The topic of this master´s thesis is the design of adaptive damping algorithm for the prototype magnetorheological dampers, which are used for Formula Student vehicle. The prime output is the development and optimization of the control algorithm which included usage of the MBS software and real data from race track. Temperature compensation to supress the effect of dynamic viscosity of magnetorheological fluid due to the increase in operating temperature and testing of the vertical dynamic of the car on 4 - post test rig was realized as well. The main goal was to obtain better control of the car in transient situations and increase usability of tires via changes in damping based on actual conditions and status of the vehicle.

Frost heave is a primary mechanism of pavement distress in cold regions. The distress exhibited is dependent on the frost susceptibility of the soil within the depth of frost penetration, the availability of subsurface water, and the duration of freezing surface temperatures. Cement stabilization is one technique used to mitigate the effects of frost heave. The tube suction test (TST) is one possible method for determining the frost susceptibility of soils in the laboratory. The purpose of this research was to assess the utility of the TST for identifying non-frost-susceptible (NFS) materials stabilized with cement. This research investigated two aggregate base materials from Alaska that have exhibited negligible frost susceptibility in the field. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS), final dielectric value in the TST, and frost heave at three levels of cement treatment and in the untreated condition were evaluated for both materials. The data collected in this research indicate that, for the two known NFS materials included in this study, the TST is a good indicator of frost heave behavior. The total heave of the untreated materials was approximately 0.15 in. at the conclusion of the 10-day freezing period, which classifies these materials as NFS according to the U.S Army Corp of Engineers. Both materials had final dielectric values of less than 10 in the TST, indicating a superior moisture susceptibility rating. The results of this research suggest that the TST should be considered for identifying NFS materials, including those stabilized with cement. Additional testing should be performed on known NFS materials stabilized with cement and other additives to further assess the validity of using the TST to differentiate between frost-susceptible and NFS materials. Consistent with previous studies, this research indicates that, once a sufficient amount of cement has been added to significantly reduce frost heave, additional cement has only a marginal effect on further reduction. Therefore, to avoid unnecessary expense in construction, the minimum cement content required for preventing frost heave should be identified through laboratory testing and specified by the engineer. In this work, UCS values ranging between 200 psi and 400 psi after a 7-day cure were typically associated with this minimum cement content. Because the scope of this research is limited to two aggregate base materials, further testing is also necessary to validate this finding.

The objective of this research was to investigate emulsion-treated base (ETB) frost susceptibility in terms of both freeze-thaw cycling and frost heave. The research performed in this study involved laboratory testing of ETB materials sampled from both the Redwood Road and 7800 South reconstruction projects in northern Utah. The effects of freeze-thaw cycling were evaluated by comparing the stiffness and strength of tested specimens to the same properties of control specimens not subjected to freeze-thaw cycling. Frost heave testing enabled evaluation of the effects of emulsion content and degree of curing on the volumetric stability of ETB materials during sustained freezing. Since permeability affects the frost susceptibility of a material, samples were also prepared to specifically evaluate the effect of curing condition on the permeability of the two base materials when treated with emulsion. The results of freeze-thaw testing showed that both the Redwood Road and 7800 South specimens experienced decreases in modulus as a result of freeze-thaw damage. The results also showed that the Redwood Road specimens experienced substantial decreases in strength as a result of freeze-thaw damage. The specimens from 7800 South did not exhibit such strength loss; since those specimens initially had much lower modulus and unconfined compressive strength values than the Redwood Road specimens, they were less susceptible to stiffness and strength loss during the freeze-thaw test. Results for the frost heave tests showed that the untreated base materials were not susceptible to frost heave and that the addition of emulsion, with or without curing, did not change the frost heave behavior in a practically important way. While susceptibility to frost heave is not expected to be a problem with these base materials, the laboratory results revealed a significant increase in the permeability of the ETB specimens after curing, which could facilitate greater freeze-thaw damage. In consideration of these research results, engineers should ensure proper material sampling and laboratory testing to assess the efficacy of emulsion treatment for a given project. ETB to be constructed in cold regions should be subjected to freeze-thaw testing during the design phase, and designers should be aware that curing of the ETB may dramatically increase permeability and therefore increase frost susceptibility.

