and lateral and vertical pressures were monitored at different locations during the test. Results showed that the development of lateral pressure is rapid during initial saturation and levels out as the clay approaches saturation levels. This finding highlights the importance of monitoring lateral pressure over time to accurately predict its behavior. The study also found that lateral pressure develops prior to vertical pressure, depending on the area and restraint.

Expansive soils are a worldwide problem that possesses various challenges for civil engineers. With increasing water content, they exhibit excessive volume changes, resulting in large horizontal and vertical stresses to the structures located or buried in these regions. The most common method to minimize this effect is to replace these types of clays around the proposed structure with nonexpansive soils. For the cases needing larger volume of replacement, either sidewalls or the foundations must be designed to cater for the anticipated pressures or a suitable improvement technique shall be applied in place. In this experimental study, it is intended to investigate the possible positive effects of trenches backfilled with granular material such as crushed stone or rock on the improvement of swell parameters of expansive soils. Thin-wall oedometer tests, conventional oedometer tests and larger size tests with moulds were performed on artificially compacted untreated and granular fill treated samples for this purpose. The trenches were modeled by opening a hole with a diameter that satisfies the predicted percent trench content at the center of the soil samples, which was then backfilled with granular material. Modified thin-wall oedometer tests were performed to measure the lateral swell pressures of both untreated and treated samples, whereas the conventional oedometer tests and tests on samples placed in moulds were performed to measure the vertical swell parameters of soils. It was observed that both the vertical swell percentages as well as the lateral swell pressures reduced considerably as the volume of granular material filled trench was increased. The treatment was observed to be more remarkable under the surcharge effect of a light weight structure or a fill placed on top.

Expansive soils are a worldwide problem especially in the regions where climate is arid or semi arid. These soils swell when they are exposed to water and shrink when they dry. Cyclic swelling and shrinkage of clays and associated movements of foundations may result in cracking of structures. Several methods are used to decrease or prevent the swelling potential of such soils like prewetting, surcharge loading, chemical stabilization etc. Among these, one of the most widely used method is using chemical admixtures (chemical stabilization). Cyclic wetting and drying affects the swell &ndash / shrink behaviour of expansive soils. In this research, the effect of cyclic swell &ndash / shrink on swell percentage of a chemically stabilized expansive soil is investigated. Class C Fly Ash is used as an additive for stabilization of an expansive soil that is prepared in the laboratory environment by mixing kaolinite and bentonite. Fly ash was added to expansive soil with a predetermined percentage changing between 0 to 20 percent. Hydrated lime with percentages changing between 0 to 5 percent and sand with 5 percent were also used instead of fly ash for comparison. Firstly, consistency limits, grain size distributions and swell percentages of mixtures were determined. Then to see the effect of cyclic swell &ndash / shrink on the swelling behavior of the mixtures, swell &ndash / shrink cycles applied to samples and swell percentages were determined. Swell percentage decreased as the proportion of the fly ash increased. Cyclic swell-shrink affected the swell percentage of fly ash stabilized samples positively.

No description available.

<p> The effect of capillary dimensions on the die swell of molten polymers is investigated. Low and high density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene are used to make investigation It is found the die swell decreases vii th L/D. The plot of die swell index (d/D) vs. L/D has the shape of anexponential decay curve. </p> <p> Bagley's decaying equation is used to fit the data. The effect of Deborah number on die swell phenomenon is also studied. 'I'he relationship between the recoverable shear strains of infinitely long capillary and the one with dimensions ratio L/D is obtained. This relationship could be used to estima te the die swell of short capillary from its value at equilibrium and polymer characteristics. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

