Doctor of Philosophy / Suction caissons have been used in the offshore industry in the last two decades as both temporary mooring anchorages and permanent foundation systems. Although there have been more than 500 suction caissons installed in various locations around the world,understanding of this concept is still limited. This thesis investigates the installation aspect of suction caissons, focusing on the installation in dense sand and layered soils, where sand is inter-bedded by silt and weakly cemented layers. The research was mainly experimental, at both normal gravity and elevated acceleration levels in a geotechnical centrifuge, with some numerical simulations to complement the experimental observations. This study firstly explored the suction caisson installation response in the laboratory at 1g. The influence and effect of different design parameters, which include caisson size and wall thickness, and operational parameters including pumping rate and the use of surcharge were investigated in dense silica sand. The sand heave inside the caisson formed during these installations was also recorded and compared between tests. The 1g study also investigated the possibility of installing suction caissons in layered sand-silt soil, where caissons were installed by both slow and rapid pumping. The heave formation in this case is also discussed. The mechanism of heave formation in dense sand and deformation of the silt layer was further investigated using a half-caisson model and the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. The installation response at prototype soil stress conditions was then investigated in a geotechnical centrifuge. The effects of caisson size, wall thickness, as well as surcharge were investigated in various types of sand, including silica sand, calcareous sand dredged from the North Rankin site in the North West Shelf (Australia), and mixed soil where silica sand was mixed with different contents of silica flour. Comparison with the 1g results was also made. The general trend for the suction pressure during installation in homogenous sand was identified. The installation in layered soil was also investigated in the centrifuge. The installation tests were performed in various sand-silt profiles, where the silt layers were on the surface and embedded within the sand. Comparison with the results in homogenous sand was made to explore the influence of the silt layer. Installations in calcareous sand with cemented layers were also conducted. The penetration mechanism through the cemented layer is discussed, and also compared with the penetration mechanism through the silt layer. Finite element modelling was performed to simulate key installation behaviour. In particular, it was applied to simulate the sand deformation observed in the PIV tests. The likely loosening range of the internal sand plug during suction installation in silica sand was estimated. By investigating the development of hydraulic gradient along the inner wall, the principle underlying the suction response for different combinations of selfweight and wall thickness was identified. FE modelling was also performed to explore the influence of the hydraulic blockage by the silt layer. This study found that the caissons could penetrate into all soils by suction installation. Among the key findings are the observations that the suction pressure increases with depth following a distinct pressure slope, corresponding to a critical hydraulic condition along the inner wall; and the installation was possible in both layered sand-silt and uncemented-cemented soils if sufficient pumping was available. While the caisson could penetrate the weakly cemented layers well with no notable adverse effects, problems were observed in the installation in layered sand-silt soil. These include piping failure in slow pumping rate installation at 1g, and the formation of extremely unstable soil heave during installation.

BASTOS, I. J. F. S. Uma proposta de envoltória de resistência ao cisalhamento para solos arenosos artificialmente cimentados na região metropolitana de Fortaleza. 2017. 128 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia Civil)-Centro de Tecnologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Civil: Geotecnia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, 2017. / Submitted by Edineuza Silva (edineuza@deha.ufc.br) on 2017-07-03T12:19:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijfsbastos.pdf: 3287121 bytes, checksum: ac9e185b10ef5a4be2ce8b319db6b028 (MD5) / Rejected by Marlene Sousa (mmarlene@ufc.br), reason: Prezado Ícaro, Existe uma orientação para que normalizemos as dissertações e teses da UFC, em suas paginas pré-textuais e lista de referencias, pelas regras da ABNT. Por esse motivo, sugerimos consultar o modelo de template, para ajudá-lo nesta tarefa, disponível em: http://www.biblioteca.ufc.br/educacao-de-usuarios/1234-templates Vamos agora as correções sempre de acordo com o template: 1. Retirar a numeração das paginas pré-textuais. Elas são contadas, mas só devem ser numeradas a partir da introdução. 