Recent events regarding energy policies throughout the globe and advances in technology are making offshore wind farms become a reality. Most offshore wind farms are still, however, built close to land masses, and need to be rigidly attached to the seabed in one way or another. In many countries, both public and private entities are developing new concepts of floating platforms to overcome the thirty to thirty-five-metre depth limit. Some of these new platforms use and adapt previous Oil and Gas platform concepts, while others are built up from scratch. This Master Thesis covers a hydrodynamic and structural analysis of a new concrete floating platform concept developed for medium to deep waters. This work is based on data from experimental model-scale tests performed in a wave tank and from numerical models using linear potential theory, limited here only to regular wave trains. The study focused on the behavior of the heave plates attached to the platform: test data was analyzed in order to find indicators of the largest dynamic pressures on the plates when only motion data was available, and the structural behavior of the plates was studied under different static pressure distributions using a commercial Finite Element Method software. The results from these analyses show that the normal accelerations of the plates -assumed rigid- strongly correlate with the dynamic pressures measured; and that the general structural behavior of the plate, in terms of deformations and bending moments, is well captured when the hydrodynamic load distribution is simplified into a uniformly distributed load of the same magnitude. The results obtained will help reduce the computational effort currently needed in the design of these floating structures, especially at some stages, when numerous scenarios, load cases and combinations need to be studied.

There are various distresses arising from traffic loads and the surrounding environment to whichan asphalt pavement is subjected during its life span. The environment-associated damages aremore severe during winter when abundant moisture and freezing temperature are presentsimultaneously. Damage caused by frost heave is one of the important winter-related damagesresulting in severe cracks and bumpy road surfaces. Since the frost heave-induced cracks areusually wide, they can make the pavement more prone to other types of damage by leaving theopen space for water and moisture penetration. Simulating the response of the pavement whenit is subjected to frost heave is the aim of this licentiate thesis. Attaining this objective requirescoupling a frost heave model with a damage model representing the mechanistic behavior ofthe asphalt material. With regard to the brittle behavior of the asphalt at cold temperatures, aviscoelastic damage model for asphalt material is coupled with a thermomechanical frost heavemodel. The thermomechanical approach couples the physical processes involved in frost actioninside the soil. To elucidate more, in this method the thermal and mechanical fields are coupledby the porosity evolution function which implicitly takes into account the effect of the hydraulicfield. On the other hand, the continuum viscoelastic damage model for asphalt material isdeveloped within the infinitesimal strain context by applying the thermodynamical restrictionsof irreversible processes. The suggested framework was employed in different finite elementmodels to simulate damages caused by frost heave in asphalt pavements. The results indicatethat it predicts the damage distribution and evolution in the asphalt. Furthermore, it was shownthat the uneven frost heave and physical processes taking place in the soil during frost actionsuch as cryogenic suction force creation, porosity evolution, ice formation, etc., can also besimulated. / Det finns olika typer av påfrestningar som uppstår från trafikbelastningar och den omgivandemiljön som en asfaltbeläggning utsätts för under sin livslängd. De miljörelaterade skadorna ärallvarligare under vintern när fukt och kalla temperaturer är närvarande samtidigt. Skadororsakade av tjällyft är en av de allvarliga vinterrelaterade skadorna som resulterar i sprickor ochskadade vägsytor. Eftersom de tjällyftsinducerade sprickorna vanligtvis är breda kan de görabeläggningen mer utsatt för andra typer av skador genom vatten- och fuktinträngning. Syftetmed denna licentiatavhandling är att simulera beläggningens reaktion när den utsätts för tjällyft.För att uppnå detta mål krävs att en tjällyftsmodell kopplas till en skademodell somrepresenterar asfaltmaterialets mekanistiska beteende. När det gäller asfaltens spröda beteendevid kalla temperaturer, är en viskoelastisk skademodell för asfaltmaterial kopplad till entermomekanisk tjällyftsmodell. Det termomekaniska tillvägagångssättet kopplar de fysiskaprocesserna som är involverade i frostverkan inuti jorden. För att klarlägga detta mer, är determiska och mekaniska fälten kopplade med porositetsutvecklingsfunktionen som implicit tarhänsyn till effekten av det hydrauliska fältet. Å andra sidan är den kontinuumviskoelastiskaskademodellen för asfaltmaterial utvecklad inom det oändliga töjningssammanhanget genomatt tillämpa de termodynamiska begränsningarna av irreversibla processer. Det föreslagnaramverket användes i olika finita elementmodeller för att simulera skador orsakade av tjällyft iasfaltbeläggningar. Resultaten indikerar att den förutsäger skadefördelningen och utvecklingeni asfalten. Dessutom har det visat sig att det ojämna tjällyft och fysiska processer som äger rumi marken under frostpåverkan, såsom skapande av kryogen sugkraft, porositetsutveckling,isbildning, etc., också kan simuleras. / <p>QC 20221124</p>