La présente étude concerne l’évaluation de l’impact du séchage par air chaud (HAD), lyophilisation (FD) et « swell drying » (SD), procédé couplant le séchage par air chaud avec le procédé de Détente Instantanée Contrôlée (DIC), sur les fraises (Fragaria var. Camarosa). Il s’agit de comparer et de contraster les performances des procédés et la qualité du produit fini séché en termes des cinétiques de séchage et de réhydratation, de contenus en molécules bioactives et activité antioxydante, et des paramètres caractéristiques de texture comme croquant et croustillant. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que le procédé de SD comparé aux procédés classiques de séchage et de lyophilisation, réduit d’une façon importante le temps de séchage ainsi que les coûts d’opération. D’autre part, SD conserve la qualité nutritionnelle des fraises en gardant leur contenu en composants bioactifs et en augmentant leur disponibilité. De plus, une corrélation importante entre la capacité antioxydante et le contenu total d’anthocyanes a été établie. D’autre part, les fraises séchées par SD ont montré une très intéressante macro et micro-structure. Les produits ont présenté une haute expansion et une croustillance significative due au phénomène de micro-alvéolation par décompression instantanée par DIC. D’ailleurs, il a été possible de mesurer les caractéristiques instrumentales de croustillance/croquance des échantillons finaux séchés. Grâce à la possibilité de modifier, contrôler et optimiser les paramètres opératoires du procédé DIC, il a été possible d’obtenir un produit du type « snack » croustillant avec une très haute valeur nutritionnelle. / The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of hot air drying (HAD), freeze-drying (FD) and swell drying (SD), which is a coupling of hot air drying to instant controlled pressure drop, (DIC) on the strawberry (Fragaria var. Camarosa) to compare and to contrast its quality in terms of drying and rehydration kinetics, bioactive compounds and its antioxidant activity, and texture parameters as crunchy and crispy features. The obtained results shown that SD method helped to reduce the drying time leading to a low-cost processing compared with classical hot air drying and freezedrying. SD globally preserved the strawberry’s nutritional value and bioactive compounds, increasing their availability. Moreover, a strong correlation between antioxidant activity and total anthocyanin content was established in SD strawberries. On the other hand, the swell-dried strawberries showed an interesting macro and micro-structure. They presented a high expansion ratios and significant crispness provoked by the micro-alveolation phenomenon induced as consequence of the instant decompression process in the DIC treatment. Moreover, it was possible to instrumentaly measure the crispy/crunchy features of the final dried samples. By assessing such crispy and healthy contents of fruit “snacking”, it was possible to modify, control, and optimize DIC operating parameters. And, it can be designed according to the industrial or consumer needs.

The main focus of this study is the influence of waves on the heat transfer over sea. In particular, the bulk transfer coefficient CH (the Stanton number), has been investigated for possible wave influence. Measurements from the site Östergarnsholm in the Baltic Sea have been used. The site has a large sector with undisturbed over water fetch. Data during the period 1995-1999 have been used. It is shown that CH behaves differently as it approach z/L=0 from the unstable side depending on the wave state. During growing sea, CH makes a rapid drop as it passes over neutrality, strikingly different from swell conditions where CH makes a much ’smoother’ transition. This difference is also shown to exist for the kinematic heat flux. Based on the definition of CH, it is suggested that one of the reasons of CH’s different behaviour for different stratification and wave state, is ought to be sought in the kinematic heat flux itself. A comparison of the w,θ cospectra during growing sea and swell conditions, showed differences. For growing sea, the larger size eddies dominates the heat flux during unstable conditions. There is no significant difference in peak frequency for different grade of instability. The swell cases showed a more inconsistent behaviour as it approached neutrality, with the peak frequency shifting for different stability ranges. The correlation coefficient between u, the longitudinal wind component, and w, the vertical wind component, Ru,w is also investigated in this study. It is shown that Ru,w is exposed to some wave influence. A comparison of Ru,w as a function of wave age, for neutral and non-neutral stratification is made. For swell cases and non-neutral stratification Ru,w makes a rapid drop and assumes values close to zero. This is not seen for the neutral cases although there is a slight decrease. It is concluded that a certain amount of positive heat flux and inactive turbulence is needed to see this drop in the correlation coefficient. / Sammanfattning av ”Våginflytandet på värmeutbytet över hav” Syftet med studien är att undersöka om det existerar ett våginflytande för värmeutbytet över hav och speciellt eventuellt våginflytande på utbyteskoefficienten CH (Stantons tal). Mätdata från Östergarnsholm utanför Gotland har använts. Denna mätstation har en stor sektor i vilken vindens anloppssträcka ostört är påverkad av hav. Data från perioden 1995–1999 har använts. Stantons tal CH beter sig annorlunda vid övergången från instabil till stabil skiktning beroende på havsytans tillstånd. Vid uppbyggande sjö gör CH ett ’hopp’ då det passerar neutral skiktning. För dyning finns inte detta hopp utan övergången är mycket mjukare. Denna skillnad observeras också hos det turbulenta värmeflödet. Baserat på definitionen av CH föreslås det att dess olika beteende för olika skiktning och vågtillstånd finns att söka i beteendet hos det turbulenta värmeflödet. En jämförelse av cospektrat för vertikal vind, w, och potentiell temperatur, θ, visar att där finns olikheter mellan uppbyggande sjö och dyning. Under instabila förhållanden och uppbyggande sjö domineras värmeflödet av storskaliga virvlar. Det existerar ingen signifikant skillnad i maximal värdets frekvens för olika grad av instabilitet. Dyningsfallen visar ett mer varierat beteende med en maximalvärdes frekvens som skiftar för olika stabilitetsområden. I studien undersöks också korrelationskoefficienten mellan longitudinal vind u, och vertikal vind w, Ru,w. Det visas att Ru,w är utsatt för ett visst våginflytande. Ru,w som en funktion av vågålder jämförs för neutral och icke-neutral skiktning. För dyning och icke-neutral skiktning så faller Ru,w snabbt till små värden nära noll. Detta resultat skiljer sig för neutral skiktning där Ru,w bara gör en svag minskning. Slutsatsen är att det krävs en viss mängd positivt värmeflöde och inaktiv turbulens för att se det kraftiga avtagandet hos korrelationskoefficienten.