2. Na capa retire a área de concentração, assim como o nome do estado, apenas a cidade e o ano da defesa devem constar. 3. Na folha de rosto retire o nome do estado, apenas a cidade e o ano devem constar. 4. Na ficha catalográfica, no nome do programa coloque Geotecnia pois é sua área de concentração. 5. No sumário não faça recuo na margem. Observe o alinhamento a esquerda, conforme está no template. Observe também o uso de negrito, maiúsculo e itálico nas seções. 6. Na lista de REFERÊNCIAS a palavra deve ser centralizada na folha, toda maiúscula e em negrito. A ABNT recomenda que o titulo deve ser em negrito. No entanto, nas referencias de artigos de revistas o nome da revista é que fica em negrito. Deixe espaço depois das informações de volume, numero e páginas. Ex. v. 99, n. 1, p. 75-93 Corrija em toda a lista. Não precisa numerar as referencias, já que elas estão em ordem alfabética. Retire a numeração em toda a lista. Atenciosamente, Marlene Rocha 3366-9620 on 2017-07-19T14:27:10Z (GMT) / Submitted by Edineuza Silva (edineuza@deha.ufc.br) on 2017-07-28T17:38:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijfsbastos.pdf: 3287121 bytes, checksum: ac9e185b10ef5a4be2ce8b319db6b028 (MD5) / Rejected by Marlene Sousa (mmarlene@ufc.br), reason: Prezado Icaro, só posso liberar seu nada consta, se vc realizar as alterações que solicitei antes e que não foram efetuadas. sugerimos consultar o modelo de template, para ajudá-lo nesta tarefa, disponível em: http://www.biblioteca.ufc.br/educacao-de-usuarios/1234-templates. Vamos a elas: 1. Retirar a numeração das paginas pré-textuais. Elas são contadas, mas só devem ser numeradas a partir da introdução. 2. Na capa e folha de rosto: Colocar na parte inferior da folha apenas a cidade(sem o estado) e o ano da defesa. 3. No resumo e Abstract retire o paragrafo inicial. 4. O sumário deve ser em negrito, sem paragráfos e com o alinhamento da margem a esquerda, que deve ser igual ao que vc fez na lista de abreviaturas e siglas. De modo que quando aumentar o número de dígitos elas fiquem no mesmo alinhamento de quando tinham um dígito. As seções: Seção primária (com 1 dígito) devem ser todo em Maiúsculo e em negrito Ex. 1 INTRODUÇÃO Seção secundária (2 digitos) devem ser Maiúsculo-minúsculo, negrito Ex. 1.1 Objetivos da pesquisa Seção terciária (3 digitos) Maiúsculo-minúsculo, negrito, itálico Ex. 2.3.1 Solos Quando o título da seção não couber na mesma linha, sua continuação deve ficar na mesma margem da primeira letra da linha de cima. Ex. 6.1.2 proposta de......Fredlund deve ficar em baixo da letra P de proposta e não voltar para baixo do numeral como vc colocou. Atenciosamente, Marlene 3366-9620 on 2017-08-02T17:43:01Z (GMT) / Submitted by Edineuza Silva (edineuza@deha.ufc.br) on 2017-10-19T12:10:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijsbastos.pdf: 3284791 bytes, checksum: 6dbaa78d08bc2b77e896dc03b984486c (MD5) / Rejected by Marlene Sousa (mmarlene@ufc.br), reason: Neuza: CORRIJA o nome do arquivo para 2017_dis_ijfsbastos. Prezado Icaro, já solicitei anteriormente que vc realizasse as alterações de acordo com o template disponível em: http://www.biblioteca.ufc.br/educacao-de-usuarios/templates/ Gostaria de lembrar que o nada consta só poderá ser enviado após essas alterações serem realizadas. Só para esclarecimento, vou citar algumas dessas alterações: Na capa e folha de rosto não se coloca o estado. Apenas a cidade e o ano da defesa; A área de concentração não deve vir na capa; as referencias estão fora do padrão etc Aguardo envio do arquivo já com as alterações Att. Marlene Rocha mmarlene@ufc.br on 2017-10-20T16:34:11Z (GMT) / Submitted by Edineuza Silva (edineuza@deha.ufc.br) on 2017-10-20T18:12:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijsbastos.pdf: 3284791 bytes, checksum: 6dbaa78d08bc2b77e896dc03b984486c (MD5) / Rejected by Marlene Sousa (mmarlene@ufc.br), reason: Neuza alterar o nome do arquivo para 2017_dis_ijfsbastos Pedir autor para corrigir a dissertação novamente. Marlene mmarlene@ufc.br on 2017-10-23T11:40:57Z (GMT) / Submitted by Edineuza Silva (edineuza@deha.ufc.br) on 2017-11-01T13:18:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijfsbastos.pdf: 3289951 bytes, checksum: 1c62711f82b1402273c183fb9276d359 (MD5) / Rejected by Marlene Sousa (mmarlene@ufc.br), reason: Arquivo continua sem alterações. Devolver para ele corrigir o que já pedi. Marlene on 2017-11-07T12:52:08Z (GMT) / Submitted by Edineuza Silva (edineuza@deha.ufc.br) on 