Civil engineers are at times required to stabilize sulfate bearing clay soils with calcium based stabilizers. Deleterious heaving in these stabilized soils may result over time. This dissertation addresses critical questions regarding the consequences of treating sulfate laden soils with calcium-based stabilizers. The use of a differential scanning calorimeter was introduced in this research as a tool to quantify the amount of ettringite formed in stabilized soils. The first part of this dissertation provides a case history analysis of the expansion history compared to the ettringite growth history of three controlled low strength mixtures containing fly ash with relatively high sulfate contents. Ettringite growth and measurable volume changes were monitored simultaneously for mixtures subjected to different environmental conditions. The observations verified the role of water in causing expansion when ettringite mineral is present. Sorption of water by the ettringite molecule was found to be a part of the reason for expansion. The second part of this dissertation evaluates the existence of threshold sulfate levels in soils as well as the role of soil mineralogy in defining the sensitivity of soils to sulfate-induced damage. A differential scanning calorimeter and thermodynamics based phase diagram approach are used to evaluate the role of soil minerals. The observations substantiated the difference in sensitivity of soils to ettringite formation, and also verified the existence of a threshold level of soluble sulfates in soils that can trigger substantial ettringite growth. The third part of this dissertation identifies alternative, probable mechanisms of swelling when sulfate laden soils are stabilized with lime. The swelling distress observed in stabilized soils is found to be due to one or a combination of three separate mechanisms: (1) volumetric expansion during ettringite formation, (2) water movement triggered by a high osmotic suction caused by sulfate salts, and (3) the ability of the ettringite mineral to absorb water and contribute to the swelling process.

