Information presented in site investigation reports has a strong influence in design, project costs and safety. For this reason, both the quality and the reliability of site investigation reports are important. However in our country, geotechnical engineering is relegated to second place and site investigation studies, especially parcel-basis ground investigation works / do not receive the attention they deserve. In this study, site investigation reports, that are required for the license of design projects, are examined and the missing/incorrect site investigations, laboratory tests, geotechnical evaluations and geotechnical suggestions that occur in the reports are catalogued. Also, frequency of each mistake is statistically examined / for geotechnical engineers, recommendations and solutions are presented to help them avoid frequent problems.

Numerous research efforts have been devoted to characterizing the behavior of granular materials, which is one of the main concerns of pavement engineers. For better understanding of this behavior, laboratory tests where in-situ stress conditions and traffic loads are adequately simulated are needed. This study makes use of an expanded test protocol called a performance test that includes resilient modulus as well as permanent deformation testing. This test protocol determines three nonlinear resilient modulus parameters (k1, k2, k3) and two permanent deformation parameters (?,??). The resilient modulus test results are required inputs in the Level 1 analysis of the proposed American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Pavement Design Guide. In addition, both resilient modulus and permanent deformation test results provide material property inputs to pavement performance prediction models. This study also evaluated the within laboratory repeatability of the performance test and developed a within laboratory precision statement. Further, a statistical analysis was conducted on the test results to estimate the number of test specimens required for testing for specific reliability levels. Two test specimens are required for a reliability level of 15%. A within laboratory study was also conducted to investigate the influence of specimen size on test results. The specimen height was reduced from 12 in. (304 mm) to 8 in. (203 mm), and there was no difference in test results at a confidence level of 95%. The performance test was further used successfully in subsequent studies to evaluate the behavior of granular materials and the influence of various factors on their behavior. As fines content increased, the resilient modulus values decreased and permanent deformation increased. As the moisture content increased, the resilient modulus value decreased and the resistance to permanent deformation decreased. A simplified laboratory measurement tool that is repeatable, relatively cheap and easy to perform might prompt the use of laboratory measured values of resilient modulus in pavement design and facilitate correlation of these values to field measured values on a large scale. Use of measured data for the base properties rather than estimates would insure improved pavement designs and, in many cases, would save money in construction costs.

Muskeg or peat deposits cover large areas in northern Manitoba. Test sections of a newly constructed highway on peat were instrumented to investigate their performance and to develop more economical means of construction method. Test Section ‘A’ was constructed with geotextile base layer while Section ‘B’ was with geotextile and corduroys (timber logs). The test sections were constructed during winter for ease in mobilizing construction equipment at the site when the ground was frozen and were instrumented to observe its behaviour and performance. Settlements were measured using monitoring plates and pins. Ground temperatures were measured using thermistors. Porewater pressures were measured using vibrating wire piezometers. Peat in the study area has an average thickness of 4m, with the upper layer classified as fibrous and the lower layer as amorphous with strong to complete decomposition. Standard laboratory tests were conducted on bored samples from the site. Hydraulic conductivity tests were carried out at different vertical pressures to determine its permeability. Thermal conductivity was determined at frozen and unfrozen state of peat. Conventional incremental oedometer tests were conducted to determine the compressibility parameters and secondary compression indices of the peat layers. Constant-rate-of-strain (CRS) tests were also performed to supplement the results obtained from the conventional method. Isotropically-Consolidated Undrained (CIŪ) triaxial tests were carried out to determine the shear strength of peat. A commercially-available computer program was used in the numerical modelling to simulate the field performance of the instrumented sections. The results from numerical modelling were reasonably close to the measured values in the field. Laboratory-scale physical modelling was undertaken to understand further the operating mechanisms involved in the performance of the two test sections under a more controlled environment. Artificial transparent clay that has similar deformation properties with most of the natural clays and peats was used as foundation material. It allows determination of spatial deformations beneath the embankment using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. The load-settlement behaviour in the field was also reasonably simulated in the laboratory-scaled physical model. Deformation patterns from PIV indicate that embankment with geotextile layer and corduroy has smaller settlements and lateral movements in the foundation compared to that of the embankment with only geotextile layer.