2017-11-07T17:20:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijfsbastos.pdf: 3300845 bytes, checksum: 8df1ac7ed19d649acf47060ed355e3c4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marlene Sousa (mmarlene@ufc.br) on 2017-11-07T17:47:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijfsbastos.pdf: 3300845 bytes, checksum: 8df1ac7ed19d649acf47060ed355e3c4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-07T17:47:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_dis_ijfsbastos.pdf: 3300845 bytes, checksum: 8df1ac7ed19d649acf47060ed355e3c4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-14 / Soils are particulate materials, which are often characterized by low shear strength. This aspect generally justifies adaptations in the geotechnical design to this characteristic, which may be even more problematic with soft sands, usually what occurs in surface layers throughout the Fortaleza Metropolitan Area (RMF). Therefore, the soil improvement procedure with addition of small fractions of cement can be extremely important. The adopted cement content should be such as to bring, for instance, a more economically and viable alternative to the geotechnical design of a surface foundation. In this case, the foundation geometric design, for example a shallow, will mainly depend on its load capacity, which will also depend on terrain's resistance properties. In the load capacity calculations, it is used geotechnical models pioneered proposed by Terzaghi that consider the most suitable soil rupture criterion is the one from Mohr-Coulomb. However, regarding soils artificially improved with cement that presents a substantial strength gain for each cement content, new Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters like cohesion and friction angle were obtained. This research proposes a modified Mohr-Coulomb envelope for artificially cemented soils. The proposal is based on the creation of two different functions to relate cohesion and friction angle with the cement content, very similar to what Fredlund et (1978) proposed for unsaturated soils improved by suction. In order to assess the proposed functions, triaxial shear tests were performed in sand with several cement contents. Adjustments were very similar. In addition, the envelope was applied for other tests published in the literature, proving the validity of this research proposal. Ultimately, the resistance envelope for cemented soils was applied in two hypothetical situations, a surface foundation and a slope. In both cases the main focus was on identify the most viable cement content in terms of safety and economy. / Os solos são materiais particulados, o que muitas vezes caracteriza-se por uma baixa resistência ao cisalhamento. Esse aspecto justifica, na maioria das vezes, adaptar o projeto geotécnico à essa característica que pode ser ainda mais problemática no caso de areias fofas, como ocorre frequentemente em camadas superficiais em várias partes da região metropolitana de Fortaleza. Assim sendo pode ser extremamente importante o procedimento de melhoramento do solo com a adição de pequenas frações de cimento, o teor a ser adotado deve ser de tal forma a trazer uma alternativa mais viável economicamente ao projeto geotécnico de uma fundação superficial, por exemplo. Nesse caso o dimensionamento geométrico da fundação, por exemplo, uma sapata, dependerá principalmente de sua capacidade de carga que será função também das propriedades de resistência do terreno. No cálculo da capacidade de carga utilizam-se os modelos geotécnicos propostos pioneiramente por Terzaghi e consideram que o critério de ruptura do solo mais adequado é o de Mohr-Coulomb. Entretanto, no caso dos solos melhorados artificialmente com cimento que apresentam ganhos substanciais de resistência, para cada teor de cimento ter-se-ia novos parâmetros de resistência de Mohr-Coulomb, a coesão e o ângulo de atrito. A presente pesquisa propõe uma envoltória modificada de Mohr-Coulomb para solos artificialmente cimentados. A proposta tem como base a criação de duas funções para relacionar a coesão e o ângulo de atrito com o teor de cimento, sendo semelhante ao que propuseram Fredlund et al. (1978) para solos não-saturados melhorados pela sucção. Para aferir as funções propostas foram realizados ensaios de cisalhamento triaxial em uma areia com vários teores de cimento e os ajustes se mostraram bastante concordantes. Além disso, aplicou-se a envoltória para outros ensaios publicados na literatura, comprovando a validade da proposição. Por fim, aplicou-se a envoltória de resistência para solos cimentados a dois problemas hipotéticos, uma fundação superficial e um talude, ambos os casos com o objetivo de identificar o teor de cimento mais viável em termos de segurança e economia.