The escalating pollution of the environment has been one of the greatest concerns of science in recent years. Industrial advances in agriculture, expansion of chemical industries and a general change in lifestyle all over the world has lead to release of a variety of pollutants into the environment, thus contaminating the atmosphere, water bodies and many soil environments. In general, other than some natural processes, soils are increasingly being contaminated by anthropogenic sources such as leakages from waste containment facilities, accidental spills and industrial operations. Apart from affecting biotic components of the ecosystem, these pollutants greatly affect the performance, behavior and stability of the soil ecosystem, these pollutants greatly affect the performance, behavior and stability of the soil systems, thus causing severe damage to structures founded on them. The hydraulic and/or chemical alterations which allow these polluting substances to move within soil pores lead to physico-chemical decomposition processes, chemical alterations, leaching and ion exchange reactions. Such reactions could also result from natural processes such as weathering; but the effects caused by pollutants occur at faster rates. Soils are composed of clays, silts and sands. Due to charged nature of the particles and their large specific surface, engineering properties of clays are greatly affected by pollutants. The magnitude of these effects can vary significantly depending on the type of soil, the type and concentration of contaminant, duration of interaction and the environmental conditions. Hence, an understanding of contaminant-clay interactions is important for prevention of geotechnical features, if possible, or at least for planning of remedial measures. Understanding these effects and planning remedial measures requires measurement of the affected properties of polluted soils. This may involve the modification of standard test procedures or the development of new test procedures. The main types of contaminants include inorganic acids, alkalis, sulphates, organic contaminants, toxic or phytotoxic metals and combustible substances. All of these are widely used in industries. While the adverse effects of presence of sulphate in alkaline conditions is well known, little information is available on the effect of sulphate in natural soils under acidic environments. Sulphuric acid is widely employed in the production of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, pigments, rayon, film, iron, steel, explosives, paper and paper industry. It is also used in cleaning, etching, petroleum refining, electroplating, metallurgy, and in lead-acid batteries. Due to its widespread but often improper usage and the difficulty in safe storage, sulphuric acid is often found as a contaminant in natural soils. Sulphuric acid is also generated in natural soils by oxidation by pyrites in the presence of atmospheric oxygen. Hence, an attempt has been made in this thesis to study the behavior of soils containing different clay minerals during acid-sulphate interaction. The effect of sulphate on soils containing calcite, whose presence is quite common, has also been studied. A review of literature suggests that most common geotechnical failures due to contamination occur due to significant changes on the volume change behavior. Also, it is known that severe changes that occur in soil properties can essentially be attributed to mineralogical changes that occur during interaction with pollutants. Therefore, volume change behavior of soil and detailed mineralogical changes and the consequent morphological changes that occur in soils with acid sulphate are studied.

Detta examensarbete har haft som mål att undersöka tjällyftningen hos en väg i en fältstudie och utvärdera reliabiliteten hos två olika modeller för skattning av tjällyftning. Modellerna som har studerats är Trafikverkets nuvarande, vilken är implementerad i deras vägdimensioneringsverktyg PMS Objekt, samt segregation potential theory. Den studerade vägsträckan är belägen i Kiruna. I vägen har borrkärneprover tagits och vägens obundna lager, inklusive terassmaterial, har blivit analyserade i laboratorium. Dessa tester inkluderar både geoteknisk klassificering och endimensionella frysförsök på terassmaterialet. Materialets tjälfarlighet har klassificerats enligt både Trafikverkets eget och det amerikanska USACEs system. Alla prover, inklusive terrassmaterialet, består huvudsakligen av grus och sand. Enligt båda de använda klassificeringssystemen bedöms alla prover som icke tjälfarliga. Nivåmätningar utförda på vägen visar dock att tjällyftning ändå förekommer i vägen. Denna tjällyftning har inte kunnat modelleras framgångsrikt i PMS Objekt, där ingen tjällyftning alls fås trots att en dimensionerande vinter tillämpas i analysen. Däremot har en god överensstämmelse mellan bakåträknad och empiriskt beräknad tjälfarlighetsklassificering med SP0-värde enligt segregation potential theory kunnat ses. Även när detta beräknas utifrån utförda frysförsök fås en relativt god överensstämmelse. Studiens främsta fynd är att den visar på att även material som bedöms som ej tjällyftande enligt de två systemen för tjälfarlighetsklassificering faktiskt orsakar tjällyftning och att detta omfattar både terrass- och överbyggnadsmaterial. Studien visar att detta tjällyft främst beror på primärt lyft, varför klassificeringarna stämmer ganska väl om endast det sekundära lyftet avses. Studien har även visat på att Trafikverkets nuvarande modell är otillräcklig när det kommer till att modellera tjällyftning för grovkorniga jordar. Slutligen har studien även visat på möjligheten att bedöma jords tjälfarlighet med hjälp av segregation potential theory, även om också denna metod endast kan användas för att modellera sekundärt lyft. / The aim of the master thesis has been to examine the frost heaving of a road in a field study and to evaluate the reliability of two different models for estimation of frost heaving. The studied models are the current one of the Swedish Transport Administration, which is implemented in their road design tool PMS Objekt, and the segregation potential theory. The studied road section is located in Kiruna, in the northern part of Sweden. The road has been cored and the unbound layers of it, including the subgrade, have been analyzed in laboratory. These analyses include both geotechnical characterization and one-dimensional frost heave tests of the subgrade material. The frost susceptibility of the collected material has been classified according to both the Swedish Transport Administrations system and the American USACE’s system. All samples, including the subgrade, consist mainly of gravel and sand. According to both the used classification systems all samples are classified as not frost susceptible. However, the elevation measurements of the road show that frost heaving occurs in it despite this. This heaving has not been possible to model successfully in the program PMS Objekt. In it the frost heave prediction yields no heave at all, despite applying a design winter (worst case) in the analysis. A good conformity has however been observed between back-calculated and empirically evaluated frost susceptibility using segregation potential theory. A quite good conformity has also been observed when the same thing is evaluated from the preformed freeze tests. The most important finding of the study is that even material that is categorized as non-frost susceptible according to the two studied systems actually does heave. This finding includes both subgrade aswell as the unbound material in the superstructure. It has been found that the total frost heave observed in this study originates mainly from primary heaving, meaning the studied systems are quite correct in their frost susceptibility classification if only secondary heaving is intended. The study has also shown that the current model applied in PMS Objekt is poor in predicting the amount of heaving in coarse subgrades. Finally, the study has also shown the possibility to evaluate a soils frost susceptibility using segregation potential theory, although this model aswell is only applicable to secondary heave