The disturbed state concept (DSC) based constitutive model is the focus of this research. It is applied for characterizing two problems; thermomechanical reliability analysis of electronic packages, and prediction of glacial motion. A new procedure for construction of static yield surface for materials is proposed. Further, a modified DSC model to include effect of rate of loading on material behavior is proposed.The DSC is applied to characterize the behavior of Sn-3.9Ag-0.6Cu (SAC) lead free solder alloy used in electronic packages. Proposed procedure of construction of static curve and rate dependent DSC model is applied for prediction of creep and rate dependent behavior of the SAC alloy. Laboratory test data is adopted from the literature and material parameters are determined. The DSC model is validated using the derived material parameters. A finite element analysis of the BGA 225 package is performed under cyclic thermomechanical loading. Analysis results are compared with available test data. A failure criterion for prediction of number of cycles to failure for BGA 225 is then derived.The second application of DSC discussed in this work is prediction of glacial motion. Mechanical behavior of glacial till and its contribution to overall ice movement is characterized using DSC. Two regionally significant tills are chosen and samples are collected from field. A series of laboratory tests are conducted on samples. Tests results are used for model calibration and validation. A numerical simulation of an idealized ice - till system under gravity loading is performed. Two such analyses are performed with DSC and Mohr Coulomb models and the results are compared.The DSC predicts failure when a significant portion of the material reaches a critical disturbance whereas the Mohr Coulomb model predicts failure based on peak stress. DSC predicts a gradual progression to failure whereas the Mohr Coulomb model predicts early catastrophic failure. According to DSC, the material undergoes considerable plastic strains before it reaches failure whereas the Mohr Coulomb predicts failure at very low elastic strains. In general the DSC is considered to provide a more realistic and general constitutive model for glacial tills.

Low temperature cracking is a major distress in asphalt pavements. Several test configurations have been introduced to characterize the fracture properties of hot mix (HMA); however, most are considered to be research tools due to the complexity of the test methods or equipment. This dissertation describes the development of the indirect ring tension (IRT) fracture test for HMA, which was designed to be an effective and user-friendly test that could be deployed at the Department of Transportation level. The primary advantages of this innovative and yet practical test include: relatively large fracture surface test zone, simplicity of the specimen geometry, widespread availability of the required test equipment, and ability to test laboratory compacted specimens as well as field cores. Numerical modeling was utilized to calibrate the stress intensity factor formula of the IRT fracture test for various specimen dimensions. The results of this extensive analysis were encapsulated in a single equation. To develop the test procedure, a laboratory study was conducted to determine the optimal test parameters for HMA material. An experimental plan was then developed to evaluate the capability of the test in capturing the variations in the mix properties, asphalt pavement density, asphalt material aging, and test temperature. Five plant-produced HMA mixtures were used in this extensive study, and the results revealed that the IRT fracture test is highly repeatable, and capable of capturing the variations in the fracture properties of HMA. Furthermore, an analytical model was developed based on the viscoelastic properties of HMA to estimate the maximum allowable crack size for the pavements in the experimental study. This analysis indicated that the low-temperature cracking potential of the asphalt mixtures is highly sensitive to the fracture toughness and brittleness of the HMA material. Additionally, the IRT fracture test data seemed to correlate well with the data from the distress survey which was conducted on the pavements after five years of service. The maximum allowable crack size analysis revealed that a significant improvement could be realized in terms of the pavements performance if the HMA were to be compacted to a higher density. Finally, the IRT fracture test data were compared to the results of the disk-shaped compact [DC(t)] test. The results of the two tests showed a strong correlation; however, the IRT test seemed to be more repeatable.

Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, eine weitestgehend allgemeine Beschreibung einer Herangehensweise für Auswertung und Interpretation von mechanischen Versuchen an Boden zu ermöglichen. Dafür werden Parameter eingeführt und vorgestellt, die das Verhalten des Bodens zustandsunabhängig beschreiben, wobei der Bodenzustand durch die Spannung und die Dichte (Porenzahl e) definiert ist. Zu Beginn wird das typische Bodenverhalten und die Standardauswertung in Kompressions- und Scherversuchen beleuchtet. Bei gezeigten Beispielauswertungen können die Scherparameter φ ‘ und c' nicht eindeutig bestimmt werden. Um eine Grundlage für die fortgeschrittene Auswertung zu schaffen, werden Referenzzustände eingeführt. Die Betrachtung der Referenzzustände bringt den Vorteil, dass die genutzten Bodenparameter unabhängig von Ausgangsspannung und -dichte der untersuchten Proben sind. Weiterhin wird das prinzipielle Bodenverhalten in Relation zu den Referenzzuständen beschrieben. Basierend auf den eingeführten Referenzzuständen wird ein Auswertekonzept vorgestellt. In diesem werden mit Hilfe von Spannungsnormierungen Einflüsse aus Spannung und Dichte auf die Versuchsergebnisse zusammengefasst. Die am Anfang beschriebenen Beispielauswertungen werden über das eingeführte Auswertekonzept näher betrachtet. Für eine Bewertung von Scherversuchen werden Vorschläge für Bewertungskriterien, basierend auf dem zuvor beschriebenen Konzept, gegeben. Mit Hilfe der vorgeschlagenen Kriterien können einzelne Teilversuche identifiziert werden, welche bei der Bestimmung der Scherparameter nicht mit berücksichtigt werden sollten. Dies wird an einem der Beispielböden verdeutlicht. Zuletzt sind mögliche Fehleinschätzungen des Bodenverhaltens bei der Auswertung von Laborversuchen beschrieben. Daraus abgeleitet ergeben sich Unterschiede in den abgeleiteten Spannungen.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:28:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 2265849 bytes, checksum: 3679cebadd6b785aa9445b22ee833034 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-08-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present work has the aim of improve the knowledge on the mechanical behavior of several materials occurring in the slopes of the Pico mine, in Quadrilátero Ferrífero area, Minas Gerais State. Triaxiais tests and direct shear tests of undisturbed samples collected in situ were performed in order to obtain strength parameters under several loading conditions. Direct shear tests also were performed in order to characterize the influence of rock schystosity and scale effect on the results of the shear strength parameters. Results obtained show that schystosity affects the value of those parameters, while the size of samples tested did not significantly affect strength, for the same loading conditions. Calculated values for cohesion and friction angle were used in mining slope stability studies using both deterministic and probabilistic approaches for two commercial softwares: SLOPE/W AND SLIDE. The results showed that the values obtained for deterministic factors of safety were quite close and the calculated probabilities of slope failure were small. The use of shear strength parameters was done as a basis to future studies proposed to allow a better understanding of their influence on the geological-geotechnical behavior of other materials occurring on the slopes of the Mina do Pico. These studies will be used to define the final pit of Pico mine. / Pretendeu-se com este trabalho, ampliar o grau de conhecimento sobre os vários tipos de materiais existentes nos taludes da Mina do Pico, na região do Quadrilátero Ferrífero, em Minas Gerais. Realizaram-se ensaios triaxiais e de cisalhamento direto de amostras indeformadas coletadas no campo a fim de se obter os parâmetros de resistência sob diversas condições de carregamento. Os ensaios de cisalhamento direto visaram estabelecer a influência da xistosidade e do fator de escala nos resultados dos parâmetros de resistência ao cisalhamento. Verificou-se que ela afeta diretamente o valor desses parâmetros de resistência. Verificou-se também que não houve diferenças significativas nos parâmetros de resistência ao cisalhamento entre corpos-de-prova de diferentes tamanhos, para mesmas condições de carregamento. De posse dos parâmetros de resistência, realizaram-se análises de estabilidade de taludes empregando métodos determinísticos e probabilísticos utilizando-se para isso dois softwares: O SLOPE/W e o SLIDE. Os resultados mostraram que os valores dos fatores de segurança determinísticos foram bastante próximos e as probabilidades de ruptura encontradas foram pequenas. A inclusão dos parâmetros de resistência ao cisalhamento encontrados se destina a subsidiar novos estudos que permitam um melhor entendimento de sua influência sobre os demais materiais que constituem os perfis geológico-geotécnicos encontrados nos taludes da mina do Pico, com vista à elaboração do projeto de pit final.