Underground mining produces a huge amount of voids and an even larger quantity of mine waste. Overlooking these voids could lead to the possibility of ground subsidence, as well as safety issues during mining operation; while ignoring the waste, could cause environmental pollution and significant suffering. One solution to remedy both (the voids and the waste) is cemented paste backfill (CPB), which is gaining increased recognition in both the mining industry and academic research. Transforming tailings into cemented paste, and transporting this back to underground stopes, not only negates these safety issues to a large degree, but also makes it possible to put waste to good use.However, most studies involving CPB have been conducted at temperatures above 0°C; knowledge of CPB in sub-zero environments is still lacking. For this reason, this thesis investigates the mechanical behaviour of CPB in a the latter type of environment.Uniaxial compressive strength tests were carried out on a series of frozen CPB (FCPB) samples to evaluate the mechanical behaviour (e.g. compressive strengths, geotechnical features, and the stress-strain relationships) of FCPB. It has been discovered in this thesis that FCPB exhibits remarkable strength compared to CPB and, has a great resemblance to frozen soil. Factors which may affect the behaviour of FCPB were thoroughly examined. Binder contents and types were found to be irrelevant; water content, in contrast, plays a dominant role, with an optimum value of around 26% by weight. Sulphate was confirmed to have an adverse effect on the strength of FCPB due to the increasing unfrozen water content and the formation of legible ice lenses. Hydraulic conductivity tests, scanning electron microscope observations, thermal gravimetric analyses, and mercury intrusion porosimetry were also performed as subsidiary experiments to understand the geotechnical features of FCPB. This information will be of significant value for numerous practical applications.

One of the most novel technologies developed in the past few decades is to convert mine wastes into cemented construction materials, otherwise known as cemented tailings backfill (CTB). CTB is an engineered mixture of tailings (waste aggregates), water and hydraulic binders. It is extensively used worldwide to stabilize underground cavities created by mining operations and maximize the recovery of ore from pillars. Moreover, the application of CTB is also an environmentally friendly means of disposing potential acid generating tailings underground. During and after its placement into underground mine excavations or stopes, complex multiphysics processes (including thermal, T, hydraulic, H, mechanical, M, and chemical, C, processes) take place in the CTB mass and thus control its behavior and performance. With the interaction of the multiphysics processes, the field variables (temperature, pore water pressure, stress and strain) and geotechnical properties of CTB undergo substantial changes. Therefore, the prediction of the field performance of CTB structures during their life time, which has great practical importance, must incorporate these THMC processes. Moreover, the self-weight effect, water drainage through barricades, thermal expansion and chemical shrinkage can contribute to the volumetric deformation of CTB. Consequently, CTB exhibits unique consolidation behavior compared to conventional geomaterials (e.g., soil). Furthermore, the consolidation processes can result in relative displacement between the rock mass and CTB. The resultant rock mass/CTB interface resistance can reduce the effects of the overburden pressure or the vertical stress (i.e., arching effect). Hence, a full understanding, through multiphysics modeling and simulation of CTB behaviors, is crucial to reliably assess and predict the performance of CTB structures. Yet, there are currently no models or tools to predict the fully coupled multiphysics behavior of CTB. In this Ph.D. study, a series of mathematical models which include an evolutive elastoplastic model, a fully coupled THMC model, a multiphysics model of consolidation behavior and a multiphysics model of the interaction between the rock mass/CTB interface are developed and validated. There is excellent agreement between the modeled results and experimental and/or in-situ monitored data, which proves the accuracy and predictive ability of the developed models. Furthermore, the validated multiphysics models are applied to a series of engineering issues, which are relevant for the field design of CTB structures, to investigate the self-desiccation process, consolidation behavior of CTB structures as well as to assess the pressure on barricades and the strength development in CTB structures. The obtained results show that CTB has different behaviors and performances under different backfilling conditions and design strategies, and the developed multiphysics models can accurately model CTB field behavior. Therefore, the research conducted in this Ph.D. study provides useful tools and technical information for the optimal design of CTB structures.