Swelling-activated Cl− current (ICl,swell) is an outwardly-rectifying current that plays an important role in cardiac electrical activity, cellular volume regulation, apoptosis, and acts as a potential effector of mechanoelectrical feedback. Persistent activation of ICl,swell has been observed in models of cardiovascular disease. We previously suggested sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) activates volume-sensitive Cl- current (ICl,swell) by ROS-dependent signaling. S1P and its analog, FTY720 (fingolimod), primarily act via G-protein coupled receptors (S1PR; S1PR1-3 in heart), but several intracellular S1P ligands are known. We investigated how these agents regulate ICl,swell. ICl,swell was elicited by bath S1P (500 nM), FTY720 (S1PR1,3 agonist; 10 μM), and SEW2871 (S1PR1 agonist; 10 μM) and was fully inhibited by DCPIB, a specific blocker. These data suggested role of S1PR in activation of ICl,swell. Surprisingly, neither CAY10444 (S1PR3 antagonist; 10 μM) nor VPC23019 (S1PR1,3 antagonist; 13 μM) blocked FTY720-induced ICl,swell. Also, gallein a pan Gbeta-gamma inhibitor, failed to block the S1P-induced current. Moreover, 100 nM FTY720 applied via the pipette evoked a larger, faster activating current than 10 μM bath FTY720. Similarly, 500 nM S1P gave larger, faster activating ICl,swell when added to the pipette than when added in the bath. In contrast to FTY720, bath S1P-induced ICl,swell was blocked by CAY10444, but a 3-fold higher concentration failed to eliminate the response to pipette S1P, and VPC23019 failed to suppress bath and pipette S1P-induced currents. Taken together, inconsistencies in the responses to S1PR agents and the greater sensitivity to pipette than bath S1P and FTY720 support the notion that intracellular ligands rather than sarcolemmal S1PR activated ICl,swell. Next we tested if S1P and FTY720, like osmotic swelling, require both NADPH oxidase and mitochondrial ROS production to evoke ICl,swell. S1P- and FTY720-induced ICl,swell were blocked by rotenone but were insensitive to gp91ds-tat, suggesting only mitochondrial ROS production was needed. One possibility is that S1P and FTY720 elicit ICl,swell by binding to mitochondrial prohibitin-2, an S1P ligand whose knockdown augments mitochondrial ROS productions. These data suggest ICl,swell may be activated by S1P accumulation in ischemia-reperfusion and CHF. Understanding S1P-signaling that elicits ICl,swell may provide insight into electrophysiological mechanisms of cardiac pathology and help identify novel targets for therapy.