abstract: Unsaturated soil mechanics is becoming a part of geotechnical engineering practice, particularly in applications to moisture sensitive soils such as expansive and collapsible soils and in geoenvironmental applications. The soil water characteristic curve, which describes the amount of water in a soil versus soil suction, is perhaps the most important soil property function for application of unsaturated soil mechanics. The soil water characteristic curve has been used extensively for estimating unsaturated soil properties, and a number of fitting equations for development of soil water characteristic curves from laboratory data have been proposed by researchers. Although not always mentioned, the underlying assumption of soil water characteristic curve fitting equations is that the soil is sufficiently stiff so that there is no change in total volume of the soil while measuring the soil water characteristic curve in the laboratory, and researchers rarely take volume change of soils into account when generating or using the soil water characteristic curve. Further, there has been little attention to the applied net normal stress during laboratory soil water characteristic curve measurement, and often zero to only token net normal stress is applied. The applied net normal stress also affects the volume change of the specimen during soil suction change. When a soil changes volume in response to suction change, failure to consider the volume change of the soil leads to errors in the estimated air-entry value and the slope of the soil water characteristic curve between the air-entry value and the residual moisture state. Inaccuracies in the soil water characteristic curve may lead to inaccuracies in estimated soil property functions such as unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. A number of researchers have recently recognized the importance of considering soil volume change in soil water characteristic curves. The study of correct methods of soil water characteristic curve measurement and determination considering soil volume change, and impacts on the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function was of the primary focus of this study. Emphasis was placed upon study of the effect of volume change consideration on soil water characteristic curves, for expansive clays and other high volume change soils. The research involved extensive literature review and laboratory soil water characteristic curve testing on expansive soils. The effect of the initial state of the specimen (i.e. slurry versus compacted) on soil water characteristic curves, with regard to volume change effects, and effect of net normal stress on volume change for determination of these curves, was studied for expansive clays. Hysteresis effects were included in laboratory measurements of soil water characteristic curves as both wetting and drying paths were used. Impacts of soil water characteristic curve volume change considerations on fluid flow computations and associated suction-change induced soil deformations were studied through numerical simulations. The study includes both coupled and uncoupled flow and stress-deformation analyses, demonstrating that the impact of volume change consideration on the soil water characteristic curve and the estimated unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function can be quite substantial for high volume change soils. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2013

A pluralização dos atendimentos e sua garantia de realização em todos os níveis de atenção conforme os princípios estabelecidos pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) fizeram com que o atual cenário da saúde pública ganhasse grande complexidade envolvendo o financiamento e suporte para a manutenção desses serviços. Nesse contexto, alguns trabalhos na literatura relatam um excesso no uso desses recursos diagnósticos, que ocorre muitas vezes desnecessariamente, aumentando a chance de riscos à saúde do paciente e sobrecarregando demasiadamente o orçamento financeiro dos serviços de saúde, em particular o hospital. O que ocorre muitas vezes é a falta de critério nas solicitações e problemas de interpretação dos exames, desconhecimento sobre custos dos procedimentos realizados, entre outros fatores que se mostram mais elevados dependendo da complexidade do ambiente do serviço de saúde, do quadro clínico do paciente e da experiência do profissional médico. Dessa forma, é escopo desse projeto avaliar os resultados qualitativos, quantitativos e os custos dos principais parâmetros laboratoriais de exames solicitados nas áreas clínicas de Cardiologia e Endocrinologia da divisão de Clínica Médica do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo (HCFMRP-USP), e sua correlação com o que está descrito na literatura, objetivando identificar se o uso dos recursos diagnósticos estão sendo utilizados de forma racional e coerente. Para a realização desse estudo, foi realizada uma análise retrospectiva dos prontuários de pacientes pelo sistema HC-Athos em regime de primeira consulta e retorno, e também, de informações e metodologias relacionadas ao custeio de exames laboratoriais junto ao Centro de Custo do HCFMRP-USP, nas áreas clínicas de Endocrinologia, ambulatórios (ENA, END, ETP) e Cardiologia (CAA), no período de Julho de 2012 à Julho de 2013. Observando a análise dos elementos dos exames em ambos amulatórios, os resultados foram próximos: em Cardiologia a taxa média de elementos alterados foi de 20,79%, ao passo que em endocrinologia, o valor médio foi de 22,39%. Dessa forma, com base no que está descrito por alguns autores na literatura, esses achados podem sugerir a possibilidade de haver requisição sem necessidade dos exames laboratoriais. Em relação ao estudo de custos, observamos que existe uma diferença significativa para a relação: valor real gasto (HCFMRP-USP)/valor recebido(SUS). Na cardiologia onde o déficit foi mais elevado, 39,45%, contra os 12,80% observados em endocrinologia. Analisando cada exame separadamente nos dois ambulatórios, observa-se que há situações onde a relação do custo entre real gasto/valor recebido chega a ser bem discrepante, como a variação de 51 à 60% em exames como hemograma, uréia, creatinina, T3 e T4 total. Analisando esses achados, podemos concluir que há de certa forma um subfinanciamento do SUS em relação aos procedimentos laboratoriais realizados pelos hospitais. Com exceção de alguns exames, que isoladamente mostraram relação positiva, o saldo final considerando os exames mais comumente realizados foi negativo, ou seja, nos exames de maior demanda e faturamento, o resultado mostrou se preocupante. / The increasing demand of medical care and its realization warranty on all levels of care according to the principles established by the Unified Health System (SUS) made the current situation of public health gain great complexity involving funding and support to maintain