Mining is an important industry that plays a significant role in the development of human civilization and economies. However, the underground mining process produces a large volume of mine wastes (e.g., tailings) as well as creates large voids that require filling, typically with an engineering backfill material. Filling the voids with mine waste materials provides an environmental-friendly way of disposing mining waste. It is also an effective way of increasing ore recovery and improving the safety of miners. One of the best techniques of mine backfill is called cemented paste backfill (CPB), which is typically a mixture of tailings, binder and water. The most common binder used in the preparation of CPB is Portland cement (PC). PC is not only a costly binder, but its production is highly energy-intensive and also generates a large amount of CO2. The cement consumption can represent up to 75% of the cost of CPB. These above-mentioned factors have compelled mining companies to seek for cement alternatives that enhance the engineering properties of the CPB, decrease the cement content and reduce the carbon footprint of the mining industry. Sodium silicate is the most recent chemical additive that is proposed to reduce the binder content in CPB. Sodium silicate is an alkaline solution that is used to activate a pozzolanic material, such as cement, slag and Fly ash. However, the effect of sodium silicate on the strength and key environmental properties (permeability or saturated hydraulic conductivity, reactivity) of CPB is not well understood. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the possibility of using sodium silicate as an activator in cemented paste backfill and obtain an improvement in the aforementioned engineering properties of CPB. In order to determine the effect of the sodium silicate on backfill properties, some CPB testing methods were developed to fulfill the objectives of this research. Thus, the evolution of hydraulic, mechanical and microstructural properties of CPB samples containing sodium silicate (SS-CPB) have been tested or monitored at different curing ages (1, 3, 7, 28 and 90 days) and different CPB mixtures as well. The results of these studies show that activating CPB with sodium silicate develop CPB strength faster than CPB samples without sodium silicate. In addition, hydraulic conductivity and reactivity results show a positive change in samples containing sodium silicate compared to free sodium silicate CPB samples. Indeed, this activation leads to decreasing permeability and reactivity due to the formation of cement hydration products and acceleration of the binder hydration process. Moreover, binder type and content in the presence of sodium silicate as an alkali activator in the CPB play a significant role in lowering hydraulic conductivity and reactivity of CPB.

The aim of the present work is to study the formation of the cubic carbide phase (gamma phase) free gradient zone and the gamma cone structure at the edges of gradient sintered cemented carbides. Four types of cemented carbides; WCTi(C,N)-Co, WC-Ti(C,N)-Ni, WC-Ti(C,N)-Fe, WC-(Ti,Ta,NB)(C,N)-Co were gradient sintered and the thicknesses of the gradients were measured. Formation of the gradients is simulated and the simulations results are compared with experimental data. For all of the one-dimensional simulations, the DICTRA [1] software is used. The two-dimensional simulations are carried out by using a new simulation tool which is called “YAPFI”. The YAPFI software is a tool for simulation of diffffusion in multiphase systems along one, two, or three spatial coordinates. Various numerical parameters have been studied by running less computationally demanding one-dimensional simulations. The optimized parameters are used to setup the two-dimensional simulations. Two different kinetic databases were used in the simulations. The effect of different so-called labyrinth factors were studied systematically. The simulation results are in close agreement with the experimental observations, although some anomalies are present in the results. Results of the two-dimensional simulations show the formation of the gamma cone at the edges of the insert.

The usage of cobalt (Co) as binder phase material in cemented carbides has been questioned becauseof the potential health hazards associated with cobalt particle inhalation. Cobalt is used because ofits excellent adhesive and wetting properties, combined with adequate mechanical properties. Thepurpose of this work is to investigate the mechanical properties of Fe-Ni bulk alloys and WC-Cocemented carbides using Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) methods com-bined with FEM data. The report investigates the mechanical properties of several bulk alloys inthe Fe-Ni system as a function of void size and fraction. FEM indentation and FEM fracture datais interpolated and used to model the hardnessHand fracture toughnessKIc. A precipitationhardening model based on the Ashby-Orowan’s equation is implemented to predict the e↵ect on theyield strength from precipitated particles. A model for solid solution hardening is also implemented.Existing models are used to simulate the properties of WC-Co cemented carbides together with thesolid solution hardening model. Results show that the simulated properties of the Fe-Ni bulk alloysare comparable to those of cobalt. However, the results could not be confirmed due to a lack ofexperimental data. The properties of WC-Co cemented carbides are in reasonable agreement withexisting experimental