Phase change of the water in the soil skeleton under cold climate conditions (also known as frost action in soils) affects soil properties and can be responsible for serious alterations in a soil body; causing damages (due to the volumetric expansion known as frost heave) to structures on or below the ground surface such as foundations, roads, railways, retaining walls and pipelines, etc. In order to improve the current design methods for roads against frost action, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) has initiated a research program. The main goals of the program are to revise the existing frost heave estimation methods and improve the frost susceptibility classification system for subgrade soils. Literature was reviewed to gather the details of different freezing test equipment around the world and to identify common trends and practices for laboratory freezing tests. Based on the literature review and the collaboration with the University of Oulu, Finland an experimental apparatus was assembled for studying frost action in the laboratory. A detailed description of the experimental apparatus is given. Top to down freezing of specimens (of 10cm height and diameter) can be monitored while keeping track of water intake, vertical displacements (heave) and the temperature profile within the sample. Loads can be applied at the top of the sample to study the effects of overburden. Moreover, the test setup was modified with a camera system to have the option of recording the experiments. Disturbed samples of two different soil types were tested. Experiments with fixed and varying temperature boundary conditions were conducted to assess the validity of the assumptions for the frost heave estimation methods currently in use in Sweden. To this end, a qualitative relationship between frost heave and heat extraction rates based on theoretical equations was established. It was shown that there is a significant difference between the preliminary findings of the experimental work and the current system being used in Sweden to quantify heave. Image analysis techniques were used on two experiments that were recorded by the camera system. Image recording and correlation analyses provided detailed information about frost front penetration and ice lens formation(s) under varying temperature boundary conditions. Thawing has also been regarded in further studies. Results of the image analyses were compared to readings from conventional displacement measurements during the same test. Significant agreement between the results of image analyses and displacement measurements has been found. Image analysis was shown to be a viable method in further understanding of frost heave mechanisms. Shortcomings and disadvantages of utilizing the theoretical equations as well as the image analysis techniques were discussed. Potential remedies for overcoming the drawbacks associated with each approach are suggested. The work is concluded by discussing the potential improvements, planned upgrades (addition of pore pressure transducers) and the future experiments to be conducted.

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