these services. In this context, some studies in the literature report an excess in the use of these diagnostic tools, which is often unnecessarily, increasing the chance of risks to the health of the patient and overly burdening the financial budget of health services, particularly the hospital. What often happens is the lack of criteria in requests and problems of interpretation of the tests, ignorance about costs of the procedures performed, and other factors which show higher depending on the complexity of the health care environment, the patient\'s condition and the doctor\'s professional experience. Thus, is scope of this project, evaluate the qualitative and quantitative results, and the costs of major laboratory parameters tests requested in the clinical areas of Cardiology and Endocrinology of the University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of RibeirãoPreto, University of São Paulo (HCFMRP-USP), and its correlation with what is described in the literature in order to identify whether the use of diagnostic resources are being used in a rational and coherent manner. To carry out this study, a retrospective analysis of medical records of patients at HC-Athos system in first consultation and return was carried out, and also, information and methodologies related to the cost of laboratory tests by the HCFMRP- USP Cost Center in the clinical areas of Endocrinology, outpatient clinics (ENA, END, ETP) and Cardiology (CAA) in the period July 2012 to July 2013. Noting the analysis of elements in both outpatient examinations, the results were similar: in Cardiology the average rate of change elements was 20.79%, while in endocrinology, the average value was 22.39%. Thus, based on what is described by some authors in the literature, these findings may suggest the possibility of request without laboratory tests. Regarding the study costs, we note that there is a significant difference to the relationship: real amount spent (HCFMRP- USP) / cash received (SUS). In cardiology where the deficit was higher, 39.45%, against 12.80% observed in endocrinology. Analyzing each exam separately in the two clinics, it is observed that there are situations where the ratio of the cost of real expenditure / amount received comes to be well outlier, as the range of 51 to 60% in exams such as blood count, urea, creatinine, T3 and T4 total. Analyzing these findings, we conclude that there is something of a SUS underfunded in relation to laboratory procedures performed by hospitals. Except for some tests, which alone showed a positive relationship, the final balance considering the most commonly performed tests was negative, that means, in higher demand and revenue tests, the results showed worrying.

The drainage behaviour of sports pitches is not well understood nor has performance been measured in the past. Within planning authorities there is a perceived contribution of pitch water discharge to local flood risk; whereby all the rainfall surface runoff is rapidly channelled through the drainage system to the pitch outfall. However, empirical evidence from industry suggested that this may not be a realistic assumption from observations of low drainage volumes yielded from pitch drainage systems. Furthermore, discharge constraints imposed have in many cases resulted in grossly over-designed off-line drainage attenuation systems for new sports developments through lack of understanding. In contrast, sports pitches indeed have the potential to enhance the attenuation performance of the subsoils and provide localised effective management of surface water runoff, and a significant storage volume if designed appropriately The findings in this thesis confirm that pitch bases demonstrate the key functions that are in fact reflected in the design requirements of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS). This PhD research project was conducted to investigate and document the performance of common pitch construction and drainage systems to better characterise the key drainage mechanisms that occur and control the flow of surface rain water through the pitch to the discharge outfall. The project developed a triangulated approach to the investigations, comprising: field measurements of climate and discharge behaviour at a range of artificial and natural turf pitches in England; laboratory physical model testing of pitch component hydraulics; and predictive mathematical modelling of how a pitch system may be expected to perform hydraulically based on key material and system drainage principles. The field monitoring systems were developed as part of the research, as was bespoke laboratory physical simulation of a pitch construction. It was found that very variable yields (% out versus % in) of water were detected from the monitored field sites. The values varied across a range of < 1 to 88%, with the natural turf providing higher yields in general. The antecedent weather patterns did not show a clear relationship with yield as might have been expected. However, it was not always possible to retrieve detailed information on the subsoil conditions or hydraulic capability reducing the conclusiveness of the discharge flow measurements. The scaled laboratory testing of pitch materials established the importance and magnitude of barriers to percolation of surface water through the layers of the pitch constructions, in particular artificial pitch profiles. It was found that a significant proportion of the total rainfall head was required to instigate percolation of surface water through the carpet and into the pitch i.e. breakthrough head. In addition, several constituent pitch materials exhibited water retention characteristics that reduced that rate of free percolation of surface water through the pitch profile. The net impact is to reduce the net available head of water to further drive flow through the layers to the pipe network drainage system. A conceptual hydraulic model, developed from the literature, was further developed into a simple numerical model. The model was informed by parameters determined from the laboratory measurements and key groundwater drainage flow theory to attempt to replicate a pitch drainage system. It was envisaged that the models would be validated by the field data, although this proved challenging as a result of the field data variability and the multivariate nature of the influences on flows measured. A key finding of the modelling was further establishing the likely head of water generated at the interfaces between the bottom of the granular sub-base and the pipe collection drainage system beneath. This resulted in limited pipe infiltration and low total flows to the outfall, further corroborating the project field results and the anecdotal observations from practitioners. The combined unique data sets provide a refined model for sports pitch drainage to both reinforce understanding and inform practical design and operation.