Swelling-activated Cl− current (ICl,swell) is an outwardly-rectifying current that plays an important role in cardiac electrical activity, cellular volume regulation, apoptosis, and acts as a potential effector of mechanoelectrical feedback. Persistent activation of ICl,swell has been observed in a number of models of cardiovascular disease. Previously we showed that angiotensin II (Ang II), endothelin-1 (ET-1), endothelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by NADPH oxidase (NOX) and mitochondria are involved in the activation of ICl,swell by both osmotic swelling and Beta1 integrin stretch. Sphingolipid metabolism is modulated in several cardiopathologies and because sphingolipids are bioactive lipids involved in signaling cascades that overlap significantly with these modulators of ICl,swell, we investigated the role of sphingolipids in the regulation of ICl,swell in cardiac ventricular myocytes. Under isoosmotic conditions that isolate anions currents, addition of exogenous, cell permeant C2-ceramide (C2-Cer) elicited an outwardly-rectifying Cl− current that reversed near the Cl− equilibrium potential (ECl) in both physiological and symmetrical Cl− gradients. This current was inhibited by the ICl,swell-specific blockers DCPIB. Dihydro-C2-ceramide (C2-H2Cer), the inactive analogue of C2-Cer, failed to elicit current. These data strongly suggest that the identity of C2-Cer-induced Cl− current is ICl,swell and indicate that sphingolipid signaling pathways may be involved. Bacterial sphingomyelinase (SMase), which converts endogenous sphingomyelin in the outer leaflet of the sarcolemmal membrane to native chain-length ceramides, elicited a DCPIB-sensitive Cl− current. SMase-induced current is also suppressed by tamoxifen, which under conditions that isolate anion currents is a specific inhibitor of ICl,swell. SMase-induced ICl,swell was abrogated by ebselen, a membrane permeant glutathione peroxidase mimetic that dismutates H2O2 to H2O. This suggests that ROS are required mediators of SMase-induced activation of ICl,swell. Both NOX and mitochondria are important sources of ROS in cardiomyocytes and both have been implicated in modulating ICl,swell. Blocking NOX with apocynin or the NOX fusion peptide inhibitor gp91ds-tat had no effect on SMase-induced current. However, pretreatment of cardiomyocytes with gp91ds-tat reduced the maximum current amplitude of SMaseinduced ICl,swell, indicating that NOX may play a time-dependent role in this mechanism. By contrast, the mitochondrial Complex I blocker rotenone, which suppresses extramitochondrial ROS release by Complex III, completely suppresses SMase-induced ICl,swell. Additionally, SMase-induced ICl,swell is partially inhibited by blockade of mitochondrial KATP (mitoKATP) channels with 5-hydroxy-decanoic acid (5-HD). MitoKATP channels have been implicated as modulators of mitochondrial ROS release. Thus these data suggest that mitochondrial ROS generation is required for SMaseinduced activation of ICl,swell. Ceramides are metabolized to form several sphingolipids, including sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). We tested whether ceramide metabolites are responsible for eliciting ICl,swell. Under isosmotic conditions that isolate anion currents, SMase-induced ICl,swell was abrogated by blockade of ceramidase, which converts ceramide to sphingosine, with Derythro-MAPP. SMase-induced ICl,swell also was suppressed by inhibition of sphingosine kinase with DL-threo-dihydrosphingosine. These data suggested that the ceramide metabolite S1P is likely to stimulate ICl,swell. As expected, exogenous S1P elicited an outwardly rectifying Cl− current that was fully inhibited by DCPIB. As seen with SMaseinduced ICl,swell, S1P-induced ICl,swell was fully inhibited by rotenone. In contrast to results with SMase, S1P-induced current was partially inhibited by blockade of NOX with apocynin. These data indicate that S1P is a necessary component of SMase-induced ICl,swell activation and that the action of exogenous S1P involves ROS from both mitochondria and NOX. Importantly, the fact that exogenous C2-ceramide also activates ICl,swell even though C2-ceramide may not metabolized to S1P in native cells. Thus, it seems likely that ceramides can elicit ICl,swell via S1P and also by a distinct pathway and that both pathways converge at mitochondrial ROS. In order to determine the role of ERK in the proposed signaling pathway that regulates ICl,swell, we examined the effect of ERK inhibitors PD98059 and U0126 on the activation of ICl,swell. Both of these agents partially inhibited SMase-induced activation of ICl,swell, indicating SMase acts through both ERK-dependent and ERK-independent signaling pathways. HL-1 cells are derived from a murine atrial cell line that retains phenotypic characteristics of adult cardiomyocytes. Recently, ICl,swell has been observed in HL-1 cells with similar regulatory mechanisms to those seen in native cells. We showed that SMase elicits an outwardly-rectifying, DCPIB-sensitive Cl− current that reverses near ECl in HL-1 cells. Finally, we confirmed the production of ROS by SMase-induced signaling by flow cytometry in HL-1 cells using the nominally H2O2-selective fluorescent probe CH2DCFDA-AM. Exposure to SMase increased ROS production, as did the positive control H2O2. SMase-induced ROS generation was suppressed by pretreatment with rotenone but was unaffected by pretreatment with gp91ds-tat. These data indicate that exogenous and endogenous sphingolipids elicit ICl,swell in cardiomyocytes by stimulating mitochondrial ROS production. NOX may contribute to the ROS generation, but is not a required step in this mechanism. Sphingolipid signaling is likely to play an important role in stimulating ROS production and activating ICl,swell in a number of cardiovascular diseases.