data, with an average deviation of the hardness by 11.5% and of the fracturetoughness by 24.8%. The conclusions are that experimental data for di↵erent Fe-Ni bulk alloys isneeded to verify the presented models and that it is possible to accurately model the properties ofcemented carbides. / Anv¨andandet av kobolt (Co) som bindefas-material i h°ardmetall har blivit ifr°agasatt som en f¨oljdav av de potentiella h¨alsoriskerna associerade med inhalering av koboltpartiklar. Kobolt anv¨ands p°agrund av dess utm¨arkta vidh¨aftande och v¨atande egenskaper, kombinerat med tillr¨ackliga mekaniskaegenskaper. Syftet med detta arbete ¨ar att unders¨oka de mekaniska egenskaperna hos Fe-Ni bulklegeringarochWC-Co h°ardmetall genom att anv¨anda Integrated Computational Materials Engineering(ICME) metoder kombinerat med FEM-data. Rapporten unders¨oker de mekaniska egenskapernahos flera bulklegeringar i Fe-Ni systemet. FEM-indentering och FEM-fraktur data interpoleras ochanv¨ands f¨or att modellera h°ardheten H och brottsegheten KIc. En modell f¨or utskiljningsh¨ardningbaserad p°a Ashby-Orowans ekvation implementeras f¨or att f¨oruts¨aga e↵ekten p°a brottgr¨ansen av utskiljdapartiklar. ¨Aven en modell f¨or l¨osningsh¨ardning implementeras. Existerande modeller anv¨andsf¨or att simulera egenskaperna hos WC-Co h°ardmetall tillsammans med modellen f¨or l¨osningsh¨ardning.Resultaten visar att de simulerade egenskaperna hos Fe-Ni bulklegeringar ¨ar j¨amf¨orbara medde f¨or kobolt. Dock kan de inte bekr¨aftas p°a grund av avsaknad av experimentell data. Egenskapernahos WC-Co h°ardmetall st¨ammer rimligt ¨overens med existerande experimentell data, meden genomsnittlig avvikelse av h°ardheten med 11.5% och av brottsegheten med 24.8%. Slutsatserna¨ar att det beh¨ovs experimentell data f¨or Fe-Ni bulklegeringar f¨or att kunna verifiera modellernasnoggrannhet och att det ¨ar m¨ojligt att f¨oruts¨aga egenskaperna hos h°ardmetall.

The main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of wide peening and cleaning (WPC) also known as fine particle peening on the surface properties and cutting performance of cemented carbide inserts. In WPC, the surface of the material is bombarded with millions of high-velocity fine shot generating a uniform layer of plastic deformation near the surface. The plastically deformed layer will have higher compressive residual stress levels, higher surface hardness, experience changes in surface morphology and changes in microstructure. Selecting suitable peening parameters is crucial for achieving proper results. In this study, tools are treated under different pressures varying between 0.2 to 0.4 MPa, and for different peening durations of 2.5 to 10 s. The cutting performance of uncoated tools treated with WPC was examined while turning ductile cast iron and AISI 4140. To have a better understanding, the surface morphology, microstructure, surface roughness, cutting edge radius, residual stresses, and surface hardness were measured and discussed. The results are also compared with untreated tools. The compressive residual stresses were significantly higher after WPC. In addition, uncoated tools treated with WPC resulted in a 12-30% higher tool life over untreated tools. Based on the findings outlined in this thesis, WPC can be recommended as a surface treatment on uncoated cemented carbide inserts for increasing tool life. Also, this study shows significant potential for using WPC as a pre-coating treatment for improving coating adhesion on cemented carbide cutting inserts. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

This thesis presents the results of an investigation of factors which influence the geotechnical properties of frozen mine backfill (FMB). FMB has extensive application potential for mining in permafrost areas. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of hardened backfill is often used to evaluate mine backfill stability. However, the deformation behaviour and stiffness of the FMB are also key design properties of interest. In this thesis, uniaxial compressive tests were conducted on FTB and FCPB samples. Information about the geotechnical properties of FMB is obtained. The effects of FMB mix components and vertical compression pressure on the geotechnical properties of FMB are discussed and summarized. An optimum total water content of 25%-35% is found in which the strength and the modulus of elasticity of the FTB are 1.4-3.2 MPa and 35-58 MPa, respectively. It is observed that a small amount (3-6%) of cement can significantly change the geotechnical properties of FTB.

This thesis presents the results of an investigation of factors which influence the geotechnical properties of frozen mine backfill (FMB). FMB has extensive application potential for mining in permafrost areas. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of hardened backfill is often used to evaluate mine backfill stability. However, the deformation behaviour and stiffness of the FMB are also key design properties of interest. In this thesis, uniaxial compressive tests were conducted on FTB and FCPB samples. Information about the geotechnical properties of FMB is obtained. The effects of FMB mix components and vertical compression pressure on the geotechnical properties of FMB are discussed and summarized. An optimum total water content of 25%-35% is found in which the strength and the modulus of elasticity of the FTB are 1.4-3.2 MPa and 35-58 MPa, respectively. It is observed that a small amount (3-6%) of cement can significantly change the geotechnical properties of FTB.